sentinelayer-cli 0.46.3 → 0.46.4

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "sentinelayer-cli",
-  "version": "0.46.3",
+  "version": "0.46.4",
   "description": "Scaffold Sentinelayer spec/prompt/guide artifacts with secure browser auth and token bootstrap.",
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {

package/src/commands/session.js

@@ -78,7 +78,6 @@ import {
   getListenerProcessStatus,
   LISTENER_PROCESS_SCAN_RETRY_TIMEOUT_MS,
   removeListenerPidRecord,
-  requestListenerProcessStop,
   summarizeLocalListenerProcesses,
   stopMatchingListenerProcesses,
   writeListenerPidRecord,
@@ -5515,33 +5514,30 @@ export function registerSessionCommand(program) {
           );
         }
         if (existingListener.running && options.force) {
-          const stopMatchesResult = await stopMatchingListenerProcesses(normalizedSessionId, agentId);
-          if (!stopMatchesResult.ok) {
-            // The listener being replaced is known (a verified pid record or a scan moments
-            // ago), so stopping it and starting this one never adds a listener. Only the
-            // cleanup of extra copies is skipped, and that is said rather than assumed.
-            console.error(
-              pc.yellow(
-                `The local process check did not complete (${stopMatchesResult.reason}); replacing listener pid ${existingListener.pid} only. Other copies of this listener, if any, were not checked.`,
-              ),
+          // --force never stops a process this command runs under, and never on a guess:
+          // it refuses, and stops and starts nothing, unless the takeover scan confirms
+          // what it stops.
+          const refuseTakeover = ({ pid, reason }) =>
+            new Error(
+              reason === "ancestor_listener"
+                ? `A session listener is already running for session ${normalizedSessionId} as ${agentId} (pid ${pid}), and this command runs under it, so --force will not stop it. No listener was stopped or started. Stop that listener first, or use --allow-duplicate if you intentionally need more than one.`
+                : `Could not confirm that pid ${pid} is a session listener --force can replace for session ${normalizedSessionId} as ${agentId} (${reason}). No listener was stopped or started. Run the command again, or use --allow-duplicate to start without this check (it can then run alongside an existing listener).`,
             );
+          if (existingListener.ancestor) {
+            throw refuseTakeover({ pid: existingListener.pid, reason: "ancestor_listener" });
           }
-          const scannedStops = stopMatchesResult.ok ? stopMatchesResult.results : [];
-          const stoppedPids = new Set(
-            scannedStops
-              .filter((result) => result.stopped)
-              .map((result) => Number(result.pid)),
-          );
-          let explicitStopResult = null;
-          if (existingListener.pid && !stoppedPids.has(Number(existingListener.pid))) {
-            explicitStopResult = await requestListenerProcessStop(existingListener.pid);
+          const stopMatchesResult = await stopMatchingListenerProcesses(normalizedSessionId, agentId, {
+            listener: existingListener,
+          });
+          if (!stopMatchesResult.ok) {
+            // What the status check found may no longer hold, and an unread table cannot
+            // show which processes this command runs under, so nothing is stopped.
+            throw refuseTakeover({ pid: existingListener.pid, reason: stopMatchesResult.reason });
+          }
+          if (stopMatchesResult.refused) {
+            throw refuseTakeover(stopMatchesResult.refused);
           }
-          const failedStops = [
-            ...scannedStops.filter((result) => !result.stopped),
-            ...(explicitStopResult && !explicitStopResult.stopped
-              ? [{ pid: existingListener.pid, ...explicitStopResult }]
-              : []),
-          ];
+          const failedStops = stopMatchesResult.results.filter((result) => !result.stopped);
           if (failedStops.length > 0) {
             const failed = failedStops[0];
             throw new Error(

package/src/session/listener-process.js

@@ -114,22 +114,44 @@ export function listenerCommandLineMatches(
   );
 }
 
+function optionalPositiveNumber(value) {
+  if (value === null || value === undefined || value === "") return null;
+  const number = Number(value);
+  return Number.isFinite(number) && number > 0 ? number : null;
+}
+
+// A row is { pid, ppid, startedAtMs, name, commandLine }, one for every process the scan
+// lists, so a parent chain can be followed through processes that are not this CLI. `ppid`
+// (the parent's pid) and `startedAtMs` (when the process was created) are null, and `name`
+// (the executable's file name) is "", when the scan did not give them. `commandLine` is ""
+// when the scan left it out: the Windows scan keeps only the ones that name a CLI entry.
