Best possible solution:

Close this PR; keep automatic final replies visible by default, use message_tool_only when the message tool owns visible output, and pursue any future suppression only through a maintainer-approved typed terminal source-reply signal with thread identity.

Do we have a high-confidence way to reproduce the issue?

Yes for the patch risk: source inspection shows the added branch can drop final replies when hasRepliedRef is true and the text matches the status-like regex. No live after-fix behavior proof was supplied.

Is this the best way to solve the issue?

No. This is not the best fix because it infers terminal source-reply ownership from prose and reply-threading state; the safer path is message_tool_only or a typed terminal source-reply contract with thread identity.

Security review:

Security review cleared: No concrete security or supply-chain concern was found; the diff only changes TypeScript delivery logic and tests.

AGENTS.md: found and applied where relevant.

What I checked:

• PR adds heuristic final suppression: The PR skips final delivery when a group/channel reply has status-like prose, hasRepliedRef is true, and the payload lacks media. (src/auto-reply/reply/dispatch-from-config.ts:3303, f66800bd3435)
• Automatic group/channel finals are current supported behavior: Current main resolves normal group/channel visible replies to automatic unless configured for message-tool-only, so final assistant text remains the visible reply path by default. (src/auto-reply/reply/source-reply-delivery-mode.ts:91, d1b917120a47)
• User-facing docs match automatic final visibility: The Groups docs say automatic group/channel mode posts final assistant text unless the room opts into message-tool-only output. Public docs: docs/channels/groups.md. (docs/channels/groups.md:47, d1b917120a47)
• hasRepliedRef is threading evidence, not terminal delivery proof: Current main sets hasRepliedRef when reply-threading metadata is consumed for first-reply mode; it does not prove the model's terminal source reply was delivered. (src/infra/outbound/message-action-threading.ts:113, d1b917120a47)
• Canonical maintainer decision rejects the heuristic: A maintainer closed the canonical behavior request, stating ordinary send receipts do not prove terminal source-reply ownership and heuristic suppression can cause message loss.
• Earlier broader implementation was closed for the same boundary: The predecessor PR was closed because successful current-conversation sends and target matching could suppress substantive finals without thread identity.

Likely related people:

• vincentkoc: Authored the maintainer decision closing the canonical automatic-mode suppression request and has recent commits in the auto-reply/source-reply surfaces. (role: decision reviewer and recent area contributor; confidence: high; commits: f90ec6d7bea7, 1380a9e09400, 63825369a24d; files: src/auto-reply/reply/dispatch-from-config.ts, src/auto-reply/reply/source-reply-delivery-mode.ts, docs/channels/groups.md)
• steipete: Introduced and documented key group visible-reply automatic behavior that this PR would alter in group/channel automatic mode. (role: visible-reply policy contributor; confidence: high; commits: 1e5450f23e1c, 75ea8b509468, 25c0699fe909; files: src/auto-reply/reply/source-reply-delivery-mode.ts, docs/channels/groups.md)
• sandieman2: Recent thread-aware reply delivery work addressed final delivery and routed-thread identity, the same invariant missing from this heuristic. (role: recent adjacent message-delivery contributor; confidence: medium; commits: c67dc59b02b0; files: src/auto-reply/reply/dispatch-from-config.ts, src/infra/outbound/message-action-threading.ts)

Codex review notes: model internal, reasoning high; reviewed against d1b917120a47.