# Testing REA

Use this guide when choosing coverage, pruning tests, or running a verification
lane. Start with the commands below; use [real-toolchain lanes](#real-toolchain-verification-lanes)
for engine prerequisites and [client verification](client-verification.md) for
installed-client and agent runs.

## Developer commands

Use source feedback while editing, explicit boundary checks for the changed
behavior, and complete CI evidence before merging.

| Command                           | Scope                                                                                                                   |
| --------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `npm run test:local`              | Dirty source tests via the import graph, without build; explicit source paths run regardless of Git status              |
| `npm run test:focused -- PATH...` | Exact existing test files; compiled boundaries build first, and unmatched paths fail                                    |
| `npm run test:changed`            | Source tests affected since the merge base with `origin/main`, including committed and dirty changes                    |
| `npm run test:fast`               | All domain, service, adapter, composition, conformance, and evaluation tests without build                              |
| `npm run test:boundary`           | Boundary, CLI boundary, MCP boundary, process boundary, and process-global projects                                     |
| `npm run test:mcp`                | MCP boundary project                                                                                                    |
| `npm run test:acceptance`         | Complete compiled CLI and MCP acceptance workflows                                                                      |
| `npm run test:python`             | LLDB producer retention and launch contracts with a fake LLDB API; no native debugger required                          |
| `npm run test:watch`              | Dirty source tests in watch mode, without build                                                                         |
| `npm run test:watch:all`          | Changed tests from every project; builds at startup, so rebuild after production edits before relying on compiled tests |
| `npm run check:changed`           | Cached typecheck/lint and branch-related source feedback                                                                |
| `npm run check:pr`                | Opt-in complete local deterministic gate and generated-file checks                                                      |
| `npm run docs:check`              | Generated-document validation and fresh onboarding example consistency checks                                           |

For example:

```bash
npm run test:local -- src/config.test.ts
npm run test:focused -- tests/acceptance/applications/runtime.test.ts
npm run test:changed -- --base origin/main
npm run test:changed -- --dry-run
```

`test:focused` accepts exact repository-relative test file paths. Source-only
paths do not build; boundary, acceptance, process-global, or unfamiliar `tests/`
paths build conservatively. Tests use Vitest concurrency and isolated
workspaces; commands do not hold a broad test lock. Build and documentation
writers retain checkout-local locks for their shared output files. Explicit
selections do not use `--changed` or permit zero-test success.
The dry-run option reports the chosen merge base, scope and build prerequisite
without executing tests or building. A missing Git base reports how to fetch
it or select another revision.

Source typechecking needs no compiled runtime or generated test metadata.
`npm run build:cached` compiles the CLI/MCP runtime and its packaged skill.
Turbo's strict task environment preserves caller-selected `GOMAXPROCS`,
`GOMEMLIMIT`, and `UV_THREADPOOL_SIZE` for resource-constrained builds and
checks. These execution controls do not change artifact content, so changing
their values retains cache reuse. They control individual runtimes; monitor
the complete process family separately when enforcing a total memory budget.
`npm run test:prepare` also generates the MCP contract test catalog, product
catalog, and portable managed evidence used by the complete suite. Focused
tests prepare those extra outputs only when their selected files consume them.
The MCP test catalog is JSON in `.cache/mcp-tool-catalog.json`; the tracked
test loader supplies its types without making generation a source-check
prerequisite. Run `npm run mcp-catalog:generate` to refresh it independently.
Documentation generation and managed conformance run through their separate
`docs:generate` and `evidence:generate` task graphs.

Changed selection can miss runtime registration, generated data, shell
entrypoints, bridges, or other relationships absent from the import graph.
An empty changed selection means no tests were selected, not verified
correctness. Select relevant boundary files and real-provider lanes explicitly.
Source projects also contain large capacity regressions; `test:fast` promises
no compiled-runtime prerequisite, not a fixed time budget.

`npm run lint` prints errors and a warning summary; `npm run jscpd` prints
duplication statistics. Complete reports remain in `.cache/static-checks/` and
CI uploads them as `static-check-reports`, including after a failed static gate.
Use `npm run lint:details` or `npm run jscpd:details` for all console diagnostics.
Both duplicate commands scan production and test code with the same 3% limit;
the summary commands preserve checker failures and restore reports from cached
static tasks. Both lint caches include the website, documentation configuration,
and experiment code scanned by the checker; a regression compares the actual
lint inventory with Turbo's resolved inputs.

Routine iterations and rebases need focused regressions and relevant checks.
Before handing off a PR, run `npm run check` and generated-document checks when
applicable; CI owns the full suite and coverage. Use the full local gate for
broad changes or diagnosing CI, rather than after every edit. Package/install
changes additionally need package verification; provider changes need actual
provider evidence.

Vitest projects use up to two workers, bounded by host parallelism.
`process-boundary` runs later with serial files because process-tree sampling
shares host resources. Acceptance and process-global cases use isolated forks
without serial scheduling. Pure domain/service, composition, conformance,
evaluation, CLI boundary, and MCP boundary projects share module graphs. Their
tests avoid process-global state and keep resource cleanup test-scoped. Each
MCP session still owns its resources, and CLI cases retain fresh command
instances or subprocesses. CLI module mocks belong in `tests/process-global/`
so they keep per-file isolation. Product catalog verification stays with the
isolated filesystem boundary tests because it loads both source and compiled
module graphs. Adapter, other boundary, acceptance, and process-global projects
retain per-file isolation. See `vitest.config.ts` for current settings.

The reused CLI boundary workers cap V8 old space at 384 MiB, based on their
profiled allocation and cleanup behavior. This encourages collection between
files; spawned REA processes retain their own heap settings.

Vitest worker limits do not bound subprocesses launched within a test. Bound
those batches separately so repeated CLI validation cannot oversubscribe the
runner. Preserve simultaneous launches where concurrency is itself under test.

Build/documentation writers hold checkout-local output locks. Tests do not
hold a broad command lock; `check:pr` finishes tests before document validation.
Turbo caches deterministic preparation and static checks, but `test:run` always
executes. Repository files do not fully describe installed tool contents or host
state. A previous test pass therefore cannot replace current validation, even
when the source tree is unchanged. `check:pr` also runs the fast Python producer
suite; CI runs it in the static job for code changes. These producer tests do not
establish real LLDB engine coverage.

Vitest's persistent compile cache remains disabled. The `cliTest` fixture shares
a temporary Node compile cache among its fresh CLI subprocesses. The worker
removes it after test-scoped processes finish. Explicit child environment
settings take precedence; children requesting `NODE_V8_COVERAGE` do not receive
the fixture cache. These subprocesses are outside aggregate Vitest coverage;
subprocess coverage attachment remains disabled. Cold-start import checks launch
independently without this fixture cache.

The Apple artifact verifier step shares a job-temporary bytecode cache among
its fresh CLI/MCP children via `REA_ARTIFACT_NODE_COMPILE_CACHE`. The artifact
helper maps this setting to child `NODE_COMPILE_CACHE`; npm, Turbo, and nested
Vitest runs do not inherit that setting. Explicit `NODE_COMPILE_CACHE` takes
precedence, and coverage collection or `NODE_DISABLE_COMPILE_CACHE=1` disables
the helper's cache. The cache is discarded with the CI job.

To evaluate persistent compile caching for repeated local runs, opt in for both
cold and warm measurements with an isolated cache:

```bash
NODE_COMPILE_CACHE=.cache/node-compile npm test
```

Do not report the warm result as a cold-suite improvement, and do not enable
the cache in coverage or benchmark CI without first showing that its
instrumentation remains equivalent.

