Keep a pending question across restarts, and make the restart question answerable

A restart in AWAIT_INPUT replaced the saved pending item with a generic
"continue or re-plan?" whose answer nothing handled: the reply cleared
it and left the agent in AWAIT_INPUT with nothing to resume, where 'use'
was refused too. The first live run hit this after a planning failure
and could not be moved by any message.

- Waiting on the operator is a committed state (A3 step 8): on boot, ask
  the saved question again instead of replacing it. _await_input keeps
  the prompt with the pending item for this.
- The restart question (A3 step 7) records the state it interrupted, and
  'continue' / 're-plan' now do what they offer: re-run the interrupted
  planning turn, or return an interrupted milestone to its approved plan.
  Any other reply asks again rather than being swallowed.
- With nothing pending, 'use <project>' starts over, as the reply
  already advised.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

nisse-dev/src/nisse_dev/control.py

@@ -56,6 +56,12 @@ TRANSITIONS = {
 }
 
 
+_BOOT_CHOICES = (
+    "reply 'continue' to pick up where the restart cut in, "
+    "or 're-plan' to plan the current step again"
+)
+
+
 class TransitionError(RuntimeError):
     pass
 
@@ -251,9 +257,18 @@ class Orchestrator:
                 prompt=(
                     "restart found unresolved work: "
                     + "; ".join(report.notes)
-                    + " — how should I proceed?"
+                    + f" — {_BOOT_CHOICES}"
                 ),
-                pending={"kind": "boot"},
+                pending={"kind": "boot", "interrupted": state.state},
+            )
+        elif state.state == AWAIT_INPUT and self._data.get("pending"):
+            # Waiting on the operator is a committed state (A3 step 8):
+            # nothing was in flight, and the question and what answering it
+            # resumes are durable. Ask it again rather than replacing it.
+            pending = self._data["pending"]
+            self._transport.ask_question(
+                "restarted while waiting on you: "
+                + pending.get("prompt", "my last question still stands")
             )
         elif state.state == IDLE or (
             state.state in (AWAIT_ARCH_SIGNOFF, AWAIT_MILESTONE_SIGNOFF) and gate
@@ -270,8 +285,8 @@ class Orchestrator:
             # never blind-resume (A3.6).
             self._await_input(
                 cause=f"boot: restarted in {state.state}",
-                prompt=f"restarted mid-{state.state}; continue or re-plan?",
+                prompt=f"restarted mid-{state.state}; {_BOOT_CHOICES}",
-                pending={"kind": "boot"},
+                pending={"kind": "boot", "interrupted": state.state},
             )
 
     def _handle(self, msg: InboundMessage) -> None:
@@ -783,15 +798,21 @@ class Orchestrator:
             self._unwatch(kind)
 
     def _await_input(self, *, cause: str, prompt: str, pending: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
-        self._data["pending"] = pending
+        # The prompt is kept with what it resumes, so a restart can ask the
+        # same question again.
+        self._data["pending"] = {**pending, "prompt": prompt}
         self._transition(AWAIT_INPUT, cause=cause)
         self._transport.ask_question(prompt)
 
     def _handle_answer(self, text: str) -> None:
         pending = self._data.get("pending")
         if pending is None:
-            # Reached only if state was forced externally; say what works
+            # Reached only if state was forced externally or a pending item
-            # rather than dead-ending the operator.
+            # was lost; starting over must still work from here.
+            if text.startswith("use "):
+                self.stop_watching()
+                self._begin_project(text[4:].strip())
+                return
             self._transport.send_message(
                 "waiting for direction, but I have no pending item to resume; "
                 "try 'status', or 'use <project>' to start over"
@@ -804,6 +825,8 @@ class Orchestrator:
                 back = PLANNING_ARCH if gate_name == "arch" else MILESTONE_PLANNING
                 self._transition(back, cause="operator answered; resuming planning")
                 self._run_planning_turn(gate_name, answer=text)
+            case "boot":
+                self._resume_after_restart(pending, text)
             case "milestone_stopped":
                 milestone = pending["milestone"]
                 self._transition(
@@ -819,6 +842,43 @@ class Orchestrator:
                     "noted. say 'status' for where things stand"
                 )
 
+    def _resume_after_restart(self, pending: dict[str, Any], text: str) -> None:
+        """Answer to the question a restart asks (A3 step 7). Never a blind
+        resume: 'continue' re-runs the interrupted planning turn, or returns
+        an interrupted milestone to its approved plan to be started again."""
+        choice = text.strip().rstrip(".!").lower()
+        if choice not in ("continue", "re-plan", "replan"):
+            self._data["pending"] = pending
+            self._transport.ask_question(_BOOT_CHOICES)
+            return
+        milestone = int(self._data.get("milestone", 1))
+        gate = self._data.get("gate") or {}
+        interrupted = pending.get("interrupted")
+        if choice == "continue" and interrupted == EXECUTING and gate.get("approved"):
+            self._transition(
+                AWAIT_MILESTONE_SIGNOFF, cause="operator: continue after restart"
+            )
+            self._transport.send_message(
+                f"the milestone {milestone} plan is still approved; say "
+                f"'start milestone {milestone}' to run it"
+            )
+            return
+        if interrupted == PLANNING_ARCH:
+            gate_name = "arch"
+        elif interrupted in (MILESTONE_PLANNING, EXECUTING):
+            gate_name = f"milestone-{milestone}"
+        else:
+            # Not recorded (a question asked before the interrupted state
+            # was): judge by how far planning got.
+            planned = self._data.get("revs", {})
+            gate_name = gate.get("name") or (
+                "arch" if "arch" not in planned else f"milestone-{milestone}"
+            )
+        self._data["gate"] = None
+        back = PLANNING_ARCH if gate_name == "arch" else MILESTONE_PLANNING
+        self._transition(back, cause=f"operator: {choice} after restart")
+        self._run_planning_turn(gate_name)
+
     def _transition(self, new_state: str, *, cause: str) -> None:
         state = self._store.get_state()
         current = state.state if state else None

