@nexus-cortex/core 4.69.1 → 4.70.0

package/dist/orchestrator/CortexOrchestrator.js

@@ -30,11 +30,16 @@ import { CacheMetricsAccumulator } from '../session/CacheMetricsAccumulator.js';
 import { SubAgentProcessManager, createSubAgentProcessManager } from './SubAgentProcessManager.js';
 // Phase 1: Tool Architecture Refactor - Unified Tool Registry
 import { toolFactory } from '../tools/ToolFactory.js';
-import { resolveToolProfile, resolveToolAnchor, isNarrowProfile, isToolAllowedByProfile, applyToolProfile } from '../tools/ToolProfile.js';
+import { resolveToolProfile, resolveToolAnchor, resolveFrameProfile, isNarrowProfile, isToolAllowedByProfile, applyToolProfile } from '../tools/ToolProfile.js';
 import { slashCommandRegistry } from '../commands/SlashCommandRegistry.js';
 import { prefixMcpToolName, parseMcpToolName } from '../mcp/mcpToolNamespacing.js';
-import { DecisionStore, stableInputHash } from '../training/DecisionStore.js';
-import { formatPriorReminder } from '../training/DecisionPriorInjector.js';
+import { DecisionStore } from '../training/DecisionStore.js';
+import { formatPriorReminder, formatFamilyReminder } from '../training/DecisionPriorInjector.js';
+import { classifyErrorFamily } from '../training/errorFamily.js';
+import { classifyToolOutcome } from '../training/toolOutcome.js';
+import { LoopLadder, formatLadderSignal } from '../training/loopLadder.js';
+import { shouldNudgeInaction, formatInactionNudge } from './inactionGuard.js';
+import { verifyRequirements, resolveEndTurnRequirementsMode } from './requirementsVerification.js';
 import { ModelRouterMatrix } from '../training/ModelRouterMatrix.js';
 import { classifyTask } from '../training/TaskClassifier.js';
 import { closestToolMatches } from './toolNameMatcher.js';
@@ -143,6 +148,10 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
     /** The active model card's anchorProfile (captured at request assembly) —
      *  env CORTEX_TOOL_ANCHOR still overrides inside resolveToolAnchor. */
     cardAnchorProfile = null;
+    /** Card frameProfile ('lifted'|'persist') captured with the anchor — under
+     *  'persist' the anchor never lifts (backlog item 5; env
+     *  CORTEX_TOOL_ANCHOR_PERSIST overrides in resolveFrameProfile). */
+    cardFrameProfile = null;
     /** P6 deferral (CORTEX_PROMPT_MASS=defer): the static corpus is delivered
      *  exactly once, at the anchor-lift boundary. One-shot per orchestrator. */
     deferredCorpusDelivered = false;
@@ -699,6 +708,7 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
         // Card-level home door: capture the active card's anchorProfile (env
         // CORTEX_TOOL_ANCHOR overrides inside the resolver; env 'none' disables).
         this.cardAnchorProfile = effectiveModel.anchorProfile ?? null;
+        this.cardFrameProfile = effectiveModel.frameProfile ?? null;
         // Thread the CARD's anchor to the executors (per-orchestrator config, by
         // reference) so framing-aware executor behavior (ShellTool steering
         // default) is model-card/registry-scoped, not process-global env.
@@ -978,6 +988,9 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
         // Round 18b: track whether we've already retried on empty response so
         // we don't loop forever. See empty-detection block below.
         let emptyResponseRetryUsed = false;
+        // Inaction guard (backlog item 2 — the ladder's inverse): single-nudge
+        // bound for the actless-verbose retry. Default OFF via env.
+        let inactionNudgeUsed = false;
         // EndTurn gate (Stage 1): the turn must not complete until the model
         // calls the EndTurn attestation tool. Steering is ignored by some
         // models (grok-4.3); a required tool call is not. Bounded so a model
@@ -1021,6 +1034,13 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
         const thisTurnToolOutputs = [];
         // Loop detection: Track recent tool calls to detect repetitive loops
         const recentToolCalls = [];
+        // Unified Outcome Ladder (docs/UNIFIED_OUTCOME_LADDER.md): per-approach
+        // FAILURE escalation — remind(2)→diversify(4)→break(6) over normalized
+        // near-duplicate approaches. Complements isToolProgressStalled (which is
+        // outcome-blind exact-hash cycling) by firing earlier on failing thrash.
