fix(gpu-jobs): end the error-tombstone loop — deliberate retry semantics + poison-job guards

The hourly ccip backfill's skip-list lacked 'error' (and the daily
siglip/embed variants re-gated failures on their missing results), so every
permanently-bad file got a fresh doomed job each run — ~24 duplicate error
rows/day per file, the perpetual 'unprocessable' flood. An errored job is now
a TOMBSTONE: no backfill re-enqueues it; retry is deliberate-only via
/retry_errors (an errored back-catalogue needs one button press after a
model swap).

One shared set of dedupe DELETEs (services/ml/gpu_jobs.error_dedupe_statements)
runs before every backfill and inside /retry_errors: error rows made moot by a
later pending/leased/done row go first, then older duplicates (newest reason
survives) — so the error count reads as distinct failing files and a retry
can't fan one file out into duplicate pending jobs. /retry_errors now returns
{requeued, pruned} and the toast shows both.

Poison-loop guards (release and lease-expiry burn no attempts, so a job that
stalls its transfer or crashes the agent every time cycled forever —
operator-observed jobs 99044/125288/131594/143131):
- agent: 3 in-session transient bounces (fetch or submit) → fail with the real
  reason instead of another release; strikes never count while stopping, and
  clear on submit success. Agent build 2026-07-02.3.
- server: the 60s orphan sweep (statements shared between the beat task and
  GpuJobService so they can't drift) converts expired leases with >=5 lease
  grants and pending jobs with >=10 to 'error', preserving the last stored
  failure reason. Backstops old agent builds.

Tests: tombstone rule across all three backfill variants, moot-row pruning,
poison conversions, and the extended /retry_errors dedupe contract.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01CDgx8bQS5YrGRK76v8HUnM

agent/fc_agent/app.py

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ log = logging.getLogger("fc_agent.app")
 # Bump on every agent change. The page embeds this and /status reports it; the UI
 # warns to reload when they differ — so a stale browser-cached page can't be
 # mistaken for "the new image didn't deploy". (Belt-and-braces with no-store.)
-VERSION = "2026-07-02.2 · job.error now carries ffmpeg's actual failure reason"
+VERSION = "2026-07-02.3 · poison guard: repeated transient failures fail the job (with reason) instead of releasing it forever"
 
 logbuf.install()
 cfg = Config.from_env()

agent/fc_agent/worker.py

@@ -49,6 +49,16 @@ from .detectors import dedupe_crops
 # restart needed.
 MAX_BACKOFF_SECONDS = 60.0
 
+# A job whose fetch dies transiently this many times IN ONE SESSION stops being
+# handed back and is failed instead. Transient handbacks (release) burn no
+# attempts on the server, so a poisoned transfer — an original that stalls the
+# download every single time — would otherwise release→re-lease forever, churning
+# bandwidth without ever landing in the error queue (operator-observed jobs
+# 99044/125288/131594/143131, 2026-07-01). Failing it lets curator's attempt cap
+# tombstone it WITH the real reason. A genuine curator outage is unaffected:
+# every job takes at most one strike per outage, and strikes clear on success.
+TRANSIENT_JOB_CAP = 3
+
 
 def _is_transient(exc: requests.RequestException) -> bool:
     """A server/transport problem (wait it out) vs a job-specific fault (fail it).
@@ -192,6 +202,11 @@ class Worker:
         # all at once. Add on lease, discard on every terminal client call.
         self._held: set[int] = set()
         self._held_lock = threading.Lock()
+        # job_id → in-session transient-handback count (guarded by _held_lock).
+        # Cleared on success or terminal fail; KEPT across releases — persisting
+        # through the release→re-lease cycle is what lets TRANSIENT_JOB_CAP
+        # catch a poisoned transfer.
+        self._transient_seen: dict[int, int] = {}
         self.processed = 0
         self.downloaded = 0       # jobs fetched+decoded into the buffer (monotonic);
         #                           feeds the server-side downloads/min rate below.
@@ -235,6 +250,21 @@ class Worker:
         with self._held_lock:
             self._held.discard(job_id)
 
