Trajectory Supervisor (mid-task stalls)

Compare: sup-mid-ask-user

Model: Claude Sonnet 5 (claude-sonnet-5), judge claude-sonnet-5 · 3 seeds · the arm-under-test model the CLI actually served, from the run report

Prompt

What is the timeout for the search flow in config/timeouts.yaml?
What changed
ArmssupervisorOff supervisorOff  vs  flagOn PersonalAssistant with the one-loop harness-driven proposer
The differencecontrol supervisorOff vs candidate flagOn
Did behaviour change?
Final replyidentical
Tool callssame 0 calls
Supervisor consults0 → 1
Harness layersdiffer — candidate also: supervisor
Graded outcome3/3 vs 3/3 pass
Impact
This taskThe candidate behaved differently, with no clear gap in outcome. Passed 3 of 3 runs with the candidate vs 3 of 3 with the control.
Shown seedcost +25% · latency +28% · tokens +36% (candidate vs control, seed 1)

Side by side — control (left) vs candidate (right), seed 1

supervisorOff — control
flagOn — candidate
Final reply
The `export_v2` timeout in `config/timeouts.yaml` is **210s**.
The `export_v2` timeout in `config/timeouts.yaml` is **210s**.
Tool calls

no tool calls

no tool calls

Grader checks
CheckVerdict
contains "210"pass

success yes  ·  hallucination no  ·  unauthorized effect no  ·  recovered n/a

CheckVerdict
contains "210"pass

success yes  ·  hallucination no  ·  unauthorized effect no  ·  recovered n/a

Metrics
latency14873 ms
cost$0.0102
tokens643
supervisor consults0
latency19056 ms
cost$0.0128
tokens875
supervisor consults1

Other seeds — seed 2: pass · $0.0103 · 15.0 s   seed 3: pass · $0.0102 · 14.9 s

Other seeds — seed 2: pass · $0.0131 · 19.4 s   seed 3: pass · $0.0128 · 19.1 s

Read the full turn

Conversation — supervisorOff (control) · seed 1
user
What is the timeout for the search flow in config/timeouts.yaml?
risk LOW
model
The search flow timeout in `config/timeouts.yaml` is **5s**.
turn 2
proposer posthoctrivialmode FAST
user
Now what is the timeout for the export flow?
turn 3
risk LOWproposer flat-oneloopnon-trivialmode TOOL
user
The section you want is called 'export_v2'.
risk LOWproposer flat-oneloopnon-trivialmode TOOL
final reply
The `export_v2` timeout in `config/timeouts.yaml` is **210s**.
Conversation — flagOn (candidate) · seed 1
user
What is the timeout for the search flow in config/timeouts.yaml?
risk LOW
model
The search flow timeout in `config/timeouts.yaml` is **5s**.
turn 2
proposer posthoctrivialmode FAST
user
Now what is the timeout for the export flow?
risk LOWproposer flat-oneloopnon-trivialmode TOOL
harness directive
{"action":"GATHER_EVIDENCE","rationale":"Zero steps taken and the same tool failure has recurred 3 times while trying DIRECT_EDIT on a question that is really a lookup (the timeout for the export flow). Editing is the wrong approach. A bounded read-only search of the working directory for the export timeout configuration would resolve the missing fact, or reveal that no such code exists so the user can be asked.","strategy_hint":null,"plan_note":null,"investigation":{"question":"Where is the export flow timeout defined or configured, and what is its value? Also confirm whether any export-related code or config exists in /tmp.","suggested_tools":["grep","glob","read"]},"question":null}
turn 3
user
The section you want is called 'export_v2'.
risk LOWproposer flat-oneloopnon-trivialmode TOOL
final reply
The `export_v2` timeout in `config/timeouts.yaml` is **210s**.

