test: resolve the workspace root at runtime (archive-shipped binaries) by eval-exec · Pull Request #401 · eval-exec/neomacs

eval-exec · 2026-09-19T10:13:07Z

Why

cargo nextest archive builds binaries once, then CI runs them on other machines. env!("CARGO_WORKSPACE_DIR") bakes the build machine's absolute path into every binary — and when one archive job landed on a runner pool with home /home/ubuntu instead of /home/runner, every downstream artifact write hit EACCES and wiped out an entire CI run (PR #400's first checks, zero passes, indistinguishable from a code regression).

What

One resolver, three named functions (cargo_workspace_root, nextest_workspace_root, workspace_root) so the fallback order — runtime NEXTEST_WORKSPACE_ROOT first, baked constant only outside nextest — is decided exactly once. Migrated across every archive-shipped crate: neovm-core (28 files), gui-tests (10), melpa, test-fonts, neomacs tests, display-runtime, renderer-wgpu, perf.

Left baking on purpose: include_bytes!/include_str! (no runtime path exists), production runtime-root fallback chains (load/mod.rs, gui_chrome.rs), and parity-reference's manifest lookup (build-tree CLI, never shipped).

Verification

neovm-core/infra/test-fonts/melpa-support subsets: 690/690
GUI harness contracts: green; present contract (Vulkan): green
cargo check --workspace --tests: 0 errors

Binaries shipped through cargo nextest archive run on machines other than the one that compiled them, but the ubiquitous env!("CARGO_WORKSPACE_DIR") bakes the build machine's absolute path into every binary. One archive job landing on a runner pool with a different home (/home/ubuntu vs /home/runner) turned every downstream artifact write into EACCES and wiped out an entire CI run while looking exactly like a code regression. neomacs-infra and neovm-core's test_utils now expose the same three functions: cargo_workspace_root (the baked constant), nextest_workspace_root (the runtime NEXTEST_WORKSPACE_ROOT nextest exports, already adjusted by --workspace-remap), and workspace_root (the resolver call sites use -- runtime value when present, baked constant otherwise, so the fallback order is decided exactly once). The tui harness had already converged on this resolver; the remaining call sites migrate in a follow-up.

…d crates Follow-through on the resolver: every test that runs from a cargo nextest archive now asks for the workspace of the machine it is running on. neovm-core tests call crate::test_utils::workspace_root, the gui/melpa/neomacs/display/renderer suites call neomacs_infra::workspace_root, perf grows the same pub helper, and xtask's tests reuse its own repository_root. Left baking on purpose: include_bytes!/include_str! (bytes embedded at compile time -- no runtime path exists), the production runtime-root candidates in load/mod.rs and gui_chrome.rs (a fallback chain whose compile-time member is genuinely the build machine, correct for a binary that ships with its checkout), and parity-reference's manifest lookup (a CLI run on the build tree, never archive-shipped). Verified: neovm-core/infra/test-fonts/melpa-support subsets (690), gui harness contracts, and the present contract on Vulkan all green.

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Copilot review overview

🟡 Changes recommended

The migration leaves multiple orphaned PathBuf/Path imports (and displaces an #[allow(dead_code)] attribute), introducing new unused_imports warnings against the crate's stated lint policy that should be removed.

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Review effort: Balanced
Findings: 14

Open (14)

Move inserted functions below the use block · New
Remove unused PathBuf import · New
Drop now-unused local PathBuf imports · New
Remove unused PathBuf import · New
Remove unused PathBuf import · New
Remove unused PathBuf import · New
Remove unused PathBuf import · New
Remove unused PathBuf import · New
Remove unused PathBuf import · New
Remove unused PathBuf import · New
Remove unused PathBuf import · New
Narrow Path import after removing PathBuf · New
Remove unused PathBuf import · New
Restore dead_code attribute on run_neovm_eval · New

What changed in this PR

This PR fixes a CI reliability problem: cargo nextest archive builds test binaries once and runs them on other runners, but env!("CARGO_WORKSPACE_DIR") bakes the build machine's absolute path into each binary. When an archive job landed on a runner with a different home (/home/ubuntu vs /home/runner), downstream artifact writes hit EACCES and wiped a full CI run. The fix introduces a runtime workspace-root resolver (NEXTEST_WORKSPACE_ROOT first, baked constant as fallback) and migrates every archive-shipped crate to use it.

Changes:

Adds workspace_root() (plus cargo_workspace_root/nextest_workspace_root helpers) to neomacs-infra, neovm-core::test_utils, neomacs-perf, and neomacs-test-fonts, centralizing the fallback order.
Migrates ~50 test files across neovm-core, gui-tests, perf, renderer-wgpu, display-runtime, melpa, and neomacs from env!("CARGO_WORKSPACE_DIR") to the runtime resolver.
Wires neomacs-infra as a dev-dependency where needed (Cargo.toml + Cargo.lock).

