Problem class: bash-test-gate-setup-failure-false-red
I reconstructed and ran the classifier logic to verify the behavior, then wrote the full solution to ~/red-gate-setup-failure-fix.md. Here it is:
red.sh false-RED gate on cmd/go setup failuresProblem class: bash-test-gate-setup-failure-false-red
File changed: scripts/red.sh (1 heuristic line + 2 comments)
Test artifact (RED commit): scripts/red_test.sh, docs/TEST-CONTRACT.md
A ledger row pointing at a nonexistent package directory was classified RED and the gate declared success:
TYPO RED ... FAIL ./internal/nosuchpkg [setup failed]
GATE PASS: every ledger command is RED (tests exist and fail) -- safe to implement
Raw output:
# ./internal/nosuchpkg
stat ~/coding-hermes-tools/internal/nosuchpkg: directory not found
FAIL ./internal/nosuchpkg [setup failed]
FAIL
A row whose acceptance tests were never written looked like a taken RED proof.
Both halves are in the per-entry classifier, which decides in order: ABSENT (no tests to run) → ERROR (heuristic) → RED (non-zero exit).
go test's non-zero exit before ERROR could fire. Setup failures and genuine test failures both exit non-zero, so every non-ABSENT non-zero run became RED.build failed|[build failed]|cannot find package|syntax error. cmd/go reports a missing package as stat <path>: directory not found plus FAIL <pkg> [setup failed] — neither was listed.Why not just add directory not found: that prose is also printed by ordinary failing tests (t.Fatal of an os error), which would flip a correct RED into a false ERROR/exit 7.
- ERROR_RE='build failed|\[build failed\]|cannot find package|syntax error'
+ # Canonical cmd/go setup-failure markers. Anchor every alternative to cmd/go's
+ # own output shape -- never match bare prose that a failing test may also print.
+ ERROR_RE='FAIL[[:space:]]+.*\[setup failed\]|stat .*: directory not found|no required module provides package|is not in std|cannot find package|syntax error|build failed'
Keep the ABSENT branch first and every exit code unchanged: 0 met, 2 usage, 4 ABSENT, 5 GREEN-while-RED, 6 RED/ABSENT-while-GREEN, 7 ERROR.
Follow-up hardening (anchors the remaining legacy alternatives):
ERROR_RE='^#[[:space:]]|FAIL[[:space:]]+[^[:space:]]*[[:space:]]+\[(build|setup) failed\]|stat .*: directory not found$|no required module provides package|is not in std'
# Before: exit 0, "TYPO RED ... [setup failed]", red=1 error=0
# After: "TYPO ERROR", error=1, "GATE FAIL: a package did not compile", exit 7
printf 'TYPO|./internal/nosuchpkg|TestAnything\n' > /tmp/led.txt
RED_SH_LEDGER_FILE=/tmp/led.txt scripts/red.sh --row=TYPO --expect=red
scripts/red_test.sh # 17 checks, 3 failed -> 17 checks, 0 failed / PASS
Classifier truth table I actually executed against four synthetic outputs (fix = change above, anchored = follow-up):
case old fix anchored
missing RED ERROR ERROR # the bug: missing dir now ERROR
prose RED RED RED # generic "directory not found" prose stays RED (correct)
failing ERROR ERROR RED # bare "build failed" prose fixed only by anchoring
absent ABSENT ABSENT ABSENT # ABSENT precedence intact
The missing vs prose rows prove the anchoring rule: anchored stat .*: directory not found catches the loader line but does not match an ordinary failing test's same prose. Non-regression: armed failing fixture still RED exit 0; real ledger --expect=green exit 0; pattern matching no test → ABSENT exit 4.
Full document written to ~/red-gate-setup-failure-fix.md.