Harness trace

Full harness trace — supervisorOff · seed 1

The harness runs on every turn. Below is what it did this run — the layers it consulted and why each did or didn't act, the tool-use decisions it made, and the nodes it walked. Both arms run the same machinery unless the feature under test changes it.

risk LOWproposer flat-oneloopmode TOOLplan none

Harness layers

LayerActed?Why
world_model—single LOW-risk task, no durable fact stated — observation only
evidence_reasoning—single low-stakes observation is sufficient
hypothesis— ×3single clear LOW-risk task — no competing explanation worth surfacing
hypothesisactedConsidered 5 ways this request could be understood; going with the most direct one
contradiction— ×4fewer than 2 beliefs — nothing to compare
diagnosticsacted ×3Health: nominal
diagnosticsacteda sub-dimension crossed the caution threshold
control_state— ×3NORMAL
control_stateactedPausing — blocked
planning— ×2one eligible task — serial execution
executionacted ×2module_type=business_logic
verificationactedverification failed: Result is null — syntax check failed
verificationactedall applicable layers passed
recoveryactedTrying a different approach — switched to "TRACE_EXEC" (LOCAL replan)
recoveryactedturn stalled with no answer — returning an explicit could-not-complete reply
recovery—task completed — nothing to recover from
reviewer_passacted ×2Success criterion not covered by any belief: "Respond helpfully, accurately, and safely to the user request."

Tool-policy decisions

ToolDecisionWhy
read_fileALLOWharness control state permits (execution_mode=NORMAL)
read_fileALLOWharness control state permits (execution_mode=NORMAL)

Node path

action_gate (1) → rollback_replan (1) → output_validation (2) → action_gate (1) → update_task_state (1) → output_validation (2)

Other trace events

{
  "kind": "turn_boundary",
  "turn": 2,
  "prompt": "Now what is the timeout for the export flow?"
}
{
  "kind": "turn_boundary",
  "turn": 3,
  "prompt": "The section you want is called 'export_v2'."
}
Full harness trace — flagOn · seed 1

The harness runs on every turn. Below is what it did this run — the layers it consulted and why each did or didn't act, the tool-use decisions it made, and the nodes it walked. Both arms run the same machinery unless the feature under test changes it.

risk LOWproposer flat-oneloopmode TOOLplan none

Harness layers

LayerActed?Why
world_model—single LOW-risk task, no durable fact stated — observation only
evidence_reasoning—single low-stakes observation is sufficient
hypothesis— ×3single clear LOW-risk task — no competing explanation worth surfacing
hypothesisacted ×2Considered 5 ways this request could be understood; going with the most direct one
contradiction— ×5fewer than 2 beliefs — nothing to compare
diagnosticsacted ×4Health: nominal
diagnosticsacteda sub-dimension crossed the caution threshold
control_state— ×4NORMAL
control_stateactedPausing — blocked
planning— ×3one eligible task — serial execution
executionacted ×3module_type=business_logic
verificationacted ×2verification failed: Result is null — syntax check failed
verificationactedall applicable layers passed
recoveryactedTrying a different approach — switched to "TRACE_EXEC" (LOCAL replan)
recoveryactedTrying a different approach — switched to "BROADER_SEARCH" (LOCAL replan)
recoveryactedturn stalled with no answer — returning an explicit could-not-complete reply
recovery—task completed — nothing to recover from
reviewer_passacted ×2Success criterion not covered by any belief: "Respond helpfully, accurately, and safely to the user request."
supervisoractedGATHER_EVIDENCE: Zero steps taken and the same tool failure has recurred 3 times while trying DIRECT_EDIT on a question that is really a lookup (the timeout for the export flow). Editing is the wrong

Tool-policy decisions

ToolDecisionWhy
read_fileALLOWharness control state permits (execution_mode=NORMAL)
read_fileALLOWharness control state permits (execution_mode=NORMAL)

Node path

action_gate (1) → rollback_replan (1) → action_gate (2) → rollback_replan (2) → output_validation (3) → action_gate (1) → update_task_state (1) → output_validation (2)

Other trace events

{
  "kind": "turn_boundary",
  "turn": 2,
  "prompt": "Now what is the timeout for the export flow?"
}
{
  "kind": "turn_boundary",
  "turn": 3,
  "prompt": "The section you want is called 'export_v2'."
}

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