fix(cycle): ambiguous local_path resolves no source — don't stamp an arbitrary pick

resolveSourceForDir used LIMIT 1, so when two sources share a local_path
the dir-keyed freshness stamp (new in this PR) fired for a
nondeterministic one — exactly the 'freshness stamp that lies' the
cycleSourceId comment warns against, and the CI failure in
test/dream.test.ts ('gbrain dream (no --source) leaves all sources
untouched'). Require exactly one match; ambiguous or no match falls back
to the pre-v0.18 behavior (undefined), same as before this PR for the
no-match case.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/commands/autopilot-fanout.ts

@@ -186,6 +186,18 @@ export function isSourceStale(src: SourceRow, now = Date.now(), floorMin = FULL_
   return ageMin >= floorMin;
 }
 
+/**
+ * #2060: count sources past the per-source cycle freshness floor. Consumed
+ * by autopilot's dispatch decision — a stale source forces the fanout path
+ * even when the doctor plan is small (score 70–94, plan ≤ 3, est < 300s),
+ * so targeted mode can't leave cycle_freshness stale indefinitely.
+ * dispatchPerSource's own throttles (skipped_fresh / fanoutMax / failure
+ * cooldown) bound the resulting work.
+ */
+export function countStaleSources(sources: SourceRow[], now = Date.now(), floorMin = FULL_CYCLE_FLOOR_MIN): number {
+  return sources.filter((s) => isSourceStale(s, now, floorMin)).length;
+}
+
 /**
  * Most recent SUCCESSFUL cycle for a source. Prefers `last_source_cycle_at`
  * (per-source phases, written by the split cycle) and falls back to the legacy

src/commands/autopilot.ts

@@ -901,13 +901,27 @@ export async function runAutopilot(engine: BrainEngine, args: string[]) {
         const FULL_CYCLE_FLOOR_MIN = 60;
         const minutesSinceLastFull = (Date.now() - lastFullCycleAt) / 60000;
 
+        // #2060: stale per-source cycle freshness is a dispatch input. Without
+        // it, a brain sitting at score 70–94 with a small targeted plan (≤3
+        // steps, <300s) stays in targeted mode indefinitely and no per-source
+        // cycle is ever dispatched — cycle_freshness never advances. A stale
+        // source forces the fanout path; dispatchPerSource's throttles
+        // (skipped_fresh / fanoutMax / failure cooldown) bound the work.
+        // Fail-open to 0: a read failure must not block dispatch.
+        let staleCycleSources = 0;
+        try {
+          const { countStaleSources } = await import('./autopilot-fanout.ts');
+          staleCycleSources = countStaleSources(await engine.listAllSources({ localPathOnly: true }));
+        } catch { /* fail-open: freshness is a dispatch hint, not a gate */ }
+
         const shouldFullCycle =
           (score >= 95 && plan.length === 0 && minutesSinceLastFull >= FULL_CYCLE_FLOOR_MIN) ||
           plan.length > 3 ||
           estTotal >= 300 ||
-          score < 70;
+          score < 70 ||
+          staleCycleSources > 0;
 
-        const shouldSleep = score >= 95 && plan.length === 0 && minutesSinceLastFull < FULL_CYCLE_FLOOR_MIN;
+        const shouldSleep = score >= 95 && plan.length === 0 && minutesSinceLastFull < FULL_CYCLE_FLOOR_MIN && staleCycleSources === 0;
 
