ci(R-1297 A): heavy suites by path on a branch push, all on a tag and nightly; no second full gate run

- script_tests_gate.py: test_gate_decoys / test_due_checks_gate / dooplex-offsite run on a CI branch push only
  when one of their paths changed (FELHOM_CHANGED_FILES); no list, an empty or unreadable list = every suite
- gates.yml: nightly schedule 03:20 UTC; the list is set only for push:refs/heads/*; a trimmed commits array
  (total_commits > listed) is an unknown list
- test_repo_gates.py and test_due_checks_gate.py group G drive the real runner with GATES narrowed to their
  labels, instead of the whole gate set a second time (130 s each in CI)
- red-proved: filter cases, workflow pins (old gates.yml), inert run_gate, unregistered due-checks

.gitea/workflows/gates.yml

@@ -18,8 +18,13 @@
 name: gates
 # R-1129: `workflow_dispatch` is the manual PROOF that the failure mail can be sent. A push run is
 # unchanged by it: the proof step below is skipped on a push, and `force_alarm` is then empty.
+# R-1297 (A, 2026-10-26): the nightly schedule is the run that still executes the three path-filtered suites when no
+# push touched their files (scripts/script_tests_gate.py PATH_FILTERED). It sets no file list, so every suite runs —
+# like a release tag (a tag push) and a manual dispatch. 03:20 UTC: after the 01:40 release copy and the night chain.
 on:
   push:
+  schedule:
+    - cron: "20 3 * * *"
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       force_alarm:
@@ -149,6 +154,12 @@ jobs:
           if not commits:
               sys.stderr.write("the payload carries no commits array - unknown\n")
               raise SystemExit(0)
+          # R-1297: Gitea trims the payload's commits array (the newest few only); a push of more commits than it
+          # lists has files nobody named here. That list is UNKNOWN, never short - so nothing is printed.
+          total = ev.get("total_commits")
+          if isinstance(total, int) and total > len(commits):
+              sys.stderr.write("the payload lists %d of %d commits - the file list is unknown\n" % (len(commits), total))
+              raise SystemExit(0)
           seen = []
           for c in commits:
               for key in ("added", "modified", "removed"):
@@ -172,6 +183,18 @@ jobs:
           [ "$SCOPE" = "docs" ] || SCOPE=code
           echo "PUSH_SCOPE=$SCOPE" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
           echo "scope: $SCOPE"
+          # R-1297 (A): the heavy suites read this list and skip themselves when none of their paths changed. ONLY a
+          # branch push with a known list sets it; a tag, the nightly schedule and a dispatch run every suite.
+          case "${GITHUB_EVENT_NAME:-}:${GITHUB_REF:-}" in
+            push:refs/heads/*)
+              if [ -s /tmp/pushed-files.txt ]; then
+                echo "FELHOM_CHANGED_FILES=/tmp/pushed-files.txt" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+                echo "suite filter: ON (a branch push with a known file list)"
+              else
+                echo "suite filter: OFF (no usable file list) - every suite runs"
+              fi ;;
+            *) echo "suite filter: OFF (${GITHUB_EVENT_NAME:-?} ${GITHUB_REF:-?}) - every suite runs" ;;
+          esac
 
       - name: Run the gate entry point
         # The ONLY thing CI runs. No go build, no go test, no linting, no deploy — those are either

scripts/script_tests_gate.py

@@ -45,6 +45,51 @@ def timeout_for(rel):
     return SUITE_TIMEOUT_S.get(rel.replace(os.sep, "/"), TIMEOUT_S)
 SKIP_DIRS = {"__pycache__", ".git", "node_modules"}
 