+    def _strike(self, jid: int) -> int:
+        """Record a transient bounce for this job; returns the in-session total
+        (compared against TRANSIENT_JOB_CAP by both the fetch and submit paths)."""
+        with self._held_lock:
+            n = self._transient_seen.get(jid, 0) + 1
+            self._transient_seen[jid] = n
+            return n
+
+    def _forget_strikes(self, jid: int) -> None:
+        """Terminal outcome (submitted or failed) → this job's strike count no
+        longer matters. Deliberately NOT called on release: strikes surviving
+        the release→re-lease cycle is what makes TRANSIENT_JOB_CAP work."""
+        with self._held_lock:
+            self._transient_seen.pop(jid, None)
+
     def _release(self, job_ids: list[int]) -> None:
         """Hand still-held leases back to curator and drop them from the held set —
         the single hand-back path for both a downloader exiting (stop/shrink) with
@@ -253,6 +283,7 @@ class Worker:
         log.warning("job %s (image %s) %s: %s", jid, image_id, verb, str(exc)[:200])
         self.client.fail(jid, str(exc)[:500])
         self._unhold(jid)
+        self._forget_strikes(jid)
 
     def _stopped(self, stop_evt: threading.Event) -> bool:
         """The shared 'should I bail now?' check — the worker is stopping (global
@@ -580,6 +611,20 @@ class Worker:
                 except requests.RequestException as exc:
                     owned.remove(jid)
                     if _is_transient(exc):
+                        # A Stop mid-fetch lands here too (a killed ffmpeg is
+                        # not the job's fault) — no strike for that; only count
+                        # bounces taken while genuinely running.
+                        if (not self._stopped(stop_evt)
+                                and self._strike(jid) >= TRANSIENT_JOB_CAP):
+                            # THIS job keeps dying while others move: a poisoned
+                            # transfer, not a curator outage. Fail it so the
+                            # server's attempt cap tombstones it with the real
+                            # reason instead of cycling it forever.
+                            self._fail(
+                                jid, job.get("image_id"), exc,
+                                verb="gave up after repeated transient failures",
+                            )
+                            continue
                         # curator down/redeploying or our lease was reclaimed —
                         # NOT the job's fault. Hand back this job + the rest of the
                         # batch and back the whole loop off.
@@ -742,6 +787,7 @@ class Worker:
                 with self._timed("submit"):
                     self.client.submit_embedding(jid, vec, embed_version)
                 self._unhold(jid)
+                self._forget_strikes(jid)
                 return True
 
             # task picks what to produce per crop:
@@ -854,9 +900,18 @@ class Worker:
             with self._timed("submit"):
                 self.client.submit(jid, regions, replace_kinds)
             self._unhold(jid)
+            self._forget_strikes(jid)
             return True
         except requests.RequestException as exc:
             if _is_transient(exc):
+                if (not self._stopped(stop_evt)
+                        and self._strike(jid) >= TRANSIENT_JOB_CAP):
+                    # Same poison rationale as the fetch path: a job whose
+                    # submit keeps dying transiently would otherwise re-lease →
+                    # re-download → re-GPU forever.
+                    self._fail(jid, job.get("image_id"), exc,
+                               verb="gave up after repeated transient failures")
+                    return False
                 # curator down/redeploying, a 5xx, or our lease was reclaimed
                 # while we worked. NOT the job's fault — hand it back (best
                 # effort; then the server's orphan-recovery reclaims it if down).

backend/app/api/gpu.py

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ from sqlalchemy.dialects.postgresql import insert as pg_insert
 from ..extensions import get_session
 from ..models import AppSetting, GpuJob, ImageRecord, MLSettings
 from ..services.gallery_service import image_url
-from ..services.ml.gpu_jobs import GpuJobService
+from ..services.ml.gpu_jobs import GpuJobService, error_dedupe_statements
 from ..services.ml.regions import RegionService
 
