fix(first-task): run each step once and treat a settled connect card as final (#130152)

A live run showed the task chat calling manage_catalog by its bare name
(it is deferred), failing, restarting the skill's step list at step 1, and
opening a second connect card for apps the user had already answered. The
second card blocked the turn for its 300 s deadline.

The skill now shows the tool_call form for a deferred manage_catalog, says
each step runs once and a failed later step never sends it back to an
earlier one, and treats an app left unconnected after Continue as skipped.
The connect settle note no longer tells the model to ask again about a
not_connected app; the user moved on.

optional-skills/productivity/first-task/SKILL.md

@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Runs the first chat after setup, the one `start_chat` opened. The top of this me
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
-The task chat's own tools: `manage_connections`, `manage_catalog`, `clarify`, `terminal`, the file tools, the browser, `tool_search`, `skill_view`, and `desktop_preview` in the desktop app. Use only tools that are in your tool list.
+The task chat's own tools: `manage_connections`, `manage_catalog`, `clarify`, `terminal`, the file tools, the browser, `tool_search`, `skill_view`, and `desktop_preview` in the desktop app. Use only tools that are in your tool list. A tool named here but missing from your list, often `manage_catalog`, is deferred: run it through `tool_call`, as in the Quick Reference, never by its bare name.
 
 ## How to Run
 
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ The "What setup learned" lines are your recon. Do not survey the machine first:
 |---|---|---|
 | 1 | One line on what you start with | none |
 | 2 | Connect the picked apps | `manage_connections` connect, every id in `connect`, once |
-| 3 | Install the picked plugins | `manage_catalog` install, every id in `install`, once |
+| 3 | Install the picked plugins | `manage_catalog` install (through `tool_call` when deferred), every id in `install`, once |
 | 4 | Specific ask: start it. Vague ask: three options | `clarify`, three choices |
 | 5 | The first slice, finished in five minutes | the task's own tools |
 | 6 | Show the result, offer the next step | `clarify`: Looks right, Change something, Take it further |
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ The "What setup learned" lines are your recon. Do not survey the machine first:
 ```
 manage_connections  {"action":"connect","connectors":["<id>", ...]}
 manage_catalog      {"action":"install","items":[{"kind":"plugin","id":"<id>"}, ...],"reason":"<one line>"}
+tool_call           {"calls":[{"name":"manage_catalog","arguments":{"action":"install","items":[{"kind":"plugin","id":"<id>"}],"reason":"<one line>"}}]}   (when manage_catalog is deferred)
 clarify             {"questions":[{"question":"<short question>","choices":["<option>","<option>","<option>"]}]}
 ```
 
@@ -54,6 +55,8 @@ clarify             {"questions":[{"question":"<short question>","choices":["<op
 
 Your first reply is one short line on what you will start with, then steps 2 and 3 back to back, before any other work. Skip a step whose list is empty. A skipped or failed row never blocks: say in one line what it would have added, go on without it, and never offer it again in this chat.
 
+Each step runs once. When a later step fails, fix that step and go on; never go back and redo an earlier one. The connect card's answer is final for this chat: use the apps that connected, and do not connect or ask about the others again (an app left unconnected after Continue counts as skipped). Say once, when you close the first slice, that they can connect the rest later.
+
 ### 2. Ask only when vague
 
 - A specific ask (a named outcome such as "A daily brief from Linear and Slack", "Install a few apps for this Spark", a scene in Blender): start it now, with no confirming question.
@@ -102,7 +105,9 @@ One short line on what you made and where it is, then a `clarify` card with "Loo
 - A survey of the machine before any work. The facts block is the survey.
 - A plan question when the ask was already specific.
 - A 30-minute job as the first slice.
-- Offering again an app they skipped.
+- Offering again an app they skipped or left unconnected.
+- Running connect again after a later step fails.
+- Calling a deferred tool by its bare name instead of through `tool_call`.
 - Reading the facts block back to them.
 - Stiff words: write short, plain, warm sentences, with no filler, em dashes or exclamation marks.
 

