From eab714a5747af42cbea3175230e5f4f113195494 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: tangent <rose@tangentfox.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:18:09 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] incomplete function extraction attempt

---
 make_cover_briefs.lua | 76 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------------
 1 file changed, 46 insertions(+), 30 deletions(-)

diff --git a/make_cover_briefs.lua b/make_cover_briefs.lua
index 1894192..225804a 100755
--- a/make_cover_briefs.lua
+++ b/make_cover_briefs.lua
@@ -170,6 +170,43 @@ tree = function(path, fn)
   end)
 end
 
+local process_intermediates = function(text, name)
+  local result
+  local outputs = {}
+
+  -- TODO check if this would work just as well starting from 1 instead..
+  for i = 0, #text/maximum_bytes do
+    print("Processing section " .. (i + 1) .. " of " .. math.floor(#text/maximum_bytes + 1))
+
+    local intermediate_name = "intermediates/" .. name:sub(1, -5) .. "-" .. tostring(#outputs + 1) .. ".txt"
+    if utility.path_exists(intermediate_name) then
+      result = read_all(intermediate_name)
+      print("Loaded from file.")
+    else
+      local piece = text:sub(i * maximum_bytes, (i + 1) * maximum_bytes - 1)
+      result = send_prompt(partial_prompt .. piece)
+      write_all(intermediate_name, result)
+    end
+
+    outputs[#outputs + 1] = result
+    print(#result .. " characters added to intermediate context.")
+  end
+
+  text = table.concat(outputs, "\n\n")
+  write_all("intermediates/" .. name, text)
+  print("Saved primary intermediate prompt.")
+
+  for i = 0, #text/maximum_bytes do
+    local intermediate_name = "intermediates/" .. name:sub(1, -5) .. "-" .. tostring(#outputs + 1) .. ".txt"
+    if utility.path_exists(intermediate_name) then
+      os.execute("rm " .. intermediate_name:enquote())
+    end
+  end
+  print("Removed redundant intermediate prompts.")
+
+  return result, outputs, text
+end
+
 tree("extracted_texts", function(file_name)
   local path, name, extension = utility.split_path_components(file_name)
   if utility.path_exists("cover_briefs/" .. name) then return end
@@ -179,37 +216,16 @@ tree("extracted_texts", function(file_name)
 
   -- TODO there is no way to recognize a dangling intermediate and pickup from there
   print(name)
-  local outputs = {}
+  local outputs
+
+  -- restore previous intermediate
+  -- (this is where I realized I should redo how I'm processing all of this)
+  if utility.path_exists("intermediates/" .. name) then
+  end
+
   if #text > maximum_bytes then
-    -- TODO check if this would work just as well starting from 1 instead..
-    for i = 0, #text/maximum_bytes do
-      print("Processing section " .. (i + 1) .. " of " .. math.floor(#text/maximum_bytes + 1))
-
-      local intermediate_name = "intermediates/" .. name:sub(1, -5) .. "-" .. tostring(#outputs + 1) .. ".txt"
-      if utility.path_exists(intermediate_name) then
-        result = read_all(intermediate_name)
-        print("Loaded from intermediates.")
-      else
-        local piece = text:sub(i * maximum_bytes, (i + 1) * maximum_bytes - 1)
-        result = send_prompt(partial_prompt .. piece)
-        write_all(intermediate_name, result)
-      end
-
-      outputs[#outputs + 1] = result
-      print(#result .. " characters added to intermediate context.")
-    end
-
-    text = table.concat(outputs, "\n\n")
-    write_all("intermediates/" .. name, text)
-    print("Saved full intermediate prompt.")
-
-    for i = 0, #text/maximum_bytes do
-      local intermediate_name = "intermediates/" .. name:sub(1, -5) .. "-" .. tostring(#outputs + 1) .. ".txt"
-      if utility.path_exists(intermediate_name) then
-        os.execute("rm " .. intermediate_name:enquote())
-      end
-      print("Removed excess intermediate texts.")
-    end
+    -- previously overwrites result, text, outputs
+    result, outputs, text = process_intermediates(text, name)
   end
 
   -- handle too much context (works with up to 100 slices)