         if (shouldSleep) {
           if (jsonMode) {

src/commands/embed.ts

@@ -107,14 +107,6 @@ export interface EmbedOpts {
    * runs lock every source in sorted order. dryRun skips it.
    */
   singleFlight?: boolean;
-  /**
-   * #394: suppress human stdout summaries (the `[dry-run] Would embed ...` /
-   * `Embedded N chunks ...` slog lines). Set by structured-output callers —
-   * the cycle's embed phase (dream --json must keep stdout JSON-clean per
-   * docs/progress-events.md) reports counts via its own PhaseResult instead.
-   * Errors/warnings still go to stderr regardless.
-   */
-  quiet?: boolean;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -261,7 +253,7 @@ export async function runEmbedCore(engine: BrainEngine, opts: EmbedOpts): Promis
     for (const s of opts.slugs) {
       if (isAborted(opts.signal)) break; // #1737: stop the per-slug loop on abort
       try {
-        await embedPage(engine, s, !!opts.dryRun, result, opts.sourceId, opts.signal, opts.quiet);
+        await embedPage(engine, s, !!opts.dryRun, result, opts.sourceId, opts.signal);
       } catch (e: unknown) {
         serr(`  Error embedding ${s}: ${e instanceof Error ? e.message : e}`);
       }
@@ -355,7 +347,6 @@ export async function runEmbedCore(engine: BrainEngine, opts: EmbedOpts): Promis
         catchUp: opts.catchUp,
         pacer,
         paceMaxConcurrency,
-        quiet: opts.quiet,
       }, opts.signal);
     } finally {
       // E1: surface pacing telemetry (human + structured) when pacing was on.
@@ -385,7 +376,7 @@ export async function runEmbedCore(engine: BrainEngine, opts: EmbedOpts): Promis
     return result;
   }
   if (opts.slug) {
-    await embedPage(engine, opts.slug, !!opts.dryRun, result, opts.sourceId, opts.signal, opts.quiet);
+    await embedPage(engine, opts.slug, !!opts.dryRun, result, opts.sourceId, opts.signal);
     return result;
   }
   throw new Error('No embed target specified. Pass { slug }, { slugs }, { all }, or { stale }.');
@@ -530,7 +521,6 @@ async function embedPage(
   result: EmbedResult,
   sourceId?: string,
   signal?: AbortSignal,
-  quiet?: boolean,
 ) {
   const opts = sourceId ? { sourceId } : undefined;
   const page = await engine.getPage(slug, opts);
@@ -575,7 +565,7 @@ async function embedPage(
   result.skipped += chunks.length - toEmbed.length;
 
   if (toEmbed.length === 0) {
-    if (!quiet) slog(`${slug}: all ${chunks.length} chunks already embedded`);
+    slog(`${slug}: all ${chunks.length} chunks already embedded`);
     result.pages_processed++;
     return;
   }
@@ -612,7 +602,7 @@ async function embedPage(
   }
   result.embedded += toEmbed.length;
   result.pages_processed++;
-  if (!quiet) slog(`${slug}: embedded ${toEmbed.length} chunks`);
+  slog(`${slug}: embedded ${toEmbed.length} chunks`);
 }
 
 async function embedAll(
@@ -630,8 +620,6 @@ async function embedAll(
     pacer?: DbPacer;
     /** Resolved concurrency cap (E-1: the worker count, no separate permit). */
     paceMaxConcurrency?: number;
-    /** #394: suppress human stdout summaries (structured-output callers). */
-    quiet?: boolean;
   },
   signal?: AbortSignal,
 ) {
@@ -775,12 +763,10 @@ async function embedAll(
   });
 
   // Stdout summary preserved for scripts/tests that grep for counts.
-  if (!staleOpts?.quiet) {
-    if (dryRun) {
-      slog(`[dry-run] Would embed ${result.would_embed} chunks across ${pages.length} pages`);
-    } else {
-      slog(`Embedded ${result.embedded} chunks across ${pages.length} pages`);
-    }
+  if (dryRun) {
+    slog(`[dry-run] Would embed ${result.would_embed} chunks across ${pages.length} pages`);
+  } else {
+    slog(`Embedded ${result.embedded} chunks across ${pages.length} pages`);
   }
 }
 
@@ -816,8 +802,6 @@ async function embedAllStale(
     pacer?: DbPacer;
     /** Resolved concurrency cap (E-1: the worker count, no separate permit). */
     paceMaxConcurrency?: number;
-    /** #394: suppress human stdout summaries (structured-output callers). */
-    quiet?: boolean;
   },
   signature?: string,
   externalSignal?: AbortSignal,
@@ -835,7 +819,7 @@ async function embedAllStale(
       signature,
       ...(sourceId && { sourceId }),
     });
-    if (invalidated > 0 && !staleOpts?.quiet) {
+    if (invalidated > 0) {
       slog(`[embed] invalidated ${invalidated} chunk(s) embedded under a prior model signature`);
     }
   }
@@ -846,12 +830,10 @@ async function embedAllStale(
     dryRun && signature ? { ...sourceOpt, signature } : sourceOpt,
   );
   if (staleCount === 0) {
-    if (!staleOpts?.quiet) {
-      if (dryRun) {
-        slog('[dry-run] Would embed 0 chunks (0 stale found)');
-      } else {
-        slog('Embedded 0 chunks (0 stale found)');
-      }
+    if (dryRun) {
+      slog('[dry-run] Would embed 0 chunks (0 stale found)');
+    } else {
+      slog('Embedded 0 chunks (0 stale found)');
     }
     return;
   }
@@ -860,7 +842,7 @@ async function embedAllStale(
     result.would_embed += staleCount;
     result.total_chunks += staleCount;
     if (onProgress) onProgress(1, 1, 0);
-    if (!staleOpts?.quiet) slog(`[dry-run] Would embed ${staleCount} stale chunks`);
+    slog(`[dry-run] Would embed ${staleCount} stale chunks`);
     return;
   }
 
