From 83f7e41932531fb7704cc6ee2882142131814a65 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: dave <futurechimp@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 10:12:33 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] huskies: merge 780

---
 server/src/db/mod.rs | 54 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 53 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/server/src/db/mod.rs b/server/src/db/mod.rs
index cd46a08b..5815f921 100644
--- a/server/src/db/mod.rs
+++ b/server/src/db/mod.rs
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ pub fn move_item_stage(
         _ => None,
     };
 
-    let (name, agent, retry_count, blocked, depends_on) = content
+    let (name, agent, _ignored_retry_count, blocked, depends_on) = content
         .as_deref()
         .or(current_content.as_deref())
         .and_then(|c| parse_front_matter(c).ok())
@@ -322,6 +322,14 @@ pub fn move_item_stage(
         })
         .unwrap_or((None, None, None, None, None));
 
+    // Bug 780: stage transitions reset retry_count to 0.  retry_count tracks
+    // attempts at THIS stage's work (coding, merging, qa); a fresh attempt at
+    // a new stage is conceptually distinct from prior attempts at a different
+    // stage.  `blocked` is preserved — that's a human-set signal that survives
+    // transitions.  Note: passing None to write_item is a no-op on the CRDT
+    // register (the old value is kept), so we must pass Some(0) to force reset.
+    let retry_count: Option<i64> = Some(0);
+
     // CRDT stage transition.
     let merged_at_ts = if crate::pipeline_state::Stage::from_dir(new_stage)
         .is_some_and(|s| matches!(s, crate::pipeline_state::Stage::Done { .. }))
@@ -706,4 +714,48 @@ mod tests {
             row.map(|r| r.0)
         );
     }
+
+    /// Bug 780: stage transitions must reset retry_count to 0 in the CRDT.
+    /// Carryover from prior-stage retries was tripping the auto-assigner's
+    /// deterministic-merge skip logic.
+    #[test]
+    fn move_item_stage_resets_retry_count_to_zero() {
+        ensure_content_store();
+        let story_id = "9870_story_780_retry_reset";
+
+        // Seed the story in 2_current with retry_count = 3 (a coder that
+        // burned all its retries).
+        crate::crdt_state::write_item(
+            story_id,
+            "2_current",
+            Some("Retry reset test"),
+            None,
+            Some(3),
+            None,
+            None,
+            None,
+            None,
+            None,
+        );
+        write_content(
+            story_id,
+            "---\nname: Retry reset test\nretry_count: 3\n---\n",
+        );
+        let typed = crate::pipeline_state::read_typed(story_id)
+            .expect("read should succeed")
+            .expect("story exists in CRDT");
+        assert_eq!(typed.retry_count, 3);
+
+        // Promote to 4_merge.  retry_count must reset.
+        move_item_stage(story_id, "4_merge", None);
+
+        let typed_after = crate::pipeline_state::read_typed(story_id)
+            .expect("read should succeed")
+            .expect("story exists in CRDT");
+        assert_eq!(typed_after.stage.dir_name(), "4_merge");
+        assert_eq!(
+            typed_after.retry_count, 0,
+            "retry_count must reset to 0 on stage transition"
+        );
+    }
 }