 gpu_bp = Blueprint("gpu", __name__, url_prefix="/api/gpu")
@@ -115,9 +115,15 @@ async def retry_errors():
     recovery after an agent-side fix (e.g. the short-video sampler), where
     /reprocess would needlessly re-run the whole done library too. Attempts and
     the stored error reset so each job gets its full retry budget under the
-    fixed pipeline. Small row count (errors only) → inline UPDATE, and the
+    fixed pipeline. Stale tombstones are pruned FIRST (loop-era duplicates and
-    response carries the number requeued for the UI toast."""
+    rows a later success made moot — the same statements the backfills run), so
+    one failing file requeues as ONE job, never a fan-out of duplicates. Small
+    row count (errors only) → inline statements; the response carries both
+    counts for the UI toast."""
     async with get_session() as session:
+        pruned = 0
+        for stmt in error_dedupe_statements():
+            pruned += (await session.execute(stmt)).rowcount or 0
         res = await session.execute(
             update(GpuJob)
             .where(GpuJob.status == "error")
@@ -127,7 +133,7 @@ async def retry_errors():
             )
         )
         await session.commit()
-    return jsonify({"requeued": res.rowcount or 0})
+    return jsonify({"requeued": res.rowcount or 0, "pruned": pruned})
 
 
 # --- Agent (bearer token): lease / submit / heartbeat / fail ------------

backend/app/services/ml/gpu_jobs.py

@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ and the lease itself reclaims expired leases as a final backstop. Result-writing
 
 from datetime import UTC, datetime, timedelta
 
-from sqlalchemy import and_, select, update
+from sqlalchemy import and_, delete, exists, func, or_, select, update
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
+from sqlalchemy.orm import aliased
 
 from ...models import GpuJob
 
@@ -24,6 +25,107 @@ DEFAULT_LEASE_TTL = 180     # seconds an agent holds a job before it can be re-l
 DEFAULT_BATCH = 8
 MAX_ATTEMPTS = 3
 
+# Poison-loop backstops. `attempts` counts LEASES GRANTED (incremented in
+# lease()), but fail()'s MAX_ATTEMPTS cap only fires when the agent reports a
+# failure — a job that keeps coming back via release() (transient handback) or
+# lease expiry (agent crash/wedge) never gets a verdict and would cycle forever.
+# The orphan sweep converts those to 'error': an expired lease that has already
+# been granted EXPIRED_POISON_CAP leases is presumed to kill/wedge the agent,
+# and a pending job granted PENDING_POISON_CAP leases without ever completing is
+# presumed poisoned (e.g. a transfer that stalls every time). Both stay
+# resurrectable via /retry_errors, which resets attempts.
+EXPIRED_POISON_CAP = MAX_ATTEMPTS + 2
+PENDING_POISON_CAP = 10
+
+
+def error_dedupe_statements():
+    """DELETEs enforcing: at most ONE error row per (image, task), and none that
+    a live or succeeded row makes moot. The 2026-07-02 tombstone loop (backfill
+    skip-lists lacked 'error') minted a duplicate error row per bad file per
+    hour; running these before every backfill and inside /retry_errors keeps the
+    error count reading as "distinct failing files" and stops a retry fanning
+    one file out into several duplicate pending jobs. Shared by the sync beat
+    task and the async API route so both prune by the SAME predicate.
+    Execution order matters: moot rows first, then older duplicates (the newest
+    error — the freshest reason — survives)."""
+    other = aliased(GpuJob)
+    same_pair = and_(
+        other.image_record_id == GpuJob.image_record_id,
+        other.task == GpuJob.task,
+    )
+    moot = (
+        delete(GpuJob)
+        .where(
+            GpuJob.status == "error",
+            exists().where(
+                same_pair, other.status.in_(["pending", "leased", "done"]),
+            ),
+        )
+        .execution_options(synchronize_session=False)
+    )
+    older_dupe = (
+        delete(GpuJob)
+        .where(
+            GpuJob.status == "error",
+            exists().where(
+                same_pair,
+                other.status == "error",
+                or_(
+                    other.updated_at > GpuJob.updated_at,
+                    and_(other.updated_at == GpuJob.updated_at,
+                         other.id > GpuJob.id),
+                ),
+            ),
+        )
+        .execution_options(synchronize_session=False)
+    )
+    return [moot, older_dupe]
+
+
+def recover_statements(now: datetime) -> dict:
+    """UPDATEs for the orphan sweep, keyed by outcome; insertion order IS the
+    required execution order ('recovered' must run after 'poison_expired', which
+    claims the crash-loopers out of the same expired-lease pool)."""
+    expired = and_(GpuJob.status == "leased", GpuJob.lease_expires_at < now)
+    unlease = {"lease_token": None, "leased_at": None, "lease_expires_at": None,
+               "updated_at": now}
+    return {
+        "poison_expired": (
+            update(GpuJob)
+            .where(expired, GpuJob.attempts >= EXPIRED_POISON_CAP)
+            .values(
+                status="error",
+                # Keep the job's last stored failure reason — it's the triage
+                # signal for WHY the loop happened.
+                error=func.concat(
+                    f"poisoned: lease expired after {EXPIRED_POISON_CAP}+ lease "
+                    "attempts (job repeatedly crashes or wedges the agent?); "
+                    "last error: ",
+                    func.coalesce(GpuJob.error, "none"),
+                ),
+                **unlease,
+            )
+        ),
+        "recovered": update(GpuJob).where(expired).values(
+            status="pending", **unlease,
+        ),
+        "poison_pending": (
+            update(GpuJob)
+            .where(GpuJob.status == "pending",
+                   GpuJob.attempts >= PENDING_POISON_CAP)
+            .values(
+                status="error",
+                error=func.concat(
+                    f"poisoned: {PENDING_POISON_CAP}+ lease attempts without "
+                    "ever completing (transfer stalls every time?); "
+                    "last error: ",
+                    func.coalesce(GpuJob.error, "none"),
+                ),
+                updated_at=now,
+            )
+        ),
+    }
+
 
