From 720c3299ba71d9b6e720bd77db33fdfc7d91ef06 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Neil <4138956+nwparker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2026 22:31:59 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix(ssh): require a host death certificate before recreating
 a pane, and unstick expired leases (#18013)
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* fix(ssh): match an expired lease on where its leaf lives now, not its frozen tab

A lease freezes tabId at write time, but detachTerminalPaneToTab moves a live
pane, so the stored tab is the one the pane LEFT. getRecentExpiredSshLease
required lease.tabId === tabId, which is wrong in both directions: a viewer on a
stale mirror matched under the abandoned coordinates (and resolvePersistedStable
PaneOwner then reads an empty layout for that tab, so adoptStablePane is skipped
entirely and a fresh shell is spawned over a possibly-live one, binding the same
leaf in two tabs), while a viewer using the pane's real coordinates matched
nothing and got terminal_not_recoverable.

Resolve the leaf's current tab the way restoreReattachedPtyRuntime already does
and compare against that, falling back to the frozen tabId only when nothing can
say where the leaf lives. Both workspace partitions are read because SSH spawns
bind into ssh:<target> while reattach binds into local.

* fix(ssh): let a proven reattach take an expired lease back to attached

#17965 authorized reattach from `expired` but the state machine refused the
transition back, so a lease that reattached and proved itself alive stayed
`expired` forever. That silently exempted a demonstrably running remote shell
from `ssh:reset` (skips `expired`), from the SSH_TERMINATE_RECONNECT_REQUIRED
ownership fence in `ssh:terminateSessions` (marks it not-owned), and from the
quit-time `detached` sweep, and made it permanently ineligible to win
supersession so its own successors never retired their predecessors.

Only the id-qualified caller carries per-pty proof: markSshRemotePtyLeases
AttachedAsync is fed the relay's `attachedLeaseIds`, so an unqualified bulk mark
over a whole target still cannot revive `expired`. `terminated` stays absorbing.
Re-entering `attached` drops supersededBy/relayIdRecycled, since route
retirement belongs to the shell that lost the pane and this one just proved it
is not that shell — the same invariant upsertSshRemotePtyLease enforces.

* fix(ssh): make the pane-recovery liveness gate refuse without positive evidence of life

The gate refused only `live` and `unverifiable` and passed on `null` — but the
register is an in-memory Map, so `null` is equally what a fresh app start, a
never-asked host and a certified death look like. Absence of evidence was
reading as authorization to spawn a shell over a possibly-live remote process:
`!pty.connected` is cleared for every PTY a dropped relay owned, and `expired`
only ever says the CLIENT lost its route.

- `exited` is now RETAINED rather than deleted, so the register is three-valued
  in the map as well as in the type. Its one writer is a host-delivered exit
  frame — an exit with a real code, or an explicit `hostExitConfirmed` — which
  records the certificate instead of merely dropping the doubt.
- `recoverTerminalPane` refuses on `live` and `unverifiable`, and deliberately
  does NOT demand a positive `exited`. The only answer that ever reaches this
  gate is a reachable relay reporting no such id, and that is a union: pty.attach
  throws not-found for an unknown id with no liveness check, and a relay restart
  makes every previously minted id unknown (ids carry a per-start
  `ptyIdMintEpoch`). No writer of `exited` co-occurs with a reattachable
  `expired` lease either — a host-delivered exit frame tombstones the lease
  `terminated` — so requiring one would close the gate permanently.
- `handlePtyReattachFailure`'s not-found branch publishes `code: -1` to the
  renderer and does not call `runtime.onPtyExit`. The relay's not-found answer is
  not a death certificate, and #17963's ratchet on the same branch pins that.
- The inventory's `observed === false` hunk keeps dropping doubt rather than
  asserting a death: `pty.listProcesses` returns the relay's CURRENT session map,
  so a restarted relay omits every previously minted id whether or not those
  shells died — the same union, one hop away.

A live or unprovable pane refuses; a disowned one still recovers. No wire change.

The gate's ratchets live in terminal-pane-recovery-liveness-gate.test.ts:
config/vitest.config.ts — the config CI runs — matches only `*.test.ts`, so cases
placed under orca-runtime-tests/*.spec.ts would never execute.

* fix(ssh): gate paired-viewer pane recovery on the narrowed session-gone predicate

isSshSessionGoneError landed on the IPC transport, which never calls
terminal.recoverPane. The one caller that does — recoverExpiredHostPane in the
paired-viewer transport — still triggered on a bare SSH_SESSION_EXPIRED
substring, so the identity-mismatch reply (the relay found a LIVE PTY under that
id owned by another pane, which is evidence of presence) still asked the HUB to
replace the pane, putting a second agent on one transcript. Main already refuses
the respawn on that same reply; this makes the two agree.

A pane whose shell genuinely died is unaffected: plain SSH_SESSION_EXPIRED still
matches. The mismatch reply now surfaces as an error instead of a respawn.

* test(persistence): update the reattach ratchet for expired-lease reclaim

markSshRemotePtyLeasesAttachedAsync is id-qualified, so a named pty that
proved itself alive now returns to attached instead of staying expired.
---
 .../persistence-async-write-syscalls.test.ts  |   4 +-
 ...istence-ssh-lease-reattach-reclaim.test.ts |  83 ++++++++++++
 .../ssh-pty-lease-operations.ts               |  21 ++-
 ...-runtime-mark-pty-liveness-unverifiable.ts |  16 ++-
 src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-on-pty-exit.ts  |   5 +-
 ...le-headless-mobile-session-browser-tabs.ts |  54 +++++++-
 ...ktree-records-with-controller-inventory.ts |   4 +
 .../orca-runtime-resolve-terminal-pane.ts     |  11 +-
 .../terminal-handles-part-02.spec.ts          |  84 +++++++++++-
 .../terminal-handles.spec.ts                  |  13 +-
 .../pty-inventory-liveness-verdict.test.ts    |  21 ++-
 ...rminal-pane-recovery-liveness-gate.test.ts | 128 ++++++++++++++++++
 .../ssh-relay-orphan-abandon-paths.test.ts    |  18 ++-
 src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-session.ts             |   6 +
 ...ty-transport-expired-pane-recovery.test.ts |  39 ++++++
 .../remote-runtime-pty-transport.ts           |  10 +-
 16 files changed, 483 insertions(+), 34 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 src/main/persistence-ssh-lease-reattach-reclaim.test.ts
 create mode 100644 src/main/runtime/terminal-pane-recovery-liveness-gate.test.ts