 function normalizeProcessRows(rows = []) {
   if (!Array.isArray(rows)) return [];
   return rows
     .map((row) => ({
       pid: Number(row?.pid ?? row?.ProcessId ?? row?.processId),
+      ppid: optionalPositiveNumber(row?.ppid ?? row?.ParentProcessId),
+      startedAtMs: optionalPositiveNumber(row?.startedAtMs ?? row?.CreationMs),
+      name: normalizeString(row?.name ?? row?.Name),
       commandLine: normalizeString(row?.commandLine ?? row?.CommandLine ?? row?.command ?? row?.args),
     }))
-    .filter((row) => Number.isInteger(row.pid) && row.pid > 0 && row.commandLine);
+    .filter((row) => Number.isInteger(row.pid) && row.pid > 0);
 }
 
+// Win32_Process.CreationDate as milliseconds since the epoch, for a PowerShell expression.
+const WINDOWS_CREATION_MS = "if ($_.CreationDate) { ([DateTimeOffset]$_.CreationDate).ToUnixTimeMilliseconds() }";
+
+// Every process, so the parent chain is complete, with its command line only when that names
+// a CLI entry point, which keeps the output small: about 600 processes make some 60 KB of
+// JSON and take under a second, as the filtered scan did.
 async function listWindowsProcesses({ timeoutMs }) {
+  const namesCliEntry = `$_.CommandLine -and ($_.CommandLine -match '${cliEntryPattern("win32")}')`;
   const command = [
     "$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop';",
     "$rows = Get-CimInstance Win32_Process |",
-    `Where-Object { $_.CommandLine -and ($_.CommandLine -match '${cliEntryPattern("win32")}') } |`,
-    "Select-Object ProcessId,CommandLine;",
+    "Select-Object ProcessId,ParentProcessId,Name,",
+    `@{n='CreationMs';e={ ${WINDOWS_CREATION_MS} }},`,
+    `@{n='CommandLine';e={ if (${namesCliEntry}) { $_.CommandLine } else { $null } }};`,
     "if ($rows) { $rows | ConvertTo-Json -Compress }",
   ].join(" ");
   const { stdout } = await execFileAsync(
@@ -143,20 +165,248 @@ async function listWindowsProcesses({ timeoutMs }) {
   return normalizeProcessRows(Array.isArray(parsed) ? parsed : [parsed]);
 }
 
+// ps(1) prints elapsed time as [[dd-]hh:]mm:ss on Linux, macOS and busybox alike.
+function parseElapsedSeconds(value) {
+  const match = normalizeString(value).match(/^(?:(?:(\d+)-)?(\d+):)?(\d+):(\d+)$/);
+  if (!match) return null;
+  const [days, hours, minutes, seconds] = match.slice(1).map((part) => Number(part || 0));
+  return ((days * 24 + hours) * 60 + minutes) * 60 + seconds;
+}
+
+// Start times come from ps's whole seconds of elapsed time, counted from just after
+// `scannedAtMs`, so each is good to about a second (startTimeSlackMs).
 async function listPosixProcesses({ timeoutMs }) {
-  const { stdout } = await execFileAsync("ps", ["-eo", "pid=,command="], {
+  const scannedAtMs = Date.now();
+  const { stdout } = await execFileAsync("ps", ["-eo", "pid=,ppid=,etime=,command="], {
     timeout: timeoutMs,
     maxBuffer: 10 * 1024 * 1024,
   });
   return String(stdout || "")
     .split(/\r?\n/)
     .map((line) => {
-      const match = line.match(/^\s*(\d+)\s+(.*)$/);
-      return match ? { pid: Number(match[1]), commandLine: normalizeString(match[2]) } : null;
+      const match = line.match(/^\s*(\d+)\s+(\d+)\s+(\S+)(?:\s+(.*))?$/);
+      if (!match) return null;
+      const elapsedSeconds = parseElapsedSeconds(match[3]);
+      return {
+        pid: Number(match[1]),
+        ppid: Number(match[2]),
+        startedAtMs: elapsedSeconds === null ? null : scannedAtMs - elapsedSeconds * 1000,
+        commandLine: normalizeString(match[4]),
+      };
     })
     .filter(Boolean);
 }
 
+// How far apart two readings of one start time can be. Windows gives creation times to the
+// millisecond. A POSIX reading can be up to a second late (whole seconds of elapsed time)
+// and slightly early (the time ps takes to start), so 2 s covers it.
