From cceacf2b04ff38ac4afaacb9bcfea79439eb3fd5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: gastown/crew/jack <steve.yegge@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2025 11:58:08 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] Fix cross-beads slot references silently failing
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When slinging work from town beads (hq-*) to a polecat whose agent bead
is in rig beads (gt-*), the hook_bead update was silently failing because
bd couldn't find the cross-beads reference.

Changes:
- sling.go: Use town root for routing instead of cwd, enabling cross-beads
  resolution via routes.jsonl. Log warnings on failure instead of silent ignore.
- done.go: Use townRoot (already available) instead of cwd for beads client.
  Log warnings on failure for both state and cleanup status updates.

Root cause: The beads client was created from current working directory,
which may not have access to routes.jsonl for cross-prefix resolution.
Town root always has routes.jsonl for proper prefix → rig directory mapping.

(gt-ohqxq)

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

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 internal/cmd/done.go  |  9 ++++++---
 internal/cmd/sling.go | 18 ++++++++++++++----
 2 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/internal/cmd/done.go b/internal/cmd/done.go
index a8c7c9f5..86ea61cd 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/done.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/done.go
@@ -312,10 +312,12 @@ func updateAgentStateOnDone(cwd, townRoot, exitType, issueID string) {
 	}
 
 	// Update agent bead with new state and clear hook_bead (work is done)
-	bd := beads.New(cwd)
+	// Use town root for routing - ensures cross-beads references work
+	bd := beads.New(townRoot)
 	emptyHook := ""
 	if err := bd.UpdateAgentState(agentBeadID, newState, &emptyHook); err != nil {
-		// Silently ignore - beads might not be configured
+		// Log warning instead of silent ignore - helps debug cross-beads issues
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Warning: couldn't update agent %s state on done: %v\n", agentBeadID, err)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -324,7 +326,8 @@ func updateAgentStateOnDone(cwd, townRoot, exitType, issueID string) {
 	cleanupStatus := computeCleanupStatus(cwd)
 	if cleanupStatus != "" {
 		if err := bd.UpdateAgentCleanupStatus(agentBeadID, cleanupStatus); err != nil {
-			// Silently ignore
+			// Log warning instead of silent ignore
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Warning: couldn't update agent %s cleanup status: %v\n", agentBeadID, err)
 			return
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/internal/cmd/sling.go b/internal/cmd/sling.go
index 718720b1..f7c9adc6 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/sling.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/sling.go
@@ -790,6 +790,11 @@ func runSlingFormula(args []string) error {
 
 // updateAgentHookBead updates the agent bead's hook_bead field when work is slung.
 // This enables the witness to see what each agent is working on.
+//
+// IMPORTANT: Uses town root for routing so cross-beads references work.
+// The agent bead (e.g., gt-gastown-polecat-nux) may be in rig beads,
+// while the hook bead (e.g., hq-oosxt) may be in town beads.
+// Running from town root gives access to routes.jsonl for proper resolution.
 func updateAgentHookBead(agentID, beadID string) {
 	// Convert agent ID to agent bead ID
 	// Format examples (canonical: prefix-rig-role-name):
@@ -802,15 +807,20 @@ func updateAgentHookBead(agentID, beadID string) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	// Find beads directory - try current directory first
-	workDir, err := os.Getwd()
+	// Use town root for routing - this ensures cross-beads references work.
+	// Town beads (hq-*) and rig beads (gt-*) are resolved via routes.jsonl
+	// which lives at town root.
+	townRoot, err := workspace.FindFromCwd()
 	if err != nil {
+		// Not in a Gas Town workspace - can't update agent bead
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Warning: couldn't find town root to update agent hook: %v\n", err)
 		return
 	}
 
-	bd := beads.New(workDir)
+	bd := beads.New(townRoot)
 	if err := bd.UpdateAgentState(agentBeadID, "running", &beadID); err != nil {
-		// Silently ignore - agent bead might not exist yet
+		// Log warning instead of silent ignore - helps debug cross-beads issues
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Warning: couldn't update agent %s hook to %s: %v\n", agentBeadID, beadID, err)
 		return
 	}
 }