feat(TASK-023): deep-research hardening — fail-safe scripts, fault fallbacks, pipeline notes

R3 guards: parse_request (crash → ask_topic), bootstrap_research,
combine_findings (crash → fault-text findings; also lifts branch-local
PIPELINE-FAULT findings into pipeline_faults, deduped), reflexion_gate
(crash fails forward to synthesize), incorporate_feedback (crash still
loops with a generic feedback note), verify_sources (top-level guard +
pipeline_notes fold).

Fallbacks per the plan's naming pins: plan → plan_fault → end_fault
(fail-closed; gains state_updates plan_failure per the TASK-016 rule);
research_one_question → branch-local question_fault (map collects the
fault finding); vet_sources/critique → degrade-visibly markers that
continue to the stage each node's own next pointed to; synthesize →
synth_fault → end_fault. end_fault renders
'DEEP_RESEARCH FAILED — PIPELINE-FAULT: <fault text>'.

Accepted-path visibility: verify_sources folds pipeline_faults into
pipeline_notes ('' when fault-free), appended to end_accepted's output
and the approval question — happy-path output stays byte-identical.
initial_state seeds questions: [] so a dying plan inside the static
fan-out leaves the sibling knowledge_lookup lane mapping over zero
items while end_fault renders.

R5: 19 python3-guarded regression tests + GraphParser wiring test;
bundled warning baseline unchanged.

assets/agents/deep-research/scripts/plan_fault.py

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Fail-closed marker for a dead planning stage of the deep-research graph.
+
+Reached ONLY via plan's `fallback:` route. Grounded in engine behavior: on
+llm-node failure the engine writes "LLM node …failed: <chain>" into
+`plan_failure` via the node's state_updates BEFORE routing to the fallback
+(on success the same key holds the node's structured JSON output, which
+never starts with the "LLM node" prefix). No plan means no sub-questions —
+there is nothing to research — so this path is fail-closed: record the
+PIPELINE-FAULT and continue to `end_fault`, which renders the
+DEEP_RESEARCH FAILED sentinel.
+
+The planner runs inside the static fan-out [plan, knowledge_lookup]. While
+this marker routes to end_fault, the sibling branch proceeds one more
+super-step into `research_each_question`, whose `{{questions}}` resolves to
+the initial_state [] — the doomed lane maps over zero items and the graph
+returns end_fault's output at the next join.
+"""
+
+import json
+import os
+
+MAX_DETAIL_CHARS = 500
+
+
+def load_state():
+    if path := os.environ.get("GRAPH_STATE_FILE"):
+        with open(path) as f:
+            return json.load(f)
+    return json.loads(os.environ.get("GRAPH_STATE", "{}"))
+
+
+def main():
+    state = load_state()
+    faults = [f for f in (state.get("pipeline_faults") or []) if isinstance(f, str)]
+    raw = state.get("plan_failure")
+    detail = raw.strip().replace("\n", " ") if isinstance(raw, str) else ""
+    if not detail.startswith("LLM node"):
+        detail = "the planning stage died without recording a failure detail"
+    if len(detail) > MAX_DETAIL_CHARS:
+        detail = detail[: MAX_DETAIL_CHARS - 1] + "…"
+    fault_text = f"planning failed — nothing to research: {detail}"
+    faults.append(f"PIPELINE-FAULT: {fault_text}")
+    print(json.dumps({"fault_text": fault_text, "pipeline_faults": faults}))
+
+
+try:
+    main()
+except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001 — the fault marker itself must never crash
+    fault_text = f"planning failed — fault-marker script error: {e}"
+    print(
+        json.dumps(
+            {
+                "fault_text": fault_text,
+                "pipeline_faults": [f"PIPELINE-FAULT: {fault_text}"],
+            }
+        )
+    )