feat(cli): add 'chrome-use daemon restart|status' to reset stuck session state

A mid-session 'chrome-use upgrade' (or a crashed worker) can leave per-session
daemons holding stale/cross-leaked tab handles, and the only fix was hunting
PIDs with pgrep/kill. Add a first-class command:

- 'daemon restart' kills every session daemon worker (SIGTERM→SIGKILL +
  sidecar cleanup) but leaves the Chrome-launched __nm-host bridge alone, so
  the extension relay stays up — the next command spins a fresh, clean daemon
  against the same live Chrome. Closes no tabs.
- 'daemon status' lists running session daemons (pid + version) and relay state.

Wires connection::restart_all_daemons(), skips the command in the update-notify
nag, documents it in --help and the core skill. Unit tests cover the empty case
and a live-session kill (spawns a real child, asserts it's reaped + sidecars
cleaned). Issue #20.

cli/src/connection.rs

@@ -642,6 +642,22 @@ fn kill_stale_daemon(session: &str) {
     cleanup_stale_files(session);
 }
 
+/// Kill every per-session daemon worker (SIGTERM→SIGKILL + sidecar cleanup),
+/// leaving the Chrome-launched `__nm-host` native-messaging bridge alone — it's
+/// not a tracked session daemon, so the extension relay stays up. Returns the
+/// session names that were stopped. Powers `chrome-use daemon restart`, which
+/// clears corrupted/cross-leaked daemon state (e.g. after a version-mismatch
+/// restart) without the user resorting to `pgrep`/`kill` (issue #20).
+pub fn restart_all_daemons() -> Vec<String> {
+    let inventory = walk_daemons();
+    let mut stopped = Vec::new();
+    for session in &inventory.sessions {
+        kill_stale_daemon(&session.name);
+        stopped.push(session.name.clone());
+    }
+    stopped
+}
+
 pub fn ensure_daemon(session: &str, opts: &DaemonOptions) -> Result<DaemonResult, String> {
     // Socket connectivity is the sole liveness check — no PID check — so
     // callers in a different PID namespace (e.g. unshare) can still reuse
@@ -1182,6 +1198,55 @@ mod tests {
         let _ = fs::remove_dir(&dir);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_restart_all_daemons_empty_dir() {
+        let dir = std::env::temp_dir().join("ab-test-restart-empty");
+        let _ = fs::create_dir_all(&dir);
+        let _guard = EnvGuard::new(&["AGENT_BROWSER_SOCKET_DIR", "XDG_RUNTIME_DIR"]);
+        _guard.set("AGENT_BROWSER_SOCKET_DIR", dir.to_str().unwrap());
+
+        // No daemons registered → nothing to stop, and it must not blow up.
+        assert!(restart_all_daemons().is_empty());
+
+        let _ = fs::remove_dir(&dir);
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(unix)]
+    #[test]
+    fn test_restart_all_daemons_kills_live_session() {
+        let dir = std::env::temp_dir().join("ab-test-restart-live");
+        let _ = fs::create_dir_all(&dir);
+        let _guard = EnvGuard::new(&["AGENT_BROWSER_SOCKET_DIR", "XDG_RUNTIME_DIR"]);
+        _guard.set("AGENT_BROWSER_SOCKET_DIR", dir.to_str().unwrap());
+
+        // Spawn a real, killable child and register it as a session daemon.
+        let mut child = Command::new("sleep")
+            .arg("30")
+            .spawn()
+            .expect("spawn sleep");
+        let pid = child.id();
+        let _ = fs::write(dir.join("rktest.pid"), pid.to_string());
+        let _ = fs::write(get_socket_path("rktest"), b"");
+
+        let stopped = restart_all_daemons();
+        assert!(
+            stopped.contains(&"rktest".to_string()),
+            "stopped: {:?}",
+            stopped
+        );
+
+        // Reap the killed child first — until the parent waits, it lingers as a
+        // zombie that still answers `kill(pid, 0)`, so is_pid_alive would lie.
+        let _ = child.wait();
+        assert!(!is_pid_alive(pid));
+
+        // Sidecars are cleaned up.
+        assert!(!dir.join("rktest.pid").exists());
+        assert!(!get_socket_path("rktest").exists());
+
+        let _ = fs::remove_dir(&dir);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_cleanup_stale_files_removes_version() {
         let dir = std::env::temp_dir().join("ab-test-cleanup-version");

cli/src/main.rs

@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ use windows_sys::Win32::System::Threading::OpenProcess;
 
 use commands::{gen_id, parse_command, ParseError};
 use connection::{
-    cleanup_stale_files, ensure_daemon, get_socket_dir, is_pid_alive, send_command, walk_daemons,
-    DaemonOptions,
+    cleanup_stale_files, ensure_daemon, get_socket_dir, is_pid_alive, restart_all_daemons,
+    send_command, walk_daemons, DaemonOptions,
 };
 use flags::{clean_args, parse_flags, Flags};
 use install::run_install;
@@ -320,6 +320,94 @@ fn run_session(args: &[String], session: &str, json_mode: bool) {
     }
 }
 
