fix(cli): make selector_not_found name the offending worktree selector

A bare repo id passed to --worktree returned a content-free `selector_not_found`
with no value and no grammar, so a caller could not tell what was wrong. Shape it
at the CLI boundary — the only layer that still knows what was typed — in the same
selector/suggestions/nextSteps shape as an unknown-flag error, and point `--from`
on `orchestration check` at `--terminal`, which edit distance cannot reach.

src/cli/args.test.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 
 import type { CommandSpec } from './args'
+import { COMMAND_SPECS } from './specs'
 import {
   REPEATED_FLAG_SEPARATOR,
   findCommandSpec,
@@ -325,6 +326,25 @@ describe('validateCommandAndFlags', () => {
     }
   })
 
+  it('points --from at --terminal on the one verb that renamed the caller flag', () => {
+    const parsed = parseArgs(['orchestration', 'check', '--from', 'term_a'])
+
+    try {
+      validateCommandAndFlags(COMMAND_SPECS, parsed)
+      throw new Error('expected validateCommandAndFlags to throw')
+    } catch (error) {
+      const data = (error as { data?: { suggestions: string[]; nextSteps: string[] } }).data
+      expect(data?.suggestions[0]).toBe('terminal')
+      expect(data?.nextSteps[0]).toContain('--terminal')
+    }
+  })
+
+  it('leaves --from alone where the command actually accepts it', () => {
+    const parsed = parseArgs(['orchestration', 'reply', '--from', 'term_a'])
+
+    expect(() => validateCommandAndFlags(COMMAND_SPECS, parsed)).not.toThrow()
+  })
+
   it('attaches did-you-mean suggestions to unknown-command errors', () => {
     const suggestSpecs: CommandSpec[] = [
       {

src/cli/command-suggestion.ts

@@ -105,10 +105,20 @@ export type FlagErrorData = {
   nextSteps: string[]
 }
 
+// Why: edit distance cannot recover a rename. `orchestration check` is the one verb
+// that identifies its caller with `--terminal` while every sibling uses `--from`, so
+// the near-miss ranking answered `--json`/`--run` and left the caller stuck (#16904).
+// A synonym only fires where the typed flag is rejected and its partner is accepted.
+const FLAG_SYNONYMS: Readonly<Record<string, string>> = { from: 'terminal' }
+
 function suggestFlags(flag: string, validFlags: string[]): string[] {
-  return rankByDistance(
+  const synonym = FLAG_SYNONYMS[flag]
+  const ranked = rankByDistance(
     validFlags.map((candidate) => ({ label: candidate, distance: levenshtein(flag, candidate) }))
   )
+  return synonym && validFlags.includes(synonym)
+    ? [synonym, ...ranked.filter((name) => name !== synonym)].slice(0, MAX_SUGGESTIONS)
+    : ranked
 }
 
 // Why: include the accepted set so agents can recover without another help call.

src/cli/format-recovery.test.ts

@@ -1,8 +1,55 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 
-import { formatCliError } from './format'
+import { formatCliError, reportCliError } from './format'
 import { RuntimeClientError, RuntimeRpcFailureError } from './runtime-client'
 
