---
name: stale-breadcrumb-tree-kill-class
description: "releases#32 RCA — test cleanup taskkill /F /T on unauthenticated daemon.pid/brain.ready breadcrumbs + Windows pid reuse (min 2.2s on hfenduleam) = random Phase A collateral kills, bare exit 1 no panic"
metadata: 
  node_type: memory
  type: project
  originSessionId: 6c0a72dc-b7e0-4516-9fc1-23f61e6c2c50
  modified: 2026-07-31T03:23:08.603Z
---

releases#32 (worker_lifecycle_e2e Phase A intermittent) RCA 2026-07-30: bare exit 1 + no panic = TerminateProcess (taskkill), NOT an assertion (libtest exits 101). Class: 6 spt e2e files taskkill /F /T the daemon.pid breadcrumb (28+ contain brain.ready∩taskkill) without authenticating the pid. Measured on hfenduleam: freed pids re-mint min 2.2s / p50 11.7s under ~35 spawns/s churn (~30% of spawns land recycled). activity_link_push_e2e is an ALWAYS-STALE double-kill on its PASS path (daemon stop → kill brain_pid → kill daemon.pid breadcrumb of the stopped daemon) — and it's also missing from nextest <HEAVY> despite spawning real broker+daemon (Phase A membership violates the sweep criterion).

**Why:** any intermittent Phase A bare-exit-1 death = suspect this class first; specific killer unattributable until kill sites log verdicts.
**How to apply:** guard pattern = 0443613 (image-path equality + creation-time + self/ancestor refusal + diagnostics-before-reap). Fix lane fix/authenticated-test-reapers off d26a2b2. Evidence: #32 comment 5138903509. nextest summary reprints FAILs at run end — a duplicate FAIL line with identical counter/duration is an echo, not a retry. endpoint.rs:77-83 "stale pid harmless" doc = falsified, product fix routed to todlando. Related [[subnet-visibility-lease-regression]] (same day, both = documented-false invariant class).