chore(http-recorder): remove content-matching dispatch mode (#26792)

packages/http-recorder/README.md

@@ -70,19 +70,15 @@ Cassettes are normal source files — review them, diff them, commit them.
 
 ## Request matching
 
-By default, requests match on canonicalized method, URL, headers, and JSON
-body (object keys sorted). Two dispatch strategies are available:
+Replay walks the cassette in record order via an internal cursor: the Nth
+request executed at runtime is served by the Nth recorded interaction, and
+each one is validated as the cursor advances. Request equality is computed
+on canonicalized method, URL, headers, and JSON body (object keys sorted).
 
-- **`match`** (default) — find the first recorded interaction whose request
-  matches the incoming request. Same request twice returns the same response.
-- **`sequential`** — return interactions in the order they were recorded,
-  validating each one matches as the cursor advances. Use for ordered flows
-  where the same URL is hit multiple times with meaningful state changes
-  (pagination, retries, polling).
-
-```ts
-HttpRecorder.cassetteLayer("flow/poll-until-done", { dispatch: "sequential" })
-```
+This is deliberately strict — content-based dispatch was removed because
+it silently returns the first recorded response for repeated identical
+requests, masking state changes that retry/polling/cache-hit tests need to
+observe. If you reorder requests in a test, re-record the cassette.
 
