Summary

Follow-up to #12116. This updates WhatsApp's busy-message path so messages sent while a WhatsApp-backed run is active can be steered into the running agent, while preserving the soft-session context introduced by #16953.

• Builds on the WhatsApp /sessions soft-thread routing so busy follow-ups land in the correct Hermes session.
• Installs a runner-owned WhatsApp busy-session handler for upsert_steer, reply_aware_steer, and explicit_steer policies.
• Delivers accepted busy text through running_agent.steer(...) with quoted-reply context preserved.
• Emits a visible /steer passed to LLM progress line at the actual delivery point.
• Preserves explicit WhatsApp session/thread metadata for background completion notices and internal events.
• Preserves bridge diagnostics and slash-command guidance across managed bridge reconnect/failure paths.
• Adds regression coverage for WhatsApp upsert steer, soft sessions, media parsing/audio routing, internal event pairing, progress delivery, and bridge diagnostics.

Why

#12116 added the core mid-run /steer <prompt> primitive. WhatsApp needs the next layer: when a user replies or sends follow-up text while a session is busy, the gateway should be able to merge that context into the active run safely instead of treating it as a blunt interrupt or losing the reply/session association.

The runner owns the upsert handler rather than the adapter to avoid adapter-recursive dispatch. If a real running agent exists, the handler calls agent.steer(...); otherwise it returns False so the normal message insertion/queue path can proceed.

Current version

• Refreshed onto current origin/main.
• Current head: d8adf4620eefee6626e80aa828fca0a1cc5312f6.
• Includes the current /sessions UX plus the WhatsApp bridge diagnostics/slash-guidance fix from the local version.

Test plan

• git diff --check origin/main...HEAD
• scripts/run_tests.sh tests/gateway/test_internal_event_bypass_pairing.py tests/gateway/test_platform_base.py tests/gateway/test_run_progress_topics.py tests/gateway/test_whatsapp_busy_steer.py tests/gateway/test_whatsapp_connect.py tests/gateway/test_whatsapp_sessions.py tests/gateway/test_whatsapp_group_gating.py tests/run_agent/test_steer.py -q — 246 passed, 1 warning

Full suite not run locally.

Related

• Follows feat(steer): /steer <prompt> injects a mid-run note after the next tool call #12116 (/steer <prompt> mid-run injection).
• Builds on feat(whatsapp): add soft-thread sessions #16953 (WhatsApp soft-thread sessions).

Refresh status

• Rebased/updated for merge-conflict-free merge against current main.
• Current head: ae41ecefa.
• Mergeability verified via GitHub API: mergeable: true; mergeable_state: unstable because GitHub checks are pending/absent, not because of conflicts.
• Notes: Rebased upsert-steer WhatsApp slice onto current main, resolved conflicts in gateway/platforms/base.py, gateway/run.py, and run_agent.py, and preserved steer delivery progress callback after the runtime-helper refactor.
• Test plan:
  • scripts/run_tests.sh tests/gateway/test_whatsapp_busy_steer.py tests/gateway/test_whatsapp_sessions.py tests/gateway/test_internal_event_bypass_pairing.py tests/gateway/test_platform_base.py tests/gateway/test_run_progress_topics.py tests/run_agent/test_steer.py tests/gateway/test_whatsapp_connect.py — 233 passed, 0 failed