## Choose verification for the change

| Change or claim                           | First check                                                   | Additional coverage                                         |
| ----------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Source semantics                          | `npm run test:local -- PATH...`                               | Relevant boundary cases when the behavior crosses a port    |
| CLI/MCP workflow                          | `npm run test:focused -- PATH...`                             | Actual public calls; an injected provider has limited scope |
| Documentation or generated metadata       | `npm run docs:check`                                          | `npm run docs:build` for rendered pages and links           |
| Engine adapter                            | Its real-provider lane below                                  | Host, version, target identity, and owned cleanup           |
| Client configuration or schema conversion | [Native client lane](client-verification.md)                  | Distinguish loopback models from live services              |
| Agent investigation quality               | [Agent evaluation](#agent-evaluation-and-conformance-records) | Review transcript and scenario-specific evidence            |

## Test design and pruning

Prefer real public CLI/MCP workflows, then production-boundary integration,
then goldens captured from real producers. Keep module tests for distinct
failures or semantics that stronger workflows cannot reliably reproduce.
Paths, compiled imports, and suite names do not establish test depth.

Prune tests that mirror implementation details or duplicate a stronger claim.
Before deleting a distinct regression, identify the replacement scenario and
assertions. Preserve malformed formats, cancellation, cleanup, permissions,
capacity, target identity, and combinations with distinct interactions.
Trivial helper assertions need no replacement. Remove abandoned production
scaffolding only after checking runtime and verifier consumers, including
compiled imports.

Use representative scenarios rather than Cartesian matrices of equivalent
cases. Share setup without hiding inputs or expected evidence. For successful
`Result` values, throw the typed error before asserting the value; a preceding
`.ok` assertion adds no coverage. Protocol fixtures must reject unmodeled
commands and preserve actual producer reply shapes.

Stateless source-analysis matrices may share a file-owned stdio MCP connection
and retain representative compiled CLI parity checks. Every distinct source
scenario still runs through the public workflow; session-lifecycle scenarios
need their own sessions and cleanup assertions.

Report unavailable authority as a named skip. Await owned cleanup before a
verifier reports success. Native process inspectors are released at Vitest
worker teardown; fork termination does not run Node exit hooks, and per-file
teardown would retire inspectors still needed by other files.

Measure slow cases before pruning capacity coverage. Retain inputs beyond the
formerly failing size/depth and distinguish cold runs, warm builds, coverage,
and toolchain conditions when comparing timings.

## Behavioral depths

| Depth        | Location                | What it proves                                                                                        |
| ------------ | ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Module       | `src/**/*.test.ts`      | One domain, service, or adapter through its narrow public surface                                     |
| Composition  | `tests/composition/**`  | Provider-neutral session and registry wiring; filesystem access is limited to fixture materialization |
| Boundary     | `tests/boundary/**`     | Exactly one production filesystem, process, network, browser, CLI, or provider boundary               |
| MCP boundary | `tests/boundary/mcp/**` | MCP transport and tool-contract boundaries with isolated sessions and explicit cleanup                |
| Acceptance   | `tests/acceptance/**`   | A compiled CLI or MCP journey; injected providers still make it integration                           |
| Conformance  | `tests/conformance/**`  | Shared provider contracts, parameterized by declared capabilities and explicit opt-outs               |
| Evaluation   | `tests/evaluation/**`   | Deterministic evaluator parsing, scoring, and report generation                                       |

Colocated domain tests may import only their owning domain and inward
dependencies. They do not construct sessions or servers and do not start
subprocesses or network listeners. Colocated application tests exercise one
service through explicit ports and recording adapters, never a CLI or MCP
entrypoint. Composition tests may assemble provider-neutral sessions and
registries but do not cross production filesystem, process, socket, or browser boundaries.
Boundary tests cross one production boundary. Only acceptance tests assemble
the complete runtime or invoke the compiled product surface.

Focused immutable builders and recording ports shared by one test family live
beside their production owner as `src/**/*.fixture.ts`. They are typechecked
with the suite and excluded from package builds; broader runtime and provider
fixtures remain under `tests/fixtures/**`.

`tests/process-global/**` is reserved for cases with a demonstrated dependency
on process-global state. Those tests use isolated forks so environment and
exit-status changes cannot leak between files. Serialize a case only when it
demonstrably shares an external resource that cannot be isolated. Reusable,
test-scoped fixtures live under `tests/support/**`; immutable source artifacts
remain under `tests/fixtures/**`.
The process-global Vitest configuration contract rejects new direct temporary-root
creation outside the workspace seam and its narrowly documented boundary/package
exceptions.

Real Hopper, Ghidra, IDA, browser, package, and managed-code claims belong to their
explicit `npm run verify:*` lanes. The reconstruction-readiness lane also
checks deterministic rerun, tamper, and stale-input handling; those checks do
not execute extracted JavaScript modules. When application runtime behavior is
needed, exercise the actual target through browser, Electron, or process
capture. Real model trials are manual; Vitest covers deterministic evaluator
logic.

`verify:managed` runs the portable PE byte-fixture conformance entrypoint under
`scripts/verify/managed/`, with its byte builder under
`scripts/fixtures/managed/`. It checks static classification, members,
reconstruction, native-boundary relationships and application graphs without
executing fixture PE files. Operator-local manifests and actual ILSpy oracles
remain optional, separately reported checks; the real Ghidra NativeAOT lane has
its own toolchain prerequisites. See [the managed guide](managed-code-analysis.md)
for those configurations. Generated completion-ledger checks use the same owning
entrypoint and include its verifier/fixture files in their cache inputs.

## End-to-end, integration and golden evidence

Prefer the public CLI or MCP workflow when it can observe the required behavior.
Use production-boundary integration for contracts the complete workflow cannot
reliably exercise, and producer goldens for format-specific facts. An acceptance
case with an injected provider verifies that integration boundary; it does not
establish real-provider behavior.

For installed-client versions, executable selectors, disposable profiles, model
fixtures, and detailed receipts, see [client verification](client-verification.md#end-to-end-integration-and-golden-evidence).
Use [real-toolchain lanes](#real-toolchain-verification-lanes) for engines and
[agent evaluation](#agent-evaluation-and-conformance-records) for investigation
quality. Report unavailable tools or authority explicitly and verify owned
cleanup before claiming success.

## Coverage and timing

CI owns coverage; aggregate and domain/contract thresholds are maintained in
`vitest.config.ts`. They are glob-specific and never updated automatically.
Coverage does not replace named boundary or real-provider scenarios.

CI runs six native Vitest shards without retries. Each shard emits a blob
report; the merge job produces aggregate coverage plus JUnit and JSON timing
reports even when a shard fails, uploads available diagnostics, and writes the
slowest files to the workflow summary. Partial reports are marked diagnostic
only. Failed, cancelled, or missing selected shards still fail the required gate,
and aggregate coverage thresholds remain enforced by the merge command.
Only successful complete merges publish the small `test-timings` artifact, with
checkout-relative paths; the build job downloads that artifact for the sequencer
instead of the coverage/JUnit bundle. Missing history falls back to native
sharding. Static checks, documentation, build, package verification, and
real-system lanes remain separate jobs so one kind of evidence cannot stand in
for another.

The build job saves portable Turbo outputs across runs. Eight Linux real-system
lanes restore this cache without waiting for the build job. The shared action
derives its key from `test:prepare --dry=json` task hashes, runner OS and
architecture, `.npmrc`, `.nvmrc`, and the lockfile; test-only changes can reuse compiled outputs. Every
build and verification command still runs, so Turbo checks task inputs and
rebuilds misses. A restore prefix with the same platform and toolchain permits
partial task reuse when one generator's inputs change; Turbo still invalidates
that generator's entry. Native outputs are not stored in this cache.

Native package jobs, the Windows curated lane, and the Apple artifact lane reuse
the same workflow's Turbo cache for portable compiled JavaScript, skills, and
catalogs. The Windows lane relies on the Linux static job for typechecking. They retain the normal build and prepack
commands, which restore matching outputs or rebuild on a cache miss. Native
artifacts, dependency installs, package archives, and runtime verification remain
host-local. Keep platform-dependent outputs out of this shared cache.

