# Work Summary: Execution Completion Issue Fix

**Date:** January 29, 2026  
**Issue:** Executions getting stuck in "running" state and never completing  
**Status:** ✅ Resolved  

## Problem Statement

Executions submitted via the web UI or CLI were being scheduled and transitioning to "running" status, but never completing (transitioning to "completed" or "failed"). The executions remained stuck in "running" state indefinitely.

### Symptoms
- Executions created via `attune run core.echo` would show status "requested" → "running" but never "completed"
- Database showed multiple executions stuck in "running" status
- No error messages visible in user-facing logs
- Worker service was running and appeared to be processing messages

## Root Causes Identified

Investigation revealed **four distinct issues** that compounded to prevent execution completion:

### 1. Hardcoded Schema Prefixes in SQL Queries

**Location:** `attune/crates/worker/src/executor.rs`, `attune/crates/worker/src/secrets.rs`

**Problem:** The worker service had hardcoded schema prefixes (`attune.action`, `attune.key`, `attune.runtime`) in SQL queries, but the development environment uses the `public` schema.

**Error:** `relation "attune.action" does not exist`

**Files affected:**
- `executor.rs` lines 133, 159-160, 262 (action and runtime queries)
- `secrets.rs` lines 104, 120 (key/secrets queries)

**Fix:** Removed all hardcoded schema prefixes and rely on PostgreSQL's `search_path` mechanism instead.

```rust
// Before:
sqlx::query_as::<_, Action>("SELECT * FROM attune.action WHERE id = $1")

// After:
sqlx::query_as::<_, Action>("SELECT * FROM action WHERE id = $1")
```

### 2. Runtime Name Case Sensitivity Mismatch

**Location:** `attune/crates/worker/src/executor.rs` line 272

**Problem:** The database stores runtime names with capitalization (e.g., "Shell", "Python"), but the code was performing case-sensitive string comparisons with lowercase values ("shell").

**Impact:** Runtime selection failed, preventing the worker from choosing the correct runtime to execute the action.

**Fix:** Convert runtime names to lowercase after loading from database:

```rust
// Before:
Some(runtime.name)

// After:
Some(runtime.name.to_lowercase())
```

### 3. Missing Pack File Loading Mechanism

**Location:** `attune/crates/worker/src/executor.rs`, `attune/crates/worker/src/service.rs`

**Problem:** The worker had no mechanism to locate and load pack action script files from disk. It only had the `entrypoint` field from the database (e.g., "echo.sh"), which is just a filename, not a file path or script content.

**Impact:** The worker tried to execute the string "echo.sh" as a shell command directly, which failed with "command not found".

**Fix:** 
1. Added `packs_base_dir` field to `ActionExecutor` struct
2. Implemented file path resolution: `{packs_base_dir}/{pack_ref}/actions/{entrypoint}`
3. Set `code_path` in execution context when action file exists
4. Updated configuration to include `packs_base_dir: ./packs` for development

**Files modified:**
- `executor.rs`: Added `packs_base_dir` field and path construction logic (lines 28, 296-317)
- `service.rs`: Pass `packs_base_dir` from config to ActionExecutor (line 191)
- `config.development.yaml`: Added `packs_base_dir: ./packs` configuration

### 4. Missing Parameter Passing to Shell Scripts

**Location:** `attune/crates/worker/src/runtime/shell.rs`

**Problem:** When executing action files directly via `code_path`, parameters were stored in `context.parameters` but not converted to environment variables. Shell scripts expect parameters as environment variables with `ATTUNE_ACTION_` prefix.

