v0.6.0 — reliability + remote control

* feat: v0.6.0 — reliability + remote control

- Fix infinite retry loop: scheduleRetry no longer resets retryCount after MAX_RETRIES
- Orphan PID cleanup on startup: track agent PIDs in data/agent-pids.json, kill survivors on boot
- /status command: active agents, queue depth, uptime via Telegram
- /skills command: lists installed skills with descriptions from .claude/skills/
- setMyCommands() at startup: Telegram command menu auto-populated
- GroupQueue.getStatus(): exposes live queue state for external consumers

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* style: apply prettier formatting

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* fix: address CodeRabbit review comments

- Make /skills handler async; await all ctx.reply() calls to preserve chunk order
- Escape skill dir name and description with escapeXml() before HTML interpolation
- Escape group name/JID in /status output with escapeXml()
- Mirror PID tracking on scheduler onProcess hook (scheduled tasks were not tracked)
- Validate agent-pids.json before killing: accept only positive integers, ignore malformed entries

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* style: restage prettier-formatted files

Pre-commit hook was reformatting but not re-staging, causing committed
versions to diverge from what prettier --check expects.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* fix: add setMyCommands mock to telegram tests; fix husky hook to restage formatted files

- telegram.test.ts: add setMyCommands vi.fn() to the mock bot api so connect() doesn't throw
- .husky/pre-commit: add 'git add -u' after format:fix so prettier-reformatted files are
  included in the commit rather than left as unstaged changes (was causing CI format checks to fail)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* fix: resolve all pre-existing test failures

- container-runner.ts: replace dynamic require('child_process') with static
  import so vi.mock() intercepts execSync in tests
- container-runner.test.ts: add execSync mock to child_process stub
- telegram.test.ts: add setMyCommands to mock bot api (already in previous commit)

All 32 test files, 448 tests now pass locally.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: b1rdmania

.husky/pre-commit

@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 npm run format:fix
+git add -u

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## v0.6.0 (2026-03-19) — Reliability + remote control
+
+### Fixes
+- Infinite retry loop eliminated: `scheduleRetry` no longer resets `retryCount` after `MAX_RETRIES`. Previously, a group that hit max retries would silently reset the counter and retry forever.
+- Orphaned agent processes from previous runs are now killed on startup. PIDs are tracked in `data/agent-pids.json` and cleaned up on boot, preventing slot starvation and timeout cascades after a crash or forced restart.
+
+### New
+- `/status` command: shows active agents per group, queue depth (pending tasks + messages), and uptime. Available via Telegram.
+- `/skills` command: lists all installed skills with descriptions, read live from `.claude/skills/`. Available via Telegram.
+- Telegram command menu: `setMyCommands()` called at startup so all commands appear with descriptions when the user types `/`.
+- `GroupQueue.getStatus()`: exposes live queue state (active count, waiting groups, per-group task/message queues) for external consumers.
+
 ## v0.5.5 (2026-03-18) — Remote control hotfix
 
 ### Fixes

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "ghostclaw",
-  "version": "0.5.5",
+  "version": "0.6.0",
   "description": "Personal AI assistant. Bare metal, Telegram-first, no containers.",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "dist/index.js",

src/channels/telegram.test.ts

@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ vi.mock('grammy', () => ({
     api = {
       sendMessage: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined),
       sendChatAction: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined),
+      setMyCommands: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined),
     };
 
     constructor(token: string) {

src/channels/telegram.ts

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { ASSISTANT_NAME, TRIGGER_PATTERN } from '../config.js';
 import { logger } from '../logger.js';
 import { signalNewMessage } from '../message-signal.js';
 import { transcribeBuffer, textToSpeech } from '../transcription.js';
-import { markdownToTelegramHtml } from '../router.js';
+import { markdownToTelegramHtml, escapeXml } from '../router.js';
 import {
   Channel,
   OnChatMetadata,
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ export interface TelegramChannelOpts {
   onChatMetadata: OnChatMetadata;
   registeredGroups: () => Record<string, RegisteredGroup>;
   onReset?: (chatJid: string) => boolean;
+  onGetStatus?: () => string;
 }
 
 export class TelegramChannel implements Channel {
@@ -66,7 +67,9 @@ export class TelegramChannel implements Channel {
         return;
       }
       this.opts.onReset?.(chatJid);
-      ctx.reply('Reset. Agent killed and queue cleared — send me something to start fresh.');
+      ctx.reply(
+        'Reset. Agent killed and queue cleared — send me something to start fresh.',
+      );
     });
 