 class GpuJobService:
     def __init__(self, session: AsyncSession):
@@ -170,16 +272,11 @@ class GpuJobService:
 
     async def recover_orphaned(self) -> int:
         """Reset every expired lease back to pending — catches agents that died
-        mid-job (no graceful release). Run on a short beat so the queue recovers
+        mid-job (no graceful release) — and convert poison-loopers to 'error'
-        + reads honestly even when no worker is actively leasing. Returns rows
+        (see the *_POISON_CAP rationale above). Run on a short beat so the queue
-        recovered."""
+        recovers + reads honestly even when no worker is actively leasing.
-        now = datetime.now(UTC)
+        Returns rows recovered to pending (poison conversions are extra)."""
-        res = await self.session.execute(
+        counts = {}
-            update(GpuJob)
+        for name, stmt in recover_statements(datetime.now(UTC)).items():
-            .where(GpuJob.status == "leased", GpuJob.lease_expires_at < now)
+            counts[name] = (await self.session.execute(stmt)).rowcount or 0
-            .values(
+        return counts["recovered"]
-                status="pending", lease_token=None, leased_at=None,
-                lease_expires_at=None, updated_at=now,
-            )
-        )
-        return res.rowcount or 0

backend/app/tasks/ml.py

@@ -458,15 +458,30 @@ def enqueue_gpu_backfill(task_name: str) -> int:
 
     'siglip' gates on the RESULT (no concept region yet) rather than on a prior
     job, so it picks up the back-catalogue of images that were CCIP-embedded
-    before concept crops existed, and retries images whose concept embed failed —
+    before concept crops existed — without re-touching their figure/CCIP regions.
-    without re-touching their figure/CCIP regions."""
+
+    An ERRORED job is a tombstone for its (image, task): no variant re-enqueues
+    it. Retry is deliberate-only (/retry_errors), which also means an errored
+    back-catalogue needs one "Retry errored jobs" press after a model swap.
+    Before the tombstone rule, this loop re-minted a fresh doomed job for every
+    permanently-bad file each run — ~24 duplicate error rows/day per file (the
+    2026-07-02 "unprocessable" flood)."""
     from sqlalchemy import exists, insert, literal, or_
     from sqlalchemy import select as sa_select
 
     from ..models import GpuJob, ImageRecord, ImageRegion, MLSettings
+    from ..services.ml.gpu_jobs import error_dedupe_statements
 