diff --git a/src/main/persistence-async-write-syscalls.test.ts b/src/main/persistence-async-write-syscalls.test.ts
index 3a4c1f11e87..282dc1e2988 100644
--- a/src/main/persistence-async-write-syscalls.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/persistence-async-write-syscalls.test.ts
@@ -821,7 +821,9 @@ describe('async persistence write path avoids synchronous fs syscalls', () => {
     expect(persisted.sshRemotePtyLeases).toEqual(
       expect.arrayContaining([
         expect.objectContaining({ ptyId: 'pty-1', state: 'attached' }),
-        expect.objectContaining({ ptyId: 'pty-2', state: 'expired' }),
+        // An id-qualified reattach named this pty and succeeded, which is the one thing that can
+        // settle what `expired` meant: the client had lost its route, not that the shell died.
+        expect.objectContaining({ ptyId: 'pty-2', state: 'attached' }),
         expect.objectContaining({ ptyId: 'pty-3', state: 'detached' }),
         expect.objectContaining({ ptyId: 'pty-4', state: 'terminated' })
       ])
diff --git a/src/main/persistence-ssh-lease-reattach-reclaim.test.ts b/src/main/persistence-ssh-lease-reattach-reclaim.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9d6c74f710e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/persistence-ssh-lease-reattach-reclaim.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import { createStore, testState } from './persistence-test-harness'
+import { sshRemotePtyLeaseAllowsReattach } from '../shared/ssh-types'
+
+vi.mock('electron', () => ({
+  app: { getPath: () => testState.dir },
+  safeStorage: { isEncryptionAvailable: () => false }
+}))
+
+vi.mock('./telemetry/client', () => ({ track: vi.fn() }))
+vi.mock('./telemetry/cohort-classifier', () => ({ getCohortAtEmit: () => ({}) }))
+
+/**
+ * `expired` records that the CLIENT lost its route, so a reattach that named the pty and succeeded
+ * is the only evidence that can settle which of "orphan" or "corpse" it was. Without the edge back
+ * to `attached`, a lease that proved itself alive stayed `expired` for good and every sweep keyed
+ * on that state — `ssh:reset`, `ssh:terminateSessions`, the quit-time `detached` mark, supersession
+ * — silently skipped a running remote shell.
+ */
+describe('ssh remote pty lease reclaim after a proven reattach', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    testState.dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'orca-test-'))
+  })
+  afterEach(() => {
+    rmSync(testState.dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+  })
+
+  it('reclaims an expired lease that the relay reattached, clearing its route-retirement marks', async () => {
+    const store = await createStore()
+    store.upsertSshRemotePtyLease({ targetId: 'ssh-1', ptyId: 'pty-1', state: 'attached' })
+    store.markSshRemotePtyLease('ssh-1', 'pty-1', 'expired')
+    // A predecessor mark left over from a supersession this lease has now outlived.
+    store.upsertSshRemotePtyLease({
+      targetId: 'ssh-1',
+      ptyId: 'pty-1',
+      state: 'expired',
+      supersededBy: 'pty-2'
+    })
+
+    await store.markSshRemotePtyLeasesAttachedAsync('ssh-1', ['pty-1'])
+
+    const [lease] = store.getSshRemotePtyLeases('ssh-1')
+    expect(lease).toMatchObject({ ptyId: 'pty-1', state: 'attached' })
+    expect(lease).not.toHaveProperty('supersededBy')
+    expect(lease).not.toHaveProperty('relayIdRecycled')
+    expect(sshRemotePtyLeaseAllowsReattach(lease)).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('leaves a terminated lease absorbing even when the id appears in a reattach batch', async () => {
+    const store = await createStore()
+    store.upsertSshRemotePtyLease({ targetId: 'ssh-1', ptyId: 'pty-1', state: 'attached' })
+    store.markSshRemotePtyLease('ssh-1', 'pty-1', 'terminated')
+
+    await store.markSshRemotePtyLeasesAttachedAsync('ssh-1', ['pty-1'])
+
+    expect(store.getSshRemotePtyLeases('ssh-1')[0]).toMatchObject({ state: 'terminated' })
+  })
+
+  it('does not revive an expired lease from an unqualified bulk attach', async () => {
+    const store = await createStore()
+    store.upsertSshRemotePtyLease({ targetId: 'ssh-1', ptyId: 'pty-1', state: 'attached' })
+    store.markSshRemotePtyLease('ssh-1', 'pty-1', 'expired')
+
+    store.markSshRemotePtyLeases('ssh-1', 'attached')
+
+    // Only the id-qualified caller carries per-pty proof; a target-wide mark does not.
+    expect(store.getSshRemotePtyLeases('ssh-1')[0]).toMatchObject({ state: 'expired' })
+  })
+
+  it('lets a reclaimed lease be swept as detached at quit', async () => {
+    const store = await createStore()
+    store.upsertSshRemotePtyLease({ targetId: 'ssh-1', ptyId: 'pty-1', state: 'attached' })
+    store.markSshRemotePtyLease('ssh-1', 'pty-1', 'expired')
+    await store.markSshRemotePtyLeasesAttachedAsync('ssh-1', ['pty-1'])
+
+    store.markSshRemotePtyLeases('ssh-1', 'detached')
+
+    expect(store.getSshRemotePtyLeases('ssh-1')[0]).toMatchObject({ state: 'detached' })
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/persistence/leasing-ssh-ptys/ssh-pty-lease-operations.ts b/src/main/persistence/leasing-ssh-ptys/ssh-pty-lease-operations.ts
index 70760df71f4..46db8c4f0c7 100644
--- a/src/main/persistence/leasing-ssh-ptys/ssh-pty-lease-operations.ts
+++ b/src/main/persistence/leasing-ssh-ptys/ssh-pty-lease-operations.ts
@@ -189,13 +189,25 @@ function updateSshRemotePtyLeaseStates(
     if (lease.targetId !== targetId || (ptyIds && !ptyIds.has(lease.ptyId))) {
       continue
     }
-    if (state === 'attached' && (lease.state === 'terminated' || lease.state === 'expired')) {
+    if (state === 'attached' && lease.state === 'terminated') {
+      continue
+    }
+    // `expired` says the CLIENT lost its route, never that the shell died - and a reattach that
+    // named this exact pty and succeeded is the one thing that can settle which it was. Without
+    // this edge a lease that proved itself alive stayed `expired` for good, which silently exempted
+    // a running remote shell from `ssh:reset`, from the SSH_TERMINATE_RECONNECT_REQUIRED fence in
+    // `ssh:terminateSessions`, and from the quit-time `detached` sweep, and left it unable to win
+    // supersession so its own successors never retired their predecessors.
+    // Only the id-qualified caller (`markSshRemotePtyLeasesAttachedAsync`, fed by the relay's
+    // `attachedLeaseIds`) carries that proof; a bulk mark over a whole target does not.
+    if (state === 'attached' && lease.state === 'expired' && !ptyIds) {
       continue
     }
     if (state === 'detached' && lease.state !== 'attached') {
       continue
     }
     if (lease.state !== state) {
+      const reclaimed = state === 'attached' && lease.state === 'expired'
       lease.state = state
       lease.updatedAt = now
       if (state === 'attached') {
@@ -203,6 +215,13 @@ function updateSshRemotePtyLeaseStates(
       } else if (state === 'detached') {
         lease.lastDetachedAt = now
       }
+      if (reclaimed) {
+        // Route retirement belongs to the shell that lost the pane. This lease just proved it is
+        // that shell, so `attached` may never carry a supersession mark - the same invariant
+        // `upsertSshRemotePtyLease` enforces when an id is claimed live again.
+        delete lease.supersededBy
+        delete lease.relayIdRecycled
+      }
       changed = true
     }
     if (shouldClearBindings) {
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-mark-pty-liveness-unverifiable.ts b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-mark-pty-liveness-unverifiable.ts
index 50fae68e6da..548c2e4a0bc 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-mark-pty-liveness-unverifiable.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-mark-pty-liveness-unverifiable.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,13 @@ export class OrcaRuntimeWithMarkPtyLivenessUnverifiable extends OrcaRuntimeWithO
     return this.stopRequestedPtyIds.has(ptyId)
   }
 
