#!/usr/bin/env node
'use strict';
/**
* lint-removed-but-needed.cjs — DEFECT.REMOVED-BUT-NEEDED (CONTEXT.md).
*
* ## Why
*
* A file/key gets removed because "no longer used" without verifying every
* consumer (workflows, docs, manifests, npm scripts, tests). #3316: root
* `package-lock.json` was deleted while `package.json` still declares deps
* and workflows still use `cache: 'npm'` + `npm ci` (which require a
* lockfile). e3b52c70: docs referenced a removed `/msd-new-workspace`
* workflow after it was deleted. #3560: a deleted workflow was pinned by an
* existence assertion in `tests/phase.test.cjs` — the lint passed clean and
* the breakage surfaced only as four red tests on the remote runner,
* because `tests/` was not scanned at all.
*
* ## What this checks
*
* For every file deleted (`git diff --name-status ...HEAD`, status
* `D`), grep the post-diff tree for the deleted file's basename:
*
* - `.github/workflows/`, `msd-core/`, `docs/` (excluding `docs/adr/**` and
* `docs/research/**` — see "Historical-record exemption" below),
* `package.json` — ANY surviving reference fails (the original rule).
* - `tests/` — scanned with a discriminator (#3565): a reference that PINS
* existence (`fs.existsSync(path)`, `readFileSync`, `require`, or the
* basename as a quoted object key) fails; a reference that ASSERTS
* ABSENCE (`assert.ok(!content.includes('x.md'))`, `!fs.existsSync(...)`)
* is the correct post-deletion state and passes. The naive widening —
* flagging every mention — was tried in #3560 and reverted: an absence
* assertion must contain the basename to assert the file is gone, so
* without the two kinds separated the guard fires on correct code and
* gets disabled. A mention that is neither a pin nor an absence
* assertion (prose, a path assembled on another line) is not flagged —
* a documented known limit, chosen because a false violation reds a
* correct tree while a missed prose mention only loses one detection
* channel.
*
* `package-lock.json` deletions additionally fail if any workflow still
* uses `npm ci` or `cache: 'npm'`/`cache: "npm"` — those depend on a
* lockfile even though they never spell out its filename.
*
* ## False-positive risk (moderate, per audit)
*
* A common basename (`index.js`, `config.json`) can coincidentally match an
* unrelated file, and this only catches LITERAL string references — not a
* variable holding the filename or a glob that happened to match it.
*
* ## Basename-collision refinement (#3907)
*
* #3907 deleted `bin/lib/ui-safety-gate.cjs` while the SEPARATE, still-live
* `msd-core/bin/lib/ui-safety-gate.cjs` survives — every reference to the
* survivor (including it referencing itself) was misattributed to the
* deletion, 14 false violations on a correct tree. This epic is about
* de-duplicating modules, so "delete one of two files sharing a basename"
* recurs by construction.
*
* The fix is precision, not suppression: for each deleted file, if its
* basename is ALSO the basename of a file that still exists in the
* post-diff tree — `git ls-files` (tracked files) UNIONED with the
* already filesystem-walked corpus/testsCorpus file lists, because
* `git ls-files` alone misses gitignored BUILD ARTIFACTS such as
* `msd-core/bin/lib/*.cjs` (compiled from `.cts`, never committed) —
* matching switches from the bare basename to the deleted file's full
* repo-relative path. Because the deletion is already committed on this
* branch, none of these sources can list the deleted file itself, so any
* hit is necessarily a DIFFERENT file. A genuine
* full-path reference to the deleted file is still caught (strictly more
* precise, not weaker); a bare-basename reference becomes correctly
* unattributable to the deleted file specifically and is no longer
* blamed on it. When no surviving file shares the basename, nothing
* changes — the original basename rule still applies exactly as before.
*
* Residual known limit: a bare-basename reference to a deleted file whose
* basename survives elsewhere is now invisible to this guard (it cannot
* tell whether the bare mention meant the deleted file or its
* basename-twin). Same trade the docstring already makes for prose
* mentions above — a false violation reds a correct tree; a missed
* ambiguous mention only loses one detection channel.
*
* ## Historical-record exemption (#3942)
*
* `docs/adr/**` and `docs/research/**` are excluded from the `docs/` scan.
