fix(core): surface auth errors instead of silently dropping them

[coleam00]

Summary

• Problem: When a Claude OAuth refresh token is expired, the SDK yields a result chunk with is_error: true and no session_id. Both handleStreamMode and handleBatchMode guarded the result branch with && msg.sessionId, silently dropping the error chunk entirely — the user sees no response.
• Why it matters: Every auth failure leaves the chat UI hanging indefinitely with zero user feedback and no actionable guidance.
• What changed: Removed the && msg.sessionId guard from both result branches; added isError early-exit that sends a visible error message. Added 4 missing OAuth patterns to AUTH_PATTERNS in both claude.ts and codex.ts to prevent unnecessary 3× retries. Extended error-formatter.ts to produce actionable re-login guidance for OAuth refresh-token errors.
• What did not change: No UI changes, no database schema changes, no architectural changes. Codex turn.failed session-ID loss issue is out of scope.

UX Journey

Before

User                   Archon (orchestrator)         Claude SDK
────                   ─────────────────────         ──────────
sends message ──────▶  resolves session
                       streams to AI ───────────────▶ attempts auth
                       result chunk received ◀─────── { type:'result', is_error:true, session_id:undefined }
                       msg.sessionId = undefined → condition false
                       result chunk DROPPED (silent)
                       allMessages empty → early return (no sendMessage)
user sees nothing ✗    (hangs forever)

After

User                   Archon (orchestrator)         Claude SDK
────                   ─────────────────────         ──────────
sends message ──────▶  resolves session
                       streams to AI ───────────────▶ attempts auth
                       result chunk received ◀─────── { type:'result', is_error:true, session_id:undefined }
                       [msg.type === 'result'] → enters branch
                       [msg.sessionId undefined] → skip session capture
                       [msg.isError === true] → sendMessage(error msg) + return
user sees error ✓   ◀─ "⚠️ AI error. Check your credentials or use /reset."

Architecture Diagram

Before

orchestrator-agent.ts
  handleStreamMode()
    for await chunk:
      type='result' && sessionId  ← both conditions required
        newSessionId = msg.sessionId
        sendStructuredEvent()
      [MISSING: isError path]

claude.ts / codex.ts
  AUTH_PATTERNS = ['credit balance','unauthorized','authentication',
                   'invalid token','401','403']
  [MISSING: 'refresh token','access token','could not be refreshed','log out and sign in']

error-formatter.ts
  checks 'API key' | 'authentication' | '401'
  [MISSING: 'auth error' prefix, 'refresh token', 'could not be refreshed']

After

orchestrator-agent.ts
  handleStreamMode() / handleBatchMode()
    for await chunk:
  [~] type='result'  ← sessionId guard removed
        if sessionId → newSessionId = msg.sessionId
  [+]   if isError → sendMessage(error) + return
        sendStructuredEvent()

[~] claude.ts / codex.ts
  AUTH_PATTERNS += ['refresh token','access token',
                    'could not be refreshed','log out and sign in']

[~] error-formatter.ts
  [+] checks 'refresh token'|'could not be refreshed'|'log out and sign in' → re-login msg
      checks 'API key'|'authentication'|'auth error'|'401' → auth config msg

Connection inventory:

From	To	Status	Notes
orchestrator-agent.ts	platform.sendMessage	modified	Now called on isError result (was skipped)
orchestrator-agent.ts	newSessionId capture	modified	Decoupled from result entry condition
claude.ts AUTH_PATTERNS	error classifier	modified	4 new OAuth patterns added
codex.ts AUTH_PATTERNS	error classifier	modified	4 new OAuth patterns added
error-formatter.ts	OAuth error message	new	Re-login guidance for refresh-token errors

Label Snapshot

• Risk: risk: low
• Size: size: S
• Scope: core
• Module: core:orchestrator, core:clients, core:utils

Change Metadata

• Change type: bug
• Primary scope: core

Linked Issue

• Closes fix(core): chat UI fails silently when Claude OAuth refresh token is expired #1076

