monitor/registry: terminal-outcome record — a raced watch can recover the real down reason (soak sig 4)

A watch installed after its target's death has, until now, only NoProc to
report — but the bridge's proxies install their native watch asynchronously
after acquire returns, so a link established before a crash (from the BEAM's
view) could still lose the panic's translated reason to that blanket NoProc
(width-20 soak signature 4: link_test.exs:26, 1/600 full-suite, 3/2000
link-only, all whereis-miss; deterministic repro in the bridge suite).

Two primitives, no change to monitor()'s own Erlang-faithful stale-pid
semantics — the upgrade is the caller's deliberate act:

- finalize_actor stamps the slot with (generation, DownReason) under the same
  cold-lock block that publishes the outcome. The record survives reclaim,
  registry pruning, and the next tenant's install; only the slot's next death
  overwrites it. terminal_reason(pid) reads it generation-matched.
- resolve_name(name) is whereis with the corpse kept: the dead-holder arm
  returns the stored pid it prunes (NameResolution::Corpse) instead of
  discarding the only evidence of who died — whereis itself prunes on the way
  out, so a whereis-then-lookup consumer would find the evidence already
  destroyed. Live/Unbound match whereis's Some/None; the name heals exactly
  as before.

Contract pinned in tests/terminal_outcome_after_death.rs: one record per way
of dying (Exit/Panic/Stopped), no record while live, corpse capture + heal on
resolve_name, record independence from registry pruning, survival across slot
re-tenancy, overwrite at the next tenancy's death.

src/lib.rs

@@ -72,13 +72,13 @@ pub use introspect::{StackInfo,
 #[cfg(feature = "observer")]
 pub use observer::{ObserverReply, ObserverRequest};
 pub use link::{link, trap_exit, unlink, ExitSignal};
-pub use monitor::{demonitor, monitor, Down, DownReason, Monitor, MonitorId};
+pub use monitor::{demonitor, monitor, terminal_reason, Down, DownReason, Monitor, MonitorId};
 pub use mutex::{LockTimeout, Mutex, MutexGuard};
 pub use pid::{Addressable, Erased, Name, Pid, RawPid};
 pub use pg::{dispatch, join, leave, members, members_as, pick, pick_as, Incarnation, Member, NodeId};
 pub use registry::{
-    install, lookup_as, register, send, send_dyn, send_to, unregister, whereis, RegisterError,
+    install, lookup_as, register, resolve_name, send, send_dyn, send_to, unregister, whereis,
-    SendError,
+    NameResolution, RegisterError, SendError,
 };
 pub use runtime::{init, Config, Runtime};
 pub use scheduler::{

src/monitor.rs

@@ -177,6 +177,32 @@ pub fn monitor<A>(target: Pid<A>) -> Monitor {
     Monitor { id, target, rx }
 }
 
+/// The terminal [`DownReason`] of the tenancy `target` names, if that tenancy
+/// is the *most recent* death of its slot: finalize stamps the slot with
+/// `(generation, reason)`, and the record survives reclaim and the next
+/// tenant's install, until that next tenant itself dies. `None` means the pid
+/// never lived, is still alive, or its record was overwritten by a later
+/// tenancy's death — callers fall back to `NoProc` semantics.
+///
+/// This exists for watch-installers that raced their target's death (bridge
+/// soak signature 4): a `NoProc` observed at install time can be upgraded to
+/// the real reason while the record still matches, which is exactly what an
+/// install that had won the race would have delivered. It does NOT change
+/// [`monitor`]'s own semantics — monitoring a stale pid still queues `NoProc`,
+/// the same shape Erlang gives — the upgrade is the caller's deliberate act.
+/// Same context contract as [`monitor`]: must run inside `Runtime::run()`.
+pub fn terminal_reason<A>(target: Pid<A>) -> Option<DownReason> {
+    let target = target.erase();
+    with_runtime(|inner| {
+        let slot = inner.slot_at(target)?;
+        let cold = slot.cold.lock();
+        match cold.terminal {
+            Some((generation, reason)) if generation == target.generation() => Some(reason),
+            _ => None,
+        }
+    })
+}
+
 /// Cancel the monitor `m`. Returns `Some(id)` if a live registration was found
 /// and removed, so no `Down` will arrive on `m.rx` from here on. Returns
 /// `None` if there was nothing left to remove: the target had already gone

