From 3fac2b8ad1498cca61fbb948e7f5caeef5774886 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Oliver Bristow <evilumbrella+github@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 9 May 2026 12:12:38 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Tighten cross-owner error test expectations

---
 alternative.py      | 10 ++++++++++
 test_alternative.py | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 2 files changed, 39 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/alternative.py b/alternative.py
index 20b749d..bf6969e 100644
--- a/alternative.py
+++ b/alternative.py
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ class MultipleDefaults(AlternativeError):
     """Cannot set the default implementation more than once."""
 
 
+class CrossAlternativesImplementation(AlternativeError):
+    """Cannot add an Implementation object that belongs to a different Alternatives set."""
+
+
 def get_caller_path() -> str | None:
     """
     Return 'module.QualName (file.py:line)' pointing to the line
@@ -158,6 +162,12 @@ def wrapper(
         label = maybe_get_caller_path()
         if not isinstance(implementation, Implementation):
             imp = Implementation(self, implementation, label=label)
+        elif implementation.alternatives is not self:
+            raise CrossAlternativesImplementation(
+                f"Cannot add {implementation!r} to {self.reference!r}; "
+                "it belongs to a different Alternatives set. "
+                "Pass implementation.implementation to clone explicitly."
+            )
         else:
             imp = Implementation(self, implementation.implementation, label=label)
 
diff --git a/test_alternative.py b/test_alternative.py
index 64c2690..8b6a735 100644
--- a/test_alternative.py
+++ b/test_alternative.py
@@ -243,12 +243,39 @@ def f2():
 
     # alt1 comes from a different set of alternatives of f2
     assert isinstance(alt1, alternative.Implementation)
-    assert f2.add(alt1).alternatives is f2
+    with pytest.raises(alternative.CrossAlternativesImplementation):
+        f2.add(alt1)
 
-    # when duplicating an implementation, a new Implementation object is returned
+    # adding an implementation to its own alternatives clones the wrapper
     assert f1.add(alt1) is not alt1
 
 
+def test_cross_owner_add_error():
+    """Adding a cross-owner implementation raises a dedicated explicit error."""
+
+    @alternative.reference
+    def source():
+        return 1
+
+    @source.add
+    def source_alt():
+        return 2
+
+    @alternative.reference
+    def target():
+        return 3
+
+    expected = (
+        r"^Cannot add "
+        r"Implementation\(test_cross_owner_add_error\.<locals>\.source_alt(?:, label='[^']+')?\) "
+        r"to Implementation\(test_cross_owner_add_error\.<locals>\.target(?:, label='[^']+')?\); "
+        r"it belongs to a different Alternatives set\. "
+        r"Pass implementation\.implementation to clone explicitly\.$"
+    )
+    with pytest.raises(alternative.CrossAlternativesImplementation, match=expected):
+        target.add(source_alt)
+
+
 def test_implementation_label_populated_in_debug(monkeypatch):
     """Implementation labels include caller metadata in debug mode."""
     monkeypatch.setattr(alternative, "DEBUG", True)

From 620b06b52d631daa646f994cf3152ae594684d47 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Oliver Bristow <evilumbrella+github@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 9 May 2026 12:16:40 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Remove stale FIXME for cross-owner guard

---
 alternative.py | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/alternative.py b/alternative.py
index bf6969e..0897254 100644
--- a/alternative.py
+++ b/alternative.py
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ def add(
             raise AddTooLate(msg)
 
         if isinstance(implementation, _UNDEFINED):
-            # FIXME: handle when implementation is for a different set of alternatives
+
             def wrapper(
                 implementation: ImplementationSig[P, R],
             ) -> Implementation[P, R]: