feat(maestro): register dormant sessions on recovery

A host reboot kills the tmux server, so `SessionManager::recover` iterated an
empty list and every session vanished from the API while its sidecar sat
untouched on disk. A second recovery pass now reads the sidecars tmux had
nothing to adopt and registers each as `SessionStatus::Dormant` — a record of
what was running, with no pane and no PTY bridge behind it.

`SessionStatus` deserializes leniently now, like `ActivityState`: an unknown
spelling reads as `Dead` rather than failing the whole `Session`.

Refs #162

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

crates/maestro-cli/src/sessions.rs

@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ fn print_session_table(out: &mut impl Write, sessions: &[Session], info: &Daemon
         let status = match s.status {
             SessionStatus::Running => "running",
             SessionStatus::Dead => "dead",
+            SessionStatus::Dormant => "dormant",
         };
         let activity = match s.activity {
             ActivityState::Active => "active",

crates/maestro-daemon/src/session.rs

@@ -62,7 +62,10 @@ pub struct SessionRecord {
     /// `base_repo` from the original `WorktreeSpec`. Needed because `git
     /// worktree remove` is invoked from the base repo.
     pub worktree_base_repo: Option<PathBuf>,
-    pub bridge: PtyBridge,
+    /// The PTY bridge feeding this session's attach stream. `None` for a
+    /// `Dormant` session (#162): there is no pane behind it, so there is
+    /// nothing to pipe and nothing to attach to.
+    pub bridge: Option<PtyBridge>,
     /// Agent-reported activity (#105) still within its TTL. While in force it
     /// outranks the activity pass's own inference; when it lapses, inference
     /// resumes and [`Session::activity_detail`] is cleared with it. This
@@ -291,7 +294,10 @@ impl SessionManager {
     /// unknown to this daemon.
     pub async fn subscribe_pty(&self, id: Uuid) -> Option<broadcast::Receiver<Vec<u8>>> {
         let sessions = self.inner.sessions.lock().await;
-        sessions.get(&id).map(|r| r.bridge.subscribe())
+        sessions
+            .get(&id)
+            .and_then(|r| r.bridge.as_ref())
+            .map(|b| b.subscribe())
     }
 
     /// Subscribe to a session's PTY broadcast and return the replay buffer
@@ -310,19 +316,26 @@ impl SessionManager {
         let (result, updated) = {
             let mut sessions = self.inner.sessions.lock().await;
             let rec = sessions.get_mut(&id)?;
-            rec.session.last_focused_at = Some(Utc::now());
-            let updated = rec.session.clone();
+            let SessionRecord {
+                session, bridge, ..
+            } = &mut *rec;
+            // #162: a dormant session has no bridge and no pane — nothing was
+            // ever piped for it, so there is no stream to hand back and the
+            // attach reads as unknown. Checked before anything is stamped.
+            let bridge = bridge.as_ref()?;
+            session.last_focused_at = Some(Utc::now());
+            let updated = session.clone();
             // For a live session, tmux's own screen beats the byte tail: the
             // tail starts mid-stream, so a full-screen program (an agent TUI)
             // replayed from it renders as garbage until something forces a
             // repaint. A dead session has no pane left to capture, so it
             // keeps the byte tail.
-            let alive = rec.session.status == SessionStatus::Running;
+            let alive = session.status == SessionStatus::Running;
             // The capture shells out to tmux while the replay lock is held,
             // which parks the reader for the length of one tmux round-trip.
             // That only happens on attach, and the alternative is a seam in
             // the stream.
-            let result = rec.bridge.subscribe_with_snapshot(|| {
+            let result = bridge.subscribe_with_snapshot(|| {
                 if !alive {
                     return None;
                 }
@@ -499,7 +512,7 @@ impl SessionManager {
                     fifo_path,
                     worktree_path,
                     worktree_base_repo,
-                    bridge,
+                    bridge: Some(bridge),
                     reported_activity: None,
                     settled: false,
                     #[cfg(feature = "haiku-autoname")]
@@ -707,7 +720,7 @@ impl SessionManager {
                     // directory blocks that branch forever (#54 review).
                     worktree_path: session.worktree.as_ref().map(|w| w.path.clone()),
                     worktree_base_repo: session.worktree.as_ref().map(|w| w.base_repo.clone()),
-                    bridge,
+                    bridge: Some(bridge),
                     reported_activity: None,
                     settled: false,
                     #[cfg(feature = "haiku-autoname")]
@@ -722,16 +735,89 @@ impl SessionManager {
                 .send(CatalogEvent::SessionAdded { session });
             adopted += 1;
         }
+        self.register_dormant().await;
         Ok(adopted)
     }
 
