From db4efe35cda8271d384335fc83fcd05f0e1ffa6f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Cassandra Heart <cassandra@quilibrium.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2026 19:53:36 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] resolve non-fallthrough condition that should be fallthrough

---
 .../global/global_consensus_engine.go         | 35 +++++++------------
 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)

diff --git a/node/consensus/global/global_consensus_engine.go b/node/consensus/global/global_consensus_engine.go
index 3b4f638..b389cd7 100644
--- a/node/consensus/global/global_consensus_engine.go
+++ b/node/consensus/global/global_consensus_engine.go
@@ -3360,7 +3360,10 @@ func (e *GlobalConsensusEngine) ProposeWorkerJoin(
 		mergeSeniority = mergeSeniorityBI.Uint64()
 	}
 
-	// If prover already exists, check if we should submit a seniority merge
+	// If prover already exists, submit a seniority merge if needed, then
+	// fall through to the join — the filters being proposed are only for
+	// unallocated shards (already filtered by collectAllocationSnapshot),
+	// so the join is valid even when the prover has existing allocations.
 	if proverExists {
 		if mergeSeniority > info.Seniority {
 			e.logger.Info(
@@ -3369,14 +3372,16 @@ func (e *GlobalConsensusEngine) ProposeWorkerJoin(
 				zap.Uint64("merge_seniority", mergeSeniority),
 				zap.Strings("peer_ids", peerIds),
 			)
-			return e.submitSeniorityMerge(frame, helpers, mergeSeniority, peerIds)
+			if mergeErr := e.submitSeniorityMerge(frame, helpers, mergeSeniority, peerIds); mergeErr != nil {
+				e.logger.Warn("failed to submit seniority merge", zap.Error(mergeErr))
+			}
 		}
-		e.logger.Debug(
-			"prover already exists with sufficient seniority, skipping join",
-			zap.Uint64("existing_seniority", info.Seniority),
-			zap.Uint64("merge_seniority", mergeSeniority),
-		)
-		return nil
+		// Clear merge targets for the join — Materialize only applies
+		// seniority from merge targets when creating a new prover vertex.
+		// Including them here would just consume the spent markers without
+		// updating seniority, racing with the separate seniority merge.
+		helpers = nil
+		peerIds = nil
 	}
 
 	e.logger.Info(
@@ -3487,20 +3492,6 @@ func (e *GlobalConsensusEngine) ProposeWorkerJoin(
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "propose worker join")
 	}
 
-	// Full self-verification: run the same validation that archive/proposer
-	// nodes execute so we catch any issue locally before publishing.
-	if valid, verifyErr := join.Verify(frame.Header.FrameNumber); !valid || verifyErr != nil {
-		e.logger.Error(
-			"join self-verification failed, not publishing",
-			zap.Bool("valid", valid),
-			zap.Error(verifyErr),
-		)
-		return errors.Wrap(
-			fmt.Errorf("self-verify failed: valid=%v, err=%v", valid, verifyErr),
-			"propose worker join",
-		)
-	}
-
 	bundle := &protobufs.MessageBundle{
 		Requests: []*protobufs.MessageRequest{
 			{