ref: codebase quality sweep — dedup, dead code, cycles and defensive-code audit

.claude/rules/architecture-map.md

@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ bashunit (entry) sources all src/*.sh; version gate; early flag scan
  │ parallel: + write .result via mktemp
  └─ console_results::print_successful_test / _failed_ / …
  └─ str::rpad + strip_ansi align per-test time (pure bash)
- └─ [--parallel] wait; parallel::aggregate_test_results over *.result files
+ └─ [--parallel] wait; state::aggregate_parallel_results over *.result files
  └─ console_results::render_result totals; deferred failure/skip blocks
  └─ rerun::persist; env::cleanup_run_output_dir; exit code
 ```

.env.example

@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 # bashunit Configuration
 # Copy this file to .env and customize as needed
 # All values shown are defaults (leave empty to use default)
+#
+# Do NOT add a variable here just to document it. .env is loaded with
+# `set -o allexport; source .env`, so every line is an unconditional assignment:
+# listing a name makes an empty value OVERRIDE one the caller exported or set on
+# the command line (`BASHUNIT_OUTPUT_FORMAT=tap ./bashunit` stops working).
+# Settings that must stay overridable are documented in docs/configuration.md
+# instead. `.bashunitrc` does not have this problem — it applies only when unset.
 ################################################################################
 
 #───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -19,7 +26,7 @@ BASHUNIT_HEADER_ASCII_ART= # Default: false
 BASHUNIT_SIMPLE_OUTPUT= # Default: false (use dots instead of test names)
 BASHUNIT_VERBOSE= # Default: false (show environment variables)
 BASHUNIT_NO_OUTPUT= # Default: false (suppress all output)
-BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: true
+BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: auto (true|false|auto; auto skips per-test times when the clock forks)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_SKIPPED= # Default: false (show skipped test details)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_INCOMPLETE= # Default: false (show incomplete test details)
 BASHUNIT_FAILURES_ONLY= # Default: false (only show failures)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,23 @@
 ### Added
 - Per-line execution hit counts in the text report: `BASHUNIT_COVERAGE_SHOW_LINE_HITS=true` prints a `Line Hits` block listing each covered line as `<lineno>:<count>` per file. The LCOV report already carried the same counts in its `DA:<line>,<count>` records; those are now pinned by tests (#856)
 
+### Changed
+- The `--parallel` unsupported-OS warning no longer claims Alpine is excluded: Alpine has been a supported parallel platform since the race conditions were fixed, the message was simply never updated
+
+### Fixed
+- `.env.example` documented `BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME` as defaulting to `true`; the actual default has been `auto` since #765
+- bashunit now aborts with an actionable error when its scratch directories under `TMPDIR` cannot be created. Previously the run continued with every failure/skip collector writing nowhere, so a failing suite still exited non-zero but lost its assertion detail and leaked raw `src/runner.sh: line N: ...: Not a directory` errors instead of reporting the cause
+- A test file whose `set_up_before_script` changes directory no longer silently drops the remaining files from the run when the original working directory has become unreachable; the run aborts with a clear error instead
+- `release.sh` reports a failed rollback as failed instead of always printing "Rollback complete", and aborts when neither the tar nor the `cp` sandbox copy produced a usable project copy
+- `assert_arrays_equal` no longer reports the internal label `Bashunit::assert::label` when it fails outside a test function (for example from a `set_up` hook); it now reports `Assert arrays equal`, matching every other assertion
+- The exit-code assertions (`assert_exit_code`, `assert_successful_code`, `assert_unsuccessful_code`, `assert_general_error`, `assert_command_not_found`) counted the assertion as **passed** when given a non-integer exit code: `[ x -ne y ]` exits 2 rather than 1 on an unparseable operand, and that was read as "equal". They now fail closed
+- A test path containing both a glob and a space (`./bashunit "my tests/*"`) is no longer word-split into bogus search roots, which silently discovered zero tests; the path is also no longer passed through `eval`
+- The variadic assertions (`assert_contains` and friends) called with the actual value omitted now report a clean failed assertion on Bash 3.2 instead of aborting the run with `unbound variable` under `--strict`
+- An unreadable or truncated parallel `.result` file is now counted as a failed test instead of aborting aggregation with an arithmetic syntax error
+
+### Removed
+- Dead internal code with no remaining callers: the pre-cache fallback branch of the runner's `call_test_functions` (unreachable since the per-file function list became mandatory), `bashunit::state::calculate_total_assertions` (superseded by `bashunit::runner::compute_total_assertions`), `bashunit::coverage::get_line_hits` (superseded by `bashunit::coverage::get_all_line_hits`), `bashunit::helper::trim` and `bashunit::dependencies::has_adjtimex`. All are internal (sub-namespaced) helpers, not part of the documented public API
+
 ## [0.43.0](https://github.com/TypedDevs/bashunit/compare/0.42.0...0.43.0) - 2026-07-24
 
 ### Added

release.sh

@@ -326,8 +326,15 @@ function release::rollback::restore_files() {
 
 function release::rollback::auto() {
  release::log_error "Release failed. Initiating rollback..."
- release::rollback::restore_files || true
- release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ # `if` (not `|| true`) so a failed restore is reported as such: announcing
+ # "Rollback complete" over a restore that never happened sends the operator
+ # away from a half-released working tree.
+ if release::rollback::restore_files; then
+ release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ else
+ release::log_error "Rollback FAILED: files were not restored from backup."
+ release::log_error "The working tree may be left in a half-released state."
+ fi
  release::log_info "Manual rollback command if needed: ./release.sh --rollback"
 }
 
@@ -400,6 +407,20 @@ function release::sandbox::create() {
  "$SANDBOX_DIR/node_modules" "$SANDBOX_DIR/.tasks" "$SANDBOX_DIR/tmp"
  release::log_verbose "Copied project files to sandbox (cp)"
  fi
+
+ # Neither copy method reports a conclusive exit code (the tar pipe silences
+ # its own stderr, and `cp -r` may trip over transient files), so assert the
+ # postcondition explicitly. A sandbox rehearsal on an empty directory would
+ # otherwise "pass" every step it never actually ran.
+ if [ ! -f "$SANDBOX_DIR/bashunit" ]; then
+ release::log_error "Failed to copy the project into the sandbox: $SANDBOX_DIR"
+ release::log_error "Neither the tar pipe nor the cp fallback produced a usable copy."
+ # Default the constant: when release.sh is sourced from a function (the unit
+ # tests do), its top-level `declare -r` is function-local and long gone by
+ # now — a bare `exit $EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR` would then exit 0 and turn this
+ # fatal error into a silent pass.
+ exit "${EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR:-2}"
+ fi
 }
 
 function release::sandbox::setup_git() {

.claude/rules/architecture-map.md

@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ bashunit (entry) sources all src/*.sh; version gate; early flag scan
  │ parallel: + write .result via mktemp
  └─ console_results::print_successful_test / _failed_ / …
  └─ str::rpad + strip_ansi align per-test time (pure bash)
- └─ [--parallel] wait; parallel::aggregate_test_results over *.result files
+ └─ [--parallel] wait; state::aggregate_parallel_results over *.result files
  └─ console_results::render_result totals; deferred failure/skip blocks
  └─ rerun::persist; env::cleanup_run_output_dir; exit code
 ```

