update

src/main/database/agents-hierarchy.ts

@@ -408,5 +408,80 @@ export function buildAgentHierarchyMethods(
         )
         .run(merged.enabled ? 1 : 0, merged.intervalSec, policyJson, ts, agentId, companyId);
     },
+
+    /**
+     * Returns ids of non-terminated agents in a department. Used by
+     * `resolveMessageWakeTargets` to fan out "department" channel messages.
+     */
+    listDepartmentAgentIds(companyId: string, department: string): string[] {
+      return readAll<{ id: string }>(
+        "select id from agents where company_id = ? and department = ? and status != 'terminated'",
+        companyId,
+        department,
+      ).map((row) => row.id);
+    },
+
+    /**
+     * Returns ids of non-terminated agents that have no manager (top of the
+     * reporting tree). Used by `resolveMessageWakeTargets` for "company"
+     * channel broadcast.
+     */
+    listTopLevelAgentIds(companyId: string): string[] {
+      return readAll<{ id: string }>(
+        "select id from agents where company_id = ? and reports_to is null and status != 'terminated'",
+        companyId,
+      ).map((row) => row.id);
+    },
+
+    /**
+     * Returns ids of agents that can receive incident pings: everybody not
+     * terminated or still pending approval.
+     */
+    listIncidentPingableAgentIds(companyId: string): string[] {
+      return readAll<{ id: string }>(
+        "select id from agents where company_id = ? and status not in ('terminated', 'pending_approval')",
+        companyId,
+      ).map((row) => row.id);
+    },
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the agent's display name, or null if the agent no longer
+     * exists. Used for notification subject lines.
+     */
+    findAgentName(agentId: string): string | null {
+      const row = getDb()
+        .prepare("select name from agents where id = ? limit 1")
+        .get(agentId) as { name: string } | undefined;
+      return row?.name ?? null;
+    },
+
+    /**
+     * Returns (id, name) pairs for the given ids, scoped to company. Used
+     * for batched name resolution when fanning out message wake targets.
+     */
+    listAgentNamesByIds(companyId: string, agentIds: readonly string[]): Array<{ id: string; name: string }> {
+      if (agentIds.length === 0) return [];
+      const placeholders = agentIds.map(() => "?").join(",");
+      return readAll<{ id: string; name: string }>(
+        `select id, name from agents where id in (${placeholders}) and company_id = ?`,
+        ...agentIds,
+        companyId,
+      );
+    },
+
+    /**
+     * Returns ids of active agents with the given ids, filtered to the
+     * company scope. Used by project-channel wake targeting to drop
+     * terminated members before pinging.
+     */
+    listActiveAgentIdsFromIds(companyId: string, agentIds: readonly string[]): string[] {
+      if (agentIds.length === 0) return [];
+      const placeholders = agentIds.map(() => "?").join(",");
+      return readAll<{ id: string }>(
+        `select id from agents where id in (${placeholders}) and company_id = ? and status != 'terminated'`,
+        ...agentIds,
+        companyId,
+      ).map((row) => row.id);
+    },
   };
 }

src/main/database/approvals.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { randomUUID } from "node:crypto";
 import type { DatabaseSync, SQLInputValue } from "node:sqlite";
+import log from "electron-log/main.js";
 import type { ApprovalRecord } from "@shared/types";
 import type { ReadAll, Transaction } from "./helpers";
 import { normalizeOptionalId, nowIso, parseJson } from "./helpers";
@@ -54,7 +55,11 @@ export function buildApprovalMethods(
         try {
           const payload = JSON.parse(input.payloadJson) as { agentId?: string };
           relatedAgentId = payload.agentId ?? null;
-        } catch { /* ignore malformed payload */ }
+        } catch (error) {
+          log.warn(
+            `[db/approvals] malformed payloadJson on hire_agent request for company ${input.companyId}: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`,
+          );
+        }
       }
       if (input.type === "hire_agent") {
         if (!relatedAgentId) {
@@ -346,5 +351,40 @@ export function buildApprovalMethods(
         }
       });
     },
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the first pending approval linked to a task (id + type),
+     * or null when none exists. Used by task-quality-gates to decide
+     * whether an in-review task still has a blocking approval.
+     */
+    findPendingApprovalForTask(companyId: string, taskId: string): { id: string; type: string } | null {
+      const row = getDb()
+        .prepare(
+          `SELECT id, type FROM approvals
+           WHERE company_id = ? AND related_task_id = ? AND state = 'pending'
+           LIMIT 1`,
+        )
+        .get(companyId, taskId) as { id: string; type: string } | undefined;
+      return row ?? null;
+    },
+
+    /**
+     * Returns true when the given agent has a pending review-type approval
+     * against one of their tasks. Used by checkpoint-engine to decide
+     * whether heartbeat should pause in co-founder mode.
+     */
+    hasPendingReviewApprovalForAgent(companyId: string, agentId: string): boolean {
+      const row = getDb()
+        .prepare(
+          `SELECT 1 as hit FROM approvals a
+           JOIN tasks t ON a.related_task_id = t.id
+           WHERE a.company_id = ? AND a.state = 'pending'
+           AND t.assignee_agent_id = ?
+           AND a.type IN ('plan_review','scope_review','draft_review','strategy_review','deliverable_review','exception_review')
+           LIMIT 1`,
+        )
+        .get(companyId, agentId) as { hit: number } | undefined;
+      return row !== undefined;
+    },
   };
 }