+const POSIX_START_TIME_SLACK_MS = 2_000;
+
+function startTimeSlackMs(platform = process.platform) {
+  return platform === "win32" ? 0 : POSIX_START_TIME_SLACK_MS;
+}
+
+// How far up the parent chain the walk goes. Real launch chains are a handful deep.
+const MAX_ANCESTOR_DEPTH = 64;
+
+// Whether `parent` (the row at `child`'s recorded parent pid) is still the process that
+// started `child`. A parent is always created before its child, so a "parent" created after
+// it holds a reused pid. On POSIX a recorded parent is always the live parent, because an
+// exiting process's children are re-parented to init or a subreaper; so with no start times
+// the link holds there. Windows never re-parents: the parent pid of a child whose parent
+// exited can name any process started since, so there a link holds only when both creation
+// times are known and in order.
+function parentLinkHolds(parent, child, platform) {
+  if (Number.isFinite(parent.startedAtMs) && Number.isFinite(child.startedAtMs)) {
+    return parent.startedAtMs <= child.startedAtMs + startTimeSlackMs(platform);
+  }
+  return platform !== "win32";
+}
+
+/**
+ * The pids of a process's ancestors in one scan of the process table: its parent, that
+ * process's parent, and so on, while each parent is in the table, still the process that
+ * started its child (parentLinkHolds), not seen before (a cycle), and within
+ * MAX_ANCESTOR_DEPTH. The walk starts at the parent the table records for `pid`, or at
+ * `parentPid` when the table records none. Every row counts, with or without a command line,
+ * so the chain runs through processes that are not this CLI (cmd.exe, a service host).
+ *
+ * The walk ends early under Git Bash (MSYS) on Windows: an MSYS program such as bash, nohup or
+ * timeout is started from a forked copy of the shell that exits once the program runs, so its
+ * parent pid names no live process. Counting does not rest on the walk (a launcher is never
+ * counted, wherever it sits: readListenerScan); the walk marks the listeners --force must not
+ * stop, and a listener above such a break is not marked.
+ */
+export function listenerAncestorPids(
+  rows,
+  { pid = process.pid, parentPid = null, platform = process.platform } = {},
+) {
+  const table = new Map(normalizeProcessRows(rows).map((row) => [row.pid, row]));
+  const selfPid = Number(pid);
+  let child = table.get(selfPid) || { pid: selfPid, ppid: null, startedAtMs: null };
+  let next = child.ppid ?? optionalPositiveNumber(parentPid);
+  const ancestors = new Set();
+  while (next !== null && next !== selfPid && !ancestors.has(next) && ancestors.size < MAX_ANCESTOR_DEPTH) {
+    const parent = table.get(next);
+    if (!parent || !parentLinkHolds(parent, child, platform)) break;
+    ancestors.add(parent.pid);
+    child = parent;
+    next = parent.ppid;
+  }
+  return ancestors;
+}
+
+// The checking process's ancestors in a scan. When the checker is this process and its row
+// records no parent, its parent is process.ppid.
+function checkerAncestors(rows, selfPid) {
+  return listenerAncestorPids(rows, {
+    pid: selfPid,
+    parentPid: selfPid === process.pid ? process.ppid : null,
+  });
+}
+
+/**
+ * An executable's name as the process kinds below compare it: its file name, without the
+ * directory, lower-cased, and without a trailing ".exe". So `C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe`,
+ * `/usr/bin/node` and `NODE` all read as "node".
+ */
+export function normalizeImageName(value) {
+  const base = normalizeString(value).split(/[\\/]/).pop().toLowerCase();
+  return base.endsWith(".exe") ? base.slice(0, -4) : base;
+}
+
+// Executables that run this CLI as node. Also the checker's own node, whatever it is named.
+const NODE_IMAGE_NAMES = ["node", "nodejs"];
+// Executables that only start other programs: a command line naming the CLI there is the
+// command they run, not this CLI running.