.env.example

@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 # bashunit Configuration
 # Copy this file to .env and customize as needed
 # All values shown are defaults (leave empty to use default)
+#
+# Do NOT add a variable here just to document it. .env is loaded with
+# `set -o allexport; source .env`, so every line is an unconditional assignment:
+# listing a name makes an empty value OVERRIDE one the caller exported or set on
+# the command line (`BASHUNIT_OUTPUT_FORMAT=tap ./bashunit` stops working).
+# Settings that must stay overridable are documented in docs/configuration.md
+# instead. `.bashunitrc` does not have this problem — it applies only when unset.
 ################################################################################
 
 #───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -19,7 +26,7 @@ BASHUNIT_HEADER_ASCII_ART= # Default: false
 BASHUNIT_SIMPLE_OUTPUT= # Default: false (use dots instead of test names)
 BASHUNIT_VERBOSE= # Default: false (show environment variables)
 BASHUNIT_NO_OUTPUT= # Default: false (suppress all output)
-BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: true
+BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: auto (true|false|auto; auto skips per-test times when the clock forks)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_SKIPPED= # Default: false (show skipped test details)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_INCOMPLETE= # Default: false (show incomplete test details)
 BASHUNIT_FAILURES_ONLY= # Default: false (only show failures)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,23 @@
 ### Added
 - Per-line execution hit counts in the text report: `BASHUNIT_COVERAGE_SHOW_LINE_HITS=true` prints a `Line Hits` block listing each covered line as `<lineno>:<count>` per file. The LCOV report already carried the same counts in its `DA:<line>,<count>` records; those are now pinned by tests (#856)
 
+### Changed
+- The `--parallel` unsupported-OS warning no longer claims Alpine is excluded: Alpine has been a supported parallel platform since the race conditions were fixed, the message was simply never updated
+
+### Fixed
+- `.env.example` documented `BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME` as defaulting to `true`; the actual default has been `auto` since #765
+- bashunit now aborts with an actionable error when its scratch directories under `TMPDIR` cannot be created. Previously the run continued with every failure/skip collector writing nowhere, so a failing suite still exited non-zero but lost its assertion detail and leaked raw `src/runner.sh: line N: ...: Not a directory` errors instead of reporting the cause
+- A test file whose `set_up_before_script` changes directory no longer silently drops the remaining files from the run when the original working directory has become unreachable; the run aborts with a clear error instead
+- `release.sh` reports a failed rollback as failed instead of always printing "Rollback complete", and aborts when neither the tar nor the `cp` sandbox copy produced a usable project copy
+- `assert_arrays_equal` no longer reports the internal label `Bashunit::assert::label` when it fails outside a test function (for example from a `set_up` hook); it now reports `Assert arrays equal`, matching every other assertion
+- The exit-code assertions (`assert_exit_code`, `assert_successful_code`, `assert_unsuccessful_code`, `assert_general_error`, `assert_command_not_found`) counted the assertion as **passed** when given a non-integer exit code: `[ x -ne y ]` exits 2 rather than 1 on an unparseable operand, and that was read as "equal". They now fail closed
+- A test path containing both a glob and a space (`./bashunit "my tests/*"`) is no longer word-split into bogus search roots, which silently discovered zero tests; the path is also no longer passed through `eval`
+- The variadic assertions (`assert_contains` and friends) called with the actual value omitted now report a clean failed assertion on Bash 3.2 instead of aborting the run with `unbound variable` under `--strict`
+- An unreadable or truncated parallel `.result` file is now counted as a failed test instead of aborting aggregation with an arithmetic syntax error
+
+### Removed
+- Dead internal code with no remaining callers: the pre-cache fallback branch of the runner's `call_test_functions` (unreachable since the per-file function list became mandatory), `bashunit::state::calculate_total_assertions` (superseded by `bashunit::runner::compute_total_assertions`), `bashunit::coverage::get_line_hits` (superseded by `bashunit::coverage::get_all_line_hits`), `bashunit::helper::trim` and `bashunit::dependencies::has_adjtimex`. All are internal (sub-namespaced) helpers, not part of the documented public API
+
 ## [0.43.0](https://github.com/TypedDevs/bashunit/compare/0.42.0...0.43.0) - 2026-07-24
 
 ### Added

release.sh

@@ -326,8 +326,15 @@ function release::rollback::restore_files() {
 
 function release::rollback::auto() {
  release::log_error "Release failed. Initiating rollback..."
- release::rollback::restore_files || true
- release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ # `if` (not `|| true`) so a failed restore is reported as such: announcing
+ # "Rollback complete" over a restore that never happened sends the operator
+ # away from a half-released working tree.
+ if release::rollback::restore_files; then
+ release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ else
+ release::log_error "Rollback FAILED: files were not restored from backup."
+ release::log_error "The working tree may be left in a half-released state."
+ fi
  release::log_info "Manual rollback command if needed: ./release.sh --rollback"
 }
 