* An ADR's or a post-mortem's entire job is to record what was retired —
* naming the deleted file IS the point of the document, not a defect — so
* without this exemption a PR could never write the ADR that explains its
* own deletion in the same PR that performs it (it would have to land in a
* follow-up, after the fact, which is backwards for a decision record).
* The exemption is narrow and applies only to these two directories: every
* other document under `docs/` (guides, `TESTING-SUITES.md`, generated
* indexes, etc.) still enforces "ANY surviving reference fails" exactly as
* before. `.github/workflows/`, `msd-core/`, and `package.json` are
* likewise unaffected — none of those are historical-record surfaces.
*/
const fs = require('node:fs');
const path = require('node:path');
const cp = require('node:child_process');
const { ExitError, runMain } = require('./lib/cli-exit.cjs');
const { escapeRegex } = require('../msd-core/bin/lib/pattern.cjs');
const { sanitizeEcho } = require('./command-contract-helpers.cjs');
const ROOT = path.join(__dirname, '..');
const SCAN_ROOTS = ['.github/workflows', 'msd-core', 'docs'];
const EXTRA_FILES = ['package.json'];
const TESTS_ROOT = 'tests';
// Skip these when walking SCAN_ROOTS — binary/generated content that can
// never carry a meaningful basename reference, and is often large.
const SKIP_EXT = new Set(['.png', '.jpg', '.jpeg', '.gif', '.ico', '.woff', '.woff2', '.ttf', '.zip']);
/**
* Pure: does `content` contain a literal reference to `basename`, delimited
* by non-identifier/non-path characters on both sides (so "foo.json" doesn't
* match inside "old-foo.json.bak" style names but does match in a normal
* path/prose context)?
* @param {string} content
* @param {string} basename
* @returns {boolean}
*/
function referencesBasename(content, basename) {
const re = new RegExp(`(^|[^\\w.-])${escapeRegex(basename)}($|[^\\w.-])`);
return re.test(content);
}
/**
* Pure: does `content` contain a literal reference to the FULL
* repo-relative path `relPath` (used instead of {@link referencesBasename}
* when the deleted file's basename collides with a surviving file — #3907)?
*
* Same delimited-match idea as `referencesBasename`, but the left boundary
* additionally excludes `/` — a `/` immediately to the left would mean the
* matched text is really a SUFFIX of a longer path (e.g. content contains
* `msd-core/bin/lib/x.cjs` and `relPath` is `bin/lib/x.cjs`: without this,
* the survivor's own path would be mistaken for a reference to the
* deleted file it merely shares a basename with).
* @param {string} content
* @param {string} relPath - repo-relative path, forward-slash separated
* @returns {boolean}
*/
function referencesPath(content, relPath) {
const re = new RegExp(`(^|[^\\w./-])${escapeRegex(relPath)}($|[^\\w.-])`);
return re.test(content);
}
/**
* Pure: given the post-diff tree's file list (repo-relative paths), build
* the set of basenames that still exist. Used to decide, per deleted file,
* whether basename matching would be ambiguous (#3907).
* @param {string[]} survivingFiles - repo-relative paths of files present
* in the post-diff tree (must NOT include the deleted files themselves)
* @returns {Set}
*/
function buildSurvivingBasenames(survivingFiles) {
const set = new Set();
for (const f of survivingFiles) set.add(path.basename(f));
return set;
}
/**
* Pure: given the deleted file's basename, does content contain a
* lockfile-dependent idiom (`npm ci`, `cache: 'npm'` / `cache: "npm"`)?
* Only meaningful for package-lock.json deletions.
* @param {string} content
* @returns {boolean}
*/
function referencesNpmLockfileDependency(content) {
return /\bnpm ci\b/.test(content) || /cache:\s*['"]npm['"]/.test(content);
}
function walk(dir) {
const out = [];
let entries;
try {
entries = fs.readdirSync(dir, { withFileTypes: true });
} catch {
return out;
}
for (const entry of entries) {
const full = path.join(dir, entry.name);
if (entry.isDirectory()) out.push(...walk(full));
else if (entry.isFile() && !SKIP_EXT.has(path.extname(entry.name))) out.push(full);
}
return out;
}
/**
* Pure: given a list of deleted basenames and a `{ file, content }[]` corpus
* of the post-diff tree, find every surviving reference.
