testomatio · DavertMik · Sep 15, 2026 · Sep 14, 2026 · Sep 14, 2026 · Sep 15, 2026
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@
   repeating the same rejected request.
 - [Apibot] API test scenarios no longer mutate or delete records discovered as sample data. Chief plans a
   scenario-owned target for destructive checks, and Curler stops when it cannot create one safely.
+- [Navigator] A verification that could not run because the model call itself failed is now reported as
+  a failure, naming the error. It used to be swallowed and reported as a claim no assertion could
+  express, so a rate limit or a timed-out request reached Tester as a verdict about the page, and
+  Tester rewrote a correct assertion and asked again. Each such claim also retried the model up to
+  three more times on top of the retries the request already does, which made a rate limit worse
+  rather than passing it on.
 - [Navigator] A verification is no longer reported as impossible to express when the answer shows a
   snippet of page markup before its assertions. A code block written in any language other than
   JavaScript used to shift the reading of every later block, so all the assertions the model had

diff --git a/src/ai/navigator.ts b/src/ai/navigator.ts
@@ -703,7 +703,7 @@ class Navigator implements Agent {
     const cachedVerification = actionResult.getVerification(message);
     if (cachedVerification !== null) {
       tag('operation').log(`Reusing cached verification: ${cachedVerification ? 'PASS' : 'FAIL'}`);
-      return { verified: cachedVerification, successfulCodes: [], assertionSteps: [], totalAttempted: 0 };
+      return { verified: cachedVerification, inexpressible: false, results: [], successfulCodes: [], assertionSteps: [], totalAttempted: 0 };
     }
 
     const knowledge = this.knowledgeTracker.renderRelevantContext(actionResult);
@@ -832,9 +832,6 @@ class Navigator implements Agent {
           observability: {
             agent: 'navigator',
           },
-          catch: async (error) => {
-            debugLog(error);
-          },
         }
       );
     } finally {

diff --git a/tests/unit/navigator-verify-failure.test.ts b/tests/unit/navigator-verify-failure.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'bun:test';
+import { Navigator } from '../../src/ai/navigator.ts';
+
+function createNavigator(invokeConversation: () => Promise<any>) {
+  const navigator = Object.create(Navigator.prototype) as any;
+  navigator.systemPrompt = 'system';
+  navigator.knowledgeTracker = { renderRelevantContext: () => '' };
+  navigator.experienceTracker = { renderExperienceTocFor: () => '' };
+  navigator.stateManager = { updateState: () => {} };
+  navigator.config = { playwright: {}, ai: { agents: { navigator: { verifyAttempts: 3, verifyTimeout: 1000 } } } };
+  navigator.explorer = {
+    page: null,
+    action: () => ({
+      assertionSteps: [],
+      exitIframe: async () => {},
+      attempt: async () => true,
+    }),
+  };
+  navigator.buildExperienceTools = () => ({});
+  navigator.provider = {
+    startConversation: () => ({ addUserText: () => {} }),
+    invokeConversation,
+  };
+  return navigator as Navigator;
+}
+
+function createActionResult() {
+  return {
+    url: '/widgets',
+    isInsideIframe: false,
+    verifications: {},
+    getVerification: () => null,
+    addVerification: () => {},
+    toAiContext: () => '<url>/widgets</url>',
+    combinedHtml: async () => '<html></html>',
+  } as any;
+}
+
+describe('Navigator.verifyState', () => {
+  it('reports a failed AI call as a failure instead of an unexpressible claim', async () => {
+    const navigator = createNavigator(async () => {
+      throw new Error('Rate limit reached for model on tokens per minute (TPM)');
+    });
+
+    const promise = navigator.verifyState('Widget is visible in the list', createActionResult());
+
+    expect(promise).rejects.toThrow('Rate limit reached');
+  });
+
+  it('reports an unexpressible claim when the model answers without assertion code', async () => {
+    const navigator = createNavigator(async () => ({ response: { text: 'I cannot express that as an assertion.' } }));
+
+    const result = await navigator.verifyState('Widget is visible in the list', createActionResult());
+
+    expect(result.inexpressible).toBe(true);
+    expect(result.verified).toBe(false);
+  });
+});