     // Command to pull latest code and restart
@@ -97,6 +100,66 @@ export class TelegramChannel implements Channel {
       }
     });
 
+    // Command to show active agents, queue depth, and uptime
+    this.bot.command('status', (ctx) => {
+      const chatJid = `tg:${ctx.chat.id}`;
+      const group = this.opts.registeredGroups()[chatJid];
+      if (!group) {
+        ctx.reply('Not a registered chat.');
+        return;
+      }
+      const text = this.opts.onGetStatus?.() ?? 'Status unavailable.';
+      ctx.reply(text, { parse_mode: 'HTML' });
+    });
+
+    // Command to list installed skills
+    this.bot.command('skills', async (ctx) => {
+      const chatJid = `tg:${ctx.chat.id}`;
+      const group = this.opts.registeredGroups()[chatJid];
+      if (!group) {
+        await ctx.reply('Not a registered chat.');
+        return;
+      }
+      const skillsDir = path.join(process.cwd(), '.claude', 'skills');
+      if (!fs.existsSync(skillsDir)) {
+        await ctx.reply('No skills directory found.');
+        return;
+      }
+      const lines: string[] = ['<b>Installed skills:</b>'];
+      const dirs = fs.readdirSync(skillsDir).sort();
+      for (const dir of dirs) {
+        const stat = fs.statSync(path.join(skillsDir, dir));
+        if (!stat.isDirectory()) continue;
+        const skillMd = path.join(skillsDir, dir, 'SKILL.md');
+        if (!fs.existsSync(skillMd)) continue;
+        const content = fs.readFileSync(skillMd, 'utf-8');
+        const descMatch = content.match(/^description:\s*(.+)$/m);
+        const desc = descMatch ? descMatch[1].trim() : '';
+        const safeName = escapeXml(dir);
+        const safeDesc = desc ? escapeXml(desc.slice(0, 80)) : '';
+        lines.push(
+          `• <code>/${safeName}</code>${safeDesc ? ` — ${safeDesc}` : ''}`,
+        );
+      }
+      const text = lines.length > 1 ? lines.join('\n') : 'No skills installed.';
+      // Chunk if needed — Telegram 4096 char limit
+      const MAX = 4096;
+      if (text.length <= MAX) {
+        await ctx.reply(text, { parse_mode: 'HTML' });
+      } else {
+        let chunk = '';
+        for (const line of lines) {
+          if (chunk.length + line.length + 1 > MAX) {
+            await ctx.reply(chunk, { parse_mode: 'HTML' });
+            chunk = line;
+          } else {
+            chunk = chunk ? `${chunk}\n${line}` : line;
+          }
+        }
+        if (chunk) await ctx.reply(chunk, { parse_mode: 'HTML' });
+      }
+    });
+
     this.bot.on('message:text', async (ctx) => {
       // Skip commands
       if (ctx.message.text.startsWith('/')) return;
@@ -296,6 +359,21 @@ export class TelegramChannel implements Channel {
       logger.error({ err: err.message }, 'Telegram bot error');
     });
 
