Give importagents tests, by separating what it decides from what it wires

This command had no tests at all, while carrying the rules that decide whether
a deploy may change a published agent. Everything interesting was inside run(),
which loads configuration, opens its own pool and resolves a tenant from a
slug — none of which a test can supply. So it was untestable by construction
rather than by neglect, and the fix is a seam, not a test-only helper.

Three functions come out of run(), each doing one thing:

  validateSpecs  the parse and status checks. Pure.
  validateGraph  §3's DAG check over the whole set. Pure.
  importInto     the write phase, taking a transaction the caller owns and
                 returning what it did.

run() is now the wiring around them. importInto does not commit — the caller
does — so a refused rewrite leaves the caller's deferred rollback to undo the
writes that already happened, which is the behaviour that was there before and
is now visible in the signature rather than implied by where the code sat.

Six tests, four of them against a real database:

  - every problem is reported, not the first: two bad specs produce two
    messages and a good one produces none;
  - a chain is not a cycle, and a cycle names the edge to cut;
  - a first import records versions, and a second over unchanged specs
    records none — the counter that used to say nine every deploy;
  - a changed spec at the same version is refused AND nothing is committed,
    checked by reading the row back;
  - a lowered version is refused and the live row is still at the higher one;
  - a raised version is accepted and leaves two rows in the history.

The author is resolved through resolveAuthor rather than passed as a literal,
so the tests exercise that path too and fail loudly on an organization with no
active admin — a real deployment condition. The first draft passed "" and got
`invalid input syntax for type uuid`, which is what a literal buys you.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01PJvibeSc1JYXjatankqM1g

go-api/cmd/importagents/main.go

@@ -85,24 +85,8 @@ func run(dir, skillDir, orgSlug string, dryRun bool, timeout time.Duration) erro
 		return err
 	}
 
-	// Parsed before anything is opened, so a malformed spec is a message rather
+	if err := validateSpecs(specs); err != nil {
-	// than a half-finished import. Every spec, not the first failure: an
+		return err
-	// operator fixing five typos should see five, not one per run.
-	var problems []string
-	for _, s := range specs {
-		if len(s.parsed.Errors) > 0 {
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("  %s: %s",
-				s.name, strings.Join(s.parsed.Errors, "; ")))
-		}
-		if s.parsed.Status != "published" {
-			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
-				"  %s: status is %q; only a published spec can be imported",
-				s.name, s.parsed.Status))
-		}
-	}
-	if len(problems) > 0 {
-		return fmt.Errorf("%d spec(s) will not import:\n%s",
-			len(problems), strings.Join(problems, "\n"))
 	}
 
 	for _, s := range specs {
@@ -116,6 +100,9 @@ func run(dir, skillDir, orgSlug string, dryRun bool, timeout time.Duration) erro
 	// written. The runtime refuses to load an agent with a missing dependency,
 	// so importing one without its skills produces an agent that exists and
 	// cannot run — a failure that surfaces per request instead of here.
+	if err := validateGraph(specs); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	if missing := missingSkills(specs, skills); len(missing) > 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("%d skill(s) named by an agent are not in %s: %s",
 			len(missing), skillDir, strings.Join(missing, ", "))
@@ -160,73 +147,9 @@ func run(dir, skillDir, orgSlug string, dryRun bool, timeout time.Duration) erro
 	}
 	defer tx.Rollback(ctx) //nolint:errcheck // rolled back unless committed below
 