**Impact:** Actions executed but ignored all parameters, using default values instead.

**Fix:** Convert parameters to environment variables before executing shell files:

```rust
// Merge parameters into environment variables with ATTUNE_ACTION_ prefix
let mut env = context.env.clone();
for (key, value) in &context.parameters {
    env.insert(format!("ATTUNE_ACTION_{}", key.to_uppercase()), value_str);
}
```

## Changes Made

### Files Modified

1. **`attune/crates/worker/src/executor.rs`**
   - Removed hardcoded schema prefixes (3 locations)
   - Added `packs_base_dir: PathBuf` field to ActionExecutor struct
   - Implemented pack action file path resolution logic
   - Convert runtime names to lowercase for comparison
   - Added `std::path::PathBuf` import

2. **`attune/crates/worker/src/secrets.rs`**
   - Removed hardcoded schema prefixes from key queries (2 locations)

3. **`attune/crates/worker/src/service.rs`**
   - Extract `packs_base_dir` from config
   - Pass `packs_base_dir` to ActionExecutor constructor

4. **`attune/crates/worker/src/runtime/shell.rs`**
   - Added parameter-to-environment-variable conversion for file execution
   - Parameters exported with `ATTUNE_ACTION_` prefix

5. **`attune/config.development.yaml`**
   - Added `packs_base_dir: ./packs` configuration

6. **`attune/.rules`**
   - Updated "Common Pitfalls" section with schema prefix warning
   - Updated "Key Tools & Libraries" with pack file loading documentation
   - Updated project status to reflect completed worker service

## Testing & Validation

### Test Cases Executed

1. **Basic execution without parameters:**
   ```bash
   attune run core.echo
   # Expected: "Hello, World!"
   # Result: ✅ Success - execution completed, correct output
   ```

2. **Execution with parameters:**
   ```bash
   attune run core.echo --param message="Testing parameters!" --param uppercase=true
   # Expected: "TESTING PARAMETERS!"
   # Result: ✅ Success - execution completed, parameters applied correctly
   ```

3. **Database verification:**
   ```sql
   SELECT id, status, result->>'stdout' as output FROM execution WHERE id = 16;
   -- Result: status='completed', output='TESTING PARAMETERS!\n'
   ```

### Execution Flow Verified

Complete end-to-end execution flow confirmed working:

```
CLI/API → Execution Created (requested) 
       → Executor Schedules (scheduling → scheduled)
       → Worker Receives Message
       → Worker Updates Status (running)
       → Worker Loads Action from DB
       → Worker Resolves Pack File Path
       → Worker Executes Action with Parameters
       → Worker Publishes Status (completed/failed)
       → Executor Updates Database
```

### Previous Stuck Executions

Executions 7, 8, and 9 remain in "running" status as they were stuck before the fix was applied. These are effectively abandoned executions and would require manual cleanup or a background job to mark as "abandoned".

## Performance Impact

- **Execution speed:** Shell actions complete in 1-3ms (measured)
- **No performance degradation:** File path resolution is minimal overhead
- **Schema-agnostic queries:** Better compatibility across environments

## Lessons Learned

1. **Always use PostgreSQL search_path:** Never hardcode schema prefixes in queries
2. **Case-insensitive comparisons:** When dealing with user-configured data like runtime names
3. **Complete file path resolution:** Don't assume filenames alone are sufficient
4. **Environment variable conventions:** Document and consistently apply naming conventions (e.g., `ATTUNE_ACTION_` prefix)
5. **Test across schema configurations:** Ensure code works in both `public` and custom schemas

## Follow-up Items

### Recommended (Not Blocking)

1. **Abandoned execution cleanup:** Implement background job to mark stuck executions as "abandoned" after timeout
2. **Pack validation on startup:** Verify pack files exist and are readable when worker starts
3. **Better error messages:** Add specific error messages for missing pack files
4. **Python runtime testing:** Verify similar fixes work for Python actions (not tested in this session)
5. **Integration tests:** Add end-to-end tests for pack file loading and parameter passing

### Future Enhancements

1. **Pack hot-reloading:** Allow pack updates without worker restart
2. **Action code caching:** Cache frequently-used action files in memory
3. **Execution retry mechanism:** Auto-retry failed executions with backoff
4. **Execution timeout handling:** Implement proper timeout for long-running actions

## Conclusion

The execution completion issue has been fully resolved. All four root causes have been addressed:

✅ Schema prefixes removed  
✅ Runtime name comparison fixed  
✅ Pack file loading implemented  
✅ Parameter passing corrected  

The system now successfully executes actions from pack files with proper parameter handling, and executions complete correctly with appropriate status transitions.

**Verification:** Executions 13, 14, and 16 all completed successfully with correct output, demonstrating that the fix is working as expected.