A plan settles an asked build from the build records (hq issue 214)

A merge to the controller's own repository replaces the controller in its first tier; the build
that produced the new one was recorded, the plan never heard it, and it waited for ever with every
later plan behind it. The record is the fact: a build recorded after the ask is the tier's outcome,
whoever was listening when it came.

cmd/mesh-controller/release_plan.go

@@ -399,6 +399,24 @@ func advanceOnce(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p *inventory.Plan,
 		}
 		return true, nil
 	}
+	// **Asked: settle from the build records first** (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/214). An outcome is taken
+	// in by whichever controller hears it, and a merge to the controller's own repository replaces
+	// the controller in its first tier: the build that produced the new one is recorded, and the
+	// plan never hears it. The record is the fact; a build recorded after the ask is that tier's
+	// outcome, whoever was listening.
+	recorded := map[string][]inventory.Build{}
+	for _, m := range tier {
+		if s := p.Modules[m]; s != nil && s.State == "asked" {
+			builds, err := inv.Builds(ctx, m, 5)
+			if err != nil {
+				return false, err
+			}
+			recorded[m] = builds
+		}
+	}
+	if settleFromRecords(p, tier, recorded) {
+		return true, nil
+	}
 	// Asked: wait for every build.
 	var latest time.Time
 	for _, m := range tier {
@@ -755,3 +773,41 @@ func splitList(s string) []string {
 	}
 	return out
 }
+
+// settleFromRecords marks every module of the tier still `asked` built — or failed — from a build
+// recorded after it was asked, and says whether it changed anything (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/214).
+// Newest first, as Builds answers: the first record after the ask is the outcome of that ask.
+func settleFromRecords(p *inventory.Plan, tier []string, recorded map[string][]inventory.Build) bool {
+	changed := false
+	for _, m := range tier {
+		s := p.Modules[m]
+		if s == nil || s.State != "asked" || s.AskedAt == nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		var outcome *inventory.Build
+		for i := range recorded[m] {
+			b := recorded[m][i]
+			if b.At.Before(*s.AskedAt) {
+				break
+			}
+			outcome = &b
+		}
+		if outcome == nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		at := outcome.At
+		if outcome.Worked() {
+			s.State = "built"
+			s.BuiltAt = &at
+			s.Commit = outcome.Commit
+		} else {
+			s.State = "failed"
+			s.Why = outcome.Failed
+			p.State = inventory.PlanFailed
+			p.Note = fmt.Sprintf("%s failed to build in tier %d", m, p.Tier)
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("%s: %s settled from the build records as %s (%s)\n", p.ID, m, s.State, outcome.ID)
+		changed = true
+	}
+	return changed
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/release_plan_test.go

@@ -115,3 +115,40 @@ func TestACycleIsOneLastTierAndSaidSo(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("a cycle should be one tier of two, said: %v", tiers)
 	}
 }
+
+// novox/hq 04-ISSUES/214: a plan whose build outcome was recorded while no controller followed it —
+// the controller rebuilding itself — settles from the build records instead of waiting for ever.
+func TestAPlanSettlesAnAskedBuildFromTheRecords(t *testing.T) {
+	asked := time.Date(2026, 10, 3, 19, 20, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	p := inventory.Plan{ID: "plan-1", Tiers: [][]string{{"mesh-controller", "builder"}, {"route-proxy"}},
+		Modules: map[string]*inventory.PlanModule{
+			"mesh-controller": {State: "asked", AskedAt: &asked},
+			"builder":         {State: "asked", AskedAt: &asked},
+		}}
+	records := map[string][]inventory.Build{
+		// Newest first, as Builds answers: the build after the ask is the outcome.
+		"mesh-controller": {
+			{ID: "build-2", Commit: "2ebbb799", At: asked.Add(4 * time.Minute)},
+			{ID: "build-1", Commit: "06ea2168", At: asked.Add(-10 * time.Minute)},
+		},
+		// Only a build from before the ask: not this ask's outcome.
+		"builder": {{ID: "build-0", Commit: "06ea2168", At: asked.Add(-time.Hour)}},
+	}
+	if !settleFromRecords(&p, p.Tiers[0], records) {
+		t.Fatal("nothing settled, though the controller's build is recorded after the ask")
+	}
+	if s := p.Modules["mesh-controller"]; s.State != "built" || s.Commit != "2ebbb799" || s.BuiltAt == nil {
+		t.Errorf("the controller's ask is %+v, want built from 2ebbb799", s)
+	}
+	if s := p.Modules["builder"]; s.State != "asked" {
+		t.Errorf("an ask with no record after it was settled: %+v", s)
+	}
+
+	// A failure recorded after the ask fails the plan, as hearing it would have.
+	q := inventory.Plan{ID: "plan-2", Tiers: [][]string{{"x"}},
+		Modules: map[string]*inventory.PlanModule{"x": {State: "asked", AskedAt: &asked}}}
+	settleFromRecords(&q, q.Tiers[0], map[string][]inventory.Build{"x": {{ID: "b", Failed: "no", At: asked.Add(time.Minute)}}})
+	if q.State != inventory.PlanFailed || q.Modules["x"].State != "failed" {
+		t.Errorf("a recorded failure did not fail the plan: %+v %+v", q, q.Modules["x"])
+	}
+}