src/main/database/backup.ts

@@ -32,8 +32,6 @@ export function buildBackupMethods(
         backupDatabase(deps.getDb(), join(targetDir, "profile.sqlite")),
         cp(deps.logsDir, join(targetDir, "logs"), { recursive: true, force: true }),
         cp(deps.artifactsDir, join(targetDir, "artifacts"), { recursive: true, force: true }),
-        copyIfExists(join(deps.profileDir, "vault.key"), join(targetDir, "vault.key")),
-        copyIfExists(join(deps.profileDir, "agent-api-signing.key"), join(targetDir, "agent-api-signing.key")),
         copyIfExists(`${deps.dbPath}-wal`, join(targetDir, "profile.sqlite-wal")),
         copyIfExists(`${deps.dbPath}-shm`, join(targetDir, "profile.sqlite-shm")),
       ];

src/main/database/entity-crud.ts

@@ -49,11 +49,12 @@ export function buildEntityCrudMethods(
     getTask(id: string): TaskRecord {
       const row = getDb()
         .prepare(
-          "select id, company_id as companyId, project_id as projectId, goal_id as goalId, parent_id as parentId, title, description, assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId, workspace_id as workspaceId, status, priority, active_run_id as activeRunId, session_json as sessionJson, session_display_id as sessionDisplayId, cost_usd as costUsd, task_type as taskType, requires_user_review as requiresUserReview, started_at as startedAt, completed_at as completedAt, cancelled_at as cancelledAt, created_at as createdAt, updated_at as updatedAt from tasks where id = ?",
+          "select id, company_id as companyId, project_id as projectId, goal_id as goalId, parent_id as parentId, title, description, assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId, workspace_id as workspaceId, status, priority, active_run_id as activeRunId, session_json as sessionJson, session_display_id as sessionDisplayId, cost_usd as costUsd, task_type as taskType, requires_user_review as requiresUserReview, is_heartbeat as isHeartbeat, started_at as startedAt, completed_at as completedAt, cancelled_at as cancelledAt, created_at as createdAt, updated_at as updatedAt from tasks where id = ?",
         )
         .get(id) as TaskRecord | undefined;
       if (!row) throw new Error(`Task not found: ${id}`);
       row.requiresUserReview = Boolean(row.requiresUserReview);
+      row.isHeartbeat = Boolean(row.isHeartbeat);
       row.startedAt = row.startedAt ?? null;
       row.completedAt = row.completedAt ?? null;
       row.cancelledAt = row.cancelledAt ?? null;

src/main/database/runs.ts

@@ -279,14 +279,15 @@ export function buildRunMethods(
 
     getInterruptedRunsForRecovery(): Array<{
       runId: string; taskId: string; taskTitle: string; agentId: string;
-      agentName: string; connectorId: string; interruptedAt: string;
+      agentName: string; companyId: string; connectorId: string; interruptedAt: string;
     }> {
       return readAll<{
         runId: string; taskId: string; taskTitle: string; agentId: string;
-        agentName: string; connectorId: string; interruptedAt: string;
+        agentName: string; companyId: string; connectorId: string; interruptedAt: string;
       }>(
         `select r.id as runId, r.task_id as taskId, t.title as taskTitle,
                 r.agent_id as agentId, a.name as agentName,
+                r.company_id as companyId,
                 r.connector_id as connectorId, r.finished_at as interruptedAt
          from runs r
          join tasks t on t.id = r.task_id

