feat(exec): default headless runs to the turn-budget ceiling (#1049)

* feat(config): report whether the tool-turn budget was explicitly set

ResolvedConfig.MaxTurns is ambiguous today: a configured 80 and the
built-in default 80 are indistinguishable, so a caller that wants a
different default cannot tell "user chose this" from "nobody set it".
FileConfig now records at each merge gate (config files, provider
command, ZERO_MAX_TURNS, CLI overrides) when a source supplies a
positive maxTurns, and Resolve surfaces it as MaxTurnsSet.

* feat(exec): default headless runs to the turn-budget ceiling

The shared 80-turn default is sized for the TUI, where the user can
say "continue" and the run resumes. Headless exec has nobody to do
that, so benchmark evals truncated at 80 turns mid-implementation.
An unset budget now resolves to MaxTurnsCeiling for exec only; any
explicit source (flag, mode preset, ZERO_MAX_TURNS, config file) and
exec-profile budgets keep their precedence. The TUI default is
unchanged.

* test(cli,config): cover the headless turn-budget default

* refactor(cli): extract the headless turn-budget decision

Author: anandh8x

internal/cli/exec.go

@@ -49,6 +49,14 @@ const (
 	exitInterrupted = 130
 )
 
+// defaultExecMaxTurns is the headless tool-turn budget when no source sets one.
+// An interactive run can be continued past the shared interactive default by the
+// user; an exec run has nobody to unstick it, so evals and automation would
+// truncate mid-task at 80 turns. The ceiling is the already-justified bound —
+// still finite against a genuinely runaway loop, which the loop's empty-turn
+// guard also cuts independently of this budget.
+const defaultExecMaxTurns = config.MaxTurnsCeiling
+
 type execOutputFormat string
 type execInputFormat string
 
@@ -320,6 +328,7 @@ func runExec(args []string, stdout io.Writer, stderr io.Writer, deps appDeps) in
 		}
 		return writeExecProviderError(stdout, stderr, options.outputFormat, "provider_error", err.Error())
 	}
+	resolved.MaxTurns = execTurnBudget(resolved)
 	var displacedMaxTurns int
 	resolved.MaxTurns, displacedMaxTurns = applyProfileTurnBudget(execProfile, options.maxTurns, resolved.MaxTurns)
 	execScope, err := sandbox.NewScope(workspaceRoot, append(append([]string{}, resolved.Sandbox.AdditionalWriteRoots...), options.addDirs...))
@@ -1222,6 +1231,20 @@ func specProfileEffortFilled(effortFilled bool, specReasoningEffort string) bool
 	return effortFilled && strings.TrimSpace(specReasoningEffort) == ""
 }
 
+// execTurnBudget applies the headless default to the resolved turn budget: an
+// interactive run can be continued past the shared default by the user, but an
+// exec run has nobody to unstick it, so an unconfigured budget starts at the
+// documented ceiling instead of truncating mid-task. Explicit sources
+// (--max-turns, mode presets, ZERO_MAX_TURNS, config files) resolve as
+// MaxTurnsSet and pass through; an exec-profile budget still wins via
+// applyProfileTurnBudget afterward.
+func execTurnBudget(resolved config.ResolvedConfig) int {
+	if resolved.MaxTurnsSet {
+		return resolved.MaxTurns
+	}
+	return defaultExecMaxTurns
+}
+
 // applyProfileTurnBudget decides the run's turn budget once config is resolved.
 // The profile displaces the RESOLVED value, not the flag: a pinned budget
 // always wins and the profile backs off entirely, while an env/config budget

internal/cli/exec_test.go

@@ -1975,3 +1975,23 @@ func TestRunExecTopTierDeclineNoSwitch(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("provider model = %q, want claude-opus-4.1", providerModels[0])
 	}
 }
+
+func TestExecTurnBudgetDefaultsToCeilingUnlessSet(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		name     string
+		resolved config.ResolvedConfig
+		want     int
+	}{
+		// A headless run has no user to continue past the shared interactive
+		// default, so an unconfigured budget starts at the ceiling.
+		{"unconfigured default", config.ResolvedConfig{MaxTurns: 80, MaxTurnsSet: false}, config.MaxTurnsCeiling},
+		// A user who configured 80 on purpose (e.g. cost control in CI) keeps 80.
+		{"explicit default value", config.ResolvedConfig{MaxTurns: 80, MaxTurnsSet: true}, 80},
+		{"configured value passes through", config.ResolvedConfig{MaxTurns: 42, MaxTurnsSet: true}, 42},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		if got := execTurnBudget(tc.resolved); got != tc.want {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: execTurnBudget = %d, want %d", tc.name, got, tc.want)
+		}
+	}
+}

