feat(mcp): always-explicit retryable on structured errors + transient inference (P1-1) (#875)

Agents could not distinguish 'keep retrying' from 'stop, this is
broken' (agent.feedback): retryable was emitted only when a registry
entry declared true — absent otherwise, including for genuinely
transient DB/network failures whose SQLSTATE is lost when tools wrap
them as Error('Database error: ...').

- StructuredError.retryable is now a required boolean. Registry
  declaration wins; otherwise isTransientFailure() infers from Postgres
  SQLSTATEs (40001/40P01/57014/08xxx/53xxx/55P03), upstream HTTP
  statuses (408/429/5xx), and message signatures that survive wrapping
  (deadlock, serialization, statement timeout, fetch/socket failures).
- Unclassified transient failures surface as stable code
  TRANSIENT_ERROR (new registry entry, retryable: true).
- categorize_transaction accepts idempotency_key — the tool agents
  blind-retry after client-side approval-elicitation drops; the key
  makes that retry replay-safe instead of double-staging.
- Contract documented in .claude/rules/mcp-server.md. The planned
  'kind' field was dropped: the code registry already encodes it;
  retryable is the agent-actionable bit.

Every tool error already flows through the single dispatch point
(toToolError -> getStructuredError), so coverage is universal without
per-tool migration. Full unit suite: 6575 tests green.

Part of dev_docs/mcp_optimization_plan.md (P1-1).

Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Jakob Wennberg
2026-07-03 10:29:58 +02:00
committed by GitHub
co-authored by Claude Fable 5
parent 001de3c844
commit 250cc7c450
6 changed files with 135 additions and 10 deletions
+1
View File
@@ -22,3 +22,4 @@ Accounted exposes its bookkeeping engine as an MCP server for Claude Desktop/Cod
- Machine-readable staging contract: `tools/list` (and `gnubok_search_tools` detail=full) attach a derived `_meta` to staging writes so an agent knows the contract WITHOUT reading prose. `deriveToolMeta()` keys off `outputSchema === STAGED_OPERATION_SCHEMA` and emits `{ requires_approval: true, approve_tool: 'gnubok_approve_pending_operation', preflight? }`; it merges under any literal `_meta` (e.g. UI widget hints), which wins on collision. Add to `TOOL_PREFLIGHT_MAP` when a write has a genuine read-only pre-flight (e.g. `gnubok_run_year_end` → `gnubok_year_end_readiness`). A new staging tool inherits `_meta` for free — just keep its description declaring it stages (guarded by `__tests__/staging-meta.test.ts`). `confirmed=true` belongs on the APPROVE call for high-risk ops, never on the staging tool; only some tools accept `dry_run`/`idempotency_key` — never imply they are universal.
- Skill/atom summaries: `gnubok_list_skills` and `gnubok_get_agent_briefing` pass registry `description` fields through `toSummary()` (`skills/atoms.ts`) — the raw SKILL.md frontmatter is a long keyword-stuffed trigger list authored for CLI matching, not display copy, and gets truncated mid-sentence otherwise. Full bodies are fetched via `gnubok_load_skill`. The local `.claude/skills/*` are the Claude-Code surface; the `agent_atom_registry` rows seeded from the same bodies are the canonical connector surface — when they overlap, the connector atom is authoritative for MCP users.
- Tools that touch a fiscal-period-bound date (categorize, mark paid, create voucher, correct/reverse entry, approve supplier invoice) pass `dateForPeriodCheck` to `stagePendingOperation` so the response includes `period_status: { period_id, status: open|locked|closed, lock_date }`. Widgets and agents use this to disable writes without round-trips.
- Error envelope: every tool failure flows through the single dispatch point (`toToolError` → `getStructuredError`) and returns `{ error: { code, message_sv, message_en, retryable, remediation? } }`. `retryable` is ALWAYS an explicit boolean — `true` means transient (back off and retry the identical call, pairing with `idempotency_key` where the tool accepts one); `false` means permanent for these inputs (fix arguments/state, never blind-retry). Unclassified transient failures (deadlock, statement timeout, connection drop, upstream 429/5xx) surface as code `TRANSIENT_ERROR`. Don't wrap errors in ad-hoc shapes inside tools — throw (typed errors or plain `Error`; SQLSTATE/message inference handles classification) and let the dispatch layer build the envelope. Client-side failures (e.g. the claude.ai approval elicitation's "No approval received") never reach this envelope — idempotency keys are what make those blind retries safe.