Record and expose how every process ends (M17.2)

The kernel records an ExitReason at all three death sites — clean exit,
fault (classified by vector), and process_kill — into a bounded ring
before the exit notification posts, so a supervisor's query never races
the notice. process_exit_reason is gated by the same supervisor check as
kill; runtime.process.exitReason is the stable interface. This is the
input restart policy reads (docs/process-lifecycle.md iron rule 2).

docs/m17-m18-plan.md

@@ -32,7 +32,9 @@ only when its definition of green holds.
 - [x] **M17.1** — kernel releases claims/MSI on death (claims: `releaseAllOwnedBy`
       in the reap; MSI was already swept by `irq.releaseOwner`; `claim-release`
       test; suite 49/49)
-- [ ] **M17.2** — exit reasons
+- [x] **M17.2** — exit reasons (`ExitReason` recorded at exit/fault/kill before
+      the notification; `process_exit_reason` supervisor-gated;
+      `runtime.process.exitReason`; kernel + ring-3 assertions; suite 49/49)
 - [ ] **M17.3** — published exit events + VFS subscriber
 - [ ] **M17.4** — signals, timer notifications, `runtime.process`, the service harness
 - [ ] **merge** `feat/process-lifecycle` → main, push

docs/process-lifecycle.md

@@ -245,13 +245,16 @@ pub fn stop(id: u32, deadline_ms: u64) void { ... }
 /// process_enumerate.
 pub fn subscribeExits(endpoint: usize) bool { ... }
 
-/// How a process ended — from the exit notification. What restart policy reads.
+/// How a process ended — queried after the exit notification (the kernel records
-pub const ExitReason = enum {
+/// it first, so the two never race). What restart policy reads. (Built in M17.2.)
+pub const ExitReason = enum(u8) {
     exited, // returned from main / clean exit
-    aborted, // abort() — deliberate self-termination (SIGABRT's ghost)
+    aborted, // abort() — deliberate self-termination (SIGABRT's ghost; reserved)
     segmentation_fault, // SIGSEGV's ghost
     illegal_instruction, // SIGILL's ghost
     arithmetic_fault, // SIGFPE's ghost
+    protection_fault, // general protection fault
+    fault, // any other CPU exception
     killed, // process_kill
 };
 ```

docs/process-management.md

@@ -101,8 +101,12 @@ the architecture layer calls up into `tick`.
   again — the cleanup half of [process-lifecycle.md](process-lifecycle.md)'s iron
   rule 1. The `claim-release` test proves the kill → release → re-claim cycle.
 - Kernel stacks of dead tasks are leaked, as on every exit path (no reaper yet).
-- There is no exit *status* in the notification, only the id; a supervisor that
+- ~~There is no exit status in the notification~~ Closed (M17.2): the kernel
-  needs the code can grow a wait-style call later.
+  records how every process ends — exited, a fault class, or killed — before it
+  posts the exit notification, and the supervisor reads it with
+  `process_exit_reason` (`runtime.process.exitReason`). This is the input to
+  restart policy ([process-lifecycle.md](process-lifecycle.md)); an exit *code*
+  for the clean case can still ride alongside later.
 - Enumerate writes through the caller's raw pointer under the bring-up trust
   model, like `device_enumerate` (an unmapped page is a self-DoS, not an
   isolation break).

library/runtime/process.zig

@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
-//! Process-level runtime types: what a user program receives at entry. Mirrors
+//! Process-level runtime types: what a user program receives at entry (`Init`,
+//! the argv contract) and the process end of the lifecycle
+//! (docs/process-lifecycle.md) — today the exit reason a supervisor reads to
+//! decide restart; signals and the stop sequence land here with M17.4. Mirrors
 //! the spirit of `std.process.Init.Minimal` in danos terms — std's `Args` holds
 //! no data on freestanding targets, so the type is danos's own.