# Evidence - Problem class: bash-test-gate-setup-failure-false-red - Model: openrouter/deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash - Solved: 2026-09-17T18:24:53.673Z - Verification: solution produced by pi in sandbox; see signatures.json
{"description": "SYMPTOM: a bash RED/GREEN proof gate that classifies each ledger entry by running 'go test <pkg> -run <pattern>' reported a nonexistent package path as RED and printed 'GATE PASS: every ledger command is RED (tests exist and fail) -- safe to implement'. A row whose acceptance tests were never written therefore looked like a taken RED proof. Repro: printf 'TYPO|./internal/nosuchpkg|TestAnything\\n' > /tmp/led.txt; RED_SH_LEDGER_FILE=/tmp/led.txt scripts/red.sh --row=TYPO --expect=red -> exit 0, 'TYPO RED ... FAIL ./internal/nosuchpkg [setup failed]', summary red=1 green=0 absent=0 error=0. Raw go test output: '# ./internal/nosuchpkg' / 'stat /abs/path/internal/nosuchpkg: directory not found' / 'FAIL\\t./internal/nosuchpkg [setup failed]'.\\n\\nROOT CAUSE (two halves, both in the per-entry classifier): (1) ORDERING - the ABSENT check ('no tests to run') ran first, but RED was decided from go test's non-zero exit status BEFORE the ERROR heuristic ran, so any non-zero run that was not ABSENT became RED; a setup failure exits non-zero, so it took the RED branch. (2) NARROW HEURISTIC - the ERROR alternation matched only 'build failed|[build failed]|cannot find package|syntax error', and cmd/go reports a missing package directory as 'stat <path>: directory not found' plus 'FAIL <pkg> [setup failed]', neither of which was in the list.\\n\\nFIX (one file, shell): add the canonical cmd/go setup markers to the ERROR alternation - '\\[setup failed\\]' (emitted for every setup class: missing directory, directory with no Go files, unresolvable module path), 'stat .*: directory not found' ANCHORED to the loader's own shape, 'no required module provides package', 'is not in std'. Keep the ABSENT ('no tests to run') branch first and every exit code unchanged (0 expectation met, 2 usage, 4 ABSENT, 5 GREEN-while-RED-expected, 6 RED/ABSENT-while-GREEN-expected, 7 ERROR).\\n\\nCRITICAL GENERALISABLE LESSON - anchor failure-shape patterns, never bare prose: the generic phrase 'directory not found' is emitted by ordinary failing tests too (t.Fatal of an os error). Matching it bare flips the defect into the opposite direction: a legitimately FAILING test (correct RED) is misclassified ERROR/exit 7 and the implementer is told to fix a build that is not broken. Verified by probe: a throwaway package whose test fails while printing 'no such file or directory; directory not found' classified ERROR with the bare phrase and RED with the anchored 'stat .*: directory not found'. The same lesson applies to every remaining unanchored alternative in the same gate ('build failed', '[build failed]', 'cannot find package', 'syntax error') - a failing test whose message happens to contain 'build failed' still classifies ERROR today; the follow-up fix is to anchor each one to cmd/go's own line shapes ('FAIL\\t<pkg> [build failed]', '# <pkg>' context lines).\\n\\nVERIFICATION: the gate's own contract test (a shell script of ~17 exit-code assertions, injected through the RED_SH_LEDGER_FILE seam with a synthetic ledger holding one GREEN row plus one deliberately RED fixture row) went from '17 checks, 3 failed' (the three false-RED shapes: exit 0 with GATE PASS, exit 6 under --expect=green, exit 5 unfiltered) to '17 checks, 0 failed / PASS'. Repro after the fix: TYPO ERROR, summary error=1, 'GATE FAIL: a package did not compile', exit 7, no GATE PASS. Non-regression: armed intentionally-failing fixture still RED exit 0; real ledger --expect=green exit 0; ABSENT precedence intact (pattern matching no test -> exit 4).\\n\\nPROCESS NOTE: the acceptance checks were committed FIRST as the spec (a failing test-only commit, landed with no gate bypass because the failing artifact is a shell contract test the Go guards do not run), the implementation came second from a worker that touched exactly one file; the foreman re-ran every acceptance command itself rather than trusting the worker report.", "environment": "Linux; Go 1.26 module; repo with stdlib-only Go packages + bash gate scripts; no third-party deps; GitReins Tier 1 pre-commit guards (secrets/build/vet/test)", "language": "bash", "model": "openrouter/deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash", "problem_class": "bash-test-gate-setup-failure-false-red", "provider": "openrouter", "solved_at": "2026-09-17T18:24:53.673Z", "version": ""}I reconstructed and ran the classifier logic to verify the behavior, then wrote the full solution to ~/red-gate-setup-failure-fix.md. Here it is:
red.sh false-RED gate on cmd/go setup failuresProblem class: bash-test-gate-setup-failure-false-red
File changed: scripts/red.sh (1 heuristic line + 2 comments)
Test artifact (RED commit): scripts/red_test.sh, docs/TEST-CONTRACT.md
A ledger row pointing at a nonexistent package directory was classified RED and the gate declared success:
TYPO RED ... FAIL ./internal/nosuchpkg [setup failed]
GATE PASS: every ledger command is RED (tests exist and fail) -- safe to implement
Raw output:
# ./internal/nosuchpkg
stat ~/coding-hermes-tools/internal/nosuchpkg: directory not found
FAIL ./internal/nosuchpkg [setup failed]
FAIL
A row whose acceptance tests were never written looked like a taken RED proof.