@@ -400,6 +407,20 @@ function release::sandbox::create() {
  "$SANDBOX_DIR/node_modules" "$SANDBOX_DIR/.tasks" "$SANDBOX_DIR/tmp"
  release::log_verbose "Copied project files to sandbox (cp)"
  fi
+
+ # Neither copy method reports a conclusive exit code (the tar pipe silences
+ # its own stderr, and `cp -r` may trip over transient files), so assert the
+ # postcondition explicitly. A sandbox rehearsal on an empty directory would
+ # otherwise "pass" every step it never actually ran.
+ if [ ! -f "$SANDBOX_DIR/bashunit" ]; then
+ release::log_error "Failed to copy the project into the sandbox: $SANDBOX_DIR"
+ release::log_error "Neither the tar pipe nor the cp fallback produced a usable copy."
+ # Default the constant: when release.sh is sourced from a function (the unit
+ # tests do), its top-level `declare -r` is function-local and long gone by
+ # now — a bare `exit $EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR` would then exit 0 and turn this
+ # fatal error into a silent pass.
+ exit "${EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR:-2}"
+ fi
 }
 
 function release::sandbox::setup_git() {

.claude/rules/architecture-map.md

@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ bashunit (entry) sources all src/*.sh; version gate; early flag scan
  │ parallel: + write .result via mktemp
  └─ console_results::print_successful_test / _failed_ / …
  └─ str::rpad + strip_ansi align per-test time (pure bash)
- └─ [--parallel] wait; parallel::aggregate_test_results over *.result files
+ └─ [--parallel] wait; state::aggregate_parallel_results over *.result files
  └─ console_results::render_result totals; deferred failure/skip blocks
  └─ rerun::persist; env::cleanup_run_output_dir; exit code
 ```

.env.example

@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 # bashunit Configuration
 # Copy this file to .env and customize as needed
 # All values shown are defaults (leave empty to use default)
+#
+# Do NOT add a variable here just to document it. .env is loaded with
+# `set -o allexport; source .env`, so every line is an unconditional assignment:
+# listing a name makes an empty value OVERRIDE one the caller exported or set on
+# the command line (`BASHUNIT_OUTPUT_FORMAT=tap ./bashunit` stops working).
+# Settings that must stay overridable are documented in docs/configuration.md
+# instead. `.bashunitrc` does not have this problem — it applies only when unset.
 ################################################################################
 
 #───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -19,7 +26,7 @@ BASHUNIT_HEADER_ASCII_ART= # Default: false
 BASHUNIT_SIMPLE_OUTPUT= # Default: false (use dots instead of test names)
 BASHUNIT_VERBOSE= # Default: false (show environment variables)
 BASHUNIT_NO_OUTPUT= # Default: false (suppress all output)
-BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: true
+BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: auto (true|false|auto; auto skips per-test times when the clock forks)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_SKIPPED= # Default: false (show skipped test details)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_INCOMPLETE= # Default: false (show incomplete test details)
 BASHUNIT_FAILURES_ONLY= # Default: false (only show failures)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,23 @@
 ### Added
 - Per-line execution hit counts in the text report: `BASHUNIT_COVERAGE_SHOW_LINE_HITS=true` prints a `Line Hits` block listing each covered line as `<lineno>:<count>` per file. The LCOV report already carried the same counts in its `DA:<line>,<count>` records; those are now pinned by tests (#856)
 
+### Changed
+- The `--parallel` unsupported-OS warning no longer claims Alpine is excluded: Alpine has been a supported parallel platform since the race conditions were fixed, the message was simply never updated
+
+### Fixed
+- `.env.example` documented `BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME` as defaulting to `true`; the actual default has been `auto` since #765
+- bashunit now aborts with an actionable error when its scratch directories under `TMPDIR` cannot be created. Previously the run continued with every failure/skip collector writing nowhere, so a failing suite still exited non-zero but lost its assertion detail and leaked raw `src/runner.sh: line N: ...: Not a directory` errors instead of reporting the cause
+- A test file whose `set_up_before_script` changes directory no longer silently drops the remaining files from the run when the original working directory has become unreachable; the run aborts with a clear error instead
+- `release.sh` reports a failed rollback as failed instead of always printing "Rollback complete", and aborts when neither the tar nor the `cp` sandbox copy produced a usable project copy
+- `assert_arrays_equal` no longer reports the internal label `Bashunit::assert::label` when it fails outside a test function (for example from a `set_up` hook); it now reports `Assert arrays equal`, matching every other assertion
+- The exit-code assertions (`assert_exit_code`, `assert_successful_code`, `assert_unsuccessful_code`, `assert_general_error`, `assert_command_not_found`) counted the assertion as **passed** when given a non-integer exit code: `[ x -ne y ]` exits 2 rather than 1 on an unparseable operand, and that was read as "equal". They now fail closed
+- A test path containing both a glob and a space (`./bashunit "my tests/*"`) is no longer word-split into bogus search roots, which silently discovered zero tests; the path is also no longer passed through `eval`
+- The variadic assertions (`assert_contains` and friends) called with the actual value omitted now report a clean failed assertion on Bash 3.2 instead of aborting the run with `unbound variable` under `--strict`
+- An unreadable or truncated parallel `.result` file is now counted as a failed test instead of aborting aggregation with an arithmetic syntax error
+
+### Removed
+- Dead internal code with no remaining callers: the pre-cache fallback branch of the runner's `call_test_functions` (unreachable since the per-file function list became mandatory), `bashunit::state::calculate_total_assertions` (superseded by `bashunit::runner::compute_total_assertions`), `bashunit::coverage::get_line_hits` (superseded by `bashunit::coverage::get_all_line_hits`), `bashunit::helper::trim` and `bashunit::dependencies::has_adjtimex`. All are internal (sub-namespaced) helpers, not part of the documented public API
+
 ## [0.43.0](https://github.com/TypedDevs/bashunit/compare/0.42.0...0.43.0) - 2026-07-24
 
 ### Added

release.sh

@@ -326,8 +326,15 @@ function release::rollback::restore_files() {
 
 function release::rollback::auto() {
  release::log_error "Release failed. Initiating rollback..."
- release::rollback::restore_files || true
- release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ # `if` (not `|| true`) so a failed restore is reported as such: announcing
+ # "Rollback complete" over a restore that never happened sends the operator
+ # away from a half-released working tree.
+ if release::rollback::restore_files; then
+ release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ else
+ release::log_error "Rollback FAILED: files were not restored from backup."
+ release::log_error "The working tree may be left in a half-released state."
+ fi
  release::log_info "Manual rollback command if needed: ./release.sh --rollback"
 }
 
@@ -400,6 +407,20 @@ function release::sandbox::create() {
  "$SANDBOX_DIR/node_modules" "$SANDBOX_DIR/.tasks" "$SANDBOX_DIR/tmp"
  release::log_verbose "Copied project files to sandbox (cp)"
  fi
+
+ # Neither copy method reports a conclusive exit code (the tar pipe silences
+ # its own stderr, and `cp -r` may trip over transient files), so assert the
+ # postcondition explicitly. A sandbox rehearsal on an empty directory would
+ # otherwise "pass" every step it never actually ran.
+ if [ ! -f "$SANDBOX_DIR/bashunit" ]; then
+ release::log_error "Failed to copy the project into the sandbox: $SANDBOX_DIR"
+ release::log_error "Neither the tar pipe nor the cp fallback produced a usable copy."
+ # Default the constant: when release.sh is sourced from a function (the unit
+ # tests do), its top-level `declare -r` is function-local and long gone by
+ # now — a bare `exit $EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR` would then exit 0 and turn this
+ # fatal error into a silent pass.
+ exit "${EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR:-2}"
+ fi
 }
 
 function release::sandbox::setup_git() {

.claude/rules/architecture-map.md

@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ bashunit (entry) sources all src/*.sh; version gate; early flag scan
  │ parallel: + write .result via mktemp
  └─ console_results::print_successful_test / _failed_ / …
  └─ str::rpad + strip_ansi align per-test time (pure bash)
- └─ [--parallel] wait; parallel::aggregate_test_results over *.result files
+ └─ [--parallel] wait; state::aggregate_parallel_results over *.result files
  └─ console_results::render_result totals; deferred failure/skip blocks
  └─ rerun::persist; env::cleanup_run_output_dir; exit code
 ```