src/main/database/schema.ts

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ export function ensureOptionalColumns(db: DatabaseSync) {
   addColumnIfMissing("tasks", "checkout_run_id", "alter table tasks add column checkout_run_id text");
   addColumnIfMissing("tasks", "execution_locked_at", "alter table tasks add column execution_locked_at text");
   addColumnIfMissing("tasks", "active_session_id", "alter table tasks add column active_session_id text");
+  addColumnIfMissing("tasks", "is_heartbeat", "alter table tasks add column is_heartbeat integer not null default 0");
   addColumnIfMissing("cost_entries", "project_id", "alter table cost_entries add column project_id text");
   db.exec(`
     create table if not exists task_comments (id text primary key, company_id text not null, task_id text not null, author_agent_id text, author_name text not null, body text not null, created_at text not null);
@@ -455,6 +456,20 @@ export function runMigrations(
         }
       },
     },
+    {
+      // Explicit flag for synthesized heartbeat tasks. Replaces title-prefix
+      // sniffing (`title LIKE '[Heartbeat]%'`) across queries, filters, and
+      // automation gates. Backfills from existing `[Heartbeat]` titles so the
+      // new column agrees with historical data on first boot.
+      version: 33, name: "add_tasks_is_heartbeat",
+      fn: () => {
+        if (!columnExists(db, "tasks", "is_heartbeat")) {
+          db.prepare("ALTER TABLE tasks ADD COLUMN is_heartbeat INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0").run();
+        }
+        db.prepare("UPDATE tasks SET is_heartbeat = 1 WHERE is_heartbeat = 0 AND title LIKE '[Heartbeat]%'").run();
+        db.exec("CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_tasks_is_heartbeat ON tasks(is_heartbeat)");
+      },
+    },
     {
       // pi-mono session transcripts + credential vault. Idempotent; safe to
       // re-apply on fresh DBs or DBs that already have the tables.

src/main/database/settings.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { existsSync, lstatSync, realpathSync, unlinkSync } from "node:fs";
 import { extname, resolve, sep } from "node:path";
 import type { DatabaseSync } from "node:sqlite";
+import log from "electron-log/main.js";
 import type { ReadAll } from "./helpers";
 import { nowIso } from "./helpers";
 
@@ -14,7 +15,10 @@ function isWithinOrEqual(targetPath: string, rootPath: string) {
 function safeRealpath(targetPath: string) {
   try {
     return realpathSync(targetPath);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (error) {
+    log.debug(
+      `[db/settings] realpathSync fallback for ${targetPath}: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`,
+    );
     return resolve(targetPath);
   }
 }
@@ -113,7 +117,11 @@ export function buildSettingsMethods(
         if (run.logPath) {
           try {
             unlinkSync(run.logPath);
-          } catch { /* Log files may already be gone */ }
+          } catch (error) {
+            log.warn(
+              `[db/settings] purgeExpiredRunLogs: unlink failed for run ${run.id} (${run.logPath}): ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`,
+            );
+          }
         }
         getDb()
           .prepare("update runs set log_path = null, updated_at = ? where id = ?")

