diff --git a/.agents/scripts/supervisor-helper.sh b/.agents/scripts/supervisor-helper.sh
index e81926b98..d5d1811d3 100755
--- a/.agents/scripts/supervisor-helper.sh
+++ b/.agents/scripts/supervisor-helper.sh
@@ -163,9 +163,32 @@ unset _gh_token_cache
 
 # Configuration - resolve relative to this script's location
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)" || exit
+readonly SCRIPT_DIR
 source "${SCRIPT_DIR}/shared-constants.sh"
 
-# Source all supervisor module files
+# Define all globals BEFORE sourcing modules — modules reference these in
+# functions and traps. With set -u, any reference to an undefined variable
+# is a fatal error. The t1031 modularisation moved functions into modules
+# but left the globals defined after the source block, causing
+# "PULSE_LOCK_DIR: unbound variable" errors in cron pulse (t1031 regression).
+readonly SUPERVISOR_DIR="${AIDEVOPS_SUPERVISOR_DIR:-$HOME/.aidevops/.agent-workspace/supervisor}"
+readonly SUPERVISOR_DB="$SUPERVISOR_DIR/supervisor.db"
+readonly MAIL_HELPER="${SCRIPT_DIR}/mail-helper.sh"                             # Used by pulse command (t128.2)
+readonly MEMORY_HELPER="${SCRIPT_DIR}/memory-helper.sh"                         # Used by pulse command (t128.6)
+readonly SESSION_REVIEW_HELPER="${SCRIPT_DIR}/session-review-helper.sh"         # Used by batch completion (t128.9)
+readonly SESSION_DISTILL_HELPER="${SCRIPT_DIR}/session-distill-helper.sh"       # Used by batch completion (t128.9)
+readonly MEMORY_AUDIT_HELPER="${SCRIPT_DIR}/memory-audit-pulse.sh"              # Used by pulse Phase 9 (t185)
+readonly SESSION_CHECKPOINT_HELPER="${SCRIPT_DIR}/session-checkpoint-helper.sh" # Used by respawn (t264.1)
+readonly RESPAWN_LOG="${HOME}/.aidevops/logs/respawn-history.log"               # Persistent respawn log (t264.1)
+SUPERVISOR_LOG_DIR="${HOME}/.aidevops/logs"
+mkdir -p "$SUPERVISOR_LOG_DIR" 2>/dev/null || true
+SUPERVISOR_LOG="${SUPERVISOR_LOG_DIR}/supervisor.log"
+readonly PULSE_LOCK_DIR="${SUPERVISOR_DIR}/pulse.lock"
+readonly PULSE_LOCK_TIMEOUT="${SUPERVISOR_PULSE_LOCK_TIMEOUT:-600}"
+export MAIL_HELPER MEMORY_HELPER SESSION_REVIEW_HELPER SESSION_DISTILL_HELPER MEMORY_AUDIT_HELPER SESSION_CHECKPOINT_HELPER
+export SUPERVISOR_LOG SUPERVISOR_LOG_DIR PULSE_LOCK_DIR PULSE_LOCK_TIMEOUT
+
+# Source all supervisor module files (globals must be defined above)
 SUPERVISOR_MODULE_DIR="${SCRIPT_DIR}/supervisor"
 source "${SUPERVISOR_MODULE_DIR}/_common.sh"
 source "${SUPERVISOR_MODULE_DIR}/database.sh"
@@ -186,24 +209,6 @@ source "${SUPERVISOR_MODULE_DIR}/issue-sync.sh"
 source "${SUPERVISOR_MODULE_DIR}/memory-integration.sh"
 source "${SUPERVISOR_MODULE_DIR}/todo-sync.sh"
 
-readonly SCRIPT_DIR
-readonly SUPERVISOR_DIR="${AIDEVOPS_SUPERVISOR_DIR:-$HOME/.aidevops/.agent-workspace/supervisor}"
-readonly SUPERVISOR_DB="$SUPERVISOR_DIR/supervisor.db"
-readonly MAIL_HELPER="${SCRIPT_DIR}/mail-helper.sh"                             # Used by pulse command (t128.2)
-readonly MEMORY_HELPER="${SCRIPT_DIR}/memory-helper.sh"                         # Used by pulse command (t128.6)
-readonly SESSION_REVIEW_HELPER="${SCRIPT_DIR}/session-review-helper.sh"         # Used by batch completion (t128.9)
-readonly SESSION_DISTILL_HELPER="${SCRIPT_DIR}/session-distill-helper.sh"       # Used by batch completion (t128.9)
-readonly MEMORY_AUDIT_HELPER="${SCRIPT_DIR}/memory-audit-pulse.sh"              # Used by pulse Phase 9 (t185)
-readonly SESSION_CHECKPOINT_HELPER="${SCRIPT_DIR}/session-checkpoint-helper.sh" # Used by respawn (t264.1)
-readonly RESPAWN_LOG="${HOME}/.aidevops/logs/respawn-history.log"               # Persistent respawn log (t264.1)
-SUPERVISOR_LOG_DIR="${HOME}/.aidevops/logs"
-mkdir -p "$SUPERVISOR_LOG_DIR" 2>/dev/null || true
-SUPERVISOR_LOG="${SUPERVISOR_LOG_DIR}/supervisor.log"
-readonly PULSE_LOCK_DIR="${SUPERVISOR_DIR}/pulse.lock"
-readonly PULSE_LOCK_TIMEOUT="${SUPERVISOR_PULSE_LOCK_TIMEOUT:-600}"
-export MAIL_HELPER MEMORY_HELPER SESSION_REVIEW_HELPER SESSION_DISTILL_HELPER MEMORY_AUDIT_HELPER SESSION_CHECKPOINT_HELPER
-export SUPERVISOR_LOG SUPERVISOR_LOG_DIR PULSE_LOCK_DIR PULSE_LOCK_TIMEOUT
-
 # Valid states for the state machine
 readonly VALID_STATES="queued dispatched running evaluating retrying complete pr_review review_triage merging merged deploying deployed verifying verified verify_failed blocked failed cancelled"