-  /** Null when nothing has been observed either way, so callers keep their own default. */
+  /**
+   * Null when this register holds no defensible claim — a never-asked host, a fresh app start, or
+   * an absence observation too weak to name (a relay that answered but does not know the id: see
+   * the inventory sweep and handlePtyReattachFailure). It is NOT a death certificate, so a caller
+   * authorizing a kill must fail closed on it; a caller that only has this evidence to work with,
+   * like terminal.recoverPane, refuses on the positive verdicts instead.
+   */
   getPtyLivenessVerdict(ptyId: string): PtyLivenessVerdict | null {
     return this.ptyLivenessVerdictByPtyId.get(ptyId)?.verdict ?? null
   }
@@ -92,11 +98,9 @@ export class OrcaRuntimeWithMarkPtyLivenessUnverifiable extends OrcaRuntimeWithO
   }
 
   protected rememberPtyLivenessVerdict(ptyId: string, verdict: PtyLivenessVerdict): void {
-    if (verdict.status === 'exited') {
-      // An earned death certificate ends the question; nothing left to remember.
-      this.ptyLivenessVerdictByPtyId.delete(ptyId)
-      return
-    }
+    // An earned death certificate is KEPT, not dropped, so the register is three-valued on disk as
+    // well as in the type. Its only writer is a host-delivered exit frame; nothing weaker may
+    // reach it (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md).
     this.ptyLivenessVerdictByPtyId.delete(ptyId)
     this.ptyLivenessObservationSequence += 1
     this.ptyLivenessVerdictByPtyId.set(ptyId, {
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-on-pty-exit.ts b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-on-pty-exit.ts
index 07f8d4fbbd4..58fc9d6a1e7 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-on-pty-exit.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-on-pty-exit.ts
@@ -202,7 +202,10 @@ export class OrcaRuntimeWithOnPtyExit extends OrcaRuntimeWithOnClientDisconnecte
       pty.lastExitCode = exitCode
       pty.lastExitCause = exitCause
       if (exitCode >= 0 || options.hostExitConfirmed === true) {
-        this.forgetPtyLivenessVerdict(ptyId)
+        // Record the certificate rather than merely dropping the doubt: a reader that has to
+        // authorize a respawn cannot distinguish "the host reported this process gone" from "this
+        // runtime has never asked" if both are absence.
+        this.rememberPtyLivenessVerdict(ptyId, { status: 'exited' })
       }
       // Why: the exited process's live frames say nothing about a replacement.
       // A same-id respawn makes the leaf writable again before any new title,
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-reconcile-headless-mobile-session-browser-tabs.ts b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-reconcile-headless-mobile-session-browser-tabs.ts
index f9b16f7d7ed..041cfd53257 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-reconcile-headless-mobile-session-browser-tabs.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-reconcile-headless-mobile-session-browser-tabs.ts
@@ -9,9 +9,12 @@ import type {
 import { headlessBrowserTabsUnchanged } from './mobile-session-browser-equality'
 import { appendBrowserTabOrder } from './mobile-session-browser-group-projection'
 import { parseAppSshPtyId, toComparableRelaySshPtyId } from '../../shared/ssh-pty-id'
+import { toSshExecutionHostId } from '../../shared/execution-host'
+import { parsePaneKey } from '../../shared/stable-pane-id'
 import type { WorkspaceSessionState } from '../../shared/workspace-session-state-types'
 import type { RuntimeStore } from './runtime-store-contract'
 import { SSH_PANE_RECOVERY_GRACE_MS } from './orca-runtime-core'
+import { findTerminalTabIdForLeaf } from './workspace-session-terminal-membership-authority'
 
 export class OrcaRuntimeWithReconcileHeadlessMobileSessionBrowserTabs extends OrcaRuntimeWithHydrateHeadlessMobileSessionTabsFromWorkspaceSession {
   // Why: keep an existing snapshot's browser tabs in sync with the live bridge
@@ -92,6 +95,38 @@ export class OrcaRuntimeWithReconcileHeadlessMobileSessionBrowserTabs extends Or
     })
   }
 