+function selectorNotFound(): RuntimeRpcFailureError {
+  return new RuntimeRpcFailureError({
+    id: 'req_selector',
+    ok: false,
+    error: { code: 'selector_not_found', message: 'selector_not_found' },
+    _meta: { runtimeId: 'runtime_local' }
+  })
+}
+
+describe('worktree selector recovery', () => {
+  it('names the offending value and the valid forms on a bare repo id', () => {
+    const output = formatCliError(selectorNotFound(), {
+      commandPath: ['orchestration', 'worker-start'],
+      worktreeSelector: 'id:github:stablyai/orca'
+    })
+
+    expect(output).toContain('No Orca workspace matched the worktree selector')
+    expect(output).toContain('id:github:stablyai/orca')
+    expect(output).toContain('Did you mean: id:github:stablyai/orca::<absolute-path>')
+    expect(output).toContain('Valid selector forms:')
+    expect(output).toContain('a bare repository id is not a worktree id')
+  })
+
+  it('carries the same recovery into the --json failure envelope', () => {
+    const log = vi.spyOn(console, 'log').mockImplementation(() => {})
+
+    reportCliError(selectorNotFound(), true, {
+      commandPath: ['terminal', 'create'],
+      worktreeSelector: 'path:/nope'
+    })
+
+    expect(JSON.parse(String(log.mock.calls[0]?.[0]))).toMatchObject({
+      error: {
+        code: 'selector_not_found',
+        data: { selector: 'path:/nope', validSelectorForms: expect.arrayContaining(['current']) }
+      }
+    })
+    log.mockRestore()
+  })
+
+  it('stays silent when no worktree selector was passed', () => {
+    expect(formatCliError(selectorNotFound(), { commandPath: ['worktree', 'show'] })).toBe(
+      'selector_not_found'
+    )
+  })
+})
+
 describe('CLI error recovery', () => {
   it('prints did-you-mean next steps for an unknown-command error carrying data', () => {
     const error = new RuntimeClientError('invalid_argument', 'Unknown command: worktree remov', {

src/cli/format.ts

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {
   stripAutomationOwnerConflictCode
 } from '../shared/automation-owner-conflict'
 import { automationOwnerConflictRecovery } from './automation-owner-conflict-recovery'
+import { worktreeSelectorRecovery } from './worktree-selector-recovery'
 import { prepareComputerCliJsonResult } from './computer-format'
 import type { RuntimeRpcFailure, RuntimeRpcSuccess } from './runtime-client'
 import { RuntimeClientError, RuntimeRpcFailureError } from './runtime/types'
@@ -69,6 +70,21 @@ export {
 
 type CliErrorContext = {
   commandPath?: readonly string[]
+  /** The `--worktree` value this invocation sent; the runtime's error never echoes it. */
+  worktreeSelector?: string
+}
+
+function selectorRecovery(code: string | undefined, context: CliErrorContext) {
+  return code === 'selector_not_found' && context.worktreeSelector
+    ? worktreeSelectorRecovery(context.worktreeSelector)
+    : undefined
+}
+
+function errorCode(error: unknown): string | undefined {
+  if (error instanceof RuntimeRpcFailureError) {
+    return error.response.error.code
+  }
+  return error instanceof RuntimeClientError ? error.code : undefined
 }
 
 export function printResult<TResult>(
@@ -85,6 +101,10 @@ export function printResult<TResult>(
 
 export function formatCliError(error: unknown, context: CliErrorContext = {}): string {
   const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)
+  const selector = selectorRecovery(errorCode(error), context)
+  if (selector) {
+    return formatMessageWithNextSteps(message, selector.nextSteps)
+  }
   if (error instanceof RuntimeClientError && error.code === 'runtime_unavailable') {
     if (hasOrchestrationRequestId(error.data)) {
       return message
@@ -130,9 +150,19 @@ function hasOrchestrationRequestId(data: unknown): boolean {
 }
 
 export function reportCliError(error: unknown, json: boolean, context: CliErrorContext = {}): void {
+  const selector = selectorRecovery(errorCode(error), context)
   if (json) {
     if (error instanceof RuntimeRpcFailureError) {
-      console.log(JSON.stringify(withAutomationOwnerConflictRecovery(error.response), null, 2))
+      const response = withAutomationOwnerConflictRecovery(error.response)
+      console.log(
+        JSON.stringify(
+          selector
+            ? { ...response, error: { ...response.error, data: response.error.data ?? selector } }
+            : response,
+          null,
+          2
+        )
+      )
     } else {
       const response: RuntimeRpcFailure = {
         id: 'local',
@@ -201,6 +231,10 @@ function localCliErrorData(error: unknown, context: CliErrorContext): unknown {
   if (error instanceof RuntimeClientError && error.data !== undefined) {
     return error.data
   }
+  const selector = selectorRecovery(errorCode(error), context)
+  if (selector) {
+    return selector
+  }
   const conflict = automationOwnerConflictRecovery(matchAutomationOwnerConflict(error))
   if (conflict) {
     return conflict

src/cli/index.test.ts

@@ -228,6 +228,29 @@ describe('unknown command surfaces a suggestion', () => {
     expect(stderr).toContain('--json')
   })
 
