#282: don't let a chained fleet_ask kill its own async ticket

answer() opened a fresh forward waiter but, unlike send(), never
registered it in asyncTasksByWaiter. So when a worker chained a
second fleet_ask inside the same resumed turn (before calling
fleet_reply), markAsyncQuestion had no Task to re-associate, and
answer() then completed the async ticket's future with the second
QUESTION as if it were a terminal reply — fleet_poll reported FAILED
while the worker was still alive and mid-conversation.

Fix: register answer()'s waiter in asyncTasksByWaiter (mirroring
send()) so a chained ask can re-arm the ticket under its new turnId,
and guard answer()'s finishAsyncTask call the same way sendAsync's
own lambda already does (skip on Outcome.QUESTION). Also drop the
stale asyncTasksByTurn entry left behind when markAsyncQuestion
re-arms a task under a new turnId, a leak the fix makes reachable
for the first time.

Reachability confirmed by driving the exact sequence through the
public API (sendAsync -> ask -> answer -> ask again) in a new test;
reverting the production change makes it fail with
"expected: <ASKING> but was: <FAILED>", confirming it catches the
regression.

.claude/skills/implementer/SKILL.md

@@ -39,6 +39,19 @@ a worker made all 59 of its edits in the primary's tree and never noticed.
 test "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)" = "$PWD" || cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
 ```
 
+**Never run `git stash` (or `git stash pop`/`apply`/`drop`).** Your worktree is isolated, but the
+stash is **not**: `refs/stash` is one stack shared by the primary's checkout and every other
+worker's worktree of this repo. Measured on 2026-09-04 — `git stash list` from a worker's worktree
+and from the primary's tree returned byte-identical output. So a `git stash` you run can be popped
+into someone else's tree, and a `git stash pop` you run can drop **another worker's** uncommitted
+edits on top of yours. This has already happened here: two workers were running in parallel and one
+of them had its in-progress edit silently overwritten by the other's stash.
+
+The branch is your isolation, so use it instead. To set work aside, commit it on your own branch
+(`git commit -m "wip: ..."`) and carry on; to try something and back out, use
+`git diff > /tmp/<your-branch>.patch` then `git checkout -- <file>`. Both stay inside your worktree.
+If you find a stash entry you did not create, leave it alone and say so in your report.
+
 ## 2. Implement
 
 - Implement exactly the scope the lead named. Keep the diff focused; note anything out of scope

fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/Fleetd.java

@@ -593,7 +593,11 @@ public final class Fleetd {
             if (detail.agentSessionId() != null) {
                 reason += " agentSessionId=" + detail.agentSessionId();
             }
-            messages.abandon(detail.terminalId(), reason);
+            // fleetd #275: this is an explicit teardown (fleet_stop, or the idle reaper) — the
+            // worker's pane is being stopped right now, so an open fleet_ask has no turn left to
+            // resume into. Sweep it too, unlike FleetHealthMonitor's health-classification call
+            // (see MessageService.abandon's javadoc for why those two must differ).
+            messages.abandon(detail.terminalId(), reason, true);
             replyInbox.release(detail.terminalId());
             primaryRegistry.forgetDelegation(detail.terminalId()); // CB-532: don't leak the lead binding
         });

fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/config/FleetConfig.java

@@ -1506,7 +1506,7 @@ public record FleetConfig(
             rejectDuplicateMemberSlots(yaml);
             rejectNegativeMaxLoad(yaml);
             rejectAutoCompactWindowOutOfRange(yaml);
-            rejectMalformedErrorPattern(yaml);
+            rejectMalformedProfilePatterns(yaml);
             rejectUnknownKind(yaml);
             rejectUnknownAuthMode(yaml);
             rejectUnknownPlacement(yaml);
@@ -1856,20 +1856,26 @@ public record FleetConfig(
     }
 
     /**
-     * Reject a profile whose {@code errorPattern} (fleetd #201 Unit 5) is not a valid Java regex,
-     * naming the profile, the key, and the parser's own message.
+     * Reject a profile whose {@code errorPattern} (fleetd #201 Unit 5) or {@code exhaustedPattern}
+     * (CB-578 stage A) is not a valid Java regex, naming the profile, the key, and the parser's own
+     * message.
      *
-     * <p>Unset/{@code null} means "use {@code CompletionResolver}'s built-in {@code (?i)\bAPI
-     * Error\s*:} compatibility pattern" and passes silently. A profile that DOES set the key gets it
-     * compiled once at daemon startup ({@code Fleetd.main}, mirroring {@code exhaustedPattern}) — an
-     * uncaught {@link java.util.regex.PatternSyntaxException} there crashes startup without naming
-     * which profile or key is at fault. Validate eagerly here instead, at config load, the same
-     * "fail loud at load, not lazily later" reasoning as {@link #rejectAutoCompactWindowOutOfRange}.
+     * <p>Unset/{@code null} means, for {@code errorPattern}, "use {@code CompletionResolver}'s
+     * built-in {@code (?i)\bAPI Error\s*:} compatibility pattern", and for {@code exhaustedPattern},
+     * "opt out of that classification" — either way it passes silently. A profile that DOES set
+     * either key gets it compiled once at daemon startup ({@code Fleetd.main}) — an uncaught
+     * {@link java.util.regex.PatternSyntaxException} there crashes startup without naming which
+     * profile or key is at fault (fleetd #273: this happened for {@code exhaustedPattern}, which had
+     * no validator here even though its sibling {@code errorPattern} did). Validate eagerly here
+     * instead, at config load, the same "fail loud at load, not lazily later" reasoning as
+     * {@link #rejectAutoCompactWindowOutOfRange}. Both keys are checked from a single load, and any
+     * failures from either are collected together into one message.