Validation Evidence (required)

bun run type-check  # ✅ Pass — all 9 packages, 0 errors
bun run lint        # ✅ Pass — 0 errors, 0 warnings
bun run format:check # ✅ Pass — all files formatted
bun run test        # ✅ Pass — 400+ core tests, 0 failures
# Full suite:
bun run validate    # ✅ ALL_PASS

• Evidence provided: All checks ran and passed (see validation.md artifact)
• New tests: 51 lines added to error-formatter.test.ts covering OAuth refresh-token and auth-error-prefix branches

Security Impact (required)

• New permissions/capabilities? No
• New external network calls? No
• Secrets/tokens handling changed? No — error messages mention token refresh but no tokens are logged or transmitted
• File system access scope changed? No

Compatibility / Migration

• Backward compatible? Yes — purely additive error handling; no breaking interface changes
• Config/env changes? No
• Database migration needed? No

Human Verification (required)

• Verified scenarios: Type check, lint, format, and full test suite all pass (automated via bun run validate)
• Edge cases checked: isError with sessionId present (session captured before early return); partial stream before auth error (existing chunks sent, error appended)
• What was not verified: Live OAuth expiry test (requires an actual expired token); this is documented as manual verification step in the investigation artifact

Side Effects / Blast Radius (required)

• Affected subsystems/workflows: Chat orchestration path only — affects stream and batch mode result processing
• Potential unintended effects: None expected — the isError guard only fires when the SDK explicitly signals an error; normal success results are unaffected
• Guardrails/monitoring for early detection: Existing orchestrator tests (89 passing); the error message is user-visible so regressions surface immediately

Rollback Plan (required)

• Fast rollback command/path: git revert 06b37a4e on dev
• Feature flags or config toggles: None
• Observable failure symptoms: Chat UI hangs silently after a message with no AI response — same as the pre-fix behavior described in fix(core): chat UI fails silently when Claude OAuth refresh token is expired #1076

Risks and Mitigations

• Risk: isError result with a valid sessionId (e.g. max-turns reached mid-session) causes early return that discards accumulated assistant content
  • Mitigation: newSessionId is captured before the isError check, so the session is preserved. The early return is correct — partial output without a completion signal is confusing.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Bug Fixes
  • Improved error handling for failed operations with enhanced session persistence and message clarity.
  • Authentication errors now display specific, actionable guidance tailored to Claude OAuth token refresh, Claude Code authentication, and Codex login issues.
  • Refined error classification and formatting for more precise error diagnosis and user remediation.

[coderabbitai]

Caution

Review failed

The pull request is closed.

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: defaults

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: a9b419a6-f5d4-4496-96e5-62f019ce6ee2

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 8188544 and 9c4d0fd.

📒 Files selected for processing (3)

• packages/core/src/orchestrator/orchestrator-agent.ts
• packages/core/src/utils/error-formatter.test.ts
• packages/core/src/utils/error-formatter.ts

---

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The pull request addresses a silent authentication failure bug in the orchestrator where OAuth token expiration errors were dropped before reaching users. Changes remove the session ID guard from result message handling, add explicit error detection and platform notification for authentication failures, and enhance error classification and formatting to detect OAuth refresh-token and Codex-specific authentication scenarios.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Error Handling in Orchestrator packages/core/src/orchestrator/orchestrator-agent.ts	Removed msg.sessionId guard from result message handling in stream and batch modes to accept all result messages. Added explicit error detection that logs warnings for flagged errors, sends classified error messages to the platform, persists session IDs when available, and returns early to prevent further processing.
Authentication Error Classification packages/core/src/utils/error-formatter.ts, packages/core/src/utils/error-formatter.test.ts	Enhanced classifyAndFormatError to detect Claude OAuth refresh-token expiry patterns, Claude auth-error prefixes, and Codex 401 unauthorized scenarios with prioritized, dedicated remediation messages. Expanded test coverage with granular describe blocks validating detection of OAuth expiry phrases, non-OAuth Claude auth errors, and Codex scenarios; loosened general auth assertions to substring matching.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 3 (Moderate) | ⏱️ ~20 minutes

