---
slug: 01-09-recovery-flow
status: RESOLVED
goal: find_and_fix
trigger: Plan 01-09 Task 5 operator empirical UAT surfaced operator-lockout after Chrome "Stop sharing" mid-recording
tdd_mode: true
phase: 01-stabilize-video-pipeline
plan: 01-09
opened: 2026-05-17
resolved: 2026-05-17
red_commit: 91b4475
green_commit: b9eeeeb
specialist_review: typescript-expert (not invoked — straight TDD fix, no design ambiguity)
---

# Debug session 01-09-recovery-flow — Bug B operator-lockout

## Problem statement

During Plan 01-09 Task 5 operator empirical UAT, after the operator clicks
Chrome's "Stop sharing" banner mid-recording, the extension enters a
locked-out state: the toolbar badge stays on ERROR (yellow `ERR`), the
popup remains in SAVE-only mode pointing at `src/popup/index.html`, and
the operator has no path to restart recording. Root mechanism:
`chrome.action.onClicked` only fires when `chrome.action.setPopup({popup: ''})`
is active (per the MV3 spec: a non-empty `default_popup` causes the toolbar
click to open the popup rather than fire `onClicked`). The `RECORDING_ERROR`
handler in `src/background/index.ts:725-744` unconditionally called
`setErrorMode()` regardless of the incoming `message.error` code, including
for `user-stopped-sharing` — which is not actually an error but a deliberate
end-of-session signal from the operator. With the popup pinned, the
toolbar-click restart path was gone. Operator perception: "recording never
stops, and I can't start it again." The accompanying recovery notification
was also failing for a separate reason (Bug A — icon files were placeholder
stubs below Chrome `imageUtil` minimums; resolved at a881bf0). Bug B is the
state-routing fix that remained.

## Hypotheses verified by prior session (preserved, not re-verified)

The prior gsd-debug session-manager completed empirical verification on
three hypotheses before context-anxiety pause; this session preserves the
diagnostic record without re-running.

### H1: `chrome.action.onClicked` is gated by popup presence

**Status:** VERIFIED. Per the W3C MV3 spec and the Chromium implementation
of `chrome.action`, the `onClicked` event fires for the toolbar icon click
only when `default_popup` is unset (empty string OR not specified in the
manifest). The Plan 01-09 design uses Option B (`setPopup('')` for idle,
`setPopup('src/popup/index.html')` for recording) precisely because clicking
when popup is set opens the popup instead of firing onClicked — pinning the
state machine forces the dispatch outcome. Confirmed by inspecting
`src/background/index.ts` `setIdleMode/setRecordingMode/setErrorMode`
(lines 93-108) and cross-referencing the existing
`tests/background/badge-state-machine.test.ts` Test D dispatch behavior.
Implication for Bug B: `setErrorMode()` flips popup to
`src/popup/index.html`, so any subsequent toolbar click opens the (empty,
SAVE-only) popup instead of firing onClicked. Operator restart path closed.

### H2: Offscreen recorder emits `RECORDING_ERROR{error:'user-stopped-sharing'}` after `resetBuffer`

**Status:** VERIFIED. `src/offscreen/recorder.ts:451-480`
(`onUserStoppedSharing`) is registered on every captured track via
`addEventListener('ended', onUserStoppedSharing, {once: true})`. The
handler is idempotent-guarded by `teardownInProgress`. On fire, it calls
`resetBuffer()` (line 458), stops the MediaRecorder, releases all tracks,
and emits `chrome.runtime.sendMessage({type:'RECORDING_ERROR', error:
'user-stopped-sharing'})` (line 471). The buffer is therefore EMPTY by
the time the SW receives the message — SAVE-only popup mode would have
nothing to save. Implication for Bug B: the IDLE landing state is
architecturally correct; SAVE-only mode (the current routing's outcome)
is meaningless because no segments remain.

### H3: No alternative restart path exists when popup is pinned

**Status:** VERIFIED. Reviewed the chrome.* surfaces the extension
exposes: `chrome.action.onClicked` (gated by popup), `chrome.notifications
.onClicked` (would work, but Bug A — corrupt icon files — was suppressing
the recovery notification; even after Bug A's a881bf0 fix, an unreliable
notification is not an acceptable primary restart UX), and `chrome.runtime
.onStartup` (only fires on browser session start, not mid-session). The
toolbar click is the canonical restart gesture per the Plan 01-09 charter
("per-session clicks drop from 3 to 2"). No backup path exists; the
toolbar click MUST be made operative after stop-sharing.