-	// Skills first. An agent row that lands before its dependencies exist is
+	out, err := importInto(ctx, tx, orgID, author, specs, skills)
-	// briefly unloadable, and inside one transaction that is invisible — but
+	if err != nil {
-	// ordering them correctly costs nothing and means a future non-transactional
+		return err
-	// path is not silently broken.
-	// Versions are recorded through the same transaction, so the history and
-	// the definition it describes cannot disagree: either both land or neither
-	// does.
-	versions := repo.NewVersionsRepo(tx)
-	ident := authctx.Identity{OrgID: orgID, UserID: author}
-
-	skillsWritten, skillVersions := 0, 0
-	for _, sk := range skills {
-		if err := upsertSkill(ctx, tx, orgID, author, sk); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", sk.name, err)
-		}
-		skillsWritten++
-
-		// Skills are numbered by the server rather than by their author — they
-		// have no `version:` to read. See snapshotSkill in internal/service,
-		// which does the same for the authoring path.
-		recorded, err := snapshotSkill(ctx, versions, ident, sk)
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("%s: record version: %w", sk.name, err)
-		}
-		if recorded {
-			skillVersions++
-		}
-	}
-
-	//
-	// Snapshot is what refuses a spec that changed without raising its
-	// `version:`. Every such spec is collected rather than the first one
-	// returned, for the same reason the parse errors above are — an operator
-	// who forgot to bump three files should see three. Collecting is safe here
-	// because that refusal comes from comparing a row this code read, not from
-	// a failed statement: the INSERT is ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING, so the
-	// transaction is still healthy and the remaining specs can be checked.
-	inserted, updated, versioned := 0, 0, 0
-	var rewrites []string
-	for _, s := range specs {
-		wasNew, err := upsert(ctx, tx, orgID, author, s)
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", s.name, err)
-		}
-		if wasNew {
-			inserted++
-		} else {
-			updated++
-		}
-
-		recorded, conflict, err := snapshotAgent(ctx, versions, ident, s)
-		switch {
-		case err != nil:
-			return fmt.Errorf("%s: record version: %w", s.name, err)
-		case conflict != "":
-			rewrites = append(rewrites, fmt.Sprintf("  %s: %s", s.name, conflict))
-		case recorded:
-			versioned++
-		}
-	}
-
-	if len(rewrites) > 0 {
-		return fmt.Errorf(
-			"%d spec(s) would rewrite a version that is already published:\n%s\n\n"+
-				"Nothing was written. Raise `version:` in the frontmatter of each, or "+
-				"restore the published text.",
-			len(rewrites), strings.Join(rewrites, "\n"))
 	}
 
 	if err := tx.Commit(ctx); err != nil {
@@ -235,7 +158,145 @@ func run(dir, skillDir, orgSlug string, dryRun bool, timeout time.Duration) erro
 
 	fmt.Printf("\n%d agent(s) published, %d updated, %d agent version(s) recorded, "+
 		"%d skill(s) written, %d skill version(s) recorded, into %s\n",
-		inserted, updated, versioned, skillsWritten, skillVersions, orgSlug)
+		out.inserted, out.updated, out.versioned, out.skillsWritten,
+		out.skillVersions, orgSlug)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// importCounts is what one import did.
+type importCounts struct {
+	inserted      int
+	updated       int
+	versioned     int
+	skillsWritten int
+	skillVersions int
+}
+
+// importInto writes one validated set of specs and skills through a
+// transaction, and reports what it did.
+//
+// Separated from run() so it can be TESTED. run() loads configuration, opens
+// its own pool and resolves a tenant from a slug — none of which a test can
+// supply, which is why this command had no tests at all while carrying the
+// rules that decide whether a deploy is allowed to change a published agent.
+// Everything interesting lives here; run() is the wiring around it.
+//
+// The caller owns the transaction, and therefore the decision to commit. On any
+// error, including a refused rewrite, nothing here has committed and the
+// caller's deferred rollback undoes the writes that did happen.
+func importInto(ctx context.Context, tx pgx.Tx, orgID, author string,
+	specs []spec, skills []skillSpec) (importCounts, error) {
+
+	var out importCounts
+
+	// Versions are recorded through the same transaction, so the history and
+	// the definition it describes cannot disagree: either both land or neither
+	// does.
+	versions := repo.NewVersionsRepo(tx)
