From b3688d40064ba69682e81219bf528b65ad2dd9eb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sawyer <sawyer@dirtroad.dev>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2026 18:18:20 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Append pending sub-agent nudges onto existing ephemeral turns

---
 src/subagent/nudge-director.test.ts | 39 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 src/subagent/nudge-director.ts      | 10 +++++---
 2 files changed, 46 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/subagent/nudge-director.test.ts b/src/subagent/nudge-director.test.ts
index 848553c62..d62e77305 100644
--- a/src/subagent/nudge-director.test.ts
+++ b/src/subagent/nudge-director.test.ts
@@ -270,6 +270,45 @@ describe("SubAgentDirector tool failure recovery", () => {
     expect(ephemeralTexts(later)).toBeUndefined();
   });
 
+  test("recovery nudge appends to ephemeral turns already on the infer", async () => {
+    const director = new SubAgentDirector("system", [], undefined, 30);
+    const caps = capabilities();
+    // Seed an ephemeral turn only when the caller did not supply any, so the
+    // infer action applyPendingNudge rewrites already carries ephemeral turns.
+    const seeding: ReactorCapabilities = {
+      ...caps,
+      infer: (options) => {
+        const existing = (options as { ephemeralTurns?: unknown[] } | undefined)
+          ?.ephemeralTurns;
+        return caps.infer({
+          ...(options ?? {}),
+          ...(existing === undefined
+            ? {
+                ephemeralTurns: [
+                  {
+                    role: "user",
+                    content: [{ type: "text", text: "PRE-SEEDED-EPHEMERAL" }],
+                    timestamp: 0,
+                  },
+                ],
+              }
+            : {}),
+        });
+      },
+    };
+
+    await director.decide(inferenceDone(["seeded-fail"]), state, seeding);
+    const texts = ephemeralTexts(
+      inferAction(
+        await director.decide(toolDone("seeded-fail", true), state, seeding),
+      ),
+    );
+
+    expect(texts).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(texts?.[0]).toBe("PRE-SEEDED-EPHEMERAL");
+    expect(texts?.[1]).toContain("A tool call failed");
+  });
+
   test("failed-tool recovery supersedes soft re-read guidance", async () => {
     const director = new SubAgentDirector("system", [], undefined, 30);
     const caps = capabilities();
diff --git a/src/subagent/nudge-director.ts b/src/subagent/nudge-director.ts
index fb1ec456e..947d3757d 100644
--- a/src/subagent/nudge-director.ts
+++ b/src/subagent/nudge-director.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ import type {
   ReactorAction,
   ToolDefinition,
   ConversationTurn,
-  InferenceOptions,
   RetryPolicy,
 } from "@intx/types/runtime";
 import {
@@ -83,10 +82,15 @@ function inferWithSubAgentNudge(
  * once the pending tool calls have actually executed.
  */
 function withEphemeralNudge(
-  options: InferenceOptions | undefined,
+  options: ExtendedInferenceOptions | undefined,
   text: string,
 ): ExtendedInferenceOptions {
-  return { ...(options ?? {}), ephemeralTurns: [ephemeralNudgeTurn(text)] };
+  const turn = ephemeralNudgeTurn(text);
+  const existing = options?.ephemeralTurns;
+  if (existing === undefined || existing.length === 0) {
+    return { ...(options ?? {}), ephemeralTurns: [turn] };
+  }
+  return { ...(options ?? {}), ephemeralTurns: [...existing, turn] };
 }
 
 function isEmptyContinuation(event: ReactorInboundEvent): boolean {