+  it('names the offending --worktree value and the valid forms on selector_not_found', async () => {
+    const { RuntimeRpcFailureError } = await import('./runtime/types.js')
+    callMock.mockRejectedValue(
+      new RuntimeRpcFailureError({
+        id: 'req_selector',
+        ok: false,
+        error: { code: 'selector_not_found', message: 'selector_not_found' },
+        _meta: { runtimeId: 'runtime_local' }
+      })
+    )
+
+    await main(
+      ['orchestration', 'worker-start', '--task', 't1', '--worktree', 'repo-1', '--agent', 'codex'],
+      '/tmp/repo'
+    )
+
+    expect(process.exitCode).toBe(1)
+    const stderr = errorSpy.mock.calls.map((call) => String(call[0])).join('\n')
+    expect(stderr).toContain('No Orca workspace matched the worktree selector "repo-1"')
+    expect(stderr).toContain('id:repo-1::<absolute-path>')
+    expect(stderr).toContain('Valid selector forms:')
+  })
+
   it('reports a pre-command flag that belongs to another command', async () => {
     await main(['--workspace', 'worktree', 'list'], '/tmp/repo')
 

src/cli/index.ts

@@ -176,7 +176,11 @@ export async function main(
       json
     })
   } catch (error) {
-    reportCliError(error, json, { commandPath: parsed.commandPath })
+    const worktreeSelector = parsed.flags.get('worktree')
+    reportCliError(error, json, {
+      commandPath: parsed.commandPath,
+      ...(typeof worktreeSelector === 'string' ? { worktreeSelector } : {})
+    })
     process.exitCode = 1
   }
 }

src/cli/worktree-selector-recovery.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+// Why: the runtime answers an unresolvable `--worktree` with a bare
+// `selector_not_found` — no offending value and no grammar — so a caller who passed
+// a repo id where a worktree id belongs cannot tell what was wrong (#16904). The CLI
+// is the only layer that still knows what the caller typed, so it shapes the recovery
+// here, in the same validFlags/suggestions/nextSteps shape as an unknown-flag error.
+
+export const WORKTREE_SELECTOR_FORMS = [
+  'id:<repo-id>::<absolute-path>',
+  'path:<absolute-path>',
+  'name:<display-name>',
+  'branch:<branch>',
+  'identity:<identity-key>',
+  'issue:<number>',
+  'current',
+  'active'
+] as const
+
+export type WorktreeSelectorRecovery = {
+  selector: string
+  validSelectorForms: readonly string[]
+  suggestions: readonly string[]
+  nextSteps: readonly string[]
+}
+
+const PREFIXES = ['id:', 'path:', 'name:', 'branch:', 'identity:', 'issue:']
+
+function suggestForms(selector: string): string[] {
+  if (selector.startsWith('id:')) {
+    // A worktree id is `<repo-id>::<path>`; the repo id alone names no checkout.
+    return selector.includes('::')
+      ? []
+      : [`id:${selector.slice(3)}::<absolute-path>`, 'path:<absolute-path>']
+  }
+  if (PREFIXES.some((prefix) => selector.startsWith(prefix))) {
+    return []
+  }
+  return selector.startsWith('/') || /^[A-Za-z]:[\\/]/.test(selector)
+    ? [`path:${selector}`]
+    : [`id:${selector}::<absolute-path>`, `name:${selector}`, `branch:${selector}`]
+}
+
+export function worktreeSelectorRecovery(selector: string): WorktreeSelectorRecovery {
+  const suggestions = suggestForms(selector)
+  return {
+    selector,
+    validSelectorForms: WORKTREE_SELECTOR_FORMS,
+    suggestions,
+    nextSteps: [
+      `No Orca workspace matched the worktree selector "${selector}".`,
+      ...(suggestions.length > 0 ? [`Did you mean: ${suggestions.join(', ')}`] : []),
+      `Valid selector forms: ${WORKTREE_SELECTOR_FORMS.join(', ')}.`,
+      'List the exact values with `orca worktree list --json`; a bare repository id is not a worktree id.'
+    ]
+  }
+}