src/main/database/snapshot.ts

@@ -75,9 +75,9 @@ export function buildSnapshotMethods(
         ...companyArgs,
       ),
       tasks: readAll<TaskRecord>(
-        `select id, company_id as companyId, project_id as projectId, goal_id as goalId, parent_id as parentId, title, description, assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId, workspace_id as workspaceId, status, priority, active_run_id as activeRunId, session_json as sessionJson, session_display_id as sessionDisplayId, cost_usd as costUsd, task_type as taskType, requires_user_review as requiresUserReview, started_at as startedAt, completed_at as completedAt, cancelled_at as cancelledAt, created_at as createdAt, updated_at as updatedAt from tasks${companyWhere} order by created_at desc limit 2000`,
+        `select id, company_id as companyId, project_id as projectId, goal_id as goalId, parent_id as parentId, title, description, assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId, workspace_id as workspaceId, status, priority, active_run_id as activeRunId, session_json as sessionJson, session_display_id as sessionDisplayId, cost_usd as costUsd, task_type as taskType, requires_user_review as requiresUserReview, is_heartbeat as isHeartbeat, started_at as startedAt, completed_at as completedAt, cancelled_at as cancelledAt, created_at as createdAt, updated_at as updatedAt from tasks${companyWhere ? `${companyWhere} and is_heartbeat = 0` : " where is_heartbeat = 0"} order by created_at desc limit 2000`,
         ...companyArgs,
-      ).map((record) => ({ ...record, requiresUserReview: toBoolean(record.requiresUserReview), startedAt: record.startedAt ?? null, completedAt: record.completedAt ?? null, cancelledAt: record.cancelledAt ?? null })) as TaskRecord[],
+      ).map((record) => ({ ...record, requiresUserReview: toBoolean(record.requiresUserReview), isHeartbeat: toBoolean(record.isHeartbeat), startedAt: record.startedAt ?? null, completedAt: record.completedAt ?? null, cancelledAt: record.cancelledAt ?? null })) as TaskRecord[],
       approvals: readAll<ApprovalRecord>(
         `select id, company_id as companyId, related_task_id as relatedTaskId, related_agent_id as relatedAgentId, requested_by_agent_id as requestedByAgentId, type, payload_summary as payloadSummary, impact_summary as impactSummary, payload_json as payloadJson, decision_note as decisionNote, state, created_at as createdAt, updated_at as updatedAt from approvals${companyWhere} order by created_at desc limit 1000`,
         ...companyArgs,

src/main/database/tasks-crud.ts

@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ export type TaskListByStatusesRow = {
   sessionDisplayId: string | null;
   costUsd: number | null;
   requiresUserReview: boolean;
+  isHeartbeat: boolean;
   startedAt: string | null;
   completedAt: string | null;
   cancelledAt: string | null;
@@ -168,12 +169,24 @@ export function buildTaskCrudMethods(
       });
     },
 
-    listAgentTasks(agentId: string, companyId: string, statuses: string[]): TaskRecord[] {
+    /**
+     * Returns actionable real work for an agent. Heartbeat tasks are
+     * excluded by default since they are synthesized wake-up placeholders;
+     * pass `{ includeHeartbeat: true }` to include them (heartbeat-loop
+     * callers that already filter by `is_heartbeat` do not need this).
+     */
+    listAgentTasks(
+      agentId: string,
+      companyId: string,
+      statuses: string[],
+      options: { includeHeartbeat?: boolean } = {},
+    ): TaskRecord[] {
       const placeholders = statuses.map(() => "?").join(",");
+      const heartbeatClause = options.includeHeartbeat ? "" : " and is_heartbeat = 0";
       return readAll<TaskRecord>(
-        `select id, company_id as companyId, project_id as projectId, goal_id as goalId, parent_id as parentId, title, description, assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId, workspace_id as workspaceId, status, priority, active_run_id as activeRunId, session_json as sessionJson, session_display_id as sessionDisplayId, cost_usd as costUsd, task_type as taskType, created_at as createdAt, updated_at as updatedAt
+        `select id, company_id as companyId, project_id as projectId, goal_id as goalId, parent_id as parentId, title, description, assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId, workspace_id as workspaceId, status, priority, active_run_id as activeRunId, session_json as sessionJson, session_display_id as sessionDisplayId, cost_usd as costUsd, task_type as taskType, is_heartbeat as isHeartbeat, created_at as createdAt, updated_at as updatedAt
          from tasks
-        where company_id = ? and assignee_agent_id = ? and status in (${placeholders})
+        where company_id = ? and assignee_agent_id = ? and status in (${placeholders})${heartbeatClause}
         order by
           case status
             when 'in_progress' then 0
@@ -187,20 +200,21 @@ export function buildTaskCrudMethods(
         companyId,
         agentId,
         ...statuses,
-      );
+      ).map((t) => ({ ...t, isHeartbeat: Boolean(t.isHeartbeat) }));
     },
 