-    /// Forward keystrokes to a session's pane. A dead session is read-only —
-    /// its pane is gone, so this is a no-op rather than a tmux failure the
-    /// client would have to interpret.
+    /// Second recovery pass (#162): register every sidecar tmux had nothing to
+    /// adopt as a [`SessionStatus::Dormant`] session.
+    ///
+    /// A host reboot kills the tmux server, so the first pass runs over an
+    /// empty list and every session would otherwise disappear from the API
+    /// while its sidecar sat untouched on disk. A dormant record keeps the id,
+    /// name, cwd, command, worktree and `created_at` — everything the sidecar
+    /// holds — so the operator still has a record of what was running. It has
+    /// no tmux session and no [`PtyBridge`] behind it: it cannot be attached
+    /// to, cannot be typed into, and is skipped by both watcher passes. The
+    /// only thing left to do with one is dismiss it, which removes the sidecar
+    /// so the next recovery does not bring it back.
+    ///
+    /// Activity is not carried over: whatever the session was doing, it is not
+    /// doing it now. The rest of the sidecar is left as written.
+    async fn register_dormant(&self) {
+        let stored = match self.inner.sidecar.load_all() {
+            Ok(stored) => stored,
+            Err(e) => {
+                tracing::warn!(error = ?e, "recover: reading sidecars for dormant sessions failed");
+                return;
+            }
+        };
+        let mut registered = Vec::new();
+        {
+            let mut sessions = self.inner.sessions.lock().await;
+            for mut session in stored {
+                if sessions.contains_key(&session.id) {
+                    // Adopted live by the first pass; its sidecar is on disk too.
+                    continue;
+                }
+                let id = session.id;
+                session.status = SessionStatus::Dormant;
+                session.foreground = None;
+                session.activity = ActivityState::Idle;
+                session.activity_detail = None;
+                sessions.insert(
+                    id,
+                    SessionRecord {
+                        session: session.clone(),
+                        fifo_path: self.inner.fifo_dir.join(format!("{id}.fifo")),
+                        // Still known, so a dismissal cleans the worktree up —
+                        // the same reason recovery restores it for a live
+                        // session (#54 review).
+                        worktree_path: session.worktree.as_ref().map(|w| w.path.clone()),
+                        worktree_base_repo: session.worktree.as_ref().map(|w| w.base_repo.clone()),
+                        bridge: None,
+                        reported_activity: None,
+                        settled: false,
+                        #[cfg(feature = "haiku-autoname")]
+                        naming: false,
+                        focused_since: None,
+                        awaiting_suppressed: false,
+                    },
+                );
+                registered.push(session);
+            }
+        }
+        if !registered.is_empty() {
+            tracing::info!(
+                dormant = registered.len(),
+                "registered sessions with no live tmux as dormant"
+            );
+        }
+        for session in registered {
+            let _ = self
+                .inner
+                .events
+                .send(CatalogEvent::SessionAdded { session });
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Forward keystrokes to a session's pane. A dead or dormant session is
+    /// read-only — its pane is gone, so this is a no-op rather than a tmux
+    /// failure the client would have to interpret.
     pub async fn send_keys(&self, id: Uuid, bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<(), SessionError> {
         match self.status(id).await {
             None => return Err(SessionError::NotFound(id)),
-            Some(SessionStatus::Dead) => return Ok(()),
+            Some(SessionStatus::Dead | SessionStatus::Dormant) => return Ok(()),
             Some(SessionStatus::Running) => {}
         }
         let tmux = self.inner.tmux.clone();
@@ -744,13 +830,15 @@ impl SessionManager {
     /// Type `text` into a session's pane, with an Enter after it when
     /// `submit` is set.
     ///
-    /// Unlike [`Self::send_keys`], a dead session is an error: the caller
-    /// asked for text to land somewhere, and a silent success would let a
-    /// script believe an agent had been told something it never heard.
+    /// Unlike [`Self::send_keys`], a dead or dormant session is an error: the
+    /// caller asked for text to land somewhere, and a silent success would let
+    /// a script believe an agent had been told something it never heard.
     pub async fn send_input(&self, id: Uuid, text: &str, submit: bool) -> Result<(), SessionError> {
         match self.status(id).await {
             None => return Err(SessionError::NotFound(id)),
-            Some(SessionStatus::Dead) => return Err(SessionError::NotRunning(id)),
+            Some(SessionStatus::Dead | SessionStatus::Dormant) => {
+                return Err(SessionError::NotRunning(id))
+            }
             Some(SessionStatus::Running) => {}
         }
         let tmux = self.inner.tmux.clone();
@@ -768,12 +856,12 @@ impl SessionManager {
         Ok(())
     }
 