+const LAUNCHER_IMAGE_NAMES = new Set([
+  "bash", "sh", "dash", "zsh", "cmd", "powershell", "pwsh", "nohup", "timeout", "env",
+  "screen", "tmux", "script", "setsid", "nice",
+]);
+// Node options known to take no value, so the next argument is not theirs.
+const NODE_FLAGS = new Set([
+  "--inspect", "--inspect-brk", "--inspect-wait", "--no-warnings", "--no-deprecation",
+  "--trace-warnings", "--trace-deprecation", "--trace-uncaught", "--throw-deprecation",
+  "--pending-deprecation", "--enable-source-maps", "--expose-gc", "--preserve-symlinks",
+  "--preserve-symlinks-main", "--abort-on-uncaught-exception", "--experimental-vm-modules",
+]);
+// Of those, the ones that may also be given a value after "=" (--inspect=127.0.0.1:9229).
+const NODE_FLAGS_WITH_OPTIONAL_VALUE = new Set(["--inspect", "--inspect-brk", "--inspect-wait"]);
+// Node options known to take a value, as the next argument or after "=".
+const NODE_OPTIONS_WITH_VALUE = new Set([
+  "--inspect-port", "--title", "-C", "--conditions", "--input-type", "--env-file",
+  "--disable-warning", "--redirect-warnings", "--max-old-space-size", "--stack-size",
+]);
+// Node options that load a module before the script; that module may be this CLI.
+const NODE_PRELOAD_OPTIONS = new Set(["-r", "--require", "--import", "--loader", "--experimental-loader"]);
+// Node options that run code given on the command line instead of a script.
+const NODE_INLINE_CODE_OPTIONS = new Set(["-e", "--eval", "-p", "--print", "-pe", "-ep"]);
+
+// A command line's arguments, in order, and whether they were read with certainty.
+// - Windows quotes an argument with spaces, or an empty one, in double quotes. An empty
+//   argument ("") stays an argument, so a value option never takes the next one in its
+//   place. A quote left open, or one escaped with a backslash, is not read with certainty.
+// - ps(1) prints POSIX arguments joined by single spaces with no quoting. An argument with a
+//   space reads as two (listenerProcessKind allows for that), and a run of spaces may hide an
+//   empty argument or an argument made of spaces, so it is not read with certainty. A quote
+//   character there is part of an argument, not quoting: it is kept as it is, and a command line
+//   that has one is not read with certainty, so no file name is recognised by removing it.
+function commandLineArguments(commandLine, platform) {
+  const text = normalizeString(commandLine);
+  if (platform === "win32") {
+    const certain = (text.match(/"/g) || []).length % 2 === 0 && !/\\"/.test(text);
+    const parts = text.match(/(?:"[^"]*"?|[^\s"]+)+/g) || [];
+    return { args: parts.map((part) => part.replace(/"/g, "")), certain };
+  }
+  const parts = text.split(/\s+/);
+  return { args: parts.filter(Boolean), certain: !/\s{2,}/.test(text) && !/["']/.test(text) };
+}
+
+/**
+ * What a process whose command line matches a listen command is. Both kinds are allow-listed;
+ * anything else is "unknown", which the listener checks treat as possibly a listener, so
+ * starting and --force refuse.
+ * - "listener": this CLI running it. The executable is node (node, nodejs, or the name of the
+ *   checker's own node) and node's first argument that is not a node option is a CLI entry
+ *   point, read with certainty.
+ * - "wrapper": a launcher, which carries the command for the process it starts: an executable
+ *   in LAUNCHER_IMAGE_NAMES (bash, sh, dash, zsh, cmd, powershell, pwsh, nohup, timeout, env,
+ *   screen, tmux, script, setsid, nice); or node whose first non-option argument is certainly
+ *   another script, or node running inline code (-e, -p) with no CLI entry among its arguments.
+ * - "unknown": anything else, including node whose arguments cannot be read with certainty: a
+ *   preload option (-r, --require, --import, --loader), inline code next to a CLI entry, an
+ *   option this does not know (it may take the next argument), a quote left open, or, on
+ *   POSIX, a first argument that is not an entry (it may be the first piece of an entry path
+ *   with a space, which ps prints unquoted).
+ * The executable is Win32_Process.Name on Windows and the first argument on POSIX, compared
+ * as normalizeImageName gives it.