+  /**
+   * The tab this leaf sits in NOW. Only the leaf half of a pane key is remint-stable: a lease
+   * freezes its tabId at write time and `detachTerminalPaneToTab` moves a live pane, so the stored
+   * tabId names the tab the pane LEFT. Matching a lease on it is wrong in both directions - it
+   * accepts the coordinates the pane abandoned (recovering a pane that already moved on, which
+   * binds one leaf in two tabs and orphans the PTY under the new one) and refuses the correct ones.
+   * Same resolution `restoreReattachedPtyRuntime` already does for its own reattach fence.
+   *
+   * Both workspace partitions are read because SSH spawns bind panes into `ssh:<target>` while
+   * reattach binds into `local`; consulting one would report "nowhere" for a pane the other holds.
+   */
+  protected findCurrentTerminalTabIdForLeaf(targetId: string, leafId: string): string | undefined {
+    for (const leaf of this.leaves.values()) {
+      if (leaf.leafId === leafId) {
+        return leaf.tabId
+      }
+    }
+    for (const pty of this.ptysById.values()) {
+      const parsed = parsePaneKey(pty.paneKey ?? '')
+      if (parsed?.leafId === leafId) {
+        return parsed.tabId
+      }
+    }
+    return (
+      findTerminalTabIdForLeaf(this.store?.getWorkspaceSession?.(), leafId) ??
+      findTerminalTabIdForLeaf(
+        this.store?.getWorkspaceSession?.(toSshExecutionHostId(targetId)),
+        leafId
+      )
+    )
+  }
+
   protected getRecentExpiredSshLease(
     worktreeId: string,
     tabId: string,
@@ -100,11 +135,17 @@ export class OrcaRuntimeWithReconcileHeadlessMobileSessionBrowserTabs extends Or
   ): ReturnType<NonNullable<RuntimeStore['getSshRemotePtyLeases']>>[number] | null {
     const now = Date.now()
     return (
-      this.store?.getSshRemotePtyLeases?.().find(
-        (lease) =>
-          lease.state === 'expired' &&
-          lease.worktreeId === worktreeId &&
-          lease.tabId === tabId &&
+      this.store?.getSshRemotePtyLeases?.().find((lease) => {
+        if (lease.state !== 'expired' || lease.worktreeId !== worktreeId) {
+          return false
+        }
+        // Leaf is the pane's identity; the frozen tabId is only trustworthy while nothing else can
+        // say where the leaf actually lives.
+        const currentTabId = lease.leafId
+          ? this.findCurrentTerminalTabIdForLeaf(lease.targetId, lease.leafId)
+          : undefined
+        return (
+          (currentTabId ?? lease.tabId) === tabId &&
           // Leases store RELAY form (`toStoredPtyId` -> `toRelaySshPtyId`); the runtime hands us
           // the APP form (`ssh:<target>@@pty-3`). A raw `===` therefore never held for an SSH
           // pane, which is what kept this reader's only ptyId-qualified caller inert.
@@ -113,7 +154,8 @@ export class OrcaRuntimeWithReconcileHeadlessMobileSessionBrowserTabs extends Or
           (leafId === undefined || lease.leafId === undefined || lease.leafId === leafId) &&
           lease.updatedAt <= now &&
           now - lease.updatedAt <= SSH_PANE_RECOVERY_GRACE_MS
-      ) ?? null
+        )
+      }) ?? null
     )
   }
 
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-refresh-pty-worktree-records-with-controller-inventory.ts b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-refresh-pty-worktree-records-with-controller-inventory.ts
index 3e3114d4b7a..5b2dcd71f19 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-refresh-pty-worktree-records-with-controller-inventory.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-refresh-pty-worktree-records-with-controller-inventory.ts
@@ -287,6 +287,10 @@ export class OrcaRuntimeWithRefreshPtyWorktreeRecordsWithControllerInventory ext
         // clears `connected` for every one of its PTYs at once. Only `false` here
         // is an observed absence; `null` means no provider could be asked.
         if (observed === false) {
+          // Drops the doubt without asserting a death: `pty.listProcesses` returns the relay's
+          // CURRENT session map, so a restarted relay omits every id the previous one minted
+          // whether or not those shells died. That is the same union as pty.attach's not-found,
+          // and neither earns `exited` (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md).
           this.forgetPtyLivenessVerdict(pty.ptyId)
         } else if (observed === null && this.isSshOwnedPtyId(pty.ptyId)) {
           this.markPtyLivenessUnverifiable(pty.ptyId, NO_OBSERVING_PROVIDER_REASON)
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-resolve-terminal-pane.ts b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-resolve-terminal-pane.ts
index 6ac8fb54975..6d0dd931b77 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-resolve-terminal-pane.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-resolve-terminal-pane.ts
@@ -101,8 +101,15 @@ export class OrcaRuntimeWithResolveTerminalPane extends OrcaRuntimeWithGetTermin
     // above). `!pty.connected` is the same inference: one dropped relay clears it for every PTY it
     // owned. So the pair can hold over a remote shell that is still running, and createTerminal
     // would rebind the pane away from it, leaving the original orphaned and its agent duplicated.
-    // The runtime already grades this: a host-confirmed exit leaves no verdict, while lost contact
-    // is recorded `unverifiable` (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md, shared/pty-liveness-verdict.ts).
+    // The runtime grades that: `live` is the host proving the shell survived, `unverifiable` is the
+    // client losing contact, and both refuse. What this gate must NOT require is a positive
+    // `exited`: the only answer that ever reaches it is a reachable relay reporting it has no such
+    // id, and that is a union — pty.attach throws not-found for an unknown id with no liveness
+    // check, and a relay restart makes every previously minted id unknown. No writer of
+    // `exited` co-occurs with a reattachable `expired` lease either, since a host-delivered exit
+    // frame tombstones the lease `terminated`. Demanding one would close this gate permanently, and
+    // an unrecoverable pane is its own failure (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md,
+    // shared/pty-liveness-verdict.ts).
     const liveness = this.getPtyLivenessVerdict(pty.ptyId)
     if (liveness?.status === 'unverifiable' || liveness?.status === 'live') {
       throw new Error('terminal_not_recoverable')
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-tests/terminal-handles-part-02.spec.ts b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-tests/terminal-handles-part-02.spec.ts
index 1edcf81c414..438ec34118e 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-tests/terminal-handles-part-02.spec.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-tests/terminal-handles-part-02.spec.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
-import { TEST_WINDOW_ID, TEST_WORKTREE_ID, createRuntime } from '../orca-runtime-test-fixtures.spec'
-import '../orca-runtime-test-mocks.spec'
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import {
+  HEADLESS_LEAF_ID,
+  TEST_WINDOW_ID,
+  TEST_WORKTREE_ID,
+  createRuntime,
+  createRuntimeWithSshLease
+} from '../orca-runtime-test-fixtures.spec'
+import { makePaneKey } from '../orca-runtime-test-mocks.spec'
 