Record cold and warm preparation separately from fresh test execution when
benchmarking the optional `npm run check:pr` gate. Compare multiple runs on the
same host, including subprocess and queue costs; a cached pass is not a test
runtime measurement. A PR that touches packaging or real-system
behavior requires the applicable `verify:*` lanes; packaging and installation
changes also require `npm run verify:package`. The full-gate benchmark measures
that explicit lane, not the routine iteration requirement.

## Real-toolchain verification lanes

Each real-toolchain command must require only the host tools needed to prove
its stated claim. Use a host-native fixture for host/provider acceptance, and
place optional cross-target formats or platform-specific runners in separate
commands. Check prerequisites before starting expensive work and name the
missing command, target, and lane in any failure message. A lane must not imply
that a host or target is covered when it was skipped.

Provider admission accepts Ghidra 12.1.x and the JDK range declared by that
installation (`application.java.min` through `application.java.max`). Current
12.1 releases require JDK 21 or newer and set no maximum. The lanes below still
prove behavior on the verified Ghidra 12.1.4 and JDK 21 build.

| Ghidra lane                                | Supported runner/target                                                                         | Additional local tools                                              |
| ------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `npm run verify:ghidra`                    | Linux x64/arm64 ELF or macOS x64/arm64 Mach-O                                                   | Host C compiler, Ghidra 12.1.4, and full JDK 21                     |
| `npm run verify:ghidra:seeds`              | POSIX; raw x86 fixture; seed ordering, BSS labels, analyzer readback and unknown-name rejection | Ghidra 12.1.4 and full JDK 21                                       |
| `npm run verify:ghidra:swift`              | macOS x64/arm64 Mach-O                                                                          | Host Swift compiler, Ghidra 12.1.4, and full JDK 21                 |
| `npm run verify:ghidra:riscv`              | Linux/macOS x64/arm64 host; source-owned RV32/RV64 ELF through CLI and MCP                      | RISC-V Clang, LLD, LLVM readelf, Ghidra 12.1.4, and full JDK 21     |
| `npm run verify:ghidra:switch`             | Linux x64 ELF; GCC/Clang optimized and stripped switch fixtures                                 | GCC, Clang, GNU nm/objdump/strip, Ghidra 12.1.4, and full JDK 21    |
| `npm run verify:ghidra:aarch64-jump-table` | Any supported Ghidra host; AArch64 ELF; signed/unsigned byte/halfword tables; host ARM64 Mach-O | Clang with AArch64 target support, Ghidra 12.1.4, and full JDK 21   |
| `npm run verify:ghidra:cross-format`       | Any supported Ghidra host; also analyzes AArch64 ELF, x86-64 PE, and x86-64 Mach-O              | `clang`, LLD, and `lld-link` in addition to host-lane prerequisites |
| `npm run verify:ghidra:windows`            | Controlled Windows x64 with native x86-64 PE; `-- --x86` selects native x86 PE                  | Ghidra 12.1.4, full JDK 21, and the matching native artifact        |

The optional Swift lane compiles a source-owned fixture and checks modern and
provider-demangled procedure names through real stdio MCP, with and without the
dSYM companion. It checks unfiltered, structs, and literal-name filters,
same-address alias evidence, deduplication, and explicit unresolved categories.
It does not add a Swift prerequisite to the host C fixture lane.

The host lane also verifies namespaced C++ ABI symbols and annotation identity.
That facet requires Ghidra's matching `demangler_gnu_v2_41` native component in
`GPL/DemanglerGnu/os/<platform>/` or `build/os/<platform>/`, in addition to the
native decompiler. The namespace verifier reports missing or non-executable
components before testing the fixture. REA does not build or install them.

Windows native conformance runs with `npm run verify:windows-native` and does
not require Ghidra or Java. It includes Job Object commit-limit controls (a
limited child that reaches the limit, a control that does not, and invalid
limit rejection). An optional independently compiled Windows fixture
adds in-place reparse, breakaway, environment, and token observations.
The separate `scripts/verify-windows-native-inspection.mjs` lane uses the
`.cache/windows-native-inspection-fixture` artifact built on Linux with
`node scripts/build-windows-native.mjs --inspection-fixture`. Its controlled
first deletion failure checks retained NTFS ownership, later-query recovery,
successful-admission caching, and environment-teardown cleanup. It neither
establishes the cause of the intermittent #1701 host failure nor replaces
verification with the shipped production artifact.
`npm run verify:ghidra:windows:package` additionally packs and installs REA into
an isolated prefix and runs ordinary-user CLI/MCP operations against their
canonical schemas. Run the controlled fixture generator before that lane, or
supply an installed package root and an explicit fixture as arguments.
The host-native Ghidra lane also verifies native value tracing through the
production CLI and a separate stdio MCP process. It compares complete dependency
graphs, validates Evidence and upstream/workflow profiles, checks capability
discovery, and closes the MCP session. No provider or transport is mocked.
It also validates every advertised input/output JSON Schema and the exercised
MCP outputs, probes address spelling and name/address ambiguity, and checks
direct versus targetless calls, byte-read completeness, invalid input diagnostics,
CLI/MCP parity, atomic annotation rollback, refreshed inventories, unchanged
executable bytes, and discarded edits after reopen. A deliberately long temporary
path exercises private Unix socket allocation and cleanup, including cancellation
after a real headless process launches. Native annotation probes reject NUL and
unpaired Unicode surrogates without partial edits or a broken bridge, preserve
supported Unicode and control text, and check lossless malformed-text diagnostics.
Memory-to-file mapping is checked against original artifact bytes.
The fixture also stores a pointer one byte past a function entry; exact
xrefs, raw procedure references, and CLI/MCP dossiers must retain that data edge.
A valid legacy snapshot reconstructs the former omitted edge under its older
profile; CLI and MCP must reject that binding with a mismatch reason and
recovery advice. The rejected open must preserve the active live session.
Exact external entries must resolve while retaining an empty body; unknown
external addresses remain unresolved and external annotations are rejected.
An adversarial regex over a full 12 KB literal must report stack exhaustion as
a resource constraint, preserve live annotations, and allow complete literal
searches afterward; CLI and MCP must agree on both results and recovery advice.
Real snapshot lifecycle checks retain edited API results as Evidence while
rejecting immutable snapshot saves and imports before and after a repeated
open of the same target. They verify unchanged live annotations and run identity,
absent rejected output files, an unchanged source snapshot, and successful
snapshot import/save after closing and recreating the database. The pristine
snapshot is written by an independent real CLI session.
They also start a real annotation and snapshot close concurrently: the edit
must succeed, the snapshot must be rejected without creating a file, and the
edited session must remain usable until explicitly closed.
Source-admission probes change a caller-owned fixture after `open_binary` but
before the first Ghidra query. They require an actionable `artifact_changed`
error preserving both digests and the selected path, unchanged provider
availability, failed-copy cleanup, and successful recovery after reopening.
After import, deleting that source must preserve the captured database identity.
Instruction inspection and containing-function lookup also agree across
hexadecimal case, leading zeros, and encoded default address-space spellings.
The same source-acquisition workflow exercises missing and directory-replaced
inputs, plus real read-permission denial on a non-root host. Root runs report
that permission-denial check as unverified. Filesystem integration separately checks selected-platform routing and exclusive creation.
Namespace annotation probes compile a separate host C fixture with C++ ABI
symbols, avoiding a C++ runtime prerequisite. Real Ghidra demangling supplies
duplicate leaf names in two top-level namespaces and a nested namespace. The
workflow verifies leaf and qualified renames, repeated reuse of fully qualified
readback, lookup by the returned name, literal namespace-like leaf names,
rejection of empty qualified leaf names without changing comments, CLI
behavior, and independent CLI/MCP database ownership.
Large-result probes compile initialized host-native data sized from the pinned
MCP SDK receive budget. Real byte reads, annotation edits and function dossiers
exceed that budget while preserving the connection and active analysis run.
Successful-result and oversized-error delivery constraints must identify their
successfully retained Evidence records;
export must recover every source byte, complete annotation and original error
diagnostic, with CLI parity
and an unchanged executable. Formatter integration separately checks unacknowledged Evidence recording.
Long ordinary procedure names and encoded address-space selectors must produce
normal validation errors without exhausting Java's regex stack or losing the
private bridge connection. Each rejection is followed by a real provider lookup;
address-like literal names still resolve exactly after annotation.
Malformed annotation readback, memory completeness, and inventory data remain separate
SDK/provider integration cases; success from a real
provider cannot establish rejection of a contradictory provider response.