+# R-1297 (A, 2026-10-26): THREE HEAVY SUITES RUN ON A CI PUSH ONLY WHEN ONE OF THEIR OWN PATHS CHANGED. Measured in CI run
+# 2366: the decoy suite 232 s, the due-checks suite 133 s, the DooPlex off-site suite 69 s — of a 13-minute run, on every
+# push, documents included. The decoys test the GATE SCRIPTS (they plant a fixture and expect a conviction), so a push
+# that touches no script cannot change their verdict; the other two test their own scripts only.
+#
+# A RUN WITHOUT A LIST RUNS EVERY SUITE. CI sets FELHOM_CHANGED_FILES only for a branch push whose file list is known
+# (gates.yml); a release tag, the nightly schedule, a manual dispatch and the pre-push hook set nothing, so they run all
+# of them. An unreadable or empty list is unknown, and unknown runs everything (fail-closed). What the filter may cost:
+# a document change that breaks a decoy's FIXTURE (not a gate) is seen by the nightly run, within a day — said here so
+# nobody reads the filter as free. Pinned by scripts/test_script_tests_gate.py (FILTER_CASES).
+CHANGED_ENV = "FELHOM_CHANGED_FILES"
+PATH_FILTERED = {
+    "scripts/test_gate_decoys.py": ("scripts/", ".gitea/", ".githooks/"),
+    "scripts/test_due_checks_gate.py": ("scripts/due_checks_gate.py", "scripts/test_due_checks_gate.py",
+                                        "scripts/repo_gates.py", "scripts/script_tests_gate.py"),
+    "scripts/dooplex-offsite/test_dooplex_offsite.py": ("scripts/dooplex-offsite/",),
+}
+
+
+def changed_paths():
+    """The pushed paths, or None when no usable list exists (then every suite runs)."""
+    p = os.environ.get(CHANGED_ENV, "")
+    if not p:
+        return None
+    try:
+        with open(p, encoding="utf-8") as fh:
+            paths = [l.strip() for l in fh if l.strip()]
+    except OSError as e:
+        print("script-tests: %s=%s unreadable (%s) — every suite runs" % (CHANGED_ENV, p, e))
+        return None
+    if not paths:
+        print("script-tests: %s=%s is empty — every suite runs" % (CHANGED_ENV, p))
+        return None
+    return paths
+
+
+def skip_reason(rel, changed):
+    """Why a suite is skipped on this push, or "" when it runs."""
+    prefixes = PATH_FILTERED.get(rel.replace(os.sep, "/"))
+    if changed is None or not prefixes:
+        return ""
+    if any(c.startswith(pfx) for c in changed for pfx in prefixes):
+        return ""
+    return "none of its paths (%s) changed in this push — it runs on a release tag and nightly" % ", ".join(prefixes)
+
 
 def find_suites(scripts_dir):
     out = []
@@ -66,9 +111,16 @@ def main(argv):
         print("script-tests: FAILED — no test_*.py found under %s/scripts (a gate that checked nothing is not green)" % root)
         return 1
     env = dict(os.environ, **{MARK: "1"})
+    changed = changed_paths()
     failed = []
+    skipped = 0
     for s in suites:
         rel = os.path.relpath(s, root)
+        why = skip_reason(rel, changed)
+        if why:
+            print("  SKIP %-55s %s" % (rel, why))
+            skipped += 1
+            continue
         t0 = time.time()
         limit = timeout_for(rel)
         try:
@@ -86,7 +138,8 @@ def main(argv):
     if failed:
         print("script-tests: FAILED — %d of %d suite(s): %s" % (len(failed), len(suites), ", ".join(failed)))
         return 1
-    print("script-tests: OK — %d suite(s), every one exited 0" % len(suites))
+    print("script-tests: OK — %d suite(s) ran, every one exited 0%s" % (
+        len(suites) - skipped, (", %d skipped by path (R-1297)" % skipped) if skipped else ""))
     return 0
 
 

scripts/test_due_checks_gate.py

@@ -199,9 +199,21 @@ def test_g_gate_is_registered_in_the_runner():
     repo_gates.py's source would also match a commented-out line, which is precisely the
     failure mode being guarded against.
     """
-    p = subprocess.run([sys.executable, RUNNER, "--fast"],
-                       capture_output=True, text=True, cwd=ROOT)
-    out = p.stdout + p.stderr
+    # R-1297 (A, 2026-10-26): the SAME runner (`main`, the real run_gate), its GATES table narrowed to the
+    # entries labelled due-checks — taken from the real table, so a commented-out registration still leaves
+    # nothing to run and every check below fails. It used to run the whole gate set again (~130 s in CI).
+    import io
+    sys.path.insert(0, HERE)
+    import repo_gates
+    saved, real, buf = repo_gates.GATES, sys.stdout, io.StringIO()
+    try:
+        repo_gates.GATES = [g for g in saved if g[0] == "due-checks"]
+        sys.stdout = buf
+        repo_gates.main(["--fast"])
+    finally:
+        sys.stdout = real
+        repo_gates.GATES = saved
+    out = buf.getvalue()
     check("G: runner names the due-checks gate in its output", "due-checks" in out)
     check("G: runner reports a verdict line for it",
           any(l.strip().startswith("due-checks") and ("OK" in l or "FAILED" in l

scripts/test_repo_gates.py

@@ -11,7 +11,15 @@ runner's actual effect.
 