.env.example

@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 # bashunit Configuration
 # Copy this file to .env and customize as needed
 # All values shown are defaults (leave empty to use default)
+#
+# Do NOT add a variable here just to document it. .env is loaded with
+# `set -o allexport; source .env`, so every line is an unconditional assignment:
+# listing a name makes an empty value OVERRIDE one the caller exported or set on
+# the command line (`BASHUNIT_OUTPUT_FORMAT=tap ./bashunit` stops working).
+# Settings that must stay overridable are documented in docs/configuration.md
+# instead. `.bashunitrc` does not have this problem — it applies only when unset.
 ################################################################################
 
 #───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -19,7 +26,7 @@ BASHUNIT_HEADER_ASCII_ART= # Default: false
 BASHUNIT_SIMPLE_OUTPUT= # Default: false (use dots instead of test names)
 BASHUNIT_VERBOSE= # Default: false (show environment variables)
 BASHUNIT_NO_OUTPUT= # Default: false (suppress all output)
-BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: true
+BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: auto (true|false|auto; auto skips per-test times when the clock forks)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_SKIPPED= # Default: false (show skipped test details)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_INCOMPLETE= # Default: false (show incomplete test details)
 BASHUNIT_FAILURES_ONLY= # Default: false (only show failures)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,23 @@
 ### Added
 - Per-line execution hit counts in the text report: `BASHUNIT_COVERAGE_SHOW_LINE_HITS=true` prints a `Line Hits` block listing each covered line as `<lineno>:<count>` per file. The LCOV report already carried the same counts in its `DA:<line>,<count>` records; those are now pinned by tests (#856)
 
+### Changed
+- The `--parallel` unsupported-OS warning no longer claims Alpine is excluded: Alpine has been a supported parallel platform since the race conditions were fixed, the message was simply never updated
+
+### Fixed
+- `.env.example` documented `BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME` as defaulting to `true`; the actual default has been `auto` since #765
+- bashunit now aborts with an actionable error when its scratch directories under `TMPDIR` cannot be created. Previously the run continued with every failure/skip collector writing nowhere, so a failing suite still exited non-zero but lost its assertion detail and leaked raw `src/runner.sh: line N: ...: Not a directory` errors instead of reporting the cause
+- A test file whose `set_up_before_script` changes directory no longer silently drops the remaining files from the run when the original working directory has become unreachable; the run aborts with a clear error instead
+- `release.sh` reports a failed rollback as failed instead of always printing "Rollback complete", and aborts when neither the tar nor the `cp` sandbox copy produced a usable project copy
+- `assert_arrays_equal` no longer reports the internal label `Bashunit::assert::label` when it fails outside a test function (for example from a `set_up` hook); it now reports `Assert arrays equal`, matching every other assertion
+- The exit-code assertions (`assert_exit_code`, `assert_successful_code`, `assert_unsuccessful_code`, `assert_general_error`, `assert_command_not_found`) counted the assertion as **passed** when given a non-integer exit code: `[ x -ne y ]` exits 2 rather than 1 on an unparseable operand, and that was read as "equal". They now fail closed
+- A test path containing both a glob and a space (`./bashunit "my tests/*"`) is no longer word-split into bogus search roots, which silently discovered zero tests; the path is also no longer passed through `eval`
+- The variadic assertions (`assert_contains` and friends) called with the actual value omitted now report a clean failed assertion on Bash 3.2 instead of aborting the run with `unbound variable` under `--strict`
+- An unreadable or truncated parallel `.result` file is now counted as a failed test instead of aborting aggregation with an arithmetic syntax error
+
+### Removed
+- Dead internal code with no remaining callers: the pre-cache fallback branch of the runner's `call_test_functions` (unreachable since the per-file function list became mandatory), `bashunit::state::calculate_total_assertions` (superseded by `bashunit::runner::compute_total_assertions`), `bashunit::coverage::get_line_hits` (superseded by `bashunit::coverage::get_all_line_hits`), `bashunit::helper::trim` and `bashunit::dependencies::has_adjtimex`. All are internal (sub-namespaced) helpers, not part of the documented public API
+
 ## [0.43.0](https://github.com/TypedDevs/bashunit/compare/0.42.0...0.43.0) - 2026-07-24
 
 ### Added

release.sh

@@ -326,8 +326,15 @@ function release::rollback::restore_files() {
 
 function release::rollback::auto() {
  release::log_error "Release failed. Initiating rollback..."
- release::rollback::restore_files || true
- release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ # `if` (not `|| true`) so a failed restore is reported as such: announcing
+ # "Rollback complete" over a restore that never happened sends the operator
+ # away from a half-released working tree.
+ if release::rollback::restore_files; then
+ release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ else
+ release::log_error "Rollback FAILED: files were not restored from backup."
+ release::log_error "The working tree may be left in a half-released state."
+ fi
  release::log_info "Manual rollback command if needed: ./release.sh --rollback"
 }
 
