From c09f5bf03964aed88ed0a5e75f3a86ae03492896 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Hunter Bown <hmbown@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 23 May 2026 13:05:36 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] fix(subagent): keep agent_eval recoverable after child
 termination

Keep agent_eval recoverable after a child session terminates by preserving the available transcript result instead of losing the final output.
---
 crates/tui/src/tools/subagent/mod.rs   | 35 +++++++++++++---
 crates/tui/src/tools/subagent/tests.rs | 57 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 87 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/crates/tui/src/tools/subagent/mod.rs b/crates/tui/src/tools/subagent/mod.rs
index 25d6a85c..7ace66e5 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/tools/subagent/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/tools/subagent/mod.rs
@@ -2421,11 +2421,35 @@ impl ToolSpec for AgentEvalTool {
                 .map_err(|e| ToolError::execution_failed(e.to_string()))?
         };
 
+        // Track whether a supplied follow-up message actually reached the
+        // child. A completed/failed/cancelled session cannot accept input, but
+        // that must NOT abort the whole call: the parent still needs the
+        // session projection (and its `transcript_handle`) to retrieve the
+        // child's full output. Hard-failing here was #1738 — "agent_eval on a
+        // completed session returns 'not running', no way to recover the full
+        // child output".
+        let mut message_delivery: Option<Value> = None;
         if let Some(message) = message {
-            let mut manager = self.manager.write().await;
-            manager
-                .send_input(&agent_id, message, interrupt)
-                .map_err(|e| ToolError::execution_failed(e.to_string()))?;
+            let terminal = {
+                let manager = self.manager.read().await;
+                manager
+                    .get_result(&agent_id)
+                    .map(|snap| snap.status != SubAgentStatus::Running)
+                    .unwrap_or(false)
+            };
+            if terminal {
+                message_delivery = Some(json!({
+                    "delivered": false,
+                    "reason": "session already terminated; follow-up not delivered",
+                    "recover_full_output": "read the returned transcript_handle with handle_read"
+                }));
+            } else {
+                let mut manager = self.manager.write().await;
+                manager
+                    .send_input(&agent_id, message, interrupt)
+                    .map_err(|e| ToolError::execution_failed(e.to_string()))?;
+                message_delivery = Some(json!({ "delivered": true }));
+            }
         }
 
         let (snapshot, timed_out) = if block {
@@ -2448,7 +2472,8 @@ impl ToolSpec for AgentEvalTool {
             "timed_out": timed_out,
             "terminal": projection.terminal,
             "context_mode": projection.context_mode,
-            "timeout_ms": timeout_ms
+            "timeout_ms": timeout_ms,
+            "message_delivery": message_delivery
         }));
         Ok(result)
     }
diff --git a/crates/tui/src/tools/subagent/tests.rs b/crates/tui/src/tools/subagent/tests.rs
index 30b3494d..40148f5b 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/tools/subagent/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/tools/subagent/tests.rs
@@ -825,6 +825,63 @@ async fn test_wait_for_result_reports_timeout_when_still_running() {
     assert_eq!(snapshot.status, SubAgentStatus::Running);
 }
 
+// Regression for #1738: agent_eval on a terminated session must not
+// hard-fail with "not running" when a follow-up message is supplied. The
+// parent still needs the projection (and its transcript_handle) to recover
+// the child's full output.
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn agent_eval_on_completed_session_returns_full_projection_not_running_error() {
+    let manager = Arc::new(RwLock::new(SubAgentManager::new(PathBuf::from("."), 1)));
+    let (input_tx, _input_rx) = mpsc::unbounded_channel();
+    let mut agent = SubAgent::new(
+        SubAgentType::Explore,
+        "analyze 14 issues".to_string(),
+        make_assignment(),
+        "deepseek-v4-flash".to_string(),
+        Some("Blue".to_string()),
+        Some(vec!["read_file".to_string()]),
+        input_tx,
+        "boot_test".to_string(),
+    );
+    let full_output = "Per-issue analysis:\n".to_string() + &"detail line\n".repeat(400);
+    agent.status = SubAgentStatus::Completed;
+    agent.result = Some(full_output.clone());
+    let agent_id = agent.id.clone();
+    {
+        let mut guard = manager.write().await;
+        guard.agents.insert(agent_id.clone(), agent);
+    }
+
+    let ctx = ToolContext::new(".");
+    let tool = AgentEvalTool::new(manager.clone());
+    let result = tool
+        .execute(
+            json!({
+                "agent_id": agent_id,
+                "message": "give me the full per-issue breakdown",
+                "block": false
+            }),
+            &ctx,
+        )
+        .await
+        .expect("agent_eval on a completed session must not error");
+
+    let meta = result.metadata.expect("metadata present");
+    assert_eq!(meta["terminal"], json!(true));
+    assert_eq!(meta["message_delivery"]["delivered"], json!(false));
+
+    let projection: SubAgentSessionProjection =
+        serde_json::from_str(&result.content).expect("projection deserializes");
+    assert_eq!(projection.status, "completed");
+    assert_eq!(projection.transcript_handle.kind, "var_handle");
+    // The full, untruncated child output survives in the snapshot the
+    // transcript_handle points at.
+    assert_eq!(
+        projection.snapshot.result.as_deref(),
+        Some(full_output.as_str())
+    );
+}
+
 #[tokio::test]
 async fn test_running_count_counts_only_agents_with_live_task_handles() {
     let mut manager = SubAgentManager::new(PathBuf::from("."), 1);