File	Description
`crates/neomacs-infra/src/lib.rs`	New central resolver; functions placed mid-`use`-block (readability nit)
`crates/neovm-core/src/test_utils.rs`	New `workspace_root`/`cargo_workspace_root`/`nextest_workspace_root` helpers
`crates/neovm-core/tests/common/mod.rs`	New `workspace_root`; insertion displaced an `#[allow(dead_code)]` attribute
`crates/neovm-core/src/emacs_core/*/tests/.rs`	Migrated call sites; several now-orphaned `PathBuf` imports
`crates/neomacs/tests/neomacsclient_cli.rs`	Migrated; six local `use std::path::PathBuf;` now unused
`crates/neomacs-perf/src/{lib,*_test}.rs`	New `workspace_root`; `build_provenance_test.rs` `PathBuf` import now unused
`crates/neomacs-gui-tests/tests/*.rs`	Migrated to `neomacs_infra::workspace_root()`
`crates/neomacs-{renderer-wgpu,display-runtime,melpa-tests}/**`	Migrated call sites + dev-dep wiring
`crates/neomacs-{test-fonts,melpa-test-support}/src/lib.rs`	Resolver definitions consolidated
`Cargo.lock`	Adds `neomacs-infra` dev-dependency edges

The core mechanism is sound: CI runs archived tests with --workspace-remap "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE", and nextest exports NEXTEST_WORKSPACE_ROOT at runtime, so the resolver returns the correct live path. The main issue is hygiene: the mechanical migration removed the last PathBuf/Path usage in a number of files, leaving orphaned imports. neovm-core explicitly sets unused_imports = "warn" and the crate has a documented campaign to eliminate such warnings, so these should be cleaned up. They are warnings only (the test build does not use -D warnings), so they won't fail CI.

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 use std::fs;
 use std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt;
+/// The workspace root baked in at compile time.


 #[test]
 fn git_metadata_watch_paths_are_absolute_and_worktree_aware() {
-    let workspace_tmp = PathBuf::from(env!("CARGO_WORKSPACE_DIR")).join("tmp");
+    let workspace_tmp = crate::workspace_root().join("tmp");


    use std::thread;

-    let repo_tmp = PathBuf::from(env!("CARGO_WORKSPACE_DIR")).join("tmp");
+    let repo_tmp = neomacs_infra::workspace_root().join("tmp");



 fn gnu_subr_keymap_eval_all(src: &str) -> Vec<String> {
-    let project_root = PathBuf::from(env!("CARGO_WORKSPACE_DIR"));
+    let project_root = crate::test_utils::workspace_root();


+    let source = fs::read_to_string(crate::test_utils::workspace_root().join("lisp/select.el"))
+        .expect("read select.el");


+    let source = fs::read_to_string(crate::test_utils::workspace_root().join("lisp/ldefs-boot.el"))
+        .expect("read ldefs-boot");


    install_bare_elisp_shims(ev);

-    let project_root = PathBuf::from(env!("CARGO_WORKSPACE_DIR"));
+    let project_root = crate::test_utils::workspace_root();


@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ use crate::heap_types::LispString;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};



 fn gnu_subr_sit_for_eval() -> Context {
-    let project_root = PathBuf::from(env!("CARGO_WORKSPACE_DIR"));
+    let project_root = crate::test_utils::workspace_root();


 #[allow(dead_code)] // grandfathered when dead_code lint was enabled; delete or wire up
+
+/// Runtime workspace root: nextest's NEXTEST_WORKSPACE_ROOT when present,
+/// the compile-time constant otherwise (see neovm-core test_utils).
+pub fn workspace_root() -> std::path::PathBuf {


eval-exec added 2 commits September 19, 2026 05:51

Copilot AI balanced review requested due to automatic review settings September 19, 2026 10:13

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of eval-exec September 19, 2026 10:15 View session

eval-exec merged commit 06338ef into main Sep 19, 2026
22 of 35 checks passed

Copilot AI reviewed Sep 19, 2026

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test: resolve the workspace root at runtime (archive-shipped binaries) - #401

test: resolve the workspace root at runtime (archive-shipped binaries)#401
eval-exec merged 2 commits into
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eval-exec commented Sep 19, 2026

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		let source = fs::read_to_string(crate::test_utils::workspace_root().join("lisp/select.el"))
		.expect("read select.el");

		let source = fs::read_to_string(crate::test_utils::workspace_root().join("lisp/ldefs-boot.el"))
		.expect("read ldefs-boot");

		@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ use crate::heap_types::LispString;
		use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};

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eval-exec commented Sep 19, 2026

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