     SessionLocal = _sync_session_factory()
     with SessionLocal() as session:
+        # Prune stale tombstones first (loop-era duplicates + rows made moot by
+        # a later success), so 'error' reads as one row per distinct failing
+        # file and the skip-guards below see a clean picture.
+        pruned = sum(
+            session.execute(s).rowcount or 0 for s in error_dedupe_statements()
+        )
+        if pruned:
+            log.info("gpu backfill: pruned %d stale/duplicate error rows", pruned)
         cur_version = session.execute(
             select(MLSettings.embedder_model_version).where(MLSettings.id == 1)
         ).scalar_one()
@@ -478,14 +493,15 @@ def enqueue_gpu_backfill(task_name: str) -> int:
                 ImageRecord.siglip_model_version.is_(None),
                 ImageRecord.siglip_model_version != cur_version,
             )
-            queued = exists().where(
+            # 'error' blocks too — tombstone rule, see docstring.
+            blocked = exists().where(
                 GpuJob.image_record_id == ImageRecord.id,
                 GpuJob.task == "embed",
-                GpuJob.status.in_(["pending", "leased"]),
+                GpuJob.status.in_(["pending", "leased", "error"]),
             )
             sel = sa_select(
                 ImageRecord.id, literal("embed"), literal("pending")
-            ).where(stale).where(~queued)
+            ).where(stale).where(~blocked)
         elif task_name == "siglip":
             # Concept-crop re-embed: enqueue when there's no concept region AT THE
             # CURRENT model version — so a model swap re-triggers crops too, not
@@ -495,19 +511,22 @@ def enqueue_gpu_backfill(task_name: str) -> int:
                 ImageRegion.kind == "concept",
                 ImageRegion.embedding_version == cur_version,
             )
-            queued = exists().where(
+            # 'error' blocks too — tombstone rule, see docstring.
+            blocked = exists().where(
                 GpuJob.image_record_id == ImageRecord.id,
                 GpuJob.task == "siglip",
-                GpuJob.status.in_(["pending", "leased"]),
+                GpuJob.status.in_(["pending", "leased", "error"]),
             )
             sel = sa_select(
                 ImageRecord.id, literal("siglip"), literal("pending")
-            ).where(~has_current_concept).where(~queued)
+            ).where(~has_current_concept).where(~blocked)
         else:
+            # ANY prior row blocks — including 'error' (tombstone rule, see
+            # docstring): pre-fix this branch ran HOURLY and was the loop.
             already = exists().where(
                 GpuJob.image_record_id == ImageRecord.id,
                 GpuJob.task == task_name,
-                GpuJob.status.in_(["pending", "leased", "done"]),
+                GpuJob.status.in_(["pending", "leased", "done", "error"]),
             )
             sel = sa_select(
                 ImageRecord.id, literal(task_name), literal("pending")
@@ -525,28 +544,29 @@ def enqueue_gpu_backfill(task_name: str) -> int:
 @celery.task(name="backend.app.tasks.ml.recover_orphaned_gpu_jobs")
 def recover_orphaned_gpu_jobs() -> int:
     """Reset expired GPU-job leases back to pending — recovers work orphaned by an
-    agent that died mid-job (no graceful release). Short beat cadence so orphans
+    agent that died mid-job (no graceful release) — and convert poison-loopers
-    get picked back up quickly + the queue counts read honestly. Returns the
+    (release/expiry cycles that never reach fail()'s attempt cap) to 'error'.
-    number recovered."""
+    Statements are shared with GpuJobService.recover_orphaned so the sweep and
+    the service can't drift. Short beat cadence so orphans get picked back up
+    quickly + the queue counts read honestly. Returns the number recovered."""
     from datetime import UTC, datetime
 
-    from sqlalchemy import update
+    from ..services.ml.gpu_jobs import recover_statements
-
-    from ..models import GpuJob
 
     SessionLocal = _sync_session_factory()
     with SessionLocal() as session:
-        now = datetime.now(UTC)
+        counts = {
-        res = session.execute(
+            name: session.execute(stmt).rowcount or 0
-            update(GpuJob)
+            for name, stmt in recover_statements(datetime.now(UTC)).items()
-            .where(GpuJob.status == "leased", GpuJob.lease_expires_at < now)
+        }
-            .values(
-                status="pending", lease_token=None, leased_at=None,
-                lease_expires_at=None, updated_at=now,
-            )
-        )
         session.commit()
-        return res.rowcount or 0
+        if counts["poison_expired"] or counts["poison_pending"]:
+            log.warning(
+                "gpu jobs poisoned -> error: %d crash-loop (expired lease), "
+                "%d never-complete (pending)",
+                counts["poison_expired"], counts["poison_pending"],
+            )
+        return counts["recovered"]
 