+        const loopLadder = new LoopLadder();
+        let ladderBreak = null;
+        let ladderSignal = null;
         // Track all tool uses across iterations for response
         const allExecutedToolUses = [];
         // Track tool call counts for diversity warning
@@ -1198,6 +1218,130 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
                             continue;
                         }
                     }
+                    // Inaction guard (backlog item 2 — the loop ladder's inverse).
+                    // TB2 2×2: persist-frame arms produced never-acted failures (5
+                    // pro-persist) — a huge reason-to-the-wall text dump with ZERO tool
+                    // calls, invisible to every call-counting guard. One bounded
+                    // steering retry, R18b-style; default OFF (CORTEX_INACTION_NUDGE).
+                    {
+                        const responseChars = Array.isArray(currentAssistantCanonicalMessage.content)
+                            ? currentAssistantCanonicalMessage.content
+                                .map((b) => b?.type === 'text' ? (b.text || '') : b?.type === 'thinking' ? (b.thinking || '') : '')
+                                .join('').length
+                            : String(currentAssistantCanonicalMessage.content ?? '').length;
+                        if (hasVisibleText &&
+                            !structuredOutputState?.result &&
+                            shouldNudgeInaction({
+                                responseChars,
+                                toolUseBlocksThisResponse: 0,
+                                executedToolCallsThisTurn: allExecutedToolUses.length,
+                                toolsOffered: toolsToUse.length,
+                                turnNumber: this.turnNumber,
+                                alreadyNudged: inactionNudgeUsed,
+                            })) {
+                            inactionNudgeUsed = true;
+                            console.warn(`[Orchestrator] Inaction guard: actless-verbose response (${responseChars} chars, 0 tool calls). ` +
+                                `Injecting act-first nudge (single retry).`);
+                            // Observability (backlog item 3): bank the event either way it
+                            // resolves — the distiller counts nudge→acted conversions.
+                            {
+                                const store = this.getDecisionStore();
+                                if (store) {
+                                    void store
+                                        .recordEvent({
+                                        sessionId: this.currentSessionId ?? 'unknown',
+                                        kind: 'inaction_nudge',
+                                        detail: { responseChars, turnNumber: this.turnNumber },
+                                    })
+                                        .catch(() => { });
+                                }
+                            }
+                            const inactionUserMessage = {
+                                uuid: uuidv4(),
+                                timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+                                type: 'user',
+                                message: {
+                                    role: 'user',
+                                    content: [{
+                                            type: 'text',
+                                            text: `<system-reminder>${formatInactionNudge()}</system-reminder>`,
+                                        }],
+                                },
+                                timeline: {
+                                    sessionId: this.currentSessionId,
+                                    conversationId: this.currentConversationId,
+                                    turnNumber: this.turnNumber + 1,
+                                },
+                                model: {
+                                    id: effectiveModel.id,
+                                    provider: effectiveModel.provider,
+                                    apiPattern: effectiveModel.api.pattern,
+                                },
+                            };
+                            this.messageHistory.push(inactionUserMessage);
+                            await this.historyStore.appendMessage(this.currentSessionId, inactionUserMessage);
+                            await this.ensureHistoryFitsModel(effectiveModel);
+                            const inactionCanonicalHistory = this.convertToCanonicalMessages([...this.messageHistory]);
+                            const inactionRequest = this.gatewayTranslation.prepareRequest(inactionCanonicalHistory, toolsToUse, effectiveModel, {
+                                temperature: options.parameters?.temperature,
+                                maxTokens: options.parameters?.maxTokens,
+                                topP: options.parameters?.topP,
+                                reasoningEffort: options.parameters?.reasoningEffort,
+                                stream: options.streaming,
+                                staticSystemPrompt: this.currentStaticSystemPrompt, // R28
+                                conversationId: this.currentConversationId, // R28b
+                            });
+                            if (this.lastResponseId && effectiveModel.api.pattern === 'responses') {
+                                inactionRequest.previousResponseId = this.lastResponseId;
+                            }
+                            inactionRequest.conversationId = this.currentSessionId;
+                            let inactionApiResponse;
+                            if (this.retryMiddleware) {
+                                const r = await this.retryMiddleware.executeWithRetry(() => this.apiClient.sendRequest(inactionRequest, effectiveModel), 'inaction_nudge_retry');