src/registry.rs

@@ -486,6 +486,47 @@ pub fn whereis(name: &str) -> Option<Pid> {
     })
 }
 
+/// What a name is bound to, three-valued (bridge soak signature 4).
+///
+/// [`Live`](NameResolution::Live) is [`whereis`]'s `Some`.
+/// [`Corpse`](NameResolution::Corpse) carries the *stored* holder pid of a
+/// dead-but-unpruned binding — a state Erlang cannot represent (its name
+/// death unregisters atomically; smarm's prune is lazy), captured here before
+/// the prune that `whereis` performs discards it, so the caller can consult
+/// [`terminal_reason`](crate::monitor::terminal_reason) for the tenancy's
+/// real down reason. [`Unbound`](NameResolution::Unbound) matches Erlang's
+/// unregistered name.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum NameResolution {
+    /// The stored holder is live (generation-checked); the binding stands.
+    Live(Pid),
+    /// The stored holder is dead. The binding was pruned on the way out —
+    /// the name heals exactly as `whereis` heals it; only the evidence is
+    /// returned instead of discarded. A second resolve is `Unbound`.
+    Corpse(Pid),
+    /// No binding stored (never registered, or already pruned by any reader).
+    Unbound,
+}
+
+/// Resolve `name` like [`whereis`], but keep the corpse: the dead-holder arm
+/// returns the stored pid it pruned instead of a bare `None`. Same lock
+/// discipline and pruning behavior as `whereis`; same `Runtime::run()`
+/// context contract.
+pub fn resolve_name(name: &str) -> NameResolution {
+    with_runtime(|inner| {
+        let mut reg = inner.registry.lock();
+        let Some(&pid) = reg.by_name.get(name) else {
+            return NameResolution::Unbound;
+        };
+        if live(inner, pid) {
+            NameResolution::Live(pid)
+        } else {
+            reg.prune_holder(pid);
+            NameResolution::Corpse(pid)
+        }
+    })
+}
+
 /// Like [`whereis`], but returns a *typed* [`Pid<A>`] instead of a bare
 /// [`Pid`], so a follow-up [`send_to`] is compile-checked instead of needing
 /// the untyped [`send_dyn`] escape hatch. `None` if the name is unbound or its

src/runtime.rs

@@ -472,6 +472,14 @@ pub(crate) struct SlotCold {
     /// epoch-matched unpark.
     pub(crate) waiters: Vec<(Pid, u32)>,
     pub(crate) outcome: Option<Outcome>,
+    /// The slot's most recent *death*: `(generation, reason)`, stamped by
+    /// `finalize_actor` and deliberately never cleared — a new tenant's
+    /// install leaves it standing (it describes the previous tenancy), and
+    /// only the next death overwrites it. Read generation-matched via
+    /// [`terminal_reason`](crate::monitor::terminal_reason), so a watch that
+    /// raced its target's death can recover the real down reason instead of
+    /// a blanket `NoProc` (bridge soak signature 4).
+    pub(crate) terminal: Option<(u32, DownReason)>,
     pub(crate) supervisor_channel: Option<Sender<Signal>>,
     /// Watchers registered via `monitor()`, each tagged with its
     /// `MonitorId` so `demonitor` can remove exactly one. Each receives one
@@ -626,6 +634,7 @@ impl Slot {
                 actor: None,
                 waiters: Vec::new(),
                 outcome: None,
+                terminal: None,
                 supervisor_channel: None,
                 monitors: Vec::new(),
                 links: Vec::new(),
@@ -1667,6 +1676,11 @@ fn finalize_actor(inner: &Arc<RuntimeInner>, pid: Pid, outcome: Outcome) {
             None => panic!("finalize_actor: actor vanished"),
         };
         cold.outcome = Some(joiner_outcome);
+        // Terminal record (soak sig 4): stamped before the generation ever
+        // bumps, under the cold lock, so a reader that resolved this pid can
+        // recover the reason after the slot moves on. Overwritten only by the
+        // slot's next death.
+        cold.terminal = Some((pid.generation(), down_reason));
         slot.stop_ptr.store(std::ptr::null_mut(), Ordering::Release);
         // Done is published under the cold lock, so join's
         // check-Done-or-register-waiter (also under it) can never miss: it

