@yemi33/minions 0.1.60 → 0.1.61

package/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 0.1.61 (2026-03-30)
+
+### Engine
+- engine.js
+- engine/cleanup.js
+- engine/dispatch.js
+- engine/timeout.js
+
+### Other
+- test/unit.test.js
+
 ## 0.1.60 (2026-03-30)
 
 ### Engine

package/engine/cleanup.js

@@ -0,0 +1,393 @@
+/**
+ * engine/cleanup.js — Periodic cleanup: temp files, worktrees, zombies, migrations.
+ * Extracted from engine.js for modularity. No logic changes.
+ */
+
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+const shared = require('./shared');
+const queries = require('./queries');
+
+const { exec, execSilent } = shared;
+const { safeJson, safeWrite, safeReadDir, getProjects, projectWorkItemsPath, projectPrPath,
+  sanitizeBranch, KB_CATEGORIES } = shared;
+const { getDispatch, getAgentStatus } = queries;
+
+const MINIONS_DIR = shared.MINIONS_DIR;
+const AGENTS_DIR = queries.AGENTS_DIR;
+const ENGINE_DIR = queries.ENGINE_DIR;
+const PRD_DIR = queries.PRD_DIR;
+const PLANS_DIR = queries.PLANS_DIR;
+
+// Lazy require to break circular dependency with engine.js
+let _engine = null;
+function engine() { if (!_engine) _engine = require('../engine'); return _engine; }
+function log(level, msg, meta) { return engine().log(level, msg, meta); }
+function ts() { return engine().ts(); }
+
+// Lazy require for dispatch module
+let _dispatch = null;
+function dispatchModule() { if (!_dispatch) _dispatch = require('./dispatch'); return _dispatch; }
+
+// ─── Cleanup Orchestrator ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+function runCleanup(config, verbose = false) {
+  const activeProcesses = engine().activeProcesses;
+  const projects = getProjects(config);
+  let cleaned = { tempFiles: 0, liveOutputs: 0, worktrees: 0, zombies: 0 };
+
+  // 1. Clean stale temp prompt/sysprompt files (older than 1 hour)
+  const oneHourAgo = Date.now() - 3600000;
+  try {
+    const tmpDir = path.join(ENGINE_DIR, 'tmp');
+    const scanDirs = [ENGINE_DIR, ...(fs.existsSync(tmpDir) ? [tmpDir] : [])];
+    for (const dir of scanDirs) {
+      for (const f of fs.readdirSync(dir)) {
+        if (f.startsWith('prompt-') || f.startsWith('sysprompt-') || f.startsWith('tmp-sysprompt-')) {
+          const fp = path.join(dir, f);
+          try {
+            const stat = fs.statSync(fp);
+            if (stat.mtimeMs < oneHourAgo) {
+              fs.unlinkSync(fp);
+              cleaned.tempFiles++;
+            }
+          } catch { /* cleanup */ }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  } catch (e) { log('warn', 'cleanup temp files: ' + e.message); }
+
+  // 2. Clean live-output.log for idle agents (not currently working)
+  for (const [agentId] of Object.entries(config.agents || {})) {
+    const status = getAgentStatus(agentId);
+    if (status.status !== 'working') {
+      const livePath = path.join(AGENTS_DIR, agentId, 'live-output.log');
+      if (fs.existsSync(livePath)) {
+        try {
+          const stat = fs.statSync(livePath);
+          if (stat.mtimeMs < oneHourAgo) {
+            fs.unlinkSync(livePath);
+            cleaned.liveOutputs++;
+          }
+        } catch { /* cleanup */ }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // 3. Clean git worktrees for merged/abandoned PRs
+  for (const project of projects) {
+    const root = project.localPath ? path.resolve(project.localPath) : null;
+    if (!root || !fs.existsSync(root)) continue;
+
+    const worktreeRoot = path.resolve(root, config.engine?.worktreeRoot || '../worktrees');
+    if (!fs.existsSync(worktreeRoot)) continue;
+
+    // Get PRs for this project