+                                inactionApiResponse = r.result;
+                            }
+                            else {
+                                inactionApiResponse = await this.apiClient.sendRequest(inactionRequest, effectiveModel);
+                            }
+                            const inactionConverted = this.gatewayTranslation.convertResponse(inactionApiResponse.data, effectiveModel, {
+                                sessionId: this.currentSessionId,
+                                conversationId: this.currentConversationId,
+                                turnNumber: this.turnNumber + 1,
+                            });
+                            if (effectiveModel.api.pattern === 'responses' && inactionApiResponse.data?.id) {
+                                this.lastResponseId = inactionApiResponse.data.id;
+                                this.lastResponseIdProvider = effectiveModel.provider; // R20a
+                            }
+                            if (inactionConverted.messages && inactionConverted.messages.length > 0) {
+                                const inactionAssistantCanonical = inactionConverted.messages[0];
+                                const inactionAssistantMessage = {
+                                    uuid: inactionAssistantCanonical.uuid,
+                                    timestamp: inactionAssistantCanonical.timestamp,
+                                    type: 'assistant',
+                                    message: {
+                                        role: 'assistant',
+                                        content: inactionAssistantCanonical.content,
+                                    },
+                                    timeline: {
+                                        sessionId: this.currentSessionId,
+                                        conversationId: this.currentConversationId,
+                                        turnNumber: this.turnNumber + 1,
+                                    },
+                                    model: {
+                                        id: effectiveModel.id,
+                                        provider: effectiveModel.provider,
+                                        apiPattern: effectiveModel.api.pattern,
+                                    },
+                                    ...(inactionConverted.usage && { usage: inactionConverted.usage }),
+                                };
+                                this.messageHistory.push(inactionAssistantMessage);
+                                await this.historyStore.appendMessage(this.currentSessionId, inactionAssistantMessage);
+                                currentAssistantMessage = inactionAssistantMessage;
+                                currentAssistantCanonicalMessage = inactionAssistantCanonical;
+                                continue;
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
                     // EndTurn gate (Stage 1): refuse to finalize until the model has
                     // called the EndTurn attestation tool. Only arms when the turn
                     // actually used a (non-EndTurn) tool — pure-language turns bypass.
@@ -1221,8 +1365,27 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
                         if (!cv.ok)
                             stage3Violations = cv.violations;
                     }
-                    if (endTurnGateEnabled && turnUsedTools && endTurnNudges < END_TURN_MAX_NUDGES &&
-                        (!endTurnCalled || stage3Violations.length > 0)) {
+                    // Fallback observability (backlog item 1.4): when the nudge bound
+                    // is exhausted and the gate is STILL unsatisfied, the turn ships
+                    // anyway (liveness beats purity) — but that fallback-accept was
+                    // previously silent. Bank an event so the distiller can see
+                    // un-attested passes.
+                    const endTurnGateUnsatisfied = endTurnGateEnabled && turnUsedTools && (!endTurnCalled || stage3Violations.length > 0);
+                    if (endTurnGateUnsatisfied && endTurnNudges >= END_TURN_MAX_NUDGES) {
+                        const fallbackReason = !endTurnCalled ? 'missing-EndTurn' : 'coordinate-violation';
+                        console.warn(`[Orchestrator] EndTurn gate FALLBACK-ACCEPT: ${fallbackReason} after ${endTurnNudges} nudges — turn ships un-attested.`);
+                        const store = this.getDecisionStore();
+                        if (store) {
+                            void store
+                                .recordEvent({
+                                sessionId: this.currentSessionId ?? 'unknown',
+                                kind: 'endturn_gate_fallback',
+                                detail: { reason: fallbackReason, nudges: endTurnNudges, iteration: toolCallIteration },
+                            })
+                                .catch(() => { });
+                        }
+                    }
+                    if (endTurnGateUnsatisfied && endTurnNudges < END_TURN_MAX_NUDGES) {
                         endTurnNudges++;
                         const gateReason = !endTurnCalled ? 'missing-EndTurn' : 'coordinate-violation';
                         console.warn(`[Orchestrator] EndTurn gate: ${gateReason} ` +
@@ -1498,6 +1661,49 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
                 try {
                     const toolResults = await this.handleToolCalls(toolUseBlocks, abortController.signal, structuredOutputState);
                     clearTimeout(timeoutId);
+                    // Unified Outcome Ladder: observe each result's TRUE outcome (exit
+                    // codes, not wire is_error) and escalate on repeated failing
+                    // approaches. The strongest signal this batch is injected at the
+                    // signals block below; a 'break' rung ends the loop R29b-style.