+ */
+export function listenerProcessKind(
+  row,
+  { platform = process.platform, nodeExecutable = process.execPath } = {},
+) {
+  const { args, certain } = commandLineArguments(row?.commandLine, platform);
+  const image = normalizeImageName(normalizeString(row?.name) || args[0]);
+  if (LAUNCHER_IMAGE_NAMES.has(image)) return "wrapper";
+  const nodeImages = new Set([...NODE_IMAGE_NAMES, normalizeImageName(nodeExecutable)].filter(Boolean));
+  if (!nodeImages.has(image)) return "unknown";
+  if (!certain) return "unknown";
+  const entries =
+    platform === "win32" ? CLI_ENTRY_SCRIPTS : [...CLI_ENTRY_SCRIPTS, ...CLI_COMMAND_NAMES];
+  const entryPath = new RegExp(`[\\\\/](?:${entries.map(escapeRegExp).join("|")})$`);
+  const isEntry = (arg) => entryPath.test(normalizeString(arg).toLowerCase());
+  let index = 1;
+  for (; index < args.length; index += 1) {
+    const arg = args[index];
+    if (arg === "--") {
+      index += 1;
+      break;
+    }
+    if (!arg.startsWith("-") || arg === "-") break;
+    // Every spelling is judged by the option's name: --name, --name value, --name=value.
+    const equals = arg.indexOf("=");
+    const name = equals === -1 ? arg : arg.slice(0, equals);
+    const valueAttached = equals !== -1;
+    if (NODE_INLINE_CODE_OPTIONS.has(name)) {
+      return args.slice(1).some(isEntry) ? "unknown" : "wrapper";
+    }
+    if (NODE_PRELOAD_OPTIONS.has(name)) return "unknown";
+    if (NODE_OPTIONS_WITH_VALUE.has(name)) {
+      if (!valueAttached) index += 1;
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (NODE_FLAGS.has(name) && (!valueAttached || NODE_FLAGS_WITH_OPTIONAL_VALUE.has(name))) continue;
+    return "unknown";
+  }
+  const script = args[index];
+  if (!script) return "unknown";
+  if (isEntry(script)) return "listener";
+  return platform === "win32" ? "wrapper" : "unknown";
+}
+
+/**
+ * One scan read for one session and agent from the checking process's side. Every process
+ * whose command line matches, other than the checker, is judged by listenerProcessKind:
+ * `listeners` are the listeners, `unconfirmed` the processes that may be one, and launchers
+ * are in neither, wherever they sit. Ancestry is the second layer: a listener or possible
+ * listener that is an ancestor of the checker is marked `ancestor: true`, and the takeover
+ * never stops one.
+ */
+function readListenerScan(rows, { sessionId, agentId, selfPid, ancestors }) {
+  const listeners = [];
+  const unconfirmed = [];
+  for (const row of rows) {
+    if (row.pid === selfPid || !listenerCommandLineMatches(row.commandLine, { sessionId, agentId })) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    const kind = listenerProcessKind(row);
+    if (kind === "wrapper") continue;
+    const marked = ancestors.has(row.pid) ? { ...row, ancestor: true } : row;
+    (kind === "listener" ? listeners : unconfirmed).push(marked);
+  }
+  return { listeners, unconfirmed };
+}
+
 // Resolves to the process rows, or rejects when the table cannot be read (a timeout, a
 // missing tool, unreadable output). It never turns a failed read into an empty table.
 async function listProcessTable({ timeoutMs = LISTENER_PROCESS_SCAN_TIMEOUT_MS } = {}) {
@@ -203,7 +453,10 @@ async function scanProcessTable(listProcesses, timeoutMs) {
 /**
  * Listener processes for this session and agent: { ok: true, matches } when the process
  * table was read, { ok: false, reason } when it could not be. A failed scan has no
- * `matches`, so it can never be read as "no listener".
+ * `matches`, so it can never be read as "no listener". The matches are the listeners and the
+ * processes that may be one (readListenerScan); the checking process (`excludePid`) and
+ * launchers never are, and a match that is an ancestor of the checker is marked
+ * `ancestor: true`.
