An estimator whose session ends without emitting canonical output fails
with worker-internal-error. Unlike the implementer, the estimator has no
escalation path (it runs pre-tier) and no salvage (it produces no git
artifact) — so a flaky estimator session just re-enqueues, with nothing
to stop it. Run-2 burned 174 consecutive estimator worker-internal-error
attempts on one PR.
After _ESTIMATOR_WORKER_ERROR_LIMIT (3) such failures the workflow now
STUCKs for operator attention via estimator_failed_twice — symmetric
with the implementer worker-error escalation cap.
- outcomes.py: the cap + the prior_estimator_worker_errors param.
- tick.py: _count_prior_estimator_worker_errors (per-workflow count;
the estimator runs pre-tier, so tier is not a meaningful axis).
- state_machine.py: estimator_failed_twice description corrected — the
event had no emitter before this; strict-parse failures route via
contract-violation -> pickup_exhausted, not this event.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
drew
3106230ef8