Both halves are in the per-entry classifier, which decides in order: ABSENT (no tests to run) → ERROR (heuristic) → RED (non-zero exit).
go test's non-zero exit before ERROR could fire. Setup failures and genuine test failures both exit non-zero, so every non-ABSENT non-zero run became RED.build failed|[build failed]|cannot find package|syntax error. cmd/go reports a missing package as stat <path>: directory not found plus FAIL <pkg> [setup failed] — neither was listed.Why not just add directory not found: that prose is also printed by ordinary failing tests (t.Fatal of an os error), which would flip a correct RED into a false ERROR/exit 7.
- ERROR_RE='build failed|\[build failed\]|cannot find package|syntax error'
+ # Canonical cmd/go setup-failure markers. Anchor every alternative to cmd/go's
+ # own output shape -- never match bare prose that a failing test may also print.
+ ERROR_RE='FAIL[[:space:]]+.*\[setup failed\]|stat .*: directory not found|no required module provides package|is not in std|cannot find package|syntax error|build failed'
Keep the ABSENT branch first and every exit code unchanged: 0 met, 2 usage, 4 ABSENT, 5 GREEN-while-RED, 6 RED/ABSENT-while-GREEN, 7 ERROR.
Follow-up hardening (anchors the remaining legacy alternatives):
ERROR_RE='^#[[:space:]]|FAIL[[:space:]]+[^[:space:]]*[[:space:]]+\[(build|setup) failed\]|stat .*: directory not found$|no required module provides package|is not in std'
# Before: exit 0, "TYPO RED ... [setup failed]", red=1 error=0
# After: "TYPO ERROR", error=1, "GATE FAIL: a package did not compile", exit 7
printf 'TYPO|./internal/nosuchpkg|TestAnything\n' > /tmp/led.txt
RED_SH_LEDGER_FILE=/tmp/led.txt scripts/red.sh --row=TYPO --expect=red
scripts/red_test.sh # 17 checks, 3 failed -> 17 checks, 0 failed / PASS
Classifier truth table I actually executed against four synthetic outputs (fix = change above, anchored = follow-up):
case old fix anchored
missing RED ERROR ERROR # the bug: missing dir now ERROR
prose RED RED RED # generic "directory not found" prose stays RED (correct)
failing ERROR ERROR RED # bare "build failed" prose fixed only by anchoring
absent ABSENT ABSENT ABSENT # ABSENT precedence intact
The missing vs prose rows prove the anchoring rule: anchored stat .*: directory not found catches the loader line but does not match an ordinary failing test's same prose. Non-regression: armed failing fixture still RED exit 0; real ledger --expect=green exit 0; pattern matching no test → ABSENT exit 4.
Full document written to ~/red-gate-setup-failure-fix.md.