+	ident := authctx.Identity{OrgID: orgID, UserID: author}
+
+	// Skills first. An agent row that lands before its dependencies exist is
+	// briefly unloadable, and inside one transaction that is invisible — but
+	// ordering them correctly costs nothing and means a future
+	// non-transactional path is not silently broken.
+	for _, sk := range skills {
+		if err := upsertSkill(ctx, tx, orgID, author, sk); err != nil {
+			return out, fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", sk.name, err)
+		}
+		out.skillsWritten++
+
+		// Skills are numbered by the server rather than by their author — they
+		// have no `version:` to read. See snapshotSkill in internal/service,
+		// which does the same for the authoring path.
+		recorded, err := snapshotSkill(ctx, versions, ident, sk)
+		if err != nil {
+			return out, fmt.Errorf("%s: record version: %w", sk.name, err)
+		}
+		if recorded {
+			out.skillVersions++
+		}
+	}
+
+	// snapshotAgent is what refuses a spec that changed without raising its
+	// `version:`, or that lowers it. Every such spec is collected rather than
+	// the first one returned, for the same reason the parse errors are — an
+	// operator who forgot to bump three files should see three. Collecting is
+	// safe because that refusal comes from comparing rows this code read, not
+	// from a failed statement: the INSERT is ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING, so the
+	// transaction is still healthy and the remaining specs can be checked.
+	var rewrites []string
+	for _, s := range specs {
+		wasNew, err := upsert(ctx, tx, orgID, author, s)
+		if err != nil {
+			return out, fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", s.name, err)
+		}
+		if wasNew {
+			out.inserted++
+		} else {
+			out.updated++
+		}
+
+		recorded, conflict, err := snapshotAgent(ctx, versions, ident, s)
+		switch {
+		case err != nil:
+			return out, fmt.Errorf("%s: record version: %w", s.name, err)
+		case conflict != "":
+			rewrites = append(rewrites, fmt.Sprintf("  %s: %s", s.name, conflict))
+		case recorded:
+			out.versioned++
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(rewrites) > 0 {
+		return out, fmt.Errorf(
+			"%d spec(s) would rewrite a version that is already published:\n%s\n\n"+
+				"Nothing was written. Raise `version:` in the frontmatter of each, or "+
+				"restore the published text.",
+			len(rewrites), strings.Join(rewrites, "\n"))
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// validateSpecs rejects specs that cannot be imported, reporting every one.
+//
+// Parsed before anything is opened, so a malformed spec is a message rather
+// than a half-finished import. Every spec, not the first failure: an operator
+// fixing five typos should see five, not one per run.
+func validateSpecs(specs []spec) error {
+	var problems []string
+	for _, s := range specs {
+		if len(s.parsed.Errors) > 0 {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("  %s: %s",
+				s.name, strings.Join(s.parsed.Errors, "; ")))
+		}
+		if s.parsed.Status != "published" {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf(
+				"  %s: status is %q; only a published spec can be imported",
+				s.name, s.parsed.Status))
+		}
+	}
+	if len(problems) > 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%d spec(s) will not import:\n%s",
+			len(problems), strings.Join(problems, "\n"))
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// validateGraph enforces §3's DAG requirement across the whole set.
+//
+// Every spec is in hand here, which is the only place that is cheaply true —
+// so this is where the check belongs. The runtime depth cap still bounds a
+// cycle that reaches run time by another route.
+func validateGraph(specs []spec) error {
+	graph := make(map[string][]string, len(specs))
+	for _, s := range specs {
+		graph[s.parsed.ID] = s.parsed.Subagents
+	}
+	if cycle := definition.FindSubagentCycle(graph); cycle != "" {
+		return fmt.Errorf("the subagent graph has a cycle: %s\n\n"+
+			"Nothing was written. Delegation follows these edges, so a loop is a "+
+			"run that delegates until it runs out of budget.", cycle)
+	}
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -494,6 +555,19 @@ func snapshotSkill(ctx context.Context, versions *repo.VersionsRepo,
 func snapshotAgent(ctx context.Context, versions *repo.VersionsRepo,
 	ident authctx.Identity, s spec) (recorded bool, conflict string, err error) {
 