The Linux switch lane checks dense, sparse-with-holes, shared-body, nonzero,
negative, and nonexact JSON integer labels plus a comparison-only control.
Independent source labels, ELF file bytes, table slots, and bounds branches
define expected case/default destinations. Production CLI and MCP must agree;
debug labels must retain their signed values. For stripped negative fixtures,
the independently checked 32-bit dispatch permits equivalent unsigned labels
only alongside the reported low-confidence `undefined4` parameter; original
source signedness remains unknown and the ABI residual must remain visible.
unsafe labels remain unresolved and every recovered destination is retained.
The compiler oracle also injects malformed records to check that its assertions
reject missing/default-confused labels, wrong destinations, and numeric guesses.
It also invokes the actual bridge methods on detached Ghidra model objects to
check ambiguous dispatches, signed literals, precision bounds, shared targets,
and conflicting labels. This reflection fixture depends on the pinned Ghidra
model and does not claim a compiler produced those synthetic graph shapes.
Pass `--entrypoint /path/to/installed/rea-agents/scripts/rea.mjs` directly to
`scripts/verify-real-ghidra-switch.mjs` to verify an installed package through
the same compiler oracles and CLI/MCP checks.

The cross-format Ghidra lane also analyzes an optimized AArch64 ELF switch
fixture. It checks the recovered case values against the source cases and
requires unresolved table bounds or case mappings to remain visible as
residual unknowns.

`npm run verify:inspector` requires the supported Node.js runtime and installed
REA dependencies. CI runs it on Linux and macOS x64/arm64 and Windows x64. It starts owned loopback
Node Inspector fixtures and verifies discovery and passive observation through
the CLI and stdio MCP, including special filenames, unresolved discovery
locations, and independently resolved loaded scripts. Double-quote filenames
are tested on POSIX only because Windows does not support them.

Node Inspector verification does not establish Electron GUI or other engine
behavior. Browser and Inspector share CDP transport/value and file-location
helpers; their producer workflows remain distinct.

## Android APK analysis

The real Android lane also runs on Windows x64 with its matching bundled native
controls. It verifies bidirectional protocol input, CLI/MCP result parity,
real MCP cancellation/disconnect and Java exit after abrupt CLI owner
termination. The forced Windows exit does not exercise the POSIX SIGTERM
handler and can leave temporary workspace files. `verify:windows-native`
separately checks binary input, backpressure, EOF and pending-write job closure.

`npm run verify:android` requires an existing Java 17+ and an explicit
`REA_JADX_MCP_JAR` for jadx-headless-mcp 0.7.1. Set `REA_ANDROID_TEST_APK` to the
fixed public ApiDemos v6.0.18 fixture. Obtain both with the explicit
`npm run fixtures:android` command; files are SHA-256 verified and
kept under ignored `_reference/`. No Gradle build, Android SDK, emulator or
application execution is required. The lane compares real CLI/MCP package,
class search, class inventory, method decompilation and incoming references.
See [Android analysis](android-analysis.md) for boundaries and resource budgets.

`verify:jeb` requires a caller-started JEB client serving MCP at
`REA_JEB_MCP_URL` (default `http://127.0.0.1:8425/mcp`) with a project
already open, and verifies real CLI client inspection, unit listing coverage,
and method decompilation. The script records the engine's exact response to
`open_jeb_project`; JEB 5.48.0 headless instances do not advertise that tool.
REA does not install or launch JEB; see [JEB analysis](jeb-analysis.md) for
the bring-your-own boundary. Verified against JEB 5.48.0 serving
`jeb-mcp-server` 1.3.0 at four scales: a compiled Java class fixture, a
locally built signed probe APK with a launcher activity (manifest, v1/v2/v3
certificates, dex bytecode, filtered and paginated listing), the published
Signal 8.30.3 universal release APK (109 MB, R8-processed Kotlin/Compose,
four signature schemes, native arm64 ELF units) with MainActivity method
decompilation through both CLI and MCP, and the official Flutter Gallery
2.9.2 release APK (112 MB): per-ABI `libapp.so` Dart AOT snapshot images
analyzed as native code (75k methods on arm64) and decompiled through both
CLI and MCP with explicit unit selection, plus the thin Java wrapper and
decoded manifest. The dedicated Dart snapshot processor and `run_script`
remain GUI-only surfaces in JEB 5.48.0 headless.
Authenticated IPA and macOS application inventory projection is documented in
[Apple application analysis](apple-application-analysis.md).

`npm run verify:harmony` requires no SDK or engine. It projects the pinned
harmony-next-pipeline 1.0.1 release HAP from an MIT-licensed source repository,
fetched by `npm run fixtures:harmony` into ignored
`_reference/harmony-integration/`, set as `REA_HARMONY_TEST_HAP`.
The lane exercises `inspect_artifact`, projection determinism, Stage-model
path hints, exact component sets, signing-entry limitations, and CLI/MCP parity.
The release artifact has no independently established compiler/SDK or
reproducible source build; the default lane does not verify an installed package.
See [HarmonyOS package inventory](harmony-analysis.md) for those proof boundaries.
HarmonyOS `.har` libraries are deliberately not suffix-classified because
`.har` also names HTTP Archive JSON.

Synthetic producer regressions run independently:

```sh
npm run test:focused -- tests/boundary/process/jadxIntegration.test.ts tests/boundary/process/androidAnalysisMcp.test.ts
```

## Apktool resource decoding

`npm run verify:apktool -- --apk PATH` exercises both Apktool operations
against a real launcher (`REA_APKTOOL_COMMAND` or PATH) and one APK. No
download or build step is involved. Record: apktool 2.7.0-dirty (Debian
packaging) on Linux with OpenJDK 25, against a signed aapt2-built probe APK
carrying two resource locales — launcher version, on-disk digest agreement
with the reported target identity, apktool.yml metadata projection
(1.2.3, SDK 24–34), manifest package agreement, and both the default and
`de` string tables projected through the locale option. Parser goldens in
`src/apktool/ApktoolDecodeOutput.test.ts` come from the same decode. See
[Apktool resource analysis](apktool-resource-analysis.md) for boundaries and
budgets.

## Flutter build identification

`npm run verify:flutter -- --apk PATH [--plain-apk PATH]` runs both pure
static operations against a real Flutter APK, plus an optional non-Flutter
APK for the negative check. No engine or external tool is involved. Record:
Flutter Gallery 2.9.2 (112 MB, arm64-v8a / armeabi-v7a / x86_64) — every
ABI reports the same agreeing snapshot hash
(`65817c30a78bb44c3dc3771876b6010a`, two sections each) read 20 bytes after
the Dart snapshot magic, per-ABI engine GNU build-ids, no labeled Dart
version string (expected for a release engine build), and the Android
clang/LLVM toolchain line; the AOT inspection locates all four snapshot
symbols through the dynamic symbol table on both ELF64 and ELF32 images,
validates the data-section headers, agrees with the identification hash,
and counts 756 `package:` and 201 `dart:` URIs on arm64-v8a and x86_64,
and 212 / 48 on armeabi-v7a, from each isolate data section. Responses
retain at most 500 URIs per family and 2000 class-like tokens. Gallery's
pool projection and overall AOT coverage are partial while its structural
`libapp.coverage` is complete. A plain aapt2-built APK reports not-detected with
complete coverage. The suite uses self-contained synthetic ELF images and recorded scanner
prefixes, with no private local-file dependency. The verifier now compares
compiled CLI and stdio MCP Evidence on every ABI, including data-header kind
and declared lengths. Add
`--expectations scripts/fixtures/flutter-gallery-expectations.json` for the
documented Gallery APK to assert its pinned digest, hash, exact engine labels
and per-ABI URI counts. The verifier requires complete structural snapshot
coverage, reports bounded pool coverage as partial/unverified, and reports
exact labels/counts on other APKs unverified without an expectations file.
See [Flutter build identification](flutter-analysis.md) for boundaries and
budgets.