      *
      * @param yaml the raw config text
-     * @throws IllegalStateException when any profile's {@code errorPattern} fails to compile
+     * @throws IllegalStateException when any profile's {@code errorPattern} or
+     *                                {@code exhaustedPattern} fails to compile
      */
-    static void rejectMalformedErrorPattern(String yaml) {
+    static void rejectMalformedProfilePatterns(String yaml) {
         Map<?, ?> raw;
         try {
             raw = YAML.readValue(yaml, Map.class);
@@ -1884,18 +1890,20 @@ public record FleetConfig(
             if (!(e.getValue() instanceof Map<?, ?> p)) {
                 continue;
             }
-            if (!(p.get("errorPattern") instanceof String pattern) || pattern.isBlank()) {
-                continue;
-            }
-            try {
-                Pattern.compile(pattern);
-            } catch (PatternSyntaxException ex) {
-                bad.add("profiles." + e.getKey() + ".errorPattern (\"" + pattern + "\"): " + ex.getMessage());
+            for (String key : List.of("errorPattern", "exhaustedPattern")) {
+                if (!(p.get(key) instanceof String pattern) || pattern.isBlank()) {
+                    continue;
+                }
+                try {
+                    Pattern.compile(pattern);
+                } catch (PatternSyntaxException ex) {
+                    bad.add("profiles." + e.getKey() + "." + key + " (\"" + pattern + "\"): " + ex.getMessage());
+                }
             }
         }
         bad.sort(String::compareTo);
         if (!bad.isEmpty()) {
-            throw new IllegalStateException("refusing to start: malformed errorPattern — "
+            throw new IllegalStateException("refusing to start: malformed pattern — "
                     + String.join("; ", bad));
         }
     }

fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/mcp/FleetMcp.java

@@ -319,10 +319,12 @@ public final class FleetMcp {
                 };
         BiFunction<McpSyncServerExchange, McpSchema.CallToolRequest, McpSchema.CallToolResult> pollHandler =
                 (exchange, req) -> {
-                    McpSchema.CallToolResult denied = deny(exchange, Authz.Action.READ, null);
-                    if (denied != null) return denied;
                     Map<String, Object> a = req.arguments();
-                    return poll(messages, str(a, "ticket"), str(a, "target"));
+                    String target = str(a, "target");
+                    // The action depends on the ARGUMENTS, not on the tool name -- see pollAction.
+                    McpSchema.CallToolResult denied = deny(exchange, pollAction(target), target);
+                    if (denied != null) return denied;
+                    return poll(messages, str(a, "ticket"), target);
                 };
         // CB-307 Increment 3: per-msgId ack (not needed in v1 but supported by the inbox).
         // Acking removes a reply from the inbox, so it is a drain, not a read.
@@ -724,6 +726,34 @@ public final class FleetMcp {
         return text("delivered to peer lead " + coordId + " (msgId " + msg.msgId() + ")");
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Which authorization action a {@code fleet_poll} call needs, decided by its arguments
+     * (fleetd #272).
+     *
+     * <p>{@code fleet_poll} is <strong>two operations behind one tool name</strong>. With {@code
+     * ticket} it observes an async delegation and changes nothing, which is a {@link
+     * Authz.Action#READ}. With {@code target} it calls {@link MessageService#drainReplies} on that
+     * session -- the replies are removed from the inbox and a second call returns nothing -- so it
+     * is a {@link Authz.Action#DRAIN}, the same gate {@code fleet_ack} already uses for removing a
+     * single message, and the same one the REST path uses at {@code FleetApp.drainReplies}.
+     *
+     * <p>Until this method existed the handler passed a constant {@code READ} for both branches.
+     * {@code READ} is open to every authenticated role, so any worker could read a peer's id out of
+     * {@code fleet_list} and destroy the replies that peer had queued for the primary. The gate
+     * failed open, and it did so because the required action is a function of the arguments while
+     * the handler chose it before looking at them.
+     *
+     * <p>The choice lives in this method, and not inline in the handler, so that a test can assert
+     * the mapping the handler actually uses. {@code FleetMcpAuthzTest} already checked every
+     * {@link Authz.Action} against every {@link Role} and passed throughout -- it tested the policy
+     * table, which was correct, while the defect was in which action the caller handed it.
+     *
+     * @param target the {@code target} argument of the call, or {@code null}/blank when absent
+     */
+    static Authz.Action pollAction(String target) {
+        return isBlank(target) ? Authz.Action.READ : Authz.Action.DRAIN;
+    }
+
     /** {@code fleet_poll}: check an async delegation by ticket, or drain a worker's inbox by target. */
     static McpSchema.CallToolResult poll(MessageService messages, String ticket, String target) {
         if (!isBlank(target)) {

fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/member/HerdrPeerLauncher.java

@@ -1497,10 +1497,27 @@ public abstract class HerdrPeerLauncher implements PeerLauncher {
      * survive {@code allowed} (including the {@code LC_*} prefix rule). Neither number is a constant:
      * both come from the actual derived set and the actual environment this spawn sees. Never logs a
      * variable NAME or VALUE — only the counts.
+     *
+     * <p><strong>Under {@code memberHerdrSocket} the counts describe fleetd's own process, not the
+     * member's</strong> (fleetd #269 follow-up), so the message says so rather than leaving the
+     * reader to infer it from this javadoc, which the operator reading the log never sees.