     /**
      * Returns the slim task projection (id, title, status, priority) for a
      * single assignee, ordered by created_at desc. Used by the alternate
-     * me/standup builder in routes-agents-standup.ts.
+     * me/standup builder in routes-agents-standup.ts. Heartbeat tasks are
+     * excluded so UI aggregations do not surface synthetic wake tasks.
      */
     listAssigneeTasksForStandup(
       companyId: string,
       agentId: string,
     ): Array<{ id: string; title: string; status: string; priority: string }> {
       return readAll(
-        "select id, title, status, priority from tasks where company_id = ? and assignee_agent_id = ? order by created_at desc",
+        "select id, title, status, priority from tasks where company_id = ? and assignee_agent_id = ? and is_heartbeat = 0 order by created_at desc",
         companyId,
         agentId,
       );
@@ -209,7 +223,8 @@ export function buildTaskCrudMethods(
     /**
      * Returns the slim task projection for a set of assignees. Safe on
      * an empty assignee list (returns []). Used by the alternate
-     * me/standup builder to fetch reports' tasks in one query.
+     * me/standup builder to fetch reports' tasks in one query. Heartbeat
+     * tasks are excluded.
      */
     listTasksForAssignees(
       companyId: string,
@@ -224,7 +239,7 @@ export function buildTaskCrudMethods(
       if (assigneeIds.length === 0) return [];
       const placeholders = assigneeIds.map(() => "?").join(",");
       return readAll(
-        `select id, title, status, priority, assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId from tasks where company_id = ? and assignee_agent_id in (${placeholders}) order by created_at desc`,
+        `select id, title, status, priority, assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId from tasks where company_id = ? and assignee_agent_id in (${placeholders}) and is_heartbeat = 0 order by created_at desc`,
         companyId,
         ...assigneeIds,
       );
@@ -232,7 +247,7 @@ export function buildTaskCrudMethods(
 
     /**
      * Returns the slim task projection used by the me/standup aggregation.
-     * Ordered by created_at desc.
+     * Ordered by created_at desc. Heartbeat tasks are excluded.
      */
     listTasksForStandup(companyId: string): Array<{
       id: string;
@@ -243,23 +258,32 @@ export function buildTaskCrudMethods(
       priority: string;
     }> {
       return readAll(
-        "select id, company_id as companyId, title, assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId, status, priority from tasks where company_id = ? order by created_at desc",
+        "select id, company_id as companyId, title, assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId, status, priority from tasks where company_id = ? and is_heartbeat = 0 order by created_at desc",
         companyId,
       );
     },
 
+    /**
+     * Returns tasks filtered by status. Heartbeat tasks are excluded by
+     * default — they are synthesized wake placeholders and should not
+     * appear in the user-facing issue list. Pass `{ includeHeartbeat: true }`
+     * to include them.
+     */
     listTasksByStatuses(
       companyId: string,
       statuses: string[],
+      options: { includeHeartbeat?: boolean } = {},
     ): TaskListByStatusesRow[] {
       const placeholders = statuses.map(() => "?").join(", ");
-      return readAll<TaskListByStatusesRow & { requiresUserReview: number | boolean }>(
-        `select id, company_id as companyId, project_id as projectId, goal_id as goalId, parent_id as parentId, title, description, assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId, workspace_id as workspaceId, status, priority, active_run_id as activeRunId, session_json as sessionJson, session_display_id as sessionDisplayId, cost_usd as costUsd, requires_user_review as requiresUserReview, started_at as startedAt, completed_at as completedAt, cancelled_at as cancelledAt, created_at as createdAt, updated_at as updatedAt from tasks where company_id = ? and status in (${placeholders}) order by created_at desc`,
+      const heartbeatClause = options.includeHeartbeat ? "" : " and is_heartbeat = 0";
+      return readAll<TaskListByStatusesRow & { requiresUserReview: number | boolean; isHeartbeat: number | boolean }>(
+        `select id, company_id as companyId, project_id as projectId, goal_id as goalId, parent_id as parentId, title, description, assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId, workspace_id as workspaceId, status, priority, active_run_id as activeRunId, session_json as sessionJson, session_display_id as sessionDisplayId, cost_usd as costUsd, requires_user_review as requiresUserReview, is_heartbeat as isHeartbeat, started_at as startedAt, completed_at as completedAt, cancelled_at as cancelledAt, created_at as createdAt, updated_at as updatedAt from tasks where company_id = ? and status in (${placeholders})${heartbeatClause} order by created_at desc`,
         companyId,
         ...statuses,
       ).map((t) => ({
         ...t,
         requiresUserReview: Boolean(t.requiresUserReview),
+        isHeartbeat: Boolean(t.isHeartbeat),
         startedAt: t.startedAt ?? null,
         completedAt: t.completedAt ?? null,
         cancelledAt: t.cancelledAt ?? null,
@@ -269,7 +293,7 @@ export function buildTaskCrudMethods(
     countActiveTasksForCompany(companyId: string): number {
       const row = getDb()
         .prepare(
-          "select count(*) as cnt from tasks where company_id = ? and status not in ('done', 'cancelled') and title not like '[Heartbeat]%'",
+          "select count(*) as cnt from tasks where company_id = ? and status not in ('done', 'cancelled') and is_heartbeat = 0",
         )
         .get(companyId) as { cnt: number };
       return row.cnt;
@@ -518,5 +542,50 @@ export function buildTaskCrudMethods(
         .run(ts, taskId);
     },
 