@@ -400,6 +407,20 @@ function release::sandbox::create() {
  "$SANDBOX_DIR/node_modules" "$SANDBOX_DIR/.tasks" "$SANDBOX_DIR/tmp"
  release::log_verbose "Copied project files to sandbox (cp)"
  fi
+
+ # Neither copy method reports a conclusive exit code (the tar pipe silences
+ # its own stderr, and `cp -r` may trip over transient files), so assert the
+ # postcondition explicitly. A sandbox rehearsal on an empty directory would
+ # otherwise "pass" every step it never actually ran.
+ if [ ! -f "$SANDBOX_DIR/bashunit" ]; then
+ release::log_error "Failed to copy the project into the sandbox: $SANDBOX_DIR"
+ release::log_error "Neither the tar pipe nor the cp fallback produced a usable copy."
+ # Default the constant: when release.sh is sourced from a function (the unit
+ # tests do), its top-level `declare -r` is function-local and long gone by
+ # now — a bare `exit $EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR` would then exit 0 and turn this
+ # fatal error into a silent pass.
+ exit "${EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR:-2}"
+ fi
 }
 
 function release::sandbox::setup_git() {

.claude/rules/architecture-map.md

@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ bashunit (entry) sources all src/*.sh; version gate; early flag scan
  │ parallel: + write .result via mktemp
  └─ console_results::print_successful_test / _failed_ / …
  └─ str::rpad + strip_ansi align per-test time (pure bash)
- └─ [--parallel] wait; parallel::aggregate_test_results over *.result files
+ └─ [--parallel] wait; state::aggregate_parallel_results over *.result files
  └─ console_results::render_result totals; deferred failure/skip blocks
  └─ rerun::persist; env::cleanup_run_output_dir; exit code
 ```

.env.example

@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 # bashunit Configuration
 # Copy this file to .env and customize as needed
 # All values shown are defaults (leave empty to use default)
+#
+# Do NOT add a variable here just to document it. .env is loaded with
+# `set -o allexport; source .env`, so every line is an unconditional assignment:
+# listing a name makes an empty value OVERRIDE one the caller exported or set on
+# the command line (`BASHUNIT_OUTPUT_FORMAT=tap ./bashunit` stops working).
+# Settings that must stay overridable are documented in docs/configuration.md
+# instead. `.bashunitrc` does not have this problem — it applies only when unset.
 ################################################################################
 
 #───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -19,7 +26,7 @@ BASHUNIT_HEADER_ASCII_ART= # Default: false
 BASHUNIT_SIMPLE_OUTPUT= # Default: false (use dots instead of test names)
 BASHUNIT_VERBOSE= # Default: false (show environment variables)
 BASHUNIT_NO_OUTPUT= # Default: false (suppress all output)
-BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: true
+BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: auto (true|false|auto; auto skips per-test times when the clock forks)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_SKIPPED= # Default: false (show skipped test details)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_INCOMPLETE= # Default: false (show incomplete test details)
 BASHUNIT_FAILURES_ONLY= # Default: false (only show failures)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,23 @@
 ### Added
 - Per-line execution hit counts in the text report: `BASHUNIT_COVERAGE_SHOW_LINE_HITS=true` prints a `Line Hits` block listing each covered line as `<lineno>:<count>` per file. The LCOV report already carried the same counts in its `DA:<line>,<count>` records; those are now pinned by tests (#856)
 
+### Changed
+- The `--parallel` unsupported-OS warning no longer claims Alpine is excluded: Alpine has been a supported parallel platform since the race conditions were fixed, the message was simply never updated
+
+### Fixed
+- `.env.example` documented `BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME` as defaulting to `true`; the actual default has been `auto` since #765
+- bashunit now aborts with an actionable error when its scratch directories under `TMPDIR` cannot be created. Previously the run continued with every failure/skip collector writing nowhere, so a failing suite still exited non-zero but lost its assertion detail and leaked raw `src/runner.sh: line N: ...: Not a directory` errors instead of reporting the cause
+- A test file whose `set_up_before_script` changes directory no longer silently drops the remaining files from the run when the original working directory has become unreachable; the run aborts with a clear error instead
+- `release.sh` reports a failed rollback as failed instead of always printing "Rollback complete", and aborts when neither the tar nor the `cp` sandbox copy produced a usable project copy
+- `assert_arrays_equal` no longer reports the internal label `Bashunit::assert::label` when it fails outside a test function (for example from a `set_up` hook); it now reports `Assert arrays equal`, matching every other assertion
+- The exit-code assertions (`assert_exit_code`, `assert_successful_code`, `assert_unsuccessful_code`, `assert_general_error`, `assert_command_not_found`) counted the assertion as **passed** when given a non-integer exit code: `[ x -ne y ]` exits 2 rather than 1 on an unparseable operand, and that was read as "equal". They now fail closed
+- A test path containing both a glob and a space (`./bashunit "my tests/*"`) is no longer word-split into bogus search roots, which silently discovered zero tests; the path is also no longer passed through `eval`
+- The variadic assertions (`assert_contains` and friends) called with the actual value omitted now report a clean failed assertion on Bash 3.2 instead of aborting the run with `unbound variable` under `--strict`
+- An unreadable or truncated parallel `.result` file is now counted as a failed test instead of aborting aggregation with an arithmetic syntax error
+
+### Removed
+- Dead internal code with no remaining callers: the pre-cache fallback branch of the runner's `call_test_functions` (unreachable since the per-file function list became mandatory), `bashunit::state::calculate_total_assertions` (superseded by `bashunit::runner::compute_total_assertions`), `bashunit::coverage::get_line_hits` (superseded by `bashunit::coverage::get_all_line_hits`), `bashunit::helper::trim` and `bashunit::dependencies::has_adjtimex`. All are internal (sub-namespaced) helpers, not part of the documented public API
+
 ## [0.43.0](https://github.com/TypedDevs/bashunit/compare/0.42.0...0.43.0) - 2026-07-24
 
 ### Added

release.sh

@@ -326,8 +326,15 @@ function release::rollback::restore_files() {
 
 function release::rollback::auto() {
  release::log_error "Release failed. Initiating rollback..."
- release::rollback::restore_files || true
- release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ # `if` (not `|| true`) so a failed restore is reported as such: announcing
+ # "Rollback complete" over a restore that never happened sends the operator
+ # away from a half-released working tree.
+ if release::rollback::restore_files; then
+ release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ else
+ release::log_error "Rollback FAILED: files were not restored from backup."
+ release::log_error "The working tree may be left in a half-released state."
+ fi
  release::log_info "Manual rollback command if needed: ./release.sh --rollback"
 }
 
@@ -400,6 +407,20 @@ function release::sandbox::create() {
  "$SANDBOX_DIR/node_modules" "$SANDBOX_DIR/.tasks" "$SANDBOX_DIR/tmp"
  release::log_verbose "Copied project files to sandbox (cp)"
  fi
+
+ # Neither copy method reports a conclusive exit code (the tar pipe silences
+ # its own stderr, and `cp -r` may trip over transient files), so assert the
+ # postcondition explicitly. A sandbox rehearsal on an empty directory would
+ # otherwise "pass" every step it never actually ran.
+ if [ ! -f "$SANDBOX_DIR/bashunit" ]; then
+ release::log_error "Failed to copy the project into the sandbox: $SANDBOX_DIR"
+ release::log_error "Neither the tar pipe nor the cp fallback produced a usable copy."
+ # Default the constant: when release.sh is sourced from a function (the unit
+ # tests do), its top-level `declare -r` is function-local and long gone by
+ # now — a bare `exit $EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR` would then exit 0 and turn this
+ # fatal error into a silent pass.
+ exit "${EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR:-2}"
+ fi
 }
 
 function release::sandbox::setup_git() {

.claude/rules/architecture-map.md

@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ bashunit (entry) sources all src/*.sh; version gate; early flag scan
  │ parallel: + write .result via mktemp
  └─ console_results::print_successful_test / _failed_ / …
  └─ str::rpad + strip_ansi align per-test time (pure bash)
- └─ [--parallel] wait; parallel::aggregate_test_results over *.result files
+ └─ [--parallel] wait; state::aggregate_parallel_results over *.result files
  └─ console_results::render_result totals; deferred failure/skip blocks
  └─ rerun::persist; env::cleanup_run_output_dir; exit code
 ```