-    /// Resize a session's window. No-op for a dead session, as with
+    /// Resize a session's window. No-op for a dead or dormant session, as with
     /// [`Self::send_keys`].
     pub async fn resize(&self, id: Uuid, cols: u16, rows: u16) -> Result<(), SessionError> {
         match self.status(id).await {
             None => return Err(SessionError::NotFound(id)),
-            Some(SessionStatus::Dead) => return Ok(()),
+            Some(SessionStatus::Dead | SessionStatus::Dormant) => return Ok(()),
             Some(SessionStatus::Running) => {}
         }
         let tmux = self.inner.tmux.clone();
@@ -1174,7 +1262,11 @@ async fn run_activity_pass(inner: &Arc<Inner>) {
                     rec.session.activity_detail = None;
                 }
             }
-            let idle = rec.bridge.idle_for();
+            // Only `Running` sessions reach this pass, and every one of them
+            // has a bridge; a dormant session has neither pane nor bridge.
+            let Some(idle) = rec.bridge.as_ref().map(|b| b.idle_for()) else {
+                continue;
+            };
             // #105: while a report is in force it supplies the state and
             // nothing here may overwrite it; only an unreported session is
             // decided by inference.
@@ -1292,8 +1384,10 @@ async fn run_blocked_work_pass(inner: &Arc<Inner>) {
 /// alone and stays attached to the dead record for a later forced dismissal
 /// (#81), which leaves it on disk too.
 ///
-/// Dead sessions do not survive a daemon restart: [`SessionManager::recover`]
-/// adopts only what tmux still holds.
+/// A dead session does not come back as dead across a daemon restart: its
+/// sidecar survives, so [`SessionManager::recover`]'s second pass registers it
+/// as [`SessionStatus::Dormant`] (#162) — accurate either way, since neither
+/// has a pane behind it.
 async fn mark_session_dead(inner: &Arc<Inner>, id: Uuid) {
     let flipped = {
         let mut sessions = inner.sessions.lock().await;
@@ -1302,7 +1396,9 @@ async fn mark_session_dead(inner: &Arc<Inner>, id: Uuid) {
                 record.session.status = SessionStatus::Dead;
                 // Release anyone attached; the scrollback survives for a later
                 // attach.
-                record.bridge.seal();
+                if let Some(bridge) = record.bridge.as_mut() {
+                    bridge.seal();
+                }
                 let session = record.session.clone();
                 let worktree = record
                     .worktree_base_repo

crates/maestro-daemon/tests/session_manager.rs

@@ -140,6 +140,140 @@ async fn recover_adopts_existing_tmux_sessions() {
     assert_eq!(snap[0].command, "sleep 30");
 }
 