+    /**
+     * Returns the set of distinct assignee agent ids on tasks in a project,
+     * excluding unassigned tasks. Used by message-dispatch to fan out wake
+     * targets for a project channel.
+     */
+    listProjectTaskAssigneeIds(projectId: string, companyId: string): string[] {
+      const rows = readAll<{ assigneeAgentId: string | null }>(
+        "select distinct assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId from tasks where project_id = ? and company_id = ? and assignee_agent_id is not null",
+        projectId,
+        companyId,
+      );
+      return rows.map((r) => r.assigneeAgentId).filter((id): id is string => id !== null);
+    },
+
+    /**
+     * Returns assignee agent ids for a set of task ids scoped to a company.
+     * Used by task-quality-gates sweep to find reviewers of in-review tasks
+     * that have exceeded the review timeout.
+     */
+    listReviewTasksForSweep(companyId: string): Array<{
+      id: string;
+      assigneeAgentId: string | null;
+      updatedAt: string;
+      title: string;
+    }> {
+      return readAll(
+        `SELECT id, assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId, updated_at as updatedAt, title
+         FROM tasks
+         WHERE company_id = ? AND status = 'in_review'`,
+        companyId,
+      );
+    },
+
+    /**
+     * Returns `task_type` for a single task id, or null when the task is
+     * missing. Used by checkpoint-engine to branch on task type without
+     * loading the full row.
+     */
+    getTaskType(taskId: string): string | null {
+      const row = getDb()
+        .prepare("SELECT task_type as taskType FROM tasks WHERE id = ? LIMIT 1")
+        .get(taskId) as { taskType: string | null } | undefined;
+      return row?.taskType ?? null;
+    },
+
   };
 }