  */
 export async function listMatchingListenerProcesses(
   sessionId,
@@ -216,14 +469,10 @@ export async function listMatchingListenerProcesses(
 ) {
   const scan = await scanProcessTable(_listProcesses, timeoutMs);
   if (!scan.ok) return scan;
-  const excluded = Number(excludePid);
-  return {
-    ok: true,
-    matches: scan.rows.filter((row) =>
-      row.pid !== excluded &&
-      listenerCommandLineMatches(row.commandLine, { sessionId, agentId })
-    ),
-  };
+  const selfPid = Number(excludePid);
+  const ancestors = checkerAncestors(scan.rows, selfPid);
+  const { listeners, unconfirmed } = readListenerScan(scan.rows, { sessionId, agentId, selfPid, ancestors });
+  return { ok: true, matches: [...listeners, ...unconfirmed] };
 }
 
 export async function summarizeLocalListenerProcesses(
@@ -243,16 +492,16 @@ export async function summarizeLocalListenerProcesses(
   if (!scan.ok) {
     return { ok: false, reason: scan.reason, sessionId: normalizedSessionId };
   }
-  const excluded = Number(excludePid);
-  const candidates = scan.rows.filter((row) => row.pid !== excluded);
+  const selfPid = Number(excludePid);
+  const ancestors = checkerAncestors(scan.rows, selfPid);
   const agents = uniqueAgentIds.map((agentId) => {
-    const matches = candidates
-      .filter((row) => listenerCommandLineMatches(row.commandLine, {
-        sessionId: normalizedSessionId,
-        agentId,
-      }))
-      .sort((a, b) => a.pid - b.pid);
-    const pids = matches.map((match) => match.pid);
+    const { listeners, unconfirmed } = readListenerScan(scan.rows, {
+      sessionId: normalizedSessionId,
+      agentId,
+      selfPid,
+      ancestors,
+    });
+    const pids = [...listeners, ...unconfirmed].map((match) => match.pid).sort((a, b) => a - b);
     return {
       agentId,
       processCount: pids.length,
@@ -493,11 +742,50 @@ async function listenerStatusFromRecord(
   };
 }
 
+/**
+ * What the process at a pid record's pid is, judged on one scan (`row` is its row there, or
+ * null; `commandLine` is the one read for the record, used when the row has none). A
+ * listener writes its record after it starts, so the process that wrote it started no later
+ * than the record's `startedAt`, within the platform's precision (startTimeSlackMs).
+ * - "confirmed": a listener (listenerProcessKind) that started by then: the one that wrote it.
+ * - "ancestor": one of the checking process's ancestors (`ancestors`). The scan judges those
+ *   (readListenerScan), so the record adds nothing.
+ * - "wrapper": a launcher, which never wrote a listener's record.
+ * - "reused": a listener started after the record was written, so not the one that wrote it.
+ * - "gone": no longer in the process table.
+ * - "unconfirmed": a process that may be a listener, or a start time that is unknown, so the
+ *   record proves nothing either way.
+ */
+export function pidRecordHolder(
+  record,
+  row,
+  { ancestors = new Set(), commandLine = "", platform = process.platform } = {},
+) {
+  if (!row) return "gone";
+  if (ancestors.has(row.pid)) return "ancestor";
+  const kind = listenerProcessKind(
+    { name: row.name, commandLine: row.commandLine || commandLine },
+    { platform },
+  );
+  if (kind === "wrapper") return "wrapper";
+  if (kind === "unknown") return "unconfirmed";
+  const recordedAtMs = Date.parse(normalizeString(record?.startedAt));
+  if (!Number.isFinite(row.startedAtMs) || !Number.isFinite(recordedAtMs)) return "unconfirmed";
+  return row.startedAtMs > recordedAtMs + startTimeSlackMs(platform) ? "reused" : "confirmed";
+}
+
 /**
  * Whether a listener for this session and agent is running on this machine. `state` is
- * "running", "not_running" or "unknown". A live pid record whose command line matches is
- * "running" without a scan. Otherwise the process table decides, and when it cannot be read
- * the answer is "unknown" (`running: null`, with `reason`), never "not_running".
+ * "running", "not_running" or "unknown".
+ *
+ * A pid record counts when its pid is alive with a matching command line and one scan of the
+ * process table confirms it (pidRecordHolder). The same scan finds untracked listeners
+ * (readListenerScan). A running answer carries the process's `startedAtMs`, and `ancestor:
+ * true` when the listener is an ancestor of this process, which --force must never stop.
+ *
+ * Anything uncertain makes the answer "unknown" (`running: null`, with `reason`), never
+ * "not_running": a scan that could not be read, a record whose process cannot be confirmed
+ * ("pid_record_unconfirmed"), or a process that may be a listener ("listener_unconfirmed").