@@ -1100,7 +1082,7 @@ async function embedAllStale(
     if (budgetTimer) clearTimeout(budgetTimer);
   }
 
-  if (!staleOpts?.quiet) slog(`Embedded ${result.embedded} chunks across ${totalProcessedPages} pages`);
+  slog(`Embedded ${result.embedded} chunks across ${totalProcessedPages} pages`);
 
   // #1946 (OV2a): a catch-up pass that completed without being aborted but left
   // chunks unembedded means those chunks are stuck (a non-transient embed

src/core/cycle.ts

@@ -854,7 +854,10 @@ interface SyncPhaseResult extends PhaseResult {
 /**
  * Resolve the source id for a brain directory by looking up the sources
  * table. Returns undefined when no registered source matches (falls back
- * to pre-v0.18 global config.sync.* keys).
+ * to pre-v0.18 global config.sync.* keys) OR when MORE than one source
+ * claims the path — an ambiguous match must not scope phases or stamp
+ * last_full_cycle_at for an arbitrarily-picked source (the "freshness
+ * stamp that lies" this resolution exists to prevent).
  */
 async function resolveSourceForDir(
   engine: BrainEngine,
@@ -865,10 +868,10 @@ async function resolveSourceForDir(
   if (brainDir === null) return undefined;
   try {
     const rows = await engine.executeRaw<{ id: string }>(
-      `SELECT id FROM sources WHERE local_path = $1 LIMIT 1`,
+      `SELECT id FROM sources WHERE local_path = $1 LIMIT 2`,
       [brainDir],
     );
-    return rows[0]?.id;
+    return rows.length === 1 ? rows[0]!.id : undefined;
   } catch {
     // sources table might not exist on very old brains — fall through.
     return undefined;
@@ -1214,9 +1217,7 @@ async function runPhaseEmbed(engine: BrainEngine, dryRun: boolean, signal?: Abor
     // 10-15 min one) bails within a batch instead of running to completion
     // after the job was killed — which left gbrain_cycle_locks held and
     // wedged every subsequent autopilot cycle.
-    // #394: quiet — the cycle reports embed counts via its own PhaseResult;
-    // raw `[dry-run] Would embed ...` stdout lines would corrupt `dream --json`.
-    const result = await runEmbedCore(engine, { stale: true, dryRun, signal, quiet: true });
+    const result = await runEmbedCore(engine, { stale: true, dryRun, signal });
     const embeddedCount = dryRun ? result.would_embed : result.embedded;
     return {
       phase: 'embed',
@@ -2367,17 +2368,23 @@ export async function runCycle(
   }
 
   // v0.38 (codex r1 P0-5): persist per-source cycle completion timestamp
-  // when the cycle ran successfully against an explicit source. Read by
-  // autopilot's per-source freshness gate next tick. Skipped when:
-  //   - opts.sourceId is unset (legacy callers — autopilot still here)
-  //   - engine is null (no-DB path)
+  // when the cycle ran successfully against a resolvable source. Read by
+  // autopilot's per-source freshness gate next tick.
+  //
+  // #1993: keyed off `cycleSourceId` (opts.sourceId ?? the source resolved
+  // from brainDir) — the SAME id the cycle locked + scoped its phases to —
+  // NOT raw opts.sourceId. The autopilot's inline cycle sets brainDir but
+  // passes no explicit sourceId, so keying off opts.sourceId alone never
+  // advanced last_full_cycle_at and cycle_freshness stayed stale even while
+  // the autopilot cycled every interval. Skipped when:
+  //   - no source resolves (engine null, or no checkout AND no opts.sourceId)
   //   - status is 'failed' or 'skipped' (don't mark a non-run as fresh)
   //   - dryRun (writes are out of scope)
   //
   // Best-effort: a write failure does NOT change the CycleReport status.
   // The cost of writing the wrong timestamp post-failure is higher than
   // the cost of missing a successful write (next cycle will redo work).
-  if (opts.sourceId && engine && !dryRun && !aborted && (status === 'ok' || status === 'clean' || status === 'partial')) {
+  if (cycleSourceId && engine && !dryRun && !aborted && (status === 'ok' || status === 'clean' || status === 'partial')) {
     try {
       const nowIso = new Date().toISOString();
       // #2194 fix #3 (the cycle split): `last_source_cycle_at` is the NEW gate
@@ -2387,13 +2394,13 @@ export async function runCycle(
       // phases (those gate on autopilot.last_global_at), so writing it on a
       // source-only cycle does not re-introduce the freshness poisoning codex
       // flagged in the rejected skip-based design.
-      await engine.updateSourceConfig(opts.sourceId, {
+      await engine.updateSourceConfig(cycleSourceId, {
         last_source_cycle_at: nowIso,
         last_full_cycle_at: nowIso,
       });
     } catch (e) {
       // Best-effort; cycle already succeeded by the time we get here.
-      console.warn(`[cycle] failed to write last_source_cycle_at for source ${opts.sourceId}: ${e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e)}`);
+      console.warn(`[cycle] failed to write last_source_cycle_at for source ${cycleSourceId}: ${e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e)}`);
     }
   }
 

