bug(review): review abandon is gated by the managed reviewer assets check it exists to escape — the prescribed sync cannot repair it #5735

Pre-flight Checklist

• I have searched existing issues and this is not a duplicate
• I understand that PRs will be rejected if the linked issue does not have status:approved

📝 Bug Description

review abandon — the operator's documented escape hatch for a stuck lineage — fails during repository-root resolution with managed reviewer assets are outdated; run gentle-ai sync, and the prescribed sync cannot clear the gate. Seven sync invocations across four binaries (installed PATH binary, a repo-built binary, and the dev-binary-override gentle-ai-beta at two different versions; both scoped --agent pi and bare all-agents forms) all exited 0, and none changed the abandon refusal. The gate also persisted after ~/.gentle-ai/state.json was verified to record the executing binary's own version and managed-asset digest, so a matching last-synced digest alone does not satisfy the abandon check. A review that stops on managed_assets_outdated therefore also loses its only in-facade escape. Observed evidence only; no root cause is asserted.

🔄 Steps to Reproduce

1. Register a gentle-pi dev-binary override pointing at a repo-built binary (~/.pi/gentle-ai/dev-binary.json, schema gentle-pi.dev-binary/v1, path <repo>/gentle-ai-beta), so native review operations execute through that binary.
2. Start an ordinary native review; the lineage is created and the authority freezes (lineage in this report: review-0bb2de9ce872fb4d, tier high).
3. Change the agent environment mid-review (this session removed an unstable provider package with pi remove and purged its registry/credential entries).
4. Bound STATUS stops with reason_code: managed_assets_outdated and a sync continuation.
5. Run every form of the prescribed remediation: bare gentle-ai sync (13 agents), gentle-ai sync --agent pi (installed binary), <repo>/gentle-ai sync --agent pi, and <repo>/gentle-ai-beta sync --agent pi (before and after rebuilding that binary from the current branch tip). All exit 0.
6. Run review abandon (lineage/actor/reason operator_disposition) through the facade: fails with the repo-root error above.
7. Re-run the executing binary's own sync last; confirm ~/.gentle-ai/state.json now records that binary's version and digest; retry review abandon once: identical failure.

✅ Expected Behavior

Either:

• review abandon is not gated by the managed reviewer assets state it is the escape hatch for, or
• the error names the specific asset and the expected-vs-actual digests, and the prescription names exactly which binary's sync can repair the executing binary's gate (per bug(review): the unachievable-lens withdraw command is the one stop command not anchored to its binary, so relays run it through PATH #5698, the abandon continuation of correction_context_budget_exceeded is already anchored to its issuing binary; the abandon operation should stay reachable under the same discipline).

❌ Actual Behavior

• review abandon failed 4 of 4 attempts with the identical error, empty stdout, exit 1.
• Every prescribed sync exited 0 and changed at least one managed file; none altered the refusal.
• The error names no asset, no digest, and no binary; the lineage remains in reviewing with no operator-side escape via the facade.
• Reviewer slot state was preserved on every failed native invocation; nothing was burned.

Gentle AI Version

Executing binary (dev-binary override, <repo>/gentle-ai-beta): 4.2.1-0.20261024083159-cf5a7dee9b15+dirty, rebuilt from the branch tip mid-session; the override had previously pointed at 4.0.1-0.20261009023432-4e020a8a26d5. Installed PATH binary: 4.2.1-0.20261017131020-d98d27977b2e+dirty.

Operating System

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

AI Agent / Client

Other

📋 Affected Area

CLI (commands, flags)

💡 Logs / Error Output

# review abandon — 4 of 4 attempts, identical (facade diagnostics)
operation: review/abandon
error_code: empty-output
exit_code: 1
stderr: Error: resolve review repository root: managed reviewer assets are outdated; run `gentle-ai sync`

# sync invocations (all exit 0)
gentle-ai sync --agent pi                          -> 1 managed file changed
gentle-ai sync (bare, 13 agents)                   -> 3 managed files changed
<repo>/gentle-ai-beta sync --agent pi (4.0.1)      -> 3 files changed, then "No managed files changed"
<repo>/gentle-ai sync --agent pi                   -> 3 files changed
<repo>/gentle-ai-beta sync --agent pi (4.2.1 tip)  -> 1 file changed

# ~/.gentle-ai/state.json after the last (executor) sync
installed_binary_version: 4.2.1-0.20261024083159-cf5a7dee9b15+dirty
managed_asset_digest:      sha256:a25e438751c754fac9a29703a78dea5df68efde6dd836daea0d3ad6fe43af4bd

# the final abandon retry still refused with the identical error

Additional Context

Related but not equivalent surfaces of the same asset-gate family:

Observed nuance: the dev-binary override points at a repo path whose binary was rebuilt mid-lineage (4.0.1 to 4.2.1 branch tip), so the executor's identity drifted under a stable override path — a time-shifted variant of the two-binary trap. No root cause is asserted; all observed outputs, sync results, and state digests were captured in-session, the lineage remains in reviewing with reviewer slots unburned, and no state was deleted.