Autonomous Windows Build-Lock Recovery

This contract applies to Debug builds run by continue / perform-task. Those workflows own the selected checkout's build tree for the duration of the task, so a transient lock is recoverable and is not a task Block or a global hard stop on first sight.

Safety boundary

Resolve SOURCE_ROOT, its exact BUILD_ROOT, and the exact checkout EXE before acting.

Process control may target the exact EXE, or a verified compiler/linker process tied to BUILD_ROOT or directly holding one named artifact inside it.
File deletion may target only exact named artifacts inside BUILD_ROOT.
Never kill by image name, stop an installed Telegram client, touch another checkout, delete a directory, or terminate an IDE/debugger or an unknown process.
In this autonomous workflow, an exact-path EXE process is a disposable task/test straggler even if a previous phase launched it. It may be stopped.

Before every build

Serialize builds that share BUILD_ROOT. Stop only an exact-path app straggler:

bash

python SOURCE_ROOT/.agents/skills/process-inbox/scripts/workspace.py \
  test-cleanup --exe EXE

Do not pass --delete-exe during this proactive step.

Recover a lock

Treat C1041, LNK1104, cannot open output file, access denied, file in use, and equivalent failures on an output under BUILD_ROOT as one recovery round:

Preserve the complete build output in the task's .local/build-logs/.
Extract every exact locked output path from the error. For an LNK1104 naming the task executable, use EXE. Do not guess a path that the log did not identify.
Run:
bash
```
python SOURCE_ROOT/.agents/skills/process-inbox/scripts/workspace.py \
  build-lock-recover \
  --source-root SOURCE_ROOT \
  --build-root BUILD_ROOT \
  --exe EXE \
  --artifact LOCKED_PATH \
  --wait 10
```
Repeat --artifact for multiple named outputs. The helper waits for transient scanners, stops the exact checkout executable, uses Windows Restart Manager to identify direct holders, terminates only verified build processes, and deletes only the named artifacts so the next build regenerates them. An artifact that disappears during the wait is already recovered and is reported as already_absent.
When the helper reports safe_to_retry: true, rerun the same Debug build. A recovery round consumes neither an implementation attempt nor a test run. A Restart Manager query error never authorizes terminating an unverified process. It may still be safe to retry when every named artifact was deleted or became absent without doing so; if any artifact remains, the round is unsafe.

Run at most three recovery-and-build rounds for one build phase. A new locked artifact reported by the retry is handled by the next round within that same cap.

Exhaustion

Hard-stop only when:

three bounded recovery rounds still produce a lock;
the failure does not identify an exact locked path, or identifies one outside BUILD_ROOT;
the helper reports a surviving IDE, debugger, unknown, or other non-owned holder; or
exact-path safety cannot be established.

Leave the task in-progress with its source and artifacts recoverable. Report the final build error, the helper JSON, the named artifact, and any surviving holder. Do not publish a task Block for this environment failure.