fix(gateway): app survives runtime init failure; dedupe NATS-down notifications; fix stale slot_lookup note

tests/unit/test_app.py

@@ -346,3 +346,34 @@ async def test_main_prepare_ingestor_failure(mock_app_env, capsys):
     mock_ingestor_instance.logger.error.assert_called_once_with(
         'Failed to prepare ingestor: Preparation failed'
     )
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_main_gateway_runtime_init_failure_keeps_read_path_alive(mock_app_env):
+    """GatewayRuntime construction hitting the network (MinIO/Postgres) and failing
+    must not kill the app: the main loop (read path) still runs and shuts down cleanly."""
+    mock_ingestor_instance = mock_app_env['Ingestor'].return_value
+    mock_exit_signal = mock_app_env['mock_exit_signal']
+
+    mock_app_env['GatewayRuntime'].side_effect = Exception('MinIO unreachable')
+    mock_exit_signal.is_set.side_effect = [False, True]
+    mock_app_env['time_time'].side_effect = [10.0, 11.0]
+
+    with pytest.raises(OsExitCalledError) as excinfo:
+        await app.main()
+    assert excinfo.value.code == 0
+
+    # Loop still ran and shutdown was clean, without any runtime calls
+    mock_ingestor_instance.loop.assert_called_once()
+    mock_ingestor_instance.shutdown.assert_called_once()
+    mock_runtime_instance = mock_app_env['GatewayRuntime'].return_value
+    mock_runtime_instance.idle_sweep.assert_not_called()
+    mock_runtime_instance.stop.assert_not_called()
+
+    # Failure was logged and counted, but did not set exit_signal
+    assert any(
+        'GatewayRuntime failed to initialize' in str(c)
+        for c in mock_ingestor_instance.logger.error.call_args_list
+    )
+    mock_app_env['metrics_APP_ERRORS_TOTAL_labels_inc'].assert_called_once()
+    mock_exit_signal.set.assert_not_called()