Poem

🐰 Hop, hop, the auth bugs scatter far!
No more silent errors—see the blazing star!
OAuth tokens refreshed, error messages clear,
Users know what's wrong, no need to fear!
The orchestrator hops with newfound grace,
Errors find their way—to their rightful place! 🌟

✨ Finishing Touches

📝 Generate docstrings

• Create stacked PR
• Commit on current branch

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch archon/task-fix-issue-1076

---

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[coleam00]

🔍 Comprehensive PR Review

PR: #1089 — fix(core): surface auth errors instead of silently dropping them
Reviewed by: 3 specialized agents (code-review, error-handling, test-coverage)
Date: 2026-04-11

---

Summary

This PR fixes a genuine silent-failure bug: auth errors surfaced via the SDK result chunk's isError flag were previously gated behind && msg.sessionId, causing any isError: true result to be silently dropped with no user notification and no log entry. The core fix is correct and minimal — session capture order is preserved, both stream and batch modes are treated symmetrically, and the new OAuth patterns in error-formatter.ts are well-tested with 6 targeted new tests.

Verdict: REQUEST_CHANGES — 2 issues to address before merge

Severity	Count
🟠 HIGH	1
🟡 MEDIUM	1
🟢 LOW	1

---

🟠 High Issue — Must Fix Before Merge

Missing log in both isError early-exit paths

📍 packages/core/src/orchestrator/orchestrator-agent.ts — handleStreamMode (~line 880) and handleBatchMode (~line 1001)

Both new isError handlers send a user-visible message and return early, but emit no structured log entry. The msg.errorSubtype field (set from the SDK's result.subtype) is silently discarded. The pre-existing catch block directly above (line 803–811) correctly calls getLog().error(...) before sending a user message — the new isError path has no equivalent, leaving zero server-side trace when this path fires in production.

CLAUDE.md rule violated: "Always pair _started with _completed or _failed" and "Include context: IDs, durations, error details"

View fix (apply to both handleStreamMode and handleBatchMode)

if (msg.isError) {
  getLog().warn(
    { conversationId, errorSubtype: msg.errorSubtype },
    'ai_result_error'
  );
  await platform.sendMessage(
    conversationId,
    '⚠️ AI error. Check your credentials or use /reset.'
  );
  return;
}

warn level is appropriate — isError: true is an expected SDK condition (auth failure, max-turns), not a crash.

---

🟡 Medium Issue — Recommend Fixing

'access token' in AUTH_PATTERNS is overly broad

📍 packages/core/src/clients/claude.ts:208 and packages/core/src/clients/codex.ts:130

AUTH_PATTERNS controls whether subprocess errors abort retries immediately. The standalone 'access token' pattern is a case-insensitive substring match — any tool stderr containing "access token" (e.g., "failed to access token storage", "could not access token cache") would be misclassified as a fatal auth failure, suppressing retries that would otherwise succeed and sending a misleading "check credentials" message.

The real OAuth error this targets ("Your access token could not be refreshed...") is already fully covered by 'refresh token' and 'could not be refreshed' which are both in AUTH_PATTERNS. Note that error-formatter.ts also correctly avoids this pattern — it uses 'could not be refreshed' instead.

View fix

Remove 'access token' from AUTH_PATTERNS in both claude.ts and codex.ts:

const AUTH_PATTERNS = [
  'credit balance',
  'unauthorized',
  'authentication',
  'invalid token',
  'refresh token',
  // 'access token',  <-- remove; real OAuth error already covered by 'refresh token' + 'could not be refreshed'
  'could not be refreshed',
  'log out and sign in',
  '401',
  '403',
];

Options: Fix now | Create follow-up issue | Skip (accept false-positive risk)

Recommendation: Fix now — it's a 1-line deletion in each file.

---

🟢 Low Issue (Deferred — Explicitly Out of Scope)

The hardcoded '⚠️ AI error. Check your credentials or use /reset.' message ignores msg.errorSubtype. When errorSubtype is 'max_turns', the user gets a misleading credential hint. Structured errorSubtype routing is explicitly marked out of scope in this PR — track as a follow-up.

