A failure that repeats is said to be stuck

The mesh kept one report per machine, replaced, so a resource nothing can ever apply
looked like a failure that had just happened, every reconcile interval, for ever.
The row now keeps when the current failure began and how many reports in a row have
said it — the same outcome, refusal and failed resources; anything different starts
again and a clean apply clears it. Three make the machine stuck, and status says so
beside the failure, in words and in JSON (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/065, ADR 0090).

cmd/mesh-controller/readable_test.go

@@ -139,3 +139,31 @@ func TestNoSecretIsInWhatABoardReads(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// A failure that has been reported identically enough times is said to be stuck, with when it
+// began and how many times — so a board can tell a machine looping on something that will never
+// apply from one that failed a minute ago (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/065, ADR 0090).
+func TestAMachineFailingTheSameWayIsSaidToBeStuck(t *testing.T) {
+	began := time.Date(2026, 9, 21, 9, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	got := statusOf(t,
+		[]inventory.Doing{
+			{Node: "looping", Outcome: inventory.OutcomeFailed, Since: &began, Times: inventory.StuckAfter,
+				Failed: []inventory.FailedResource{{ID: "img", Error: "no such image"}}},
+			{Node: "once", Outcome: inventory.OutcomeFailed, Since: &began, Times: 1,
+				Failed: []inventory.FailedResource{{ID: "img", Error: "no such image"}}},
+		},
+		[]inventory.Node{{Name: "looping"}, {Name: "once"}}, nil, nil, nil)
+
+	wrong, _ := got["wrong"].([]any)
+	looping, _ := wrong[0].(map[string]any)
+	if looping["stuck"] != true || looping["times"] != float64(inventory.StuckAfter) {
+		t.Fatalf("three identical failures are stuck: %v", looping)
+	}
+	if since, _ := looping["since"].(string); !strings.HasPrefix(since, "2026-09-21T09:00:00") {
+		t.Fatalf("when it began was not carried: %v", looping)
+	}
+	once, _ := wrong[1].(map[string]any)
+	if once["stuck"] != false || once["times"] != float64(1) {
+		t.Fatalf("one failure is not stuck: %v", once)
+	}
+}