[dmccoystephenson]

Summary

Stage B (unit-test expansion) cycle. Characterization tests are added for the three error paths in usage_reporting.py that no test reached: coverage showed lines 94, 108–109 and 137–139 unexecuted. No production code is changed.

• test_settings_file_that_is_not_an_object_disables_reporting_without_raising: a settings.json that holds valid JSON but not an object (["usage_reporting"]) makes loadSettings return None and log settings file is not a JSON object. The file is left untouched. This matches the README's statement that such a file "is left untouched, and nothing is reported for that run".
• test_unwritable_settings_file_still_returns_the_defaults_and_warns_once: when the settings file cannot be written (its directory does not exist), the default block is still returned, the first-run notice is followed by a Could not write …; the notice above will be shown again next time. message, and no file is created.
• test_settings_the_client_rejects_disable_reporting_without_raising: when TraceClient raises ValueError, buildClient logs Could not configure usage reporting (…) and returns a disabled client. Two real inputs trigger this: a whitespace-only endpoint, which is truthy and so bypasses the DEFAULT_ENDPOINT fallback, and a TRACE_INSTALL_ID longer than 255 characters. No installation-ID file is created in either case.

Every path is triggered with real input rather than a mock of the code under test.

Test plan

• python3 -m unittest discover -s tests: 159 tests ran, OK (156 before, plus 3 new)
• python3 -m py_compile on every module listed in the CI workflow passes
• Mutation check: changing the isinstance(settings, dict) guard to if False:, and narrowing each of the two except clauses to except KeyError, made all three new tests error (4 subtest-level errors). Restoring the source returned them to green.
• The interactive anchor (python3 main.py 10 --exit-after-create against a live Viron) is UNVERIFIED-not-applicable: no rendering or Viron-service code is touched.

Deferred issues

The tests stand without a tracking issue; the gap was found by coverage during triage. Open issues were not picked for these reasons:

• A failed environment creation leaves the window open and shows no error, unlike a failed load #42: its acceptance criteria require an owner decision on whether a failed creation should mirror a failed load.
• The Viron submodule is pinned before Viron required bearer tokens, so Patchwork cannot reach a current Viron #41: re-pointing the Viron submodule requires explicit authorization.
• Decide whether per-location colours should be stable across frames #24: an open design decision.
• Add text-based UI support to library for users #11 and Support drawing environments with multiple grids #2: too large for one polish-sized cycle.

This PR description was drafted during a Gardener session (https://github.com/Stephenson-Software/gardener).

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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drafted by Claude on behalf of Daniel Stephenson

[dmccoystephenson]

Self-review rubric (anchored on CI run 41176547278, which passed, and on a local run of 159 tests, all OK):

• Scope: PASS. The only file changed is tests/test_usage_reporting.py (+43 lines, no deletions). No production code, formatting or renames are included.
• Tests-new: PASS. No new public functions were added. The three previously unexecuted branches (usage_reporting.py lines 94, 108–109 and 137–139 on main) each now have a test.
• Tests-fix: N/A, with a mutation check in its place. No bug is fixed. As a substitute, the isinstance guard was disabled and each except clause was narrowed to KeyError. All three new tests then errored, and they went green again once the source was restored.
• Sibling structure: PASS. The new tests sit in TestUsageReportingSettings, reuse self.log/self.logged/readSettingsFile(), and follow the existing test_<behaviour>_without_raising naming (compare test_unreadable_settings_file_disables_reporting_without_raising).
• Sibling renames: N/A. Nothing is renamed.
• Docs: PASS. README.md lines 267–269 say a file that "does not hold a JSON object" is left untouched and nothing is reported, which the first test now asserts. The README does not cover the unwritable-file or rejected-settings paths. Since it makes no contrary claim, this is an omission rather than drift, and it is not expanded under a test cycle. The .bat scripts are unaffected.
• Issue resolution: N/A. There is no Closes reference; the gap was found by coverage during triage, as the PR body states.
• Manual validation: PASS for the unit suite; UNVERIFIED-not-applicable for the interactive Viron run, since no rendering or service-call code is touched.

Inline notes:

• tests/test_usage_reporting.py:150: the unwritable case uses a settings path inside a missing directory, not a read-only file. A permission-based setup would not fail when run as root (as both CI and this sandbox run), while a missing parent directory fails for every user. That makes the test deterministic across environments.
• tests/test_usage_reporting.py:163: the blank-endpoint case records a slightly surprising current behaviour. A whitespace-only endpoint is truthy, so it bypasses the DEFAULT_ENDPOINT fallback and disables reporting instead of falling back. This is characterized as-is and not changed. Whether " " should fall back like a missing endpoint is a possible follow-up for the owner, not a defect this PR claims.

The diff is review-ready. No do-not-auto-merge path is touched.

This review comment was drafted during a Gardener session (https://github.com/Stephenson-Software/gardener).

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drafted by Claude on behalf of Daniel Stephenson

[dmccoystephenson]

Correction to the self-review above: the two inline notes cite the wrong lines. The missing-directory setup is at tests/test_usage_reporting.py:163 (not 150), and the blank-endpoint case is at tests/test_usage_reporting.py:176 (not 163). The findings themselves are unchanged.

This comment was drafted during a Gardener session (https://github.com/Stephenson-Software/gardener).

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drafted by Claude on behalf of Daniel Stephenson