+                    ladderSignal = null;
+                    {
+                        const inputById = new Map(toolUseBlocks.map((b) => [b.id, b.input]));
+                        for (const tr of toolResults) {
+                            if (tr.tool_name === 'EndTurn')
+                                continue;
+                            const input = inputById.get(tr.tool_use_id);
+                            if (input === undefined)
+                                continue;
+                            const outcome = classifyToolOutcome(tr.tool_name, input, tr);
+                            const ladder = loopLadder.observe(tr.tool_name, outcome);
+                            const sig = formatLadderSignal(tr.tool_name, ladder);
+                            if (sig)
+                                ladderSignal = sig;
+                            if (ladder.action === 'break')
+                                ladderBreak = sig;
+                            // Observability (backlog item 3): escalations are invisible in
+                            // the session record (signals inject post-persist) — bank each
+                            // rung as a decision-store event for the distiller.
+                            if (ladder.action !== 'none') {
+                                const store = this.getDecisionStore();
+                                if (store) {
+                                    void store
+                                        .recordEvent({
+                                        sessionId: this.currentSessionId ?? 'unknown',
+                                        kind: 'loop_escalation',
+                                        toolName: tr.tool_name,
+                                        detail: {
+                                            rung: ladder.action,
+                                            count: ladder.count,
+                                            approachHash: outcome.approachHash,
+                                            ...(outcome.family ? { family: outcome.family } : {}),
+                                        },
+                                    })
+                                        .catch(() => { });
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
                     // File-history snapshots (Claude Code parity — previously built but
                     // UNWIRED: FileCheckpointManager existed with zero markModified
                     // callers and its snapshot message was discarded). Mark files
@@ -1578,7 +1784,31 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
                         lastEndTurnCitations = Array.isArray(cits) ? cits : undefined; // Stage 3 baseline
                         const verdict = verifyCitationsGrounded(cits, thisTurnToolOutputs.join('\n'));
                         if (verdict.grounded) {
-                            endTurnCalled = true;
+                            // Stage 4 (backlog item 1, CORTEX_ENDTURN_REQUIREMENTS): verify
+                            // the requirements attestation — the wrong-artifact weapon.
+                            // Stage 2 verifies citations; nothing before this forced
+                            // re-reading the TASK. Rides the same nudge budget: a Stage-4
+                            // reject leaves the gate unsatisfied so the bounded
+                            // fallback-accept still guarantees liveness.
+                            if (resolveEndTurnRequirementsMode()) {
+                                const s4 = verifyRequirements({
+                                    requirements: etUse?.input?.requirements,
+                                    verification: etUse?.input?.verification,
+                                    userTaskText: this.lastRealUserText(),
+                                    turnUsedMutatingTool,
+                                });
+                                if (s4.ok) {
+                                    endTurnCalled = true;
+                                }
+                                else {
+                                    tr.is_error = true;
+                                    tr.content = s4.nudge;
+                                    console.warn('[Orchestrator] Stage4: EndTurn rejected — requirements attestation unsatisfied.');
+                                }
+                            }
+                            else {
+                                endTurnCalled = true;
+                            }
                         }
                         else {
                             const bad = verdict.ungrounded
@@ -1726,14 +1956,43 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
                     const progressStalled = isToolProgressStalled(recentToolCalls);
                     const budgetSignal = computeToolBudgetSignal(effectiveToolBudgetCount, TOOL_BUDGET_SOFT, progressStalled);
                     const diversityWarning = this.getDiversityWarning(toolCallCounts);
-                    if (budgetSignal || diversityWarning) {
-                        const signals = [budgetSignal, diversityWarning].filter(Boolean).join('\n');
+                    if (budgetSignal || diversityWarning || ladderSignal) {
+                        const signals = [budgetSignal, diversityWarning, ladderSignal].filter(Boolean).join('\n');
                         const lastMsg = this.messageHistory[this.messageHistory.length - 1];
                         if (lastMsg?.message?.content?.[0]?.type === 'tool_result') {
                             const block = lastMsg.message.content[0];
                             const existing = typeof block.content === 'string' ? block.content : JSON.stringify(block.content);
                             block.content = existing + '\n\n' + signals;
+                            // Observability (backlog item 3, micro-suite defect #4): this
+                            // mutation happens AFTER the tool_result was persisted — the
+                            // durable session lacks the steering the model saw. Bank a
+                            // steering_injected event so harvest/distill sees it. Session rows
+                            // stay append-only (never rewritten).
