# REPORT — agent v0.132.0: a controller that dies slowly is reported, not just restarted

**2026-09-17.** R-539, operator ruling 3 of 2026-09-16. Architecture: `felhom.eu/documentation/architecture/03-host-agent.md` (the supervisor and its budget).

## Claims in the brief that turned out wrong — named first

1. **„Emit `controller_slow_crashloop` from the agent."** The agent has no event channel. It carries
   timestamps in its heartbeat stanza and the **hub** mints the event when one moves. So the build was
   three wire fields here **plus** a hub checker change (hub v0.117.0), not an event registration alone.
2. **„Five kills 20 min apart is too long — make the interval configurable for the test."** Not needed,
   and not done: the proof restart from B.4(a) was already persisted, so four more real kills ~8 minutes
   apart reached five in 24 hours inside the session, with the **production** window. 8 minutes keeps any
   15-minute window at two restarts, so the fast brake never interferes.

## What shipped

`internal/localapi/controllersupervisor.go`: beside the unchanged 3-in-15 brake, restarts the supervisor
performed in the last 24 hours. At the fifth, `slow_crashloop_since` moves (at most once per 24 h);
`slow_crashloop` and `restarts_24h` ride the stanza (`internal/hub/report.go`). Persisted per guest in
`/var/lib/felhom-agent/guests/<vmid>/controller-restarts-24h.json` (tmp + rename, 0600); unreadable or
corrupt → WARN and a clean start. Never stops restarting. Deliberate kills count. The startup line prints
the new limits.

## Red-proofs — each seen failing, then passing

| test | break | failure seen |
|---|---|---|
| `TestControllerSupervisor_SlowCrashloop` | no counter | `five restarts 20 minutes apart did not raise slow_crashloop — this is R-539` |
| same | once-per-24h guard removed | `the raise moved again on the 6th restart … mailed per restart` |
| `…SlowCounterSurvivesAgentRestart` | save removed | `the agent restart reset the slow counter … Restarts24h:1` |

Negative control: restarts 7 h apart never raise it. Wire shape extended (`restarts_24h`, `slow_crashloop`).

## Gates and release

`go build ./... && go vet ./... && go test ./...` — green, 30 packages. `agent_gates.py --fast` — all OK.
Released by `scripts/release-agent.sh`: tag `v0.132.0`, sha256
`4afe815749a41b327ebe4a98a4557ad2acffb1fa71740a3a8b8003473b835321`, verified by independent download.
**Not vouched** for Day-0 installs (the operator's act). Code `18d03bd`, release record `CHANGELOG` commit after it.

## Delivery — operator-signed, per box (ruling 1 of 2026-09-16)

| box | signed | authorised → completed | committed | startup line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| demo-hp (`demo-hp-bb76ea`) | 08:27:36Z | 08:29:25Z | 08:30:29Z | `slow_crashloop_max=5 slow_crashloop_window=24h0m0s` |
| N100 (`demo-felhom-8363b5`) | 08:27:36Z | 08:34:48Z | 08:35:52Z | same |

Peti's box: not touched. Evidence: `felhom.eu/documentation/audits/evidence-chaos-fixes-2026-09-17/partC-agent-update.txt`.

## Live validation — PASS, production window

On demo-hp guest 9201: five controller kills (08:51:53Z from B.4(a), then 08:57, 09:05, 09:13, 09:21),
each restarted by the agent in 42–56 s, never by hand; the fast brake never armed. At #5:
`SLOW CRASH-LOOP — … restarts_24h=5 window=24h0m0s threshold=5`; persisted file holds the five times and the
raise. The hub minted `controller_slow_crashloop` at 09:29:40Z and **exactly one** operator mail arrived.
Evidence: `…/partC-live-slow-crashloop.txt`.

## Teardown

Nothing provisioned. Stated effect on the demo box: 9201's counter holds five restarts and stays raised
until 09:22Z on 2026-09-18; it cannot mail again inside that window.

## Observations

1. The persisted file writes the zero raise time as `"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z"` (Go `omitempty` does not omit a zero `time.Time`). **NOT-A-FINDING: the loader reads it back as zero (`IsZero`), which the live file and the restart test both exercised; cosmetic only.**