fix(core): read legacy metadata in json files (#1720)

packages/core/src/__tests__/metadata.test.ts

@@ -150,6 +150,30 @@ describe("writeMetadata + readMetadata", () => {
     const meta = readMetadata(dataDir, "app-6");
     expect(meta?.displayName).toBe("Refactor session manager");
   });
+
+  it("reads legacy key=value metadata from a .json file", () => {
+    writeFileSync(
+      join(dataDir, "legacy-json-name.json"),
+      [
+        "role=orchestrator",
+        "status=working",
+        "runtimeHandle={\"id\":\"ao-orchestrator\",\"runtimeName\":\"tmux\",\"data\":{\"createdAt\":1778013362949,\"workspacePath\":\"/tmp/project\"}}",
+        "tmuxName=ao-orchestrator",
+      ].join("\n"),
+      "utf-8",
+    );
+
+    const meta = readMetadata(dataDir, "legacy-json-name");
+    expect(meta).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(meta?.role).toBe("orchestrator");
+    expect(meta?.status).toBe("working");
+    expect(meta?.tmuxName).toBe("ao-orchestrator");
+    expect(meta?.runtimeHandle).toEqual({
+      id: "ao-orchestrator",
+      runtimeName: "tmux",
+      data: { createdAt: 1778013362949, workspacePath: "/tmp/project" },
+    });
+  });
 });
 
 describe("readMetadataRaw", () => {
@@ -185,6 +209,28 @@ describe("readMetadataRaw", () => {
     const raw = readMetadataRaw(dataDir, "raw-3");
     expect(raw!["runtimeHandle"]).toBe('{"id":"foo","data":{"key":"val"}}');
   });
+
+  it("reads legacy key=value metadata from a .json file", () => {
+    writeFileSync(
+      join(dataDir, "raw-legacy.json"),
+      [
+        "role=orchestrator",
+        "status=working",
+        "runtimeHandle={\"id\":\"ao-orchestrator\",\"runtimeName\":\"tmux\",\"data\":{\"workspacePath\":\"/tmp/project\"}}",
+        "tmuxName=ao-orchestrator",
+      ].join("\n"),
+      "utf-8",
+    );
+
+    const raw = readMetadataRaw(dataDir, "raw-legacy");
+    expect(raw).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(raw?.["role"]).toBe("orchestrator");
+    expect(raw?.["status"]).toBe("working");
+    expect(raw?.["tmuxName"]).toBe("ao-orchestrator");
+    expect(raw?.["runtimeHandle"]).toBe(
+      "{\"id\":\"ao-orchestrator\",\"runtimeName\":\"tmux\",\"data\":{\"workspacePath\":\"/tmp/project\"}}",
+    );
+  });
 });
 
 describe("updateMetadata", () => {

packages/core/src/__tests__/session-manager/spawn.test.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach, vi } from "vitest";
-import { mkdirSync, readFileSync, existsSync } from "node:fs";
+import { mkdirSync, readFileSync, existsSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { createSessionManager } from "../../session-manager.js";
 import { validateConfig } from "../../config.js";
@@ -1710,6 +1710,32 @@ describe("spawn", () => {
       expect(mockWorkspace.create).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     });
 
+    it("ensureOrchestrator reuses a canonical orchestrator stored as legacy key=value metadata in a .json file", async () => {
+      const runtimeHandle = makeHandle("ao-orchestrator");
+      writeFileSync(
+        join(sessionsDir, "app-orchestrator.json"),
+        [
+          "role=orchestrator",
+          "project=my-app",
+          "status=working",
+          "branch=orchestrator/app-orchestrator",
+          `worktree=${join(tmpDir, "legacy-orchestrator")}`,
+          `runtimeHandle=${JSON.stringify(runtimeHandle)}`,
+          "tmuxName=ao-orchestrator",
+        ].join("\n"),
+        "utf-8",
+      );
+      const sm = createSessionManager({ config, registry: mockRegistry });
+
+      const session = await sm.ensureOrchestrator({ projectId: "my-app" });
+
+      expect(session.id).toBe("app-orchestrator");
+      expect(session.metadata["role"]).toBe("orchestrator");
+      expect(session.runtimeHandle).toEqual(runtimeHandle);
+      expect(mockRuntime.create).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(mockWorkspace.create).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
     it("ensureOrchestrator coalesces concurrent creation calls", async () => {
       const sm = createSessionManager({ config, registry: mockRegistry });
 

packages/core/src/metadata.ts

@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import { assertValidSessionIdComponent, SESSION_ID_COMPONENT_PATTERN } from "./u
 import { flattenToStringRecord } from "./utils/metadata-flatten.js";
 import { validateStatus } from "./utils/validation.js";
 import { withFileLockSync } from "./file-lock.js";
+import { parseKeyValueContent } from "./key-value.js";
 
 const JSON_EXTENSION = ".json";
 
@@ -43,14 +44,18 @@ function serializeMetadata(data: Record<string, unknown>): string {
   return JSON.stringify(data, null, 2) + "\n";
 }
 
-/** Parse JSON metadata file content. Returns null on invalid JSON. */
+/** Parse metadata file content. Supports JSON and legacy key=value content. */
 function parseMetadataContent(content: string): Record<string, unknown> | null {
+  const trimmed = content.trimStart();
   try {
     const parsed = JSON.parse(content);
     if (typeof parsed !== "object" || parsed === null || Array.isArray(parsed)) return null;
     return parsed as Record<string, unknown>;
   } catch {
-    return null;
+    if (trimmed.startsWith("{") || trimmed.startsWith("[")) return null;
+
+    const parsed = parseKeyValueContent(content);
+    return Object.keys(parsed).length > 0 ? parsed : null;
   }
 }