docs(roadmap): add #451 — models list/help --output-format json hang with zero stdout

ROADMAP.md

@@ -6428,3 +6428,5 @@ Original filing (2026-04-18): the session emitted `SessionStart hook (completed)
 
 
 450. **`prompt` emits `kind:"missing_credentials"` JSON on STDERR (not stdout), leaving stdout at 0 bytes — automation pattern `output=$(claw prompt hello --output-format json)` captures nothing on auth-absent failure; `doctor` correctly surfaces `auth.status:"warn"` with `api_key_present:false` but exposes no `prompt_ready:false` field that automation can check before invoking `prompt`** — dogfooded 2026-05-16 by Jobdori on `a35ee9a0` in response to Clawhip pinpoint nudge at `1505208225321062521`. Exact reproduction (isolated env, no creds, fresh git repo, HEAD `a35ee9a0`): `timeout 5 env -i HOME=$ISOLATED_HOME PATH=$PATH CLAW_CONFIG_HOME=$PROBE/.claw-cfg claw prompt hello --output-format json > stdout.txt 2> stderr.txt` → stdout = **0 bytes**, stderr = 195 bytes containing `{"error":"missing Anthropic credentials…","exit_code":1,"hint":null,"kind":"missing_credentials","type":"error"}`, exit code 1. Confirms Gaebal's `1505208553793781792` pinpoint that `prompt` timeout + zero bytes was the prior state — HEAD `a35ee9a0` now correctly exits 1 with `kind:"missing_credentials"` **but the envelope is still routed to stderr** (issue #447 class, same class as prior entries #422, #435). **Contrast with `doctor`:** `claw doctor --output-format json 2>/dev/null` succeeds to stdout with `checks[auth].status:"warn"`, `api_key_present:false`, `auth_token_present:false` — but the auth check has no `prompt_ready:false` field. Automation that gates on `doctor` before invoking `prompt` must re-derive readiness from `api_key_present && auth_token_present` — there is no single canonical boolean. **Three compound problems:** (a) **stdout-empty on `--output-format json` failure**: same class as #447; `prompt`'s error envelope goes to stderr, not stdout. The canonical automation idiom `if ! result=$(claw prompt "q" --output-format json); then echo "$result" | jq .kind; fi` sees `$result=""` on failure — the jq call gets nothing. All `--output-format json` error paths must route JSON to stdout per #447 contract; (b) **`doctor` missing `prompt_ready` field**: `doctor --output-format json` already knows auth is absent (`api_key_present:false`) but surfaces no derived `prompt_ready:bool` or `prompt_blocked_reason:string` field. Automation must infer readiness from `api_key_present || auth_token_present || legacy_*_present` — a 5-field OR across legacy fields that is fragile as auth mechanisms evolve. A single `prompt_ready:false` (with `prompt_blocked_reason:"auth_missing"`) inside the `auth` check would give downstream a stable contract; (c) **`claw prompt` with no auth does no preflight and fires straight at the API**: the preflight check that `doctor` runs (auth discovery) is not reused by `prompt` to emit a fast typed error before attempting the network call. Both Gaebal's pinpoint (prompt hanging silently on older HEAD) and the current behavior (prompt hitting auth gate after a brief API attempt) stem from the same root: prompt does not short-circuit at the point where `doctor` already knows auth is absent. If `doctor` can emit `kind:"doctor"` with `auth.status:"warn"` in ~20ms without a network call, `prompt` should emit `kind:"missing_credentials"` in the same window and output it to stdout. **Required fix shape:** (a) `prompt --output-format json` must write the `kind:"missing_credentials"` JSON envelope to **stdout**, not stderr — same fix as #447 for all error envelopes; (b) add `prompt_ready:bool` and `prompt_blocked_reason:string|null` to the `auth` check in `doctor --output-format json`; derive it as `api_key_present || auth_token_present || legacy_saved_oauth_present`; (c) `prompt` must run the credential preflight check (same codepath as doctor's auth check) before attempting any API call and emit `{"kind":"missing_credentials","prompt_blocked_reason":"auth_missing"}` on **stdout** with exit 1 if the check fails; (d) `--output-format json` stdout routing fix must cover: `prompt`, `session list` (cross-ref #449), `skills uninstall` (cross-ref #431), `resume` (cross-ref #435), `acp serve` (cross-ref #443) — the full `kind:"missing_credentials"` class; (e) regression test: `claw prompt hello --output-format json` with no creds writes JSON to stdout (0 bytes stderr), exits 1, `kind:"missing_credentials"`, in under 200ms (no network attempt). **Why this matters:** `prompt` is the primary consumer entry point. Auth-absent failure routing to stderr breaks every automation wrapper that captures `$(claw prompt ... --output-format json)`. The `doctor` preflight metadata gap means auth-readiness checks require parsing 5 legacy fields instead of reading one boolean. Cross-references #447 (all JSON error envelopes on stderr), #449 (session list hits auth gate), #431 (skills uninstall hits auth gate), #357 (auth gate on local ops cluster), #422 (exit-code parity). Source: Jobdori live dogfood, `a35ee9a0`, 2026-05-16.
