fix(recovery): close panels before town detection; save+exit after 5 failed detects

Ported from an unpushed local main commit (853d398) that the PR #41 merge could not
include: the merge was built on origin/main, where these commits never landed.
Code only - the CLAUDE.md write-up is skipped, its bug numbers were renumbered
by the merge.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>

src/bot.py

@@ -366,6 +366,10 @@ class Bot:
             Logger.info("Shut down botty")
             safe_exit()
 
+    # Consecutive on_init detection failures before we stop trusting the in-game check
+    # and force a save+exit. Restarting the bot process leaves the game exactly as it
+    # was, so without this the same failure repeats until the restart budget is gone.
+    _MAX_DETECT_FAILURES = 5
     _MAX_CONSECUTIVE_RESTARTS = 5
     _RESTART_COUNT_FILE = os.path.join("log", ".restart_count")
 
@@ -385,6 +389,37 @@ class Bot:
             pass
         return n
 
+    _DETECT_FAIL_FILE = os.path.join("log", ".detect_fail_count")
+
+    @classmethod
+    def _bump_detect_failures(cls) -> int:
+        """Count consecutive on_init detection failures ACROSS process restarts.
+
+        restart_or_exit respawns the process, so an in-memory counter would reset to
+        zero on every failure and never reach the threshold.
+        """
+        try:
+            with open(cls._DETECT_FAIL_FILE) as f:
+                n = int(f.read().strip() or 0)
+        except Exception:
+            n = 0
+        n += 1
+        try:
+            os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(cls._DETECT_FAIL_FILE), exist_ok=True)
+            with open(cls._DETECT_FAIL_FILE, "w") as f:
+                f.write(str(n))
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+        return n
+
+    @classmethod
+    def _reset_detect_failures(cls):
+        try:
+            if os.path.exists(cls._DETECT_FAIL_FILE):
+                os.remove(cls._DETECT_FAIL_FILE)
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+
     @classmethod
     def _reset_restart_count(cls):
         """Called when a game completes — the restart chain has recovered."""
@@ -673,17 +708,34 @@ class Bot:
             "select_character": main_menu.MAIN_MENU_MARKERS,
             "start_from_town": town_manager.TOWN_MARKERS,
         })
+        # An open stash/inventory panel covers almost the whole screen: no town marker
+        # can match through it, and it hides the InGame indicator the recovery below
+        # depends on. Measured 2026-09-04 with the char parked at the stash — detection
+        # scored 0.49, the in-game check came back False, and the bot restarted its own
+        # process instead of recovering. Restarting changes nothing about the game, so
+        # it failed again identically. Close panels before deciding anything.
+        common.close()
         if (match := template_finder.search_and_wait(list(transition_to_screens.keys()), best_match=True)).valid:
+            self._reset_detect_failures()
             self.trigger_or_stop(transition_to_screens[match.name])
         else:
+            detect_failures = self._bump_detect_failures()
             # Stranded mid-town: town markers are position-dependent, so a char left
             # standing away from the spawn shows NO known marker. If we're in-game,
             # save+exit to character select and re-detect instead of giving up.
-            if is_visible(ScreenObjects.InGame):
-                Logger.warning("on_init: in-game but no known marker visible — save+exit to recover")
+            #
+            # Past _MAX_DETECT_FAILURES, save+exit unconditionally: at that point the
+            # in-game check itself is not to be trusted, and a fresh game is the only
+            # thing that guarantees a known spawn position.
+            forced = detect_failures >= self._MAX_DETECT_FAILURES
+            if is_visible(ScreenObjects.InGame) or forced:
+                why = (f"{detect_failures} consecutive detection failures"
+                       if forced else "in-game but no known marker visible")
+                Logger.warning(f"on_init: {why} — save+exit to recover")
                 view.save_and_exit()
                 wait(2, 3)
                 if (match := template_finder.search_and_wait(list(transition_to_screens.keys()), best_match=True, timeout=20)).valid:
+                    self._reset_detect_failures()
                     self.trigger_or_stop(transition_to_screens[match.name])
                     return
             self.restart_or_exit(f"Failed to detect {list(transition_to_screens.keys())}.")

src/town/town_manager.py

@@ -90,6 +90,11 @@ class TownManager:
         :param timeout: Optional float value for time out in seconds, defaults to None
         :return: Location of the town (e.g. Location.A4_TOWN_START) or None if nothing was found within timeout time
         """
+        # An open stash/inventory panel covers almost the whole screen, leaving only a
+        # narrow strip of world visible — no town marker can match through it. Measured
+        # 2026-09-04: the char stood at the stash with both panels open, this scored
+        # best A5_TOWN_1 0.49 against a 0.68 threshold, failed, and restarted the bot.
+        common.close()
         template_match = template_finder.search_and_wait_stable(
             TOWN_MARKERS,
             best_match=True,
@@ -142,6 +147,13 @@ class TownManager:
         if locations are assumed instead of verified.
         """
         import time
+        # An open stash/inventory panel covers almost the whole screen, leaving only a
+        # narrow strip of world visible — no town marker can match through it. Measured
+        # 2026-09-04: the char stood at the stash with both panels open, the marker
+        # search scored best A5_TOWN_1 0.49 against a 0.68 threshold, detection failed
+        # and the bot restarted itself. open_wp already closes panels first for exactly
+        # this reason; the marker searches did not.
+        common.close()
         deadline = time.time() + timeout
         closest = None
         while True: