Handoff: Resolve the remote BuildTest workspace module-cache preparation timeout

Written 2026-09-27 17:25 UTC. RE-VERIFY: Every state below is a write-time snapshot. Check the BuildTest run with ~/bin/coursier launch buildwatchman:build-watchman:0.0.18 -r https://kotlin.directory -- --run f482c55e, check the PR with gh pr view 1079 --repo CodexCoder21Organization/BuildTestEmbedded --json state,mergeStateStatus,statusCheckRollup,mergedAt,headRefOid, and compare branch heads with git ls-remote. A fresh query wins over this document.

Mission summary

The q08 lane was asked to finish https://github.com/CodexCoder21Organization/BuildTestEmbedded/pull/1079 by running the full BuildTestEmbedded suite remotely, putting the tested source on the PR branch, updating the description with verified evidence, and watching its five checks. Its only remote suite run stopped before test execution because each shard exceeded the shared workspace module-cache preparation deadline. This handoff tracks that blocker; the PR work depends on a full suite that can reach the tests.

What was found and done

The single run used scripts/test.bash --remote --test . --log /tmp/claude-1000/-code/50fdf0b6-d89e-42ff-8356-33fffc39f1da/scratchpad/out/q08-full-suite.xml from source commit dc10f58e645b16e54689f2c088d92bedac11456d. The BuildTest run identifier is f482c55e; it started at 2026-09-27 16:44:03 UTC and ended FAILED at 17:14:30 UTC.
The service reported 2,816 tests total, 0 passed, and 0 failed tests. All ten shards instead failed before test execution with TIMEOUT: Shared workspace module cache preparation exceeded its deadline. Elapsed: 1200000ms; Deadline: 1200000ms.
The requested XML was not created, so there are no <attempt-history> entries. The q08 run log and findings are saved in the artifact branch below. Build logs advanced through 17:09 UTC, while test events had last changed at 16:52:59 UTC; the final run result identifies the same preparation timeout for every shard. This localizes the failed stage but does not explain why preparation did not finish.
No test-level failure was observed, and no same-test main comparison was possible because tests did not start. No second run was started. The lane stopped after the outside wait exceeded 30 minutes, as required by its brief.
The HCF client could not connect because /home/helena/.config/hardware-control-fabric/fabric-client-cert.pem is missing. The CLI reported IllegalArgumentException at CertificateUtils.loadCertificate:43, FabricApiClient.fromFiles:134, and MainKt.main:58. Read-only host log metadata was checked through the SSH fallback; no host changes were made.
The report-challenge CLI was not used because its documented behavior opens, enqueues, and merges a PR, which the q08 task expressly prohibits.

Current understanding: the observed failure is that shared workspace module-cache preparation reaches its 20-minute deadline on every shard. The underlying reason is unknown. Do not attribute it to host load or a product test without new evidence.

Relevant PRs / refs

Repo	Branch	Remote head SHA	PR	What is on it	State at write time
BuildTestEmbedded	`wip/q05-reset-retention-2026-09-27`	`dc10f58e645b16e54689f2c088d92bedac11456d`	no PR for this branch	Projection-retention source carried from q05	q05 targeted checks passed per its findings; q08 full run did not reach tests. It was based on main `8d76d0024`; live main was `1b80be83` when this handoff was written, so rebase before continuing.
BuildTestEmbedded	`wip/q08-projection-retention-2026-09-27`	`dc10f58e645b16e54689f2c088d92bedac11456d`	no PR	q08 source checkpoint	Same source as q05; pushed and verified with `git ls-remote`.
BuildTestEmbedded	`wip/L1-reset-storm`	`ef78fd1212add6e2a288f937c527dde10f2918ed`	https://github.com/CodexCoder21Organization/BuildTestEmbedded/pull/1079	Existing PR head	PR was OPEN with `mergeStateStatus=DIRTY`. Its five failing checks belonged to workflow run `36295206936` on this old head, not to `dc10f58e`. q08 did not push to or edit this PR.
PlanRepository	`wip/q08-remote-suite-findings-2026-09-27`	`16bf6de4c22e30a4c613d3438e6944c2a908f4f1`	no PR	q08 evidence archive	Push verified with `git ls-remote`; it contains the task prompt, q05 findings, q08 findings, remote run log, and unpublished PR-body draft under `handoffs/artifacts/q08/`.

No production deployment or Maven artifact publication was made in q08; this was checked against the actions taken in the lane.

Next steps

Re-verify the PR and all branch heads. Fetch and rebase the source onto the live origin/main; main moved after the q08 suite started.
Diagnose why shared workspace module-cache preparation hit the 20-minute deadline in all ten shards. Use a deterministic reproducer or service-side evidence to identify the responsible layer; do not start another full run until the failed preparation condition has been addressed.
Once preparation is fixed, run one full remote suite from the exact rebased commit and retain the XML log. If tests start and any fail, follow the original brief to classify each actual test failure against the same single test on main and fix only branch-introduced failures.
When the suite gate passes, confirm the PR is still OPEN, push the tested source to wip/L1-reset-storm with --force-with-lease, and update/re-read the PR description. Preserve the original why-first text and q05's fixture before/after details; do not claim that main resets a caught-up reader, since that test passes on current main after https://github.com/CodexCoder21Organization/BuildTestEmbedded/pull/1111.
Use the watch-build skill to watch bld-build and all four bld-test-shard checks on the final head, without --to-merged. Stop at the brief's 60-minute post-push cutoff if they have not completed. Do not merge, enqueue, deploy, or publish anything.

Reusable / operational knowledge

Use ~/bin/coursier; the task documentation says /usr/local/bin/coursier is the wrong-architecture binary.
The q08 artifact branch contains detailed q05/q08 findings and the exact suite output: https://github.com/CodexCoder21Organization/PlanRepository/tree/wip/q08-remote-suite-findings-2026-09-27.
HCF did not work in this environment because the client certificate is absent. The q08 fallback used SSH only to read log sizes, timestamps, and tails.
The lane's specific BuildTestEmbedded rule required the remote full suite; it did not authorize switching this repository's full suite to local execution at the timeout.