+                            const store = this.getDecisionStore();
+                            if (store) {
+                                const kinds = [
+                                    budgetSignal ? 'budget' : null,
+                                    diversityWarning ? 'diversity' : null,
+                                    ladderSignal ? 'ladder' : null,
+                                ].filter(Boolean);
+                                void store
+                                    .recordEvent({
+                                    sessionId: this.currentSessionId ?? 'unknown',
+                                    kind: 'steering_injected',
+                                    detail: { kinds, iteration: toolCallIteration, chars: signals.length },
+                                })
+                                    .catch(() => { });
+                            }
                         }
+                        ladderSignal = null; // consumed — never re-inject on later iterations
+                    }
+                    // Ladder break (teach-then-break): the break instruction is already in
+                    // the tool result above; exit the loop R29b-style so the post-loop
+                    // synthesis net produces an honest final answer — never the blunt
+                    // toolCallIteration=MAX turn-kill of the exact-match detector.
+                    if (ladderBreak) {
+                        console.warn('[Orchestrator] LoopLadder break: repeated failing approach — forcing synthesis.');
+                        break;
                     }
                     // R29b hard cap: a weaker model may ignore the firm budget reminders
                     // and keep spinning (benchmark: deepseek 46 successful local calls,
@@ -1782,7 +2041,11 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
                     // full profile applies from here. Rebuild from allTools because the
                     // armed anchor narrowed toolsToUse at assembly. (When deferred loading
                     // is on, the re-filter block below performs the rebuild.)
-                    if (!this.anchorLifted && resolveToolAnchor(process.env, this.cardAnchorProfile)) {
+                    if (!this.anchorLifted &&
+                        resolveToolAnchor(process.env, this.cardAnchorProfile) &&
+                        // Persist frame (backlog item 5): the anchored surface IS the session
+                        // surface — never lift, never deliver the deferred corpus.
+                        resolveFrameProfile(process.env, this.cardFrameProfile) !== 'persist') {
                         this.anchorLifted = true;
                         if (!(this.config.enableDeferredToolLoading && !isPTCEnabled)) {
                             toolsToUse = allTools;
@@ -2564,6 +2827,7 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
         // Card-level home door: capture the active card's anchorProfile (env
         // CORTEX_TOOL_ANCHOR overrides inside the resolver; env 'none' disables).
         this.cardAnchorProfile = effectiveModel.anchorProfile ?? null;
+        this.cardFrameProfile = effectiveModel.frameProfile ?? null;
         // Thread the CARD's anchor to the executors (per-orchestrator config, by
         // reference) so framing-aware executor behavior (ShellTool steering
         // default) is model-card/registry-scoped, not process-global env.
@@ -2766,7 +3030,12 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
         let toolCallIteration = 0;
         let totalToolErrors = 0;
         let emptyResponseRetryUsed = false; // R32: parity with sendMessage R18b guard
+        let inactionNudgeUsed = false; // Inaction guard (backlog item 2) — streaming parity
         const allToolCalls = [];
+        // Unified Outcome Ladder (streaming parity — see sendMessage).
+        const loopLadder = new LoopLadder();
+        let ladderBreak = null;
+        let ladderSignal = null;
         const allExecutedToolUses = [];
         const toolCallCounts = new Map();
         // DEBUG: Log canonical message content structure for tool extraction (streaming path)
@@ -2933,6 +3202,136 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
                         console.warn(`[Orchestrator Streaming] R32 retry failed:`, retryErr);
                     }
                 }
+                // Inaction guard (backlog item 2 — streaming parity with sendMessage).
+                // Actless-verbose first-turn response in a tool-capable request: one
+                // bounded act-first steering retry. Default OFF (CORTEX_INACTION_NUDGE).
