From fc3b79d7f4e6d4a09ef738c1abb36ac2cbdf2a69 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Ayaan Zaidi <hi@obviy.us>
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2026 13:03:41 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] fix(agents): fall stale_run steer refusals through to direct
 delivery

---
 src/agents/subagent-announce-delivery.test.ts | 54 +++++++++++++++++++
 src/agents/subagent-announce-delivery.ts      |  6 +++
 2 files changed, 60 insertions(+)

diff --git a/src/agents/subagent-announce-delivery.test.ts b/src/agents/subagent-announce-delivery.test.ts
index 4ba394256138..dacdb7def303 100644
--- a/src/agents/subagent-announce-delivery.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/subagent-announce-delivery.test.ts
@@ -1082,6 +1082,60 @@ describe("deliverSubagentAnnouncement active requester steering", () => {
     });
     expect(callGateway).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
   });
+
+  it("falls through to direct delivery when steering is refused for a stale run", async () => {
+    // An evidence-dead requester still registers as "active", but it will not
+    // drain its steer queue; dropping here would discard the handoff.
+    const queueEmbeddedAgentMessageWithOutcome = vi.fn(async (sessionId: string) => ({
+      queued: false as const,
+      sessionId,
+      reason: "stale_run" as const,
+      gatewayHealth: "live" as const,
+    }));
+    const callGateway = createGatewayMock({
+      result: {
+        payloads: [{ text: "child completion output" }],
+      },
+    });
+    testing.setDepsForTest({
+      callGateway,
+      getRequesterSessionActivity: () => ({
+        sessionId: "paperclip-session",
+        isActive: true,
+      }),
+      queueEmbeddedAgentMessageWithOutcome,
+      getRuntimeConfig: () =>
+        ({
+          messages: {
+            queue: {
+              mode: "steer",
+              debounceMs: 0,
+            },
+          },
+        }) as never,
+    });
+
+    const result = await deliverSubagentAnnouncement({
+      requesterSessionKey: "agent:eng:paperclip:issue:123",
+      targetRequesterSessionKey: "agent:eng:paperclip:issue:123",
+      triggerMessage: "child done",
+      steerMessage: "child done",
+      requesterOrigin: slackThreadOrigin,
+      requesterIsSubagent: false,
+      expectsCompletionMessage: false,
+      directIdempotencyKey: "announce-stale-run-direct-fallback",
+    });
+
+    expectRecordFields(result, {
+      delivered: true,
+      path: "direct",
+      phases: [
+        { phase: "steer-primary", delivered: false, path: "none", error: undefined },
+        { phase: "direct-primary", delivered: true, path: "direct", error: undefined },
+      ],
+    });
+    expect(callGateway).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
 });
 
 describe("deliverSubagentAnnouncement completion delivery", () => {
diff --git a/src/agents/subagent-announce-delivery.ts b/src/agents/subagent-announce-delivery.ts
index 3b6e3925b6d7..02eb27d6bbaa 100644
--- a/src/agents/subagent-announce-delivery.ts
+++ b/src/agents/subagent-announce-delivery.ts
@@ -720,6 +720,12 @@ async function maybeSteerSubagentAnnounce(params: {
     };
   }
 
+  // A stale_run refusal means the requester run is evidence-dead: it will not
+  // drain its steer queue, so "dropped" would discard the handoff. Report
+  // not-active so dispatch takes the direct fallback instead.
+  if (queueOutcome.reason === "stale_run") {
+    return { status: "none" };
+  }
   const currentActivity = resolveRequesterSessionActivity(canonicalKey);
   return { status: currentActivity.isActive ? "dropped" : "none" };
 }