+    const prs = safeJson(projectPrPath(project)) || [];
+    const mergedBranches = new Set();
+    for (const pr of prs) {
+      if (pr.status === 'merged' || pr.status === 'abandoned' || pr.status === 'completed') {
+        if (pr.branch) mergedBranches.add(pr.branch);
+      }
+    }
+
+    // List worktrees — collect info for age-based + cap-based cleanup
+    const MAX_WORKTREES = 10;
+    try {
+      const dirs = fs.readdirSync(worktreeRoot);
+      const wtEntries = []; // { dir, wtPath, mtime, shouldClean, isProtected }
+      const dispatch = getDispatch();
+
+      for (const dir of dirs) {
+        const wtPath = path.join(worktreeRoot, dir);
+        try { if (!fs.statSync(wtPath).isDirectory()) continue; } catch { continue; }
+
+        let shouldClean = false;
+        let isProtected = false;
+
+        // Check if this worktree's branch is merged/abandoned
+        // Use sanitized exact match on the branch portion of the dir name (format: {slug}-{branch}-{suffix})
+        const dirLower = dir.toLowerCase();
+        for (const branch of mergedBranches) {
+          const branchSlug = sanitizeBranch(branch).toLowerCase();
+          if (dirLower === branchSlug || dirLower.includes(branchSlug + '-') || dirLower.endsWith('-' + branchSlug)) {
+            shouldClean = true;
+            break;
+          }
+        }
+
+        // Check if referenced by active/pending dispatch (use sanitized branch comparison)
+        const isReferenced = [...dispatch.pending, ...(dispatch.active || [])].some(d => {
+          if (!d.meta?.branch) return false;
+          const dispBranch = sanitizeBranch(d.meta.branch).toLowerCase();
+          return dirLower.includes(dispBranch);
+        });
+        if (isReferenced) isProtected = true;
+
+        // Also clean worktrees older than 2 hours with no active dispatch referencing them
+        let mtime = Date.now();
+        if (!shouldClean) {
+          try {
+            const stat = fs.statSync(wtPath);
+            mtime = stat.mtimeMs;
+            const ageMs = Date.now() - mtime;
+            if (ageMs > 7200000 && !isReferenced) { // 2 hours
+              shouldClean = true;
+            }
+          } catch { /* optional */ }
+        }
+
+        // Skip worktrees for active shared-branch plans (check both prd/ and plans/ for .json PRDs)
+        if (shouldClean || !isProtected) {
+          try {
+            for (const checkDir of [PRD_DIR, path.join(MINIONS_DIR, 'plans')]) {
+              if (!fs.existsSync(checkDir)) continue;
+              for (const pf of fs.readdirSync(checkDir).filter(f => f.endsWith('.json'))) {
+                const plan = safeJson(path.join(checkDir, pf));
+                if (plan?.branch_strategy === 'shared-branch' && plan?.feature_branch && plan?.status !== 'completed') {
+                  const planBranch = sanitizeBranch(plan.feature_branch).toLowerCase();
+                  if (dirLower.includes(planBranch)) {
+                    isProtected = true;
+                    if (shouldClean) {
+                      shouldClean = false;
+                      if (verbose) console.log(`  Skipping worktree ${dir}: active shared-branch plan`);
+                    }
+                    break;
+                  }
+                }
+              }
+              if (isProtected) break;
+            }
+          } catch (e) { log('warn', 'check shared-branch protection: ' + e.message); }
+        }
+
+        wtEntries.push({ dir, wtPath, mtime, shouldClean, isProtected });
+      }
+
+      // Enforce max worktree cap — if over limit, mark oldest unprotected for cleanup