+	// §3 calls the version monotonic and nothing enforced it. A spec edited
+	// from an older copy republishes an older number whose content still
+	// matches what was published under it — no conflict, no complaint, and the
+	// deployed agent quietly goes backwards.
+	latest, err := versions.LatestVersion(ctx, ident, repo.KindAgent, s.parsed.ID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, "", err
+	}
+	if latest > 0 && s.parsed.Version < latest {
+		return false, definition.ErrVersionWentBackwards(
+			s.parsed.ID, latest, s.parsed.Version).Error(), nil
+	}
+
 	stored, err := versions.Load(ctx, ident, repo.KindAgent, s.parsed.ID, s.parsed.Version)
 	if err != nil {
 		var apiErr *domain.Error

go-api/cmd/importagents/main_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,244 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/krow/krow-backend/go-api/internal/definition"
+	"github.com/krow/krow-backend/go-api/internal/testutil"
+)
+
+// specFor builds a parsed spec the way loadSpecs would, without a file.
+func specFor(t *testing.T, id string, version int, subagents ...string) spec {
+	t.Helper()
+	var sub string
+	if len(subagents) > 0 {
+		sub = "subagents:\n"
+		for _, s := range subagents {
+			sub += "  - " + s + "\n"
+		}
+	}
+	raw := fmt.Sprintf(`---
+id: %s
+name: %s
+description: a spec built for a test
+icon: layers
+status: published
+version: %d
+reasoning: balanced
+pages:
+  - talent-pool
+%s---
+
+## Instructions
+Answer the question, version %d.
+`, id, strings.ToUpper(id[:1])+id[1:], version, sub, version)
+
+	parsed, err := definition.ParseAgent(raw, definition.Options{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("fixture %q does not parse: %v", id, err)
+	}
+	return spec{name: id + ".md", raw: raw, parsed: parsed}
+}
+
+/* ── The pure checks, which need no database ─────────────────────────────── */
+
+func TestValidateSpecsReportsEveryProblem(t *testing.T) {
+	draft := specFor(t, "draft-agent", 1)
+	draft.parsed.Status = "draft"
+	broken := specFor(t, "broken-agent", 1)
+	broken.parsed.Errors = []string{"something is wrong"}
+
+	err := validateSpecs([]spec{draft, broken, specFor(t, "fine-agent", 1)})
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("two bad specs were accepted")
+	}
+	// Both, not the first: an operator fixing two problems should see two.
+	for _, want := range []string{"draft-agent", "broken-agent"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), want) {
+			t.Errorf("the report does not mention %q:\n%s", want, err)
+		}
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "fine-agent") {
+		t.Errorf("a valid spec was reported as a problem:\n%s", err)
+	}
+
+	if err := validateSpecs([]spec{specFor(t, "fine-agent", 1)}); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("a valid spec was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestValidateGraphRefusesACycle(t *testing.T) {
+	acyclic := []spec{
+		specFor(t, "a-agent", 1, "b-agent"),
+		specFor(t, "b-agent", 1),
+	}
+	if err := validateGraph(acyclic); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("a chain was called a cycle: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	cyclic := []spec{
+		specFor(t, "a-agent", 1, "b-agent"),
+		specFor(t, "b-agent", 1, "a-agent"),
+	}
+	err := validateGraph(cyclic)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a cycle was accepted")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "a-agent") || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "b-agent") {
+		t.Errorf("the message does not name the edge to cut:\n%s", err)
+	}
+}
+
+/* ── The write phase, against a real database ────────────────────────────── */
+
+// importOnce runs one import in its own transaction and commits it, the way
+// run() does.
+//
+// The author comes from resolveAuthor rather than a literal, so this exercises
+// the production path and fails loudly if an organization has nobody to
+// attribute specs to — which is a real deployment condition, not a test
+// detail.
+func importOnce(t *testing.T, h *testutil.Harness, specs []spec) (importCounts, error) {
+	t.Helper()
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	author, err := resolveAuthor(ctx, h.Pool, h.OrgID)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("resolve author: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	tx, err := h.Pool.Begin(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("begin: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer tx.Rollback(ctx) //nolint:errcheck
+
+	out, err := importInto(ctx, tx, h.OrgID, author, specs, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return out, err
+	}
+	if err := tx.Commit(ctx); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("commit: %v", err)
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+func TestImportRecordsVersionsAndIsIdempotent(t *testing.T) {
+	h := testutil.New(t)
+	specs := []spec{specFor(t, "import-a", 1), specFor(t, "import-b", 1)}
+
+	out, err := importOnce(t, h, specs)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("first import: %v", err)
+	}
+	if out.inserted != 2 || out.versioned != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("first import: inserted=%d versioned=%d, want 2 and 2", out.inserted, out.versioned)
+	}
+
+	// Again, unchanged. Nothing new is recorded — the number must not report
+	// nine every deploy, which is what it used to do.
+	out, err = importOnce(t, h, specs)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("second import: %v", err)
+	}
+	if out.versioned != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("re-importing unchanged specs recorded %d version(s), want 0", out.versioned)
+	}
+	if out.updated != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("second import: updated=%d, want 2", out.updated)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestImportRefusesRewritingAPublishedVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	h := testutil.New(t)
+	if _, err := importOnce(t, h, []spec{specFor(t, "rewrite-me", 1)}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("first import: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Same version, different body.
+	changed := specFor(t, "rewrite-me", 1)
+	changed.raw = strings.Replace(changed.raw, "version 1.", "something else entirely.", 1)
+	reparsed, err := definition.ParseAgent(changed.raw, definition.Options{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("fixture does not parse: %v", err)
+	}
+	changed.parsed = reparsed
+
+	_, err = importOnce(t, h, []spec{changed})
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a changed spec republished at the same version was accepted")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "rewrite") {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// And nothing landed: the live row still says what v1 said.
+	var live string
+	if err := h.Pool.QueryRow(context.Background(),
+		`SELECT markdown FROM agent_definitions WHERE org_id = $1::uuid AND definition_id = 'rewrite-me'`,
+		h.OrgID).Scan(&live); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read back: %v", err)
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(live, "something else entirely") {
+		t.Error("the refused import was committed anyway")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestImportRefusesAVersionGoingBackwards(t *testing.T) {
+	h := testutil.New(t)
+	if _, err := importOnce(t, h, []spec{specFor(t, "backwards", 1)}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("v1: %v", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := importOnce(t, h, []spec{specFor(t, "backwards", 2)}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("v2: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Back to v1, byte-for-byte what v1 said. Nothing conflicts, which is why
+	// this used to succeed and silently revert the deployed agent.
+	_, err := importOnce(t, h, []spec{specFor(t, "backwards", 1)})
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a lowered version was accepted")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "monotonic") {
+		t.Errorf("the message does not explain why: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	var version int
+	if err := h.Pool.QueryRow(context.Background(),
+		`SELECT version FROM agent_definitions WHERE org_id = $1::uuid AND definition_id = 'backwards'`,
+		h.OrgID).Scan(&version); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read back: %v", err)
+	}
+	if version != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("live version = %d, want 2 — the refused import rolled it back", version)
+	}
+}
+
+// Raising the version is the supported way to change a published spec.
+func TestImportAcceptsARaisedVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	h := testutil.New(t)
+	if _, err := importOnce(t, h, []spec{specFor(t, "raised", 1)}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("v1: %v", err)
+	}
+	out, err := importOnce(t, h, []spec{specFor(t, "raised", 2)})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("v2 was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+	if out.versioned != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("recorded %d version(s) for a raised version, want 1", out.versioned)
+	}
+
+	var n int
+	if err := h.Pool.QueryRow(context.Background(),
+		`SELECT count(*) FROM definition_versions
+		  WHERE org_id = $1::uuid AND kind = 'agent' AND definition_id = 'raised'`,
+		h.OrgID).Scan(&n); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("count: %v", err)
+	}
+	if n != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("history holds %d versions, want 2 (v1 and v2)", n)
+	}
+}

