[codex] honor configured Ally concurrency 15

[kkroo]

Thinking Path

• Paperclip runs autonomous agents through heartbeat executions and external lifecycle jobs.
• Ally is configured for 15 concurrent review runs, but the external lifecycle ceiling silently limits it to 8.
• This pull request raises the external lifecycle ceiling to 16 and validates the configured/effective boundary without removing the fleet guard.

Linked Issues or Issue Description

• Refs Paperclip BLO-20742
• Supersedes [codex] honor configured Ally concurrency 15 #937's scoped concurrency work because unrelated BLO-21320 hire-completion commits repeatedly changed that branch while review and CI were running.
• fix(heartbeat): serialize queued-run dispatch instead of bypassing the lock (BLO-20396) #912 is merged into master; this branch is current with master.

What Changed

• Raise EXTERNAL_LIFECYCLE_SLOT_CAPACITY from 8 to 16 so Ally's configured concurrency of 15 becomes effective.
• Enforce the external-lifecycle persistence boundary while preserving compatibility for inherited legacy values.
• Preserve sparse runtime PATCHes until locked-row service merging.
• Keep approval resolution and pending-agent activation atomic, including activation-race rollback.
• Add coverage for 15 live reservations, concurrent sparse updates, legacy normalization, and approval races.
• Keep pre-existing built-in post-commit completion debt isolated in BLO-21320.

Verification

• pnpm --filter @paperclipai/server typecheck
• pnpm test:run:serialized -- --shard-index 2 --shard-count 4: 30 files, 390 tests passed on exact head a122a251ef2b8612a34e6d0324c15bd3d4bfa4c5.
• Focused concurrency/approval verification previously passed: 85 tests.
• master merge touched only unrelated evidence-skill and ReviewQueueCard UI files.

Risks

• Fifteen review jobs increase cluster demand. The ceiling remains finite at 16 and the change includes a 15-slot dispatch bound.
• No schema or migration changes.

Model Used

• OpenAI GPT-5 Codex with tool use and code execution.

Checklist

• I have included a thinking path that traces from project context to this change

• I have specified the model used

• I have linked the owning Paperclip issue

• I have run tests locally and they pass

• I have added or updated tests where applicable

• I have considered and documented risks

• All Paperclip CI gates are green

• Exact-head Ally review has no Critical or Important regression

• I have searched GitHub for duplicate or related PRs and linked them above

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[allyblockcast]

🔗 Paperclip issue: BLO-21320
🔗 Paperclip issue: BLO-20742

[kkroo]

@ally please review exact head a122a251ef2b8612a34e6d0324c15bd3d4bfa4c5. This is the stable scoped BLO-20742 concurrency/atomic-activation branch, current with master; the separately tracked BLO-21320 hire-completion experiment is absent. Server typecheck and serialized shard 3/4 pass locally (30 files, 390 tests). Please report explicitly whether any Critical or Important issue introduced or worsened by this exact head remains.

[kkroo]

@ally please review exact head 938ba359a8f26cc15202bd76a78bb77af2128382. This is the stable scoped BLO-20742 concurrency/atomic-activation branch merged with current master. The new base commit narrows hint-less transient-upstream classification in a separate heartbeat path; the merge was clean. BLO-21320 hire-completion lease/outbox work is absent. Please report explicitly whether any Critical or Important issue introduced or worsened by this exact head remains.

[allyblockcast]

Hey @kkroo! Before this PR can be reviewed, a few things need attention:

Missing or incomplete:

• Add the dedup-search checkbox to your PR description and check it once you have searched the GitHub PR list for similar PRs. See the PR template at .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md and CONTRIBUTING.md → "Before You Start: Search First".

Once updated, push a new commit and these checks will re-run automatically.

— commitperclip

[allyblockcast]

Hey @kkroo! Before this PR can be reviewed, a few things need attention:

Missing or incomplete:

• Add the dedup-search checkbox to your PR description and check it once you have searched the GitHub PR list for similar PRs. See the PR template at .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md and CONTRIBUTING.md → "Before You Start: Search First".

Once updated, push a new commit and these checks will re-run automatically.

— commitperclip

[kkroo]

@ally retry exact-head review for 938ba359a8f26cc15202bd76a78bb77af2128382. The prior run c92408ba-e019-486d-a53d-ad11fdba4f34 was cancelled after producing only adapter keepalives and no model output for more than 20 minutes. Review the stable scoped BLO-20742 concurrency/atomic-activation diff; BLO-21320 work is absent. Report whether any Critical or Important issue introduced or worsened by this exact head remains.

[kkroo]

@ally review exact head 938ba359a8f26cc15202bd76a78bb77af2128382. No other PR #992 review run is active; the prior replacement was cancelled during stale-pod cleanup. Review the scoped BLO-20742 concurrency/atomic-activation diff, with BLO-21320 work absent, and report whether any Critical or Important issue introduced or worsened by this exact head remains.

[allyblockcast]

Ally — Consolidated PR Review

Lenses: pr-review-toolkit (code, tests, comments, errors, types) + gstack/review + native-codex.
Reviewed head: 938ba35

Looks good. No Critical or Important issue introduced or worsened by this head remains.

Strengths

• External-lifecycle concurrency is bounded consistently at validation, persistence, and dispatch.
• Sparse runtime updates are merged against the locked row, preventing concurrent configuration loss.
• Hire approval, pending-agent activation, and budget persistence now share a rollback boundary, with race coverage for failed activation.
• Focused tests cover 15 live reservations, legacy normalization, sparse-update races, and approval rollback.

Recommended Action

Approve this exact head.

[allyblockcast]

Ally — Consolidated PR Review

Lenses: pr-review-toolkit (code, tests, comments, errors, types) + gstack/review + native-codex.
Reviewed head: 938ba35

Looks good. No Critical or Important issue introduced or worsened by this head remains.

Strengths

• External-lifecycle concurrency is bounded consistently at validation, persistence, and dispatch.
• Sparse runtime updates are merged against the locked row, preventing concurrent configuration loss.
• Hire approval, pending-agent activation, and budget persistence now share a rollback boundary, with race coverage for failed activation.
• Focused tests cover 15 live reservations, legacy normalization, sparse-update races, and approval rollback.

Recommended Action

Approve this exact head.