 Red-proofed 2026-08-02: replacing run_gate's body with `return 0` (the inert runner) turns
 test_every_member_gate_actually_ran red while the summary still prints "all felhom.eu gates OK".
+
+R-1297 (A, 2026-10-26): IT TESTS THE WIRING, NOT THE WHOLE GATE SET A SECOND TIME. It used to run `repo_gates.py --fast`
+in full — every gate again, 130 s of every CI run, inside a run that had just executed the same gates. Now it drives the
+SAME runner (`main`, the real `run_gate`, the real scripts) with the GATES table narrowed to the five fingerprinted
+gates — taken FROM the real table by label, so a gate commented out of it fails here as before. That every gate in the
+table runs is the entry point's own run on every push; this test only proves the runner calls what it lists.
+Red-proved again 2026-10-26 with `return 0, ""` as run_gate's body.
 """
+import io
 import os
 import subprocess
 import sys
@@ -34,10 +42,26 @@ class RepoGatesTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
     @classmethod
     def setUpClass(cls):
-        p = subprocess.run([sys.executable, ENTRY, "--fast"], cwd=ROOT,
-                           stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
-        cls.rc = p.returncode
-        cls.out = p.stdout.decode("utf-8", "replace")
+        sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(ROOT, "scripts"))
+        import repo_gates
+        cls.repo_gates = repo_gates
+        labels = [l for l, _f in FINGERPRINTS]
+        cls.picked = [g for g in repo_gates.GATES if g[0] in labels]
+        real, buf = sys.stdout, io.StringIO()
+        saved = repo_gates.GATES
+        try:
+            repo_gates.GATES = cls.picked
+            sys.stdout = buf
+            cls.rc = repo_gates.main(["--fast"])
+        finally:
+            sys.stdout = real
+            repo_gates.GATES = saved
+        cls.out = buf.getvalue()
+
+    def test_every_fingerprinted_gate_is_registered(self):
+        got = sorted(g[0] for g in self.picked)
+        self.assertEqual(got, sorted(l for l, _f in FINGERPRINTS),
+                         "a fingerprinted gate is missing from repo_gates.GATES")
 
     def test_exit_code_is_zero(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.rc, 0, self.out)

scripts/test_script_tests_gate.py

@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ GATE = os.path.join(HERE, "script_tests_gate.py")
 
 COVERS = {
     "script-tests": ("a suite that PRINTS OK and exits 1; a failing suite three levels deep; an empty scripts/ "
-                     "tree; plus the genuine article (must pass) and the nested-run mark (must step aside)"),
+                     "tree; plus the genuine article (must pass) and the nested-run mark (must step aside); R-1297: a "
+                     "failing heavy suite on a push that touched its own path, with no list, an empty or a missing list"),
 }
 
 
@@ -54,8 +55,79 @@ def timeouts_ok():
     return (g.timeout_for("scripts/test_gate_decoys.py") == 600 and g.timeout_for("scripts/test_other.py") == g.TIMEOUT_S == 300)
 