## ADB device acquisition

`npm run verify:adb` exercises every ADB operation against a live device or
emulator through the caller's adb binary (`REA_ADB_PATH` or PATH). No SDK
installation or emulator management is involved; the device-mutating tools
run only in the explicit lifecycle section (`--install-apk` drives a
lane-owned install → resolve → start → observe → force-stop → uninstall
probe). `--pull` acquires a real package and re-digests the pulled files on
disk against the returned SHA-256 values; `--serial` selects a device when
several are attached.

Record: adb 34.0.5-debian on Linux against an Android 14 (API 34) x86_64
emulator. The lane covered the complete observation surface — 337-process
listing, 287 binder services including AIDL `/`-suffixed names, 92 features
including hex GL versions, display size/density, window focus (legitimately
null on headless devices), `settings get global adb_enabled`, bounded
logcat, directory listings — plus a real two-APK split set
(`base.apk` plus `split_probe.apk`, built and installed through
`install-multiple`) pulled with byte-exact digests, a push/pull roundtrip
verified by the device's own sha256sum, a 1.3 MB screen capture with PNG
dimensions, `dumpsys package` projection, and the full lifecycle: unique
resolution before launch, launcher-activity start through
`cmd package resolve-activity` with `am start -W`, the started app visible
in the process listing, force-stop, uninstall, and zero matches after
removal. System-package pulls whose APKs keep non-`base.apk` names report
the `unknown` role with the file-name basis, verified with
`com.android.settings` (single 73.9 MB APK). Parser goldens for
`adb devices -l`, `getprop`, `pm list packages -f`, and `pm path` come from
the same device. See [ADB device analysis](adb-device-analysis.md) for
boundaries and budgets.

## Optional NativeAOT Ghidra analysis

The source parser lane is independent of the optional annotation JAR. Its
synthetic RTR 9.1 PE golden checks captured-byte digest admission, rehydration
into an immutable parser overlay, MethodTable/slot relationships, and frozen
literal extraction; provider tests exercise `inspect_native_load_image` and
address-based `inspect_native_data_type` with the database result still
unavailable. These tests do not establish Windows Ghidra host behavior.

This lane is separate from the default native lane. `build:fixtures:nativeaot`
requires an existing .NET SDK 8.0.416, the platform NativeAOT compiler/linker and
runtime pack 8.0.22. It builds benign sources into ignored `_reference/` and
records independent symbol/directory/SHA oracles; it never executes the target.
Linux also builds stripped, ordinary-native and small malformed/ambiguous/layout
negative inputs. The optional Windows fixture workflow builds a PE on a Windows
runner; analyzing that PE on Linux does not verify a Windows Ghidra host.

Build the clean pinned upstream adapter with `build:ghidra:nativeaot`, then set
`REA_GHIDRA_NATIVEAOT_JAR`. Run `verify:ghidra:nativeaot -- symbols`, `-- stripped`,
`-- ordinary`, `-- unsupported`, `-- malformed`, `-- ambiguous`, and
`-- loader-failure`, and `-- default-native` separately. The loader-failure mode source-builds
a deliberately failing JDK 21 initializer and checks the actual loader cause and
cleanup. The default-native mode verifies ordinary analysis with the optional
extension disabled.
The real MCP lane checks source identity, inline format discovery, metadata
relationships/slots against independent compiler symbols, frozen strings,
pseudocode and owned cleanup. Set `REA_NATIVEAOT_PROOF_CLI=1` for one equivalent
CLI type inspection; this costs an additional full import. Select an unpacked
installed package with `REA_NATIVEAOT_PROOF_PACKAGE_ROOT`, a fixture directory
with `REA_NATIVEAOT_PROOF_FIXTURE_ROOT`, and optional evidence capture directory
with `REA_NATIVEAOT_PROOF_CAPTURE_DIR` (absolute paths).

Keep builds/imports sequential on small hosts; scope `GHIDRA_HEADLESS_MAXMEM`
(e.g. `768M`) to this command and use CPU affinity if needed. REA does not install
or upgrade Java, Ghidra, .NET or native toolchains. See
[the supported layout and provenance](ghidra-nativeaot.md).

## IDA MCP adapter

`npm run verify:ida -- --target /absolute/path/to/program --procedure main`
uses the existing `REA_IDA_MCP_CONFIG` registration. It installs no engine,
Python package, or compiler. The target must already be open in the GUI for
the legacy or native attached profile; the database-supervisor headless profile opens
a digest-verified private copy. A caller-supplied fixture keeps prerequisites
limited to the selected engine and host. `tests/conformance/ida/inventory.c`
provides an optional small native fixture source with exported
`rea_fixture_add` and `rea_fixture_subtract` functions. For their switching check,
use `--second-procedure rea_fixture_subtract --second-marker='- 13'`.

The lane invokes the production CLI dispatcher and connects the pinned MCP
client SDK to the production REA server. It verifies function Evidence and
CLI/MCP parity, inventory/search, pseudocode, instructions, xrefs, malformed
input, original-input preservation, and lifecycle cleanup. For headless
analysis it confirms that the owned database IDs disappear from upstream
discovery and private workspaces are removed. For attached analysis it confirms
the existing GUI target remains reachable with the same input identity.
`--package-root` selects an installed/extracted REA artifact. `--report` writes
private local observations with mode `0600`; the console summary contains no
target paths or upstream output.

Adapter and composition tests cover producer parsing, pagination, canonical
entries, external callees, target switches, cancellation draining, snapshot
replay exclusion, ownership failures, and incomplete cleanup. They do not
establish real IDA operation. The initial real workflows cover legacy upstream
1.4.0 on a Windows GUI and the modern supervisor at upstream commit
`c133c3853faa111a9b00ee615c013b720d0c4acd` with Windows x64 IDA 9.3, and the
headless profile on macOS arm64 with IDA Professional 9.1 (build 9.1.250226)
at the same upstream commit, using `tests/conformance/ida/inventory.c` built
with `clang -O0 -arch arm64` and the procedure `_rea_fixture_add` (Mach-O C
symbols carry a leading underscore). Before the headless session waited out
the transient `busy` health a worker can report right after opening, that lane
failed intermittently on that host. Linux headless, modern attached GUI tools,
other engine versions and architectures remain unverified; see the
[provider guide](ida-provider.md).

Native IDA MCP verification uses `"protocol": "native"` with an already-running native plugin and requires `--second-procedure other_function --second-marker unique_second_body_text` to exercise GUI function switching and a return to the first function. These options remain optional for other profiles. The literal marker must appear in the second function's pseudocode and be absent from the first. Native cloud/widget failures are reported without hidden retries.