.env.example

@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 # bashunit Configuration
 # Copy this file to .env and customize as needed
 # All values shown are defaults (leave empty to use default)
+#
+# Do NOT add a variable here just to document it. .env is loaded with
+# `set -o allexport; source .env`, so every line is an unconditional assignment:
+# listing a name makes an empty value OVERRIDE one the caller exported or set on
+# the command line (`BASHUNIT_OUTPUT_FORMAT=tap ./bashunit` stops working).
+# Settings that must stay overridable are documented in docs/configuration.md
+# instead. `.bashunitrc` does not have this problem — it applies only when unset.
 ################################################################################
 
 #───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -19,7 +26,7 @@ BASHUNIT_HEADER_ASCII_ART= # Default: false
 BASHUNIT_SIMPLE_OUTPUT= # Default: false (use dots instead of test names)
 BASHUNIT_VERBOSE= # Default: false (show environment variables)
 BASHUNIT_NO_OUTPUT= # Default: false (suppress all output)
-BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: true
+BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: auto (true|false|auto; auto skips per-test times when the clock forks)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_SKIPPED= # Default: false (show skipped test details)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_INCOMPLETE= # Default: false (show incomplete test details)
 BASHUNIT_FAILURES_ONLY= # Default: false (only show failures)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,23 @@
 ### Added
 - Per-line execution hit counts in the text report: `BASHUNIT_COVERAGE_SHOW_LINE_HITS=true` prints a `Line Hits` block listing each covered line as `<lineno>:<count>` per file. The LCOV report already carried the same counts in its `DA:<line>,<count>` records; those are now pinned by tests (#856)
 
+### Changed
+- The `--parallel` unsupported-OS warning no longer claims Alpine is excluded: Alpine has been a supported parallel platform since the race conditions were fixed, the message was simply never updated
+
+### Fixed
+- `.env.example` documented `BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME` as defaulting to `true`; the actual default has been `auto` since #765
+- bashunit now aborts with an actionable error when its scratch directories under `TMPDIR` cannot be created. Previously the run continued with every failure/skip collector writing nowhere, so a failing suite still exited non-zero but lost its assertion detail and leaked raw `src/runner.sh: line N: ...: Not a directory` errors instead of reporting the cause
+- A test file whose `set_up_before_script` changes directory no longer silently drops the remaining files from the run when the original working directory has become unreachable; the run aborts with a clear error instead
+- `release.sh` reports a failed rollback as failed instead of always printing "Rollback complete", and aborts when neither the tar nor the `cp` sandbox copy produced a usable project copy
+- `assert_arrays_equal` no longer reports the internal label `Bashunit::assert::label` when it fails outside a test function (for example from a `set_up` hook); it now reports `Assert arrays equal`, matching every other assertion
+- The exit-code assertions (`assert_exit_code`, `assert_successful_code`, `assert_unsuccessful_code`, `assert_general_error`, `assert_command_not_found`) counted the assertion as **passed** when given a non-integer exit code: `[ x -ne y ]` exits 2 rather than 1 on an unparseable operand, and that was read as "equal". They now fail closed
+- A test path containing both a glob and a space (`./bashunit "my tests/*"`) is no longer word-split into bogus search roots, which silently discovered zero tests; the path is also no longer passed through `eval`
+- The variadic assertions (`assert_contains` and friends) called with the actual value omitted now report a clean failed assertion on Bash 3.2 instead of aborting the run with `unbound variable` under `--strict`
+- An unreadable or truncated parallel `.result` file is now counted as a failed test instead of aborting aggregation with an arithmetic syntax error
+
+### Removed
+- Dead internal code with no remaining callers: the pre-cache fallback branch of the runner's `call_test_functions` (unreachable since the per-file function list became mandatory), `bashunit::state::calculate_total_assertions` (superseded by `bashunit::runner::compute_total_assertions`), `bashunit::coverage::get_line_hits` (superseded by `bashunit::coverage::get_all_line_hits`), `bashunit::helper::trim` and `bashunit::dependencies::has_adjtimex`. All are internal (sub-namespaced) helpers, not part of the documented public API
+
 ## [0.43.0](https://github.com/TypedDevs/bashunit/compare/0.42.0...0.43.0) - 2026-07-24
 
 ### Added

release.sh

@@ -326,8 +326,15 @@ function release::rollback::restore_files() {
 
 function release::rollback::auto() {
  release::log_error "Release failed. Initiating rollback..."
- release::rollback::restore_files || true
- release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ # `if` (not `|| true`) so a failed restore is reported as such: announcing
+ # "Rollback complete" over a restore that never happened sends the operator
+ # away from a half-released working tree.
+ if release::rollback::restore_files; then
+ release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ else
+ release::log_error "Rollback FAILED: files were not restored from backup."
+ release::log_error "The working tree may be left in a half-released state."
+ fi
  release::log_info "Manual rollback command if needed: ./release.sh --rollback"
 }
 