---

✅ What's Good

• Core fix is correct. Removing && msg.sessionId is the right approach — newSessionId is captured before the isError check, so the guard removal doesn't lose the session. Both modes treated symmetrically.
• Session persist correctly skipped on isError. Early return exits before tryPersistSessionId — there is no valid session to persist when the SDK reported an error. Intentional and safe.
• error-formatter.ts OAuth block is well-scoped. Three specific patterns cover the known OAuth token rotation message without false-positive risk, and are correctly placed before the general auth block.
• auth error prefix detection fills a real gap. The enriched error from claude.ts prepends "Claude Code auth error:" — the new 'auth error' pattern in error-formatter.ts correctly catches this and a test validates it.
• 6 new tests cover all new error-formatter.ts branches, including each OAuth pattern individually, the full compound message, and OAuth-over-auth precedence ordering.
• Scope document is thorough and honest. The orchestrator test exclusion (due to mock.module() infrastructure constraints) is well-justified and transparent.

---

📋 Test Coverage: ADEQUATE

No critical gaps. Two low-priority suggestions:

1. Add a test in claude.test.ts/codex.test.ts exercising the OAuth refresh-token pattern through sendQuery() to guard against future regression in AUTH_PATTERNS.
2. Orchestrator isError path tests — deferred pending mock infrastructure refactor (justified in scope.md).

---

Suggested Follow-up Issues

Title	Priority
Add subtype-aware routing for isError result chunks (max_turns, etc.)	P3
Add OAuth retry-classification regression tests to claude/codex test files	P3

---

Reviewed by Archon comprehensive-pr-review workflow
Artifacts: ~/.archon/workspaces/coleam00/Archon/artifacts/runs/b1c43db8281e329539efaab1e5ad5a62/review/

[coleam00]

Review Fix Report

All blocking findings from the consolidated review have been addressed in commit 2555448.

HIGH Fixed: Missing structured logging in isError early-exit path

packages/core/src/orchestrator/orchestrator-agent.ts (both handleStreamMode and handleBatchMode)

Added getLog().warn({ conversationId, errorSubtype: msg.errorSubtype }, 'ai_result_error') before platform.sendMessage(...) in both branches. Auth failures via the SDK isError result chunk are now visible server-side with structured context. Used warn level (not error) since isError: true is an expected/handled SDK condition.

MEDIUM Fixed: 'access token' removed from AUTH_PATTERNS

packages/core/src/clients/claude.ts and packages/core/src/clients/codex.ts

Removed the overly broad 'access token' substring pattern. The real OAuth token refresh error is already fully covered by 'refresh token' and 'could not be refreshed' which remain in both lists. The standalone pattern had false-positive risk for unrelated tool errors containing those words.

LOW (Out of scope): Subtype-aware isError message routing

Explicitly out-of-scope per scope.md. Tracked as suggested follow-up issue.

Validation

• bun run type-check: All 9 packages pass ✓
• bun run lint: 0 warnings ✓
• bun run test: All tests pass ✓

[coleam00]

Archon PR Validation Report

Verdict: ✅ APPROVE

Summary

All five root causes of silent auth error drops are confirmed on dev and correctly fixed on the feature branch. The orchestrator now surfaces error results instead of silently discarding them, AUTH_PATTERNS prevent unnecessary OAuth retries, and the error formatter provides actionable re-login guidance. Fix is minimal, well-tested (51 new test lines), and introduces zero regressions.

Bug Confirmation

Claim	Main	Feature
handleStreamMode silently drops error results (no sessionId)	✅ Confirmed	✅ Fixed
handleBatchMode identical silent-drop bug	✅ Confirmed	✅ Fixed
AUTH_PATTERNS in claude.ts missing OAuth patterns	✅ Confirmed	✅ Fixed
AUTH_PATTERNS in codex.ts same gap	✅ Confirmed	✅ Fixed
error-formatter.ts doesn't recognize OAuth errors	✅ Confirmed	✅ Fixed

Issues

No blocking issues found.

Minor: Hardcoded error message in orchestrator isError path doesn't route through classifyAndFormatError() — acceptable given result chunks lack full error text. Future enhancement opportunity.

Fix Quality: 5/5

---

Validated by archon-validate-pr workflow