      */
     private void logAllowListCoverage(Set<String> allowed) {
         Set<String> hostNames = hostEnvNames.get();
         long kept = hostNames.stream().filter(name -> MemberEnvAllowList.keeps(allowed, name)).count();
+        if (memberHerdrSocketConfigured()) {
+            // fleetd #269 covered the sibling line below (logCredentialGap) and stopped there.
+            // This line has the same problem: read plainly, "allowed 7 of 39" is a statement about
+            // the member's pane, and under memberHerdrSocket it is not -- the pane is routed to a
+            // second herdr whose environment fleetd cannot inspect. The counts stay useful, so
+            // this is not a WARN and not a refusal; only the claim is narrowed to what is true.
+            log.info("member credentials: allowed {} of {} names in fleetd's OWN environment — "
+                            + "memberHerdrSocket is configured, so member panes are routed to a "
+                            + "second herdr whose environment fleetd has no channel to inspect. "
+                            + "These counts describe fleetd's process, NOT the member pane's.",
+                    kept, hostNames.size());
+            return;
+        }
         log.info("member credentials: allowed {} of {}", kept, hostNames.size());
     }
 

fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageService.java

@@ -360,6 +360,18 @@ public final class MessageService {
      * {@link #ask} clears the ticket's question and returns it to {@code PENDING}, but {@link #send}
      * already closed the forward waiter the instant the question surfaced, so the target has
      * neither an accepted nor a queued delivery left to show for it.
+     *
+     * <p><strong>Deliberately still {@code question == null} only (fleetd #275).</strong> This
+     * method must not also report a still-{@link Phase#ASKING} task as orphaned: the worker may
+     * genuinely be waiting on a live primary that is about to (or already mid-{@link #answer})
+     * answer it, and {@link dev.ltms.fleet.health.FleetHealthMonitor} would classify that as
+     * {@code DELEGATION_ORPHANED} on nothing more than an active, healthy conversation. {@link
+     * #abandon(String, String, boolean)}'s {@code sweepAsking} path fixes the actual reachable gap
+     * (a target torn down for good while genuinely {@code ASKING}) at the point of teardown itself,
+     * by completing the task's future right there — so by the time this method would ever see it,
+     * {@code task.future.isDone()} is already {@code true} and it is excluded regardless of this
+     * guard. Widening this check instead of that one would trade a real fix for false positives on
+     * every ordinary in-flight question.
      */
     public boolean hasOrphanedDelegation(String target) {
         if (target == null || hasAcceptedDelivery(target) || hasQueuedDelivery(target)) {
@@ -580,6 +592,39 @@ public final class MessageService {
      *         reply — see the note above)
      */
     public boolean abandon(String target, String reason) {
+        return abandon(target, reason, false);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * As {@link #abandon(String, String)}, with control over whether a task still paused in
+     * {@code fleet_ask} ({@link Phase#ASKING}) is swept too (fleetd #275).
+     *
+     * <p>{@code sweepAsking} must be {@code true} only when the caller has independent, certain
+     * knowledge that {@code target} can never resume its turn — today that is only
+     * {@code sessions.onRelease}'s teardown (an explicit {@code fleet_stop}, or the idle reaper):
+     * the worker's pane is being stopped right now, so whatever it was mid-{@code fleet_ask} about
+     * has no turn left to resume into. {@link dev.ltms.fleet.health.FleetHealthMonitor}'s
+     * health-classification call keeps passing {@code false} (via {@link #abandon(String, String)}):
+     * a GONE/NEVER_READY reading is the daemon's best guess from the live agent list, not a teardown
+     * it performed itself, and {@code abandonDoesNotFailAnAsyncTicketWaitingForAnAnswer} documents
+     * why an active ask must survive that guess — the primary may already be mid-{@link #answer} for
+     * the very same turn, and completing it here first would preempt a real answer with a misleading
+     * failure.
+     *
+     * <p><strong>Without {@code sweepAsking} on the release path, a target torn down while
+     * genuinely {@code ASKING} was unrecoverable.</strong> {@link #resolveQuestion} had already
+     * closed the forward waiter the instant the question surfaced (so the {@code waiter} branch
+     * below finds nothing to fail), the {@code question == null} guard excluded the task from
+     * {@code matching} (so the loop below skipped it too), and the worker's own {@code fleet_ask}
+     * clears {@link Task#question} back to {@code null} only once it lapses (the reverse-rendezvous
+     * window — up to {@code FleetMcp.ASK_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS} / {@code FleetApp.MAX_ASK_TIMEOUT_MS},
+     * 55–115s) — by which point the released session no longer appears in {@code sessions.roster()}
+     * for {@link dev.ltms.fleet.health.FleetHealthMonitor} to ever re-observe, so nothing was ever
+     * left to call {@link #abandon} on this target again. The ticket then sat in {@link #tasks}
+     * forever: not terminal, so {@link #pruneTerminalTickets} never dropped it, and
+     * {@code fleet_poll} reported it stuck at {@link Phase#PENDING} for good.