@@ -400,6 +407,20 @@ function release::sandbox::create() {
  "$SANDBOX_DIR/node_modules" "$SANDBOX_DIR/.tasks" "$SANDBOX_DIR/tmp"
  release::log_verbose "Copied project files to sandbox (cp)"
  fi
+
+ # Neither copy method reports a conclusive exit code (the tar pipe silences
+ # its own stderr, and `cp -r` may trip over transient files), so assert the
+ # postcondition explicitly. A sandbox rehearsal on an empty directory would
+ # otherwise "pass" every step it never actually ran.
+ if [ ! -f "$SANDBOX_DIR/bashunit" ]; then
+ release::log_error "Failed to copy the project into the sandbox: $SANDBOX_DIR"
+ release::log_error "Neither the tar pipe nor the cp fallback produced a usable copy."
+ # Default the constant: when release.sh is sourced from a function (the unit
+ # tests do), its top-level `declare -r` is function-local and long gone by
+ # now — a bare `exit $EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR` would then exit 0 and turn this
+ # fatal error into a silent pass.
+ exit "${EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR:-2}"
+ fi
 }
 
 function release::sandbox::setup_git() {

.claude/rules/architecture-map.md

@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ bashunit (entry) sources all src/*.sh; version gate; early flag scan
  │ parallel: + write .result via mktemp
  └─ console_results::print_successful_test / _failed_ / …
  └─ str::rpad + strip_ansi align per-test time (pure bash)
- └─ [--parallel] wait; parallel::aggregate_test_results over *.result files
+ └─ [--parallel] wait; state::aggregate_parallel_results over *.result files
  └─ console_results::render_result totals; deferred failure/skip blocks
  └─ rerun::persist; env::cleanup_run_output_dir; exit code
 ```

.env.example

@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 # bashunit Configuration
 # Copy this file to .env and customize as needed
 # All values shown are defaults (leave empty to use default)
+#
+# Do NOT add a variable here just to document it. .env is loaded with
+# `set -o allexport; source .env`, so every line is an unconditional assignment:
+# listing a name makes an empty value OVERRIDE one the caller exported or set on
+# the command line (`BASHUNIT_OUTPUT_FORMAT=tap ./bashunit` stops working).
+# Settings that must stay overridable are documented in docs/configuration.md
+# instead. `.bashunitrc` does not have this problem — it applies only when unset.
 ################################################################################
 
 #───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -19,7 +26,7 @@ BASHUNIT_HEADER_ASCII_ART= # Default: false
 BASHUNIT_SIMPLE_OUTPUT= # Default: false (use dots instead of test names)
 BASHUNIT_VERBOSE= # Default: false (show environment variables)
 BASHUNIT_NO_OUTPUT= # Default: false (suppress all output)
-BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: true
+BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: auto (true|false|auto; auto skips per-test times when the clock forks)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_SKIPPED= # Default: false (show skipped test details)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_INCOMPLETE= # Default: false (show incomplete test details)
 BASHUNIT_FAILURES_ONLY= # Default: false (only show failures)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,23 @@
 ### Added
 - Per-line execution hit counts in the text report: `BASHUNIT_COVERAGE_SHOW_LINE_HITS=true` prints a `Line Hits` block listing each covered line as `<lineno>:<count>` per file. The LCOV report already carried the same counts in its `DA:<line>,<count>` records; those are now pinned by tests (#856)
 
+### Changed
+- The `--parallel` unsupported-OS warning no longer claims Alpine is excluded: Alpine has been a supported parallel platform since the race conditions were fixed, the message was simply never updated
+
+### Fixed
+- `.env.example` documented `BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME` as defaulting to `true`; the actual default has been `auto` since #765
+- bashunit now aborts with an actionable error when its scratch directories under `TMPDIR` cannot be created. Previously the run continued with every failure/skip collector writing nowhere, so a failing suite still exited non-zero but lost its assertion detail and leaked raw `src/runner.sh: line N: ...: Not a directory` errors instead of reporting the cause
+- A test file whose `set_up_before_script` changes directory no longer silently drops the remaining files from the run when the original working directory has become unreachable; the run aborts with a clear error instead
+- `release.sh` reports a failed rollback as failed instead of always printing "Rollback complete", and aborts when neither the tar nor the `cp` sandbox copy produced a usable project copy
+- `assert_arrays_equal` no longer reports the internal label `Bashunit::assert::label` when it fails outside a test function (for example from a `set_up` hook); it now reports `Assert arrays equal`, matching every other assertion
+- The exit-code assertions (`assert_exit_code`, `assert_successful_code`, `assert_unsuccessful_code`, `assert_general_error`, `assert_command_not_found`) counted the assertion as **passed** when given a non-integer exit code: `[ x -ne y ]` exits 2 rather than 1 on an unparseable operand, and that was read as "equal". They now fail closed
+- A test path containing both a glob and a space (`./bashunit "my tests/*"`) is no longer word-split into bogus search roots, which silently discovered zero tests; the path is also no longer passed through `eval`
+- The variadic assertions (`assert_contains` and friends) called with the actual value omitted now report a clean failed assertion on Bash 3.2 instead of aborting the run with `unbound variable` under `--strict`
+- An unreadable or truncated parallel `.result` file is now counted as a failed test instead of aborting aggregation with an arithmetic syntax error
+
+### Removed
+- Dead internal code with no remaining callers: the pre-cache fallback branch of the runner's `call_test_functions` (unreachable since the per-file function list became mandatory), `bashunit::state::calculate_total_assertions` (superseded by `bashunit::runner::compute_total_assertions`), `bashunit::coverage::get_line_hits` (superseded by `bashunit::coverage::get_all_line_hits`), `bashunit::helper::trim` and `bashunit::dependencies::has_adjtimex`. All are internal (sub-namespaced) helpers, not part of the documented public API
+
 ## [0.43.0](https://github.com/TypedDevs/bashunit/compare/0.42.0...0.43.0) - 2026-07-24
 
 ### Added

release.sh

@@ -326,8 +326,15 @@ function release::rollback::restore_files() {
 
 function release::rollback::auto() {
  release::log_error "Release failed. Initiating rollback..."
- release::rollback::restore_files || true
- release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ # `if` (not `|| true`) so a failed restore is reported as such: announcing
+ # "Rollback complete" over a restore that never happened sends the operator
+ # away from a half-released working tree.
+ if release::rollback::restore_files; then
+ release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ else
+ release::log_error "Rollback FAILED: files were not restored from backup."
+ release::log_error "The working tree may be left in a half-released state."
+ fi
  release::log_info "Manual rollback command if needed: ./release.sh --rollback"
 }
 
@@ -400,6 +407,20 @@ function release::sandbox::create() {
  "$SANDBOX_DIR/node_modules" "$SANDBOX_DIR/.tasks" "$SANDBOX_DIR/tmp"
  release::log_verbose "Copied project files to sandbox (cp)"
  fi
+
+ # Neither copy method reports a conclusive exit code (the tar pipe silences
+ # its own stderr, and `cp -r` may trip over transient files), so assert the
+ # postcondition explicitly. A sandbox rehearsal on an empty directory would
+ # otherwise "pass" every step it never actually ran.
+ if [ ! -f "$SANDBOX_DIR/bashunit" ]; then
+ release::log_error "Failed to copy the project into the sandbox: $SANDBOX_DIR"
+ release::log_error "Neither the tar pipe nor the cp fallback produced a usable copy."
+ # Default the constant: when release.sh is sourced from a function (the unit
+ # tests do), its top-level `declare -r` is function-local and long gone by
+ # now — a bare `exit $EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR` would then exit 0 and turn this
+ # fatal error into a silent pass.
+ exit "${EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR:-2}"
+ fi
 }
 
 function release::sandbox::setup_git() {

.claude/rules/architecture-map.md

@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ bashunit (entry) sources all src/*.sh; version gate; early flag scan
  │ parallel: + write .result via mktemp
  └─ console_results::print_successful_test / _failed_ / …
  └─ str::rpad + strip_ansi align per-test time (pure bash)
- └─ [--parallel] wait; parallel::aggregate_test_results over *.result files
+ └─ [--parallel] wait; state::aggregate_parallel_results over *.result files
  └─ console_results::render_result totals; deferred failure/skip blocks
  └─ rerun::persist; env::cleanup_run_output_dir; exit code
 ```