 describe('OrcaRuntimeService', () => {
   it('invalidates a re-keyed leaf-unique handle so in-flight waiters fail fast', async () => {
@@ -143,4 +149,76 @@ describe('OrcaRuntimeService', () => {
     await waiting
     expect(settled).toBe('rejected')
   })
+  it('recovers a moved SSH pane through the tab it now sits in, not the one its lease froze', async () => {
+    // `detachTerminalPaneToTab` moves a live pane and the lease keeps naming the tab it LEFT.
+    // Matching on that frozen tabId refused the pane's real coordinates outright, so a moved pane
+    // could only ever be "recovered" through coordinates it had already abandoned.
+    const leaseTabId = 'tab-before-move'
+    const currentTabId = 'tab-after-move'
+    const appPtyId = 'ssh:ssh-target@@pty-8'
+    const runtime = createRuntimeWithSshLease(appPtyId, leaseTabId)
+    const paneKey = makePaneKey(currentTabId, HEADLESS_LEAF_ID)
+    runtime.registerPty(appPtyId, TEST_WORKTREE_ID, 'ssh-target', {
+      tabId: currentTabId,
+      leafId: HEADLESS_LEAF_ID
+    })
+    const handle = runtime.resolveTerminalPane(paneKey, TEST_WORKTREE_ID).handle
+    runtime.onPtyExit(appPtyId, -1, undefined, { hostExitConfirmed: true })
+    const createTerminal = vi.spyOn(runtime, 'createTerminal').mockResolvedValue({
+      handle: 'term-replacement',
+      tabId: currentTabId,
+      paneKey,
+      ptyId: 'pty-replacement',
+      worktreeId: TEST_WORKTREE_ID,
+      title: null,
+      surface: 'background'
+    })
+
+    await expect(
+      runtime.recoverTerminalPane(paneKey, TEST_WORKTREE_ID, handle)
+    ).resolves.toMatchObject({ handle: 'term-replacement' })
+    expect(createTerminal).toHaveBeenCalledWith(`id:${TEST_WORKTREE_ID}`, {
+      tabId: currentTabId,
+      leafId: HEADLESS_LEAF_ID,
+      focus: false
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('refuses a moved SSH pane addressed through the tab it left', async () => {
+    // The other half: a viewer on a stale mirror asks under the OLD tab, whose layout no longer
+    // holds this leaf. Accepting it binds one leaf in two tabs and leaves the PTY under the current
+    // tab orphaned with its agent still running. The handle CAS happens to refuse first here, so
+    // the lease resolver is asserted directly - it is the independent second refusal.
+    const leaseTabId = 'tab-stale-mirror'
+    const currentTabId = 'tab-moved-to'
+    const appPtyId = 'ssh:ssh-target@@pty-9'
+    const runtime = createRuntimeWithSshLease(appPtyId, leaseTabId)
+    const stalePaneKey = makePaneKey(leaseTabId, HEADLESS_LEAF_ID)
+    runtime.registerPty(appPtyId, TEST_WORKTREE_ID, 'ssh-target', {
+      tabId: leaseTabId,
+      leafId: HEADLESS_LEAF_ID
+    })
+    const staleHandle = runtime.resolveTerminalPane(stalePaneKey, TEST_WORKTREE_ID).handle
+    // The move: same leaf, same PTY, new tab.
+    runtime.registerPty(appPtyId, TEST_WORKTREE_ID, 'ssh-target', {
+      tabId: currentTabId,
+      leafId: HEADLESS_LEAF_ID
+    })
+    runtime.onPtyExit(appPtyId, -1, undefined, { hostExitConfirmed: true })
+    const createTerminal = vi.spyOn(runtime, 'createTerminal')
+
+    await expect(
+      runtime.recoverTerminalPane(stalePaneKey, TEST_WORKTREE_ID, staleHandle)
+    ).rejects.toThrow(/terminal_not_recoverable|terminal_not_found/)
+    const leases = runtime as unknown as {
+      getRecentExpiredSshLease: (worktreeId: string, tabId: string, leafId?: string) => unknown
+    }
+    expect(
+      leases.getRecentExpiredSshLease(TEST_WORKTREE_ID, leaseTabId, HEADLESS_LEAF_ID)
+    ).toBeNull()
+    expect(
+      leases.getRecentExpiredSshLease(TEST_WORKTREE_ID, currentTabId, HEADLESS_LEAF_ID)
+    ).not.toBeNull()
+    expect(createTerminal).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
 })
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-tests/terminal-handles.spec.ts b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-tests/terminal-handles.spec.ts
index 359abb07f63..4ae933afef4 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-tests/terminal-handles.spec.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-tests/terminal-handles.spec.ts
@@ -624,11 +624,14 @@ describe('OrcaRuntimeService', () => {
   })
 
   it('does not recreate a shell for an expired lease whose PTY liveness is unverifiable', async () => {
-    // The production sequence this guards: a relay reattach fails, so ssh-relay-session marks the
-    // lease 'expired' AND sends a synthetic pty:exit code -1. Neither observed the process — every
-    // writer of 'expired' documents it as "the client lost its route", and code -1 with no host
-    // confirmation is recorded 'unverifiable'. Spawning a replacement there rebinds the pane away
-    // from a remote shell still running on the host and duplicates its agent.
+    // The production sequence this guards: the relay delivers an exit frame carrying code -1 for an
+    // SSH pane with no host confirmation (`preservesAbnormalSshSurface`), while the pane's lease is
+    // already 'expired'. Neither observed the process — every writer of 'expired' documents it as
+    // "the client lost its route", and code -1 with no host confirmation is recorded
+    // 'unverifiable'. Spawning a replacement there rebinds the pane away from a remote shell still
+    // running on the host and duplicates its agent. This is the `unverifiable` arm only; the
+    // relay's own absence branch (`handlePtyReattachFailure`) reaches the runtime with no verdict
+    // at all, and is covered by the relay-disowned case in terminal-handles-part-02.spec.ts.
     const tabId = 'tab-unverifiable'
     const ptyId = 'ssh:ssh-target@@pty-3'
     const runtime = createRuntimeWithSshLease(ptyId, tabId)
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/pty-inventory-liveness-verdict.test.ts b/src/main/runtime/pty-inventory-liveness-verdict.test.ts
index 38e3dda20eb..e5c31f66afa 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/pty-inventory-liveness-verdict.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/pty-inventory-liveness-verdict.test.ts
@@ -89,7 +89,9 @@ describe('inventory sweep liveness verdicts', () => {
 
     runtime.onPtyExit(REMOTE_PTY_ID, -1, undefined, { hostExitConfirmed: true })
 
