From 5971f4c4702619a735ead7522b5d61f4a9ecdd12 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: riker <scout-crew-riker@gastown.local>
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2026 11:26:47 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] fix(dog): spawn session and set BD_ACTOR for dog dispatch

Recovered from reflog - these commits were lost during a rebase/force-push.

Dogs are directories with state files but no sessions. When `gt dog dispatch`
assigned work and sent mail, nothing executed because no session existed.

Changes:
1. Spawn tmux session after dispatch (gt-<town>-deacon-<dogname>)
2. Set BD_ACTOR=deacon/dogs/<name> so dogs can find their mail
3. Add dog case to AgentEnv for proper identity

Session spawn is non-blocking - if it fails, mail was sent and human can
manually start the session.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 internal/cmd/dog.go         | 38 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 internal/config/env.go      |  7 ++++++-
 internal/config/env_test.go | 17 +++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 61 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/internal/cmd/dog.go b/internal/cmd/dog.go
index 33435e30..dc0ad0f2 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/dog.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/dog.go
@@ -836,6 +836,44 @@ func runDogDispatch(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("sending plugin mail to dog: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	// Spawn a session for the dog to execute the work.
+	// Without a session, the dog's mail inbox is never checked.
+	// See: https://github.com/steveyegge/gastown/issues/XXX (dog dispatch doesn't execute)
+	t := tmux.NewTmux()
+	townName, err := workspace.GetTownName(townRoot)
+	if err != nil {
+		townName = "gt" // fallback
+	}
+	dogSessionName := fmt.Sprintf("gt-%s-deacon-%s", townName, targetDog.Name)
+
+	// Kill any stale session first
+	if has, _ := t.HasSession(dogSessionName); has {
+		_ = t.KillSessionWithProcesses(dogSessionName)
+	}
+
+	// Build startup command with initial prompt to check mail and execute plugin
+	initialPrompt := fmt.Sprintf("I am dog %s. Check my mail inbox with 'gt mail inbox' and execute the plugin instructions I received.", targetDog.Name)
+	startCmd := config.BuildAgentStartupCommand("dog", "", townRoot, targetDog.Path, initialPrompt)
+
+	// Create session from dog's directory
+	if err := t.NewSessionWithCommand(dogSessionName, targetDog.Path, startCmd); err != nil {
+		if !dogDispatchJSON {
+			fmt.Printf("  Warning: could not spawn dog session: %v\n", err)
+		}
+		// Non-fatal: mail was sent, dog is marked as working, but no session to execute
+		// The deacon or human can manually start the session later
+	} else {
+		// Set environment for the dog session
+		envVars := config.AgentEnv(config.AgentEnvConfig{
+			Role:      "dog",
+			AgentName: targetDog.Name,
+			TownRoot:  townRoot,
+		})
+		for k, v := range envVars {
+			_ = t.SetEnvironment(dogSessionName, k, v)
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Success - output result
 	if dogDispatchJSON {
 		return json.NewEncoder(os.Stdout).Encode(result)
diff --git a/internal/config/env.go b/internal/config/env.go
index a7dcad8c..d9e7bc62 100644
--- a/internal/config/env.go
+++ b/internal/config/env.go
@@ -61,6 +61,11 @@ func AgentEnv(cfg AgentEnvConfig) map[string]string {
 		env["GIT_AUTHOR_NAME"] = "boot"
 		env["GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL"] = "boot@gastown.local"
 
+	case "dog":
+		env["BD_ACTOR"] = fmt.Sprintf("deacon/dogs/%s", cfg.AgentName)
+		env["GIT_AUTHOR_NAME"] = fmt.Sprintf("dog-%s", cfg.AgentName)
+		env["GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL"] = fmt.Sprintf("dog-%s@gastown.local", cfg.AgentName)
+
 	case "witness":
 		env["GT_RIG"] = cfg.Rig
 		env["BD_ACTOR"] = fmt.Sprintf("%s/witness", cfg.Rig)
@@ -128,7 +133,7 @@ func AgentEnvSimple(role, rig, agentName string) map[string]string {
 
 // ShellQuote returns a shell-safe quoted string.
 // Values containing special characters are wrapped in single quotes.
-// Single quotes within the value are escaped using the '\'' idiom.
+// Single quotes within the value are escaped using the '\” idiom.
 func ShellQuote(s string) string {
 	// Check if quoting is needed (contains shell special chars)
 	needsQuoting := false
diff --git a/internal/config/env_test.go b/internal/config/env_test.go
index 55b54db7..77ecf263 100644
--- a/internal/config/env_test.go
+++ b/internal/config/env_test.go
@@ -125,6 +125,23 @@ func TestAgentEnv_Boot(t *testing.T) {
 	assertNotSet(t, env, "BEADS_NO_DAEMON")
 }
 
+func TestAgentEnv_Dog(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	env := AgentEnv(AgentEnvConfig{
+		Role:      "dog",
+		AgentName: "alpha",
+		TownRoot:  "/town",
+	})
+
+	assertEnv(t, env, "GT_ROLE", "dog")
+	assertEnv(t, env, "BD_ACTOR", "deacon/dogs/alpha")
+	assertEnv(t, env, "GIT_AUTHOR_NAME", "dog-alpha")
+	assertEnv(t, env, "GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL", "dog-alpha@gastown.local")
+	assertEnv(t, env, "GT_ROOT", "/town")
+	assertNotSet(t, env, "GT_RIG")
+	assertNotSet(t, env, "BEADS_NO_DAEMON")
+}
+
 func TestAgentEnv_WithRuntimeConfigDir(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 	env := AgentEnv(AgentEnvConfig{