+    // Register commands in Telegram's menu (shows when user types /)
+    await this.bot.api
+      .setMyCommands([
+        { command: 'ping', description: 'Check the bot is online' },
+        {
+          command: 'status',
+          description: 'Active agents, queue depth, uptime',
+        },
+        { command: 'skills', description: 'List installed skills' },
+        { command: 'reset', description: 'Kill stalled agent and clear queue' },
+        { command: 'update', description: 'Pull latest code and restart' },
+        { command: 'chatid', description: "Get this chat's registration ID" },
+      ])
+      .catch((err) => logger.warn({ err }, 'setMyCommands failed (non-fatal)'));
+
     return new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
       this.bot!.start({
         onStart: (botInfo) => {

src/container-runner.test.ts

@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ vi.mock('child_process', async () => {
   return {
     ...actual,
     spawn: vi.fn(() => fakeProc),
+    execSync: vi.fn(() => ''),
     exec: vi.fn(
       (_cmd: string, _opts: unknown, cb?: (err: Error | null) => void) => {
         if (cb) cb(null);

src/container-runner.ts

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  * Agent Runner for GhostClaw
  * Spawns agent execution as direct Node.js processes (no containers)
  */
-import { ChildProcess, spawn } from 'child_process';
+import { ChildProcess, spawn, execSync } from 'child_process';
 import fs from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
 
@@ -194,7 +194,6 @@ function getAgentRunnerEntrypoint(): string {
 
   if (!fs.existsSync(distEntry)) {
     logger.info('Agent runner not compiled, compiling now...');
-    const { execSync } = require('child_process');
     execSync('npx tsc', { cwd: agentRunnerRoot, stdio: 'pipe' });
   }
 

src/group-queue.ts

@@ -283,14 +283,50 @@ export class GroupQueue {
     }
   }
 
+  getStatus(): {
+    active: number;
+    waiting: number;
+    groups: {
+      jid: string;
+      active: boolean;
+      queuedTasks: number;
+      queuedMessages: boolean;
+    }[];
+  } {
+    const groups: {
+      jid: string;
+      active: boolean;
+      queuedTasks: number;
+      queuedMessages: boolean;
+    }[] = [];
+    for (const [jid, state] of this.groups) {
+      if (
+        state.active ||
+        state.pendingTasks.length > 0 ||
+        state.pendingMessages
+      ) {
+        groups.push({
+          jid,
+          active: state.active,
+          queuedTasks: state.pendingTasks.length,
+          queuedMessages: state.pendingMessages,
+        });
+      }
+    }
+    return {
+      active: this.activeCount,
+      waiting: this.waitingGroups.length,
+      groups,
+    };
+  }
+
   private scheduleRetry(groupJid: string, state: GroupState): void {
     state.retryCount++;
     if (state.retryCount > MAX_RETRIES) {
       logger.error(
         { groupJid, retryCount: state.retryCount },
         'Max retries exceeded, dropping messages (will retry on next incoming message)',
       );
-      state.retryCount = 0;
       return;
     }
 

src/index.ts

@@ -39,7 +39,12 @@ import {
 import { GroupQueue } from './group-queue.js';
 import { resolveGroupFolderPath } from './group-folder.js';
 import { startIpcWatcher } from './ipc.js';
-import { findChannel, formatMessages, formatOutbound } from './router.js';
+import {
+  findChannel,
+  formatMessages,
+  formatOutbound,
+  escapeXml,
+} from './router.js';
 import { startSchedulerLoop } from './task-scheduler.js';
 import { Channel, NewMessage, RegisteredGroup } from './types.js';
 import { logger } from './logger.js';
@@ -54,6 +59,7 @@ let sessions: Record<string, string> = {};
 let registeredGroups: Record<string, RegisteredGroup> = {};
 let lastAgentTimestamp: Record<string, string> = {};
 let messageLoopRunning = false;
+const startTime = Date.now();
 
 let whatsapp: WhatsAppChannel;
 const channels: Channel[] = [];
@@ -307,8 +313,13 @@ async function runAgent(
         isMain,
         assistantName: ASSISTANT_NAME,
       },
-      (proc, containerName) =>
-        queue.registerProcess(chatJid, proc, containerName, group.folder),
+      (proc, containerName) => {
+        queue.registerProcess(chatJid, proc, containerName, group.folder);
+        if (proc.pid) {
+          trackAgentPid(proc.pid);
+          proc.once('exit', () => untrackAgentPid(proc.pid!));
+        }
+      },
       wrappedOnOutput,
     );
 
