claude adapter swallows the agent's real error on non-zero exit - reports empty "claude exited with code 1: " for API/model errors

[ooiyeefei]

What happened?

Expected vs actual:

▎ Expected: when the spawned claude CLI fails with an API/model error, gnhf surfaces that error in notes.md and the iteration record so I can diagnose it.

▎ Actual: gnhf reports only claude exited with code 1: (note the empty string after the colon). The real, actionable error was emitted by claude on stdout as a stream-json result event, but gnhf builds its failure message from stderr only, which was empty - so the diagnostic is discarded. This makes the failure undiagnosable and silently triggers the consecutive-failure + exponential-backoff path (1m → 2m → 4m of "waiting"). It took reading the raw .gnhf/runs/<id>/iteration-N.jsonl by hand to find the actual cause.

Two concrete cases I hit (same opaque symptom, different real cause):

▎ - On AWS Bedrock, a bare model id → stdout result: {"is_error":true,"api_error_status":400,"result":"API Error (claude-opus-4-8): 400 The provided model identifier is invalid.. Try --model to switch to us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-7.","error":"model_not_found"}
▎ - On the first-party subscription, a us.anthropic.-prefixed id → stdout result: {"is_error":true,"api_error_status":404,"result":"There's an issue with the selected model (us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-8[1m]). It may not exist or you may not have access to it. Run --model to pick a different model.","error":"model_not_found"}
▎ In both, gnhf logged only claude exited with code 1: .

Root cause (pinpointed in source):

▎ src/core/agents/claude.ts, in child.on("close", (code) => …): on code !== 0 it does const detail = \ claude exited with code ${code}: ${stderr}and rejects with that. The adapter already parses the JSONL stream (it tracks resultEvent/finalStructuredResultEvent/latestResultUsage) but ignores the captured resultevent's result/is_error/api_error_status text on the error branch. Claude Code writes API errors to stdout, not stderr, sostderr` is empty.

Suggested fix:

▎ On non-zero exit, if a result event was captured, include its result string (and api_error_status / the last assistant text block) in the rejection message and the notes.md entry, falling back to stderr only when no result event exists.

How to reproduce

• Command: gnhf --agent claude (resuming a run; no --model, so the spawned claude uses its saved settings.json default model)
• Agent/model: claude; Claude Code routed to AWS Bedrock (CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1) whose account/region didn't have the saved default model id → 400. Same opaque symptom reproduces on the first-party API with a Bedrock-format id → 404.
• Anything that makes the spawned claude exit 1 after emitting a stdout result event with is_error:true reproduces it.

gnhf version

0.1.41

Agent

claude

Model / provider (if relevant)

claudecode , opus 4.8

OS and Node version

node --version: v22.16.0 , OS: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS · Linux 6.17.0-1017-aws x86_64

Debug log (gnhf.log)