* @param {string[]} deletedFiles - repo-relative deleted paths
* @param {{ file: string, content: string }[]} corpus
* @param {Set} [survivingBasenames] - basenames still present in the
* post-diff tree (#3907); when a deleted file's basename is in this set,
* matching switches from basename to the deleted file's full path
* @returns {{ deletedFile: string, referencedIn: string, reason: string }[]}
*/
function findSurvivingReferences(deletedFiles, corpus, survivingBasenames = new Set()) {
const violations = [];
for (const deletedFile of deletedFiles) {
const basename = path.basename(deletedFile);
const collides = survivingBasenames.has(basename);
for (const { file, content } of corpus) {
const matched = collides ? referencesPath(content, deletedFile) : referencesBasename(content, basename);
if (matched) {
violations.push({
deletedFile,
referencedIn: file,
reason: collides
? `full path '${deletedFile}' still referenced (basename '${basename}' also belongs to a surviving file, so matched by path — #3907)`
: `basename '${basename}' still referenced`,
});
}
}
if (basename === 'package-lock.json') {
for (const { file, content } of corpus) {
if (file.startsWith('.github/workflows') && referencesNpmLockfileDependency(content)) {
violations.push({
deletedFile,
referencedIn: file,
reason: '`npm ci` / `cache: \'npm\'` still present — both require a lockfile',
});
}
}
}
}
return violations;
}
/**
* Pure: classify ONE line of a test file that references `basename`.
* Returns 'asserts-absence' | 'pins-existence' | null.
*
* - asserts-absence: a NEGATED check carrying the basename —
* `assert.ok(!content.includes('x.md'))`, `!fs.existsSync(p)`,
* `!/x\.md/.test(s)`. The basename must appear for the assertion to
* work, so this is the CORRECT post-deletion state (#3560's reverted
* naive widening fired exactly here).
* - pins-existence: a direct dependency on the file existing —
* `fs.existsSync/readFileSync/statSync/readdirSync/require(...)` on the
* same line, or the basename as a quoted object key (`'x.md': ...`,
* the allowlist trap — a key means the test resolves against the file).
* - null: neither (prose mention, path assembled on another line). Not a
* violation — see the header's known-limit note.
*
* @param {string} line
* @param {string} basename
* @param {string} [matchTarget] - text to look for as a quoted object key
* (#3907: the deleted file's full path when its basename collides with a
* surviving file; defaults to `basename`, the original behaviour)
* @returns {'asserts-absence'|'pins-existence'|null}
*/
function classifyTestReference(line, basename, matchTarget = basename) {
const negatedCheck =
/!\s*[A-Za-z_$][\w.$]*\.(includes|indexOf|search|startsWith|endsWith|match)\s*\(/.test(line) ||
/!\s*(fs\.)?(existsSync|statSync)\s*\(/.test(line) ||
// [^/\n]* (not .*) so an adversarial line cannot backtrack the regex
/!\s*\/[^/\n]*\/\s*\.(test|match)\s*\(/.test(line);
if (negatedCheck) return 'asserts-absence';
const pinsByCall =
/\b(existsSync|readFileSync|statSync|readdirSync|require|accessSync)\s*\(/.test(line) ||
/\brequire\s*\(?['"]/.test(line);
if (pinsByCall) return 'pins-existence';
// Template literal needs \\s so the RegExp constructor receives \s — a
// bare \s in a template literal collapses to 's' and silently matches a
// literal 's' instead of whitespace.
if (new RegExp(`['"\`]${escapeRegex(matchTarget)}['"\`]\\s*:`).test(line)) return 'pins-existence';
return null;
}
/**
* Pure: for every deleted basename, scan the tests corpus line by line and
* report each `pins-existence` reference as a violation. `asserts-absence`
* references are explicitly NOT violations; unclassifiable mentions are
* skipped (known limit). Violations are per-reference — one test file
* carrying both an absence assertion and an existence pin reports the pin.