+                {
+                    const responseChars = Array.isArray(currentAssistantCanonicalMessage.content)
+                        ? currentAssistantCanonicalMessage.content
+                            .map((b) => b?.type === 'text' ? (b.text || '') : b?.type === 'thinking' ? (b.thinking || '') : '')
+                            .join('').length
+                        : String(currentAssistantCanonicalMessage.content ?? '').length;
+                    if (hasVisibleText &&
+                        shouldNudgeInaction({
+                            responseChars,
+                            toolUseBlocksThisResponse: 0,
+                            executedToolCallsThisTurn: allExecutedToolUses.length,
+                            toolsOffered: toolsToUse.length,
+                            turnNumber: this.turnNumber,
+                            alreadyNudged: inactionNudgeUsed,
+                        })) {
+                        inactionNudgeUsed = true;
+                        console.warn(`[Orchestrator Streaming] Inaction guard: actless-verbose response (${responseChars} chars, 0 tool calls). ` +
+                            `Injecting act-first nudge (single retry).`);
+                        {
+                            const store = this.getDecisionStore();
+                            if (store) {
+                                void store
+                                    .recordEvent({
+                                    sessionId: this.currentSessionId ?? 'unknown',
+                                    kind: 'inaction_nudge',
+                                    detail: { responseChars, turnNumber: this.turnNumber, streaming: true },
+                                })
+                                    .catch(() => { });
+                            }
+                        }
+                        const inactionUserMessage = {
+                            uuid: uuidv4(),
+                            timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+                            type: 'user',
+                            message: {
+                                role: 'user',
+                                content: [{
+                                        type: 'text',
+                                        text: `<system-reminder>${formatInactionNudge()}</system-reminder>`,
+                                    }],
+                            },
+                            timeline: {
+                                sessionId: this.currentSessionId,
+                                conversationId: this.currentConversationId,
+                                turnNumber: this.turnNumber + 1,
+                            },
+                            model: {
+                                id: effectiveModel.id,
+                                provider: effectiveModel.provider,
+                                apiPattern: effectiveModel.api.pattern,
+                            },
+                        };
+                        this.messageHistory.push(inactionUserMessage);
+                        await this.historyStore.appendMessage(this.currentSessionId, inactionUserMessage);
+                        try {
+                            await this.ensureHistoryFitsModel(effectiveModel);
+                            const retryCanonicalHistory = this.convertToCanonicalMessages([...this.messageHistory]);
+                            const retryRequest = this.gatewayTranslation.prepareRequest(retryCanonicalHistory, toolsToUse, effectiveModel, {
+                                temperature: options.parameters?.temperature,
+                                maxTokens: options.parameters?.maxTokens,
+                                topP: options.parameters?.topP,
+                                reasoningEffort: options.parameters?.reasoningEffort,
+                                stream: false,
+                                staticSystemPrompt: this.currentStaticSystemPrompt,
+                                conversationId: this.currentConversationId,
+                            });
+                            if (this.lastResponseId && effectiveModel.api.pattern === 'responses') {
+                                retryRequest.previousResponseId = this.lastResponseId;
+                            }
+                            retryRequest.conversationId = this.currentSessionId;
+                            let retryApiResponse;
+                            if (this.retryMiddleware) {
+                                const retryResult = await this.retryMiddleware.executeWithRetry(() => this.apiClient.sendRequest(retryRequest, effectiveModel), 'inaction_nudge_retry');
+                                retryApiResponse = retryResult.result;
+                            }
+                            else {
+                                retryApiResponse = await this.apiClient.sendRequest(retryRequest, effectiveModel);
+                            }
+                            const retryConverted = this.gatewayTranslation.convertResponse(retryApiResponse.data, effectiveModel, {
+                                sessionId: this.currentSessionId,
+                                conversationId: this.currentConversationId,
+                                turnNumber: this.turnNumber + 1,
+                            });
+                            if (effectiveModel.api.pattern === 'responses' && retryApiResponse.data?.id) {
+                                this.lastResponseId = retryApiResponse.data.id;
+                                this.lastResponseIdProvider = effectiveModel.provider;
+                            }
+                            if (retryConverted.messages && retryConverted.messages.length > 0) {
+                                const retryAssistantCanonical = retryConverted.messages[0];
+                                const retryAssistantMessage = {
+                                    uuid: retryAssistantCanonical.uuid,
+                                    timestamp: retryAssistantCanonical.timestamp,
+                                    type: 'assistant',
+                                    message: {
+                                        role: 'assistant',
+                                        content: retryAssistantCanonical.content,
+                                    },
+                                    timeline: {
+                                        sessionId: this.currentSessionId,
+                                        conversationId: this.currentConversationId,
+                                        turnNumber: this.turnNumber + 1,
+                                    },
+                                    model: {
+                                        id: effectiveModel.id,
+                                        provider: effectiveModel.provider,
+                                        apiPattern: effectiveModel.api.pattern,
+                                    },
+                                    ...(retryConverted.usage && { usage: retryConverted.usage }),
+                                };
+                                this.messageHistory.push(retryAssistantMessage);
+                                await this.historyStore.appendMessage(this.currentSessionId, retryAssistantMessage);
+                                currentAssistantCanonicalMessage = retryAssistantCanonical;
+                                const retryText = retryAssistantCanonical.content
+                                    .filter((b) => b && b.type === 'text' && typeof b.text === 'string')
+                                    .map((b) => b.text)
+                                    .join('');
+                                if (retryText.trim().length > 0) {
+                                    yield { type: 'text_delta', delta: retryText };
+                                }
+                                continue; // re-enter loop — retry may have produced tool_use
+                            }
+                        }
+                        catch (retryErr) {
+                            console.warn(`[Orchestrator Streaming] Inaction-nudge retry failed:`, retryErr);
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
                 hasToolUse = false;
                 break;
             }
@@ -2972,6 +3371,45 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
                 // Execute tools (reuse existing method)
                 const toolResults = await this.handleToolCalls(toolUseBlocks, abortController.signal, structuredOutputState);
                 clearTimeout(timeoutId);
+                // Unified Outcome Ladder (streaming parity with sendMessage).
