fix(workflows): init step must not replace init's own error with SystemExit: 1

[jawwad-ali]

Problem

InitStep._run_init appends the runner's exception to stderr:

if result.exit_code != 0 and result.exception is not None:
    detail = f"{type(result.exception).__name__}: {result.exception}"
    stderr = f"{stderr}\n{detail}".strip() if stderr else detail

That branch exists for an unexpected crash. But typer.Exit(n) — how specify init reports every ordinary failure — surfaces through CliRunner as result.exception = SystemExit(n), so it fires on routine errors too.

init prints its diagnostics through Rich to stdout, so result.stderr is empty. The synthesized detail therefore becomes the entire stderr, which preempts execute's fallback two frames later:

error=(
    stderr.strip()
    or stdout.strip()          # <-- never reached
    or f"specify init exited with code {exit_code}."
),

Reproduction on current main (c173bf1)

An ordinary typo in integration: — which InitStep.validate does not value-check:

validate     : []
status       : failed | exit_code: 1
result.error : 'SystemExit: 1'
output.stderr: 'SystemExit: 1'
stdout holds : "... lingma, muse, omp, opencode, pi, qodercli, qwen,
                rovodev, shai, tabnine, trae, vibe, zcode, zed"

So the workflow author is told SystemExit: 1 while the list of valid integrations sits unread in stdout. The same applies to any ordinary init failure — a project: directory that already exists, an unusable script type.

It also leaks into workflow data: steps.<id>.output.stderr is the string "SystemExit: 1", so a downstream step reading it gets the sentinel rather than a diagnosis.

Fix

Exclude only SystemExit, preserving the branch for genuine crashes:

if (
    result.exit_code != 0
    and result.exception is not None
    and not isinstance(result.exception, SystemExit)
):

After the fix the same input reports init's own message, and a RuntimeError escaping the runner still yields RuntimeError: boom inside init.

Verification

• Fail-before / pass-after: 1 new-vs-baseline failure with the source reverted to upstream/main → 16 passed with the fix.
• A second test pins the branch's original purpose — an unexpected RuntimeError still surfaces. It passes both before and after by design: it guards preserved behaviour rather than proving the fix.
• Scoped regression on tests/test_workflows.py: 20 failed / 959 passed vs a clean-main baseline of 20 failed / 957 passed — no new failures (the 20 are the known Windows os.replace flakiness in that file).
• uvx ruff@0.15.0 check src tests → clean

Behaviour change, disclosed: error and output.stderr for a failing init step change from "SystemExit: 1" to init's own captured output (which includes its banner, since init writes to stdout). Successful steps are untouched, and no existing test asserted the old sentinel.

---

Written with assistance from Claude Code. Bug found, reproduced, and verified by me on current main.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[mnriem]

The error-selection fix looks sound: ordinary CLI exits no longer obscure init’s own diagnostic, while unexpected exceptions still retain their details.

Please correct the behavior description: for a stdout-only failure on modern Click, result.error picks up the diagnostic through its stdout fallback, while output.stderr remains empty. The patch does not move that diagnostic into stderr. This is a description correction, not a request to change stream handling.

Drafted for @mnriem with assistance from GitHub Copilot (model: GPT-6 Astra; interactive comment drafting).

[Copilot]

🟡 Changes recommended

Routine failures still leave output.stderr empty instead of exposing init’s diagnostic as described.

Get a fresh assessment by requesting another Copilot review.

Pull request overview

Prevents routine init failures from being replaced by SystemExit: 1.

Changes:

• Excludes SystemExit from unexpected-crash reporting.
• Adds regression and crash-preservation tests.
• Reported verification was not rerun during review.

File summaries

File	Description
src/specify_cli/workflows/steps/init/__init__.py	Refines failure handling.
tests/test_workflows.py	Tests routine failures and unexpected crashes.

Review details

• Files reviewed: 2/2 changed files
• Comments generated: 1
• Review effort level: Balanced (auto)

Note

Copilot is running an experiment and ran this review at Balanced.

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[mnriem]

Please address Copilot feedback and resolve conflicts

[Copilot]

Copilot review overview

🟢 Approval recommended

The implementation addresses the regression and tests both corrected and preserved behavior, though verification relied on the provided results.

Review effort: Balanced
Findings: None

Resolved since last review (1)

• For the routine failure described here, result.stderr is empty. Skipping the exception therefore…

[mnriem]

Please resolve conflicts

[jawwad-ali]

@mnriem Conflicts resolved (472efb5). The fix now lives at src/specify_cli/workflows/step/init/__init__.py, with the test imports updated to workflows.step.init.

Verified against current main: test_failed_init_surfaces_inits_own_message fails with the source reverted (error='SystemExit: 1') and all 16 TestInitStep cases pass with the fix. Full tests/test_workflows.py: no new failures vs main.

Rebased as a single commit on current main; uvx ruff@0.15.0 check src tests is clean. Any remaining local failures are the pre-existing Windows symlink-privilege tests, which fail identically on unmodified main.

[Copilot]

Copilot review overview

🟢 Approval recommended

The focused fix addresses the reported regression and includes appropriate behavioral coverage.

Review effort: Balanced
Findings: None

[mnriem]

Thank you!