+      const surviving = wtEntries.filter(e => !e.shouldClean && !e.isProtected);
+      if (surviving.length + wtEntries.filter(e => e.isProtected).length > MAX_WORKTREES) {
+        // Sort oldest first
+        surviving.sort((a, b) => a.mtime - b.mtime);
+        const excess = surviving.length + wtEntries.filter(e => e.isProtected).length - MAX_WORKTREES;
+        for (let i = 0; i < Math.min(excess, surviving.length); i++) {
+          surviving[i].shouldClean = true;
+          if (verbose) console.log(`  Marking worktree ${surviving[i].dir} for cap cleanup (${MAX_WORKTREES} max)`);
+        }
+      }
+
+      // Remove all marked worktrees
+      for (const entry of wtEntries) {
+        if (entry.shouldClean) {
+          try {
+            exec(`git worktree remove "${entry.wtPath}" --force`, { cwd: root, stdio: 'pipe' });
+            cleaned.worktrees++;
+            if (verbose) console.log(`  Removed worktree: ${entry.wtPath}`);
+          } catch (e) {
+            if (verbose) console.log(`  Failed to remove worktree ${entry.wtPath}: ${e.message}`);
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    } catch (e) { log('warn', 'cleanup worktrees: ' + e.message); }
+  }
+
+  // 4. Kill zombie claude processes not tracked by the engine
+  // List all node processes, check if any are running spawn-agent.js for our minions
+  try {
+    const dispatch = getDispatch();
+    const activePids = new Set();
+    for (const [, info] of activeProcesses.entries()) {
+      if (info.proc?.pid) activePids.add(info.proc.pid);
+    }
+
+    // Clean individual orphaned processes — no matching active dispatch
+    const activeIds = new Set((dispatch.active || []).map(d => d.id));
+    for (const [id, info] of activeProcesses.entries()) {
+      if (!activeIds.has(id)) {
+        try { if (info.proc) info.proc.kill('SIGTERM'); } catch { /* process may be dead */ }
+        activeProcesses.delete(id);
+        cleaned.zombies++;
+      }
+    }
+  } catch (e) { log('warn', 'cleanup zombie processes: ' + e.message); }
+
+  // 5. Clean spawn-debug.log
+  try { fs.unlinkSync(path.join(ENGINE_DIR, 'spawn-debug.log')); } catch { /* cleanup */ }
+
+  // 6. Prune old output archive files (keep last 30 per agent)
+  for (const agentId of Object.keys(config.agents || {})) {
+    const agentDir = path.join(MINIONS_DIR, 'agents', agentId);
+    if (!fs.existsSync(agentDir)) continue;
+    try {
+      const outputFiles = fs.readdirSync(agentDir)
+        .filter(f => f.startsWith('output-') && f.endsWith('.log') && f !== 'output.log')
+        .map(f => ({ name: f, mtime: fs.statSync(path.join(agentDir, f)).mtimeMs }))
+        .sort((a, b) => b.mtime - a.mtime);
+      for (const old of outputFiles.slice(30)) {
+        try { fs.unlinkSync(path.join(agentDir, old.name)); cleaned.files++; } catch { /* cleanup */ }
+      }
+    } catch (e) { log('warn', 'prune output archives: ' + e.message); }
+  }
+
+  // 7. Prune orphaned dispatch entries — items whose source work item no longer exists
+  cleaned.orphanedDispatches = 0;
+  try {
+    const dispatch = getDispatch();
+    // Collect all work item IDs across all sources
+    const allWiIds = new Set();
+    try {
+      const central = safeJson(path.join(MINIONS_DIR, 'work-items.json')) || [];
+      central.forEach(w => allWiIds.add(w.id));
+    } catch (e) { log('warn', 'read central work items for orphan check: ' + e.message); }
+    for (const project of projects) {
+      try {
+        const projItems = safeJson(projectWorkItemsPath(project)) || [];
+        projItems.forEach(w => allWiIds.add(w.id));