src/main/database/tasks-status.ts

@@ -111,9 +111,10 @@ export function buildTaskStatusMethods(
                 status, priority, active_run_id as activeRunId,
                 session_json as sessionJson, session_display_id as sessionDisplayId,
                 cost_usd as costUsd, requires_user_review as requiresUserReview,
+                is_heartbeat as isHeartbeat,
                 created_at as createdAt, updated_at as updatedAt
          FROM tasks
-         WHERE company_id = ? AND assignee_agent_id = ? AND title LIKE '[Heartbeat]%'
+         WHERE company_id = ? AND assignee_agent_id = ? AND is_heartbeat = 1
            AND status IN ('done', 'in_review')
          ORDER BY updated_at DESC, rowid DESC
          LIMIT 1`,
@@ -121,6 +122,7 @@ export function buildTaskStatusMethods(
         .get(companyId, agentId) as TaskRecord | undefined;
       if (row) {
         row.requiresUserReview = Boolean(row.requiresUserReview);
+        row.isHeartbeat = Boolean(row.isHeartbeat);
       }
       return row ?? null;
     },
@@ -141,7 +143,7 @@ export function buildTaskStatusMethods(
         const claimable = db
           .prepare(
             `SELECT id, status FROM tasks
-             WHERE company_id = ? AND assignee_agent_id = ? AND title LIKE '[Heartbeat]%'
+             WHERE company_id = ? AND assignee_agent_id = ? AND is_heartbeat = 1
                AND status IN ('todo', 'backlog', 'done', 'in_review')
                AND checkout_run_id IS NULL
              ORDER BY
@@ -172,7 +174,7 @@ export function buildTaskStatusMethods(
           const inflight = db
             .prepare(
               `SELECT 1 FROM tasks
-               WHERE company_id = ? AND assignee_agent_id = ? AND title LIKE '[Heartbeat]%'
+               WHERE company_id = ? AND assignee_agent_id = ? AND is_heartbeat = 1
                  AND status NOT IN ('done', 'cancelled')
                LIMIT 1`,
             )
@@ -184,9 +186,9 @@ export function buildTaskStatusMethods(
             `INSERT INTO tasks
                (id, company_id, project_id, goal_id, parent_id, title, description,
                 assignee_agent_id, workspace_id, status, priority,
-                checkout_run_id, execution_locked_at, started_at,
+                checkout_run_id, execution_locked_at, started_at, is_heartbeat,
                 created_at, updated_at)
-             VALUES (?, ?, NULL, NULL, NULL, ?, ?, ?, ?, 'in_progress', ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)`,
+             VALUES (?, ?, NULL, NULL, NULL, ?, ?, ?, ?, 'in_progress', ?, ?, ?, ?, 1, ?, ?)`,
           ).run(
             taskId,
             input.companyId,
@@ -211,7 +213,7 @@ export function buildTaskStatusMethods(
                     status, priority, active_run_id as activeRunId,
                     session_json as sessionJson, session_display_id as sessionDisplayId,
                     cost_usd as costUsd, requires_user_review as requiresUserReview,
-                    task_type as taskType,
+                    is_heartbeat as isHeartbeat, task_type as taskType,
                     started_at as startedAt, completed_at as completedAt, cancelled_at as cancelledAt,
                     created_at as createdAt, updated_at as updatedAt
              FROM tasks WHERE id = ?`,
@@ -219,6 +221,7 @@ export function buildTaskStatusMethods(
           .get(taskId) as TaskRecord | undefined;
         if (!row) return null;
         row.requiresUserReview = Boolean(row.requiresUserReview);
+        row.isHeartbeat = Boolean(row.isHeartbeat);
         row.startedAt = row.startedAt ?? null;
         row.completedAt = row.completedAt ?? null;
         row.cancelledAt = row.cancelledAt ?? null;
@@ -231,13 +234,13 @@ export function buildTaskStatusMethods(
       const result = getDb()
         .prepare(
           `UPDATE tasks SET status = 'cancelled', updated_at = ?
-         WHERE company_id = ? AND title LIKE '[Heartbeat]%'
+         WHERE company_id = ? AND is_heartbeat = 1
            AND status IN ('done', 'in_review', 'todo', 'blocked', 'backlog')
            AND id NOT IN (
              SELECT id FROM (
                SELECT id, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY assignee_agent_id ORDER BY updated_at DESC, rowid DESC) as rn
                FROM tasks
-               WHERE company_id = ? AND title LIKE '[Heartbeat]%' AND status != 'cancelled'
+               WHERE company_id = ? AND is_heartbeat = 1 AND status != 'cancelled'
              ) WHERE rn = 1
            )`,
         )
@@ -252,10 +255,11 @@ export function buildTaskStatusMethods(
               t.assignee_agent_id as assigneeAgentId, t.workspace_id as workspaceId,
               t.status, t.priority, t.active_run_id as activeRunId,
               t.session_json as sessionJson, t.session_display_id as sessionDisplayId,
-              t.cost_usd as costUsd, t.created_at as createdAt, t.updated_at as updatedAt
+              t.cost_usd as costUsd, t.is_heartbeat as isHeartbeat,
+              t.created_at as createdAt, t.updated_at as updatedAt
        from tasks t
        inner join agents a on t.assignee_agent_id = a.id
-       where t.company_id = ? and t.status = 'in_review' and a.reports_to = ?
+       where t.company_id = ? and t.status = 'in_review' and a.reports_to = ? and t.is_heartbeat = 0
        order by ${taskPriorityOrderSql("t.priority")} desc, t.created_at asc`,
         companyId,
         managerId,