nisse-dev/tests/test_control.py

@@ -10,8 +10,10 @@ from nisse_dev.control import (
     AWAIT_MILESTONE_SIGNOFF,
     EXECUTING,
     IDLE,
+    PLANNING_ARCH,
     AskHuman,
     Orchestrator,
+    PlanningError,
     StubAgent,
     SubmitPlan,
 )
@@ -153,3 +155,95 @@ def test_ask_human_pauses_and_answer_resumes(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     h.transport.receive("don", "monorepo")
     assert h.state == AWAIT_ARCH_SIGNOFF
     assert "monorepo" in h.transport.outbound[-1].text
+
+
+# --- restarts (A3 steps 7 and 8) --------------------------------------------
+
+
+class FailsOnce:
+    """A planner whose first turn fails, as Opus 5.5's did on its first live
+    run when asked for forced tool use."""
+
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self.calls = 0
+
+    def plan(
+        self,
+        gate: str,
+        project: str,
+        feedback: str | None = None,
+        answer: str | None = None,
+    ) -> SubmitPlan | AskHuman:
+        self.calls += 1
+        if self.calls == 1:
+            raise PlanningError("planner returned 400")
+        return SubmitPlan(f"[stub] {gate} plan for {project}")
+
+
+def test_restart_while_awaiting_input_asks_the_same_question(
+    tmp_path: Path,
+) -> None:
+    agent = FailsOnce()
+    h = Harness(tmp_path, agent=agent)
+    h.transport.receive("don", "use demo")
+    assert h.state == AWAIT_INPUT
+    h = Harness(tmp_path, agent=agent)  # restart on the same state
+    question = h.transport.outbound[-1]
+    assert question.kind == "question"
+    assert "restarted while waiting on you" in question.text
+    assert "planning for arch failed" in question.text
+    h.transport.receive("don", "Please retry.")
+    assert h.state == AWAIT_ARCH_SIGNOFF
+
+
+def test_restart_mid_planning_offers_continue_and_it_replans(
+    tmp_path: Path,
+) -> None:
+    h = Harness(tmp_path)
+    h.store.transition(PLANNING_ARCH, cause="test", project="demo", data={})
+    h = Harness(tmp_path)
+    assert h.state == AWAIT_INPUT
+    assert "'continue'" in h.outbound_texts()[-1]
+    h.transport.receive("don", "Please retry.")  # neither choice: asked again
+    assert h.state == AWAIT_INPUT
+    assert h.transport.outbound[-1].kind == "question"
+    h.transport.receive("don", "continue")
+    assert h.state == AWAIT_ARCH_SIGNOFF
+
+
+def test_restart_mid_execution_continue_returns_to_the_approved_plan(
+    h: Harness, tmp_path: Path
+) -> None:
+    h.transport.receive("don", "use demo")
+    h.transport.receive("don", "approve")
+    h.transport.receive("don", "approve")
+    h.transport.receive("don", "start milestone 1")
+    assert h.state == EXECUTING
+    h = Harness(tmp_path)
+    assert h.state == AWAIT_INPUT
+    h.transport.receive("don", "continue")
+    assert h.state == AWAIT_MILESTONE_SIGNOFF
+    assert "start milestone 1" in h.outbound_texts()[-1]
+    h.transport.receive("don", "start milestone 1")
+    assert h.state == EXECUTING
+
+
+def test_restart_question_without_its_interrupted_state_still_replans(
+    tmp_path: Path,
+) -> None:
+    # What the first live run left behind: a restart question recorded
+    # before the question kept its prompt or the state it interrupted.
+    h = Harness(tmp_path)
+    h.store.transition(
+        AWAIT_INPUT, cause="test", project="demo", data={"pending": {"kind": "boot"}}
+    )
+    h = Harness(tmp_path)
+    assert "my last question still stands" in h.outbound_texts()[-1]
+    h.transport.receive("don", "re-plan")
+    assert h.state == AWAIT_ARCH_SIGNOFF
+
+
+def test_use_starts_over_when_nothing_is_pending(h: Harness) -> None:
+    h.store.transition(AWAIT_INPUT, cause="forced", project="demo", data={})
+    h.transport.receive("don", "use demo")
+    assert h.state == AWAIT_ARCH_SIGNOFF