+/// #162: a host reboot kills the tmux server, so recovery finds nothing to
+/// adopt while every sidecar is still on disk. Those sessions come back as
+/// `Dormant` — a record of what was running — rather than vanishing from the
+/// API and leaving the operator with nothing.
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn recover_registers_orphaned_sidecars_as_dormant() {
+    let fx = DaemonFixture::new();
+    let cwd = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+    let mut metadata = HashMap::new();
+    metadata.insert(
+        maestro_protocol::NAME_KEY.to_string(),
+        serde_json::Value::String("after-reboot".into()),
+    );
+
+    let s = fx
+        .manager
+        .create(CreateSessionRequest {
+            cwd: cwd.path().to_path_buf(),
+            command: "sleep 30".into(),
+            env: HashMap::new(),
+            metadata,
+            worktree: None,
+        })
+        .await
+        .expect("create");
+
+    // The reboot: the tmux server is gone, the sidecar is untouched.
+    fx.tmux.tmux.kill_server().expect("kill tmux server");
+
+    let revived = revive(&fx);
+    let adopted = revived.recover().await.expect("recover");
+    assert_eq!(adopted, 0, "no live tmux session left to adopt");
+
+    let snap = revived.snapshot().await;
+    assert_eq!(snap.len(), 1, "the sidecar's session is still listed");
+    assert_eq!(snap[0].id, s.id);
+    assert_eq!(snap[0].status, SessionStatus::Dormant);
+    assert_eq!(snap[0].command, "sleep 30");
+    assert_eq!(snap[0].cwd, s.cwd);
+    assert_eq!(snap[0].created_at, s.created_at);
+    assert_eq!(
+        snap[0]
+            .metadata
+            .get(maestro_protocol::NAME_KEY)
+            .and_then(|v| v.as_str()),
+        Some("after-reboot"),
+    );
+}
+
+/// #162: a session tmux still holds is adopted `Running` by the first pass and
+/// must not be re-registered as dormant by the second — the sidecar is on disk
+/// for both.
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn recover_does_not_mark_adopted_sessions_dormant() {
+    let fx = DaemonFixture::new();
+    let cwd = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+
+    let live = fx
+        .manager
+        .create(CreateSessionRequest {
+            cwd: cwd.path().to_path_buf(),
+            command: "sleep 30".into(),
+            env: HashMap::new(),
+            metadata: HashMap::new(),
+            worktree: None,
+        })
+        .await
+        .expect("create live");
+    let orphan = fx
+        .manager
+        .create(CreateSessionRequest {
+            cwd: cwd.path().to_path_buf(),
+            command: "sleep 31".into(),
+            env: HashMap::new(),
+            metadata: HashMap::new(),
+            worktree: None,
+        })
+        .await
+        .expect("create orphan");
+    // Only the second session loses its pane.
+    fx.tmux.tmux.kill_session(orphan.id).expect("kill session");
+
+    let revived = revive(&fx);
+    assert_eq!(revived.recover().await.expect("recover"), 1);
+
+    let mut snap = revived.snapshot().await;
+    snap.sort_by_key(|s| s.command.clone());
+    assert_eq!(snap.len(), 2);
+    assert_eq!(snap[0].id, live.id);
+    assert_eq!(snap[0].status, SessionStatus::Running);
+    assert_eq!(snap[1].id, orphan.id);
+    assert_eq!(snap[1].status, SessionStatus::Dormant);
+}
+
+/// #162: dismissing a dormant session is the one thing that can be done to it
+/// — no tmux call to fail, and the sidecar goes with it so the next recovery
+/// does not resurrect it.
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn dormant_session_can_be_dismissed() {
+    let fx = DaemonFixture::new();
+    let cwd = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+
+    let s = fx
+        .manager
+        .create(CreateSessionRequest {
+            cwd: cwd.path().to_path_buf(),
+            command: "sleep 30".into(),
+            env: HashMap::new(),
+            metadata: HashMap::new(),
+            worktree: None,
+        })
+        .await
+        .expect("create");
+    fx.tmux.tmux.kill_server().expect("kill tmux server");
+
+    let revived = revive(&fx);
+    revived.recover().await.expect("recover");
+    revived.kill(s.id, false).await.expect("dismiss");
+
+    assert!(!revived.has(s.id).await);
+    assert!(!fx.sidecar_dir().join(format!("{}.json", s.id)).exists());
+}
+
+/// A second `SessionManager` over the same dirs and the same tmux server —
+/// what a daemon restart looks like from inside a test.
+fn revive(fx: &DaemonFixture) -> maestro_daemon::SessionManager {
+    maestro_daemon::SessionManager::new(
+        Arc::new(fx.tmux.tmux.clone()),
+        maestro_daemon::sidecar::SidecarStore::new(fx.sidecar_dir()),
+        maestro_daemon::worktree::WorktreeManager::new(None),
+        fx.fifo_dir(),
+    )
+}
+
 /// Regression for NAP-253: the very first bytes a freshly-spawned command
 /// writes must reach the replay buffer. Before the fix, `pipe-pane` was a
 /// separate tmux invocation that ran after `new-session` + an async FIFO