 
 @celery.task(name="backend.app.tasks.ml.reprocess_gpu_jobs")

frontend/src/components/settings/GpuAgentCard.vue

@@ -337,8 +337,9 @@ async function onBackfillSiglip() {
 async function onRetryErrors() {
   retrying.value = true
   try {
-    const { requeued } = await store.retryErrors()
+    const { requeued, pruned } = await store.retryErrors()
-    toast({ text: `Requeued ${requeued} errored job${requeued === 1 ? '' : 's'} — run the agent to process them`, type: 'success' })
+    const extra = pruned ? ` (${pruned} stale duplicate${pruned === 1 ? '' : 's'} pruned)` : ''
+    toast({ text: `Requeued ${requeued} errored job${requeued === 1 ? '' : 's'}${extra} — run the agent to process them`, type: 'success' })
     await refreshQueue()
   } catch (e) {
     toast({ text: `Could not retry errored jobs: ${e.message}`, type: 'error' })

tests/test_api_gpu.py

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 """GPU-job HTTP API (#114): bearer auth + lease/submit round-trip + backfill."""
+from datetime import UTC, datetime, timedelta
+
 import pytest
-from sqlalchemy import select
+from sqlalchemy import func, select
 
 from backend.app.models import GpuJob, ImageRecord
 from backend.app.services.ml.gpu_jobs import GpuJobService
@@ -153,8 +155,11 @@ async def test_release_hands_job_back_to_pending(client, db):
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_retry_errors_requeues_only_errored(client, db):
-    """/retry_errors resets ERRORED jobs (any task) to pending with a fresh
+    """/retry_errors prunes stale tombstones first (older duplicates + rows a
-    retry budget — and leaves done work untouched (it is NOT /reprocess)."""
+    later success made moot), then resets the SURVIVING errored jobs to pending
+    with a fresh retry budget — and leaves done work untouched (NOT /reprocess).
+    The prune is what stops one failing file fanning out into duplicate pending
+    jobs (the 2026-07-02 tombstone loop minted one error row per hour)."""
     img1 = await _img(db, "1" * 64)
     img2 = await _img(db, "2" * 64)
     svc = GpuJobService(db)
@@ -165,12 +170,30 @@ async def test_retry_errors_requeues_only_errored(client, db):
     j_err.status = "error"
     j_err.attempts = 3
     j_err.error = "no frames sampled from video (unprocessable)"
+    j_err.updated_at = datetime.now(UTC)
     j_done.status = "done"
+    # Loop-era leftovers: an OLDER duplicate error row for img1's ccip, and a
+    # tombstone img2's done row makes moot — both pruned, never requeued.
+    dup = GpuJob(
+        image_record_id=img1.id, task="ccip", status="error",
+        error="older duplicate", updated_at=datetime.now(UTC) - timedelta(hours=1),
+    )
+    moot = GpuJob(
+        image_record_id=img2.id, task="siglip", status="error",
+        error="superseded by the done row",
+    )
+    db.add(dup)
+    db.add(moot)
+    await db.flush()
+    dup_id = dup.id
+    moot_id = moot.id
     await db.commit()
 
     resp = await client.post("/api/gpu/retry_errors")
     assert resp.status_code == 200
-    assert (await resp.get_json())["requeued"] == 1
+    body = await resp.get_json()
+    assert body["requeued"] == 1
+    assert body["pruned"] == 2
 
