fix(runaway-stopper): scan the crew by captain code from an automation thread; an empty crew list is RUNAWAY_INPUT (#3983)

Co-authored-by: capy-ai[bot] <230910855+capy-ai[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

changelog.d/gsta-266-runaway-crew-scan.md

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+bump: micro
+---
+### Fixed
+- **`/runaway-stopper` no longer reports a clean sweep when it was run from outside the crew.** The skill tells big crews to run its scan from a fresh automation thread. That thread belongs to no crew, so its crew list came back empty and the scan checked only itself, then printed a clean `SWEEP:`. The program now takes the Captain's code (`captain`) and writes the crew list to `crew.json`. `gstack-runaway scan --dir` treats an empty list as `RUNAWAY_INPUT` and exits 1.

lib/runaway.ts

@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ const USAGE = [
   'gstack-runaway — find runaway Capy threads and subagents (read-only; /runaway-stopper)',
   '  scan --thread <thread.get json> [--events <transcript json>] [--subagents <subagent.list json>] [--now <iso>]',
   '  scan --dir <dir> [--now <iso>]   reads every <code>.thread.json with its <code>.events.json and <code>.subagents.json',
+  '  and <dir>/crew.json (the thread.list codes, {"items": [...]}): an empty crew list is RUNAWAY_INPUT, never a clean SWEEP.',
   'Lines: RUNAWAY (one per thread, largest own tokens first), FLAG ROTATE|STOP|LOOK|WARN|REPORT, DEFER, SWEEP (--dir).',
   'Review rounds count only subagent titles that name the PR (#N); the rest show as unattributed.',
   'Limits (R70): own > 500M or active > 3d rotate (warn 400M); subagent > 100M stop (LOOK when it already ended);',
@@ -217,6 +218,16 @@ export function runawayMain(argv: string[]): number {
   for (const s of sets) for (const f of [s.thread, s.events, s.subagents]) if (f && !fs.existsSync(f)) return fail('no file ' + f);
   const verdicts: Verdict[] = [];
   let unreadable = 0;
+  const crewFile = dir ? path.join(dir, 'crew.json') : undefined;
+  if (crewFile && fs.existsSync(crewFile)) {
+    let problem: string | null = null;
+    try {
+      const items = (readJson(crewFile) as { items?: unknown })?.items;
+      if (!Array.isArray(items)) problem = 'field=items expected=array of thread codes';
+      else if (!items.length) problem = 'the crew list is empty; a thread outside every crew lists none, so pass thread.list captain: "<Captain code>"';
+    } catch (e) { problem = (e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e)).split('\n')[0]!; }
+    if (problem) { unreadable++; console.log('RUNAWAY_INPUT: file=' + crewFile + ' ' + problem); }
+  }
   for (const s of sets) {
     let file = s.thread;
     try {

runaway-stopper/SKILL.md

@@ -150,8 +150,8 @@ Needs Capy's thread and subagent tools; without them, say so and stop (`gstack-r
 files). Step 1 only reads. Stop only your own subagents; only a Captain rotates and archives, and only threads in
 its own crew (R39). An org sweep runs Step 1 everywhere and sends each finding to the owning Captain; threads
 outside every crew are left alone. For a crew over ~15 threads or the org sweep, run Step 1 from an automation
-with a fresh thread per run that writes the lines to the Captain's drive, archives itself, and messages the
-Captain only when a ROTATE, STOP or REPORT line appears.
+with a fresh thread per run that sets `captain` below (it is in no crew), writes the lines to the Captain's
+drive, archives itself, and messages the Captain on a ROTATE, STOP, REPORT or RUNAWAY_INPUT line.
 
 ## 1. Detect
 
@@ -162,8 +162,10 @@ const pages = 3; // 1 for an org sweep; empty_wake needs 20+ turns, else it prin
 const max = Math.floor(240 / (pages + 1)); // threads per program, under the 256-call limit
 const cursor = undefined; // the previous program's NEXT_CURSOR, to continue a large sweep
 const dir = "/home/user/.capy/work/runaway/" + crypto.randomUUID();
-const list = await tools.thread.list({ scope: "crew", status: ["working", "waiting", "idle"], limit: Math.min(100, max), cursor }); // org sweep: scope "all"
-const codes = [...list.items.map(t => t.code), ...(cursor ? [] : ["this"])].slice(0, max);
+const captain = undefined; // from an automation thread: the Captain's code
+const list = await tools.thread.list({ ...(captain ? { captain } : { scope: "crew" }), status: ["working", "waiting", "idle"], limit: Math.min(100, max), cursor }); // org sweep: scope "all"
+await tools.capy.write({ path: `${dir}/crew.json`, content: JSON.stringify({ items: list.items.map(t => t.code) }) });
+const codes = [...list.items.map(t => t.code), ...(cursor ? [] : [captain ?? "this"])].slice(0, max);
 const fetch = async code => {
   let before, events = [], doc;
   for (let k = 0; k < pages; k++) {