+      } catch (e) { log('warn', 'read project work items for orphan check: ' + e.message); }
+    }
+
+    let changed = false;
+    for (const queue of ['pending', 'active']) {
+      if (!dispatch[queue]) continue;
+      const before = dispatch[queue].length;
+      dispatch[queue] = dispatch[queue].filter(d => {
+        const itemId = d.meta?.item?.id;
+        if (!itemId) return true; // keep entries without item tracking
+        return allWiIds.has(itemId);
+      });
+      const removed = before - dispatch[queue].length;
+      if (removed > 0) {
+        cleaned.orphanedDispatches += removed;
+        changed = true;
+      }
+    }
+    if (changed) {
+      const { mutateDispatch } = dispatchModule();
+      mutateDispatch((dp) => {
+        for (const queue of ['pending', 'active']) {
+          if (!dp[queue]) continue;
+          dp[queue] = dp[queue].filter(d => {
+            const itemId = d.meta?.item?.id;
+            if (!itemId) return true;
+            return allWiIds.has(itemId);
+          });
+        }
+      });
+    }
+  } catch (e) { log('warn', 'prune orphaned dispatches: ' + e.message); }
+
+  if (cleaned.tempFiles + cleaned.liveOutputs + cleaned.worktrees + cleaned.zombies + (cleaned.files || 0) + cleaned.orphanedDispatches > 0) {
+    log('info', `Cleanup: ${cleaned.tempFiles} temp, ${cleaned.liveOutputs} live outputs, ${cleaned.worktrees} worktrees, ${cleaned.zombies} zombies, ${cleaned.files || 0} archives, ${cleaned.orphanedDispatches} orphaned dispatches`);
+  }
+
+  // 8. Clean swept KB files older than 7 days
+  try {
+    const sweptDir = path.join(MINIONS_DIR, 'knowledge', '_swept');
+    if (fs.existsSync(sweptDir)) {
+      const sevenDaysAgo = Date.now() - 7 * 86400000;
+      for (const f of fs.readdirSync(sweptDir)) {
+        try {
+          const fp = path.join(sweptDir, f);
+          if (fs.statSync(fp).mtimeMs < sevenDaysAgo) {
+            fs.unlinkSync(fp);
+            if (!cleaned.sweptKb) cleaned.sweptKb = 0;
+            cleaned.sweptKb++;
+          }
+        } catch { /* cleanup */ }
+      }
+    }
+  } catch (e) { log('warn', 'cleanup swept KB files: ' + e.message); }
+
+  // 9. KB watchdog — restore deleted KB files from git if count dropped vs checkpoint
+  try {
+    const checkpoint = safeJson(path.join(ENGINE_DIR, 'kb-checkpoint.json'));
+    if (checkpoint && checkpoint.count > 0) {
+      const cats = KB_CATEGORIES;
+      const knowledgeDir = path.join(MINIONS_DIR, 'knowledge');
+      let current = 0;
+      for (const cat of cats) {
+        const d = path.join(knowledgeDir, cat);
+        if (fs.existsSync(d)) current += fs.readdirSync(d).length;
+      }
+      if (current < checkpoint.count) {
+        log('warn', `KB watchdog: file count dropped ${checkpoint.count} → ${current}, restoring from git`);
+        try {
+          const trackedCheck = execSilent('git ls-tree --name-only HEAD -- knowledge', { cwd: MINIONS_DIR }).toString().trim();
+          if (!trackedCheck) {
+            log('warn', 'KB watchdog: knowledge/ is not tracked in git HEAD — skipping restore');
+          } else {
+            execSilent('git checkout HEAD -- knowledge', { cwd: MINIONS_DIR });
+            log('info', 'KB watchdog: restored knowledge/ from git HEAD');
+          }
+        } catch (err) {
+          log('error', `KB watchdog: git restore failed — ${err.message}`);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  } catch (e) { log('warn', 'KB watchdog check: ' + e.message); }
+
+  // 6. Migrate legacy work-item statuses to canonical values
+  // in-pr, implemented, complete → done (one-time correction per item)