tests/terminal_outcome_after_death.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,216 @@
+//! The terminal-record contract (bridge soak signature 4): a watch installed
+//! *after* its target's death — the async-install race the bridge's proxies
+//! live with — must be able to recover the real down reason instead of a
+//! blanket `NoProc`. Two primitives carry it:
+//!
+//!   - `finalize_actor` stamps the slot with `(generation, DownReason)`; the
+//!     record survives reclaim, registry pruning, and the next tenant's
+//!     install, and is overwritten only by the slot's next death.
+//!     [`terminal_reason`] reads it generation-matched.
+//!   - [`resolve_name`] is `whereis` with the corpse kept: the dead-holder arm
+//!     returns the stored pid it prunes ([`NameResolution::Corpse`]) instead
+//!     of discarding the only evidence of *who* died. `Unbound` stays the
+//!     Erlang-shaped `noproc` for names that were never (or are no longer)
+//!     bound.
+//!
+//! `monitor()` of a stale pid still queues plain `NoProc` — the upgrade is a
+//! caller's deliberate act, not a semantics change.
+
+use smarm::{
+    init, request_stop, resolve_name, terminal_reason, CallError, Config, DownReason, GenServer,
+    GenServerBuilder, GenServerName, NameResolution,
+};
+use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
+use std::time::Duration;
+
+const TARGET: GenServerName<Target> = GenServerName::new("terminal_target");
+
+/// Named server that panics on cast — the sig-4 death.
+struct Target;
+
+impl GenServer for Target {
+    type Call = ();
+    type Reply = ();
+    type Cast = ();
+    type Info = ();
+    type Timer = ();
+
+    fn handle_call(&mut self, _req: ()) {}
+    fn handle_cast(&mut self, _op: ()) {
+        panic!("terminal_target: induced panic");
+    }
+}
+
+/// Slot filler for the re-tenancy phase (distinct type, held alive).
+struct Filler;
+
+impl GenServer for Filler {
+    type Call = ();
+    type Reply = ();
+    type Cast = ();
+    type Info = ();
+    type Timer = ();
+
+    fn handle_call(&mut self, _req: ()) {}
+    fn handle_cast(&mut self, _op: ()) {}
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+struct Observed {
+    exit_reason: Option<DownReason>,
+    panic_reason: Option<DownReason>,
+    stopped_reason: Option<DownReason>,
+    live_reason: Option<DownReason>,
+    live_resolution_is_live: bool,
+    unknown_resolution: NameResolution,
+    /// First resolve after the named target's panic — must be Corpse(old pid).
+    corpse_resolution_matches: bool,
+    /// Second resolve — the Corpse arm pruned, so the name has healed.
+    resolution_after_prune: NameResolution,
+    /// Read AFTER the prune above: the record is slot-side, not registry-side.
+    corpse_reason_after_prune: Option<DownReason>,
+    /// Record survives the slot being re-tenanted (new tenant still alive).
+    corpse_reason_after_reuse: Option<DownReason>,
+    /// ... and dies with the next tenancy's death (overwritten).
+    corpse_reason_after_tenant_death: Option<DownReason>,
+    tenant_reason: Option<DownReason>,
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn terminal_record_recovers_the_reason_a_raced_watch_lost() {
+    let out: Arc<Mutex<Option<Observed>>> = Arc::new(Mutex::new(None));
+    let out_w = out.clone();
+
+    // Tiny slab: prompt slot recycling for the re-tenancy phase.
+    init(Config::exact(2).max_actors(32)).run(move || {
+        // --- Plain actors: one record per way of dying. -------------------
+        let h = smarm::spawn(|| {});
+        let pid_exit = h.pid();
+        let _ = h.join();
+        let exit_reason = terminal_reason(pid_exit);
+
+        let h = smarm::spawn(|| panic!("induced"));
+        let pid_panic = h.pid();
+        let _ = h.join();
+        let panic_reason = terminal_reason(pid_panic);
+
+        let h = smarm::spawn(|| loop {
+            smarm::sleep(Duration::from_millis(2));
+        });
+        let pid_stop = h.pid();
+        request_stop(pid_stop);
+        let _ = h.join();
+        let stopped_reason = terminal_reason(pid_stop);
+
+        // --- The named target: live readings first. -----------------------
+        let target = GenServerBuilder::new(Target)
+            .named(TARGET)
+            .start()
+            .expect("name free at test start");