 
+# R-1297 (A): a heavy suite runs on a CI push only when one of ITS paths changed; with no list (a tag, the nightly run,
+# the pre-push hook) or an unreadable or empty list, every suite runs. Each case plants a FAILING heavy suite, so
+# „it ran" is rc 1 and „it was skipped" is rc 0 — the verdict, not a log line, says which happened.
+CHANGED = "FELHOM_CHANGED_FILES"
+
+
+def gate_changed(root, changed):
+    """changed: None (variable unset), "MISSING" (points at no file), or a list of pushed paths."""
+    env = {k: v for k, v in os.environ.items() if k not in ("FELHOM_SCRIPT_TESTS_GATE", CHANGED)}
+    if changed == "MISSING":
+        env[CHANGED] = os.path.join(root, "no-such-list.txt")
+    elif changed is not None:
+        lst = os.path.join(root, "pushed.txt")
+        open(lst, "w").write("".join(f + "\n" for f in changed))
+        env[CHANGED] = lst
+    p = subprocess.run([sys.executable, GATE, root], env=env, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+    return p.returncode, p.stdout.decode("utf-8", "replace")
+
+
+HEAVY = {"test_ok.py": "pass\n", "test_gate_decoys.py": "raise SystemExit(1)\n",
+         "dooplex-offsite/test_dooplex_offsite.py": "raise SystemExit(1)\n",
+         "test_due_checks_gate.py": "raise SystemExit(1)\n"}
+FILTER_CASES = [
+    # (name, files, changed, want rc, text the output must hold)
+    ("filter: no list -> every suite runs", HEAVY, None, 1, "test_gate_decoys.py"),
+    ("filter: docs-only push skips the 3", HEAVY, ["documentation/x.md", "STATUS.md"], 0, "SKIP"),
+    ("filter: a gate script runs decoys", {"test_ok.py": "pass\n", "test_gate_decoys.py": "raise SystemExit(1)\n"},
+     ["scripts/site_gates.py"], 1, "test_gate_decoys.py"),
+    ("filter: the due gate runs its suite", {"test_ok.py": "pass\n", "test_due_checks_gate.py": "raise SystemExit(1)\n"},
+     ["scripts/due_checks_gate.py"], 1, "test_due_checks_gate.py"),
+    ("filter: offsite path runs offsite", {"test_ok.py": "pass\n", "dooplex-offsite/test_dooplex_offsite.py": "raise SystemExit(1)\n"},
+     ["scripts/dooplex-offsite/dooplex-offsite.sh"], 1, "test_dooplex_offsite.py"),
+    ("filter: hub push skips offsite", {"test_ok.py": "pass\n", "dooplex-offsite/test_dooplex_offsite.py": "raise SystemExit(1)\n"},
+     ["hub/internal/web/hosts.go"], 0, "SKIP"),
+    ("filter: empty list -> every suite", HEAVY, [], 1, "test_gate_decoys.py"),
+    ("filter: missing list -> every suite", HEAVY, "MISSING", 1, "test_gate_decoys.py"),
+    ("filter: other suites never skipped", {"test_other.py": "raise SystemExit(1)\n"}, ["documentation/x.md"], 1, "test_other.py"),
+]
+
+
+def workflow_pins():
+    """R-1297: the filter is safe only while the nightly run exists and only a branch push sets the list. Read from the
+    real workflow and hook, so removing the schedule, or setting the list on every event, turns this red."""
+    root = os.path.dirname(HERE)
+    wf = open(os.path.join(root, ".gitea", "workflows", "gates.yml"), encoding="utf-8").read()
+    hook = open(os.path.join(root, ".githooks", "pre-push"), encoding="utf-8").read()
+    problems = []
+    if "schedule:" not in wf or "- cron:" not in wf:
+        problems.append("gates.yml has no nightly schedule — the filtered suites would run only when touched")
+    arm = wf.find("push:refs/heads/*)")
+    sets = [i for i in range(len(wf)) if wf.startswith('FELHOM_CHANGED_FILES=', i)]
+    if not sets or arm < 0 or any(i < arm or i > wf.find(";;", arm) for i in sets):
+        problems.append("gates.yml sets FELHOM_CHANGED_FILES outside the branch-push arm")
+    if "total_commits" not in wf:
+        problems.append("gates.yml does not treat a trimmed commits array as an unknown list")
+    if "FELHOM_CHANGED_FILES" in hook:
+        problems.append("the pre-push hook sets the suite filter — the hook must run every suite")
+    for p in problems:
+        print("FAIL workflow pin: " + p)
+    if not problems:
+        print("ok   workflow pins (nightly run, branch-push-only list, trimmed payload, hook unfiltered)")
+    return not problems
+
+
 def main():
     bad = 0
+    bad += not workflow_pins()
+    for name, files, changed, want, text in FILTER_CASES:
+        got, out = gate_changed(fake_repo(files), changed)
+        ok = got == want and text in out
+        bad += not ok
+        print("%s %-38s want rc=%d got rc=%d%s" % ("ok  " if ok else "FAIL", name, want, got,
+                                                  "" if text in out else " (no %r in output)" % text))
     t_ok = timeouts_ok()
     bad += not t_ok
     print("%s %-32s" % ("ok  " if t_ok else "FAIL", "per-suite time limits (R-1209)"))
@@ -64,7 +136,7 @@ def main():
         ok = got == want
         bad += not ok
         print("%s %-32s want rc=%d got rc=%d" % ("ok  " if ok else "FAIL", name, want, got))
-    print("script-tests decoys: %d/%d" % (len(CASES) - bad, len(CASES)))
+    print("script-tests decoys: %d failed of %d" % (bad, len(CASES) + len(FILTER_CASES) + 1))
     return 1 if bad else 0