runaway-stopper/SKILL.md.tmpl

@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ Needs Capy's thread and subagent tools; without them, say so and stop (`gstack-r
 files). Step 1 only reads. Stop only your own subagents; only a Captain rotates and archives, and only threads in
 its own crew (R39). An org sweep runs Step 1 everywhere and sends each finding to the owning Captain; threads
 outside every crew are left alone. For a crew over ~15 threads or the org sweep, run Step 1 from an automation
-with a fresh thread per run that writes the lines to the Captain's drive, archives itself, and messages the
-Captain only when a ROTATE, STOP or REPORT line appears.
+with a fresh thread per run that sets `captain` below (it is in no crew), writes the lines to the Captain's
+drive, archives itself, and messages the Captain on a ROTATE, STOP, REPORT or RUNAWAY_INPUT line.
 
 ## 1. Detect
 
@@ -38,8 +38,10 @@ const pages = 3; // 1 for an org sweep; empty_wake needs 20+ turns, else it prin
 const max = Math.floor(240 / (pages + 1)); // threads per program, under the 256-call limit
 const cursor = undefined; // the previous program's NEXT_CURSOR, to continue a large sweep
 const dir = "/home/user/.capy/work/runaway/" + crypto.randomUUID();
-const list = await tools.thread.list({ scope: "crew", status: ["working", "waiting", "idle"], limit: Math.min(100, max), cursor }); // org sweep: scope "all"
-const codes = [...list.items.map(t => t.code), ...(cursor ? [] : ["this"])].slice(0, max);
+const captain = undefined; // from an automation thread: the Captain's code
+const list = await tools.thread.list({ ...(captain ? { captain } : { scope: "crew" }), status: ["working", "waiting", "idle"], limit: Math.min(100, max), cursor }); // org sweep: scope "all"
+await tools.capy.write({ path: `${dir}/crew.json`, content: JSON.stringify({ items: list.items.map(t => t.code) }) });
+const codes = [...list.items.map(t => t.code), ...(cursor ? [] : [captain ?? "this"])].slice(0, max);
 const fetch = async code => {
   let before, events = [], doc;
   for (let k = 0; k < pages; k++) {

test/runaway.test.ts

@@ -138,6 +138,24 @@ describe('gstack-runaway scan', () => {
     expect(r.code).toBe(0);
   });
 
+  // Value: protects=a sweep from a thread outside every crew (the fresh automation thread the skill recommends) never reports a clean SWEEP over its own thread alone; fails_when=an empty crew list scans only "this" and exits 0; why_new=#3975 open note 3 (red-team, cross-family trail read)
+  test('an empty crew list in crew.json is RUNAWAY_INPUT and fails the sweep; a listed crew scans clean', () => {
+    const d = path.join(tmp, 'empty-crew');
+    fs.mkdirSync(d);
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(d, 'AUTO-1.thread.json'), JSON.stringify({ code: 'AUTO-1', status: 'working', created_at: '2026-11-03T21:00:00Z', cost: { tokens: 1e6 }, tasks: [] }));
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(d, 'crew.json'), JSON.stringify({ items: [] }));
+    const r = run('scan', '--dir', d, '--now', NOW);
+    expect(r.code).toBe(1);
+    expect(r.out).toMatch(/RUNAWAY_INPUT: file=\S*crew\.json the crew list is empty/);
+    expect(r.out).toContain('unreadable=1');
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(d, 'crew.json'), JSON.stringify({ items: ['AUTO-1'] }));
+    const ok = run('scan', '--dir', d, '--now', NOW);
+    expect(ok.code).toBe(0);
+    expect(ok.out).toContain('ok=1 unreadable=0');
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(d, 'crew.json'), JSON.stringify({ codes: [] }));
+    expect(run('scan', '--dir', d, '--now', NOW).out).toMatch(/crew\.json field=items expected=array/);
+  });
+
   test('an unreadable or incomplete thread file is named, skipped and fails the sweep; the rest still scan', () => {
     const d = path.join(tmp, 'bad');
     fs.mkdirSync(d);