+     */
+    public boolean abandon(String target, String reason, boolean sweepAsking) {
         boolean hadStrandedReply = hasStrandedReply(target);
         // CB-640: the session is gone — nothing will ever accept or deliver into it now.
         strandedReplies.remove(target);
@@ -590,7 +635,8 @@ public final class MessageService {
 
         List<Task> matching = new ArrayList<>();
         for (Task task : tasks.values()) {
-            if (target.equals(task.target) && task.question == null && !task.future.isDone()) {
+            if (target.equals(task.target) && (sweepAsking || task.question == null)
+                    && !task.future.isDone()) {
                 matching.add(task);
             }
         }
@@ -607,11 +653,20 @@ public final class MessageService {
         for (Task task : matching) {
             boolean isRecovery = task == recoveryTask && recovered != null;
             Reply outcome = isRecovery ? recovered : new Reply(Outcome.WORKER_FAILED, reason);
+            String turnId = task.turnId;
             if (task.future.complete(outcome)) {
                 if (outcome.outcome() == Outcome.WORKER_FAILED) {
                     asyncFailed = true;
-                } else if (task.turnId != null) {
-                    asyncTasksByTurn.remove(task.turnId, task);
+                }
+                if (turnId != null) {
+                    // #275: whether this task was swept out of ASKING or was already answered and
+                    // only waiting on its resumed turn's real reply (#137), nothing will ever
+                    // complete this turnId now — drop it from this class's own bookkeeping AND the
+                    // reverse-rendezvous itself, so hasAsyncQuestion(target) stops reporting a turn
+                    // that is actually done, and a late answer() sees it as lapsed rather than
+                    // resolving a question nothing is listening for any more.
+                    asyncTasksByTurn.remove(turnId, task);
+                    rendezvous.closeAsk(turnId);
                 }
             } else if (isRecovery) {
                 // The recovered reply was already drained out of the inbox, but this task resolved
@@ -872,7 +927,16 @@ public final class MessageService {
         }
         try {
             CompletableFuture<Rendezvous.Resolution> reply = rendezvous.open(workerSession);
+            // #282: mirror send()'s registration (:802) so a SECOND fleet_ask inside this same
+            // resumed turn can re-associate the async ticket with its new turnId via
+            // markAsyncQuestion — without this, that second ask has no Task to attach to, and
+            // markAsyncQuestion silently returns null.
+            Task task = asyncTasksByTurn.get(turnId);
+            if (task != null) {
+                asyncTasksByWaiter.put(reply, task);
+            }
             if (!rendezvous.answerAsk(turnId, content)) {
+                asyncTasksByWaiter.remove(reply);
                 rendezvous.close(workerSession, reply);
                 return new Reply(Outcome.STALE_TURN, null); // lapsed between the lookup and the unblock
             }
@@ -880,7 +944,13 @@ public final class MessageService {
             try {
                 Rendezvous.Resolution r = reply.get(remainingMillis(deadlineNanos), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
                 Reply result = new Reply(outcomeOf(r.kind()), r.text(), r.turnId());
-                finishAsyncTask(turnId, result);
+                // #282: this waiter can resolve with a FRESH question rather than a terminal reply —
+                // the worker chained a second fleet_ask before replying. Mirror sendAsync's own guard
+                // (:1000) and leave the ticket open (markAsyncQuestion above already re-armed it under
+                // the new turnId) instead of completing it here with a QUESTION "reply".
+                if (result.outcome() != Outcome.QUESTION) {
+                    finishAsyncTask(turnId, result);
+                }
                 return result;
             } catch (TimeoutException e) {
                 // The worker resumed but hasn't replied yet — no completion fallback arms an answered
@@ -893,6 +963,7 @@ public final class MessageService {
                 Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
                 throw new IllegalStateException("interrupted awaiting reply from " + workerSession, e);
             } finally {
+                asyncTasksByWaiter.remove(reply);
                 rendezvous.close(workerSession, reply);
             }
         } finally {
@@ -1051,9 +1122,16 @@ public final class MessageService {
     private Task markAsyncQuestion(CompletableFuture<Rendezvous.Resolution> waiter, String text, String turnId) {
         Task task = waiter == null ? null : asyncTasksByWaiter.get(waiter);
         if (task != null) {
+            String previousTurnId = task.turnId;
             task.question = new Reply(Outcome.QUESTION, text, turnId);
             task.turnId = turnId;
             asyncTasksByTurn.put(turnId, task);
+            // #282: a second fleet_ask in the same resumed turn re-arms an already-answered task
+            // (answer() re-registers it in asyncTasksByWaiter) under a FRESH turnId — drop the old
+            // key so asyncTasksByTurn does not keep growing by one stale entry per chained ask.
+            if (previousTurnId != null && !previousTurnId.equals(turnId)) {
+                asyncTasksByTurn.remove(previousTurnId, task);
+            }
         }
         return task;
     }

fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/session/GitWorktrees.java

@@ -167,14 +167,59 @@ public final class GitWorktrees implements Worktrees {
         log.info("adding worktree branch={} path={} base={}", branch, wt, base);
         removeUserInfoFromHttpsOrigin(repoRoot);
         exec("git", "-C", repoRoot, "worktree", "add", wt, "-b", branch, base);
-        afterWorktreeAdded.accept(wt);
-        requireCredentialFreeHttpsOrigin(wt);
-        configureEnvironmentCredentialHelper(repoRoot, wt);
-        configureHttpsUrlRewriteForSshOrigin(repoRoot, wt);
-        isolateToolSurface(wt);
+        try {
+            afterWorktreeAdded.accept(wt);
+            requireCredentialFreeHttpsOrigin(wt);
+            configureEnvironmentCredentialHelper(repoRoot, wt);
+            configureHttpsUrlRewriteForSshOrigin(repoRoot, wt);
+            isolateToolSurface(wt);
+        } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+            cleanupAfterAddFailure(repoRoot, wt, branch, e);
+            throw e;
+        }
         return wt;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * {@code add()} has already created the worktree and its branch by the time any step from
+     * {@link #afterWorktreeAdded} through {@link #isolateToolSurface} can throw — including
+     * {@link #requireCredentialFreeHttpsOrigin}, an intended security refusal, not only an IO
+     * accident. Without this, {@code add()} never returns, so its caller
+     * ({@code SessionManager#acquireWithWorktree}) never receives a path to register or clean up:
+     * its local {@code path} stays null, the {@code if (path != null)} guard in its own catch block
+     * never runs, and the worktree directory and branch leak on disk forever with nothing tracking
+     * them (fleetd #274).