 
 const std = @import("std");
+const abi = @import("abi");
+const sc = @import("system-call.zig");
 
 /// Everything a program receives at entry. Passed to
 /// `pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init)`; programs that need nothing keep
@@ -45,3 +50,19 @@ pub const Arguments = struct {
         }
     };
 };
+
+/// How a process ended — what a supervisor's restart policy reads: a clean exit
+/// meant to stop, a fault wants a restart with backoff, killed means the
+/// supervisor did it itself (docs/process-lifecycle.md).
+pub const ExitReason = abi.ExitReason;
+
+/// How dead child `id` ended. Ask after the exit notification arrives — the
+/// kernel records the reason before it posts the notification, so this never
+/// races it. Returns null for an id that never lived, is still alive, was
+/// evicted from the kernel's bounded record, or is not this process's child
+/// (the same authority gate as `kill`).
+pub fn exitReason(id: u32) ?ExitReason {
+    const r = sc.systemCall1(.process_exit_reason, id);
+    if (r > ~@as(usize, 0) - 4095) return null; // a wrapped -errno
+    return @enumFromInt(r);
+}

system/abi.zig

@@ -53,9 +53,27 @@ pub const SystemCall = enum(u64) {
     process_enumerate = 24, // process_enumerate(buffer, maximum) -> total: snapshot the task table
     process_kill = 25, // process_kill(id) -> 0/-errno: end a process this process spawned
     ipc_send = 26, // ipc_send(handle, message_ptr, message_len) -> 0/-errno: post a payload to an endpoint's async queue without blocking
+    process_exit_reason = 27, // process_exit_reason(id) -> ExitReason/-errno: how a dead child ended (its supervisor only)
     _,
 };
 
+/// How a process ended — recorded by the kernel at death, queried by the
+/// supervisor with `process_exit_reason`, and the input to its restart decision
+/// (docs/process-lifecycle.md): a clean exit meant to stop, a fault wants a
+/// restart with backoff, killed means the supervisor did it itself. The faults
+/// mirror the CPU exceptions a ring-3 process can die of; they are exit reasons,
+/// never delivered to the faulting process (recovery is restart, not a handler).
+pub const ExitReason = enum(u8) {
+    exited = 0, // returned from main / called exit
+    aborted = 1, // deliberate self-termination (reserved: no abort path yet)
+    segmentation_fault = 2, // page fault
+    illegal_instruction = 3, // invalid opcode
+    arithmetic_fault = 4, // divide error, x87 or SIMD fault
+    protection_fault = 5, // general protection fault
+    fault = 6, // any other CPU exception
+    killed = 7, // process_kill
+};
+
 /// The x86 MSI message address base (`0xFEE0_0000`): a device raises an MSI by writing
 /// `data` to this address, which the Local APIC turns into an interrupt at the vector
 /// in `data`. The kernel returns the concrete (address, data) from `msi_bind`; this is

system/kernel/kernel.zig

@@ -412,13 +412,26 @@ fn recoverableFault(vector: u64) bool {
 /// plus a POST code and a persistent breadcrumb. (A ring-3 fault on a *borrowed*
 /// kernel thread — process.run, the user-pf isolation probe — also lands here: there
 /// is no scheduled process to kill.)
+/// Classify a CPU exception vector as the ExitReason a supervisor reads — the
+/// fault classes of docs/process-lifecycle.md. Faults are exit reasons, never
+/// signals delivered to the faulting process: recovery is restart, not a handler.
+fn exitReasonForVector(vector: u64) abi.ExitReason {
+    return switch (vector) {
+        14 => .segmentation_fault, // page fault
+        6 => .illegal_instruction, // invalid opcode
+        0, 16, 19 => .arithmetic_fault, // divide error, x87, SIMD
+        13 => .protection_fault, // general protection
+        else => .fault,
+    };
+}
+
 fn onException(state: *const architecture.CpuState) noreturn {
     if (architecture.fromUser(state) and scheduler.currentIsUserProcess() and recoverableFault(state.vector)) {
         statusPrint("\ndanos: process {d} ({s}) killed by {s} (vector {d}) on core {d}\n", .{ scheduler.currentId(), scheduler.current().name(), architecture.exceptionName(state.vector), state.vector, scheduler.currentCpuIndex() });
         statusPrint("  error code : 0x{x}\n", .{state.error_code});
         statusPrint("  IP         : 0x{x:0>16}\n", .{architecture.instructionPointer(state)});
         if (architecture.faultAddress(state)) |address| statusPrint("  fault addr : 0x{x:0>16}\n", .{address});
-        process.killCurrentProcess(); // reclaims everything, reschedules; never returns
+        process.killCurrentProcess(exitReasonForVector(state.vector)); // reclaims everything, reschedules; never returns
     }
 
     log.checkpoint(cp_exception);

system/kernel/process.zig

@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ fn system_call(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
             // A scheduled process tears down fully (terminateCurrent); a borrowed
             // test thread unwinds back to the kernel that entered it.