go-api/internal/definition/graph.go

@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+package definition
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// FindSubagentCycle reports the first delegation cycle in a set of agents, or
+// "" if the graph is acyclic.
+//
+// §3: "subagents must form a DAG. Cycle detection runs at publish." This is the
+// publish-time half. The runtime half is runtime.MaxDelegationDepth, which
+// bounds a cycle that reaches run time anyway — because a graph can only be
+// checked against the agents the checker was GIVEN, and an agent published
+// while another is being edited can complete a loop neither publish saw.
+//
+// The returned string names the cycle in the order it was walked, so an
+// operator can see which edge to cut:
+//
+//	a -> b -> c -> a
+//
+// Edges pointing at agents not in the set are ignored rather than treated as
+// missing. Resolving those is a different check with a different message
+// (runtime.unknown_subagent), and conflating the two produces "cycle detected"
+// for what is actually a typo.
+func FindSubagentCycle(subagents map[string][]string) string {
+	// Depth-first search tracking the path, so the cycle can be REPORTED
+	// rather than merely detected — "there is a cycle" leaves an operator to
+	// find it by hand across a set of specs.
+	//
+	// Recursive, and deliberately: a goroutine stack grows on demand, so depth
+	// here costs memory rather than a crash, and a 5000-long chain is covered
+	// by a test. An explicit stack would buy nothing and lose the path
+	// bookkeeping that makes the message useful.
+	const (
+		unvisited = 0
+		onPath    = 1
+		done      = 2
+	)
+	state := make(map[string]int, len(subagents))
+
+	// Sorted, so the same set of agents always reports the same cycle. An
+	// error message that changes between runs on identical input is one
+	// nobody trusts.
+	roots := make([]string, 0, len(subagents))
+	for id := range subagents {
+		roots = append(roots, id)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(roots)
+
+	var path []string
+	var walk func(id string) string
+	walk = func(id string) string {
+		switch state[id] {
+		case done:
+			return ""
+		case onPath:
+			// Found it. Report from the first occurrence of this id, so the
+			// message is the cycle itself and not the walk that reached it.
+			for i, seen := range path {
+				if seen == id {
+					return strings.Join(append(append([]string{}, path[i:]...), id), " -> ")
+				}
+			}
+			return id + " -> " + id
+		}
+
+		state[id] = onPath
+		path = append(path, id)
+		for _, next := range subagents[id] {
+			if _, known := subagents[next]; !known {
+				continue // not ours to judge; see the doc comment
+			}
+			if cycle := walk(next); cycle != "" {
+				return cycle
+			}
+		}
+		path = path[:len(path)-1]
+		state[id] = done
+		return ""
+	}
+
+	for _, id := range roots {
+		if cycle := walk(id); cycle != "" {
+			return cycle
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// ErrVersionWentBackwards describes a publish that lowers a version.
+//
+// §3 calls the version monotonic. Nothing enforced it: the upsert wrote
+// whatever the frontmatter said, so a spec edited from an older copy silently
+// rolled a deployed agent backwards — no conflict, because the older version's
+// content still matched what was published under that number.
+func ErrVersionWentBackwards(id string, from, to int) error {
+	return fmt.Errorf(
+		"%q is published at version %d and this publishes version %d; "+
+			"a version is monotonic, so raise it above %d rather than lowering it",
+		id, from, to, from)
+}

