From 34839df2225b6f842a4915ca1dd9bc1643a73e2f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "prompt.ac/@jeffrey" <mail@aesthetic.computer>
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2026 18:04:26 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Retry transient empty native modal inspection reads

---
 slab/captutor/lib/modal-police.mjs       | 18 ++++++++++++++++--
 slab/captutor/test/modal-police.test.mjs | 13 ++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/slab/captutor/lib/modal-police.mjs b/slab/captutor/lib/modal-police.mjs
index b88b177fc0..b68fa58de7 100644
--- a/slab/captutor/lib/modal-police.mjs
+++ b/slab/captutor/lib/modal-police.mjs
@@ -43,12 +43,26 @@ for(const h of hits){let position=null;try{position=h.element.position();}catch{
  seen.add(key);physical.add(physicalKey);
 }
 `;
+export async function readNativeModalScan(execute){
+ for(let attempt=0;attempt<3;attempt++){
+  const {stdout}=await execute();
+  if(!stdout.trim()){
+   if(attempt<2){await new Promise(resolve=>setTimeout(resolve,150));continue;}
+   throw Error('Native modal inspection returned no result after 3 scans');
+  }
+  const hits=JSON.parse(stdout);
+  if(!Array.isArray(hits)||hits.some(h=>!h||typeof h.kind!=='string'||typeof h.title!=='string'||!Array.isArray(h.buttons)||h.buttons.some(b=>typeof b!=='string')))throw Error('Invalid native modal inspection result');
+  return hits;
+ }
+}
 async function native(action,expected) {
  const tail=action
   ? `const h=uniqueHits.filter(h=>h.kind===${JSON.stringify(action)});if(h.length!==1||!h[0].element)throw Error('Modal changed or action ambiguous');if(JSON.stringify([h[0].kind,h[0].title,[...h[0].buttons].sort()])!==${JSON.stringify(JSON.stringify(expected?[expected.kind,expected.title,[...expected.buttons].sort()]:null))})throw Error('Modal fingerprint changed');h[0].element.click();JSON.stringify(true);`
   : `JSON.stringify(uniqueHits.map(({kind,title,buttons})=>({kind,title,buttons})));`;
- const {stdout}=await run('/usr/bin/osascript',['-l','JavaScript','-e',CHROME_MODAL_SCRIPT+tail],{timeout:10000,maxBuffer:128*1024});
- return JSON.parse(stdout);
+ const execute=()=>run('/usr/bin/osascript',['-l','JavaScript','-e',CHROME_MODAL_SCRIPT+tail],{timeout:10000,maxBuffer:128*1024});
+ // Never replay a click. Only retry a read-only scan with an empty response.
+ if(!action)return readNativeModalScan(execute);
+ return JSON.parse((await execute()).stdout);
 }
 export function fingerprintModal(hit) {
  return createHash('sha256').update(JSON.stringify([hit.kind,hit.title,[...hit.buttons].sort()])).digest('hex').slice(0,20);
diff --git a/slab/captutor/test/modal-police.test.mjs b/slab/captutor/test/modal-police.test.mjs
index 0b51418ab9..d6a92f5dea 100644
--- a/slab/captutor/test/modal-police.test.mjs
+++ b/slab/captutor/test/modal-police.test.mjs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import {mkdtempSync,rmSync,readFileSync} from 'node:fs';
 import {tmpdir} from 'node:os';
 import {join} from 'node:path';
 import {runInNewContext} from 'node:vm';
-import {CHROME_MODAL_SCRIPT,createModalPolice,connectWithModalPolice} from '../lib/modal-police.mjs';
+import {CHROME_MODAL_SCRIPT,createModalPolice,connectWithModalPolice,readNativeModalScan} from '../lib/modal-police.mjs';
 const hit=kind=>({kind,title:kind,buttons:kind==='remote-debugging'?['Cancel','Allow']:['Close']});
 function setup(t,kind,options={}){
  const directory=mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(),'modal-police-'));t.after(()=>rmSync(directory,{recursive:true,force:true}));
@@ -61,3 +61,14 @@ test('connection watcher rescans a moved consent dialog instead of abandoning it
 });
 
 test('a connection settled during native scan does not fail or click',async t=>{let pending=true;const f=setup(t,'automation-banner',{scan:async()=>{pending=false;return [hit('automation-banner')];}});assert.equal((await f.police.check('connecting',{mayHandle:()=>pending})).expired,true);assert.deepEqual(f.actions,[]);});
+
+test('empty native scan retries without treating missing output as clean',async()=>{
+ let calls=0;const hits=await readNativeModalScan(async()=>({stdout:++calls<2?'':'[{"kind":"unknown","title":"Blocking sheet","buttons":[]}]'}));assert.equal(calls,2);assert.equal(hits[0].kind,'unknown');
+});
+test('persistent empty native scan still blocks recording',async()=>{
+ let calls=0;await assert.rejects(readNativeModalScan(async()=>{calls++;return {stdout:''};}),/no result after 3 scans/);assert.equal(calls,3);
+});
+test('invalid native scan is never interpreted as clean',async()=>{
+ await assert.rejects(readNativeModalScan(async()=>({stdout:'{}'})),/Invalid native/);
+ await assert.rejects(readNativeModalScan(async()=>({stdout:'[null]'})),/Invalid native/);
+});
-- 
2.51.2