## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip orchestrates AI agents for zero-human companies; the
stale-active-run watchdog monitors agent heartbeat runs for extended
output silence and fires evaluation issues to alert the responsible
manager
> - The watchdog uses a unique index on open evaluation issues to
prevent duplicate open issues per run, but this only prevents two
*simultaneous* open issues — not sequential ones created after each
closure
> - When a board reviewer closes an alert as done directly (without
recording a watchdog decision), the dismissed_false_positive guard is
bypassed and `findOpenStaleRunEvaluation` returns null on the next scan
— causing a new alert to fire every 30 minutes until the run terminates
> - The previous fix also removed `blockedByIssueIds` mutation from
`ensureSourceIssueBlockedByStaleEvaluation` to break the
block→silence→new-alert loop, but that left no idempotency guard on the
source-issue escalation comment, so every critical scan re-appended the
comment to the source-issue thread
> - Additionally, runs whose source issue is already `blocked` (agent is
correctly idle, waiting on a human action) should never generate alerts
at all — silence is expected in that state
> - This PR fixes all three gaps in `createOrUpdateStaleRunEvaluation` /
`ensureSourceIssueCommentedForStaleEvaluation`: (1) skip when source
issue is `blocked`, (2) auto-record a dismissed_false_positive decision
when a closed evaluation exists with no prior watchdog decision, (3) add
an activity-log-backed idempotency guard so the source-issue escalation
comment fires exactly once per (sourceIssue, evaluationIssue) pair
across scan cycles and process restarts
> - The benefit is that agents correctly paused waiting on board-gated
blockers no longer generate repeated false-positive noise tickets,
board-closed evaluations are permanently suppressed without requiring a
second interaction, and source-issue threads no longer get spammed with
duplicate escalation comments
## What Changed
- `server/src/services/recovery/service.ts`:
- Added `blocked` source-issue guard: `if (sourceIssue?.status ===
"blocked") return { kind: "skipped" }` — idle output is expected when
the source issue is blocked
- Added `findClosedStaleRunEvaluation()` — queries for `done` evaluation
issues for a given run, ordered by most recent update (scoped to `done`
only so system-cancelled evaluations don't permanently suppress alerts)
- Added `hasDismissedFalsePositiveDecision()` — queries for an existing
dismissed_false_positive watchdog decision record
- Added closed-evaluation auto-dismiss: when a prior evaluation was
closed `done` on the board without any watchdog decision, auto-inserts a
dismissed_false_positive record so future scans skip via the existing
guard. The check-then-insert runs inside a transaction guarded by a
per-(company, run) `pg_advisory_xact_lock` so two overlapping scans
cannot both observe `hasAnyDecision = false` and both insert duplicate
rows
- Removed `blockedByIssueIds` mutation from the escalation path and
renamed `ensureSourceIssueBlockedByStaleEvaluation` →
`ensureSourceIssueCommentedForStaleEvaluation` to reflect that the
function now only adds a comment + activity log (no state mutation) —
evaluation issues are observability-only and adding them as hard
blockers created a self-amplifying loop (blocked→silent→new
alert→blocked again)
- Added activity-log-backed idempotency guard at the top of
`ensureSourceIssueCommentedForStaleEvaluation`: query the activity log
for a `heartbeat.output_stale_escalated` row with the same (sourceIssue,
evaluationIssue) pair and return false when one is present. The single
activity-log row written on the first successful escalation is the
suppression record for all later scans, surviving process restarts
- `server/src/__tests__/heartbeat-active-run-output-watchdog.test.ts`:
- Added: "emits the source-issue escalation comment only once across
repeated critical scans" (covers the comment-spam regression path)
- Added: "skips ticket creation when the source issue is blocked"
- Added: "suppresses repeat alerts when evaluation is closed on the
board without a watchdog decision"
- Added: "still allows re-arm after continue decision even when
evaluation is board-closed" (exception path: if any watchdog decision
exists, human opted in to lifecycle — honour it)
## Verification
```sh
pnpm exec vitest run server/src/__tests__/heartbeat-active-run-output-watchdog.test.ts
```
- All 18 watchdog tests pass locally
- Regression: source-issue escalation comment emits exactly once across
repeated critical scans
- Blocked source → no evaluation created (result.created === 0,
result.skipped === 1)
- Board-closed evaluation + no decisions → auto-records
dismissed_false_positive; second scan creates nothing
- Board-closed evaluation + continue decision → second scan still
creates (re-arm preserved)
## Risks
- **Low risk.** The blocked-status guard is a pure early-return that
adds no state mutation. The auto-dismiss path only inserts a record when
no decisions exist — it cannot fire for runs where a human has opted in
to the watchdog lifecycle via snooze/continue. Removing
`blockedByIssueIds` from the critical-escalation path is safe because
evaluation issues are already parented under the source issue.
- The `dismissed_false_positive` auto-insert is now race-safe under
concurrent scans via `pg_advisory_xact_lock` keyed on `(companyId,
runId)` so the check-then-insert pair is serialized without requiring a
schema change.
- `findClosedStaleRunEvaluation` is scoped to `done` only (not
`cancelled`) so system code paths that cancel evaluation issues cannot
permanently suppress future watchdog alerts for the same run.
## Model Used
- Provider: Anthropic
- Model: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (`claude-sonnet-4-6`) for original change;
Claude Opus 4.7 (`claude-opus-4-7`) for follow-up review fixes
- Context: full repo read with tool use, running as SADE agent in
Paperclip Claude Code
- Mode: agentic code analysis + targeted edit
## Checklist
- [x] I have included a thinking path that traces from project context
to this change
- [x] I have specified the model used (with version and capability
details)
- [x] I have checked ROADMAP.md and confirmed this PR does not duplicate
planned core work
- [x] I have searched GitHub for duplicate or related PRs and linked
them above
- [x] I have either (a) linked existing issues with `Fixes: #` / `Closes
#` / `Refs #` OR (b) described the issue in-PR following the relevant
issue template
- [x] I have run tests locally and they pass
- [x] I have added or updated tests where applicable
- [ ] If this change affects the UI, I have included before/after
screenshots (no UI changes)
- [x] I have considered and documented any risks above
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge
## Cross-references and status (maintainer)
- Closes#4937
- Closes#5207
- Closes#5767
- Closes#5949
Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
David Bezar
01e59c074a