crates/maestro-protocol/src/lib.rs

@@ -123,10 +123,38 @@ fn epoch() -> DateTime<Utc> {
     DateTime::from_timestamp(0, 0).expect("unix epoch is a valid timestamp")
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+/// Lifecycle of a session as the daemon knows it.
+///
+/// Deserializes leniently, like [`ActivityState`] (#162): an unknown spelling
+/// from a newer daemon reads as [`SessionStatus::Dead`] instead of failing the
+/// whole `Session`. `Dead` is the safe degrade — an unrecognised session is
+/// one this client must not treat as having a live pane to type into.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize)]
 pub enum SessionStatus {
     Running,
     Dead,
+    /// Known from its sidecar, with no tmux session behind it (#162). The
+    /// daemon registers these at recovery time for every sidecar tmux had
+    /// nothing to adopt — after a host reboot, that is every session there
+    /// was. There is no pane and no PTY bridge: a dormant session is a record
+    /// of what was running, listed so the operator still has it, and the only
+    /// thing that can be done to it is dismissing it.
+    Dormant,
+}
+
+impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for SessionStatus {
+    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
+    where
+        D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+    {
+        let s = String::deserialize(deserializer)?;
+        Ok(match s.as_str() {
+            "Running" => Self::Running,
+            "Dormant" => Self::Dormant,
+            // Known or not, any other spelling degrades to the inert variant.
+            _ => Self::Dead,
+        })
+    }
 }
 
 /// Inferred session activity, orthogonal to [`SessionStatus`] (NAP-340). The
@@ -1059,6 +1087,33 @@ mod tests {
             serde_json::to_value(SessionStatus::Dead).unwrap(),
             serde_json::json!("Dead")
         );
+        assert_eq!(
+            serde_json::to_value(SessionStatus::Dormant).unwrap(),
+            serde_json::json!("Dormant")
+        );
+    }
+
+    // #162: a session with no tmux behind it still rides the wire whole.
+    #[test]
+    fn dormant_session_round_trips() {
+        let mut s = sample_session();
+        s.status = SessionStatus::Dormant;
+        assert_eq!(s, round_trip(&s));
+    }
+
+    // #162: a `SessionStatus` this client does not know must degrade to the
+    // inert variant, not fail the whole `Session` the way a derived
+    // `Deserialize` would.
+    #[test]
+    fn unknown_session_status_degrades_to_dead() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            serde_json::from_value::<SessionStatus>(serde_json::json!("Hibernating")).unwrap(),
+            SessionStatus::Dead
+        );
+        let mut value = serde_json::to_value(sample_session()).unwrap();
+        value["status"] = serde_json::json!("Hibernating");
+        let s: Session = serde_json::from_value(value).expect("session survives unknown status");
+        assert_eq!(s.status, SessionStatus::Dead);
     }
 
     #[test]

crates/maestro-tui/src/command_bar.rs

@@ -194,7 +194,9 @@ pub enum BarOutcome {
 pub fn order_sessions_for_bar(sessions: &[Session]) -> Vec<&Session> {
     let mut ordered: Vec<&Session> = sessions.iter().collect();
     ordered.sort_by(|a, b| {
-        let dead = |s: &Session| u8::from(s.status == SessionStatus::Dead);
+        // docs/COMMAND-BAR.md: anything with no live pane — dead or dormant
+        // (#162) — sorts after the sessions you could actually attach to.
+        let dead = |s: &Session| u8::from(s.status != SessionStatus::Running);
         dead(a)
             .cmp(&dead(b))
             .then_with(|| {
@@ -319,7 +321,7 @@ impl CommandBar {
             .map(|s| BarEntry {
                 candidate: MatchCandidate::Session(session_candidate(s, home_dir)),
                 target: BarTarget::Session(s.id),
-                dead: s.status == SessionStatus::Dead,
+                dead: s.status != SessionStatus::Running,
                 chords: Vec::new(),
             })
             .collect();
@@ -889,6 +891,23 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(bar.rows()[1].dead);
     }
 