internal/config/resolver.go

@@ -166,6 +166,7 @@ func Resolve(options ResolveOptions) (ResolvedConfig, error) {
 		Providers:           providers,
 		Provider:            active,
 		MaxTurns:            cfg.MaxTurns,
+		MaxTurnsSet:         cfg.maxTurnsSet,
 		MCP:                 cfg.MCP,
 		Sandbox:             cfg.Sandbox,
 		Notify:              cfg.Notify,
@@ -234,6 +235,7 @@ func mergeConfig(dst *FileConfig, src FileConfig) {
 	}
 	if src.MaxTurns > 0 {
 		dst.MaxTurns = src.MaxTurns
+		dst.maxTurnsSet = true
 	}
 	for _, provider := range src.Providers {
 		mergeProvider(dst, provider)
@@ -294,6 +296,7 @@ func mergeProjectConfig(dst *FileConfig, src FileConfig) error {
 	}
 	if src.MaxTurns > 0 {
 		dst.MaxTurns = src.MaxTurns
+		dst.maxTurnsSet = true
 	}
 	for _, provider := range src.Providers {
 		candidate := providerMergeCandidate(*dst, provider)
@@ -606,6 +609,7 @@ func applyEnv(cfg *FileConfig, env map[string]string) {
 				n = MaxTurnsCeiling
 			}
 			cfg.MaxTurns = n
+			cfg.maxTurnsSet = true
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -726,6 +730,7 @@ func applyOverrides(cfg *FileConfig, overrides Overrides) {
 	}
 	if overrides.MaxTurns > 0 {
 		cfg.MaxTurns = overrides.MaxTurns
+		cfg.maxTurnsSet = true
 	}
 	if overrides.Sandbox.Enabled != nil {
 		cfg.Sandbox.Enabled = overrides.Sandbox.Enabled

internal/config/resolver_test.go

@@ -2252,3 +2252,45 @@ func TestResolveRejectsInvalidCrossSessionInbound(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("error = %v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestResolveReportsExplicitMaxTurns(t *testing.T) {
+	const providerJSON = `{
+		"activeProvider": "p",
+		"providers": [{"name": "p", "provider_kind": "openai-compatible", "base_url": "https://x.example/v1", "apiKey": "k", "model": "m"}]
+	}`
+	providerWithTurns := strings.Replace(providerJSON, `"activeProvider": "p"`, `"activeProvider": "p", "maxTurns": 40`, 1)
+
+	cases := []struct {
+		name string
+		opts ResolveOptions
+		set  bool
+	}{
+		{"built-in default only", ResolveOptions{
+			Overrides: Overrides{Provider: ProviderProfile{Name: "p", ProviderKind: "openai-compatible", BaseURL: "https://x.example/v1", APIKey: "k", Model: "m"}},
+		}, false},
+		{"user config", ResolveOptions{UserConfigPath: writeConfig(t, providerWithTurns)}, true},
+		{"project config", ResolveOptions{
+			UserConfigPath:    writeConfig(t, providerJSON),
+			ProjectConfigPath: writeConfig(t, `{"maxTurns": 40}`),
+		}, true},
+		{"env", ResolveOptions{
+			Env:       map[string]string{MaxTurnsEnv: "120"},
+			Overrides: Overrides{Provider: ProviderProfile{Name: "p", ProviderKind: "openai-compatible", BaseURL: "https://x.example/v1", APIKey: "k", Model: "m"}},
+		}, true},
+		{"cli override", ResolveOptions{
+			Overrides: Overrides{
+				MaxTurns: 42,
+				Provider: ProviderProfile{Name: "p", ProviderKind: "openai-compatible", BaseURL: "https://x.example/v1", APIKey: "k", Model: "m"},
+			},
+		}, true},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		resolved, err := Resolve(tc.opts)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: Resolve() error = %v", tc.name, err)
+		}
+		if resolved.MaxTurnsSet != tc.set {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: MaxTurnsSet = %v, want %v (MaxTurns=%d)", tc.name, resolved.MaxTurnsSet, tc.set, resolved.MaxTurns)
+		}
+	}
+}

internal/config/types.go

@@ -364,6 +364,10 @@ type FileConfig struct {
 	LocalControl        LocalControlConfig `json:"localControl,omitempty"`
 	STT                 STTConfig          `json:"stt,omitempty"`
 	CrossSessionInbound string             `json:"crossSessionInbound,omitempty"`
+	// maxTurnsSet records that some merge source supplied a positive maxTurns —
+	// i.e. the value is configured, not the built-in default. Unexported like
+	// Tools.deferThresholdSet: merge bookkeeping, not a config key.
+	maxTurnsSet bool
 	// Extra preserves top-level fields written by newer Zero versions or
 	// extensions so a read-modify-write through this version is non-destructive.
 	Extra map[string]json.RawMessage `json:"-"`
@@ -461,10 +465,15 @@ type Overrides struct {
 }
 
 type ResolvedConfig struct {
-	ActiveProvider      string
-	Providers           []ProviderProfile
-	Provider            ProviderProfile
-	MaxTurns            int
+	ActiveProvider string
+	Providers      []ProviderProfile
+	Provider       ProviderProfile
+	MaxTurns       int
+	// MaxTurnsSet reports whether MaxTurns came from an explicit source (a
+	// config file, a provider command, ZERO_MAX_TURNS, or CLI overrides) rather
+	// than the built-in default — callers that need a different default can
+	// tell the two apart.
+	MaxTurnsSet         bool
 	MCP                 MCPConfig
 	Sandbox             SandboxConfig
 	Notify              NotifyConfig