fix(repo): a committed node_modules symlink pointed every clone at one machine

[rubenvdlinde]

development tracks node_modules as a mode-120000 symlink to
/home/rubenlinde/nextcloud-docker-dev/workspace/server/apps-extra/decidesk/node_modules
— one developer's absolute path, on one machine. Anywhere else that is a
dangling link sitting exactly where npm expects a directory.

I put it there. It rode in on git add -A in #452 (3511f0f6, A node_modules),
and it was the only unintended entry in that commit.

WHY .GITIGNORE DID NOT CATCH IT

.gitignore said /node_modules/. A pattern ending in / matches a DIRECTORY
only. The thing added was a SYMLINK, so the rule did not apply to it and it went
straight into the index. Proven both directions on this tree:

with the old pattern: git check-ignore -v node_modules -> no match
with the new pattern: git check-ignore -v node_modules -> .gitignore:19:/node_modules

So the fix is not only to untrack the link but to close the hole: /node_modules
and /website/node_modules lose their trailing slashes, which makes them match a
directory AND a symlink. The comment above them says why, because the next person
to "tidy up" that pattern will want to put the slash back.

This is a foreseeable hazard rather than bad luck: pointing a git worktree at a
sibling checkout's install is the normal way to avoid a second 534 MB
node_modules, and it produces exactly this symlink in a tree where git add -A
will take it.

Untracking it does not delete anyone's local install — the link stays on disk and
is now ignored.

Scope: .gitignore plus removing the tracked entry. No source file is touched, so
no gate and no test can move.

Verification

$ git ls-tree origin/development node_modules
120000 blob 50ebbc49...  node_modules      <- a symlink, tracked

$ git ls-tree <this branch> node_modules
(nothing)

Introduced by me in #452. Reported by no gate — gate-29 (gitignore-then-commit) asks the inverse question (does this change add an ignore rule over already-tracked files), and it is diff-scoped, so nothing was watching this direction.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[rubenvdlinde]

Merging with evidence — the one red check is provably not this change.

quality / E2E Tests (Playwright): fail — identical to the base.

development (012f96b1):  11 failed / 102 passed / 59 skipped
this PR:                 11 failed / 102 passed / 59 skipped

diff of the two failing test-title sets is empty — same 11 tests, and skips held at 59, so nothing was converted into a skip.

This change touches .gitignore and removes a tracked symlink. It contains no source, no test and no manifest edit, so there is no mechanism by which it could move a Playwright result. The one thing worth checking was whether untracking node_modules broke the CI install — it did not: Frontend Build passed, and so did PHPUnit (both PHP versions), Newman, and every lint/quality job.

Every other check on this PR is green, including Hydra Gates.

[github-actions]

Quality Report — ConductionNL/decidesk @ 0005226

Check	PHP	Vue	Security	License	Tests
lint	✅
phpcs	✅
phpmd	✅
psalm	✅
phpstan	✅
phpmetrics	✅
eslint		✅
stylelint		✅
build		✅
check-manifest		✅
test-l10n		✅
composer			✅	✅ 100/100
npm			✅	✅ 548/548
PHPUnit					✅
Newman					✅
Playwright					❌
Hydra gates					✅

---

Quality workflow — 2026-08-11 09:22 UTC

Download the full PDF report from the workflow artifacts.