+                ladderSignal = null;
+                {
+                    const inputById = new Map(toolUseBlocks.map((b) => [b.id, b.input]));
+                    for (const tr of toolResults) {
+                        if (tr.tool_name === 'EndTurn')
+                            continue;
+                        const input = inputById.get(tr.tool_use_id);
+                        if (input === undefined)
+                            continue;
+                        const outcome = classifyToolOutcome(tr.tool_name, input, tr);
+                        const ladder = loopLadder.observe(tr.tool_name, outcome);
+                        const sig = formatLadderSignal(tr.tool_name, ladder);
+                        if (sig)
+                            ladderSignal = sig;
+                        if (ladder.action === 'break')
+                            ladderBreak = sig;
+                        // Observability (backlog item 3): streaming parity — bank each
+                        // escalation rung as a decision-store event.
+                        if (ladder.action !== 'none') {
+                            const store = this.getDecisionStore();
+                            if (store) {
+                                void store
+                                    .recordEvent({
+                                    sessionId: this.currentSessionId ?? 'unknown',
+                                    kind: 'loop_escalation',
+                                    toolName: tr.tool_name,
+                                    detail: {
+                                        rung: ladder.action,
+                                        count: ladder.count,
+                                        approachHash: outcome.approachHash,
+                                        ...(outcome.family ? { family: outcome.family } : {}),
+                                    },
+                                })
+                                    .catch(() => { });
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
                 // R21 (2026-05-15): same fix as non-streaming path — count consecutive
                 // ITERATIONS WITH ZERO SUCCESSFUL TOOLS, not cumulative individual
                 // failures. Reset whenever at least one tool succeeded.
@@ -3123,14 +3561,38 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
                 const progressStalled = isToolProgressStalled(allToolCalls);
                 const budgetSignal = computeToolBudgetSignal(effectiveToolBudgetCount, TOOL_BUDGET_SOFT, progressStalled);
                 const diversityWarning = this.getDiversityWarning(toolCallCounts);
-                if (budgetSignal || diversityWarning) {
-                    const signals = [budgetSignal, diversityWarning].filter(Boolean).join('\n');
+                if (budgetSignal || diversityWarning || ladderSignal) {
+                    const signals = [budgetSignal, diversityWarning, ladderSignal].filter(Boolean).join('\n');
                     const lastMsg = this.messageHistory[this.messageHistory.length - 1];
                     if (lastMsg?.message?.content?.[0]?.type === 'tool_result') {
                         const block = lastMsg.message.content[0];
                         const existing = typeof block.content === 'string' ? block.content : JSON.stringify(block.content);
                         block.content = existing + '\n\n' + signals;
+                        // Observability (backlog item 3): post-persist mutation — bank a
+                        // steering_injected event (streaming parity).
+                        const store = this.getDecisionStore();
+                        if (store) {
+                            const kinds = [
+                                budgetSignal ? 'budget' : null,
+                                diversityWarning ? 'diversity' : null,
+                                ladderSignal ? 'ladder' : null,
+                            ].filter(Boolean);
+                            void store
+                                .recordEvent({
+                                sessionId: this.currentSessionId ?? 'unknown',
+                                kind: 'steering_injected',
+                                detail: { kinds, iteration: toolCallIteration, chars: signals.length, streaming: true },
+                            })
+                                .catch(() => { });
+                        }
                     }
+                    ladderSignal = null; // consumed
+                }
+                // Ladder break (streaming parity): instruction already injected above;
+                // exit R29b-style so the streaming synthesis net closes the turn.
+                if (ladderBreak) {
+                    console.warn('[Orchestrator Streaming] LoopLadder break: repeated failing approach — forcing synthesis.');
+                    break;
                 }
                 // R29b hard cap (streaming parity): force-stop at 2x soft budget;
                 // the post-loop R29a streaming net then synthesizes a deliverable.