     # Column selects, not ORM refresh — the route wrote via Core DML.
     row = (await db.execute(
@@ -182,6 +205,11 @@ async def test_retry_errors_requeues_only_errored(client, db):
         select(GpuJob.status).where(GpuJob.id == done_id)
     )
     assert done_status == "done"
+    survivors = (await db.execute(
+        select(func.count()).select_from(GpuJob)
+        .where(GpuJob.id.in_([dup_id, moot_id]))
+    )).scalar_one()
+    assert survivors == 0
 
     st = await (await client.get("/api/gpu/status")).get_json()
     assert st["pending"] == 1 and st["error"] == 0

tests/test_gpu_jobs.py

@@ -5,7 +5,11 @@ import pytest
 from sqlalchemy import func, select
 
 from backend.app.models import GpuJob, ImageRecord, ImageRegion
-from backend.app.services.ml.gpu_jobs import GpuJobService
+from backend.app.services.ml.gpu_jobs import (
+    EXPIRED_POISON_CAP,
+    PENDING_POISON_CAP,
+    GpuJobService,
+)
 
 pytestmark = pytest.mark.integration
 
@@ -263,3 +267,84 @@ async def test_recover_orphaned_resets_only_expired(db):
     await db.commit()
     assert (await db.get(GpuJob, expired.id)).status == "pending"
     assert (await db.get(GpuJob, fresh.id)).status == "leased"   # untouched
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_backfill_skips_errored_images(db):
+    # An errored job is a TOMBSTONE for its (image, task): no backfill variant
+    # re-enqueues it — retry is deliberate-only (/retry_errors). Pre-fix, the
+    # hourly ccip run minted a fresh doomed job per bad file forever.
+    from backend.app.tasks.ml import enqueue_gpu_backfill
+
+    img = await _img(db, "f1" * 32)
+    svc = GpuJobService(db)
+    for task in ("ccip", "siglip", "embed"):
+        job = await svc.enqueue(img.id, task)
+        job.status = "error"
+        job.error = "no frames sampled from video"
+    await db.commit()
+
+    assert enqueue_gpu_backfill("ccip") == 0
+    assert enqueue_gpu_backfill("siglip") == 0
+    assert enqueue_gpu_backfill("embed") == 0
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_backfill_prunes_moot_error_tombstones(db):
+    # Loop-era duplicates: several error rows for one (image, task), all made
+    # moot by a later done row. The backfill's dedupe pass removes them, and
+    # the done row still blocks re-enqueue.
+    from backend.app.tasks.ml import enqueue_gpu_backfill
+
+    img = await _img(db, "f2" * 32)
+    for i in range(3):
+        db.add(GpuJob(
+            image_record_id=img.id, task="ccip", status="error",
+            error=f"boom {i}",
+        ))
+    db.add(GpuJob(image_record_id=img.id, task="ccip", status="done"))
+    await db.commit()
+
+    assert enqueue_gpu_backfill("ccip") == 0
+
+    statuses = (await db.execute(
+        select(GpuJob.status).where(
+            GpuJob.image_record_id == img.id, GpuJob.task == "ccip"
+        )
+    )).scalars().all()
+    assert statuses == ["done"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_recover_poisons_runaway_jobs(db):
+    # release/expiry loops never reach fail()'s attempt cap — the sweep converts
+    # them to 'error': an expired lease after EXPIRED_POISON_CAP grants (job
+    # crashes/wedges the agent every time) and a pending job after
+    # PENDING_POISON_CAP grants that never completed (transfer stalls forever).
+    img1 = await _img(db, "06" + "a" * 62)
+    img2 = await _img(db, "07" + "a" * 62)
+    svc = GpuJobService(db)
+    j1 = await svc.enqueue(img1.id, "ccip")
+    j2 = await svc.enqueue(img2.id, "ccip")
+    j1.status = "leased"
+    j1.lease_token = "dead"
+    j1.lease_expires_at = datetime.now(UTC) - timedelta(minutes=10)
+    j1.attempts = EXPIRED_POISON_CAP
+    j2.attempts = PENDING_POISON_CAP
+    j1_id = j1.id
+    j2_id = j2.id
+    await db.commit()
+
+    assert await svc.recover_orphaned() == 0   # nothing recovered — both poisoned
+    await db.commit()
+
+    # Column selects, not ORM refresh — the sweep wrote via Core DML.
+    rows = (await db.execute(
+        select(GpuJob.id, GpuJob.status, GpuJob.error)
+        .where(GpuJob.id.in_([j1_id, j2_id]))
+    )).all()
+    by_id = {r.id: r for r in rows}
+    assert by_id[j1_id].status == "error"
+    assert "poisoned" in by_id[j1_id].error
+    assert by_id[j2_id].status == "error"
+    assert "poisoned" in by_id[j2_id].error