Clean stale AgentWork alongside Lease expiry

[itsmiso-ai]

Parent umbrella issue: #235
Source audit: Weekly tech debt audit: dispatch - 2026-05-27
Source audit date: 2026-05-27

Original recommendation

P1 — Clean stale AgentWork alongside Lease expiry (src/lib/agent-work.ts, claim route): Add stale-Work cleanup to claim flow.

Matched top finding

Files: src/lib/agent-work.ts, src/lib/lease.ts, src/app/api/issues/claim/route.ts

After fixing orphaned active-work records on issue deletion (#214), there is a remaining gap: when a Lease is released (expired, operator-forcibly released, or agent finishes) the corresponding AgentWork record is not cleaned up. The claim endpoint checks findActiveLeasesForIssue but not AgentWork state:

// src/app/api/issues/claim/route.ts
const activeLeases = await findActiveLeasesForIssue(issueId as string);
const otherAgentLeases = activeLeases.filter((l) => l.agentName !== agentName);
if (otherAgentLeases.length > 0 && force !== true) {
 return NextResponse.json({ error: ... }, { status: 409 });
}

An agent that was forcefully stopped mid-work (OOM kill, crash, SIGKILL) can leave an AgentWork record in CLAIMED/IN_PROGRESS state with no matching active Lease. Future claim attempts pass the lease check (no active lease) but the stale AgentWork still blocks via the releaseStaleWork function which is only called by the cron/operator, not on every claim.

Recommended: Add a findStaleAgentWorkForIssue helper and call it in the claim flow alongside releaseExpiredLeases, or add a unique constraint @@unique([agentName, issueId]) on AgentWork and use upsert logic instead.

---

[itsmiso-ai]

Saffron backlog grooming note

Applied by Saffron groomer.

Recommendation: ready
Lane: normal
Confidence: high

Reason: Concrete P1 task with clear gap description, specific files, code context, and two viable implementation paths. No ambiguous requirements.

Summary

Add stale AgentWork cleanup to the claim flow to prevent blocked future claims when leases expire or are forcefully released. Implement either a findStaleAgentWorkForIssue helper called during claims, or enforce a unique constraint on (agentName, issueId) with upsert logic.

Likely files / areas

• src/lib/agent-work.ts
• src/lib/lease.ts
• src/app/api/issues/claim/route.ts

Acceptance criteria

• Stale AgentWork records in CLAIMED/IN_PROGRESS state are automatically cleaned up when a claim attempt detects no active lease for the same issue
• Claim flow successfully proceeds for agents after stale work is resolved without requiring manual operator intervention or cron waits
• Existing lease-based concurrency checks remain intact and are not bypassed

Validation

• Run claim route integration tests with mocked expired leases + stale AgentWork records; verify cleanup logic executes and DB state is consistent
• Check that next.js dev/test server passes all route tests

Next action

Implement the chosen approach in the identified files, add unit/integration tests covering the stale-work scenario, and submit a PR for normal review.