fix: clean up idle ssh bridges and back off flapping connections (#4083)

* fix: clean up idle ssh bridges and back off flapping connections

* chore: keep ssh liveness smoke tooling local

1 files changed, 3 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/docs/next/website/src/content/docs/connecting-machines.mdx b/docs/next/website/src/content/docs/connecting-machines.mdx
index a8497270..6c9e7a55 100644
--- a/docs/next/website/src/content/docs/connecting-machines.mdx
+++ b/docs/next/website/src/content/docs/connecting-machines.mdx
@@ -73,10 +73,12 @@ Removing or disabling the machine you are viewing returns you to Local. If Local
 
 ## Connection problems
 
-- **Reconnecting:** Herdr retries with bounded backoff after a network interruption, sleep, or SSH failure. SSH connections are checked for application-level activity and probed when quiet, so a broken connection does not stay Online indefinitely. Local detects native connection closure or failure instead of using remote health probes.
+- **Reconnecting:** Herdr retries automatically after a network interruption, sleep, or SSH failure. Repeated failures increase the delay up to two minutes; brief successful connections do not reset it. A connection must remain healthy for a minute before the next interruption gets a fast retry. SSH connections are checked for application-level activity and probed when quiet, so a broken connection does not stay Online indefinitely. Local detects native connection closure or failure instead of using remote health probes.
 - **Attention:** The target needs an action that cannot be completed in the background, such as host-key approval, authentication, or a compatible server. Other machines remain usable.
 - **Saved-machine file error:** An unreadable or invalid catalog leaves current connections unchanged. Herdr shows a notice and automatically retries reading it.
 
+When both installations support bridge idle cleanup, saved-machine connections to Linux and macOS also close their remote bridge after a minute without traffic in either direction. Sleep counts toward that deadline, which is checked when the host wakes. Quiet healthy connections exchange health checks; watching continuous output does not require typing. Cleanup leaves the remote Herdr server, sessions, and pane processes running. Older installations remain compatible without this optional cleanup.
+
 Background connections never answer prompts or install, update, restart, or hand off a server. For Attention, run the standalone setup command shown by Herdr in an interactive terminal, for example:
 
 ```bash