A stuck check stops the run

New

• The output setting is the allowance for the answer. A reasoning model adds a budget on top, and that budget shrinks first so the total stays inside the model's output limit. Auto leaves the effort field off. The budgets are reasoning_budget_minimal through reasoning_budget_xhigh in config.toml, or the matching VORTEX_REASONING_BUDGET_* variables.
• vortex stats prints quality counters from the trace: tool failures, edit misses, completion-gate rejections by reason, and the top failure messages, with paths and numbers masked. Phase timing says how many runs it covers. Runs with no model are labeled as backfill.
• File search runs across every workspace root when no path is given. A search that finds nothing for one identifier says where that name is defined.

Fixed

• When a verification's expected text is missing, recovery says to print that text or drop expected_output. It suggests changing the expected exit code only when the exit code is what failed. A pass judged on the full output stays passed.
• The same failed required check, retried until the nudge limit, stops the run. The chat says the run stopped because a required verification stayed blocked.
• A dropped SSH connection is retried for a read or a search. A write is not sent again. If the host stays down, the run stops because the remote workspace disconnected.
• When a model spends its output budget reasoning, the chat says it is retrying with less reasoning and names the effort. Usage records that billed attempt even when it produced no answer.
• Plan mode asks what the plan covers at the start, after a short look, and does not offer a choice to build it.