  */
 export async function getListenerProcessStatus(
   sessionId,
@@ -510,6 +798,7 @@ export async function getListenerProcessStatus(
     _listProcesses = activeListProcessTable,
   } = {},
 ) {
+  const listenerKey = normalizeListenerProcessKey(agentId);
   const records = [
     {
       record: await readGlobalListenerPidRecord(sessionId, agentId, { homeDir }),
@@ -520,6 +809,7 @@ export async function getListenerProcessStatus(
       recordScope: "local",
     },
   ];
+  const tracked = [];
   const staleStatuses = [];
   for (const entry of records) {
     if (!entry.record) continue;
@@ -529,38 +819,74 @@ export async function getListenerProcessStatus(
       recordScope: entry.recordScope,
       _readProcessCommandLine,
     });
-    if (status.running) {
-      return status;
+    (status.running ? tracked : staleStatuses).push(status);
+  }
+  const unknown = (reason, record) => ({
+    state: "unknown",
+    running: null,
+    pid: null,
+    reason,
+    record: record || tracked[0]?.record || staleStatuses[0]?.record || null,
+    listenerKey,
+  });
+  const scan = await scanProcessTable(_listProcesses, scanTimeoutMs);
+  if (!scan.ok) return unknown(scan.reason);
+
+  const ancestors = checkerAncestors(scan.rows, process.pid);
+  const table = new Map(scan.rows.map((row) => [row.pid, row]));
+  const confirmed = [];
+  const unconfirmedRecords = [];
+  for (const status of tracked) {
+    const row = table.get(Number(status.pid)) || null;
+    const holder = pidRecordHolder(status.record, row, { ancestors, commandLine: status.commandLine });
+    if (holder === "confirmed") {
+      confirmed.push({ ...status, startedAtMs: row.startedAtMs, ancestor: false });
+    } else if (holder === "unconfirmed") {
+      unconfirmedRecords.push(status);
+    } else {
+      staleStatuses.push({
+        state: "not_running",
+        running: false,
+        pid: null,
+        stale: true,
+        reused: holder !== "gone",
+        holder,
+        record: status.record,
+        recordScope: status.recordScope,
+        listenerKey,
+        commandLine: status.commandLine,
+      });
     }
-    staleStatuses.push(status);
   }
-  const scan = await listMatchingListenerProcesses(sessionId, agentId, {
-    timeoutMs: scanTimeoutMs,
-    _listProcesses,
+  const { listeners, unconfirmed } = readListenerScan(scan.rows, {
+    sessionId,
+    agentId,
+    selfPid: process.pid,
+    ancestors,
   });
-  if (!scan.ok) {
-    return {
-      state: "unknown",
-      running: null,
-      pid: null,
-      reason: scan.reason,
-      record: staleStatuses[0]?.record || null,
-      listenerKey: normalizeListenerProcessKey(agentId),
-    };
+  if (unconfirmedRecords.length > 0) {
+    return unknown("pid_record_unconfirmed", unconfirmedRecords[0].record);
   }
-  const matchingProcesses = scan.matches;
-  if (matchingProcesses.length > 0) {
+  if (unconfirmed.length > 0) return unknown("listener_unconfirmed");
+  // A listener that is an ancestor of this process is the one reported, so that --force
+  // refuses rather than stop it.
+  const ancestorListener = listeners.find((row) => row.ancestor);
+  if (confirmed.length > 0 && !ancestorListener) return confirmed[0];
+  const reported = ancestorListener || listeners[0];
+  if (reported) {
     return {
       state: "running",
       running: true,
-      pid: matchingProcesses[0].pid,
+      pid: reported.pid,
+      startedAtMs: reported.startedAtMs,
+      ancestor: Boolean(reported.ancestor),
       stale: false,
       record: null,
       recordScope: "process_scan",
       untracked: true,
-      listenerKey: normalizeListenerProcessKey(agentId),
-      commandLine: matchingProcesses[0].commandLine,
-      matchingProcesses,
+      listenerKey,
+      commandLine: reported.commandLine,
+      matchingProcesses: listeners,
     };
   }
   if (staleStatuses.length === 0) {
@@ -570,34 +896,78 @@ export async function getListenerProcessStatus(
       pid: null,
       stale: false,
       record: null,
-      listenerKey: normalizeListenerProcessKey(agentId),
+      listenerKey,
     };
   }
   return staleStatuses[0];
 }
 
+// Why the takeover's own scan does not bear out `listener`, the status check's answer, or
+// null when it does. `row` is the scan's row for that pid (null when it is gone, which
+// leaves nothing to stop for it), and `isListener` says whether the scan counts that row as
+// a current listener for this session and agent (readListenerScan). The pid must name the
+// same process the status check saw, by start time (exact on Windows, within 2 s on POSIX:
+// startTimeSlackMs): otherwise it changed hands ("reused"), even when the new holder is a
+// listener too. And it must still be a current listener; a start time that cannot be
+// compared, or the same process no longer counted as a listener, is "unconfirmed".