+     *
+     * <p>Reuses {@link #remove} — the same {@code git worktree remove --force} path every other
+     * cleanup exit in this class already goes through — rather than a bespoke removal. It
+     * additionally deletes {@code branch}: {@link #remove} alone deliberately leaves a released
+     * session's branch behind (a worker's branch is expected to outlive its worktree, for PRs and
+     * recovery), but a branch that never finished provisioning has no session, no PR, and nothing
+     * else pointing at it, so leaving it behind would just trade one leak for a smaller one. Forced
+     * (`-D`) because the branch is new and unmerged by construction. The worktree is removed first:
+     * a branch checked out by a worktree cannot be deleted until the worktree that holds it is gone.
+     *
+     * <p>Cleanup failure must never mask {@code original} — that is the exception that explains
+     * what actually went wrong — so a failure here is only logged, matching the pattern already
+     * used in {@code SessionManager#acquireWithWorktree}'s own catch block.
+     */
+    private void cleanupAfterAddFailure(String repoRoot, String worktreePath, String branch, RuntimeException original) {
+        log.warn("provisioning failed for branch={} path={}: {} — cleaning up before rethrowing",
+                branch, worktreePath, original.getMessage());
+        try {
+            remove(repoRoot, worktreePath);
+        } catch (RuntimeException cleanup) {
+            log.warn("failed to remove leaked worktree {} after provisioning error: {}",
+                    worktreePath, cleanup.getMessage());
+        }
+        try {
+            exec("git", "-C", repoRoot, "branch", "-D", branch);
+        } catch (RuntimeException cleanup) {
+            log.warn("failed to remove leaked branch {} after provisioning error: {}",
+                    branch, cleanup.getMessage());
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * A linked worktree shares its primary checkout's git config. Remove HTTPS user info before
      * adding one, so a credential accidentally embedded in that config cannot reach the member.

fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/config/FleetConfigTest.java

@@ -155,6 +155,90 @@ class FleetConfigTest {
         assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("errorPattern"), "the offending key is named: " + e.getMessage());
     }
 
+    // ── fleetd #273: exhaustedPattern gets the same load-time validation as its sibling errorPattern ──
+
+    @Test
+    void aProfileWithAMalformedExhaustedPatternIsRejectedAtLoadNamingTheProfileAndKey(@TempDir Path dir)
+            throws Exception {
+        Path f = dir.resolve("malformed-exhausted-pattern.yaml");
+        Files.writeString(f, """
+                profiles:
+                  ltms-local:
+                    baseUrl: http://gx00.gw:8000
+                    exhaustedPattern: "["
+                """);
+
+        IllegalStateException e = assertThrows(IllegalStateException.class, () -> FleetConfig.load(f));
+        assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("ltms-local"), "the offending profile is named: " + e.getMessage());
+        assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("exhaustedPattern"), "the offending key is named: " + e.getMessage());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void aMalformedErrorPatternAndAMalformedExhaustedPatternAreBothReportedFromOneLoad(@TempDir Path dir)
+            throws Exception {
+        Path f = dir.resolve("both-malformed.yaml");
+        Files.writeString(f, """
+                profiles:
+                  sonnet:
+                    baseUrl: http://gx00.gw:8000
+                    errorPattern: "(unterminated["
+                  terra:
+                    baseUrl: http://gx01.gw:8000
+                    exhaustedPattern: "["
+                """);
+
+        IllegalStateException e = assertThrows(IllegalStateException.class, () -> FleetConfig.load(f));
+        assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("sonnet"), "the errorPattern profile is named: " + e.getMessage());
+        assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("errorPattern"), e.getMessage());
+        assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("terra"), "the exhaustedPattern profile is named: " + e.getMessage());
+        assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("exhaustedPattern"), e.getMessage());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void validErrorPatternAndExhaustedPatternBothLoadFine(@TempDir Path dir) throws Exception {
+        Path f = dir.resolve("both-valid.yaml");
+        Files.writeString(f, """
+                profiles:
+                  ltms-local:
+                    baseUrl: http://gx00.gw:8000
+                    errorPattern: "credential outage"
+                    exhaustedPattern: "usage limit has been reached"
+                """);
+
+        FleetConfig.Profile w = FleetConfig.load(f).profiles().get("ltms-local");
+        assertEquals("credential outage", w.errorPattern());
+        assertEquals("usage limit has been reached", w.exhaustedPattern());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void aBlankExhaustedPatternNormalizesToNullJustLikeUnset(@TempDir Path dir) throws Exception {
+        Path f = dir.resolve("blank-exhausted-pattern.yaml");
+        Files.writeString(f, """
+                profiles:
+                  ltms-local:
+                    baseUrl: http://gx00.gw:8000
+                    exhaustedPattern: "   "
+                """);
+
+        FleetConfig.Profile w = FleetConfig.load(f).profiles().get("ltms-local");
+        assertNull(w.exhaustedPattern());
+        assertFalse(w.hasExhaustedPattern());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void aProfileWithNoExhaustedPatternLoadsFine(@TempDir Path dir) throws Exception {
+        Path f = dir.resolve("no-exhausted-pattern.yaml");
+        Files.writeString(f, """
+                profiles:
+                  ltms-local:
+                    baseUrl: http://gx00.gw:8000
+                """);
+
+        FleetConfig.Profile w = FleetConfig.load(f).profiles().get("ltms-local");
+        assertNull(w.exhaustedPattern());
+        assertFalse(w.hasExhaustedPattern());
+    }
+
     @Test
     void withProfileCarriesErrorPatternThrough(@TempDir Path dir) throws Exception {
         Path f = dir.resolve("with-profile-error-pattern.yaml");

fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/mcp/FleetMcpAuthzTest.java

@@ -179,6 +179,53 @@ class FleetMcpAuthzTest {
                 "no CallerResolver supplied ⇒ authorization not enforced (legacy behaviour)");
     }
 
+    // --- which action each tool hands the gate (fleetd #272) ------------------------------------
+
+    /**
+     * fleetd #272: {@code fleet_poll{target}} drains a session's reply inbox, so it needs
+     * {@link Authz.Action#DRAIN} -- not the {@link Authz.Action#READ} the handler passed for both
+     * of its branches until this ticket.