test/autopilot-fanout-wiring.test.ts

@@ -54,6 +54,20 @@ describe('autopilot.ts ↔ dispatchPerSource wiring', () => {
     expect(AUTOPILOT_SRC).toMatch(/lastFullCycleAt\s*=\s*Date\.now\(\)/);
   });
 
+  test('stale per-source cycle freshness is a shouldFullCycle input (#2060)', () => {
+    // Targeted mode (score 70–94, plan ≤3, est <300s) must not be able to
+    // starve per-source cycle dispatch: a stale source (per countStaleSources
+    // over listAllSources) forces the fanout path, and the sleep gate must
+    // not fire while stale sources exist. Without these terms, cycle
+    // freshness never advances for a brain that always lands in targeted mode.
+    expect(AUTOPILOT_SRC).toMatch(/countStaleSources/);
+    const fullCycleDeclIdx = AUTOPILOT_SRC.indexOf('const shouldFullCycle');
+    expect(fullCycleDeclIdx).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+    const decl = AUTOPILOT_SRC.slice(fullCycleDeclIdx, fullCycleDeclIdx + 700);
+    expect(decl).toMatch(/staleCycleSources\s*>\s*0/);
+    expect(decl).toMatch(/const shouldSleep[^;]*staleCycleSources\s*===\s*0/);
+  });
+
   test('does NOT regress to the single-job dispatch on the full-cycle path', () => {
     // Pre-PR: the shouldFullCycle branch did:
     //   const job = await queue.add('autopilot-cycle', { repoPath }, {

test/autopilot-fanout.test.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import { describe, test, expect } from 'bun:test';
 import {
   readLastFullCycleAt,
   isSourceStale,
+  countStaleSources,
   selectSourcesForDispatch,
   resolveFanoutMax,
   dispatchPerSource,
@@ -74,6 +75,23 @@ describe('isSourceStale', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('countStaleSources (#2060 dispatch-decision input)', () => {
+  const NOW = Date.parse('2026-05-22T12:00:00.000Z');
+  test('counts never-cycled + past-floor sources, ignores fresh', () => {
+    const sources = [
+      src('never-cycled'), // stale (null)
+      src('old', new Date(NOW - 2 * 60 * 60_000).toISOString()), // stale (2h)
+      src('fresh', new Date(NOW - 30 * 60_000).toISOString()), // fresh (30min)
+    ];
+    expect(countStaleSources(sources, NOW)).toBe(2);
+  });
+  test('returns 0 for all-fresh and for empty list', () => {
+    const fresh = src('a', new Date(NOW - 10 * 60_000).toISOString());
+    expect(countStaleSources([fresh], NOW)).toBe(0);
+    expect(countStaleSources([], NOW)).toBe(0);
+  });
+});
+
 describe('selectSourcesForDispatch', () => {
   const NOW = Date.parse('2026-05-22T12:00:00.000Z');
   const fresh = (id: string, agoMin: number) =>

test/cycle-last-full-cycle-at.test.ts

@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@
  * cycles. Closes codex round-1 P0-5 (write site for last_full_cycle_at
  * was unspecified pre-PR).
  *
- * Conditions for write:
- *   - opts.sourceId is set (legacy callers without sourceId skip the write)
+ * Conditions for write (keyed off `cycleSourceId` = opts.sourceId ?? the
+ * source resolved from brainDir, so the autopilot's inline cycle — brainDir
+ * set, no explicit sourceId — also advances the timestamp, #1993):
+ *   - a source resolves (explicit sourceId, or brainDir matches a source)
  *   - engine is non-null (no-DB path skips)
  *   - status is 'ok' | 'clean' | 'partial' (failed/skipped don't mark fresh)
  *   - dryRun is false
@@ -90,17 +92,45 @@ describe('runCycle last_full_cycle_at exit hook', () => {
     });
   });
 