+    /// #162: docs/COMMAND-BAR.md ranks by whether you could attach, not by
+    /// which way the pane went away — a dormant session sorts with the dead.
+    #[test]
+    fn dormant_sessions_sort_after_live_ones_however_recent() {
+        let mut dormant = named(1, "dormant");
+        dormant.status = SessionStatus::Dormant;
+        dormant.last_focused_at = Some(at(99));
+        let live = named(2, "live");
+
+        let bar = CommandBar::new(&[dormant, live], &[], "/home/me");
+        assert_eq!(
+            ids(bar.rows()),
+            vec![Uuid::from_u128(2), Uuid::from_u128(1)]
+        );
+        assert!(bar.rows()[1].dead);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn typing_ranks_through_the_matcher_and_returns_ranges() {
         let mut bar = CommandBar::new(

crates/maestro-tui/src/sidebar.rs

@@ -268,6 +268,8 @@ impl Sidebar {
     fn name_row(&self, s: &Session, width: usize, focused: bool) -> Vec<Span<'static>> {
         let glyph = match (s.status, self.attached.contains(&s.id)) {
             (SessionStatus::Dead, _) => "✗",
+            // #162: known from its sidecar, nothing running behind it.
+            (SessionStatus::Dormant, _) => "◌",
             (SessionStatus::Running, true) => "●",
             (SessionStatus::Running, false) => "○",
         };
@@ -322,6 +324,7 @@ impl Sidebar {
         // on line 1; the kill confirm names the specifics.
         let blocked = s.blocked_work.filter(|b| !b.is_clear());
         let dead = s.status == SessionStatus::Dead;
+        let dormant = s.status == SessionStatus::Dormant;
         let highlighted = self.highlight == Some(SidebarItem::Session(s.id));
         let fill = self.card_fill(s, focused);
         let base = card_base(fill, focused);
@@ -361,6 +364,9 @@ impl Sidebar {
         if dead {
             tail.push(Span::styled(" exited", muted));
         }
+        if dormant {
+            tail.push(Span::styled(" dormant", muted));
+        }
         // docs/SIDEBAR.md: the card names the program, never its arguments.
         let command = Span::styled(format!(" {}", command_program(&s.command)), muted);
 
@@ -1068,6 +1074,39 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    /// #162, docs/SIDEBAR.md: a dormant session is known but not running —
+    /// its own glyph on line 1 and the muted `dormant` fragment on line 2, so
+    /// it never reads as something that exited.
+    #[test]
+    fn dormant_session_reads_as_known_but_not_running() {
+        let mut s = session_named(1, "claude");
+        s.status = SessionStatus::Dormant;
+        s.activity_since = Utc::now() - Duration::seconds(5);
+        let sb = Sidebar {
+            sessions: vec![s],
+            highlight: None,
+            attached: Default::default(),
+            pane_session: None,
+        };
+        let all = rows(&draw(&sb, 28, 8));
+        let idx = all.iter().position(|l| l.contains("claude")).unwrap();
+        assert!(
+            all[idx].contains('\u{25cc}'),
+            "expected the dormant glyph in: {:?}",
+            all[idx]
+        );
+        assert!(
+            all[idx + 1].contains("dormant"),
+            "expected dormant fragment in: {:?}",
+            all[idx + 1]
+        );
+        assert!(
+            !all[idx + 1].contains("exited"),
+            "a dormant session never reads as exited: {:?}",
+            all[idx + 1]
+        );
+    }
+
     /// docs/SIDEBAR.md: line 2 names the program, never its arguments.
     #[test]
     fn meta_line_drops_the_commands_arguments() {

docs/COMMAND-BAR.md

@@ -123,9 +123,9 @@ client opening `/api/attach/:id`, and a client reporting focus explicitly at
 `POST /api/sessions/:id/focus` when it refocuses a pane that is already open.
 