The initial Linux x64 IDA Free 9.4 run used native MCP 1.1.2 with a local navigation correction. Windows x64 verification uses **IDA Pro 9.3**, the two-function public fixture, and the shipped Windows `whoami.exe` application. The native plugin was built from upstream `c9d15d98e8a143fc74f6e14037c48f63889b6d6c`, including the merged navigation fix, with a local loopback-listener change. Production CLI/MCP parity, switching, identity and cleanup passed. Correctness and performance measurements are recorded in the [Windows native verification notes](https://github.com/morluto/rea/blob/main/experiments/analysis-efficiency/ida-native-windows.md). Stock 1.1.2 switching, native macOS, and Windows IDA Free remain unverified. See the [native bridge prerequisites](ida-provider.md#optional-native-ida-mcp-bridge).

## DOS Ghidra analysis

`npm run verify:ghidra:dos` requires the supported Ghidra and JDK installation
on Linux x64 or macOS x64/arm64. It generates a source-owned MZ fixture without
a DOS emulator or compiler, then checks real 16-bit decoding, segment
relocation, near/far calls, decompilation, disjoint function body ranges,
stable CLI/MCP observations, unchanged source bytes, and owned process/project
cleanup. Raw p-code address-space selector tokens are reported separately from
the stable observation comparison. Linux x64 and macOS arm64 are verified;
macOS x64 remains unverified. This lane is separate from host-native and optional cross-format
verification. See [DOS analysis](ghidra-dos.md).

`npm run verify:ghidra:com` uses a generated headerless fixture with no compiler,
DOS emulator or game data. It exercises explicit admission, BinaryLoader entry
preparation, measured register context, whole-file byte readback, source offsets,
unmapped PSP/partial reads, actual decompilation, CLI/MCP parity and owned cleanup.
Both segmented-address lanes reject oversized default, explicit-space and encoded-space
coordinates through real reads, function queries and annotation attempts. Rejected
annotations must preserve the live function dossier; CLI and MCP must report the
truncation constraint, while leading-zero coordinates still resolve correctly.
It has the same Ghidra/JDK prerequisites as the MZ lane. Neither lane claims DOS
runtime or PC-98 device execution.

`npm run verify:ghidra:raw` uses a generated ARM little-endian headerless image
through the compiled CLI and stdio MCP server. With the same Ghidra/JDK
prerequisites, it checks preparation and bridge startup, verified load mappings,
instruction and byte readback, canonical-entry session reuse, replacement when
the entry changes without `provider_id`, unchanged source bytes, and owned
cleanup. Six-byte x86 and x86_64 controls also verify supported compiler
specifications, independent mappings, unchanged bytes, and decompilation of a
known return value. AArch64 remains covered by deterministic tests rather than
this real-provider lane. See [raw binary analysis](raw-binary.md).

## Apple Interface Builder archives

`npm run verify:interface-builder` compiles the source-owned AppKit XIB into a
real `.nib` with Xcode `ibtool`, wraps it in a temporary app bundle, and runs
the compiled CLI and stdio MCP server with production providers. It compares
their decoded results and checks the view hierarchy, outlet, action, evidence coverage, and truncation
status. Storyboard compilation additionally requires an installed iOS platform.

Keep the provider-specific acceptance path independent from optional
cross-compilers. Cross-format failures belong to the cross-format lane and must
not make native host acceptance unavailable.

## Native platform baseline in CI

Pull requests that change only root `README*.md` files, `docs/`, `AGENTS.md`,
`CONTRIBUTING.md`, `CHANGELOG.md`, `SECURITY.md`, `native/windows/README.md`,
or the GitHub issue and pull-request templates run formatting and
generated-document validation, including the small onboarding example consistency
suite, without the source-test shards or native package
lanes. Classification compares the PR head with its merge base, so later
base-branch changes do not expand that scope. Static and coverage aggregate jobs
remain present and fail if classification fails. Every code change retains the
complete six-shard Linux suite; individual test files are not selected by
imports or filenames.

`scripts/ci/plan.mjs` selects lanes using the ownership table in
`scripts/ci/scopes.mjs`. Provider implementation changes run their real-provider
verifiers and the Linux x64 installed-package/Inspector baseline. The `apple`
scope owns the Apple artifact lane; the `package` scope owns the multi-host
package matrix and the Windows curated lane, including Windows native controls,
Inspector, setup, configuration and packaging entrypoints. Runtime sources under
`src/` or `bridge/` without an owner, and the authored skill, run the Linux suite
and the Linux x64 installed-package/Inspector baseline only. Test-only changes
run the Linux suite without native package verification, except test files that
the Apple or Windows curated lanes invoke explicitly, which also select that
lane. Edits to verifier entrypoints run only by manual, licensed or self-hosted
workflows run static checks and the Linux suite. Website changes run website
checks. Provider workflow changes validate the workflow and run that provider's
verifier. Manual-provider/Android workflow changes run workflow validation only.
Shared process/contract/CLI boundaries, dependencies, other packaging inputs,
unknown paths, and changes to the planner select the full baseline. Package
script-only edits select their owning verifier when its entrypoint is
identifiable; unknown or shared script changes select everything. Android
build-script edits retain the Linux suite and workflow validation; real Android
verification stays manual. Renames account for both paths.

This narrower selection trades PR-time coverage for runner capacity. A change to
unowned shared runtime code that fails only on arm64, macOS, Windows, the Apple
artifact lane, or a provider lane that does not own the file is not caught on
the PR; the main-push full baseline reports it after merge. Ownership globs do
not follow imports. Use the `ci:full` label when a change may have native-host
or provider effects outside its owners.

Main pushes and manual dispatch retain the full baseline, including all portable
provider lanes and the native matrix below. A `ci:full` PR label selects the full
baseline on the next PR run; manual dispatch can request it immediately. Each
classification job records its selection and broad-fallback reasons in the run
summary. Representative Git-diff cases live in
`tests/boundary/filesystem/ciChangeScope.test.ts`.

`CI required` checks classification and every selected lane, rejecting failed,
cancelled, or unexpectedly skipped work. Existing required check names are
preserved; changing branch protection to require the new aggregate is a separate
repository-settings operation. Newer commits cancel superseded CI for the same
PR or main branch. Release publication has its own concurrency group and retains
its package verification and public-registry canary. Licensed/self-hosted
provider workflows and the Android smoke test retain their explicit triggers.

CI exercises the pinned Node.js runtime on native hosted runners:

| Host                  | Runner             | Baseline checks                                                                          |
| --------------------- | ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Linux x64             | `ubuntu-latest`    | Installed package and real Node Inspector CLI/MCP                                        |
| Linux arm64 (aarch64) | `ubuntu-24.04-arm` | Installed package and real Node Inspector CLI/MCP                                        |
| macOS 15 arm64        | `macos-15`         | Installed package and real Node Inspector CLI/MCP                                        |
| macOS 15 x64          | `macos-15-intel`   | Installed package and real Node Inspector CLI/MCP (main, dispatch and `ci:full` only)    |
| Windows x64           | `windows-latest`   | Curated capabilities, native controls, installed package and real Node Inspector CLI/MCP |

macOS x64 is the slowest package host. Pull requests without the `ci:full` label
omit it, so darwin x64 installed-package and Inspector regressions surface on
the main-push full baseline rather than on the PR.

Package lanes assert the actual Node platform/architecture before verification
and record those values with the Node version. The package matrix runs up to
four jobs concurrently on independent hosted runners with explicit
timeouts and per-runner Node heap/thread limits; Windows retains its curated
capability lane. Package checks cover installation, CLI/MCP discovery,
target-free analysis, configuration backups/recovery, Evidence and owned
lifecycle; Inspector checks execute source-owned loopback targets and special
filename cases.

POSIX package verification resolves the runner's configured npm cache before
creating disposable client homes and passes that location to its child installs.
This reuses the download cache restored by `setup-node` while keeping client
configuration isolated. Installs retain their existing registry and integrity
checks.

The Apple artifact CLI/MCP lane uses one `macos-15` job to avoid adding demand
for scarce macOS runner capacity. It runs the artifact-format and metadata
verifiers, followed by one consolidated focused invocation containing all
existing native and process-boundary regression paths.