*
* @param {string[]} deletedFiles - repo-relative deleted paths
* @param {{ file: string, content: string }[]} testsCorpus
* @param {Set} [survivingBasenames] - basenames still present in the
* post-diff tree (#3907); when a deleted file's basename is in this set,
* matching switches from basename to the deleted file's full path, same
* refinement as {@link findSurvivingReferences} so the two scanners
* cannot disagree about what "a reference" means
* @returns {{ deletedFile: string, referencedIn: string, reason: string }[]}
*/
function findSurvivingTestReferences(deletedFiles, testsCorpus, survivingBasenames = new Set()) {
const violations = [];
for (const deletedFile of deletedFiles) {
const basename = path.basename(deletedFile);
const collides = survivingBasenames.has(basename);
const matchTarget = collides ? deletedFile : basename;
// The left-boundary class matches referencesPath's when collides
// (excludes '/' so a survivor's own longer path isn't mistaken for a
// reference to the deleted file it merely shares a basename with).
const refRe = collides
? new RegExp(`(^|[^\\w./-])${escapeRegex(matchTarget)}($|[^\\w.-])`)
: new RegExp(`(^|[^\\w.-])${escapeRegex(matchTarget)}($|[^\\w.-])`);
for (const { file, content } of testsCorpus) {
for (const line of content.split(/\r?\n/)) {
if (!refRe.test(line)) continue;
const kind = classifyTestReference(line, basename, matchTarget);
if (kind === 'pins-existence') {
violations.push({
deletedFile,
referencedIn: file,
// control-char-stripped + capped: this text is echoed into lint
// output that AI agents read as trusted instructions
reason: collides
? `pins-existence: test depends on deleted path '${matchTarget}' — ${sanitizeEcho(line.trim())}`
: `pins-existence: test depends on deleted basename '${basename}' — ${sanitizeEcho(line.trim())}`,
});
}
// 'asserts-absence' is correct post-deletion state; null is a
// documented known limit — neither is a violation.
}
}
}
return violations;
}
function getDeletedFiles(root, baseRef) {
// Deliberately let a git failure (unresolvable ref, no merge base, etc.)
// propagate as a plain Error — main() treats ANY scan() failure as "cannot
// resolve this base ref in this environment" and degrades to a skip,
// matching lint-fix-has-regression-tests.cjs. There is no failure mode here
// that should hard-exit non-zero; a real drift is only ever reported once
// the diff succeeds and findSurvivingReferences finds a violation.
const out = cp.execFileSync('git', ['diff', '--name-status', `${baseRef}...HEAD`], {
cwd: root,
encoding: 'utf8',
timeout: 15000,
});
return out
.trim()
.split('\n')
.filter(Boolean)
.filter((line) => line.startsWith('D\t'))
.map((line) => line.slice(2));
}
/**
* All tracked files at the current tree state (the post-diff tree, since
* this scan runs against a branch where the deletion is already committed —
* `git ls-files` therefore CANNOT list a deleted file, so any hit for a
* deleted file's basename is necessarily a different, surviving file).
* Used to build `survivingBasenames` for the #3907 collision refinement.
* @param {string} root
* @returns {string[]} repo-relative paths, forward-slash separated
*/
function getSurvivingFiles(root) {
const out = cp.execFileSync('git', ['ls-files'], {
cwd: root,
encoding: 'utf8',
timeout: 15000,
});
return out
.trim()
.split('\n')
.filter(Boolean)
.map((f) => f.replace(/\\/g, '/'));
}
// #3942: docs/adr/** and docs/research/** are historical records — an ADR's
// or a post-mortem's whole job is to narrate what was retired, so naming a
// file this same PR deletes is the point, not DEFECT.REMOVED-BUT-NEEDED.
// Narrow and explicit: only these two `docs/` subtrees are exempt; every
// other document under `docs/` still enforces the original rule unchanged.
const DOCS_HISTORICAL_RECORD_PREFIXES = ['docs/adr/', 'docs/research/'];
/**
* Pure: is `relFile` (repo-relative, forward-slash separated) inside one of
* the exempt historical-record directories (#3942)?
