Fix porch/consult review file mismatch, builder terminal persistence, and PR merge instruction

- Add --output flag to consult CLI so porch can direct review output to expected file paths
- Update porch next.ts to emit consult commands with --output pointing to review file locations
- Stop deleting SQLite terminal rows on failed tmux reconnection (retry on next poll instead)
- Add PR merge task to protocol completion response so builders merge after pr-ready approval

Author: waleedkadous

packages/codev/src/agent-farm/servers/tower-server.ts

@@ -943,8 +943,7 @@ async function getTerminalsForProject(
         session = manager.getSession(newSession.id);
         log('INFO', `Reconnected to tmux "${dbSession.tmux_session}" on-the-fly → ${newSession.id}`);
       } catch (err) {
-        log('WARN', `Failed to reconnect to tmux "${dbSession.tmux_session}": ${(err as Error).message}`);
-        deleteTerminalSession(dbSession.id);
+        log('WARN', `Failed to reconnect to tmux "${dbSession.tmux_session}": ${(err as Error).message} — will retry on next poll`);
         continue;
       }
     } else if (!session) {

packages/codev/src/cli.ts

@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ program
   .option('-n, --dry-run', 'Show what would execute without running')
   .option('-t, --type <type>', 'Review type: spec-review, plan-review, impl-review, pr-ready, integration-review')
   .option('-r, --role <role>', 'Custom role from codev/roles/<name>.md (e.g., gtm-specialist, security-reviewer)')
+  .option('--output <path>', 'Write consultation output to file (used by porch for review file collection)')
   .allowUnknownOption(true)
   .action(async (subcommand, args, options) => {
     try {
@@ -100,6 +101,7 @@ program
         dryRun: options.dryRun,
         reviewType: options.type,
         role: options.role,
+        output: options.output,
       });
     } catch (error) {
       console.error(error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error));

packages/codev/src/commands/consult/index.ts

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ interface ConsultOptions {
   dryRun?: boolean;
   reviewType?: string;
   role?: string;
+  output?: string;
 }
 
 // Valid review types
@@ -263,7 +264,8 @@ async function runConsultation(
   projectRoot: string,
   dryRun: boolean,
   reviewType?: string,
-  customRole?: string
+  customRole?: string,
+  outputPath?: string,
 ): Promise<void> {
   // Use custom role if specified, otherwise use default consultant role
   let role = customRole ? loadCustomRole(projectRoot, customRole) : loadRole(projectRoot);
@@ -343,15 +345,26 @@ async function runConsultation(
 
   // Execute with passthrough stdio
   // Use 'ignore' for stdin to prevent blocking when spawned as subprocess
+  // When outputPath is set, capture stdout to write to file (used by porch)
   const fullEnv = { ...process.env, ...env };
   const startTime = Date.now();
+  const stdoutMode = outputPath ? 'pipe' : 'inherit';
 
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     const proc = spawn(cmd[0], cmd.slice(1), {
       env: fullEnv,
-      stdio: ['ignore', 'inherit', 'inherit'],
+      stdio: ['ignore', stdoutMode, 'inherit'],
     });
 
+    const chunks: Buffer[] = [];
+    if (outputPath && proc.stdout) {
+      proc.stdout.on('data', (chunk: Buffer) => {
+        chunks.push(chunk);
+        // Also write to stdout so the user can still see output
+        process.stdout.write(chunk);
+      });
+    }
+
     proc.on('close', (code) => {
       const duration = (Date.now() - startTime) / 1000;
       logQuery(projectRoot, model, query, duration);
@@ -360,6 +373,16 @@ async function runConsultation(
         fs.unlinkSync(tempFile);
       }
 
+      // Write captured output to file
+      if (outputPath && chunks.length > 0) {
+        const outputDir = path.dirname(outputPath);
+        if (!fs.existsSync(outputDir)) {
+          fs.mkdirSync(outputDir, { recursive: true });
+        }
+        fs.writeFileSync(outputPath, Buffer.concat(chunks).toString('utf-8'));
+        console.error(`\nOutput written to: ${outputPath}`);
+      }
+
       console.error(`\n[${model} completed in ${duration.toFixed(1)}s]`);
 
       if (code !== 0) {
@@ -571,7 +594,7 @@ KEY_ISSUES: [List of critical issues if any, or "None"]`;
  * Main consult entry point
  */
 export async function consult(options: ConsultOptions): Promise<void> {
-  const { model: modelInput, subcommand, args, dryRun = false, reviewType, role: customRole } = options;
+  const { model: modelInput, subcommand, args, dryRun = false, reviewType, role: customRole, output: outputPath } = options;
 
   // Resolve model alias
   const model = MODEL_ALIASES[modelInput.toLowerCase()] || modelInput.toLowerCase();
@@ -692,5 +715,5 @@ export async function consult(options: ConsultOptions): Promise<void> {
   console.error('='.repeat(60));
   console.error('');
 
-  await runConsultation(model, query, projectRoot, dryRun, reviewType, customRole);
+  await runConsultation(model, query, projectRoot, dryRun, reviewType, customRole, outputPath);
 }

packages/codev/src/commands/porch/next.ts

@@ -103,6 +103,21 @@ function findReviewFiles(
   return results;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Compute the expected review file path for a given model.
+ * This must match the pattern used by findReviewFiles().
+ */
+function getReviewFilePath(
+  projectRoot: string,
+  state: ProjectState,
+  model: string
+): string {
+  const projectDir = getProjectDir(projectRoot, state.id, state.title);
+  const phase = state.current_plan_phase || state.phase;
+  const fileName = `${state.id}-${phase}-iter${state.iteration}-${model}.txt`;
+  return path.join(projectDir, fileName);
+}
+
 /**
  * Compute the next tasks for a project.
  *
@@ -134,6 +149,12 @@ export async function next(projectRoot: string, projectId: string): Promise<Porc
       phase: state.phase,
       iteration: state.iteration,
       summary: `Project ${state.id} has completed the ${state.protocol} protocol.`,
+      tasks: [{
+        subject: 'Merge the pull request',
+        activeForm: 'Merging pull request',
+        description: `The protocol is complete. Merge the PR using:\n\ngh pr merge --merge\n\nDo NOT squash merge. Use regular merge commits to preserve development history.\n\nAfter merging, notify the architect that the work is complete.`,
+        sequential: true,
+      }],
     };
   }
 
@@ -311,10 +332,10 @@ async function handleBuildVerify(
     if (reviews.length === 0) {
       const tasks: PorchTask[] = [];
 
-      // Build consultation commands
+      // Build consultation commands with --output so review files land where porch expects them
       const consultType = getConsultArtifactType(state.phase);
       const consultCmds = verifyConfig.models.map(
-        m => `consult --model ${m} --type ${verifyConfig.type} ${consultType} ${state.id}`
+        m => `consult --model ${m} --type ${verifyConfig.type} --output "${getReviewFilePath(projectRoot, state, m)}" ${consultType} ${state.id}`
       );
 
       tasks.push({
@@ -334,7 +355,7 @@ async function handleBuildVerify(
         m => !reviews.find(r => r.model === m)
       );
       const consultCmds = missingModels.map(
-        m => `consult --model ${m} --type ${verifyConfig.type} ${consultType} ${state.id}`
+        m => `consult --model ${m} --type ${verifyConfig.type} --output "${getReviewFilePath(projectRoot, state, m)}" ${consultType} ${state.id}`
       );
 
       return {