-    expect(runtime.getPtyLivenessVerdict(REMOTE_PTY_ID)).toBeNull()
+    // A host-delivered exit frame is the one signal that observes the process, so it both clears
+    // the lost-contact doubt and is retained as the certificate itself.
+    expect(runtime.getPtyLivenessVerdict(REMOTE_PTY_ID)).toEqual({ status: 'exited' })
   })
 
   it('records lost contact when no provider can answer for the PTY', async () => {
@@ -112,6 +114,23 @@ describe('inventory sweep liveness verdicts', () => {
     expect(runtime.getPtyLivenessVerdict(REMOTE_PTY_ID)).toBeNull()
   })
 
+  it('records no death certificate when a listing of the owning host omits the PTY', async () => {
+    // The host answered and named a sibling on the same relay, so this is the strongest absence the
+    // inventory can report — and it is still not a certificate. `pty.listProcesses` returns the
+    // relay's CURRENT session map, so a relay that restarted omits every id the previous one minted
+    // (ids are `pty2:<ptyIdMintEpoch>:<n>` with a fresh epoch per relay start) whether or not those
+    // shells ever died. Recording `exited` here would only relocate the fabrication that
+    // handlePtyReattachFailure was corrected for (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md).
+    const runtime = makeRuntimeMissingFromInventory(
+      () => false,
+      vi.fn(async () => [{ id: 'ssh:conn-1@@relay-sibling', worktreeId: WORKTREE_ID }])
+    )
+
+    await runtime.listTerminals(`id:${WORKTREE_ID}`)
+
+    expect(runtime.getPtyLivenessVerdict(REMOTE_PTY_ID)).toBeNull()
+  })
+
   it('clears lost-contact doubt when reconnect inventory observes the PTY live', async () => {
     let reconnected = false
     const runtime = makeRuntimeMissingFromInventory(
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/terminal-pane-recovery-liveness-gate.test.ts b/src/main/runtime/terminal-pane-recovery-liveness-gate.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..441d04a960b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/runtime/terminal-pane-recovery-liveness-gate.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import {
+  HEADLESS_LEAF_ID,
+  TEST_WORKTREE_ID,
+  createRuntimeWithSshLease
+} from './orca-runtime-test-fixtures.spec'
+import { makePaneKey } from './orca-runtime-test-mocks.spec'
+
+// What `terminal.recoverPane` may and may not treat as authority to spawn a replacement shell over
+// a remote pane. Lives in a `.test.ts` rather than beside the other recoverPane cases in
+// orca-runtime-tests/*.spec.ts because config/vitest.config.ts — the config CI runs — includes only
+// `*.test.ts`, so a ratchet placed there would never execute.
+
+describe('terminal.recoverPane liveness gate', () => {
+  it('recreates a shell for an SSH pane the relay disowned, the only evidence this gate ever gets', async () => {
+    // The whole production route into recoverPane, end to end. A reachable relay answered for this
+    // exact id and did not name it — via pty.attach in handlePtyReattachFailure, or the identical
+    // answer in the inventory listing below — and that answer is a union: pty.attach throws
+    // not-found for an unknown id with no liveness check, and pty.listProcesses returns only
+    // the CURRENT session map, which after a relay restart omits every previously minted id. So no
+    // `exited` certificate exists to demand here, and no writer of one co-occurs with a
+    // reattachable `expired` lease: a host-delivered exit frame tombstones the lease `terminated`
+    // instead. Requiring `exited` therefore closes this gate permanently
+    // (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md).
+    const tabId = 'tab-relay-disowned'
+    const ptyId = 'ssh:ssh-target@@pty-10'
+    const runtime = createRuntimeWithSshLease(ptyId, tabId)
+    const paneKey = makePaneKey(tabId, HEADLESS_LEAF_ID)
+    runtime.setPtyController({
+      write: () => true,
+      kill: () => true,
+      hasPty: (id: string) => id !== ptyId,
+      // A sibling on the same relay still reports, so the host itself answered this listing.
+      listProcesses: async () => [
+        { id: 'ssh:ssh-target@@pty-sibling', worktreeId: TEST_WORKTREE_ID }
+      ],
+      getForegroundProcess: async () => null
+    } as never)
+    runtime.registerPty(ptyId, TEST_WORKTREE_ID, 'ssh-target', { tabId, leafId: HEADLESS_LEAF_ID })
+    const handle = runtime.resolveTerminalPane(paneKey, TEST_WORKTREE_ID).handle
+    // The sweep is what disconnects the pane: handlePtyReattachFailure tells only the renderer and
+    // the reattach spawn path only expires the lease, so nothing else reaches the runtime record.
+    await runtime.listTerminals(`id:${TEST_WORKTREE_ID}`)
+    expect(runtime.getPtyLivenessVerdict(ptyId)).toBeNull()
+    const createTerminal = vi.spyOn(runtime, 'createTerminal').mockResolvedValue({
+      handle: 'term-replacement',
+      tabId,
+      paneKey,
+      ptyId: 'pty-replacement',
+      worktreeId: TEST_WORKTREE_ID,
+      title: null,
+      surface: 'background'
+    })
+
+    await expect(
+      runtime.recoverTerminalPane(paneKey, TEST_WORKTREE_ID, handle)
+    ).resolves.toMatchObject({ handle: 'term-replacement' })
+    expect(createTerminal).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+  })
+
+  it('refuses to recreate a shell for an expired lease the host proved is still live', async () => {
+    // The production writer: reattach SUCCEEDED and then persistPtyBinding refused the surface, so
+    // ssh-relay-session records `live` before writing `expired`. `expired` alone would read as
+    // "reattach gave up", and spawning here would put a second agent on a transcript the host just
+    // proved is still running.
+    const tabId = 'tab-proved-live'
+    const ptyId = 'ssh:ssh-target@@pty-11'
+    const runtime = createRuntimeWithSshLease(ptyId, tabId)
+    const paneKey = makePaneKey(tabId, HEADLESS_LEAF_ID)
+    runtime.registerPty(ptyId, TEST_WORKTREE_ID, 'ssh-target', { tabId, leafId: HEADLESS_LEAF_ID })
