From e4058fd8119b72d0b06289031f08bab8e89cba66 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Rahul Ranjan <11793455+rahul05ranjan@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2026 15:23:45 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] fix(agent): accept the curly apostrophe in click-negation
 replies (#498)
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unmade_browser_click_note spelled every contraction with the ASCII
apostrophe, so a true negated reply typed with the curly one (wasn't with
U+2019 — qwen3:8b does this) fell through to the passive "clicked" claim
and got a redundant correction. Normalize U+2018/U+2019 to the ASCII
apostrophe before matching, which covers the negation, assistant and
hypothetical patterns at once.

Co-authored-by: rahul05ranjan <11793455+rahul05ranjan@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 changes/498.fixed.md       |  1 +
 sentient/agent/outcomes.py |  6 +++++-
 tests/test_agent_loop.py   | 20 ++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 26 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 changes/498.fixed.md

diff --git a/changes/498.fixed.md b/changes/498.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..58b81b0f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/498.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+**A reply that says it didn’t click something is believed when the apostrophe is curly.** Before, small-model replies that wrote wasn’t or didn’t with a typographic apostrophe were read as positive click claims and got a redundant correction.
diff --git a/sentient/agent/outcomes.py b/sentient/agent/outcomes.py
index b23160ba7..22f241332 100644
--- a/sentient/agent/outcomes.py
+++ b/sentient/agent/outcomes.py
@@ -395,7 +395,11 @@ def unmade_browser_click_note(text: str, calls: list[dict], history: list[dict]
     """
     current_clicks = [call for call in calls if call.get("name") == "browser_click"]
     previous_clicks = [call for call in history or [] if call.get("name") == "browser_click"]
-    claims = re.split(r"(?<=[.!?])\s+", text or "")
+    # Small models often type the curly apostrophe (wasn\u2019t), while the
+    # claim patterns spell contractions with the ASCII one; normalize first
+    # (#498), so a negated claim is never read as a positive one.
+    text = re.sub("[\u2018\u2019]", "'", text or "")
+    claims = re.split(r"(?<=[.!?])\s+", text)
     # A reply can summarize a successful click from an earlier turn alongside a
     # declined click from this one, so consider the complete chronological record.
     clicks = previous_clicks + current_clicks
diff --git a/tests/test_agent_loop.py b/tests/test_agent_loop.py
index e8ba42057..e911b6c9b 100644
--- a/tests/test_agent_loop.py
+++ b/tests/test_agent_loop.py
@@ -238,6 +238,26 @@ def test_browser_click_correction_uses_the_latest_call():
     assert outcomes.unmade_browser_click_note(
         "You clicked A, and I clicked B.", []
     ) == "I didn't click it, so nothing changed on the page."
+
+
+def test_browser_click_negations_accept_the_curly_apostrophe():
+    """Small models often type wasn\u2019t; a true negated reply must not be corrected (#498)."""
+    declined = [{"name": "browser_click", "declined": True, "target": 'button "Subscribe"'}]
+    for negated in (
+        "No, the Subscribe button wasn\u2019t clicked.",
+        "I didn\u2019t click the Subscribe button.",
+        "I haven\u2019t clicked the Subscribe button.",
+        "The Subscribe button hasn\u2019t been clicked yet.",
+        "It wasn\u2019t clicked, the approval was declined.",
+    ):
+        assert outcomes.unmade_browser_click_note(negated, declined) == "", negated
+        assert outcomes.unmade_browser_click_note(negated, []) == "", negated
+    # the straight-apostrophe spellings keep working, and a curly positive
+    # claim is still corrected
+    assert outcomes.unmade_browser_click_note("No, the Subscribe button wasn't clicked.", declined) == ""
+    assert outcomes.unmade_browser_click_note(
+        "I\u2019ve clicked the Subscribe button.", declined
+    ) == "I didn't click it: you declined, so nothing changed on the page."
     prior_success = [{"name": "browser_click", "ok": True}]
     assert outcomes.unmade_browser_click_note(
         "I clicked the upgrade button.", [], prior_success