PLN-352: Characterize telemetry-loop-integration.test.ts drift (Class C — not stale)

[peterulsteen]

Drift Characterization: telemetry-loop-integration.test.ts

Commit SHA at time of analysis: 6c8ac24

Classification: Class C — Not Stale

apps/desktop/test/telemetry-loop-integration.test.ts is not stale. All 6 tests pass against current production code without modification. The test correctly exercises the current production spawn and telemetry emission paths.

Correction of PRD Line Number Citations

The PRD cited symphony-loop.ts lines 1733 and 3697–3830 as "production spawn sites." These citations are inaccurate:

• Line 1733: Prompt construction for the claude CLI — not a spawn site.
• Lines 3697–3830: cloneRepoViaGh() / repo resolution logic — not spawn sites.

Actual Production Spawn Sites (symphony-loop.ts)

All spawn calls use Node.js native child_process.spawn() with stdio arrays. No PTY API is involved anywhere in the codebase.

Line	Command	stdio
1836	LLM commit assistant (claudeBinary)	"pipe" (stdout/stderr streamed)
4349	DECOMPOSE pipeline (buildClaudePipeline)	["ignore", logFd, logFd]
4374	EVALUATE_PRD pipeline (buildClaudePipeline)	["ignore", logFd, logFd]
4407	EVALUATE_PLAN / EVALUATE_CODE pipeline (buildClaudePipeline)	["ignore", logFd, logFd]
4446	REQUEST_CHANGES pipeline (buildClaudePipeline)	["ignore", logFd, logFd]
4467	GENERATE_PRD pipeline (buildClaudePipeline)	["ignore", logFd, logFd]
4500	PLAN / EXECUTE — run-loop.sh script	["ignore", logFd, logFd]

All pipeline spawn calls are preceded by getResolvedClaudePath() (from apps/desktop/src/server/shell-path.ts) which the test exercises via setShellPathForTest() + process.env.PATH manipulation.

Actual Telemetry Emission Sites (symphony-loop.ts)

Line	Category	Trigger
2923	job.failed	Child process exits with non-zero code
3339	job.completed	Child process exits 0 (JobStore path)
3409	job.completed	Child process exits 0 (legacy path)
4162	preflight.binary_not_found	getResolvedClaudePath() returns a path that does not exist
4253	preflight.spawn_failed	openSync(logFile, "a") throws (e.g. EISDIR)
4517	preflight.spawn_failed	child.on("error") fires after spawn (e.g. ENOENT)

Why the Test Is Not Stale (Class C Rationale)

1. Binary resolution path: Tests 1–5 place a fake claude binary on PATH and call setShellPathForTest(). This correctly exercises getResolvedClaudePath() (the "path" resolution strategy), which is the same path production uses when no override is configured.

2. Spawn path coverage: Tests 1, 2, and 5 use the DECOMPOSE command which hits the spawn at line 4349. Test 4 (preflight.spawn_failed) uses the PLAN command which reaches the log-file open at line 4253 before spawning. Both paths remain in production.

3. Telemetry category alignment: The test targets all four current telemetry categories (job.failed, job.completed, preflight.binary_not_found, preflight.spawn_failed) which are the exact categories emitted by the current production code. No deprecated or renamed categories are asserted.

4. No PTY references: Zero matches for spawnPtySession, spawnPty, pty.spawn, or node-pty in apps/desktop/src/ or apps/desktop/test/. The original framing of a "PTY migration" does not correspond to anything in the current codebase. All spawn calls use native child_process.spawn() with stdio arrays.

5. Test pass evidence (2026-04-23, commit 6c8ac24):

   • job.failed emitted with correct category/trace/diagnostics on process exit non-zero — PASS (212ms)
   • job.completed emitted with correct category/trace on process exit 0 — PASS (158ms)
   • preflight.binary_not_found emitted when claude is absent from PATH — PASS (12ms)
   • preflight.spawn_failed emitted when log file open fails (EISDIR) — PASS (15ms)
   • commandId and operationId from request headers appear in trace context — PASS (138ms)
   • Observability truncates logTail to TELEMETRY_MAX_FIELD_BYTES via TelemetryService — PASS (<1ms)
   • Total: 6/6 pass, 0 fail, 1622ms

Remediation Approach

Per PRD behavioral details for Class C: "drop the 'stale' label, record the rationale in the PR description, and redirect effort to Feature 2."

No code changes are required. The 'stale' designation is dropped. Effort is redirected to Feature 2 (broader test audit) which can now be correctly scoped given that telemetry-loop-integration.test.ts is confirmed current.

Changes

• docs/artifacts/pln-352-drift-characterization.md: Written characterization artifact documenting drift class, cited production line numbers, and close-out rationale

Test plan

• tsx --test apps/desktop/test/telemetry-loop-integration.test.ts — 6/6 pass
• just desktop-lint — clean
• Grep for spawnPtySession|spawnPty|pty\.spawn|node-pty — 0 matches in apps/desktop/src/ and apps/desktop/test/

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

---

Loop ID: 019dbbca-9718-7510-b62b-f181f46e3558
Artifact: https://app.closedloop.ai/implementation-plans/PLN-352

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