 **A session that has never been focused sorts after every session that has**,
-and among those, most recently created first. Dead sessions sort after live
-ones regardless of recency: a session you cannot attach to is not where you
-just were.
+and among those, most recently created first. Sessions with no live pane —
+`Dead`, and `Dormant` (#162) — sort after live ones regardless of recency: a
+session you cannot attach to is not where you just were.
 
 Under `>` an empty query lists every command in registry order. Under `~` it
 lists recent dirs, most recent first, then the project list.

docs/RESTART.md

@@ -68,6 +68,26 @@ resolves, so a blocked client is never a trapped one. It clears itself the
 moment a probe succeeds — there is no "retry" button, because the client is
 already retrying.
 
+## What survives, and what comes back dormant
+
+A daemon restart leaves tmux alone, so recovery re-adopts every
+`maestro-<uuid>` session tmux still holds and the operator sees no change
+beyond the reconnect above.
+
+A **host reboot** is different: it kills the tmux server, so there is nothing
+to adopt while every session's sidecar is still on disk. Recovery makes a
+second pass over those sidecars and registers each as a `Dormant` session
+(#162) — id, name, cwd, command, worktree and `created_at` intact. A dormant
+session has no pane and no PTY bridge: it cannot be attached to, typed into or
+resized, and neither watcher pass touches it. It is a record of what was
+running, and the only thing left to do with one is dismiss it, which removes
+the sidecar so the next recovery does not bring it back.
+
+`SessionStatus` is a wire type, so it deserializes leniently on both clients:
+a spelling this build does not know reads as `Dead` rather than failing the
+whole session. Clients render a dormant session as known-but-not-running —
+see `docs/SIDEBAR.md` for the card and `docs/COMMAND-BAR.md` for how it ranks.
+
 ## Timing
 
 - **Grace window** — 1200 ms between the socket dropping and the overlay

docs/SIDEBAR.md

@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ itself is not.
 Line 2 reads left to right:
 
 ```
-[<duration>] [<detail>] <command> [<diff stat> | exited]
+[<duration>] [<detail>] <command> [<diff stat> | exited | dormant]
 ```
 
 Its minimum content is therefore just the command.
@@ -104,8 +104,14 @@ fragment; it no longer decides whether line 2 exists.
 while an agent-reported state is in force (see Precedence): when the report
 lapses at its TTL or is replaced, the detail goes with it. The detail
 truncates with `…` ahead of the trailing fragments — a long detail never
-pushes `<command>`, `<blocked work>`, or `exited` off the line, and neither
-client ever lets it wrap.
+pushes `<command>`, `<blocked work>`, `exited` or `dormant` off the line, and
+neither client ever lets it wrap.
+
+`dormant` (#162) is the counterpart of `exited` for a session the daemon knows
+only from its sidecar: recovery found no tmux session behind it, so it has no
+pane, no scrollback, and nothing to attach to. It is not an exit — nothing was
+observed ending — so the two fragments never both show. The TUI marks the same
+state on line 1 with `◌`, next to `✗` for exited and `●`/`○` for running.
 
 `<diff stat>` is the blocked-work breakdown (#83) in diff notation, replacing
 the spelled-out `⚠ 3 uncommitted files, 2 unpushed commits`. It renders only
@@ -209,7 +215,7 @@ the cursor's fill while the pane holds the keyboard, and the web's ring on a
 highlighted **folder** row — a folder previews nothing, so it has no fill to
 step up to.
 
-The duration text inherits its state's colour; the exited and command
+The duration text inherits its state's colour; the exited, dormant and command
 fragments use the surface's `muted` role, as do the diff stat's `~`, `?` and
 `↑` fragments. Only `+` and `-` step outside the surface's muted role, and they
 take the `active` and `error` roles of the same surface.

web/src/catalog.test.ts

@@ -414,6 +414,19 @@ describe("session cards (#107)", () => {
     expect(line2?.textContent).toContain("exited");
   });
 
