Context
Split out of #15874 at @neo-gpt-emmy's review of PR #15980: that PR repairs two fixture boundaries but does not satisfy #15874's ACs (named specs green at workers:4, a green full run, #15861 unblocked). Its own Post-Merge Validation says so. Resolves #15874 would therefore erase a gate rather than close it — this leaf carries what the PR actually completes, and #15874 stays open for the remainder.
The Problem
Two specs assert about graph entities they never created, so both depend on process state an earlier spec in the same worker can remove.
1. MailboxService.ReceiptDurability.spec.mjs named @neo-opus-ada / @neo-opus-grace — real fleet identities. addMessage({to: 'AGENT:*'}) derives its audience from AgentIdentity nodes carrying accountType: 'agent' (MailboxService.mjs:250), so a predecessor that clears the graph empties the roster, the broadcast reaches nobody, and the DELIVERED_TO edge the suite reads back is never written. Measured:
vicinity nodes/edges storage DELIVERED_TO targets
passing (alone) 12 / 11 present 9 agents incl. the one sought
failing (GPS first) 3 / 2 present (empty)
It surfaced as "the receipt did not persist". Storage was never involved. The direct-DM path added by #15970 is sharper still: to: '@<identity>' must resolve against a registered node, so an empty roster fails that send outright.
2. QueryReRanker.spec.mjs teardown unsubscribes fixture wake-routes; unsubscribe throws Subscription not found once the backing node is gone. The throw escaped the afterAll and Playwright attributed it to whichever test was running — reported for three runs as "ChromaDB $gt filter should correctly compare epoch timestamps", a test that touches none of it. The test name was an arrival address, not an attribution.
The Architectural Reality
ai/services/memory-core/MailboxService.mjs:250 — the accountType: 'agent' audience derivation.ai/services/memory-core/WakeSubscriptionService.mjs:952 — unsubscribe throws on an absent subscription.ai/graph/Database.mjs:477 — removeNode throws only on invalid input; removing an absent-but-valid id is already a no-op.test/playwright/unit/ai/services/memory-core/MailboxService.spec.mjs — the sibling that already owns @alice/@bob for exactly this reason.
The Fix
Each suite establishes the entities it asserts about, and removes only those.
- ReceiptDurability seeds collision-resistant
@receipt-durability-* identities and removes them in afterAll — unguarded, because removeNode is already idempotent for an absent valid id, so a catch could only suppress a real fault and leave two broadcast-eligible rows in the shared graph. That is the same ambient-state pollution from the teardown side.
- QueryReRanker suppresses only the
Subscription not found convergence condition; every other error still escapes.
Acceptance Criteria
Out of Scope
GoldenPathSynthesizer:1482 — a third, intermittent victim. Untouched, and it is why #15874 stays open.#15861 — one green workers:4 sample of the two its AC requires.- Any harness-level per-file identity fixture. That is the better long-term shape and a larger change than these two defects warrant.
Avoided Traps
- Closing
#15874 with a partial repair. Its ACs are not met; closing it would erase the remaining gate.
- A blanket teardown catch. It converts a failed cleanup into silent success and reintroduces the pollution class from the other side.
- Matching a broad error class. Both suppressions are pinned to one condition so real faults still surface.
Related
#15874 — the diagnostic parent, staying open for GPS:1482 and the workers:4 green#15861 — blocked on that remainder#15957 / PR #15970 — added the direct-DM path that made case 1 sharper
Live latest-open sweep: checked the latest 12 open issues at 2026-07-26T08:23:12Z; no equivalent found. A2A in-flight sweep: 8 most recent across all read-states; no competing claim.
Retrieval Hint: fixture owns its endpoints ambient identity roster teardown tolerance arrival address
Context
Split out of
#15874at @neo-gpt-emmy's review of PR#15980: that PR repairs two fixture boundaries but does not satisfy#15874's ACs (named specs green atworkers:4, a green full run,#15861unblocked). Its own Post-Merge Validation says so.Resolves #15874would therefore erase a gate rather than close it — this leaf carries what the PR actually completes, and#15874stays open for the remainder.The Problem
Two specs assert about graph entities they never created, so both depend on process state an earlier spec in the same worker can remove.
1.
MailboxService.ReceiptDurability.spec.mjsnamed@neo-opus-ada/@neo-opus-grace— real fleet identities.addMessage({to: 'AGENT:*'})derives its audience from AgentIdentity nodes carryingaccountType: 'agent'(MailboxService.mjs:250), so a predecessor that clears the graph empties the roster, the broadcast reaches nobody, and theDELIVERED_TOedge the suite reads back is never written. Measured:It surfaced as "the receipt did not persist". Storage was never involved. The direct-DM path added by
#15970is sharper still:to: '@<identity>'must resolve against a registered node, so an empty roster fails that send outright.2.
QueryReRanker.spec.mjsteardown unsubscribes fixture wake-routes;unsubscribethrowsSubscription not foundonce the backing node is gone. The throw escaped theafterAlland Playwright attributed it to whichever test was running — reported for three runs as "ChromaDB$gtfilter should correctly compare epoch timestamps", a test that touches none of it. The test name was an arrival address, not an attribution.The Architectural Reality
ai/services/memory-core/MailboxService.mjs:250— theaccountType: 'agent'audience derivation.ai/services/memory-core/WakeSubscriptionService.mjs:952—unsubscribethrows on an absent subscription.ai/graph/Database.mjs:477—removeNodethrows only on invalid input; removing an absent-but-valid id is already a no-op.test/playwright/unit/ai/services/memory-core/MailboxService.spec.mjs— the sibling that already owns@alice/@bobfor exactly this reason.The Fix
Each suite establishes the entities it asserts about, and removes only those.
@receipt-durability-*identities and removes them inafterAll— unguarded, becauseremoveNodeis already idempotent for an absent valid id, so a catch could only suppress a real fault and leave two broadcast-eligible rows in the shared graph. That is the same ambient-state pollution from the teardown side.Subscription not foundconvergence condition; every other error still escapes.Acceptance Criteria
MailboxService.ReceiptDurabilitypasses after a roster-clearing predecessor and alone — both arms, since a fix that only satisfies the pairing may have broken isolationQueryReRanker's teardown survives an already-absent subscription while any other cleanup error still fails the run — verified by shape, not only by a green runOut of Scope
GoldenPathSynthesizer:1482— a third, intermittent victim. Untouched, and it is why#15874stays open.#15861— one greenworkers:4sample of the two its AC requires.Avoided Traps
#15874with a partial repair. Its ACs are not met; closing it would erase the remaining gate.Related
#15874— the diagnostic parent, staying open forGPS:1482and theworkers:4green#15861— blocked on that remainder#15957/ PR#15970— added the direct-DM path that made case 1 sharperLive latest-open sweep: checked the latest 12 open issues at 2026-07-26T08:23:12Z; no equivalent found. A2A in-flight sweep: 8 most recent across all read-states; no competing claim.
Retrieval Hint:
fixture owns its endpoints ambient identity roster teardown tolerance arrival address