+  const LEGACY_DONE_STATUSES = new Set(['in-pr', 'implemented', 'complete']);
+  for (const project of projects) {
+    try {
+      const wiPath = projectWorkItemsPath(project);
+      const items = safeJson(wiPath) || [];
+      let migrated = 0;
+      for (const item of items) {
+        if (LEGACY_DONE_STATUSES.has(item.status)) {
+          item.status = 'done';
+          migrated++;
+        }
+      }
+      if (migrated > 0) {
+        safeWrite(wiPath, items);
+        log('info', `Migrated ${migrated} legacy status(es) → done in ${project.name} work items`);
+      }
+    } catch (e) { log('warn', 'migrate legacy statuses: ' + e.message); }
+  }
+  // Central work items
+  try {
+    const centralPath = path.join(MINIONS_DIR, 'work-items.json');
+    const centralItems = safeJson(centralPath) || [];
+    let migrated = 0;
+    for (const item of centralItems) {
+      if (LEGACY_DONE_STATUSES.has(item.status)) {
+        item.status = 'done';
+        migrated++;
+      }
+    }
+    if (migrated > 0) {
+      safeWrite(centralPath, centralItems);
+      log('info', `Migrated ${migrated} legacy status(es) → done in central work items`);
+    }
+  } catch (e) { log('warn', 'migrate central legacy statuses: ' + e.message); }
+  // PRD items (missing_features[].status)
+  try {
+    const prdFiles = fs.readdirSync(PRD_DIR).filter(f => f.endsWith('.json'));
+    for (const pf of prdFiles) {
+      const prdPath = path.join(PRD_DIR, pf);
+      const prd = safeJson(prdPath);
+      if (!prd?.missing_features) continue;
+      let migrated = 0;
+      for (const feat of prd.missing_features) {
+        if (LEGACY_DONE_STATUSES.has(feat.status)) {
+          feat.status = 'done';
+          migrated++;
+        }
+      }
+      if (migrated > 0) {
+        safeWrite(prdPath, prd);
+        log('info', `Migrated ${migrated} legacy PRD item status(es) → done in ${pf}`);
+      }
+    }
+  } catch (e) { log('warn', 'migrate PRD legacy statuses: ' + e.message); }
+
+  return cleaned;
+}
+
+// ─── Exports ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+module.exports = {
+  runCleanup,
+};

package/engine/dispatch.js

@@ -0,0 +1,207 @@
+/**
+ * engine/dispatch.js — Dispatch queue management: add, complete, mutate, alerts.
+ * Extracted from engine.js for modularity. No logic changes.
+ */
+
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+const shared = require('./shared');
+const queries = require('./queries');
+const { setCooldownFailure } = require('./cooldown');
+
+const { safeJson, safeWrite, safeReadDir, mutateJsonFileLocked,
+  getProjects, projectWorkItemsPath } = shared;
+const { getConfig, getDispatch, DISPATCH_PATH, INBOX_DIR } = queries;
+
+const MINIONS_DIR = shared.MINIONS_DIR;
+
+// Lazy require to break circular dependency with engine.js
+let _lifecycle = null;
+function lifecycle() { if (!_lifecycle) _lifecycle = require('./lifecycle'); return _lifecycle; }
+
+// ─── Engine utilities (lazy require to avoid circular deps) ──────────────────
+let _engine = null;
+function engine() { if (!_engine) _engine = require('../engine'); return _engine; }
+function log(level, msg, meta) { return engine().log(level, msg, meta); }
+function ts() { return engine().ts(); }
+function dateStamp() { return new Date().toISOString().slice(0, 10); }
+
+// ─── Dispatch Mutation ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+function mutateDispatch(mutator) {
+  const defaultDispatch = { pending: [], active: [], completed: [] };
+  return mutateJsonFileLocked(DISPATCH_PATH, (dispatch) => {
+    dispatch.pending = Array.isArray(dispatch.pending) ? dispatch.pending : [];
