AI Assistant Provides Outdated File Information After External File Modification.

[VirtualArcher]

What happened?

The AI assistant was requested to compare the structure of two files (user_update.json and user_update_new.json).

1. During the initial read, the assistant correctly identified that user_update.json contained the fields firstname and lastname.
2. Apparently, the content of user_update.json was subsequently modified by an external process after this first read, removing these fields.
3. The user then asked the assistant to re-read and re-compare the files.
4. After the re-read, the assistant initially (and incorrectly) re-asserted its original analysis (that the fields were present), rather than using the updated file content.
5. Only after being directly challenged by the user, who presented the current file content, did the assistant acknowledge the discrepancy and realize that the file had changed between readings.

What did you expect to happen?

When instructed to re-read or re-analyze a file, the assistant should always use the most recently read content as the sole basis for its response.

Ideally, the assistant should proactively indicate if it detects a change in a file's content between two read operations, especially if that change is relevant to the user's query. It should not rely on "remembered" or stale states after a re-read has been performed.

Client information

Client Information

Run gemini to enter the interactive CLI, then run the /about command.

CLI Version                                                                  0.20.2                                                                                                                                           │
│ Git Commit                                                                   af894e468                                                                                                                                        │
│ Model                                                                        auto                                                                                                                                             │
│ Sandbox                                                                      no sandbox                                                                                                                                       │
│ OS                                                                           linux                                                                                                                                            │
│ Auth Method                                                                  OAuth                                                                                                                                            │
│ User Email                                                                  xyz                                                                                                                            │
│ GCP Project                                                                xyz
# paste output here

Login information

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Anything else we need to know?

Fun fact: I told the Gemini CLI to describe its own mistake.