fix(task): let task.softRequestBudget lower bundled subagent budgets

The soft request budget resolved to `SOFT_REQUEST_BUDGET[agent.name] ??
configured`, so the bundled entries for scout and sonic replaced the
configured value outright. Lowering `task.softRequestBudget` to tighten
the guard therefore did nothing for exactly the two agents that spawn
most often: a scout kept its 100-request budget no matter how small the
user set the knob. Only 0 (disable) and raising the value for
non-bundled agents had any effect.

Treat both numbers as upper bounds and take the smaller one. The bundled
entries stay ceilings, so a runaway scout is still stopped at 100 by
default and existing behavior is unchanged for anyone who has not
lowered the setting; a configured 0 still disables the guard entirely.
Resolution moves into `resolveSoftRequestBudget`, which also normalizes
negative and fractional inputs, so the rule is testable without standing
up a subprocess run.

This composes with `task.maxEffort` on a separate axis: effort caps how
hard each request thinks, this caps how many requests a run may spend.

(cherry picked from commit f0db29f8f725f11390b64ca9342300c482ff5c5d)

packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+
+- Fixed lowering task.softRequestBudget having no effect on bundled scout and sonic subagents, whose built-in budget previously replaced the configured value instead of acting as a ceiling.
+
 ## [17.1.8] - 2026-07-28
 
 ### Breaking Changes

packages/coding-agent/src/config/settings-schema.ts

@@ -4592,7 +4592,7 @@ export const SETTINGS_SCHEMA = {
 			group: "Subagents",
 			label: "Soft Subagent Request Budget",
 			description:
-				"Soft per-subagent request budget (assistant requests per run). Crossing it injects a wrap-up steering notice (see task.softRequestBudgetNotice); at 1.5x the budget the run is force-stopped and the agent must yield its partial findings. 0 disables the guard. Bundled scout/sonic agents use a lower built-in budget.",
+				"Soft per-subagent request budget (assistant requests per run). Crossing it injects a wrap-up steering notice (see task.softRequestBudgetNotice); at 1.5x the budget the run is force-stopped and the agent must yield its partial findings. 0 disables the guard. Bundled scout/sonic agents cap out at a lower built-in budget, so a value below that cap still applies to them.",
 			options: [
 				{ value: "0", label: "Disabled" },
 				{ value: "90", label: "90 requests" },

packages/coding-agent/src/task/executor.ts

@@ -87,8 +87,10 @@ const MCP_CALL_TIMEOUT_MS = 60_000;
  * agent is driven to one forced final `yield` so partial findings come back
  * as a real report; only if it still refuses to yield within
  * {@link BUDGET_STOP_GRACE_REQUESTS} more requests is the run hard-aborted.
- * The `default` key applies to agents without an explicit entry and can be
- * overridden via the `task.softRequestBudget` setting (0 disables the guard).
+ * Entries are ceilings, not fixed values: the `default` key applies to agents
+ * without an explicit entry, and the `task.softRequestBudget` setting can only
+ * lower an agent's budget, never raise it above its bundled entry (0 disables
+ * the guard entirely).
  */
 export const SOFT_REQUEST_BUDGET: Record<string, number> = {
 	scout: 100,
@@ -96,6 +98,18 @@ export const SOFT_REQUEST_BUDGET: Record<string, number> = {
 	default: 200,
 };
 
+/**
+ * Resolves the effective soft request budget for an agent. The configured
+ * `task.softRequestBudget` and the agent's bundled entry are both upper
+ * bounds, so the tighter one wins; a configured budget of 0 disables the
+ * guard regardless of the bundled entry.
+ */
+export function resolveSoftRequestBudget(agentName: string, configuredBudget: number): number {
+	const normalized = Math.max(0, Math.trunc(configuredBudget));
+	if (normalized === 0) return 0;
+	return Math.min(normalized, SOFT_REQUEST_BUDGET[agentName] ?? normalized);
+}
+
 /** Extra requests allowed after a budget stop for the forced yield to land before the run is hard-aborted. */
 export const BUDGET_STOP_GRACE_REQUESTS = 5;
 
@@ -2446,8 +2460,7 @@ export async function runSubprocess(options: ExecutorOptions): Promise<SingleRes
 		0,
 		Math.trunc(Number(settings.get("task.softRequestBudget") ?? SOFT_REQUEST_BUDGET.default) || 0),
 	);
-	const softRequestBudget =
-		configuredDefaultBudget === 0 ? 0 : (SOFT_REQUEST_BUDGET[agent.name] ?? configuredDefaultBudget);
+	const softRequestBudget = resolveSoftRequestBudget(agent.name, configuredDefaultBudget);
 	const softRequestBudgetNotice = settings.get("task.softRequestBudgetNotice") ?? false;
 	const parentDepth = options.taskDepth ?? 0;
 	const childDepth = parentDepth + 1;

packages/coding-agent/test/task/executor-soft-budget.test.ts

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { AgentRegistry } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-coding-agent/registry/agent-registry
 import type { CreateAgentSessionResult } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-coding-agent/sdk";
 import * as sdkModule from "@oh-my-pi/pi-coding-agent/sdk";
 import type { AgentSession, AgentSessionEvent, PromptOptions } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-coding-agent/session/agent-session";
-import { runSubprocess } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-coding-agent/task/executor";
+import { resolveSoftRequestBudget, runSubprocess } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-coding-agent/task/executor";
 import type { AgentDefinition } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-coding-agent/task/types";
 import { EventBus } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-coding-agent/utils/event-bus";
 import { TempDir } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-utils";
@@ -105,8 +105,8 @@ function mockCreateAgentSession(session: AgentSession) {
 		eventBus: new EventBus(),
 	} satisfies CreateAgentSessionResult);
 }
-// Named "task": bundled scout/sonic budgets are built-in and override the
-// `task.softRequestBudget` setting, which these tests pin to a tiny value.
+// Named "task": the agent name only selects which bundled ceiling applies, and
+// these tests pin `task.softRequestBudget` to a tiny value below every ceiling.
 const baseAgent: AgentDefinition = {
 	name: "task",
 	description: "test",
@@ -272,3 +272,25 @@ describe("runSubprocess soft request budget", () => {
 		expect(receipt.error).toMatch(new RegExp(`history://${id}`));
 	});
 });
+
+describe("resolveSoftRequestBudget", () => {
+	it("lets a configured budget lower a bundled agent's ceiling", () => {
+		expect(resolveSoftRequestBudget("scout", 20)).toBe(20);
+		expect(resolveSoftRequestBudget("sonic", 20)).toBe(20);
+	});
+
+	it("keeps the bundled ceiling when the configured budget is higher", () => {
+		expect(resolveSoftRequestBudget("scout", 200)).toBe(100);
+		expect(resolveSoftRequestBudget("sonic", 200)).toBe(100);
+	});
+
+	it("uses the configured budget for agents without a bundled entry", () => {
+		expect(resolveSoftRequestBudget("task", 20)).toBe(20);
+	});
+
+	it("keeps 0 disabled and normalizes negative or fractional budgets", () => {
+		expect(resolveSoftRequestBudget("scout", 0)).toBe(0);
+		expect(resolveSoftRequestBudget("scout", -5)).toBe(0);
+		expect(resolveSoftRequestBudget("scout", 20.9)).toBe(20);
+	});
+});