+    dispatch.active = Array.isArray(dispatch.active) ? dispatch.active : [];
+    dispatch.completed = Array.isArray(dispatch.completed) ? dispatch.completed : [];
+    return mutator(dispatch) || dispatch;
+  }, { defaultValue: defaultDispatch });
+}
+
+// ─── Add to Dispatch ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+function addToDispatch(item) {
+  item.id = item.id || `${item.agent}-${item.type}-${shared.uid()}`;
+  item.created_at = ts();
+  mutateDispatch((dispatch) => {
+    dispatch.pending.push(item);
+  });
+  log('info', `Queued dispatch: ${item.id} (${item.type} → ${item.agent})`);
+  return item.id;
+}
+
+// ─── Retryable Failure Classification ────────────────────────────────────────
+
+function isRetryableFailureReason(reason = '') {
+  const r = String(reason || '').toLowerCase();
+  if (!r) return true; // unknown error from tool exit — keep retryable
+  const nonRetryable = [
+    'no playbook rendered',
+    'failed to render',
+    'no target project available',
+    'no plan files found',
+    'plan file not found',
+    'invalid filename',
+    'invalid file path',
+    'missing required',
+    'validation failed',
+  ];
+  return !nonRetryable.some(s => r.includes(s));
+}
+
+// ─── Complete Dispatch ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+function completeDispatch(id, result = 'success', reason = '', resultSummary = '', opts = {}) {
+  const { processWorkItemFailure = true } = opts;
+  let item = null;
+
+  mutateDispatch((dispatch) => {
+    // Check active list first
+    let idx = dispatch.active.findIndex(d => d.id === id);
+    if (idx >= 0) {
+      item = dispatch.active.splice(idx, 1)[0];
+    } else {
+      // Also check pending list (e.g., worktree failure before spawn)
+      idx = dispatch.pending.findIndex(d => d.id === id);
+      if (idx >= 0) item = dispatch.pending.splice(idx, 1)[0];
+    }
+
+    if (!item) return;
+    item.completed_at = ts();
+    item.result = result;
+    if (reason) item.reason = reason;
+    if (resultSummary) item.resultSummary = resultSummary;
+    delete item.prompt;
+    if (dispatch.completed.length >= 100) {
+      dispatch.completed = dispatch.completed.slice(-99);
+    }
+    dispatch.completed.push(item);
+  });
+
+  if (item) {
+    log('info', `Completed dispatch: ${id} (${result}${reason ? ': ' + reason : ''})`);
+
+    // Update source work item status on failure + auto-retry with backoff
+    const retryableFailure = isRetryableFailureReason(reason);
+    if (result === 'error' && item.meta?.dispatchKey && retryableFailure) setCooldownFailure(item.meta.dispatchKey);
+
+    if (processWorkItemFailure && result === 'error' && item.meta?.item?.id) {
+      let retries = (item.meta.item._retryCount || 0);
+      try {
+        const wiPath = item.meta.source === 'central-work-item' || item.meta.source === 'central-work-item-fanout'
+          ? path.join(MINIONS_DIR, 'work-items.json')
+          : item.meta.project?.name ? projectWorkItemsPath({ name: item.meta.project.name, localPath: item.meta.project.localPath }) : null;
+        if (wiPath) {
+          const items = safeJson(wiPath) || [];
+          const wi = items.find(i => i.id === item.meta.item.id);
+          if (wi) retries = wi._retryCount || 0;
+        }
+      } catch (e) { log('warn', 'read retry count: ' + e.message); }
+      if (retryableFailure && retries < 3) {
+        log('info', `Dispatch error for ${item.meta.item.id} — auto-retry ${retries + 1}/3`);
+        lifecycle().updateWorkItemStatus(item.meta, 'pending', '');
+        // Remove this dispatch key from completed so dedupe doesn't block immediate redispatch.