 Supply your own matcher via `match: (incoming, recorded) => boolean` for
 custom equivalence (e.g. ignoring a timestamp field in the body).
@@ -194,7 +190,6 @@ type RecordReplayOptions = {
   directory?: string // default: <cwd>/test/fixtures/recordings
   metadata?: Record<string, unknown> // merged into cassette.metadata
   redactor?: Redactor // default: Redactor.defaults()
-  dispatch?: "match" | "sequential" // default: "match"
   match?: (incoming, recorded) => boolean // custom matcher
 }
 ```
@@ -211,4 +206,4 @@ type RecordReplayOptions = {
 | `redaction.ts` | Lower-level header/URL primitives + secret pattern detection.                    |
 | `schema.ts`    | Effect Schema definitions for the cassette JSON format.                          |
 | `storage.ts`   | Path resolution, JSON encode/decode, sync existence check.                       |
-| `matching.ts`  | Request matcher, canonicalization, dispatch strategies, mismatch diagnostics.    |
+| `matching.ts`  | Request matcher, canonicalization, sequential cursor, mismatch diagnostics.      |

packages/http-recorder/src/effect.ts

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import {
   UrlParams,
 } from "effect/unstable/http"
 import * as CassetteService from "./cassette"
-import { defaultMatcher, selectMatch, selectSequential, type RequestMatcher } from "./matching"
+import { defaultMatcher, selectSequential, type RequestMatcher } from "./matching"
 import { appendOrFail, makeReplayState, resolveAutoMode } from "./recorder"
 import { defaults, type Redactor } from "./redactor"
 import { redactUrl } from "./redaction"
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ export interface RecordReplayOptions {
   readonly directory?: string
   readonly metadata?: CassetteMetadata
   readonly redactor?: Redactor
-  readonly dispatch?: "match" | "sequential"
   readonly match?: RequestMatcher
 }
 
@@ -71,7 +70,6 @@ export const recordingLayer = (
       const match = options.match ?? defaultMatcher
       const requested = options.mode ?? "auto"
       const mode = requested === "auto" ? yield* resolveAutoMode(cassetteService, name) : requested
-      const sequential = options.dispatch === "sequential"
       const replay = yield* makeReplayState(cassetteService, name, httpInteractions)
 
       const snapshotRequest = (request: HttpClientRequest.HttpClientRequest) =>
@@ -119,14 +117,12 @@ export const recordingLayer = (
               transportError(request, `Fixture "${name}" not found. Run locally to record it (CI=true forces replay).`),
             ),
           )
-          const result = sequential
-            ? selectSequential(interactions, incoming, match, yield* replay.cursor)
-            : selectMatch(interactions, incoming, match)
+          const result = selectSequential(interactions, incoming, match, yield* replay.cursor)
           if (!result.interaction)
             return yield* Effect.fail(
               transportError(request, `Fixture "${name}" does not match the current request: ${result.detail}.`),
             )
-          if (sequential) yield* replay.advance
+          yield* replay.advance
           return HttpClientResponse.fromWeb(
             request,
             new Response(decodeResponseBody(result.interaction.response), result.interaction.response),

packages/http-recorder/src/matching.ts

@@ -92,24 +92,6 @@ export const requestDiff = (expected: RequestSnapshot, received: RequestSnapshot
   return lines
 }
 
-export const mismatchDetail = (interactions: ReadonlyArray<HttpInteraction>, incoming: RequestSnapshot): string => {
-  if (interactions.length === 0) return "cassette has no recorded HTTP interactions"
-  const ranked = interactions
-    .map((interaction, index) => ({ index, lines: requestDiff(interaction.request, incoming) }))
-    .toSorted((a, b) => a.lines.length - b.lines.length || a.index - b.index)
-  const best = ranked[0]
-  return ["no recorded interaction matched", `closest interaction: #${best.index + 1}`, ...best.lines].join("\n")
-}
-
-export const selectMatch = (
-  interactions: ReadonlyArray<HttpInteraction>,
-  incoming: RequestSnapshot,
-  match: RequestMatcher,
-): { readonly interaction: HttpInteraction | undefined; readonly detail: string } => {
-  const interaction = interactions.find((candidate) => match(incoming, candidate.request))
-  return { interaction, detail: interaction ? "" : mismatchDetail(interactions, incoming) }
-}
-
 export const selectSequential = (
   interactions: ReadonlyArray<HttpInteraction>,
   incoming: RequestSnapshot,

packages/http-recorder/test/record-replay.test.ts

@@ -230,41 +230,19 @@ describe("http-recorder", () => {
     )
   })
 
-  test("default matcher dispatches multi-interaction cassettes by request shape", async () => {
-    await run(
-      Effect.gen(function* () {
-        expect(yield* post("https://example.test/echo", { step: 2 })).toBe('{"reply":"second"}')
-        expect(yield* post("https://example.test/echo", { step: 1 })).toBe('{"reply":"first"}')
-      }),
-    )
-  })
-
-  test("sequential dispatch returns recorded responses in order for identical requests", async () => {
-    await runWith(
-      "record-replay/retry",
-      { dispatch: "sequential" },
-      Effect.gen(function* () {
-        expect(yield* post("https://example.test/poll", { id: "job_1" })).toBe('{"status":"pending"}')
-        expect(yield* post("https://example.test/poll", { id: "job_1" })).toBe('{"status":"complete"}')
-      }),
-    )
-  })
-
-  test("default matcher returns the first match for identical requests", async () => {
+  test("replay returns recorded responses in order for identical requests", async () => {
     await runWith(
       "record-replay/retry",
       {},
       Effect.gen(function* () {
         expect(yield* post("https://example.test/poll", { id: "job_1" })).toBe('{"status":"pending"}')
-        expect(yield* post("https://example.test/poll", { id: "job_1" })).toBe('{"status":"pending"}')
+        expect(yield* post("https://example.test/poll", { id: "job_1" })).toBe('{"status":"complete"}')
       }),
     )
   })
 
-  test("sequential dispatch reports cursor exhaustion when more requests are made than recorded", async () => {
-    await runWith(
-      "record-replay/multi-step",
-      { dispatch: "sequential" },
+  test("replay reports cursor exhaustion when more requests are made than recorded", async () => {
+    await run(
       Effect.gen(function* () {
         yield* post("https://example.test/echo", { step: 1 })
         yield* post("https://example.test/echo", { step: 2 })
@@ -274,10 +252,8 @@ describe("http-recorder", () => {
     )
   })
 
-  test("sequential dispatch still validates each recorded request", async () => {
-    await runWith(
-      "record-replay/multi-step",
-      { dispatch: "sequential" },
+  test("replay validates each recorded request in order", async () => {
+    await run(
       Effect.gen(function* () {
         yield* post("https://example.test/echo", { step: 1 })
         const exit = yield* Effect.exit(post("https://example.test/echo", { step: 3 }))
@@ -331,14 +307,13 @@ describe("http-recorder", () => {
     }
   })
 
-  test("mismatch diagnostics show closest redacted request differences", async () => {
+  test("mismatch diagnostics show redacted request differences against the expected interaction", async () => {
     await run(
       Effect.gen(function* () {
         const exit = yield* Effect.exit(
           post("https://example.test/echo?api_key=secret-value", { step: 3, token: "sk-123456789012345678901234" }),
         )
         const message = failureText(exit)
-        expect(message).toContain("closest interaction: #1")
         expect(message).toContain("url:")
         expect(message).toContain("https://example.test/echo?api_key=%5BREDACTED%5D")
         expect(message).toContain("body:")

packages/llm/AGENTS.md

@@ -289,6 +289,6 @@ Filters apply in replay and record mode. Combine them with `RECORD=true` when re
 
 **Binary response bodies.** Most providers stream text (SSE, JSON). AWS Bedrock streams binary AWS event-stream frames whose CRC32 fields would be mangled by a UTF-8 round-trip — those bodies are stored as base64 with `bodyEncoding: "base64"` on the response snapshot. Detection is by `Content-Type` in `@opencode-ai/http-recorder` (currently `application/vnd.amazon.eventstream` and `application/octet-stream`); cassettes for SSE/JSON routes omit the field and decode as text.
 
-**Matching strategies.** Replay defaults to structural matching, which finds an interaction by comparing method, URL, allow-listed headers, and the canonical JSON body. This is the right choice for tool loops because each round's request differs (the message history grows). For scenarios where successive requests are byte-identical and expect different responses (retries, polling), pass `dispatch: "sequential"` in `RecordReplayOptions` — replay then walks the cassette in record order via an internal cursor. `scriptedResponses` (in `test/lib/http.ts`) is the deterministic counterpart for tests that don't need a live provider; it scripts response bodies in order without reading from disk.
+**Matching strategy.** Replay walks the cassette in record order via an internal cursor: the Nth runtime request is served by the Nth recorded interaction, and each one is validated by comparing method, URL, allow-listed headers, and the canonical JSON body. This handles tool loops (each round's request differs as history grows) and retry/polling scenarios (successive byte-identical requests with different responses) uniformly. If a test reorders its requests, re-record the cassette. `scriptedResponses` (in `test/lib/http.ts`) is the deterministic counterpart for tests that don't need a live provider; it scripts response bodies in order without reading from disk.
 
 Do not blanket re-record an entire test file when adding one cassette. `RECORD=true` rewrites every recorded case that runs, and provider streams contain volatile IDs, timestamps, fingerprints, and obfuscation fields. Prefer deleting the one cassette you intend to refresh, or run a focused test pattern that only registers the scenario you want to record. Keep stable existing cassettes unchanged unless their request shape or expected behavior changed.