+        let old_pid = target.pid();
+        let live_reason = terminal_reason(old_pid);
+        let live_resolution_is_live =
+            resolve_name(TARGET.as_str()) == NameResolution::Live(old_pid.erase());
+        let unknown_resolution = resolve_name("terminal_never_bound");
+
+        // --- Kill it by panic; confirm death via the ref, NEVER the name
+        // (any name reader would take the prune arm and destroy the corpse
+        // precondition — the same trap stale_name_slot_reuse.rs documents).
+        let _ = target.cast(());
+        loop {
+            match target.call(()) {
+                Err(CallError::ServerDown) => break,
+                Ok(()) => smarm::sleep(Duration::from_millis(2)),
+            }
+        }
+
+        let corpse_resolution_matches =
+            resolve_name(TARGET.as_str()) == NameResolution::Corpse(old_pid.erase());
+        let resolution_after_prune = resolve_name(TARGET.as_str());
+        let corpse_reason_after_prune = terminal_reason(old_pid);
+
+        // --- Re-tenant the freed slot; the record must outlive the install
+        // and die only with the next tenancy's death.
+        let mut fillers = Vec::new();
+        let mut tenant = None;
+        for i in 0..24 {
+            let name: &'static str = Box::leak(format!("terminal_filler_{i}").into_boxed_str());
+            let f = GenServerBuilder::new(Filler)
+                .named(GenServerName::<Filler>::new(name))
+                .start()
+                .expect("filler names are fresh");
+            let fp = f.pid();
+            let landed = fp.index() == old_pid.index();
+            fillers.push(f);
+            if landed {
+                tenant = Some((fillers.len() - 1, fp));
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        let (tenant_at, tenant_pid) = tenant.expect(
+            "precondition: the freed slot must be re-tenanted within the tiny slab \
+             (slots are recycled; every filler is held alive)",
+        );
+        let corpse_reason_after_reuse = terminal_reason(old_pid);
+
+        request_stop(tenant_pid);
+        loop {
+            match fillers[tenant_at].call(()) {
+                Err(CallError::ServerDown) => break,
+                Ok(()) => smarm::sleep(Duration::from_millis(2)),
+            }
+        }
+        let corpse_reason_after_tenant_death = terminal_reason(old_pid);
+        let tenant_reason = terminal_reason(tenant_pid);
+
+        *out_w.lock().unwrap() = Some(Observed {
+            exit_reason,
+            panic_reason,
+            stopped_reason,
+            live_reason,
+            live_resolution_is_live,
+            unknown_resolution,
+            corpse_resolution_matches,
+            resolution_after_prune,
+            corpse_reason_after_prune,
+            corpse_reason_after_reuse,
+            corpse_reason_after_tenant_death,
+            tenant_reason,
+        });
+    });
+
+    let o = out.lock().unwrap().take().expect("runtime body completed");
+    assert_eq!(o.exit_reason, Some(DownReason::Exit), "{o:?}");
+    assert_eq!(o.panic_reason, Some(DownReason::Panic), "{o:?}");
+    assert_eq!(o.stopped_reason, Some(DownReason::Stopped), "{o:?}");
+    assert_eq!(
+        o.live_reason, None,
+        "live tenancy must have no record: {o:?}"
+    );
+    assert!(o.live_resolution_is_live, "{o:?}");
+    assert_eq!(o.unknown_resolution, NameResolution::Unbound, "{o:?}");
+    assert!(
+        o.corpse_resolution_matches,
+        "first post-death resolve must carry the corpse: {o:?}"
+    );
+    assert_eq!(
+        o.resolution_after_prune,
+        NameResolution::Unbound,
+        "the Corpse arm prunes — the name heals: {o:?}"
+    );
+    assert_eq!(
+        o.corpse_reason_after_prune,
+        Some(DownReason::Panic),
+        "the record is slot-side; registry pruning must not touch it: {o:?}"
+    );
+    assert_eq!(
+        o.corpse_reason_after_reuse,
+        Some(DownReason::Panic),
+        "a new tenant's install must leave the previous tenancy's record: {o:?}"
+    );
+    assert_eq!(
+        o.corpse_reason_after_tenant_death, None,
+        "the next death overwrites — the old generation no longer matches: {o:?}"
+    );
+    assert_eq!(o.tenant_reason, Some(DownReason::Stopped), "{o:?}");
+}