## Fix design

The patch applies conditional routing to the existing `RECORDING_ERROR`
case in `src/background/index.ts`:

```typescript
case 'RECORDING_ERROR': {
  const errorCode = (message as unknown as { error?: unknown }).error;
  if (errorCode === 'user-stopped-sharing') {
    isRecording = false;
    setIdleMode();
  } else {
    setErrorMode();
    // ... existing recovery-notification block preserved
  }
  return false;
}
```

Three sub-decisions:

1. **`isRecording = false`** alongside `setIdleMode()` for the
   stop-sharing branch. The offscreen recorder has already released
   tracks and reset the buffer; the SW state must mirror that so a
   subsequent `chrome.action.onClicked` doesn't trip the
   `if (isRecording) return` guard at the top of the click handler
   (`src/background/index.ts:811-815`).

2. **Recovery notification suppressed** for stop-sharing. The operator
   performed the action deliberately; surfacing a "Recording stopped"
   notification would be UX noise. Genuine errors (codec-unsupported,
   wrong-display-surface, etc.) keep the notification — those are
   unexpected and the operator benefits from an explicit click-to-restart
   surface.

3. **Type-safe narrowing** via `(message as unknown as { error?: unknown }).error`.
   The canonical `Message` interface (`src/shared/types.ts:25-29`) only
   types `type/data/tabId`; the offscreen recorder emits the extra
   `error` field as part of the `RECORDING_ERROR` wire shape. The
   double-cast keeps us off `as any` per project type discipline.

No refactor warranted — the conditional adds one narrow + one if/else.
Extracting a `routeRecordingError(code)` helper would just move the
same 2-arm switch one level down without complexity reduction.

## RED → GREEN evidence

### RED commit: `91b4475`

Extended `tests/background/badge-state-machine.test.ts` with Tests E + F:

- **Test E** (RED today): asserts `RECORDING_ERROR{error:'user-stopped-sharing'}`
  triggers `setBadgeText({text:''})` + `setBadgeBackgroundColor({color:'#D32F2F'})`
  + `setPopup({popup:''})`, AND does NOT trigger ERROR-state side effects
  (no ERR text, no yellow color, no popup html re-set). Snapshot baseline
  after init isolates the dispatch delta.
- **Test F** (GREEN today, preservation guard): asserts that any other
  error code (representative: `'codec-unsupported'`) continues to route
  through `setErrorMode` — badge ERR + yellow + popup html. Regression
  pin against the fix over-rotating to IDLE for all codes.

Vitest output at RED:
```
 FAIL  tests/background/badge-state-machine.test.ts > Test E
AssertionError: expected 0 to be greater than or equal to 1
  → expect(offTextAfter - offTextBefore).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(1);

 Test Files  1 failed (1)
      Tests  1 failed | 5 passed (6)
```

### GREEN commit: `b9eeeeb`

Patched `src/background/index.ts` RECORDING_ERROR case with conditional
routing per the fix design above.

Vitest output at GREEN:
```
 Test Files  18 passed (18)
      Tests  83 passed (83)
```

(Was 81/81 GREEN before this debug session; +2 from new Tests E+F.
Bug B test Tests E + F both GREEN.)

Toolchain:
- `npx tsc --noEmit` → exit 0
- `npm run build` → exit 0; `dist/manifest.json` and bundle assets
  emitted cleanly.

## Files modified

- `tests/background/badge-state-machine.test.ts` (+157 lines: Tests E+F,
  plus 2 helpers `badgeColorCallsFor` + `setPopupCallsFor`, plus header
  comment expansion).
- `src/background/index.ts` (case-block patch only, lines 725-744 →
  rewritten as conditional routing; +48 / −14).

## Follow-ups for orchestrator

- Pre-checkpoint bundle gates (SW CSP, Node-globals, Tier-1
  SW-bundle-import gate, manifest validation) — NOT performed by this
  debug session per scope instruction. Orchestrator runs these before
  any operator UAT re-surface.
- Operator UAT re-run validates both Bug A (recovery notification fires
  via working icons) AND Bug B (badge transitions to OFF on stop-sharing
  + toolbar click restarts recording). The recovery notification is now
  ONLY emitted for genuine errors (not for stop-sharing) — UAT step 11
  expectation needs adjustment: after operator clicks "Stop sharing",
  badge transitions to OFF (not ERROR), and NO recovery notification
  fires. To restart, operator clicks the toolbar icon directly.