{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:30:44.572Z","pid":879750,"event":"iteration:end","iteration":29,"elapsedMs":1363928,"success":true,"summary":"Confirmed the safe client-side anti-flash levers are exhausted and shipped the safe, verifiable half of lever #4's cold-start sign-in fold: businesses.getTrialStatusByClerkId now additively returns the user's saved language at zero extra DB read, enabling a future middleware fold to collapse two sequential cold-start Convex round-trips into one.","keyChanges":3,"keyLearnings":4,"consecutiveFailures":0,"totalInputTokens":10225052,"totalOutputTokens":93534,"tokensEstimated":false,"commitCount":22}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:30:44.579Z","pid":879750,"event":"iteration:start","iteration":30,"promptLength":2308,"consecutiveFailures":0,"totalInputTokens":10225052,"totalOutputTokens":93534,"git":{"head":"5e8b75cf61ec9ea849716a47e1b39cb2e00390f8","branch":"gnhf/improve-our-app-perf-2a865d","commitCount":22}}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:30:44.579Z","pid":879750,"event":"agent:run:start","iteration":30,"agent":"claude","logPath":"/home/fei/fei/code/groot-finance/app-loading/.gnhf/runs/improve-our-app-perf-2a865d/iteration-30.jsonl"}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:30:47.947Z","pid":879750,"event":"agent:run:error","iteration":30,"elapsedMs":3366,"error":{"name":"Error","message":"claude exited with code 1: ","stack":"Error: claude exited with code 1: \n    at ChildProcess.<anonymous> (file:///home/fei/.nvm/versions/node/v22.16.0/lib/node_modules/gnhf/dist/cli.mjs:14181:128)\n    at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:530:35)\n    at maybeClose (node:internal/child_process:1101:16)\n    at ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:304:5)"}}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:30:47.973Z","pid":879750,"event":"iteration:end","iteration":30,"elapsedMs":3394,"success":false,"summary":"claude exited with code 1: ","keyChanges":0,"keyLearnings":0,"consecutiveFailures":1,"totalInputTokens":10225052,"totalOutputTokens":93534,"tokensEstimated":false,"commitCount":22}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:30:47.973Z","pid":879750,"event":"backoff:start","iteration":30,"consecutiveErrors":1,"backoffMs":60000}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:31:47.974Z","pid":879750,"event":"backoff:end","iteration":30,"stopRequested":false}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:31:47.983Z","pid":879750,"event":"iteration:start","iteration":31,"promptLength":2308,"consecutiveFailures":1,"totalInputTokens":10225052,"totalOutputTokens":93534,"git":{"head":"5e8b75cf61ec9ea849716a47e1b39cb2e00390f8","branch":"gnhf/improve-our-app-perf-2a865d","commitCount":22}}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:31:47.983Z","pid":879750,"event":"agent:run:start","iteration":31,"agent":"claude","logPath":"/home/fei/fei/code/groot-finance/app-loading/.gnhf/runs/improve-our-app-perf-2a865d/iteration-31.jsonl"}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:31:51.082Z","pid":879750,"event":"agent:run:error","iteration":31,"elapsedMs":3099,"error":{"name":"Error","message":"claude exited with code 1: ","stack":"Error: claude exited with code 1: \n    at ChildProcess.<anonymous> (file:///home/fei/.nvm/versions/node/v22.16.0/lib/node_modules/gnhf/dist/cli.mjs:14181:128)\n    at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:530:35)\n    at maybeClose (node:internal/child_process:1101:16)\n    at ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:304:5)"}}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:31:51.107Z","pid":879750,"event":"iteration:end","iteration":31,"elapsedMs":3124,"success":false,"summary":"claude exited with code 1: ","keyChanges":0,"keyLearnings":0,"consecutiveFailures":2,"totalInputTokens":10225052,"totalOutputTokens":93534,"tokensEstimated":false,"commitCount":22}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:31:51.107Z","pid":879750,"event":"backoff:start","iteration":31,"consecutiveErrors":2,"backoffMs":120000}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:33:51.107Z","pid":879750,"event":"backoff:end","iteration":31,"stopRequested":false}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:33:51.116Z","pid":879750,"event":"iteration:start","iteration":32,"promptLength":2308,"consecutiveFailures":2,"totalInputTokens":10225052,"totalOutputTokens":93534,"git":{"head":"5e8b75cf61ec9ea849716a47e1b39cb2e00390f8","branch":"gnhf/improve-our-app-perf-2a865d","commitCount":22}}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:33:51.116Z","pid":879750,"event":"agent:run:start","iteration":32,"agent":"claude","logPath":"/home/fei/fei/code/groot-finance/app-loading/.gnhf/runs/improve-our-app-perf-2a865d/iteration-32.jsonl"}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:33:54.209Z","pid":879750,"event":"agent:run:error","iteration":32,"elapsedMs":3092,"error":{"name":"Error","message":"claude exited with code 1: ","stack":"Error: claude exited with code 1: \n    at ChildProcess.