feat: ask_operator environmental handoff discipline

When a worker hits an environmental failure (sandboxed or filtered
network path, missing binary or key, TLS or proxy interception, missing
runtime permission), nothing today tells it how to stop: transcripts
show turn after turn of retries with different flags, equivalent tools,
or fallback transports, all burning budget against a wall the agent
cannot move.

Changes:

- the ask_operator tool description now covers environmental blocks
  explicitly: do not retry or work around; include the exact single
  command the operator should run in their own terminal as one
  copy-pastable line, plus what to paste back, then wait. The question
  parameter description gains the same guidance.
- worker and pentest seeds gain an "Operator handoff on environmental
  blocks" block: stop after the first environmental failure, no
  flag-hopping, no bypass hunting, one command per ask_operator request,
  never batch.
- tests: the tool description must keep the handoff markers
  (TestAskOperatorEnvHandoffGuidance) and the executor seeds must keep
  the block (TestPromptSeedsCarryOperatorHandoff).

Pattern adapted from bug-bounty-hunting-prompts (MIT), whose operator
handoff rule produced exactly this single-command format.

agent/operator_handoff_seed_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package agent
+
+import "strings"
+import "testing"
+
+// The operator-handoff discipline must stay in the executor agents' default
+// seeds: environmental failures stop the retry loop and become one
+// copy-pastable ask_operator command.
+func TestPromptSeedsCarryOperatorHandoff(t *testing.T) {
+	for name, tmpl := range BuiltinPromptSeeds() {
+		switch name {
+		case "worker", "pentest":
+			for _, marker := range []string{
+				"Operator handoff on environmental blocks",
+				"one line, copy-pastable",
+				"never batch",
+			} {
+				if !strings.Contains(tmpl, marker) {
+					t.Errorf("%s seed missing operator-handoff marker %q", name, marker)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}

agent/promptcatalog.go

@@ -90,7 +90,11 @@ Finding quality gates (proof standard, measured impact, testing bounds):
 - **Every reported finding carries a measured impact**: the attacker outcome as a number with its denominator ("3 of 20 payload variants returned other-tenant rows; 17 rejected", "commands executed: 2, output returned: yes") plus what the defense blocked. "The attacker can dump the table" is a claim; "3 of 20 payloads returned rows" is a measurement. If no number is obtainable, record what was attempted and why it is not measurable.
 - **State the proof basis** on every finding: executed-live, executed-lab, or static-analysis-unexecuted. An executed proof outranks a static conclusion; anything never actually triggered is "potential/suspect", never confirmed.
 - **Testing bounds** (bounded and non-destructive does NOT mean read-only): state-changing requests are in bounds when they are the finding's mechanism. Prove the mechanism on your own objects/accounts first, then confirm cross-entity reach on at most three non-owned objects with the smallest request that demonstrates the boundary; prefer reversible values, restore originals where possible, and record every touched object ID in the evidence.
-- **Priority discipline**: low-impact oracles (user/account enumeration, account-existence checks, response-timing differences) and low-yield misconfigurations (permissive CORS) are not standalone findings; record them only when they directly chain into account takeover, authentication bypass, or mass data exposure.`
+- **Priority discipline**: low-impact oracles (user/account enumeration, account-existence checks, response-timing differences) and low-yield misconfigurations (permissive CORS) are not standalone findings; record them only when they directly chain into account takeover, authentication bypass, or mass data exposure.
+
+Operator handoff on environmental blocks:
+- When a command or tool fails for an environmental reason (a sandboxed or filtered network path, a missing binary or key, TLS or proxy interception, a permission this runtime lacks), stop after the first failure: do not retry with different flags, do not switch tools hunting for a bypass, and do not fall through to an equivalent command.
+- Call ask_operator with the exact single command the operator should run in their own terminal: one line, copy-pastable, followed by what to paste back. One command per request; never batch. Wait for the reply instead of burning turns.`
 
