fix(handoff): bound escalation assessment latency

Co-Authored-By: Codex <noreply@openai.com>

backend/tests/test_handoff_manager.py

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 """Integration tests for HandoffManager service."""
+import asyncio
 from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, patch
 
 import pytest
@@ -101,6 +102,55 @@ async def test_create_escalate_handoff(client: AsyncClient, test_user, auth_head
     assert "branch_map" in session.escalation_package or "snapshot" in session.escalation_package
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_create_escalate_handoff_does_not_wait_on_slow_ai_assessment(
+    client: AsyncClient, test_user, auth_headers, test_db, monkeypatch
+):
+    """Escalate should commit a handoff even when optional AI assessment is slow."""
+    session = AISession(
+        user_id=test_user["user_data"]["id"],
+        account_id=test_user["user_data"]["account_id"],
+        session_type="guided",
+        intake_type="free_text",
+        intake_content={"text": "test"},
+        status="active",
+        confidence_tier="discovery",
+        conversation_messages=[],
+    )
+    test_db.add(session)
+    await test_db.flush()
+
+    async def slow_assessment(self, session):
+        await asyncio.sleep(0.2)
+        return "too slow", {"confidence": "medium"}
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "app.services.handoff_manager.settings."
+        "ESCALATION_AI_ASSESSMENT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS",
+        0.01,
+    )
+    with patch.object(
+        HandoffManager,
+        "_generate_ai_assessment",
+        new=slow_assessment,
+    ):
+        manager = HandoffManager(test_db)
+        handoff = await manager.create_handoff(
+            session_id=session.id,
+            intent="escalate",
+            engineer_notes="Need senior help",
+            user_id=test_user["user_data"]["id"],
+        )
+
+    assert handoff.intent == "escalate"
+    assert handoff.ai_assessment is None
+    assert handoff.ai_assessment_data is None
+
+    await test_db.refresh(session)
+    assert session.status == "escalated"
+    assert session.handoff_count == 1
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_claim_session(client: AsyncClient, test_user, test_admin, auth_headers, test_db):
     """Claiming a handoff sets claimed_by and reactivates session."""