+
+451. **Top-level `models list --output-format json` and `models --help --output-format json` hang with zero stdout/stderr instead of returning bounded model inventory or help JSON** — dogfooded 2026-05-24 for the 04:00 Clawhip pinpoint nudge at message `1507956340130316460`, reproduced on local `./rust/target/debug/claw` `git_sha 003b739d` (origin/main was `f8e1bb72`; the `models` dispatch path is not touched in commits `63ce483c..f8e1bb72`, which are docs-only ROADMAP additions, so the failure mode is expected to reproduce on a fresh main build). Repeated bounded runs of `timeout 6 ./rust/target/debug/claw models list --output-format json` and `timeout 6 ./rust/target/debug/claw models --help --output-format json` exited `124` with `stdout=0` and `stderr=0` (or only the `enabledPlugins` deprecation warning on stderr, distinct from the zero-byte stdout symptom). Positive controls in the same binary: `version --output-format json` and `doctor --output-format json` returned promptly with valid JSON, proving the JSON output path itself is reachable. The hang also reproduces in a clean isolated HOME (`{}` settings, no plugins) — so it is not caused by deprecated config fields, host plugin leakage, or the broader stderr-warning class already tracked by #322. This is distinct from #355 (session list/help JSON hang) and the auth provider-help hang cluster (#382–407 in the parallel dirty cluster) because the surface here is the **model provider/registry discovery** path, which automation must walk before choosing a provider, validating a `--model <alias>` flag, or estimating cost/token budgets — none of which it can do if even the inventory and help paths silently deadlock at zero bytes. **Required fix shape:** (a) make `models list --output-format json` and `models --help --output-format json` return bounded stdout JSON without waiting on remote API/auth/provider availability; the list response should carry `kind:"models"`, `action:"list"`, `status`, `models[]` with per-model `name`, `provider`, `alias`, `available`, `requires_credentials`, `source` (`builtin`/`profile`/`alias`), and counts/truncation metadata, and the help response should carry static `kind:"help"` or `kind:"models"` with `action:"help"`, usage, options, supported output formats, and related slash/direct commands; (b) render both responses from a static local registry + already-loaded settings only — no provider network probes, OAuth flows, or credential validation during help/list; (c) when a provider-specific availability check cannot complete quickly, emit a typed `status:"unavailable"` / `code` entry per affected model rather than dropping the entire response into a zero-byte timeout; (d) add regression coverage proving both `models list --output-format json` and `models --help --output-format json` terminate within a deterministic budget with and without provider credentials in env, on at least Anthropic + one OpenAI-compatible profile. **Why this matters:** model registry inspection is a preflight clawability surface. Before invoking `prompt`, claws must resolve `--model <alias>` to a concrete provider, decide which credential env var to ask for, and present a model menu to the user. If `models list` and `models --help` silently deadlock with zero stdout, automation cannot distinguish "no models configured", "provider discovery slow", "missing credentials", "deprecated config blocking load", or "dispatch deadlock", and the only working preflight is `doctor` — which reports configuration health but not the model inventory. Without bounded model discovery, every routing/auth/cost decision either falls back to hardcoded defaults or to a human pane-scraping interactively. Source: gaebal-gajae dogfood follow-up for the 2026-05-24 04:00 Clawhip pinpoint nudge at message `1507956340130316460`.