             if (scheduler.currentIsUserProcess()) {
+                scheduler.current().exit_reason = .exited;
                 terminateCurrent();
             } else architecture.userExit();
         },
@@ -199,6 +200,7 @@ fn system_call(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
         .clock => systemClock(state),
         .process_enumerate => systemProcessEnumerate(state),
         .process_kill => systemProcessKill(state),
+        .process_exit_reason => systemProcessExitReason(state),
         _ => fail(state),
     }
 }
@@ -569,6 +571,7 @@ pub var fault_kill_count: u64 = 0;
 ///   reference taken at spawn is dropped with it.
 /// Precondition: the big kernel lock is held.
 fn releaseTaskResourcesLocked(t: *scheduler.Task) void {
+    recordExitLocked(t);
     irq.releaseOwner(t.id);
     devices_broker.releaseAllOwnedBy(t.id);
     if (t.ipc_client) |client| {
@@ -633,6 +636,7 @@ pub fn killProcess(caller_id: u32, target_id: u32) i64 {
     const target = scheduler.taskByIdLocked(target_id) orelse return -ipc.ESRCH;
     if (target.aspace == 0) return -ipc.ESRCH; // kernel tasks are not processes
     if (target.supervisor != caller_id) return -ipc.EPERM;
+    target.exit_reason = .killed;
     if (target.state == .running) {
         target.kill_pending = true;
     } else {
@@ -645,12 +649,56 @@ pub fn killProcess(caller_id: u32, target_id: u32) i64 {
 /// The fault is confined to the process — the kernel trapped it on the task's own
 /// kernel stack and is intact — so everything the process held is reclaimed and the
 /// core reschedules. The system keeps running; only the faulting process dies
-/// (docs/resilience.md: fault -> kill -> continue).
+/// (docs/resilience.md: fault -> kill -> continue). `reason` is the fault class
-pub fn killCurrentProcess() noreturn {
+/// (from the vector), recorded for the supervisor's `process_exit_reason`.
+pub fn killCurrentProcess(reason: abi.ExitReason) noreturn {
+    scheduler.current().exit_reason = reason;
     fault_kill_count += 1;
     terminateCurrent();
 }
 
+/// The bounded record of recent deaths, for `process_exit_reason`: ids are never
+/// reused, so a ring keyed by id is enough — a record evicted by wraparound reads
+/// as -ESRCH, the same as an id that never lived, which a supervisor treats as
+/// "too late to ask". Written under the big kernel lock by the reap.
+const exit_record_capacity = 64;
+const ExitRecord = struct { id: u32 = 0, supervisor: u32 = 0, reason: abi.ExitReason = .exited, valid: bool = false };
+var exit_records: [exit_record_capacity]ExitRecord = .{ExitRecord{}} ** exit_record_capacity;
+var exit_record_next: usize = 0;
+
+/// Record a dying task's (id, supervisor, reason) — called by the reap before the
+/// exit notification is posted, so a supervisor that hears the notification can
+/// always still query the reason. Precondition: the big kernel lock is held.
