prose-contracts/agent-health-check.prose.md

---
kind: responsibility
name: agent-health-check
description: >
  Consolidated agent health verification for the LiteLLM + GPU + Zulip +
  gateway fleet. Wraps scripts/agent-health-check.py (v4). Runs every 4 hours
  via cron and on-demand via "run contract: agent-health-check". Verifies:
  LiteLLM key validity, GPU port conflicts, agent Zulip streaming, gateway
  liveness, CT liveness, gateway log health, config YAML integrity,
  wrapper/CLI integrity, vault secret non-emptiness. NEVER restarts anything.
title: Agent Health Check — Consolidated
version: 1.0.0
runtime_contract: 2
agent: abiba
---

# Agent Health Check

Consolidated health verification for the LiteLLM + GPU + Zulip + gateway fleet.
Runs every 4 hours (2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22 UTC at :35) via cron (`35 2,6,10,14,18,22 * * *`) and on-demand. Never restarts anything — detects and reports only.

**Cadence rationale** (2026-08-28 decision): monitoring dispatches moved from hourly to every 4 hours to reduce probe load on GPU hosts while keeping detection latency acceptable (up to 4 hours).

## Requires

- **LiteLLM admin key** for key validation (retrieved from `/root/.pi/agent/env.sh`)
- **SSH access** to GPU hosts (.8, .110, .15) and agent CTs (.122, .129, .114, .24)
- **Python 3** for script execution
- **Network access** to LiteLLM (:4000), GPU exporters (:9400), and gateway endpoints

## Maintains

- last_check: timestamp — When the last full diagnostic ran
- overall_severity: "healthy" | "degraded" | "critical"
- liteLLM_keys: map of agent → key validity
- gpu_ports: map of host → port conflict status
- agents: map of agent → streaming health + gateway liveness
- ct_liveness: map of CT → active status
- config_integrity: map of config file → valid/invalid

## Execution

### check-health

**RUN LIVE, NEVER ECHO — every dispatch must execute the script with real tool
calls; never repeat a prior report unless a live probe fails.**

```bash
# Run the consolidated health check script
python3 /root/scripts/agent-health-check.py --json
```

**Report format**: Begin every report with the **absolute path the script
executed from** so a stale-consumer report is distinguishable from a real fault
at read time. Summarize actual results from each check. Apply the standing probe
rules: any HTTP status = ALIVE; only 000/timeout/refused = probe-failed.

**Expected output**: JSON with `overall_severity` field. If `healthy`, report
"Agent health check: OK". If `degraded` or `critical`, report the specific
failures and their severity.

**Mandatory report legs** (2026-09-17 decision, 1295.msg): Every report line
MUST include one clause per check leg, even when a leg is skipped or fails. A
missing leg must never look the same as a healthy leg. Required legs and their
templates in every state (healthy, skipped, partial):

- `LiteLLM keys: 4/4 (tanko, abiba, koby, koonimo) valid`
  - partial: `LiteLLM keys: 3/4 (tanko valid; koby invalid; koonimo valid; abiba probe-failed: 192.168.68.116:4000 timeout)`
- `GPU ports: 3/3 (rtx3090, rtx5070, strixhalo) healthy`
  - skipped: `GPU ports: SKIPPED (no SSH access to GPU hosts)`
  - partial: `GPU ports: 2/3 (rtx3090 healthy; rtx5070 probe-failed: 192.168.68.110:9400 timeout; strixhalo healthy)`
  - The GPU leg degrades when a probe fails OR when the port is not listening
    (`gpu-no-port`) OR when the port is owned by a process other than the
    service's (`gpu-ghost`) — in every case the failing host and reason must be
    named.
- `CTs: 4/4 running (tanko, abiba, koby, koonimo)`
  - partial: `CTs: 3/4 (tanko running; abiba running; koby probe-failed: ssh root@192.168.68.129 timeout; koonimo running)`
- `Vault secrets: 3/3 present`
  - partial: `Vault secrets: 2/3 (tanko present; koby present; koonimo missing)`

The compact form in the summary line is acceptable (e.g. `rtx5070 timeout`) as
long as the host is identifiable from context; the full `probe-failed: <target>
<kind>` form is required when a leg reports a failure in the detail section.

### Probe Shape (per standing rules from 1150.msg)

1. **Any HTTP status means ALIVE.** 200, 301, 302, 401, 403, 404 all prove the
   service answered — report the code, never "down". A redirect is not a failure.
   Only a failed CONNECTION (curl status 000, timeout, refused) is a failed probe.
2. **A failed probe is never a service verdict.** Print
   `probe-failed: <target> <kind>` naming the exact URL/host/port and the failure
   kind (timeout, refused, no-route, dns), retry once at a longer timeout, and only
   then report.
3. **Say which probe produced each number.** "Grafana: 000" is unusable;
   "Grafana http://192.168.68.116:3001/api/health -> connection timeout after 10s
   (retried at 25s: also timeout)" is actionable.

## Strategies

### When LiteLLM keys are invalid
Report the specific agent + key name. Do not attempt to fix — credential
rotation is a separate operation.

### When GPU port conflicts are detected
Report the conflicting ports and processes. Do not kill processes — that's a
destructive action requiring captain approval.

### When gateway liveness is degraded
Report the specific CT + gateway status. Do not restart unless the restart
debounce window has passed.

### When CT liveness is down
Report the specific CT. Do not restart — that's a destructive action.

### When config YAML is invalid
Report the specific file + parse error. Do not fix — that's a config change.

### When gateway log health is degraded
Report the specific gateway + log health status (error patterns, stale connections, connectivity issues). Do not restart — that's a destructive action.

Note: the script may perform additional diagnostics beyond the seven contract checks listed under Execution.

## Continuity

- **Every 4 hours** (2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22 UTC at :35): Scheduled cron check while Abiba is running
- **On `agent-health` command**: Run on-demand and report to user
- **On critical alert**: Escalate to relay message immediately