<anonymous> (file:///home/fei/.nvm/versions/node/v22.16.0/lib/node_modules/gnhf/dist/cli.mjs:14181:128)\n    at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:530:35)\n    at maybeClose (node:internal/child_process:1101:16)\n    at ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:304:5)"}}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:33:54.233Z","pid":879750,"event":"iteration:end","iteration":32,"elapsedMs":3117,"success":false,"summary":"claude exited with code 1: ","keyChanges":0,"keyLearnings":0,"consecutiveFailures":3,"totalInputTokens":10225052,"totalOutputTokens":93534,"tokensEstimated":false,"commitCount":22}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:33:54.233Z","pid":879750,"event":"orchestrator:abort","reason":"3 consecutive failures","iteration":32,"consecutiveFailures":3}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T00:33:54.234Z","pid":879750,"event":"orchestrator:end","status":"aborted","iterations":32,"successCount":1,"failCount":3,"totalInputTokens":10225052,"totalOutputTokens":93534,"commitCount":22}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T01:39:11.171Z","pid":879750,"event":"signal:SIGINT"}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T01:39:11.204Z","pid":879750,"event":"run:complete","signal":"SIGINT","status":"aborted","iterations":32,"successCount":1,"failCount":3,"totalInputTokens":10225052,"totalOutputTokens":93534,"commitCount":22,"worktreePath":null}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T01:46:35.855Z","pid":1367104,"event":"sleep:unavailable","command":"systemd-inhibit","exitCode":1}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T01:46:35.870Z","pid":1367104,"event":"run:start","args":["--agent","claude"],"runId":"improve-our-app-perf-2a865d","runDir":"/home/fei/fei/code/groot-finance/app-loading/.gnhf/runs/improve-our-app-perf-2a865d","agent":"claude","promptLength":607,"promptFromStdin":false,"startIteration":32,"preventSleep":true,"agentArgsOverride":["--model","us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-8"],"worktree":false,"worktreePath":null,"currentBranch":false,"push":false,"platform":"linux","nodeVersion":"v22.16.0","gnhfVersion":"0.1.41"}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T01:46:35.879Z","pid":1367104,"event":"orchestrator:start","agent":"claude","runId":"improve-our-app-perf-2a865d","startIteration":32,"push":false,"maxConsecutiveFailures":3,"baseCommit":"0ae5bb234596eef0487bc63d263a128576e50b74","initialCommitCount":22}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T01:46:35.885Z","pid":1367104,"event":"iteration:start","iteration":33,"promptLength":2713,"consecutiveFailures":0,"totalInputTokens":0,"totalOutputTokens":0,"git":{"head":"5e8b75cf61ec9ea849716a47e1b39cb2e00390f8","branch":"gnhf/improve-our-app-perf-2a865d","commitCount":22}}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T01:46:35.885Z","pid":1367104,"event":"agent:run:start","iteration":33,"agent":"claude","logPath":"/home/fei/fei/code/groot-finance/app-loading/.gnhf/runs/improve-our-app-perf-2a865d/iteration-33.jsonl"}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T02:07:00.764Z","pid":1367104,"event":"orchestrator:graceful-stop-requested","iteration":33,"hasActiveIteration":true,"status":"running"}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T02:07:00.764Z","pid":1367104,"event":"signal:SIGINT"}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T02:13:12.948Z","pid":1367104,"event":"agent:run:end","iteration":33,"elapsedMs":1597063,"success":true,"inputTokens":12685131,"outputTokens":102488,"cacheReadTokens":12643228,"cacheCreationTokens":223351,"estimated":false}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T02:13:12.982Z","pid":1367104,"event":"iteration:end","iteration":33,"elapsedMs":1597097,"success":true,"summary":"Eliminated a redundant second sequential cold-start Convex round-trip on the highest-traffic admin landing page (dashboard) — it now reads finance_admin from the role_permissions ensureUserProfile already returned instead of awaiting a separate getUserRole() call, shortening how long the loading.tsx skeleton lingers on first paint.","keyChanges":4,"keyLearnings":4,"consecutiveFailures":0,"totalInputTokens":12685131,"totalOutputTokens":102488,"tokensEstimated":false,"commitCount":23}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T02:13:12.982Z","pid":1367104,"event":"orchestrator:graceful-stop-complete","iteration":33,"consecutiveFailures":0}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T02:13:12.982Z","pid":1367104,"event":"orchestrator:end","status":"stopped","iterations":33,"successCount":1,"failCount":0,"totalInputTokens":12685131,"totalOutputTokens":102488,"commitCount":23}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T02:13:13.012Z","pid":1367104,"event":"run:complete","signal":"SIGINT","status":"stopped","iterations":33,"successCount":1,"failCount":0,"totalInputTokens":12685131,"totalOutputTokens":102488,"commitCount":23,"worktreePath":null}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T02:13:35.037Z","pid":1534288,"event":"sleep:unavailable","command":"systemd-inhibit","exitCode":1}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T02:13:35.052Z","pid":1534288,"event":"run:start","args":["--agent","claude","--max-iterations","35"],"runId":"improve-our-app-perf-2a865d","runDir":"/home/fei/fei/code/groot-finance/app-loading/.gnhf/runs/improve-our-app-perf-2a865d","agent":"claude","promptLength":607,"promptFromStdin":true,"startIteration":33,"maxIterations":35,"preventSleep":true,"agentArgsOverride":["--model","us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-8"],"worktree":false,"worktreePath":null,"currentBranch":false,"push":false,"platform":"linux","nodeVersion":"v22.16.0","gnhfVersion":"0.1.41"}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T02:13:35.060Z","pid":1534288,"event":"orchestrator:start","agent":"claude","runId":"improve-our-app-perf-2a865d","startIteration":33,"maxIterations":35,"push":false,"maxConsecutiveFailures":3,"baseCommit":"0ae5bb234596eef0487bc63d263a128576e50b74","initialCommitCount":23}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T02:13:35.066Z","pid":1534288,"event":"iteration:start","iteration":34,"promptLength":2713,"consecutiveFailures":0,"totalInputTokens":0,"totalOutputTokens":0,"git":{"head":"22e0454094020083cf134d04cc36ca7be469e93c","branch":"gnhf/improve-our-app-perf-2a865d","commitCount":23}}
{"timestamp":"2026-06-26T02:13:35.066Z","pid":1534288,"event":"agent:run:start","iteration":34,"agent":"claude","logPath":"/home/fei/fei/code/groot-finance/app-loading/.gnhf/runs/improve-our-app-perf-2a865d/iteration-34.jsonl"}

notes.md (optional)

Anything else

No response