From 03328e04e84f611ae64c855aff41f8b7cbed6688 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Tibsfox <tibsfox@tibsfox.com>
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2026 19:19:20 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix(gsd): cap run-uat dispatch attempts to prevent infinite
 replay loop

When verification commands fail before writing an ASSESSMENT verdict,
checkNeedsRunUat keeps returning the same slice, causing infinite
re-dispatch until the provider throttles the session.

Adds a per-slice disk-persisted counter (survives crash/restart) that
caps run-uat at 3 attempts. After the cap, stops auto-mode with an
actionable message instead of looping.

Closes #3624

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-dispatch.ts | 36 +++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 36 insertions(+)

diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-dispatch.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-dispatch.ts
index ccc3921e6..2a3d676e2 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-dispatch.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-dispatch.ts
@@ -130,6 +130,32 @@ export function setRewriteCount(basePath: string, count: number): void {
   writeFileSync(filePath, JSON.stringify({ count, updatedAt: new Date().toISOString() }) + "\n");
 }
 
+// ─── Run-UAT dispatch counter (per-slice) ────────────────────────────────
+// Caps run-uat dispatches to prevent infinite replay when verification
+// commands fail before writing a verdict (#3624).
+const MAX_UAT_ATTEMPTS = 3;
+
+function uatCountPath(basePath: string, mid: string, sid: string): string {
+  return join(gsdRoot(basePath), "runtime", `uat-count-${mid}-${sid}.json`);
+}
+
+export function getUatCount(basePath: string, mid: string, sid: string): number {
+  try {
+    const data = JSON.parse(readFileSync(uatCountPath(basePath, mid, sid), "utf-8"));
+    return typeof data.count === "number" ? data.count : 0;
+  } catch {
+    return 0;
+  }
+}
+
+export function incrementUatCount(basePath: string, mid: string, sid: string): number {
+  const count = getUatCount(basePath, mid, sid) + 1;
+  const filePath = uatCountPath(basePath, mid, sid);
+  mkdirSync(join(gsdRoot(basePath), "runtime"), { recursive: true });
+  writeFileSync(filePath, JSON.stringify({ count, updatedAt: new Date().toISOString() }) + "\n");
+  return count;
+}
+
 // ─── Helpers ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 /**
@@ -203,6 +229,16 @@ export const DISPATCH_RULES: DispatchRule[] = [
       const needsRunUat = await checkNeedsRunUat(basePath, mid, state, prefs);
       if (!needsRunUat) return null;
       const { sliceId, uatType } = needsRunUat;
+
+      // Cap run-uat dispatch attempts to prevent infinite replay (#3624)
+      const attempts = incrementUatCount(basePath, mid, sliceId);
+      if (attempts > MAX_UAT_ATTEMPTS) {
+        return {
+          action: "stop" as const,
+          reason: `run-uat for ${mid}/${sliceId} has been dispatched ${attempts - 1} times without producing a verdict. Verification commands may be broken — fix the UAT spec or manually write an ASSESSMENT verdict.`,
+          level: "warning" as const,
+        };
+      }
       const uatFile = resolveSliceFile(basePath, mid, sliceId, "UAT")!;
       const uatContent = await loadFile(uatFile);
       return {