go-api/internal/definition/graph_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+package definition_test
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/krow/krow-backend/go-api/internal/definition"
+)
+
+func TestFindSubagentCycle(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name  string
+		graph map[string][]string
+		want  string // "" means acyclic; otherwise a substring the report must contain
+	}{
+		{"empty", map[string][]string{}, ""},
+		{"no edges", map[string][]string{"a": nil, "b": nil}, ""},
+		{"a chain is not a cycle", map[string][]string{
+			"a": {"b"}, "b": {"c"}, "c": nil,
+		}, ""},
+		{"a diamond is not a cycle", map[string][]string{
+			"a": {"b", "c"}, "b": {"d"}, "c": {"d"}, "d": nil,
+		}, ""},
+		{"self reference", map[string][]string{"a": {"a"}}, "a -> a"},
+		{"two-agent loop", map[string][]string{
+			"a": {"b"}, "b": {"a"},
+		}, "a -> b -> a"},
+		{"longer loop", map[string][]string{
+			"a": {"b"}, "b": {"c"}, "c": {"a"},
+		}, "a -> b -> c -> a"},
+		{"cycle not involving the first agent walked", map[string][]string{
+			"a": {"b"}, "b": {"c"}, "c": {"b"},
+		}, "b -> c -> b"},
+		{"an edge to an unknown agent is not a cycle", map[string][]string{
+			"a": {"nowhere"},
+		}, ""},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := definition.FindSubagentCycle(tc.graph)
+			switch {
+			case tc.want == "" && got != "":
+				t.Errorf("reported a cycle %q in an acyclic graph", got)
+			case tc.want != "" && got == "":
+				t.Errorf("missed the cycle; want something containing %q", tc.want)
+			case tc.want != "" && !strings.Contains(got, tc.want):
+				t.Errorf("cycle = %q, want it to contain %q", got, tc.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// The report must be stable: the same graph reported differently on different
+// runs is an error message nobody trusts, and map iteration order in Go is
+// deliberately random.
+func TestFindSubagentCycleIsDeterministic(t *testing.T) {
+	graph := map[string][]string{
+		"e": {"f"}, "f": {"e"},
+		"a": {"b"}, "b": {"c"}, "c": {"a"},
+		"z": nil, "y": {"z"},
+	}
+	first := definition.FindSubagentCycle(graph)
+	if first == "" {
+		t.Fatal("no cycle found in a graph with two")
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < 50; i++ {
+		if got := definition.FindSubagentCycle(graph); got != first {
+			t.Fatalf("run %d reported %q, first run reported %q — the report "+
+				"depends on map iteration order", i, got, first)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A deep chain must not overflow the stack. An author supplies this graph.
+func TestFindSubagentCycleHandlesADeepChain(t *testing.T) {
+	graph := map[string][]string{}
+	const n = 5000
+	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
+		graph[itoa(i)] = []string{itoa(i + 1)}
+	}
+	graph[itoa(n)] = nil
+	if got := definition.FindSubagentCycle(graph); got != "" {
+		t.Errorf("reported a cycle %q in a %d-long chain", got, n)
+	}
+	// And the same chain closed into a loop is found.
+	graph[itoa(n)] = []string{itoa(0)}
+	if definition.FindSubagentCycle(graph) == "" {
+		t.Error("missed a cycle closing a long chain")
+	}
+}
+
+func itoa(i int) string {
+	if i == 0 {
+		return "0"
+	}
+	var b []byte
+	for i > 0 {
+		b = append([]byte{byte('0' + i%10)}, b...)
+		i /= 10
+	}
+	return string(b)
+}