The Linux source-test shards download a shared runtime and generated test
metadata snapshot produced by the build job with `npm run test:prepare`. The
snapshot includes `dist/`, generated skills, the MCP tool catalog, product
catalog, and managed-conformance metadata. Each shard still installs the locked
dependencies and runs its assigned coverage-enabled tests; it no longer
regenerates the same metadata independently.

The build job also retrieves the merged timing report from the last successful
default-branch push and includes that same report in each shard's snapshot.
CI assigns discovered files by historical duration, with a deterministic
fallback weight for new files, rather than dividing only by file count. Every
discovered file still belongs to exactly one shard; worker limits, project
ordering, coverage instrumentation, and aggregate thresholds remain unchanged.
Missing or unusable history falls back to Vitest's default assignment. Only
timing data is reused; persistent compile caches remain disabled.

These native baseline checks complement the Linux source-test shards and the
separate Apple-artifact and real-provider lanes. Actual Hopper, Ghidra, IDA,
browser and managed-tool claims require their corresponding verification lanes.
Runner labels follow the [GitHub hosted-runner reference](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/runners/github-hosted-runners).

### Termux Android browser smoke test

The **Real Termux browser verification** workflow is manual-only while its
emulator setup is being validated. After the workflow reaches the default
branch, select a revision under **Actions → Real Termux browser verification →
Run workflow**. It boots an Android 11 (API 30) x86_64 emulator, installs the
checksum-verified Termux 0.118.3 APK, and lets the app initialize its bootstrap.
The host stages the selected revision using `git archive HEAD`; no workstation
build outputs or dependencies are copied into Android.

`scripts/verify/termux/emulator.sh` sends a `RUN_COMMAND` intent to Termux's app
service. Root access is limited to staging files, sending the intent, and reading
diagnostics; installation, compilation, Node, and Chromium run as Termux's app
UID. The in-app script installs Termux's Android-linked Node distribution,
checks its version against `.nvmrc`, pins npm from `packageManager`, runs
`npm ci`, and builds with `build:termux`. Termux repository packages, including
Chromium, are resolved at run time; their installed versions are logged.

The verifier leaves Playwright's cache environment overrides unset, requires
a healthy public MCP doctor result, and captures URL plus DOM from a loopback
HTTP fixture through `capture-browser-scenario`. It checks completed steps,
the exact URL, a DOM marker, and reported browser cleanup. This lane covers one
Android emulator and Termux combination, not physical ARM devices, Electron,
or the complete desktop browser suite. A workflow definition alone does not
establish passing Android coverage; inspect its execution receipt.

The `termux-browser-diagnostics` artifact retains the Termux command log, exit
status, and Android logcat on success or failure. The emulator is disposable.

## Packet capture analysis

`npm run verify:pcap -- --pcap PATH` exercises caller-supplied tshark and
capinfos against a saved capture. Linux verification uses Wireshark 4.6.6
and captures containing DNS, TLS and HTTP traffic. Native Windows and macOS
engine behavior remains unverified; process fixtures do not establish it.
See [Packet capture analysis](pcap-analysis.md) for contracts and budgets.

## Apple native metadata and UI

`npm run verify:apple-dispatch` compiles the Objective-C fixture (classes,
protocols, a property and an `NSString` category) and the Swift
conformance/vtable fixture.

- Each fixture is linked with legacy `LC_DYLD_INFO` binds and with chained
  fixups; on Apple silicon the ObjC fixture is also built as arm64e, which uses
  authenticated pointers.
- The lane inspects the bytes and repeats after stripping local symbols.
- It requires the bound `NSObject` superclass, the external category, and the
  matching `pointer_fixups` coverage. It requires macOS and the host Xcode toolchain; targets are not
  executed. `npm run verify:native-ui` launches exactly one source-owned fixture
  window and requires successful selected-window capture and selected actions.
  An OS permission denial fails the positive lane. `npm run verify:native-ui:permissions`
  allows a host-permission-boundary-only result and explicitly reports
  `positive_e2e: false`; it must not be reported as capture/action proof.
  Both commands reject a changed executable digest and clean up the fixture
  process and helper. These lanes require an interactive macOS desktop. See [native investigation](native-investigation.md)

`npm run verify:native-calls` needs macOS with Command Line Tools (`clang`,
`lldb`, `codesign`, `nm`) and actual debugger access to the owned fixtures.
The lane reports Developer Mode status without treating it as proof of access
or denial, and does not change host settings. LLDB and target entitlements
establish the tested permission boundary.
It compiles `tests/conformance/native/calls.m` and
runs `observe-native-calls` through the CLI and stdio MCP. It checks:

- the receiver class, selector and argument registers of every entry, and that
  breakpoint addresses equal `nm`'s symbol addresses;
- overlapping breakpoint selections retain each selection's hits and share
  the aggregate event limit; callback capture reads the stopped frame before
  LLDB resumes, avoiding stale frame metadata from asynchronous stop events;
- captured stdout and an environment override, plus a 2 MiB flood on each
  output stream with bounded retained prefixes and exact drained-byte counts;
- the event-limit and duration outcomes, with the process confirmed gone;
- that a hardened-runtime copy is refused with `debugger-attach-denied`, and
  that the same copy signed with `get-task-allow` is traced.

### Firmware adapters

Linux-owned provider launches require a procps-compatible `ps` on REA's `PATH`
so ownership can be inspected before launching a child. A missing or incompatible
command fails with an actionable capability error before the launch.

`npm run fixtures:firmware` uses existing Python 3 and a host C compiler to make
an ignored gzip/USTAR firmware fixture and independent offset/hash oracle.
`npm run verify:firmware` requires caller-supplied Binwalk 3.1.0, Unblob 26.6.4
and util-linux prlimit on Linux, with `7z` on `PATH` for the gzip/USTAR
fixture's Unblob extractor. The provider also accepts other 3.1.x and
26.6.x builds and reports them as unverified; this lane proves the audited
releases. It verifies CLI/MCP parity, selected ranges,
unknown chunks, depth limits and extracted child digests. The optional
`REA_FIRMWARE_VERIFY_EXT4=1` lane requires existing mke2fs/debugfs; the separate
`REA_FIRMWARE_VERIFY_GHIDRA=1` lane checks a selected host ELF through real Ghidra.
Neither optional toolchain is a base-lane prerequisite. See
[firmware analysis](firmware-analysis.md) for limits and unverified formats.

### JavaScript source recovery

Build once with `npm run build:cached`, then run `npm run verify:javascript:recovery`.
This focused lane requires Linux x64, util-linux `prlimit`,
`REA_WAKARU_COMMAND` pointing to the official Wakaru 1.14.0 Linux x64 binary,
and `REA_JAVASCRIPT_FIXTURE_TOOLS` pointing to an isolated npm prefix containing
esbuild 0.25.10 and webpack 5.101.3. No global installation is required.
The lane compiles source-owned fixtures, exercises CLI and stdio MCP, verifies
published bytes and provenance, feeds recovered modules into existing analysis,
and compares a finite set of known fixture results. A webpack fixture with separate
runtime, shared, entry and lazy chunks verifies multi-input recovery through both
surfaces, per-file provenance and resolved cross-chunk imports in the downstream
application graph. The provider also accepts
other ^1.13.0 releases and reports them as unverified; this lane proves the
audited release. It does not establish
arbitrary recovered-application equivalence. CI installs these prerequisites only
in `.github/workflows/real-javascript-recovery.yml`; the existing `real-browser`
lane uses real Chrome for browser capture and website workflows.