+    const handle = runtime.resolveTerminalPane(paneKey, TEST_WORKTREE_ID).handle
+    runtime.onPtyExit(ptyId, -1)
+    runtime.markPtyLivenessLive(ptyId)
+    const createTerminal = vi.spyOn(runtime, 'createTerminal')
+
+    await expect(runtime.recoverTerminalPane(paneKey, TEST_WORKTREE_ID, handle)).rejects.toThrow(
+      'terminal_not_recoverable'
+    )
+    expect(createTerminal).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('refuses to recreate a shell for an expired lease whose PTY liveness is unverifiable', async () => {
+    // The relay delivers an exit frame carrying code -1 for an SSH pane with no host confirmation
+    // (`preservesAbnormalSshSurface`) while the lease is already 'expired'. Neither observed the
+    // process, and spawning here rebinds the pane away from a shell still running on the host.
+    const tabId = 'tab-unverifiable-gate'
+    const ptyId = 'ssh:ssh-target@@pty-12'
+    const runtime = createRuntimeWithSshLease(ptyId, tabId)
+    const paneKey = makePaneKey(tabId, HEADLESS_LEAF_ID)
+    runtime.registerPty(ptyId, TEST_WORKTREE_ID, 'ssh-target', { tabId, leafId: HEADLESS_LEAF_ID })
+    const handle = runtime.resolveTerminalPane(paneKey, TEST_WORKTREE_ID).handle
+    runtime.onPtyExit(ptyId, -1)
+    expect(runtime.getPtyLivenessVerdict(ptyId)?.status).toBe('unverifiable')
+    const createTerminal = vi.spyOn(runtime, 'createTerminal')
+
+    await expect(runtime.recoverTerminalPane(paneKey, TEST_WORKTREE_ID, handle)).rejects.toThrow(
+      'terminal_not_recoverable'
+    )
+    expect(createTerminal).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('still recreates a shell for an SSH pane whose host attested the exit', async () => {
+    // The negative control on the other side: a host-delivered exit frame is a real certificate, so
+    // the pane a paired client asks about must still get a replacement.
+    const tabId = 'tab-attested-gate'
+    const ptyId = 'ssh:ssh-target@@pty-13'
+    const runtime = createRuntimeWithSshLease(ptyId, tabId)
+    const paneKey = makePaneKey(tabId, HEADLESS_LEAF_ID)
+    runtime.registerPty(ptyId, TEST_WORKTREE_ID, 'ssh-target', { tabId, leafId: HEADLESS_LEAF_ID })
+    const handle = runtime.resolveTerminalPane(paneKey, TEST_WORKTREE_ID).handle
+    runtime.onPtyExit(ptyId, -1, undefined, { hostExitConfirmed: true })
+    expect(runtime.getPtyLivenessVerdict(ptyId)?.status).toBe('exited')
+    const createTerminal = vi.spyOn(runtime, 'createTerminal').mockResolvedValue({
+      handle: 'term-replacement',
+      tabId,
+      paneKey,
+      ptyId: 'pty-replacement',
+      worktreeId: TEST_WORKTREE_ID,
+      title: null,
+      surface: 'background'
+    })
+
+    await expect(
+      runtime.recoverTerminalPane(paneKey, TEST_WORKTREE_ID, handle)
+    ).resolves.toMatchObject({ handle: 'term-replacement' })
+    expect(createTerminal).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-orphan-abandon-paths.test.ts b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-orphan-abandon-paths.test.ts
index 139e92364b0..f0a7093c61e 100644
--- a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-orphan-abandon-paths.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-orphan-abandon-paths.test.ts
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ describe('SshRelaySession abandoned remote PTYs', () => {
     deps: ReturnType<typeof createMockDeps>
     shutdown: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>
     attachForReconnect: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>
+    runtime: { onPtyExit: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>; registerPty: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn> }
   }> {
     const deps = createMockDeps()
     const shutdown = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined)
@@ -140,27 +141,30 @@ describe('SshRelaySession abandoned remote PTYs', () => {
     vi.mocked(deps.mockStore.getSshRemotePtyLeases).mockReturnValue([detachedLease()] as ReturnType<
       typeof deps.mockStore.getSshRemotePtyLeases
     >)
+    const runtime = { onPtyExit: vi.fn(), registerPty: vi.fn() }
     const session = new SshRelaySession(
       'target-1',
       deps.getMainWindow,
       deps.mockStore,
-      deps.mockPortForward
+      deps.mockPortForward,
+      runtime as never
     )
 
     await session.establish(deps.mockConn)
 
-    return { deps, shutdown, attachForReconnect }
+    return { deps, shutdown, attachForReconnect, runtime }
   }
 
   it('leaves a live shell running and reachable when reattach attempts are exhausted', async () => {
     // A transport stall proves nothing about the remote shell; the user's long-running process
     // may be untouched, so the lease must stay terminable rather than be tombstoned as expired.
-    const { deps, shutdown, attachForReconnect } = await establishWithFailingReattach(
+    const { deps, shutdown, attachForReconnect, runtime } = await establishWithFailingReattach(
       new Error('PTY reattach attempt timed out after 15000ms')
     )
 
     expect(attachForReconnect).toHaveBeenCalled()
     expect(shutdown).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(runtime.onPtyExit).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
     expect(deps.mockStore.markSshRemotePtyLease).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       'target-1',
       'pty-live',
@@ -173,12 +177,13 @@ describe('SshRelaySession abandoned remote PTYs', () => {
   it('leaves another pane live shell running when the relay reports an identity mismatch', async () => {
     // The relay answered that a *live* PTY holds this id under a different pane identity. Killing
     // it would destroy an unrelated terminal, so this path may only stop claiming the id.
-    const { deps, shutdown, attachForReconnect } = await establishWithFailingReattach(
+    const { deps, shutdown, attachForReconnect, runtime } = await establishWithFailingReattach(
       new Error('PTY "pty-live" not found (identity mismatch)')
     )
 
