When the API connection drops mid-stream after text deltas have already
been delivered, chat_completion_helpers returned a stub response with
finish_reason=stop. The conversation loop then classified the stub as a
clean text completion (text_response(finish_reason=stop)) and exited
with iteration budget remaining — even when the goal-judge verdict
came back as "continue" milliseconds later (issue #30963).
Switch the text-only partial-stream stub to finish_reason=length. The
existing length-continuation path (length_continue_retries up to 3,
"continue exactly where you left off" prompt, partial parts merged
into final_response) then fires automatically: the partial assistant
content is persisted, the model is asked to continue from the cut
point, and the loop keeps making progress against the goal.
The mid-tool-call branch keeps finish_reason=stop on purpose — its
user-facing warning ("Ask me to retry if you want to continue") asks
the user to drive the retry rather than auto-replaying a tool call
with possible side effects.
#5544's "no duplicate message" contract is preserved verbatim: the
partial content is reused, never re-emitted as a fresh API call, so
the user never sees two copies of the same delta.
Refs: NousResearch/hermes-agent#30963
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