go-api/internal/httpserver/definitions_api_test.go

@@ -1175,3 +1175,155 @@ The instructions, unchanged throughout.
 			res.code, res.body)
 	}
 }
+
+// TestPublishedVersionCannotGoBackwards covers §3's "monotonic".
+//
+// The rewrite guard only compares content at ONE version number, so an older
+// number republished with the text that was originally published under it
+// looked like a no-op: no conflict, nothing to refuse, and the live row
+// silently reverted. The agent in the UI then reads v1 while the newest thing
+// anybody approved was v2.
+func TestPublishedVersionCannotGoBackwards(t *testing.T) {
+	r := newRBAC(t)
+
+	const v1 = `---
+id: monotonic-agent
+name: Monotonic Agent
+description: published twice, then rolled back
+status: published
+version: 1
+pages:
+  - candidates
+---
+
+## Instructions
+The first version.
+`
+	res := r.as(r.admin, "POST", "/api/v1/agent-definitions", map[string]any{
+		"markdown": v1, "visibility": "personal",
+	})
+	if res.code != http.StatusCreated {
+		t.Fatalf("create v1: status %d (%v)", res.code, res.body)
+	}
+	id, _ := res.record(t)["id"].(string)
+
+	v2 := strings.Replace(strings.Replace(v1, "version: 1", "version: 2", 1),
+		"The first version.", "The second version.", 1)
+	res = r.as(r.admin, "PATCH", "/api/v1/agent-definitions/"+id, map[string]any{"markdown": v2})
+	if res.code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("publish v2: status %d (%v)", res.code, res.body)
+	}
+
+	// Back to v1, byte-for-byte what v1 said. Nothing here conflicts — which
+	// is exactly why it used to succeed.
+	res = r.as(r.admin, "PATCH", "/api/v1/agent-definitions/"+id, map[string]any{"markdown": v1})
+	if res.code != http.StatusConflict {
+		t.Fatalf("republishing v1 after v2: status %d, want 409 (%v)", res.code, res.body)
+	}
+
+	// And the live definition is still v2, not silently reverted.
+	res = r.as(r.admin, "GET", "/api/v1/agent-definitions/"+id, nil)
+	if got := fmt.Sprint(res.record(t)["version"]); got != "2" {
+		t.Errorf("live version = %s, want 2 — the refused publish rolled it back anyway", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestSubagentCycleIsRefusedAtPublish covers §3's DAG requirement.
+//
+// runtime.MaxDelegationDepth bounds a cycle that reaches run time, so this is
+// not a safety hole — it is a budget one. Every run that entered the loop would
+// spend its whole allowance delegating in a circle before terminating, and the
+// person who wrote the loop would learn about it from a bill rather than from
+// the publish that created it.
+func TestSubagentCycleIsRefusedAtPublish(t *testing.T) {
+	r := newRBAC(t)
+
+	// version is a parameter so the loop-closing edit can BUMP it. Otherwise
+	// the rewrite guard refuses that edit for changing published text, the
+	// test passes for the wrong reason, and it would keep passing with cycle
+	// detection removed entirely.
+	agent := func(id, name string, version int, subagents ...string) string {
+		var sub string
+		if len(subagents) > 0 {
+			sub = "subagents:\n"
+			for _, s := range subagents {
+				sub += "  - " + s + "\n"
+			}
+		}
+		return fmt.Sprintf(`---
+id: %s
+name: %s
+description: part of a delegation graph
+status: published
+version: %d
+pages:
+  - candidates
+%s---
+
+## Instructions
+Delegate.
+`, id, name, version, sub)
+	}
+
+	// A, with no subagents yet.
+	res := r.as(r.admin, "POST", "/api/v1/agent-definitions", map[string]any{
+		"markdown": agent("cycle-a", "Cycle A", 1), "visibility": "organization",
+	})
+	if res.code != http.StatusCreated {
+		t.Fatalf("create A: status %d (%v)", res.code, res.body)
+	}
+	idA, _ := res.record(t)["id"].(string)
+
+	// B delegates to A. Still a DAG.
+	res = r.as(r.admin, "POST", "/api/v1/agent-definitions", map[string]any{
+		"markdown": agent("cycle-b", "Cycle B", 1, "cycle-a"), "visibility": "organization",
+	})
+	if res.code != http.StatusCreated {
+		t.Fatalf("create B pointing at A: status %d, want 201 — a chain is not a cycle (%v)",
+			res.code, res.body)
+	}
+
+	// Now close the loop: A delegates to B.
+	res = r.as(r.admin, "PATCH", "/api/v1/agent-definitions/"+idA, map[string]any{
+		"markdown": agent("cycle-a", "Cycle A", 2, "cycle-b"),
+	})
+	if res.code != http.StatusUnprocessableEntity && res.code != http.StatusBadRequest {
+		t.Fatalf("closing the loop: status %d, want a validation failure (%v)", res.code, res.body)
+	}
+	if body := fmt.Sprint(res.body); !strings.Contains(body, "cycle") {
+		t.Errorf("the refusal did not mention a cycle: %v", res.body)
+	}
+
+	// A must be unchanged — refused, not half-applied.
+	res = r.as(r.admin, "GET", "/api/v1/agent-definitions/"+idA, nil)
+	if md, _ := res.record(t)["markdown"].(string); strings.Contains(md, "cycle-b") {
+		t.Error("the refused edit was applied anyway")
+	}
+}
+
+// A self-reference is the shortest cycle and the easiest to write by accident.
+func TestSelfReferencingSubagentIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	r := newRBAC(t)
+
+	const md = `---
+id: narcissus-agent
+name: Narcissus Agent
+description: names itself
+status: published
+version: 1
+pages:
+  - candidates
+subagents:
+  - narcissus-agent
+---
+
+## Instructions
+Ask myself.
+`
+	res := r.as(r.admin, "POST", "/api/v1/agent-definitions", map[string]any{
+		"markdown": md, "visibility": "organization",
+	})
+	if res.code == http.StatusCreated {
+		t.Fatal("an agent naming itself as its own subagent was published")
+	}
+}

go-api/internal/service/definitions.go

@@ -234,6 +234,13 @@ func (s *DefinitionsService) CreateAgent(ctx context.Context, ident authctx.Iden
 		input.OwnerUserID = &ident.UserID
 	}
 