+fn recordExitLocked(t: *scheduler.Task) void {
+    exit_records[exit_record_next] = .{ .id = t.id, .supervisor = t.supervisor, .reason = t.exit_reason, .valid = true };
+    exit_record_next = (exit_record_next + 1) % exit_record_capacity;
+}
+
+/// How dead process `id` ended, for `caller` — the kernel half of the
+/// process_exit_reason system call. Returns the ExitReason value, -ESRCH (never
+/// lived, still alive, or evicted from the ring), or -EPERM (the caller was not
+/// its supervisor — the same authority gate as process_kill).
+pub fn exitReasonOf(caller_id: u32, target_id: u32) i64 {
+    const flags = sync.enter();
+    defer sync.leave(flags);
+    for (&exit_records) |*record| {
+        if (record.valid and record.id == target_id) {
+            if (record.supervisor != caller_id) return -ipc.EPERM;
+            return @intFromEnum(record.reason);
+        }
+    }
+    return -ipc.ESRCH;
+}
+
+fn systemProcessExitReason(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
+    const t = scheduler.current();
+    if (t.aspace == 0) return fail(state);
+    const id = architecture.systemCallArg(state, 0);
+    if (id > std.math.maxInt(u32)) return failErr(state, ipc.ESRCH);
+    const r = exitReasonOf(t.id, @intCast(id));
+    architecture.setSystemCallResult(state, @bitCast(r));
+}
+
 /// Resolve `(device_id, resource_index)` to a GSI this process is entitled to bind, or null.
 /// The two checks are the whole security story: the device must be *claimed* by the
 /// caller, and the resource must be one of that device's `irq` resources as recorded

system/kernel/scheduler.zig

@@ -50,6 +50,10 @@ pub const Task = struct {
     // null. Holds its own reference, dropped when the notification is posted.
     // Opaque here for the same reason as `handles` below.
     exit_endpoint: ?*anyopaque = null,
+    // How this process ended — set by the death paths (exit, fault, kill) just
+    // before the reap records it for `process_exit_reason`. Meaningless while
+    // the task lives.
+    exit_reason: abi.ExitReason = .exited,
     // Set by process_kill on a task that is running on another core; the kernel
     // finishes the kill at that task's next system call or timer tick.
     kill_pending: bool = false,

system/kernel/tests.zig

@@ -1209,15 +1209,15 @@ fn userPfTest() void {
 /// hand — address space, code page RO+X, stack page RW+NX — because the blob is a
 /// raw code fragment, not an ELF `spawnProcess` could load. Returns false if any
 /// allocation fails.
-fn spawnFaultingProcess() bool {
+fn spawnFaultingProcess() ?u32 {
     const blob = process.pfBlob();
     const flags = sync.enter();
     defer sync.leave(flags);
 
-    const aspace = architecture.createAddressSpace() orelse return false;
+    const aspace = architecture.createAddressSpace() orelse return null;
     const code_frame = pmm.alloc() orelse {
         architecture.destroyAddressSpace(aspace);
-        return false;
+        return null;
     };
     // Fill through the physmap (the user mapping is read-only); pad with int3 so a
     // stray jump traps instead of sliding.
@@ -1228,15 +1228,16 @@ fn spawnFaultingProcess() bool {
 
     const stack_frame = pmm.alloc() orelse {
         architecture.destroyAddressSpace(aspace); // frees code_frame too — it's mapped
-        return false;
+        return null;
     };
     architecture.mapUserPageInto(aspace, process.stack_base_virtual, stack_frame, true, false); // RW + NX
 
-    if (scheduler.spawnUserLocked(aspace, process.code_virtual, process.stack_base_virtual + abi.page_size, 4, "fault-probe", 0, null) == null) {
+    // Supervised by the calling test task, so exitReasonOf can read the verdict.
+    const id = scheduler.spawnUserLocked(aspace, process.code_virtual, process.stack_base_virtual + abi.page_size, 4, "fault-probe", scheduler.currentId(), null) orelse {
         architecture.destroyAddressSpace(aspace);
-        return false;
+        return null;
-    }
+    };
-    return true;
+    return id;
 }
 
 /// Fault recovery (docs/resilience.md step 2): a scheduled ring-3 process that
@@ -1265,7 +1266,8 @@ fn faultRecoveryTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
     scheduler.setPriority(4);
     check("init heartbeat before the fault", process.write_count >= 1);
 
-    check("faulting process spawned", spawnFaultingProcess());
+    const probe = spawnFaultingProcess() orelse 0;
+    check("faulting process spawned", probe != 0);
 
     // The kill: the faulting process #PFs on its first instruction and the kernel
     // reaps it instead of halting.