### Captured website source-map lane

`npm run verify:browser:source-maps` checks actual Chromium capture/export and
source-map point tracing through CLI and stdio MCP. It requires absolute
`REA_BROWSER_EXECUTABLE` and `REA_WEB_SOURCE_MAP_COMPILER` pointing to esbuild
0.25.10's `lib/main.js` in a caller-owned isolated installation. Preflight reports
missing prerequisites for this lane. The compiler is used only to generate the
source-owned fixture. No Hopper, Ghidra or application dependency installation
is required.

```bash
REA_BROWSER_EXECUTABLE=/absolute/path/to/chromium \
REA_WEB_SOURCE_MAP_COMPILER=/absolute/path/to/fixture-tools/node_modules/esbuild/lib/main.js \
npm run verify:browser:source-maps
```

`scripts/verify-browser-source-maps.mjs /absolute/path/to/installed/rea.mjs`
checks an installed package after building the verifier dependencies. The separate
conditional `real-web-source-map` CI job supplies Chrome and an isolated pinned
fixture compiler; static/unit checks do not acquire a browser. See
[the source location guide](web-source-location.md) for the verified decoder profile.

### JavaScript large-output lane

`npm run verify:javascript:output` exercises the CLI JSON result surface beyond
the running Node engine's single-string limit. Shared input leaves keep the
fixture's graph small; the verifier writes one temporary output file, checks its
complete byte count and an independent digest, then removes it. It requires only
Node and the built REA runtime, with space for the output plus a 1 GiB reserve.
Run `npm run verify:javascript:output -- jsonl` for compact JSONL coverage. This
opt-in lane is separate from routine tests and the canonical hash check
`npm run verify:javascript:digests`. It verifies serialization rather than an
arbitrary third-party application's parsing cost or MCP client capacity.

### Website runtime attribution lane

`npm run verify:browser:runtime` uses caller-supplied
`REA_BROWSER_EXECUTABLE` and an owned synthetic site/profile. It exercises public
CLI and stdio MCP for precise execution and native listener source locations,
including actual armed progress, Unicode/CRLF digests, repeated source URLs with
distinct script IDs, zero branches and function-only unknowns on repeated
coverage, request initiators and an externally owned page that remains open.

An optional entrypoint argument to `scripts/verify-browser-runtime.mjs` runs the
same checks through an isolated installed package. The conditional
`real-web-runtime` CI job runs only for relevant changes and needs no fixture
compiler. Ordinary unit/static gates acquire no browser. See
[website runtime attribution](web-runtime.md) for effects, resource bounds and
coverage limits.

### Offline binary layout

`npm run verify:binary:layout` requires Linux x64, GCC/binutils, absolute
`REA_PWNTOOLS_PYTHON` with pwntools 4.15.0/pyelftools 0.33/Unicorn 2.1.2 and
absolute `REA_VERIFY_STRACE_COMMAND`. It compiles ephemeral source-owned ELF
fixtures and checks public CLI/MCP, lossless addresses/names, file ranges,
mitigation inferences, malformed/unsupported input, original file hashes and
released process ownership. Exec syscall tracing must identify only the declared
Node/Python launchers; no target binary is executed. Core/debugger claims need
separate verification lanes. Pass an installed package entrypoint as the script's
first argument to verify packaging independently of the checkout.
The valid SHN_XINDEX fixture has 65,281 full section rows; CLI is checked in
the ordinary lane. Its large MCP transfer is opt-in with
`REA_VERIFY_LARGE_ELF_MCP=1` (or the workflow dispatch `large_mcp` input), an
explicit 256 MiB SDK receive buffer, matching server `REA_MCP_MAX_RESPONSE_BYTES`,
and five-minute request timeout. Ordinary
MCP fixtures retain the pinned SDK defaults.

### Offline EVM interface

`npm run verify:evm:interface` requires Linux x64, an absolute
`REA_VERIFY_STRACE_COMMAND`, caller-supplied util-linux `prlimit` and `REA_VERIFY_SOLC_MODULE` selecting the absolute module path for
solc 0.8.30. It compiles source-owned plain/optimized/via-IR Cancun fixtures in
private storage and checks actual CLI/MCP selector evidence, raw/hex identity,
unknowns, malformed carriers and independent cleanup. An optional positional
entrypoint verifies a fresh installed package. It acquires no engine, compiler
or chain dependency and does not execute a contract on a chain.

### Recorded crash evidence

`npm run verify:recorded:crash` is a separate Linux x64 lane. It requires GCC,
GDB, absolute `REA_PWNTOOLS_PYTHON` with the offline ELF profile above,
`REA_PWNDBG_GDBINIT` and `REA_PWNDBG_VENV_PATH` with unchanged pwndbg 2026.09.15,
and `REA_VERIFY_STRACE_COMMAND`. Its disposable CI runner installs GDB, checks out the exact upstream
commit and installs its frozen lockfile in isolated runner storage. No developer
host configuration or core-pattern setting changes.

Fixture generation explicitly runs an owned source-built two-thread program
under GDB to create a recording. Subsequent public CLI/MCP inspection verifies
lossless high registers, signed signals, note source bytes, malformed/missing
notes, unfamiliar owners, optional core-only mapping context and actionable
missing/unsupported plugin errors. A historical-PID collision fixture references
an owned live sentinel; inspection syscall traces reject process attach/memory
access, provider lookups of that PID's `/proc` files and attempted Internet sockets. Traces admit
the observed upstream startup helpers (`iconv -l`, the selected checkout's Git
version lookup) and REA ownership inspection separately from target execution.
This is fixture evidence, not a sandbox claim. Inputs remain unchanged and the
sentinel must stay alive; owned cleanup and empty verifier descendants are required. Pass an
installed package entrypoint as the script's first argument for package coverage.

## Agent evaluation and conformance records

`npm run verify:agent` evaluates investigation scenarios through a real local
Codex CLI. The lane runs sequentially; select scenarios with
`REA_AGENT_EVAL_SCENARIOS` and choose the installed client/model with
`REA_CODEX_CLI` and `REA_AGENT_EVAL_MODEL`. The detailed
[agent evaluation reference](client-verification.md#agent-evaluation-and-conformance-records)
contains isolation, authentication cleanup, grading, and conformance boundaries.

## Frida instrumentation

`npm run verify:frida` builds REA, spawns a short-lived local Node.js fixture,
loads a harmless marker script before resuming it, captures the message, and
detaches. This lane requires Linux on the REA host and the optional Frida
binding; it does not need a Frida server or a caller-selected process. To run
the separate remote attach lane, pass `-- --address HOST:PORT --pid PID` for an
explicitly selected process. Optional remote flags are `--token`,
`--certificate`, `--origin`, and `--keepalive-interval` (seconds); authentication values
are not written to files or included in the report. Mock tests do not establish
real device/server compatibility.

### Offline WASM artifacts

`npm run verify:wasm:artifact -- --require-tools` uses an absolute
`REA_WABT_BIN_DIRECTORY` containing WABT 1.0.42, including `wat2wasm` for fixture
generation. It installs nothing. Without configuration, the default invocation
reports a named skip; `--require-tools` makes missing configuration fail.

The verifier creates and validates real modules with custom sections, multiple
import/export kinds, escaped names, an empty module, and a bulk-memory
DataCount section. Debug-name fixtures cover compiler-generated module names
and preserved name-section payloads with empty, multiline, Unicode, long and
NUL-containing names. It compares exact WAT,
section output and selected/tool digests through the compiled CLI and real MCP
SDK, validates advertised schemas, checks identical CLI/MCP Evidence IDs and
session bundle readback, retains invalid/truncated module diagnostics, preserves
all inputs and checks workspace cleanup. Pass an installed package's
`scripts/rea.mjs` as the first argument to run the same lane against the package.
`npm run verify:wasm:package` packs and installs REA into an isolated temporary
prefix with lifecycle scripts disabled and runs the same required real-tool lane.
It requires WABT configuration and makes no host tool installation.

Source-owned provider tests separately exercise cancellation, deadline propagation,
malformed producer output and cleanup uncertainty; shared owned-command tests
exercise actual subprocess timeout and cancellation.