@@ -3170,7 +3632,11 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
                 // Proactive context management - ensure history fits before streaming continuation
                 await this.ensureHistoryFitsModel(effectiveModel);
                 // Anchor lift — streaming mirror of the sendMessage continuation path.
-                if (!this.anchorLifted && resolveToolAnchor(process.env, this.cardAnchorProfile)) {
+                if (!this.anchorLifted &&
+                    resolveToolAnchor(process.env, this.cardAnchorProfile) &&
+                    // Persist frame (backlog item 5): the anchored surface IS the session
+                    // surface — never lift, never deliver the deferred corpus.
+                    resolveFrameProfile(process.env, this.cardFrameProfile) !== 'persist') {
                     this.anchorLifted = true;
                     if (!(this.config.enableDeferredToolLoading && !isPTCEnabled)) {
                         toolsToUse = allTools;
@@ -5886,6 +6352,28 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
         }
         return this.routerMatrix;
     }
+    /** The turn's real user prompt text — the most recent user message that is
+     *  neither a tool_result carrier nor an injected <system-reminder> steering
+     *  message. Used by EndTurn Stage 4 to judge task shape. Empty string when
+     *  none found (Stage 4 then never fires its task-shape branch). */
+    lastRealUserText() {
+        for (let i = this.messageHistory.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+            const m = this.messageHistory[i];
+            const isUser = m?.type === 'user' || m?.message?.role === 'user';
+            if (!isUser)
+                continue;
+            const content = m?.message?.content;
+            if (Array.isArray(content) && content.some((b) => b?.type === 'tool_result'))
+                continue;
+            const text = Array.isArray(content)
+                ? content.filter((b) => b?.type === 'text').map((b) => b.text || '').join('\n')
+                : typeof content === 'string' ? content : '';
+            if (!text.trim() || text.trimStart().startsWith('<system-reminder>'))
+                continue;
+            return text;
+        }
+        return '';
+    }
     getDecisionStore() {
         if (this.isRecordingEnabled() === false && this.isLookupEnabled() === false) {
             return undefined;
@@ -5915,7 +6403,14 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
         const store = this.getDecisionStore();
         if (!store)
             return result;
-        const inputHash = stableInputHash(toolUse.input);
+        // Unified outcome layer (docs/UNIFIED_OUTCOME_LADDER.md): ONE failure
+        // semantics for recording + reminders. Critically, a bash command that
+        // ran and exited nonzero is a FAILURE here even though its tool result
+        // is not is_error on the wire (ShellTool returns success results for
+        // exit!=0) — previously those loops were recorded as successes, so the
+        // prior/family reminders never fired on the dominant thrash mode.
+        const outcome = classifyToolOutcome(toolUse.name, toolUse.input, result);
+        const inputHash = outcome.exactHash;
         let augmented = result;
         // 1. Lookup priors (read side) — only emits reminder when failures exist.
         //    Fetch the 3 most recent matching decisions so the formatter can
@@ -5930,6 +6425,21 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
                 if (reminder && result.content) {
                     augmented = { ...result, content: reminder + result.content };
                 }
+                else if (outcome.status !== 'ok' && result.content) {
+                    // Family lens (AHE borrow): no exact-input prior fired, but the
+                    // CURRENT failure may be the latest of a repeated-approach family
+                    // across different inputs — hint once the family has >=2 prior
+                    // failures spanning >=2 distinct inputs. Gated on the UNIFIED
+                    // outcome (not is_error) so failing-command loops are covered.
+                    const family = outcome.family ?? classifyErrorFamily(String(result.content).slice(0, 200));
+                    if (family) {
+                        const ff = await store.familyFailures(toolUse.name, family);
+                        const famReminder = formatFamilyReminder(toolUse.name, family, ff.count, ff.distinctInputs, ff.recent);
+                        if (famReminder) {
+                            augmented = { ...result, content: famReminder + result.content };
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
             }
             catch (err) {
                 if (this.config.debug) {
@@ -5945,8 +6455,10 @@ export class CortexOrchestrator {
                     sessionId: this.currentSessionId ?? 'unknown',
                     toolName: toolUse.name,
                     input: toolUse.input,
-                    success: !result.is_error,
-                    ...(result.is_error
+                    // Unified outcome: exit!=0 commands are FAILURES for the store even
+                    // though their wire result is not is_error (see outcome above).
+                    success: outcome.status === 'ok',
+                    ...(outcome.status !== 'ok'
                         ? { errorSnippet: String(result.content).slice(0, 200) }
                         : {}),
                 });