* @param {string} relFile
* @returns {boolean}
*/
function isDocsHistoricalRecord(relFile) {
return DOCS_HISTORICAL_RECORD_PREFIXES.some((prefix) => relFile.startsWith(prefix));
}
function buildCorpus(root) {
const corpus = [];
for (const rel of SCAN_ROOTS) {
for (const abs of walk(path.join(root, rel))) {
const relFile = path.relative(root, abs).replace(/\\/g, '/');
if (rel === 'docs' && isDocsHistoricalRecord(relFile)) continue;
try {
corpus.push({ file: relFile, content: fs.readFileSync(abs, 'utf8') });
} catch {
// unreadable (broken symlink, binary that slipped past SKIP_EXT) — skip
}
}
}
for (const rel of EXTRA_FILES) {
const abs = path.join(root, rel);
try {
corpus.push({ file: rel, content: fs.readFileSync(abs, 'utf8') });
} catch {
// optional file absent — skip
}
}
return corpus;
}
function scan(root, baseRef) {
const deletedFiles = getDeletedFiles(root, baseRef);
if (deletedFiles.length === 0) return [];
const corpus = buildCorpus(root);
// tests/ arm (#3565): same deletions, discriminated references. A bare
// mention that pins nothing is skipped; an absence assertion is the
// correct post-deletion state; only a pin on a deleted file fails.
const testsCorpus = [];
for (const abs of walk(path.join(root, TESTS_ROOT))) {
try {
testsCorpus.push({
file: path.relative(root, abs).replace(/\\/g, '/'),
content: fs.readFileSync(abs, 'utf8'),
});
} catch {
// unreadable (broken symlink, binary that slipped past SKIP_EXT) — skip
}
}
// #3907: per-deletion basename-collision detection — if a surviving file
// shares the basename, matching switches from basename to full path (see
// the header's "Basename-collision refinement" section) for BOTH arms.
// `git ls-files` alone misses gitignored BUILD ARTIFACTS (e.g.
// msd-core/bin/lib/*.cjs, compiled from .cts and never committed) —
// exactly the #3907 collision partner — so it is unioned with the
// already filesystem-walked corpus/testsCorpus file lists, which do see
// them.
const survivingBasenames = buildSurvivingBasenames([
...getSurvivingFiles(root),
...corpus.map((c) => c.file),
...testsCorpus.map((t) => t.file),
]);
const violations = findSurvivingReferences(deletedFiles, corpus, survivingBasenames);
violations.push(...findSurvivingTestReferences(deletedFiles, testsCorpus, survivingBasenames));
return violations;
}
function main() {
const baseRef = `origin/${process.env.MSD_REMOVED_BUT_NEEDED_BASE || process.env.GITHUB_BASE_REF || 'next'}`;
let violations;
try {
violations = scan(ROOT, baseRef);
} catch (e) {
// origin/ unreachable in this environment (e.g. a shallow local
// clone with no matching remote-tracking ref) — degrade to a skip rather
// than a false failure, matching lint-fix-has-regression-tests.cjs.
console.log(`lint-removed-but-needed: could not resolve ${baseRef}, skipping (${e.message})`);
return;
}
if (violations.length > 0) {
const detail = violations
.map((v) => ` ${v.deletedFile} deleted, but still referenced in ${v.referencedIn}: ${v.reason}`)
.join('\n');
throw new ExitError(
1,
'lint-removed-but-needed: a deleted file is still referenced by a live consumer\n'
+ '(DEFECT.REMOVED-BUT-NEEDED). Either restore the file or update every consumer in the\n'
+ 'same commit — do not paper over with a workaround that loses reproducibility:\n'
+ detail,
);
}
console.log('ok lint-removed-but-needed: no deleted file has a surviving reference');
}
module.exports = {
referencesBasename,
referencesPath,
buildSurvivingBasenames,
referencesNpmLockfileDependency,
findSurvivingReferences,
classifyTestReference,
findSurvivingTestReferences,
getDeletedFiles,
getSurvivingFiles,
buildCorpus,
isDocsHistoricalRecord,
scan,
SCAN_ROOTS,
EXTRA_FILES,
TESTS_ROOT,
DOCS_HISTORICAL_RECORD_PREFIXES,
};
if (require.main === module) runMain(main);