diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 73ab287..ca7096e 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ sourced as needed.
 | File | What it provides | Sourced by |
 |---|---|---|
 | `lib/env.sh` | Loads `.env`, sets `FACTORY_ROOT`, exports project config (`CODEBERG_REPO`, `PROJECT_NAME`, etc.), defines `log()`, `codeberg_api()`, `codeberg_api_all()` (accepts optional second TOKEN parameter, defaults to `$CODEBERG_TOKEN`), `woodpecker_api()`, `wpdb()`, `matrix_send()`, `matrix_send_ctx()`. Auto-loads project TOML if `PROJECT_TOML` is set. | Every agent |
-| `lib/ci-helpers.sh` | `ci_passed()` — returns 0 if CI state is "success" (or no CI configured). | dev-poll, review-poll, review-pr, supervisor-poll |
+| `lib/ci-helpers.sh` | `ci_passed()` — returns 0 if CI state is "success" (or no CI configured). `classify_pipeline_failure()` — returns "infra" if all failed Woodpecker steps are git-step exit 128/137, else "code". | dev-poll, review-poll, review-pr, supervisor-poll |
 | `lib/ci-debug.sh` | CLI tool for Woodpecker CI: `list`, `status`, `logs`, `failures` subcommands. Not sourced — run directly. | Humans / dev-agent (tool access) |
 | `lib/load-project.sh` | Parses a `projects/*.toml` file into env vars (`PROJECT_NAME`, `CODEBERG_REPO`, `WOODPECKER_REPO_ID`, monitoring toggles, Matrix config, etc.). | env.sh (when `PROJECT_TOML` is set), supervisor-poll (per-project iteration) |
 | `lib/parse-deps.sh` | Extracts dependency issue numbers from an issue body (stdin → stdout, one number per line). Matches `## Dependencies` / `## Depends on` / `## Blocked by` sections and inline `depends on #N` patterns. Not sourced — executed via `bash lib/parse-deps.sh`. | dev-poll, supervisor-poll |
diff --git a/lib/ci-helpers.sh b/lib/ci-helpers.sh
index 444aab2..a31d673 100644
--- a/lib/ci-helpers.sh
+++ b/lib/ci-helpers.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 # ci-helpers.sh — Shared CI helper functions
 #
 # Source from any script: source "$(dirname "$0")/../lib/ci-helpers.sh"
-# Requires: WOODPECKER_REPO_ID (from env.sh / project config)
+# ci_passed() requires: WOODPECKER_REPO_ID (from env.sh / project config)
+# classify_pipeline_failure() requires: woodpecker_api() (defined in env.sh)
 
 # ci_passed <state> — check if CI is passing (or no CI configured)
 #   Returns 0 if state is "success", or if no CI is configured and
@@ -39,18 +40,20 @@ classify_pipeline_failure() {
   fi
 
   all_infra=true
+  _infra_count=0
   while IFS=$'\t' read -r _sname _ecode; do
     [ -z "$_sname" ] && continue
     # git step with exit 128 (connection/rate-limit) or 137 (OOM) → infra
     if [[ "$_sname" == git* ]] && { [ "$_ecode" = "128" ] || [ "$_ecode" = "137" ]; }; then
-      : # infra step — continue checking remaining steps
+      _infra_count=$(( _infra_count + 1 ))
     else
       all_infra=false
       break
     fi
   done <<< "$failed_steps"
 
-  if [ "$all_infra" = true ]; then
+  # Require at least one confirmed infra step (guards against all-empty-name steps)
+  if [ "$all_infra" = true ] && [ "$_infra_count" -gt 0 ]; then
     echo "infra"
     return 0
   fi
diff --git a/supervisor/supervisor-poll.sh b/supervisor/supervisor-poll.sh
index 23b81f8..5bc94c2 100755
--- a/supervisor/supervisor-poll.sh
+++ b/supervisor/supervisor-poll.sh
@@ -410,11 +410,16 @@ check_project() {
           continue
         fi
 
-        # Get the PR's branch from Codeberg
+        # Get the PR's branch and state from Codeberg
         _esc_pr_json=$(codeberg_api GET "/pulls/${_esc_pr}" 2>/dev/null) || {
           flog "${proj_name}: PR #${_esc_pr}: failed to fetch PR info, keeping escalation"
           printf '%s\n' "$_esc_line" >> "$_esc_tmp"; continue
         }
+        _esc_pr_state=$(printf '%s' "$_esc_pr_json" | jq -r '.state // ""' 2>/dev/null)
+        if [ "$_esc_pr_state" != "open" ]; then
+          flog "${proj_name}: PR #${_esc_pr} is ${_esc_pr_state:-unknown} — discarding stale escalation"
+          continue  # PR merged/closed externally; escalation no longer actionable
+        fi
         _esc_branch=$(printf '%s' "$_esc_pr_json" | jq -r '.head.ref // ""' 2>/dev/null)
         if [ -z "$_esc_branch" ]; then
           printf '%s\n' "$_esc_line" >> "$_esc_tmp"; continue
@@ -493,7 +498,12 @@ json.dump(d, open(f, 'w'))
           # Escalation removed — do NOT write to _esc_tmp
         else
           p2 "${proj_name}: PR #${_esc_pr}: infra-only CI exhaustion but retrigger push failed"
-          printf '%s\n' "$_esc_line" >> "$_esc_tmp"
+          # Bump timestamp to now so the 30-min cooldown resets; prevents alert flood
+          # on persistent push failures (SSH key issue, Codeberg outage, etc.)
+          _esc_now=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)
+          _esc_bumped=$(printf '%s' "$_esc_line" | jq -c --arg ts "$_esc_now" '.ts = $ts' 2>/dev/null \
+            || printf '%s' "$_esc_line")
+          printf '%s\n' "$_esc_bumped" >> "$_esc_tmp"
         fi
       done < "$_esc_file"