Lead cadence: mandatory check-in timer, harness backstop, sleeping strip

The lead must end active turns with a sleep_for (3-5m, stretch when quiet); a 10-minute backstop wakes a lead that forgot while work is in flight.
Sleeping sessions show a strip with the next wake time and an Ask-for-a-status action — a scheduled agent never reads as a dead one.

surfaces/gui/e2e/fixtures.ts

@@ -900,6 +900,9 @@ export async function mockApi(page: import("@playwright/test").Page) {
             chat_enabled: !!msg.enable_chat,
             chat_unread: msg.enable_chat ? 1 : 0,
           };
+          // The lead sets its check-in timer after staffing — it shows as sleeping.
+          lead.liveness = "sleeping";
+          lead.sleeping_until = new Date(Date.now() + 4 * 60_000).toISOString();
           for (const [actor, persona, status, item] of [
             ["nia", "swe-worker", "in_progress", "#1 in progress"],
             ["webb", "design-worker", "idle", "idle"],

surfaces/gui/e2e/team.spec.ts

@@ -86,6 +86,20 @@ test("enabling chat at the gate adds the # team chat row; posting works with men
   await expect(page.getByTestId("teamchat-view")).toHaveCount(0);
 });
 
+test("a sleeping lead shows the strip; Ask for a status wakes it", async ({ page }) => {
+  await proposeTeam(page);
+  await page.getByTestId("teamreq-approve").click();
+  await expect(page.getByText(/Team created/)).toBeVisible();
+  // open the lead's session — it set a check-in timer, so it's sleeping
+  await page.getByText("Build the statements page").click();
+  const strip = page.getByTestId("sleep-strip");
+  await expect(strip).toBeVisible({ timeout: 12_000 });
+  await expect(strip).toContainText("Sleeping until");
+  await expect(strip).toContainText("while the team works");
+  await page.getByTestId("sleep-status-btn").click();
+  await expect(page.getByText(/Echo: Quick status check/)).toBeVisible();
+});
+
 test("with chat declined at the gate, no chat row renders", async ({ page }) => {
   await proposeTeam(page);
   await page.getByTestId("teamreq-approve").click();

surfaces/gui/src/App.tsx

@@ -1918,6 +1918,34 @@ export function App() {
                 }}
               />
             )}
+            {/* A scheduled agent must never read as a dead one: while a self-wake is
+                pending and no turn is running, say so and offer the obvious action. */}
+            {activeInfo?.liveness === "sleeping" && !running && (
+              <div className="sleep-strip" data-testid="sleep-strip">
+                <span className="sleep-dot" />
+                <span className="sleep-text">
+                  Sleeping
+                  {activeInfo.sleeping_until
+                    ? ` until ${new Date(activeInfo.sleeping_until).toLocaleTimeString([], { hour: "numeric", minute: "2-digit" })}`
+                    : ""}
+                  {activeInfo.team?.role === "lead"
+                    ? " while the team works — it also wakes on board activity."
+                    : " — it wakes on its trigger."}{" "}
+                  Talk to it anytime.
+                </span>
+                <button
+                  className="btn sm"
+                  data-testid="sleep-status-btn"
+                  onClick={() =>
+                    send(
+                      "Quick status check, please — what's moving, what's blocked, and does anything need me?",
+                    )
+                  }
+                >
+                  Ask for a status
+                </button>
+              </div>
+            )}
             <Composer
               mode={mode}
               model={model}

surfaces/gui/src/styles.css

@@ -1781,3 +1781,14 @@ html[data-platform="linux"] ::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb:hover { background-color:
 .chat-view { position: absolute; inset: 0; z-index: 40; background: var(--paper); display: flex; flex-direction: column; }
 .chat-view-head { display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 10px; padding: 12px 16px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--line); background: var(--panel); }
 .chat-view-body { flex: 1; display: flex; flex-direction: column; min-height: 0; max-width: 860px; width: 100%; margin: 0 auto; }
+
+/* Sleeping strip — a scheduled agent never reads as a dead one. */
+.sleep-strip {
+  max-width: 760px; margin: 0 auto 8px; display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 9px;
+  padding: 8px 12px; border: 1px solid var(--line); border-radius: 10px;
+  background: var(--panel); font-size: 12.5px; color: var(--muted);
+}
+.sleep-dot { width: 8px; height: 8px; border-radius: 50%; background: var(--warn-ink); opacity: 0.7; flex-shrink: 0; animation: sleep-pulse 2.4s ease-in-out infinite; }
+@keyframes sleep-pulse { 0%, 100% { opacity: 0.35; } 50% { opacity: 0.85; } }
+.sleep-text { flex: 1; }
+.sleep-strip .btn.sm { padding: 4px 10px; font-size: 12px; }

surfaces/gui/src/types.ts

@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@ export interface SessionInfo {
   attention?: number;
   // working = in-flight turn; sleeping = a self-wake is pending; idle = neither. A count-less dot.
   liveness?: "working" | "sleeping" | "idle";
+  // When sleeping: the next timer fire (ISO) — drives the "sleeping until…" strip.
+  sleeping_until?: string | null;
   // Channels this session listens to (inbound subscriptions).
   subscriptions?: string[];
   // §31: set when the session was spawned by a platform mention rather than the user —