From 5ce95ee1ba7d360f8ee02236f25e6387f7ed5ef7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: arkon <arkon.85@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2026 20:19:55 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] fix: respawn controller stuck after AI check and AI check
 PATH discovery

Two bugs fixed:

1. Respawn controller got stuck after AI check returned WORKING/ERROR.
   The pre-filter and no-output timers fired once but were never restarted,
   leaving the controller in a dead 'watching' state with no retry mechanism.
   Now restarts both timers after any non-IDLE AI check result and on
   cooldown expiry. Also seeds the controller's terminal buffer from the
   session's existing output so the first AI check has context.

2. AI idle checker couldn't find the claude binary in restricted environments
   (systemd service). The spawned screen ran `claude -p` without PATH
   augmentation. Now exports getAugmentedPath() from session.ts and prepends
   it in the AI checker's bash command.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 src/ai-idle-checker.ts    |  4 +++-
 src/respawn-controller.ts | 21 +++++++++++++++++++++
 src/session.ts            |  2 +-
 3 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/ai-idle-checker.ts b/src/ai-idle-checker.ts
index 87c1440a..3bcb1696 100644
--- a/src/ai-idle-checker.ts
+++ b/src/ai-idle-checker.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import { existsSync, readFileSync, unlinkSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
+import { getAugmentedPath } from './session.js';
 
 // ========== Types ==========
 
@@ -323,8 +324,9 @@ export class AiIdleChecker extends EventEmitter {
     // Build the command - escape the prompt for shell
     const escapedPrompt = prompt.replace(/'/g, "'\\''");
     const modelArg = `--model ${this.config.model}`;
+    const augmentedPath = getAugmentedPath();
     const claudeCmd = `claude -p ${modelArg} --output-format text '${escapedPrompt}'`;
-    const fullCmd = `${claudeCmd} > "${this.checkTempFile}" 2>&1; echo "${DONE_MARKER}" >> "${this.checkTempFile}"`;
+    const fullCmd = `export PATH="${augmentedPath}"; ${claudeCmd} > "${this.checkTempFile}" 2>&1; echo "${DONE_MARKER}" >> "${this.checkTempFile}"`;
 
     // Spawn screen
     try {
diff --git a/src/respawn-controller.ts b/src/respawn-controller.ts
index 174e5182..819214fe 100644
--- a/src/respawn-controller.ts
+++ b/src/respawn-controller.ts
@@ -579,6 +579,10 @@ export class RespawnController extends EventEmitter {
 
     this.aiChecker.on('cooldownEnded', () => {
       this.emit('aiCheckCooldown', false, null);
+      // Restart pre-filter timer when cooldown expires so a new check can be triggered
+      if (this._state === 'watching') {
+        this.startPreFilterTimer();
+      }
     });
 
     this.aiChecker.on('disabled', (reason: string) => {
@@ -772,6 +776,14 @@ export class RespawnController extends EventEmitter {
     this.completionMessageTime = null;
     this.hasReceivedOutput = false;
 
+    // Seed the terminal buffer from the session's existing output.
+    // This gives the AI checker context even if no new output arrives.
+    const existingBuffer = this.session.terminalBuffer;
+    if (existingBuffer) {
+      this.terminalBuffer.clear();
+      this.terminalBuffer.append(existingBuffer);
+    }
+
     this.aiChecker.reset();
     this.setState('watching');
     this.setupTerminalListener();
@@ -1329,10 +1341,16 @@ export class RespawnController extends EventEmitter {
         this.emit('aiCheckCompleted', result);
         this.setState('watching');
         this.log(`AI check says WORKING, returning to watching with ${this.config.aiIdleCheckCooldownMs}ms cooldown`);
+        // Restart timers so the controller retries after cooldown expires
+        this.startNoOutputTimer();
+        this.startPreFilterTimer();
       } else {
         // ERROR verdict
         this.emit('aiCheckFailed', result.reasoning);
         this.setState('watching');
+        // Restart timers to allow retry
+        this.startNoOutputTimer();
+        this.startPreFilterTimer();
       }
     }).catch((err) => {
       if (this._state === 'ai_checking') {
@@ -1340,6 +1358,9 @@ export class RespawnController extends EventEmitter {
         this.emit('aiCheckFailed', errorMsg);
         this.setState('watching');
         this.log(`AI check error: ${errorMsg}`);
+        // Restart timers to allow retry
+        this.startNoOutputTimer();
+        this.startPreFilterTimer();
       }
     });
   }
diff --git a/src/session.ts b/src/session.ts
index 56ab895b..d9b46651 100644
--- a/src/session.ts
+++ b/src/session.ts
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ let _augmentedPath: string | null = null;
  * prepends its directory to the current PATH if not already present.
  * Result is cached for subsequent calls.
  */
-function getAugmentedPath(): string {
+export function getAugmentedPath(): string {
   if (_augmentedPath) return _augmentedPath;
 
   const currentPath = process.env.PATH || '';