@@ -1274,6 +1276,7 @@ fn faultRecoveryTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
     while (process.fault_kill_count < 1 and architecture.millis() < deadline) scheduler.yield();
     scheduler.setPriority(4);
     check("faulting process was killed (not the machine)", process.fault_kill_count == 1);
+    check("the probe's reason reads segmentation_fault", process.exitReasonOf(scheduler.currentId(), probe) == @intFromEnum(abi.ExitReason.segmentation_fault));
 
     // Life after the kill: init must keep beating on the same core.
     const beats_at_kill = process.write_count;
@@ -1425,6 +1428,12 @@ fn processKillTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
     check("the sleeper's exit notification arrived (length 0)", r == 0);
     check("its badge carries the exit bit and the child id", badge == abi.notify_badge_bit | abi.notify_exit_bit | sleeper);
 
+    // M17.2: the recorded reason — the notification is the fence, so it is
+    // already readable, and gated by the same supervisor check as the kill.
+    check("the sleeper's reason reads killed", process.exitReasonOf(me, sleeper) == @intFromEnum(abi.ExitReason.killed));
+    check("a non-supervisor may not read the reason (-EPERM)", process.exitReasonOf(me + 12345, sleeper) == -ipcsync.EPERM);
+    check("an unknown id has no reason (-ESRCH)", process.exitReasonOf(me, 0xFFFF_FF00) == -ipcsync.ESRCH);
+
     const beats_at_kill = process.write_count;
     scheduler.sleep(1500); // more than one heartbeat period
     check("the heartbeat stopped with the kill", process.write_count == beats_at_kill);
@@ -1445,6 +1454,21 @@ fn processKillTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
     check("the spinner's exit notification arrived (length 0)", r == 0);
     check("its badge carries the exit bit and the child id", badge == abi.notify_badge_bit | abi.notify_exit_bit | spinner);
 
+    // M17.2: a child that ends on its own must read exited, not killed —
+    // args-echo with arguments echoes once and returns from main.
+    var clean: u32 = 0;
+    i = 0;
+    while (i < rd.count) : (i += 1) {
+        const item = rd.entry(i) orelse continue;
+        if (!eql(item.name, "args-echo")) continue;
+        clean = process.spawnProcessSupervised(item.blob, 4, &.{ "args-echo", "clean-exit" }, me, endpoint) catch 0;
+        break;
+    }
+    check("args-echo spawned as the clean-exit child", clean != 0);
+    r = ipcsync.replyWait(endpoint, 0, 0, 0, 0, abi.no_cap, &badge, &received_cap);
+    check("the clean child's exit notification arrived", badge == abi.notify_badge_bit | abi.notify_exit_bit | clean);
+    check("the clean child's reason reads exited", process.exitReasonOf(me, clean) == @intFromEnum(abi.ExitReason.exited));
+
     var table: [32]abi.ProcessDescriptor = undefined;
     const total = scheduler.enumerate(&table);
     var still_listed = false;

system/services/process-test/process-test.zig

@@ -89,6 +89,12 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
     if (listed(sleeper, "process-test")) fail("sleeper still listed after kill");
     if (listed(spinner, "process-test")) fail("spinner still listed after kill");
 
+    // M17.2: both children were killed by us, and the reason says so — the whole
+    // restart-policy input, read through the runtime like a real supervisor would.
+    if ((runtime.process.exitReason(sleeper) orelse .exited) != .killed) fail("sleeper reason not killed");
+    if ((runtime.process.exitReason(spinner) orelse .exited) != .killed) fail("spinner reason not killed");
+    if (runtime.process.exitReason(0xFFFF_FFF0) != null) fail("unknown id had a reason");
+
     _ = runtime.system.write("process-test: ok\n");
 }