From 2a4556449e1bdb85ea4a01dc05a37bf604c42574 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: teknium1 <127238744+teknium1@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2026 04:53:06 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix(tui_gateway): commands.catalog keeps a discovery-failure
 warning over the skill collision note

A skill whose name collides with a built-in command produced a collision
note that overwrote a quick_commands / plugin discovery failure already in
`warning`, so a broken config.yaml was silently reported as a mere name
collision. Failures now win; the collision note only fills an otherwise
empty warning. `_catalog_skills` still runs unconditionally so skills keep
listing when a loader failed.
---
 .../test_skill_collision_visibility.py        | 19 +++++++++++++++++++
 tui_gateway/methods_tools.py                  |  7 ++++---
 2 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_skill_collision_visibility.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_skill_collision_visibility.py
index 0998ef7ed3..24d71b8d99 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_skill_collision_visibility.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_skill_collision_visibility.py
@@ -57,3 +57,22 @@ def test_built_in_name_collision_is_visible_on_every_listing_surface(monkeypatch
 
     gateway_commands = _exec_commands(CommandContext(args="", options={"page_size": 500})).text
     assert f"⚠ {NOTE}" in gateway_commands and "`/tidy-notes`" in gateway_commands
+
+
+def test_catalog_discovery_failure_warning_outranks_the_collision_note(monkeypatch):
+    """A colliding skill must not hide a real discovery failure: the failure stays in ``warning``."""
+    import tools.skills_tool as skills_tool
+    from tui_gateway import server
+
+    _write_skill("handoff")
+    _write_skill("tidy-notes")  # control: skills still list when a loader failed
+    monkeypatch.setattr(skills_tool, "_SKILLS_CACHE", {})
+
+    def _broken_cfg():
+        raise RuntimeError("config.yaml unreadable")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_load_cfg", _broken_cfg)
+
+    catalog = server._methods["commands.catalog"](1, {})["result"]
+    assert catalog["warning"] == "quick_commands discovery unavailable: config.yaml unreadable"
+    assert "/tidy-notes" in catalog["skills"]
diff --git a/tui_gateway/methods_tools.py b/tui_gateway/methods_tools.py
index b260bca1e3..b2c7405e55 100644
--- a/tui_gateway/methods_tools.py
+++ b/tui_gateway/methods_tools.py
@@ -442,8 +442,8 @@ def _catalog_skills(cat: _Catalog, skills: dict[str, dict]) -> str:
 @_rpc("commands.catalog", 5020)
 def _(rid, params: dict) -> dict:
     """Registry-backed slash metadata, categorized, no aliases. Discovery failures land in ``warning``
-    (skills' message wins, then quick commands', then plugins'); with no failure it carries the
-    built-in-name collision notice for skills that have no ``/<name>`` (empty when none). Skill
+    (skills' message wins, then quick commands', then plugins'); only with no failure does it carry
+    the built-in-name collision notice for skills that have no ``/<name>`` (empty when none). Skill
     discovery is bound to the calling session's profile and workspace (``_completion_cwd``: its record,
     else the cwd a new session would be seeded with) so project-local skills register for the repo the
     session is actually in (#114359)."""
@@ -461,7 +461,8 @@ def _(rid, params: dict) -> dict:
     skills: dict[str, dict] = {}
     try:
         with _session_home_scope(_sessions.get(params.get("session_id", "")), cwd=_completion_cwd(params)):
-            warning = _catalog_skills(cat, skills) or warning
+            collision_note = _catalog_skills(cat, skills)  # always runs: skills must list even when a loader failed
+        warning = warning or collision_note
     except Exception as e:
         warning = f"skill discovery unavailable: {e}"
     return _ok(rid, {