v5.48.0 — work while it works

v5.48.0 — work in Houdini while Synapse works

Non-Synapse nodes no longer lock up while a Synapse operation is processing. The freeze was physical law — the main thread IS the UI thread, and Python cannot preempt running Python — so this release attacks the three places Synapse held that thread without a witness: unlabeled dispatch holds, blind retry loops, and an emergency halt that waited on the thread it was trying to free. 18 commits, PR #75, crucible-gated.

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What you get, plainly

Mid-render or mid-tool-call, you can select nodes, edit parameters, and keep working. When a call goes long, the panel now tells you what is holding Houdini and since when — and the stop button reaches it.

If a tool call wedges twice in a row while a holder is registered, Synapse stops retrying it and tells you in plain words: which command, held how long, by what.

Synapse → Emergency Halt now works even while the main thread is frozen. It acts off the main thread — it never waits on the very thread it's freeing.

The four fixes

F4 — the in-flight register (main_thread.py). Every dispatch that takes the main thread now writes its name and start time into a register — on entry, cleared on exit, on both dispatch paths (114 previously anonymous sites now carry labels; AST-verified). Everything else in this release reads that register. collect_telemetry() freeze dumps include the holder section.

F2 — the retry breaker (panel/retry_breaker.py). The worker used to re-fire the same command after a timeout even while Houdini was visibly held. Now the breaker only fires when BOTH are true: the same command abandoned twice in a row AND the register says a holder is live. The artist sees the honest sentence; the model sees a is_error result and stops.

F3 — halt that reaches a frozen UI. The emergency net is constructed at transport startup (never mid-freeze), and the WS-path halt reads the register as evidence and sweeps PDG from off the main thread. A halt mid-freeze can no longer deadlock on its own wait.

F1 — update-mode sandwich (flag-gated). SYNAPSE_COOK_SANDWICH=1 opts into a per-operation snapshot → Manual → mutate → restore → hou.ui.triggerUpdate() envelope around cook-heavy mutations. Dev-default OFF until the live probe passes on 22.0.400: scripts\live_verify_freeze.ps1 then one line in the Houdini Python shell.

Numbers, with producers

Figure	Producer
6,297 passed · 5 failed · 170 skipped	local python -m pytest tests/ -q @ 86115ed5; 4 failures are statusline-worktree environmental, 1 pre-existing (test_backfill, Py 3.14 vendored ABI) — zero forge-authored
CI all-pass on the merge commit	GH Actions run @ eb0a4433 (macOS+Ubuntu × Py3.11/3.14, CodeRabbit)
23 attacks, 2 FATALs caught pre-merge	docs/reviews/crucible-full.json (F2 rerooted onto the register; F5 default-flip killed → F5a probe-only)
114 dispatch sites labeled	AST scan in the forge report (docs/reviews/freeze-forge-report-2026-08-14.md)
PR #75, merge eb0a4433, 18 commits	no squash, per-leg history preserved

Known limitations — what this release does not claim

• Not yet live-verified. Everything above is harness-green; the on-screen proof is live on Joe's 22.0.400 seat — two probe gates (scripts\live_verify_freeze.ps1) and the 5-step session protocol in the forge report. F1 stays dark until its probe passes.
• F5 was NOT flipped. Defaulting renders to background-mode was crucible-FATAL twice (the file-on-return contract in handlers_render.py and the GL flipbook fallback detonate). The render-offload design question is parked behind docs/reviews/render-offload-f5a-design-gate.md and the --indie husk probe matrix.
• The websocket cancel gap is still open (websocket.py:471 serial read loop).
• The SessionStart "connected" lie is still open — ping-first remains the cure.

Files Joe will run again

Thing	Where
Live verification entry point	scripts\live_verify_freeze.ps1
F1 sandwich probe (GUI Python shell)	harness\notes\probe_update_mode_sandwich.py
F5a render probe (hython)	harness\notes\probe_render_offload.py
Spec + crucible + forge record	docs\reviews\ui-freeze-fix-spec-2026-08-14.md · freeze-forge-report-2026-08-14.md