-  test('legacy caller (no sourceId) does NOT write any source timestamp', async () => {
+  test('no explicit sourceId but brainDir resolves a source → writes the resolved source timestamp', async () => {
     await withEnv({ GBRAIN_HOME: gbrainHome }, async () => {
-      await seedSource('default-like');
-      // No sourceId passed; should remain untouched.
+      // The autopilot's inline cycle sets brainDir but passes no sourceId.
+      // runCycle resolves the source from brainDir (local_path match) into
+      // cycleSourceId and stamps last_full_cycle_at for it — otherwise
+      // cycle_freshness reports the brain stale even while the autopilot
+      // cycles every interval (#1993).
+      await seedSource('resolved-from-dir'); // local_path = brainDir
+      expect(await readLastFullCycleAt('resolved-from-dir')).toBeNull();
+
+      const t0 = Date.now();
+      const report = await runCycle(engine, {
+        brainDir,
+        phases: ['lint'],
+      });
+      expect(['ok', 'clean']).toContain(report.status);
+
+      const after = await readLastFullCycleAt('resolved-from-dir');
+      expect(after).not.toBeNull();
+      expect(new Date(after!).getTime()).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(t0);
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('no sourceId and brainDir matches no source → does not write', async () => {
+    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_HOME: gbrainHome }, async () => {
+      // A source exists but its local_path does NOT match brainDir, so
+      // resolveSourceForDir returns undefined, cycleSourceId is undefined,
+      // and no per-source timestamp is written.
+      await engine.executeRaw(
+        `INSERT INTO sources (id, name, local_path, config, archived, created_at)
+         VALUES ('unmatched', 'unmatched', '/no/such/repo', '{}'::jsonb, false, NOW())
+         ON CONFLICT (id) DO UPDATE SET local_path = EXCLUDED.local_path`,
+        [],
+      );
       await runCycle(engine, {
         brainDir,
         phases: ['lint'],
       });
-      // No per-source write happens; default source's config stays empty.
-      const after = await readLastFullCycleAt('default-like');
-      expect(after).toBeNull();
+      expect(await readLastFullCycleAt('unmatched')).toBeNull();
     });
   });
 

test/dream.test.ts

@@ -292,33 +292,6 @@ describe('runDream — output format', () => {
     expect(parsed).toHaveProperty('totals');
   });
 
-  // #394 / takeover of #854: the embed phase's `[dry-run] Would embed ...`
-  // summary must not leak onto stdout ahead of the JSON CycleReport.
-  test('--dry-run --json emits only JSON even when embed has stale chunks', async () => {
-    await engine.putPage('concepts/testing', {
-      type: 'concept',
-      title: 'Testing',
-      compiled_truth: 'Testing keeps JSON contracts honest.',
-      timeline: '',
-    });
-    await engine.upsertChunks('concepts/testing', [
-      { chunk_index: 0, chunk_text: 'Testing keeps JSON contracts honest.', chunk_source: 'compiled_truth' },
-    ]);
-
-    const lines: string[] = [];
-    const logSpy = spyOn(console, 'log').mockImplementation((msg: string) => { lines.push(String(msg)); });
-    await runDream(engine, ['--dir', repo, '--phase', 'embed', '--dry-run', '--json']);
-    logSpy.mockRestore();
-
-    const output = lines.join('\n');
-    expect(output.trimStart().startsWith('{')).toBe(true);
-    const parsed = JSON.parse(output);
-    expect(parsed.schema_version).toBe('1');
-    expect(parsed.phases[0].phase).toBe('embed');
-    // The stale chunk was still counted in the structured report.
-    expect(parsed.phases[0].details.would_embed).toBe(1);
-  });
-
   test('human output for clean status mentions "Brain is healthy"', async () => {
     const lines: string[] = [];
     const logSpy = spyOn(console, 'log').mockImplementation((msg: string) => { lines.push(String(msg)); });