+     *
+     * <p>This asserts against {@link FleetMcp#pollAction}, the method the handler itself calls, so
+     * the handler holds no separate copy of the rule that this test could miss. Every other test in
+     * this class checks the policy table (is a worker allowed to DRAIN?) and all of them passed for
+     * the whole time the defect was live -- the table was right, the action fed to it was wrong.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void pollingByTargetIsADrainAndPollingByTicketIsARead() {
+        assertEquals(Authz.Action.DRAIN, FleetMcp.pollAction("term_b"),
+                "poll by target removes the replies — that is a drain, not an observation");
+        assertEquals(Authz.Action.READ, FleetMcp.pollAction(null),
+                "poll by ticket changes nothing");
+        assertEquals(Authz.Action.READ, FleetMcp.pollAction("  "),
+                "a blank target is an absent target");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void aWorkerMayNotDrainAnotherSessionsInboxByPolling() {
+        FleetMcp m = mcp(true);
+
+        assertNotNull(m.denyFor(WORKER_A, FleetMcp.pollAction("term_b"), "term_b"),
+                "a worker draining a peer's inbox would destroy replies queued for the primary");
+        assertNotNull(m.denyFor(ARCH_DESIGN, FleetMcp.pollAction("term_b"), "term_b"),
+                "an architect has no lifecycle rights either — same gate as fleet_ack");
+        assertNull(m.denyFor(PRIMARY, FleetMcp.pollAction("term_b"), "term_b"),
+                "collecting a held reply is the primary's job");
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * The tightening must not close the branch that legitimately serves non-primary callers: an
+     * architect may {@code fleet_send}, so it owns tickets and must be able to poll them.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void pollingAnOwnTicketStaysOpenToWorkersAndArchitects() {
+        FleetMcp m = mcp(true);
+
+        assertNull(m.denyFor(WORKER_A, FleetMcp.pollAction(null), null));
+        assertNull(m.denyFor(ARCH_DESIGN, FleetMcp.pollAction(null), null),
+                "an architect delegates with wait:false, so it must be able to poll its ticket");
+    }
+
     // --- identity reconstruction from the transport context ------------------------------------
 
     @Test

fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/member/HerdrPeerLauncherAllowListWiringTest.java

@@ -250,6 +250,57 @@ class HerdrPeerLauncherAllowListWiringTest {
                         + appender.list.stream().map(ILoggingEvent::getFormattedMessage).toList());
     }
 
+    /**
+     * fleetd #269 follow-up: the same overclaim the WARN in {@code logCredentialGap} was fixed for,
+     * in the INFO line beside it. With {@code memberHerdrSocket} configured, member panes are routed
+     * to a second herdr whose environment fleetd has no channel to inspect, so the counts come from
+     * fleetd's OWN environment. The bare line "member credentials: allowed 1 of 3" reads as a fact
+     * about the member's pane, and there it is not one.
+     *
+     * <p>#269 reworded four sites and stopped at the sibling below; this pins the pair together so
+     * a future edit cannot fix one and leave the other. Real path: asserted after a real {@link
+     * HerdrPeerLauncher#spawn}, reading the log production actually emits.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void theAllowedCountLineSaysWhoseEnvironmentItCountedWhenMemberHerdrSocketIsSet(@TempDir Path worktreeRoot)
+            throws IOException {
+        String group = currentUserGroup();
+        FakeHerdr herdr = new FakeHerdr();
+        Set<String> hostEnvNames = Set.of(INJECTED, "SOME_UNRELATED_NAME", "ANOTHER_UNRELATED_NAME");
+        WiringLauncher launcher = new WiringLauncher(herdr, allowList(), "/bin/bash-should-be-ignored",
+                () -> hostEnvNames,
+                () -> configWithMemberHerdrSocketRootAndGroup("/tmp/other-user-herdr.sock", "/bin/zsh",
+                        worktreeRoot.toString(), group));
+
+        Logger logger = (Logger) LoggerFactory.getLogger(HerdrPeerLauncher.class);
+        Level original = logger.getLevel();
+        logger.setLevel(Level.INFO);
+        ListAppender<ILoggingEvent> appender = new ListAppender<>();
+        appender.start();
+        logger.addAppender(appender);
+        try {
+            launcher.spawn(new SpawnRequest("test", null, null, null, null, MemberRole.DEV));
+        } finally {
+            logger.detachAppender(appender);
+            logger.setLevel(original);
+        }
+
+        List<String> lines = appender.list.stream().map(ILoggingEvent::getFormattedMessage).toList();
+        String coverage = lines.stream()
+                .filter(l -> l.startsWith("member credentials: allowed "))
+                .findFirst()
+                .orElse(null);
+        assertNotNull(coverage, "the coverage line must still be logged — narrowing the claim must "
+                + "not silently delete the line: " + lines);
+        assertTrue(coverage.contains("fleetd's OWN environment"),
+                "the line must say whose environment it counted: " + coverage);
+        assertTrue(coverage.contains("NOT the member pane's"),
+                "and must say plainly that it is not the member's: " + coverage);
+        // The counts themselves stay real — narrowing the claim must not turn them into constants.
