From ac5d34f613120754d53425965b8e0e1f52ce9f10 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: jochen <jschoubben@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2026 11:41:41 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Give the unheld log test its own writer and memory, so it
 passes on a repeat (novox/hq issue 486)

logUnheld kept what it had logged in package state and the test swapped os.Stderr, so a second run in one process logged nothing and failed.
---
 cmd/mesh-controller/plan.go               | 35 ++++++++++++++++-------
 cmd/mesh-controller/unheld_report_test.go | 21 +++++++-------
 2 files changed, 36 insertions(+), 20 deletions(-)

diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/plan.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/plan.go
index 2ec829b1..b4811f4e 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/plan.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/plan.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"os"
 	"slices"
 	"sort"
@@ -1691,17 +1692,27 @@ func providerModuleOf(resolved catalogue.Resolution, open *stores, ctx context.C
 	return ""
 }
 
-// unheldLogged is what was last logged about each node's unmet seat dependencies, so the log says
-// each change once (novox/hq ADR 0207), on stderr so `status --json` stays a document.
+// unheldLogger remembers what was last logged about each node's unmet seat dependencies, so the
+// log says each change once (novox/hq ADR 0207), on stderr so `status --json` stays a document.
+// A test gives its own writer and memory, and no longer shares the process's (novox/hq issue 486).
 //
 // **The serving controller's log only.** planFor runs for every node on every push, assignment and
 // status — `blockedElsewhere` alone resolves the whole mesh — and a one-shot command starts with an
 // empty memory, so every node's report was "a change" and a push printed the whole mesh's list,
 // burying the line about the node it acted on. A command says what concerns its own act instead
 // (unheldChange, reportUnheldPushed); the full list is `status`'s.
+type unheldLogger struct {
+	mu     sync.Mutex
+	logged map[string]string
+	out    io.Writer
+}
+
+func newUnheldLogger(out io.Writer) *unheldLogger {
+	return &unheldLogger{logged: map[string]string{}, out: out}
+}
+
 var (
-	unheldLogged     = map[string]string{}
-	unheldLoggedMu   sync.Mutex
+	unheldLog        = newUnheldLogger(os.Stderr)
 	logUnheldChanges bool
 )
 
@@ -1711,23 +1722,27 @@ func logUnheld(node string, unheld []catalogue.Unheld) {
 	if !logUnheldChanges {
 		return
 	}
+	unheldLog.log(node, unheld)
+}
+
+func (l *unheldLogger) log(node string, unheld []catalogue.Unheld) {
 	lines := make([]string, 0, len(unheld))
 	for _, u := range unheld {
 		lines = append(lines, u.String())
 	}
 	now := strings.Join(lines, "\n")
-	unheldLoggedMu.Lock()
-	before, seen := unheldLogged[node]
-	unheldLogged[node] = now
-	unheldLoggedMu.Unlock()
+	l.mu.Lock()
+	defer l.mu.Unlock()
+	before, seen := l.logged[node]
+	l.logged[node] = now
 	if (seen && before == now) || (!seen && now == "") {
 		return
 	}
 	if now == "" {
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s: every seat its modules depend on is held (novox/hq ADR 0207)\n", node)
+		fmt.Fprintf(l.out, "%s: every seat its modules depend on is held (novox/hq ADR 0207)\n", node)
 		return
 	}
-	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s: %d unmet seat dependenc(ies), reported and not refused (novox/hq ADR 0207):\n  %s\n",
+	fmt.Fprintf(l.out, "%s: %d unmet seat dependenc(ies), reported and not refused (novox/hq ADR 0207):\n  %s\n",
 		node, len(lines), strings.Join(lines, "\n  "))
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/unheld_report_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/unheld_report_test.go
index 1339eda3..9430d671 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/unheld_report_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/unheld_report_test.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -81,28 +80,30 @@ func TestAPushSaysANamedNodesDependenciesAndCountsTheRest(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// The test gives logUnheld its own writer and memory, so a repeat in one process and the
+// package's other tests see neither the last run's memory nor a swapped os.Stderr (novox/hq issue 486).
 func TestOnlyTheServingControllerLogsEachChange(t *testing.T) {
+	var out bytes.Buffer
+	saved, savedOn := unheldLog, logUnheldChanges
+	unheldLog, logUnheldChanges = newUnheldLogger(&out), false
+	t.Cleanup(func() { unheldLog, logUnheldChanges = saved, savedOn })
 	read := func(f func()) string {
-		old := os.Stderr
-		r, w, _ := os.Pipe()
-		os.Stderr = w
+		out.Reset()
 		f()
-		_ = w.Close()
-		os.Stderr = old
-		var b bytes.Buffer
-		_, _ = b.ReadFrom(r)
-		return b.String()
+		return out.String()
 	}
 	u := []catalogue.Unheld{{Node: "n1", Module: "web", Seat: catalogue.ContainerRuntimeSeat}}
 	if got := read(func() { logUnheld("n1", u) }); got != "" {
 		t.Errorf("a command logged:\n%s", got)
 	}
 	logUnheldChanges = true
-	defer func() { logUnheldChanges = false }()
 	if got := read(func() { logUnheld("n1", u) }); !strings.Contains(got, "web on n1") {
 		t.Errorf("the serving controller did not log a change:\n%s", got)
 	}
 	if got := read(func() { logUnheld("n1", u) }); got != "" {
 		t.Errorf("an unchanged report was logged again:\n%s", got)
 	}
+	if got := read(func() { logUnheld("n1", nil) }); !strings.Contains(got, "every seat its modules depend on is held") {
+		t.Errorf("a report that became none was not logged:\n%s", got)
+	}
 }