# Talking Stick 0.4.1

Date: 2026-05-10

This patch fixes release/reclaim churn discovered while dogfooding the 0.4.0
collaboration instructions. A holder could release with "no work", immediately
re-enter `tt wait`, and reclaim the stick before another active harness had a
real chance to claim.

## Fixed

### Prior-owner release cooldown

When a room is idle after a release, the release's prior owner now waits through
a bounded cooldown before reclaiming if another active member exists. The
cooldown defaults to `max(6 * waiterGraceMs, 60_000)`, which is 60 seconds with
the stock policy.

Other members can still claim immediately, and the prior owner can continue
immediately when he is genuinely alone. Stale members and audit-only
`target=any` event reads do not force a cooldown.

### Solo-polling guidance

The bundled skill and default collaboration instructions now clarify the escape
hatch for one-agent rooms: if you are the only active member, stop polling after
a clear handoff instead of churning release/reclaim turns. Brief quiet periods
from another active agent are not enough to declare yourself alone.

## Verification

```bash
npm run typecheck
npm run build
npm test
git diff --check
npm pack --dry-run
```