+        assertTrue(coverage.startsWith("member credentials: allowed 1 of 3"),
+                "the real counts must survive the rewording: " + coverage);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Lead-review fix: on a NON-zsh shell no scrub ever runs (bash ignores {@code ZDOTDIR}), so the
      * "allowed N of M" line — which describes what the scrub does — must not be printed there either.

fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageServiceTest.java

@@ -828,6 +828,56 @@ class MessageServiceTest {
         assertEquals(MessageService.Outcome.REPLIED, answer.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS).outcome());
     }
 
+    // --- fleetd #275: a target torn down FOR GOOD while genuinely ASKING must not orphan --------
+    //
+    // sessions.onRelease (fleet_stop, or the idle reaper) is the one abandon() caller that knows
+    // for certain the target can never resume: its pane is being stopped right now. Unlike the
+    // health-classification caller above (a GONE/NEVER_READY guess, not a teardown it performed),
+    // it must sweep an ASKING ticket right here — see MessageService.abandon(String, String,
+    // boolean)'s javadoc for the full reachability chain this closes: without this, the forward
+    // waiter is already closed by the time the question surfaces, the ASKING guard skips the task,
+    // and by the time the worker's own fleet_ask lapses (~55-115s later) the released session no
+    // longer appears in FleetHealthMonitor's roster for anything to ever sweep it again — leaving
+    // fleet_poll{ticket} stuck PENDING forever.
+
+    @Test
+    void abandonWithSweepAskingFailsATornDownTargetsAskingTicket() throws Exception {
+        String ticket = messages.sendAsync(T, "task that asks");
+        awaitWaiting();
+        injectDelivery();
+
+        CompletableFuture<MessageService.AskResult> ask =
+                CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(() -> messages.ask(T, "which config?", 300));
+        MessageService.TaskView asking = awaitTicketPhase(ticket, MessageService.Phase.ASKING);
+
+        assertTrue(messages.abandon(T, "the worker session was released before it replied", true),
+                "a released target's open ask can never resume, so it must fail right here");
+
+        MessageService.TaskView failed = awaitTicketPhase(ticket, MessageService.Phase.FAILED);
+        assertEquals("the worker session was released before it replied", failed.detail());
+
+        // The reverse-rendezvous ask is torn down too: the worker's still-blocked fleet_ask rides
+        // out its own timeout (nothing completed its answer future), and a late answer() for the
+        // same turnId must see it as lapsed rather than resolving a question nobody is waiting on.
+        assertEquals(MessageService.AskOutcome.TIMED_OUT, ask.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS).outcome());
+        assertEquals(MessageService.Outcome.STALE_TURN,
+                messages.answer(asking.turnId(), "config.yaml", 200).outcome());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void abandonWithoutSweepAskingBehavesLikeTheTwoArgOverload() throws Exception {
+        String ticket = messages.sendAsync(T, "task that asks");
+        awaitWaiting();
+        injectDelivery();
+
+        CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(() -> messages.ask(T, "which config?", 5000));
+        awaitTicketPhase(ticket, MessageService.Phase.ASKING);
+
+        assertFalse(messages.abandon(T, "agent target term_a not found", false),
+                "sweepAsking=false must match the plain abandon(target, reason) overload");
+        assertEquals(MessageService.Phase.ASKING, messages.poll(ticket).phase());
+    }
+
     // --- #137: a fleet_ask round-trip must not orphan the ticket's own reply -------------------
     //
     // The primary's fleet_send{turnId} answer call is itself bounded (a real MCP call, capped well
@@ -925,6 +975,64 @@ class MessageServiceTest {
         assertEquals(MessageService.Outcome.REPLIED, answer.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS).outcome());
     }
 
+    /**
+     * fleetd #282: a worker that chains a SECOND {@code fleet_ask} inside the same resumed turn —
+     * before it ever calls {@code fleet_reply} — used to kill its own async ticket. {@code answer()}
+     * opens a fresh forward waiter but (unlike {@code send()}) never registered it in
+     * {@code asyncTasksByWaiter}, so the second ask's {@code markAsyncQuestion} found no {@code Task}
+     * to re-associate. That waiter still resolved with the second {@code QUESTION} once the worker
+     * asked again, and {@code answer()} completed the ticket's future with that QUESTION "reply"
+     * unconditionally — so {@code fleet_poll} reported FAILED while the worker was still alive and
+     * the primary was mid-conversation with it.