+/// `chrome-use daemon <restart|status>` — manage the per-session daemon workers
+/// without resorting to `pgrep`/`kill`. `restart` clears corrupted or
+/// cross-leaked daemon state (e.g. after a mid-session `chrome-use upgrade`
+/// where stale tab handles bleed across sessions, issue #20) by killing every
+/// session worker. The Chrome-launched `__nm-host` native-messaging bridge is
+/// NOT a tracked session daemon, so the extension relay survives a restart —
+/// the next command spins up a fresh, clean daemon against the same live Chrome.
+fn run_daemon(args: &[String], json_mode: bool) {
+    match args.get(1).map(|s| s.as_str()) {
+        Some("restart") => {
+            let stopped = restart_all_daemons();
+            let relay_up = connect::relay_url().is_some();
+            if json_mode {
+                print_json_value(json!({
+                    "success": true,
+                    "data": { "stopped": stopped, "count": stopped.len(), "relay": relay_up },
+                }));
+            } else if stopped.is_empty() {
+                println!("No session daemons running — nothing to restart.");
+                if relay_up {
+                    println!(
+                        "{}",
+                        color::dim("Extension relay still up; next command starts a fresh daemon.")
+                    );
+                }
+            } else {
+                for s in &stopped {
+                    println!("{} Stopped daemon: {}", color::green("✓"), s);
+                }
+                println!(
+                    "{}",
+                    color::dim(if relay_up {
+                        "Extension relay (__nm-host) left running; next command starts a fresh daemon."
+                    } else {
+                        "Next command starts a fresh daemon."
+                    })
+                );
+            }
+        }
+        Some("status") | Some("list") => {
+            let inventory = walk_daemons();
+            let relay_up = connect::relay_url().is_some();
+            if json_mode {
+                let sessions: Vec<_> = inventory
+                    .sessions
+                    .iter()
+                    .map(|s| json!({ "name": s.name, "pid": s.pid, "version": s.version }))
+                    .collect();
+                print_json_value(json!({
+                    "success": true,
+                    "data": { "sessions": sessions, "relay": relay_up },
+                }));
+            } else if inventory.sessions.is_empty() {
+                println!("No session daemons running.");
+                if relay_up {
+                    println!("{}", color::dim("Extension relay (__nm-host): up"));
+                }
+            } else {
+                println!("Session daemons:");
+                for s in &inventory.sessions {
+                    let ver = s
+                        .version
+                        .as_deref()
+                        .map(|v| format!(" {}", color::dim(&format!("(v{})", v))))
+                        .unwrap_or_default();
+                    println!("  {} pid {}{}", s.name, s.pid, ver);
+                }
+                if relay_up {
+                    println!("{}", color::dim("Extension relay (__nm-host): up"));
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        other => {
+            eprintln!(
+                "{} usage: chrome-use daemon <restart|status>",
+                color::error_indicator()
+            );
+            if let Some(unknown) = other {
+                eprintln!(
+                    "{}",
+                    color::dim(&format!("  unknown subcommand: {}", unknown))
+                );
+            }
+            exit(2);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 fn get_dashboard_pid_path() -> std::path::PathBuf {
     get_socket_dir().join("dashboard.pid")
 }
@@ -799,6 +887,12 @@ fn main() {
         return;
     }
 
+    // Handle daemon management (doesn't talk to a daemon — it manages them).
+    if clean.first().map(|s| s.as_str()) == Some("daemon") {
+        run_daemon(&clean, flags.json);
+        return;
+    }
+
     // Handle close --all: close all active sessions
     if matches!(
         clean.first().map(|s| s.as_str()),

cli/src/output.rs

@@ -3178,6 +3178,9 @@ Confirmation:
 Sessions:
   session                    Show current session name
   session list               List active sessions
+  daemon status              List running session daemons (+ relay state)
+  daemon restart             Kill all session daemons; keeps the extension relay
+                             up. Clears stale/cross-leaked state after an upgrade.
 
 Chat (AI):
   chat <message>             Send a natural language instruction (single-shot)

cli/src/upgrade.rs

@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ pub fn maybe_notify_update() {
     if first.starts_with("__")
         || matches!(
             first.as_str(),
-            "upgrade" | "install" | "doctor" | "dashboard"
+            "upgrade" | "install" | "doctor" | "dashboard" | "daemon"
         )
     {
         return;

skill-data/core/SKILL.md

@@ -501,6 +501,22 @@ the same browser's existing targets, so a second session's first `open` can
 navigate a sibling's tab. For concurrent agents on one real Chrome, use the
 extension (each with a distinct `--session`), not raw `--cdp`.
 
+### Reset stuck daemon state
+
+Each session runs a background daemon worker that holds the page handles. If a
+session starts misbehaving — commands hit the wrong tab, refs/handles look stale,
+or you upgraded `chrome-use` mid-session and old workers linger — restart the
+daemons instead of hunting PIDs with `pgrep`/`kill`:
+
+```bash
+chrome-use daemon status     # list running session daemons (+ relay state)
+chrome-use daemon restart    # kill every session daemon worker
+```
+
+`daemon restart` leaves the extension's native-messaging bridge (`__nm-host`)
+alone, so the relay to your live Chrome stays up — the next command just spins up
+a fresh, clean daemon against the same browser. It does **not** close any tabs.
+
 ### Mock network requests
 
 ```bash