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+# Issue — tests sharing the default `engine_state/` dir (reproducibility hazard)
+
+Status: open (hygiene; interim rule below, recommended fix deferred to a validated PR)
+Date: 2026-06-15
+Relates: ADR-0146 (engine-state persistence), ADR-0219 (generation-dir checkpoint),
+ADR-0220 (identity/provenance reconcile — surfaced the symptom)
+
+## Symptom
+
+During ADR-0220 (PR C) verification, `tests/test_achat.py::test_achat_returns_non_empty_surface`
+emitted a spurious:
+
+```
+RuntimeWarning: engine identity continuity break: checkpoint was written under
+819c4364d599… but this build computes c9e5968ab1fe… — the ratified identity
+substrate (packs) changed while the engine was down.
+```
+
+It was **not** a regression from the identity split. Re-running with an isolated
+state dir made it vanish:
+
+```
+CORE_ENGINE_STATE_DIR=$(mktemp -d)/es pytest tests/test_achat.py   # 11 passed, no warning
+```
+
+## Root cause
+
+`ChatRuntime(...)` with no `engine_state_path` resolves its store to
+`EngineStateStore(None).path == engine_state._DEFAULT_DIR`, which is
+`$CORE_ENGINE_STATE_DIR` or the in-repo `engine_state/` dir
+(`engine_state/__init__.py:52-56`). That directory is **process-wide shared
+state**:
+
+- On construction, a runtime READS it (`store.exists()` → `_load_engine_state`),
+  so any test reading a **stale checkpoint** left by an earlier test reconciles
+  it (ADR-0220) and can emit a phantom identity-continuity warning.
+- Tests that run a turn / checkpoint WRITE a generation-dir checkpoint into the
+  same shared dir (the observed pollution was leftover `gen-0583/` `gen-0584/` +
+  `current`), so test ordering and prior runs leak into later tests.
+
+This is a classic non-hermetic-test hazard: behaviour depends on what other
+tests (or prior local runs) left in `engine_state/`.
+
+## Scope (it is systemic, not a one-off)
+
+In `tests/` at `main@eed20749`:
+
+| Metric | Count |
+|---|---|
+| `ChatRuntime(...)` constructions | **469** |
+| test files constructing it | **123** |
+| constructions passing `engine_state_path` (isolated) | 74 |
+| constructions passing `no_load_state` (ephemeral, no persist) | 52 |
+| **constructions defaulting to the shared dir** | **~340** |
+
+Most defaulting constructions are *victims* (they read the shared dir on
+construction); a subset that checkpoint are also *polluters*. CI runs in a clean
+checkout so the shared dir starts empty there — which is exactly why this hides:
+it bites local runs and ordering-sensitive sessions, not the gate.
+
+## Interim rule (apply now, in review)
+
+Any **new or edited** test that constructs a `ChatRuntime` which loads or
+persists runtime state MUST isolate it:
+
+```python
+ChatRuntime(config=..., engine_state_path=tmp_path / "engine_state")
+# or, for an ephemeral runtime that must not touch persisted state:
+ChatRuntime(config=..., no_load_state=True)
+```
+
+Subprocess / CLI tests (which re-import in a child process) must set
+`CORE_ENGINE_STATE_DIR` in the child env instead (see
+`tests/test_l10_always_on_daemon.py::test_real_sigterm_stops_the_daemon_cleanly`
+for the pattern).
+
+Do **not** add a bare `ChatRuntime()` that reads/writes the default dir.
+
+## Recommended fix (deferred — needs its own validated PR)
+
+A single root `tests/conftest.py` **autouse** fixture that isolates the default
+engine-state dir per test, fixing all ~340 sites at once instead of editing each:
+
+```python
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def _isolate_default_engine_state(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    import engine_state
+    # _DEFAULT_DIR is bound at import, so monkeypatch the module attribute (not
+    # just the env var) for in-process runtimes:
+    monkeypatch.setattr(engine_state, "_DEFAULT_DIR", tmp_path / "engine_state")
+    # ...and set the env var for subprocess/CLI tests that re-import:
+    monkeypatch.setenv("CORE_ENGINE_STATE_DIR", str(tmp_path / "engine_state"))
+```
+
+Fixture requirements / acceptance criteria for that PR:
+
+1. **Monkeypatch `engine_state._DEFAULT_DIR`** — it is import-time bound, so an
+   env var alone does not redirect already-imported in-process runtimes.
+2. **Also set `CORE_ENGINE_STATE_DIR`** (or the equivalent) so subprocess/CLI
+   tests that re-import in a child process inherit the isolation.
+3. **Preserve tests that intentionally verify default-dir behaviour** — opt them
+   out via a marker (e.g. `@pytest.mark.uses_default_engine_state`) or an explicit
+   override, rather than silently changing their meaning.
+4. **Broad/full-suite comparison against the known baseline reds** — the fixture
+   changes default behaviour for all 469 constructions, so the PR must run the
+   full suite and confirm it surfaces no *new* failures beyond the documented
+   ~31 pre-existing reds on `main` (`core test --suite full`). Any genuinely new
+   failure is a hidden inter-test dependency to fix, not to mask.
+
+## Why deferred, not bundled
+
+The brief is safe and immediately useful (documents the hazard + the rule). The
+fixture, though small in code, changes default behaviour suite-wide and so must
+be validated against the full suite — a deliberate cost that belongs in its own
+PR rather than riding on identity-doctrine or hygiene-doc work.