+  // #162: a session recovered with no tmux behind it is known but not running,
+  // and never reads as something that exited.
+  it("shows dormant on line 2 for dormant sessions", () => {
+    const s = session({
+      id: "aaaaaaaa-0000-0000-0000-000000000118",
+      status: "Dormant",
+    });
+    const el = renderSidebar(storeWith([s])).el;
+    const line2 = rowFor(el, s.id)?.querySelector<HTMLElement>(".card-line2");
+    expect(line2?.textContent).toContain("dormant");
+    expect(line2?.textContent).not.toContain("exited");
+  });
+
   it("carries the state word only in tooltips and aria labels, never as text", () => {
     const s = session({
       id: "aaaaaaaa-0000-0000-0000-000000000019",

web/src/catalog.ts

@@ -113,6 +113,9 @@ function activityRailMarkup(slug: string, stateWord: string): string {
 
 function metaLine(s: Session, now: number): string {
   const dead = s.status === "Dead";
+  // #162: known from its sidecar with nothing running behind it — a distinct
+  // fragment, since it never exited.
+  const dormant = s.status === "Dormant";
   const blockers = sessionBlockers(s);
   const slug = activityColorSlug(s.activity ?? "Idle");
   const held = activityHeldMs(s.activity_since, now);
@@ -127,6 +130,7 @@ function metaLine(s: Session, now: number): string {
     commandFragment(s.command),
     blockers ? blockedFragment(blockers) : "",
     dead ? `<span class="card-flag">exited</span>` : "",
+    dormant ? `<span class="card-flag">dormant</span>` : "",
   ];
   return `<span class="card-line2" data-activity="${slug}">${fragments.join("")}</span>`;
 }

web/src/commandBar.test.ts

@@ -99,6 +99,20 @@ describe("empty-query ordering", () => {
     ]);
   });
 
+  // #162: docs/COMMAND-BAR.md ranks by whether you could attach, not by which
+  // way the pane went away.
+  it("sorts dormant sessions after live ones, like dead ones", () => {
+    const dormantRecent = session("dormant", {
+      status: "Dormant",
+      last_focused_at: "2026-06-01T00:00:00Z",
+    });
+    const liveStale = session("live", { last_focused_at: "2020-01-01T00:00:00Z" });
+    expect(orderSessionsForBar([dormantRecent, liveStale]).map((s) => s.id)).toEqual([
+      "live",
+      "dormant",
+    ]);
+  });
+
   it("treats a null last_focused_at as never focused", () => {
     const nulled = session("nulled", { last_focused_at: null });
     const stamped = session("stamped", { last_focused_at: "2020-01-01T00:00:00Z" });

web/src/commandBar.ts

@@ -142,8 +142,10 @@ function createdAt(s: Session): number {
  *  matcher's last tie-break preserves. */
 export function orderSessionsForBar(sessions: readonly Session[]): Session[] {
   return [...sessions].sort((a, b) => {
-    const deadA = a.status === "Dead" ? 1 : 0;
-    const deadB = b.status === "Dead" ? 1 : 0;
+    // docs/COMMAND-BAR.md: anything with no live pane — dead or dormant (#162)
+    // — sorts after the sessions you could actually attach to.
+    const deadA = a.status === "Running" ? 0 : 1;
+    const deadB = b.status === "Running" ? 0 : 1;
     if (deadA !== deadB) return deadA - deadB;
 
     const focusA = focusedAt(a);
@@ -350,7 +352,7 @@ function renderRow(result: BarResult, index: number): HTMLElement {
   row.dataset.kind = candidate.kind;
   if (candidate.kind === "session") {
     row.dataset.sessionId = candidate.session.id;
-    if (candidate.session.status === "Dead") row.classList.add("is-dead");
+    if (candidate.session.status !== "Running") row.classList.add("is-dead");
   } else if (isActionCandidate(candidate)) {
     row.dataset.actionId = candidate.action.id;
   } else if (candidate.kind === "command") {

web/src/types.ts

@@ -6,7 +6,10 @@ import { escapeHtml } from "./html.js";
 export type Uuid = string;
 export type IsoTimestamp = string;
 
-export type SessionStatus = "Running" | "Dead";
+/** `Dormant` (#162) is a session the daemon knows only from its sidecar —
+ * recovered after the tmux server died under it, so there is no pane behind it
+ * and nothing to attach to. Listed, never live. */
+export type SessionStatus = "Running" | "Dead" | "Dormant";
 
 /** Daemon-inferred activity dimension, orthogonal to `SessionStatus` (NAP-340).
  * Absent on payloads from daemons that predate the field. `Error` is only set