+	if err := s.refuseVersionGoingBackwards(ctx, ident, repo.KindAgent,
+		agent.ID, agent.Status, agent.Version); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if err := s.refuseSubagentCycle(ctx, ident, agent.ID, agent.Subagents); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	if err := s.refusePublishedRewrite(ctx, ident, repo.KindAgent,
 		agent.ID, markdown, agent.Status, agent.Version); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -302,6 +309,13 @@ func (s *DefinitionsService) UpdateAgent(ctx context.Context, ident authctx.Iden
 		input.Version = &agent.Version
 		input.Pages = agent.Pages
 
+		if err := s.refuseVersionGoingBackwards(ctx, ident, repo.KindAgent,
+			agent.ID, agent.Status, agent.Version); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		if err := s.refuseSubagentCycle(ctx, ident, agent.ID, agent.Subagents); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
 		if err := s.refusePublishedRewrite(ctx, ident, repo.KindAgent,
 			agent.ID, markdown, agent.Status, agent.Version); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
@@ -535,6 +549,80 @@ func (s *DefinitionsService) DeleteSkill(ctx context.Context, ident authctx.Iden
 
 /* ── Publishing ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
 
+// refuseVersionGoingBackwards enforces §3's "monotonic".
+//
+// Nothing enforced it before. A spec edited from an older copy republishes an
+// older number whose content still matches what was published under it, so the
+// rewrite guard sees no conflict and the deployed agent quietly goes
+// backwards — the version in the UI reads 2 while the newest thing anybody
+// approved was 3.
+func (s *DefinitionsService) refuseVersionGoingBackwards(ctx context.Context,
+	ident authctx.Identity, kind repo.VersionKind, definitionID, status string, version int) error {
+
+	if s.versions == nil || status != "published" || definitionID == "" || version < 1 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	latest, err := s.versions.LatestVersion(ctx, ident, kind, definitionID)
+	if err != nil || latest == 0 {
+		// Unreadable, or nothing published yet. Neither is grounds to refuse a
+		// save: the rewrite guard is what protects published text, and this
+		// only orders the numbers.
+		return nil
+	}
+	if version < latest {
+		return domain.Conflict(definition.ErrVersionWentBackwards(definitionID, latest, version).Error())
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// refuseSubagentCycle enforces §3's DAG at publish.
+//
+// The graph is every organization-visible agent plus the one being published,
+// with the incoming definition standing in for its stored self — otherwise an
+// edit that CREATES a cycle is checked against the version that did not have
+// one, and passes.
+//
+// Personal agents are not included. They are invisible to everyone else, so
+// they cannot complete a loop for anybody else, and loading them would mean
+// reading other people's drafts to validate your own.
+func (s *DefinitionsService) refuseSubagentCycle(ctx context.Context,
+	ident authctx.Identity, definitionID string, subagents []string) error {
+
+	if len(subagents) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	rows, _, err := s.repo.ListAgents(ctx, ident, repo.DefinitionListParams{
+		Visibility: "organization", Limit: 500,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		// A graph we could not read is not a graph we can call cyclic. The
+		// runtime depth cap is what holds when this cannot run.
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	graph := make(map[string][]string, len(rows)+1)
+	for _, rec := range rows {
+		id, _ := rec["definition_id"].(string)
+		markdown, _ := rec["markdown"].(string)
+		if id == "" || markdown == "" || id == definitionID {
+			continue // the incoming definition replaces its stored self, below
+		}
+		if parsed, err := definition.ParseAgent(markdown, definition.Options{}); err == nil && parsed != nil {
+			graph[id] = parsed.Subagents
+		}
+	}
+	graph[definitionID] = subagents
+
+	if cycle := definition.FindSubagentCycle(graph); cycle != "" {
+		return domain.Validation(
+			"that would create a delegation cycle: "+cycle+
+				". Delegation follows these edges, so a loop is a run that delegates "+
+				"until it runs out of budget.",
+			map[string]string{"subagents": "cycle"})
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // refusePublishedRewrite fails a publish that would change a version already
 // published, BEFORE anything is written.
 //