 // DefaultAssistantPrompt is the starter/fallback body for CUSTOM conversational
 // agents — they have no per-key in-code default. It is seeded into agent_prompts

agent/worker.go

@@ -262,7 +262,11 @@ Finding quality gates (proof standard, measured impact, testing bounds):
 - **Every reported finding carries a measured impact**: the attacker outcome as a number with its denominator ("3 of 20 payload variants returned other-tenant rows; 17 rejected", "commands executed: 2, output returned: yes") plus what the defense blocked. "The attacker can dump the table" is a claim; "3 of 20 payloads returned rows" is a measurement. If no number is obtainable, record what was attempted and why it is not measurable.
 - **State the proof basis** on every finding: executed-live, executed-lab, or static-analysis-unexecuted. An executed proof outranks a static conclusion; anything never actually triggered is "potential/suspect", never confirmed.
 - **Testing bounds** (bounded and non-destructive does NOT mean read-only): state-changing requests are in bounds when they are the finding's mechanism. Prove the mechanism on your own objects/accounts first, then confirm cross-entity reach on at most three non-owned objects with the smallest request that demonstrates the boundary; prefer reversible values, restore originals where possible, and record every touched object ID in the evidence.
-- **Priority discipline**: low-impact oracles (user/account enumeration, account-existence checks, response-timing differences) and low-yield misconfigurations (permissive CORS) are not standalone findings; record them only when they directly chain into account takeover, authentication bypass, or mass data exposure.`
+- **Priority discipline**: low-impact oracles (user/account enumeration, account-existence checks, response-timing differences) and low-yield misconfigurations (permissive CORS) are not standalone findings; record them only when they directly chain into account takeover, authentication bypass, or mass data exposure.
+
+Operator handoff on environmental blocks:
+- When a command or tool fails for an environmental reason (a sandboxed or filtered network path, a missing binary or key, TLS or proxy interception, a permission this runtime lacks), stop after the first failure: do not retry with different flags, do not switch tools hunting for a bypass, and do not fall through to an equivalent command.
+- Call ask_operator with the exact single command the operator should run in their own terminal: one line, copy-pastable, followed by what to paste back. One command per request; never batch. Wait for the reply instead of burning turns.`
 
 // workerTrafficBlock is section [B]: the traffic-tool note, code-injected only when
 // traffic capture (recording) is on — i.e. the traffic_* tools actually exist.

server/ask_operator.go

@@ -25,13 +25,13 @@ var askOperatorImageExt = map[string]bool{".png": true, ".jpg": true, ".jpeg": t
 // resumes the run with the answer as the next input (#41).
 func (s *Server) toolAskOperator() actool.CoreTool {
 	return wrTool("ask_operator",
-		"Ask the human operator for input you cannot obtain yourself (a captcha solution, an email/SMS OTP code, a 2FA answer, a decision). The question appears in this intent's chat for the operator, optionally with a screenshot, and this intent then pauses; the operator's reply resumes this run with the answer as your next input. Ask precisely, and only when you are genuinely blocked.",
+		"Ask the human operator for input you cannot obtain yourself (a captcha solution, an email/SMS OTP code, a 2FA answer, a decision, or an action only they can perform). The question appears in this intent's chat for the operator, optionally with a screenshot, and this intent then pauses; the operator's reply resumes this run with the answer as your next input. Ask precisely, and only when you are genuinely blocked. When the block is environmental (a sandboxed or filtered network path, a missing binary or key, a proxy or TLS failure this runtime cannot fix), do not retry or work around it: include in the question the exact single command the operator should run in their own terminal, as one copy-pastable line, plus what to paste back, then wait.",
 		map[string]any{
 			"type": "object",
 			"properties": map[string]any{
 				"question": map[string]any{
 					"type":        "string",
-					"description": "What you need from the operator, precisely (e.g. 'enter the 6-digit code sent to x@y', 'solve the captcha in the attached screenshot').",
+					"description": "What you need from the operator, precisely (e.g. 'enter the 6-digit code sent to x@y', 'solve the captcha in the attached screenshot'). For environmental blocks: the exact single command they should run in their own terminal (one line, copy-pastable) and what to paste back.",
 				},
 				"image_path": map[string]any{
 					"type":        "string",

server/ask_operator_test.go

@@ -68,3 +68,15 @@ func TestAskOperatorActivityShape(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected detail payload: %+v", parsed)
 	}
 }
+
+// The tool description must tell agents what to do on environmental blocks:
+// hand the operator one copy-pastable command instead of retrying or hunting
+// for bypasses. Pattern adapted from bug-bounty-hunting-prompts (MIT).
+func TestAskOperatorEnvHandoffGuidance(t *testing.T) {
+	desc := (&Server{}).toolAskOperator().Description()
+	for _, marker := range []string{"copy-pastable", "do not retry or work around"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(desc, marker) {
+			t.Errorf("ask_operator description missing env-handoff marker %q", marker)
+		}
+	}
+}