     expect(attachForReconnect).toHaveBeenCalled()
     expect(shutdown).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(runtime.onPtyExit).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
     expect(deps.mockStore.markSshRemotePtyLease).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       'target-1',
       'pty-live',
@@ -192,11 +197,14 @@ describe('SshRelaySession abandoned remote PTYs', () => {
     // pane — respawning leaks the old process rather than killing it — but a restarted relay
     // answers the same way for ids it never minted, so this is not an `exited` verdict
     // (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md).
-    const { deps, shutdown } = await establishWithFailingReattach(
+    const { deps, shutdown, runtime } = await establishWithFailingReattach(
       new Error('PTY "pty-live" not found')
     )
 
     expect(shutdown).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    // The runtime is where a death certificate would land (`hostExitConfirmed`), and this branch
+    // holds no evidence to write one from.
+    expect(runtime.onPtyExit).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
     // 'expired' records that reattach gave up on the id, not that the shell died; ssh:terminateSessions still reaches it.
     expect(deps.mockStore.markSshRemotePtyLease).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       'target-1',
diff --git a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-session.ts b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-session.ts
index 46a8152e0c8..bca3632b83b 100644
--- a/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-session.ts
+++ b/src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-session.ts
@@ -2900,6 +2900,12 @@ export class SshRelaySession {
     )
     clearProviderPtyState(appPtyId)
     deletePtyOwnership(appPtyId)
+    // Deliberately does NOT call runtime.onPtyExit: pty.attach answers not-found both when it
+    // verified the pid is dead and when its session map simply has no such id (no liveness check on
+    // that path at all) — which is every id after a relay restart, since ids carry a per-start
+    // `ptyIdMintEpoch`. This branch may release the id, but certifying a death from that union
+    // would orphan a live remote shell (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md). The renderer
+    // gets code -1, which every reader treats as unverified loss.
     this.store.markSshRemotePtyLease(this.targetId, ptyId, 'expired')
     const win = this.getMainWindow()
     if (win && !win.isDestroyed()) {
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/remote-runtime-pty-transport-expired-pane-recovery.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/remote-runtime-pty-transport-expired-pane-recovery.test.ts
index a7494317a24..b6f3b9802e7 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/remote-runtime-pty-transport-expired-pane-recovery.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/remote-runtime-pty-transport-expired-pane-recovery.test.ts
@@ -132,6 +132,45 @@ describe('createRemoteRuntimePtyTransport', () => {
     expect(onError).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 
+  it('does not recover a pane whose relay reply was an identity mismatch', async () => {
+    // The mismatch suffix means the relay found a LIVE PTY under that id owned by ANOTHER pane, so
+    // it is evidence of presence, not absence. This transport is the only caller of
+    // terminal.recoverPane, so a bare SSH_SESSION_EXPIRED substring test here put a second agent on
+    // one transcript even though main already refuses the respawn on the same reply.
+    const onError = vi.fn()
+    resolvedPaneHandle = 'terminal-mismatch'
+    const { createRemoteRuntimePtyTransport } = await import('./remote-runtime-pty-transport')
+    const transport = createRemoteRuntimePtyTransport('hub-env', {
+      worktreeId: 'wt-1',
+      tabId: 'web-terminal-host-tab-1',
+      leafId: 'pane:1'
+    })
+    transport.attach({
+      existingPtyId: 'remote:hub-env@@terminal-mismatch',
+      callbacks: { onError }
+    })
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(subscriptionSendBinary).toHaveBeenCalled())
+    runtimeCall.mockClear()
+
+    subscriptionCallbacks?.onResponse({
+      ok: true,
+      result: {
+        type: 'error',
+        streamId: latestSubscribePayload().streamId,
+        message: 'SSH_SESSION_EXPIRED: pty-1 SSH_PTY_IDENTITY_MISMATCH'
+      }
+    })
+
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(onError).toHaveBeenCalled())
+    expect(runtimeCall).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({ method: 'terminal.recoverPane' })
+    )
+    expect(runtimeCall).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({ method: 'terminal.create' })
+    )
+    expect(transport.getPtyId()).toBe('remote:hub-env@@terminal-mismatch')
+  })
+
   it('fails closed when an older HUB cannot recover an expired SSH pane', async () => {
     const onError = vi.fn()
     resolvedPaneHandle = 'terminal-expired'
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/remote-runtime-pty-transport.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/remote-runtime-pty-transport.ts
index b1bd7336c86..83aca477308 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/remote-runtime-pty-transport.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/remote-runtime-pty-transport.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import type {
   PtyTransportRecoveryState
 } from './pty-transport-types'
 import { createPtyOutputProcessor } from './pty-transport'
+import { isSshSessionGoneError } from './pty-connection/pty-connect-limits'
 import { RuntimeRpcCallError, unwrapRuntimeRpcResult } from '../../runtime/runtime-rpc-client'
 import {
   getRemoteRuntimePtyEnvironmentId,
@@ -120,7 +121,6 @@ type RemoteAgentSessionLaunchResult =
   | RuntimeEnsureAgentSessionResult
   | RuntimeCreateAgentSessionResult
   | { terminal: RuntimeTerminalCreate; disposition?: undefined }
-const SSH_SESSION_EXPIRED_ERROR = 'SSH_SESSION_EXPIRED'
 
 function isRemoteTerminalStaleMessage(message: string): boolean {
   return message.includes('terminal_handle_stale')
@@ -1652,8 +1652,12 @@ export function createRemoteRuntimePtyTransport(
       retireRemoteTerminalId()
       return
     }
-    if (message.includes(SSH_SESSION_EXPIRED_ERROR)) {
-      // Why: only the HUB may replace its expired SSH pane; a paired viewer must never fall back to client-local SSH.
+    if (isSshSessionGoneError(message)) {
+      // Why: only the HUB may replace its expired SSH pane; a paired viewer must never fall back to
+      // client-local SSH. The identity-mismatch suffix is excluded because it means the opposite —
+      // the relay found a LIVE PTY under that id owned by another pane — and this is the one
+      // transport that actually calls terminal.recoverPane, so a bare substring test here spawned
+      // a second agent onto one transcript.
       recoverExpiredHostPane()
       return
     }