@@ -481,8 +492,67 @@ function releasePidLock(): void {
   }
 }
 
+const agentPidsFile = path.join(DATA_DIR, 'agent-pids.json');
+
+function readAgentPids(): number[] {
+  try {
+    const raw: unknown = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(agentPidsFile, 'utf-8'));
+    if (!Array.isArray(raw)) return [];
+    // Accept only positive integers — 0/negative have process-group semantics on POSIX
+    return raw.filter(
+      (v): v is number => typeof v === 'number' && Number.isInteger(v) && v > 0,
+    );
+  } catch {
+    return [];
+  }
+}
+
+function writeAgentPids(pids: number[]): void {
+  try {
+    fs.mkdirSync(DATA_DIR, { recursive: true });
+    fs.writeFileSync(agentPidsFile, JSON.stringify(pids));
+  } catch {
+    /* ignore */
+  }
+}
+
+function trackAgentPid(pid: number): void {
+  const pids = readAgentPids();
+  if (!pids.includes(pid)) {
+    pids.push(pid);
+    writeAgentPids(pids);
+  }
+}
+
+function untrackAgentPid(pid: number): void {
+  const pids = readAgentPids().filter((p) => p !== pid);
+  writeAgentPids(pids);
+}
+
+function cleanupOrphanedAgents(): void {
+  const pids = readAgentPids();
+  if (pids.length === 0) return;
+
+  let killed = 0;
+  for (const pid of pids) {
+    try {
+      process.kill(pid, 0); // throws if dead
+      process.kill(pid, 'SIGKILL');
+      killed++;
+      logger.warn({ pid }, 'Killed orphaned agent process from previous run');
+    } catch {
+      /* already dead */
+    }
+  }
+  writeAgentPids([]);
+  if (killed > 0) {
+    logger.info({ killed }, 'Orphan agent cleanup complete');
+  }
+}
+
 async function main(): Promise<void> {
   acquirePidLock();
+  cleanupOrphanedAgents();
 
   const errorsLog = path.join(process.cwd(), 'logs', 'errors.log');
   try {
@@ -531,6 +601,36 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
       queue.clearQueue(chatJid);
       return queue.killAgent(chatJid);
     },
+    onGetStatus: () => {
+      const status = queue.getStatus();
+      const uptimeMs = Date.now() - startTime;
+      const uptimeMin = Math.floor(uptimeMs / 60000);
+      const uptimeHr = Math.floor(uptimeMin / 60);
+      const uptime =
+        uptimeHr > 0 ? `${uptimeHr}h ${uptimeMin % 60}m` : `${uptimeMin}m`;
+
+      const lines = [
+        `<b>GhostClaw status</b>`,
+        `Uptime: ${uptime}`,
+        `Active agents: ${status.active}`,
+        `Waiting groups: ${status.waiting}`,
+      ];
+
+      if (status.groups.length > 0) {
+        lines.push('');
+        for (const g of status.groups) {
+          const group = registeredGroups[g.jid];
+          const name = escapeXml(group?.name || g.jid);
+          const parts: string[] = [];
+          if (g.active) parts.push('running');
+          if (g.queuedTasks > 0) parts.push(`${g.queuedTasks} task(s) queued`);
+          if (g.queuedMessages) parts.push('messages queued');
+          lines.push(`• ${name}: ${parts.join(', ')}`);
+        }
+      }
+
+      return lines.join('\n');
+    },
   };
 
   if (TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN) {
@@ -564,8 +664,13 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
     registeredGroups: () => registeredGroups,
     getSessions: () => sessions,
     queue,
-    onProcess: (groupJid, proc, containerName, groupFolder) =>
-      queue.registerProcess(groupJid, proc, containerName, groupFolder),
+    onProcess: (groupJid, proc, containerName, groupFolder) => {
+      queue.registerProcess(groupJid, proc, containerName, groupFolder);
+      if (proc.pid) {
+        trackAgentPid(proc.pid);
+        proc.once('exit', () => untrackAgentPid(proc.pid!));
+      }
+    },
     sendMessage: async (jid, rawText) => {
       const channel = findChannel(channels, jid);
       if (!channel) {