[dmccoystephenson]

Summary

Stage B (unit-test expansion) cycle, with the matching README note. main.py already had 100% line coverage, but no test or document described its failure paths outside the two calls already covered (get_environment_by_id, which is guarded, and create_environment, which was characterized in #43). No production code is changed.

New TestUnguardedFailures cases in tests/test_main.py:

• environments.json that is empty or malformed: JSONDecodeError propagates before Viron is contacted, and the file is left as it was.
• environments.json holding valid JSON that is not an object ([]): TypeError propagates, but only after create_environment has run, so a new Viron environment goes unrecorded.
• A cache entry with no environment_id: KeyError propagates, because the lookup sits just above the try, so the Error loading environment path is not taken.
• get_locations_in_environment failing after a creation, with and without --exit-after-create: the exception propagates, the environment stays recorded, and environment-created has already been reported.
• get_locations_in_environment failing after a successful load: the exception propagates and no load error is drawn.

README.md gains a short list under the existing failure paragraphs, including how each state is recovered from where a recovery exists.

Nothing here asserts on window.close(). Pygame is left initialised on every one of these paths, the same asymmetry #42 asks about, and that question remains open.

No tracking issue: the gap was found during triage. The related question is recorded as a comment on #42 instead of a new issue, since one decision covers both.

Test plan

• python3 -m unittest discover -s tests: 165 tests ran, OK (159 before, plus 6 new)
• python3 -m py_compile on every module listed in the CI workflow passes
• python3 headless_run.py: all three scenarios PASS with the real Pygame on SDL's dummy drivers
• Probe with the real Pygame on SDL's dummy drivers, using in-memory Viron services: all seven failure inputs raised the exceptions described above, with pygame.get_init() still True
• Mutation check: main.py was temporarily changed to tolerate a damaged cache file, to move the environment_id lookup inside the try, and to catch both location fetches. All 6 new tests failed (7 failures counting subtests), and restoring the source returned the suite 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. The exceptions from real HTTP failures were not observed; the service source was read to confirm raise_for_status() is called on the location fetch

Deferred issues

• 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 41813543390, which passed at head 8b5bd71, and on a local run of 165 tests, all OK):

• Scope: PASS. Only tests/test_main.py (+77) and README.md (+7) change. main.py is unchanged at the PR head, which was confirmed after the mutation check was undone.
• Tests-new: PASS. No public functions were added. Each newly documented failure has a test.
• Tests-fix: N/A, with a mutation check in its place. No bug is fixed. main.py was temporarily changed to tolerate a damaged cache file, to move the environment_id lookup inside the try, and to catch both location fetches. All 6 new tests then failed, and the suite went green again once the source was restored.
• Sibling structure: PASS. The new class extends MainTestCase, reuses runMain, writeCacheFile, readCacheFile and setFrames, and follows the test_a_failed_<x>_... naming. It sits directly after the creation-failure characterization it extends.
• Sibling renames: N/A. Nothing is renamed.
• Docs: FAIL, then PASS after a fix. The [] bullet at first gave no recovery step, although the other cache bullets did and every further run orphans another Viron environment. This was fixed in 8b5bd71. README.md lines 179 to 183 otherwise match the probe output and the tests. The .bat scripts are unaffected, and the statement that create_environments.bat relies on a non-zero status still holds for these paths.
• Issue resolution: N/A. There is no Closes reference. A failed environment creation leaves the window open and shows no error, unlike a failed load #42 stays open because its decision is still pending, and the extra paths were recorded there as a comment.
• Manual validation: PASS for the unit suite, py_compile, headless_run.py and the real-Pygame probe; UNVERIFIED-not-applicable for the interactive Viron run, since no rendering or service-call code is touched.

Inline notes:

• tests/test_main.py:213: window.close() is deliberately not asserted, so that the asymmetry in A failed environment creation leaves the window open and shows no error, unlike a failed load #42 is not locked in. Pygame being left initialised was observed in the probe and is stated only in the PR and in A failed environment creation leaves the window open and shows no error, unlike a failed load #42, not in the README or the tests.
• tests/test_main.py:245: the [] case is the one path here with a lasting cost outside the process, since an environment is created in Viron and never recorded. It is characterized, not fixed. A fix belongs with the A failed environment creation leaves the window open and shows no error, unlike a failed load #42 decision or a separate cycle.
• README.md:182: the claim that every further run creates another environment follows from the file being left as [] and from env_key in environments being false for an empty list. Only a single run was exercised, in the probe and in the test.

The diff is review-ready. No do-not-auto-merge path is touched, and no file has more than 50 lines deleted.

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