fix: Detect and auto-remove circular redirect files in beads (gt-csbjj)

Added multiple layers of protection against circular redirects:

1. ResolveBeadsDir now detects when a redirect points back to itself
   and auto-removes the errant redirect file with a warning

2. ensureBeadsRedirect now includes safety checks:
   - Prevents creating redirects inside mayor/rig/ (the canonical location)
   - Validates that the redirect target is not the same as the beads dir

3. Added test case for circular redirect detection

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

internal/beads/beads.go

@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ var (
 // Example: if we're at crew/max/ and .beads/redirect contains "../../mayor/rig/.beads",
 // the redirect is resolved from crew/max/ (not crew/max/.beads/), giving us
 // mayor/rig/.beads at the rig root level.
+//
+// Circular redirect detection: If the resolved path equals the original beads directory,
+// this indicates an errant redirect file that should be removed. The function logs a
+// warning and returns the original beads directory.
 func ResolveBeadsDir(workDir string) string {
 	beadsDir := filepath.Join(workDir, ".beads")
 	redirectPath := filepath.Join(beadsDir, "redirect")
@@ -56,6 +60,25 @@ func ResolveBeadsDir(workDir string) string {
 	// Clean the path to resolve .. components
 	resolved = filepath.Clean(resolved)
 
+	// Detect circular redirects: if resolved path equals original beads dir,
+	// this is an errant redirect file (e.g., redirect in mayor/rig/.beads pointing to itself)
+	if resolved == beadsDir {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Warning: circular redirect detected in %s (points to itself), ignoring redirect\n", redirectPath)
+		// Remove the errant redirect file to prevent future warnings
+		if err := os.Remove(redirectPath); err != nil {
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Warning: could not remove errant redirect file: %v\n", err)
+		}
+		return beadsDir
+	}
+
+	// Detect redirect chains: check if resolved path also has a redirect
+	resolvedRedirect := filepath.Join(resolved, "redirect")
+	if _, err := os.Stat(resolvedRedirect); err == nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Warning: redirect chain detected: %s -> %s (which also has a redirect)\n", beadsDir, resolved)
+		// Don't follow chains - just return the first resolved path
+		// The target's redirect is likely errant and should be removed
+	}
+
 	return resolved
 }
 

internal/beads/beads_test.go

@@ -966,6 +966,34 @@ func TestResolveBeadsDir(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Errorf("ResolveBeadsDir() = %q, want %q", got, want)
 		}
 	})
+
+	t.Run("circular redirect", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// Redirect that points to itself (e.g., mayor/rig/.beads/redirect -> ../../mayor/rig/.beads)
+		// This is the bug scenario from gt-csbjj
+		workDir := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "mayor", "rig")
+		beadsDir := filepath.Join(workDir, ".beads")
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(beadsDir, 0755); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		// Create a circular redirect: ../../mayor/rig/.beads resolves back to .beads
+		redirectPath := filepath.Join(beadsDir, "redirect")
+		if err := os.WriteFile(redirectPath, []byte("../../mayor/rig/.beads\n"), 0644); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		// ResolveBeadsDir should detect the circular redirect and return the original beadsDir
+		got := ResolveBeadsDir(workDir)
+		want := beadsDir
+		if got != want {
+			t.Errorf("ResolveBeadsDir() = %q, want %q (should ignore circular redirect)", got, want)
+		}
+
+		// The circular redirect file should have been removed
+		if _, err := os.Stat(redirectPath); err == nil {
+			t.Error("circular redirect file should have been removed, but it still exists")
+		}
+	})
 }
 
 func TestParseAgentBeadID(t *testing.T) {

internal/cmd/prime.go

@@ -1187,12 +1187,39 @@ func getAgentBeadID(ctx RoleContext) string {
 
 // ensureBeadsRedirect ensures the .beads/redirect file exists for worktree-based roles.
 // This handles cases where git clean or other operations delete the redirect file.
+//
+// IMPORTANT: This function includes safety checks to prevent creating redirects in
+// the canonical beads location (mayor/rig/.beads), which would cause circular redirects.
 func ensureBeadsRedirect(ctx RoleContext) {
 	// Only applies to crew and polecat roles (they use shared beads)
 	if ctx.Role != RoleCrew && ctx.Role != RolePolecat {
 		return
 	}
 
+	// Get the rig root (parent of crew/ or polecats/)
+	relPath, err := filepath.Rel(ctx.TownRoot, ctx.WorkDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	parts := strings.Split(filepath.ToSlash(relPath), "/")
+	if len(parts) < 1 {
+		return
+	}
+	rigRoot := filepath.Join(ctx.TownRoot, parts[0])
+
+	// SAFETY CHECK: Prevent creating redirect in canonical beads location
+	// If workDir is inside mayor/rig/, we should NOT create a redirect there
+	// This prevents circular redirects like mayor/rig/.beads/redirect -> ../../mayor/rig/.beads
+	mayorRigPath := filepath.Join(rigRoot, "mayor", "rig")
+	workDirAbs, _ := filepath.Abs(ctx.WorkDir)
+	mayorRigPathAbs, _ := filepath.Abs(mayorRigPath)
+	if strings.HasPrefix(workDirAbs, mayorRigPathAbs) {
+		// We're inside mayor/rig/ - this is not a polecat/crew worker location
+		// Role detection may be wrong (e.g., GT_ROLE env var mismatch)
+		// Do NOT create a redirect here
+		return
+	}
+
 	// Check if redirect already exists
 	beadsDir := filepath.Join(ctx.WorkDir, ".beads")
 	redirectPath := filepath.Join(beadsDir, "redirect")
@@ -1205,19 +1232,6 @@ func ensureBeadsRedirect(ctx RoleContext) {
 	// Determine the correct redirect path based on role and rig structure
 	var redirectContent string
 
-	// Get the rig root (parent of crew/ or polecats/)
-	var rigRoot string
-	relPath, err := filepath.Rel(ctx.TownRoot, ctx.WorkDir)
-	if err != nil {
-		return
-	}
-	parts := strings.Split(filepath.ToSlash(relPath), "/")
-	if len(parts) >= 1 {
-		rigRoot = filepath.Join(ctx.TownRoot, parts[0])
-	} else {
-		return
-	}
-
 	// Check for shared beads locations in order of preference:
 	// 1. rig/mayor/rig/.beads/ (if mayor rig clone exists)
 	// 2. rig/.beads/ (rig root beads)
@@ -1247,6 +1261,15 @@ func ensureBeadsRedirect(ctx RoleContext) {
 		return
 	}
 
+	// SAFETY CHECK: Verify the redirect won't be circular
+	// Resolve the redirect target and check it's not the same as our beads dir
+	resolvedTarget := filepath.Join(ctx.WorkDir, redirectContent)
+	resolvedTarget = filepath.Clean(resolvedTarget)
+	if resolvedTarget == beadsDir {
+		// Would create circular redirect - don't do it
+		return
+	}
+
 	// Create .beads directory if needed
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(beadsDir, 0755); err != nil {
 		// Silently fail - not critical