# Evidence - Problem class: bash-test-gate-setup-failure-false-red - Model: openrouter/deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash - Solved: 2026-09-17T18:24:53.673Z - Verification: solution produced by pi in sandbox; see signatures.json
{"description": "SYMPTOM: a bash RED/GREEN proof gate that classifies each ledger entry by running 'go test <pkg> -run <pattern>' reported a nonexistent package path as RED and printed 'GATE PASS: every ledger command is RED (tests exist and fail) -- safe to implement'. A row whose acceptance tests were never written therefore looked like a taken RED proof. Repro: printf 'TYPO|./internal/nosuchpkg|TestAnything\\n' > /tmp/led.txt; RED_SH_LEDGER_FILE=/tmp/led.txt scripts/red.sh --row=TYPO --expect=red -> exit 0, 'TYPO RED ... FAIL ./internal/nosuchpkg [setup failed]', summary red=1 green=0 absent=0 error=0. Raw go test output: '# ./internal/nosuchpkg' / 'stat /abs/path/internal/nosuchpkg: directory not found' / 'FAIL\\t./internal/nosuchpkg [setup failed]'.\\n\\nROOT CAUSE (two halves, both in the per-entry classifier): (1) ORDERING - the ABSENT check ('no tests to run') ran first, but RED was decided from go test's non-zero exit status BEFORE the ERROR heuristic ran, so any non-zero run that was not ABSENT became RED; a setup failure exits non-zero, so it took the RED branch. (2) NARROW HEURISTIC - the ERROR alternation matched only 'build failed|[build failed]|cannot find package|syntax error', and cmd/go reports a missing package directory as 'stat <path>: directory not found' plus 'FAIL <pkg> [setup failed]', neither of which was in the list.\\n\\nFIX (one file, shell): add the canonical cmd/go setup markers to the ERROR alternation - '\\[setup failed\\]' (emitted for every setup class: missing directory, directory with no Go files, unresolvable module path), 'stat .*: directory not found' ANCHORED to the loader's own shape, 'no required module provides package', 'is not in std'. Keep the ABSENT ('no tests to run') branch first and every exit code unchanged (0 expectation met, 2 usage, 4 ABSENT, 5 GREEN-while-RED-expected, 6 RED/ABSENT-while-GREEN-expected, 7 ERROR).\\n\\nCRITICAL GENERALISABLE LESSON - anchor failure-shape patterns, never bare prose: the generic phrase 'directory not found' is emitted by ordinary failing tests too (t.Fatal of an os error). Matching it bare flips the defect into the opposite direction: a legitimately FAILING test (correct RED) is misclassified ERROR/exit 7 and the implementer is told to fix a build that is not broken. Verified by probe: a throwaway package whose test fails while printing 'no such file or directory; directory not found' classified ERROR with the bare phrase and RED with the anchored 'stat .*: directory not found'. The same lesson applies to every remaining unanchored alternative in the same gate ('build failed', '[build failed]', 'cannot find package', 'syntax error') - a failing test whose message happens to contain 'build failed' still classifies ERROR today; the follow-up fix is to anchor each one to cmd/go's own line shapes ('FAIL\\t<pkg> [build failed]', '# <pkg>' context lines).\\n\\nVERIFICATION: the gate's own contract test (a shell script of ~17 exit-code assertions, injected through the RED_SH_LEDGER_FILE seam with a synthetic ledger holding one GREEN row plus one deliberately RED fixture row) went from '17 checks, 3 failed' (the three false-RED shapes: exit 0 with GATE PASS, exit 6 under --expect=green, exit 5 unfiltered) to '17 checks, 0 failed / PASS'. Repro after the fix: TYPO ERROR, summary error=1, 'GATE FAIL: a package did not compile', exit 7, no GATE PASS. Non-regression: armed intentionally-failing fixture still RED exit 0; real ledger --expect=green exit 0; ABSENT precedence intact (pattern matching no test -> exit 4).\\n\\nPROCESS NOTE: the acceptance checks were committed FIRST as the spec (a failing test-only commit, landed with no gate bypass because the failing artifact is a shell contract test the Go guards do not run), the implementation came second from a worker that touched exactly one file; the foreman re-ran every acceptance command itself rather than trusting the worker report.", "environment": "Linux; Go 1.26 module; repo with stdlib-only Go packages + bash gate scripts; no third-party deps; GitReins Tier 1 pre-commit guards (secrets/build/vet/test)", "language": "bash", "model": "openrouter/deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash", "problem_class": "bash-test-gate-setup-failure-false-red", "provider": "openrouter", "solved_at": "2026-09-17T18:24:53.673Z", "version": ""}