+        if (item.meta?.dispatchKey) {
+          try {
+            mutateDispatch((dp) => {
+              dp.completed = Array.isArray(dp.completed) ? dp.completed.filter(d => d.meta?.dispatchKey !== item.meta.dispatchKey) : [];
+              return dp;
+            });
+          } catch (e) { log('warn', 'clear dispatch for retry: ' + e.message); }
+        }
+        // Increment retry counter on the source work item
+        try {
+          const wiPath = item.meta.source === 'central-work-item' || item.meta.source === 'central-work-item-fanout'
+            ? path.join(MINIONS_DIR, 'work-items.json')
+            : item.meta.project?.name ? projectWorkItemsPath({ name: item.meta.project.name, localPath: item.meta.project.localPath }) : null;
+          if (wiPath) {
+            const items = safeJson(wiPath) || [];
+            const wi = items.find(i => i.id === item.meta.item.id);
+            if (wi && wi.status !== 'paused') {
+              wi._retryCount = retries + 1;
+              wi.status = 'pending';
+              wi._lastRetryReason = reason || '';
+              wi._lastRetryAt = ts();
+              delete wi.failReason;
+              delete wi.failedAt;
+              delete wi.dispatched_at;
+              delete wi.dispatched_to;
+              safeWrite(wiPath, items);
+            }
+          }
+        } catch (e) { log('warn', 'increment retry counter: ' + e.message); }
+      } else {
+        const finalReason = !retryableFailure
+          ? `Non-retryable failure: ${reason || 'Unknown error'}`
+          : (reason || 'Failed after 3 retries');
+        lifecycle().updateWorkItemStatus(item.meta, 'failed', finalReason);
+        // Alert: find items blocked by this failure and write inbox note
+        try {
+          const config = getConfig();
+          const failedId = item.meta.item.id;
+          const blockedItems = [];
+          for (const p of getProjects(config)) {
+            const items = safeJson(projectWorkItemsPath(p)) || [];
+            items.filter(w => w.status === 'pending' && (w.depends_on || []).includes(failedId))
+              .forEach(w => blockedItems.push(`- \`${w.id}\` — ${w.title}`));
+          }
+          const centralItems = safeJson(path.join(MINIONS_DIR, 'work-items.json')) || [];
+          centralItems.filter(w => w.status === 'pending' && (w.depends_on || []).includes(failedId))
+            .forEach(w => blockedItems.push(`- \`${w.id}\` — ${w.title}`));
+
+          writeInboxAlert(`failed-${failedId}`,
+            `# Work Item Failed — \`${failedId}\`\n\n` +
+            `**Item:** ${item.meta.item.title || failedId}\n` +
+            `**Reason:** ${finalReason}\n\n` +
+            (blockedItems.length > 0
+              ? `**Blocked dependents (${blockedItems.length}):**\n${blockedItems.join('\n')}\n\n` +
+                `These items cannot dispatch until \`${failedId}\` is fixed and reset to \`pending\`.\n`
+              : `No downstream items are blocked.\n`)
+          );
+        } catch (e) { log('warn', 'write failure alert: ' + e.message); }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+// ─── Inbox Alert ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+function writeInboxAlert(slug, content) {
+  try {
+    const file = path.join(INBOX_DIR, `engine-alert-${slug}-${dateStamp()}.md`);
+    // Dedupe: don't write the same alert twice in the same day
+    const existing = safeReadDir(INBOX_DIR).find(f => f.startsWith(`engine-alert-${slug}-${dateStamp()}`));
+    if (existing) return;
+    safeWrite(file, content);
+  } catch (e) { log('warn', 'write inbox alert: ' + e.message); }
+}
+
+// ─── Exports ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+module.exports = {
+  mutateDispatch,
+  addToDispatch,
+  isRetryableFailureReason,
+  completeDispatch,
+  writeInboxAlert,
+};