+     *
+     * <p>Driven entirely through {@code MessageService}'s public API (sendAsync/ask/answer/poll) —
+     * never by reaching into {@link Rendezvous} or the task maps directly, so this test cannot pass
+     * for a reason unrelated to the real bug.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void secondFleetAskInTheSameResumedTurnDoesNotKillTheAsyncTicket() throws Exception {
+        String ticket = messages.sendAsync(T, "task that asks twice");
+        awaitWaiting();
+
+        // The worker's first fleet_ask.
+        CompletableFuture<MessageService.AskResult> ask1 =
+                CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(() -> messages.ask(T, "Q1", 5000));
+        MessageService.TaskView asking1 = awaitTicketPhase(ticket, MessageService.Phase.ASKING);
+        assertEquals("Q1", asking1.reply());
+
+        // The primary answers it — answer() resumes the turn and blocks for what comes next.
+        CompletableFuture<MessageService.Reply> answer1 = CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(
+                () -> messages.answer(asking1.turnId(), "a1", 5000));
+        assertEquals("a1", ask1.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS).answer());
+
+        // Still in the SAME resumed turn — before replying — the worker asks again.
+        CompletableFuture<MessageService.AskResult> ask2 =
+                CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(() -> messages.ask(T, "Q2", 5000));
+
+        // answer1's own call unblocks with the second QUESTION (documented QUESTION-chaining
+        // behaviour — see FleetMcp.answer's javadoc: "Answer it by calling fleet_send again with
+        // turnId=..."). The bug: this used to also kill the async ticket in the process.
+        MessageService.Reply firstAnswerResult = answer1.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        assertEquals(MessageService.Outcome.QUESTION, firstAnswerResult.outcome());
+        String turnId2 = firstAnswerResult.turnId();
+
+        MessageService.TaskView asking2 = awaitTicketPhase(ticket, MessageService.Phase.ASKING);
+        assertEquals("Q2", asking2.reply(),
+                "the ticket must surface the SECOND question, not be dead/FAILED");
+        assertEquals(turnId2, asking2.turnId());
+
+        // The primary answers the second question; the worker finally sends its real fleet_reply.
+        CompletableFuture<MessageService.Reply> answer2 = CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(
+                () -> messages.answer(turnId2, "a2", 5000));
+        assertEquals("a2", ask2.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS).answer());
+        awaitWaiting();
+        assertTrue(rendezvous.resolve(T, "done"));
+        assertEquals(MessageService.Outcome.REPLIED, answer2.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS).outcome());
+
+        MessageService.TaskView done = awaitTicketPhase(ticket, MessageService.Phase.DONE);
+        assertEquals("done", done.reply());
+    }
+
     // --- CB-582: fleet_status pendingAsk() ------------------------------------------------------
 
     @Test

fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/session/GitWorktreesTest.java

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
 
@@ -362,6 +363,46 @@ class GitWorktreesTest {
         assertEquals("worktree origin contains HTTPS user info; refusing provision", error.getMessage());
     }
 
+    /**
+     * fleetd #274. {@code add()} creates the worktree and its branch, then runs several more steps
+     * that can throw — {@code requireCredentialFreeHttpsOrigin} among them, an intended security
+     * refusal, not an IO accident. Before the fix, any exception from those later steps left
+     * {@code add()} never returning, so its caller never learned the path and the worktree
+     * directory plus its branch leaked on disk forever with nothing tracking them.
+     *
+     * <p>This drives the exact same {@code afterWorktreeAdded} test seam as
+     * {@link #provisioningRefusesAWorktreeWhoseOriginStillHasHttpsUserInfo} — a mutation applied
+     * right after {@code git worktree add}, so the step that throws
+     * ({@code requireCredentialFreeHttpsOrigin}, reached moments later inside {@code add()} itself)
+     * runs strictly after the worktree and branch already exist, not downstream of {@code add()}
+     * in some other caller. {@code afterWorktreeAdded} also hands back the created path, so the
+     * assertions below don't have to guess the generated nonce.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void addCleansUpTheWorktreeAndBranchWhenAPostCreationStepThrows(@TempDir Path tmp) throws Exception {
+        Path repo = initRepo(tmp.resolve("repo"));
+        git(repo, "remote", "add", "origin", "https://git.ltms.dev/akb/kb.git");
+        String branch = "cb-274-leak";
+        AtomicReference<String> createdPath = new AtomicReference<>();
+        GitWorktrees worktrees = new GitWorktrees(tmp.resolve("wts").toString(), worktreePath -> {
+            createdPath.set(worktreePath);
+            try {
+                git(Path.of(worktreePath), "remote", "set-url", "origin",
+                        "https://synthetic-test-token@git.ltms.dev/akb/kb.git");
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                throw new RuntimeException(e);
+            }
+        });
+
+        assertThrows(WorktreeException.class, () -> worktrees.add(repo.toString(), branch, "HEAD"));
+
+        assertNotNull(createdPath.get(), "afterWorktreeAdded must have run with the created path");
+        assertFalse(Files.exists(Path.of(createdPath.get())),
+                "the worktree directory leaked after a post-creation step threw");
+        String heads = forEachRef(repo, "refs/heads/" + branch);
+        assertTrue(heads.isBlank(), "the branch leaked after a post-creation step threw:\n" + heads);
+    }
+
     // ---- CB-189: broader remote-URL coverage — every remote, both fetch and push URLs, any
     // non-SSH scheme. Reporting only, additive to the origin/https strip-and-refuse tests above. ----