tools/connectors/managed.py

@@ -36,9 +36,10 @@ _ACCOUNT_OUTCOME: Dict[str, Tuple[TargetState, Actor]] = {
 }
 
 NOTE = (
-    "Settled once. connected → use the app now; skipped → the user chose Not now, do not connect it "
-    "or route around it; not_connected → ask the user what to do, never re-mint on your own. "
-    "A later request from the USER for that same app is not a re-ask — run it."
+    "Settled once. connected → use the app now. skipped or not_connected → the user moved on: do not "
+    "connect it again, do not ask about it again in this chat, and do not route around it; you may say "
+    "once that they can connect it later. A later request from the USER for that same app is not a "
+    "re-ask — run it."
 )
 
 

website/docs/user-guide/skills/optional/productivity/productivity-first-task.md

@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Runs the first chat after setup, the one `start_chat` opened. The top of this me
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
-The task chat's own tools: `manage_connections`, `manage_catalog`, `clarify`, `terminal`, the file tools, the browser, `tool_search`, `skill_view`, and `desktop_preview` in the desktop app. Use only tools that are in your tool list.
+The task chat's own tools: `manage_connections`, `manage_catalog`, `clarify`, `terminal`, the file tools, the browser, `tool_search`, `skill_view`, and `desktop_preview` in the desktop app. Use only tools that are in your tool list. A tool named here but missing from your list, often `manage_catalog`, is deferred: run it through `tool_call`, as in the Quick Reference, never by its bare name.
 
 ## How to Run
 
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ The "What setup learned" lines are your recon. Do not survey the machine first:
 |---|---|---|
 | 1 | One line on what you start with | none |
 | 2 | Connect the picked apps | `manage_connections` connect, every id in `connect`, once |
-| 3 | Install the picked plugins | `manage_catalog` install, every id in `install`, once |
+| 3 | Install the picked plugins | `manage_catalog` install (through `tool_call` when deferred), every id in `install`, once |
 | 4 | Specific ask: start it. Vague ask: three options | `clarify`, three choices |
 | 5 | The first slice, finished in five minutes | the task's own tools |
 | 6 | Show the result, offer the next step | `clarify`: Looks right, Change something, Take it further |
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ The "What setup learned" lines are your recon. Do not survey the machine first:
 ```
 manage_connections  {"action":"connect","connectors":["<id>", ...]}
 manage_catalog      {"action":"install","items":[{"kind":"plugin","id":"<id>"}, ...],"reason":"<one line>"}
+tool_call           {"calls":[{"name":"manage_catalog","arguments":{"action":"install","items":[{"kind":"plugin","id":"<id>"}],"reason":"<one line>"}}]}   (when manage_catalog is deferred)
 clarify             {"questions":[{"question":"<short question>","choices":["<option>","<option>","<option>"]}]}
 ```
 
@@ -71,6 +72,8 @@ clarify             {"questions":[{"question":"<short question>","choices":["<op
 
 Your first reply is one short line on what you will start with, then steps 2 and 3 back to back, before any other work. Skip a step whose list is empty. A skipped or failed row never blocks: say in one line what it would have added, go on without it, and never offer it again in this chat.
 
+Each step runs once. When a later step fails, fix that step and go on; never go back and redo an earlier one. The connect card's answer is final for this chat: use the apps that connected, and do not connect or ask about the others again (an app left unconnected after Continue counts as skipped). Say once, when you close the first slice, that they can connect the rest later.
+
 ### 2. Ask only when vague
 
 - A specific ask (a named outcome such as "A daily brief from Linear and Slack", "Install a few apps for this Spark", a scene in Blender): start it now, with no confirming question.
@@ -119,7 +122,9 @@ One short line on what you made and where it is, then a `clarify` card with "Loo
 - A survey of the machine before any work. The facts block is the survey.
 - A plan question when the ask was already specific.
 - A 30-minute job as the first slice.
-- Offering again an app they skipped.
+- Offering again an app they skipped or left unconnected.
+- Running connect again after a later step fails.
+- Calling a deferred tool by its bare name instead of through `tool_call`.
 - Reading the facts block back to them.
 - Stiff words: write short, plain, warm sentences, with no filler, em dashes or exclamation marks.