+function takeoverTargetRefusal(listener, row, { isListener, platform = process.platform }) {
+  if (!row) return null;
+  if (!Number.isFinite(listener?.startedAtMs) || !Number.isFinite(row.startedAtMs)) return "unconfirmed";
+  if (Math.abs(row.startedAtMs - listener.startedAtMs) > startTimeSlackMs(platform)) return "reused";
+  return isListener ? null : "unconfirmed";
+}
+
 /**
- * Stops every listener process the scan finds for this session and agent. When the process
- * table cannot be read it stops nothing and returns { ok: false, reason }.
+ * The --force takeover. --force stops only current listeners for this session and agent, and
+ * refuses with no stops if the listener the status check saw has changed hands or can no
+ * longer be confirmed. One scan is taken, and the stop set is exactly that scan's listeners
+ * for this session and agent (readListenerScan): never the checker, never a launcher, and
+ * never the pid the status check found unless this scan counts it as a listener. Every
+ * refusal is decided before the first stop: a listener that is an ancestor of the checker
+ * ("ancestor_listener"), a process that may be a listener ("listener_unconfirmed"), or the
+ * status check's listener changed hands or unconfirmed (takeoverTargetRefusal). It returns
+ * { ok: true, refused: { pid, reason } } then. When the process table cannot be read it stops
+ * nothing and returns { ok: false, reason }; the caller then stops nothing either, since what
+ * it found earlier may no longer hold.
  */
 export async function stopMatchingListenerProcesses(
   sessionId,
   agentId,
   {
     excludePid = process.pid,
+    listener = null,
     timeoutMs = 3000,
     pollIntervalMs = 100,
     scanTimeoutMs = LISTENER_PROCESS_SCAN_TIMEOUT_MS,
     _listProcesses = activeListProcessTable,
   } = {},
 ) {
-  const scan = await listMatchingListenerProcesses(sessionId, agentId, {
-    excludePid,
-    timeoutMs: scanTimeoutMs,
-    _listProcesses,
-  });
+  const scan = await scanProcessTable(_listProcesses, scanTimeoutMs);
   if (!scan.ok) return scan;
-  const matches = scan.matches;
+  const selfPid = Number(excludePid);
+  const ancestors = checkerAncestors(scan.rows, selfPid);
+  const { listeners, unconfirmed } = readListenerScan(scan.rows, { sessionId, agentId, selfPid, ancestors });
+  const refuse = (pid, reason) => ({
+    ok: true,
+    refused: { pid, reason },
+    matches: listeners,
+    results: [],
+    stoppedCount: 0,
+    failedCount: 0,
+    failed: [],
+  });
+  const ancestorListener = listeners.find((row) => row.ancestor);
+  if (ancestorListener) return refuse(ancestorListener.pid, "ancestor_listener");
+  if (unconfirmed.length > 0) return refuse(unconfirmed[0].pid, "listener_unconfirmed");
+  // Decide everything, then act: every refusal above and here comes before the first stop.
+  const matches = [...listeners];
+  const listenerPid = Number(listener?.pid);
+  if (Number.isInteger(listenerPid) && listenerPid > 0) {
+    const row = scan.rows.find((entry) => entry.pid === listenerPid) || null;
+    const isListener = matches.some((match) => match.pid === listenerPid);
+    const refusal = takeoverTargetRefusal(listener, row, { isListener });
+    if (refusal) return refuse(listenerPid, refusal);
+  }
   const results = [];
   for (const match of matches) {
     const result = await requestListenerProcessStop(match.pid, {