.env.example

@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 # bashunit Configuration
 # Copy this file to .env and customize as needed
 # All values shown are defaults (leave empty to use default)
+#
+# Do NOT add a variable here just to document it. .env is loaded with
+# `set -o allexport; source .env`, so every line is an unconditional assignment:
+# listing a name makes an empty value OVERRIDE one the caller exported or set on
+# the command line (`BASHUNIT_OUTPUT_FORMAT=tap ./bashunit` stops working).
+# Settings that must stay overridable are documented in docs/configuration.md
+# instead. `.bashunitrc` does not have this problem — it applies only when unset.
 ################################################################################
 
 #───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -19,7 +26,7 @@ BASHUNIT_HEADER_ASCII_ART= # Default: false
 BASHUNIT_SIMPLE_OUTPUT= # Default: false (use dots instead of test names)
 BASHUNIT_VERBOSE= # Default: false (show environment variables)
 BASHUNIT_NO_OUTPUT= # Default: false (suppress all output)
-BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: true
+BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME= # Default: auto (true|false|auto; auto skips per-test times when the clock forks)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_SKIPPED= # Default: false (show skipped test details)
 BASHUNIT_SHOW_INCOMPLETE= # Default: false (show incomplete test details)
 BASHUNIT_FAILURES_ONLY= # Default: false (only show failures)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,23 @@
 ### Added
 - Per-line execution hit counts in the text report: `BASHUNIT_COVERAGE_SHOW_LINE_HITS=true` prints a `Line Hits` block listing each covered line as `<lineno>:<count>` per file. The LCOV report already carried the same counts in its `DA:<line>,<count>` records; those are now pinned by tests (#856)
 
+### Changed
+- The `--parallel` unsupported-OS warning no longer claims Alpine is excluded: Alpine has been a supported parallel platform since the race conditions were fixed, the message was simply never updated
+
+### Fixed
+- `.env.example` documented `BASHUNIT_SHOW_EXECUTION_TIME` as defaulting to `true`; the actual default has been `auto` since #765
+- bashunit now aborts with an actionable error when its scratch directories under `TMPDIR` cannot be created. Previously the run continued with every failure/skip collector writing nowhere, so a failing suite still exited non-zero but lost its assertion detail and leaked raw `src/runner.sh: line N: ...: Not a directory` errors instead of reporting the cause
+- A test file whose `set_up_before_script` changes directory no longer silently drops the remaining files from the run when the original working directory has become unreachable; the run aborts with a clear error instead
+- `release.sh` reports a failed rollback as failed instead of always printing "Rollback complete", and aborts when neither the tar nor the `cp` sandbox copy produced a usable project copy
+- `assert_arrays_equal` no longer reports the internal label `Bashunit::assert::label` when it fails outside a test function (for example from a `set_up` hook); it now reports `Assert arrays equal`, matching every other assertion
+- The exit-code assertions (`assert_exit_code`, `assert_successful_code`, `assert_unsuccessful_code`, `assert_general_error`, `assert_command_not_found`) counted the assertion as **passed** when given a non-integer exit code: `[ x -ne y ]` exits 2 rather than 1 on an unparseable operand, and that was read as "equal". They now fail closed
+- A test path containing both a glob and a space (`./bashunit "my tests/*"`) is no longer word-split into bogus search roots, which silently discovered zero tests; the path is also no longer passed through `eval`
+- The variadic assertions (`assert_contains` and friends) called with the actual value omitted now report a clean failed assertion on Bash 3.2 instead of aborting the run with `unbound variable` under `--strict`
+- An unreadable or truncated parallel `.result` file is now counted as a failed test instead of aborting aggregation with an arithmetic syntax error
+
+### Removed
+- Dead internal code with no remaining callers: the pre-cache fallback branch of the runner's `call_test_functions` (unreachable since the per-file function list became mandatory), `bashunit::state::calculate_total_assertions` (superseded by `bashunit::runner::compute_total_assertions`), `bashunit::coverage::get_line_hits` (superseded by `bashunit::coverage::get_all_line_hits`), `bashunit::helper::trim` and `bashunit::dependencies::has_adjtimex`. All are internal (sub-namespaced) helpers, not part of the documented public API
+
 ## [0.43.0](https://github.com/TypedDevs/bashunit/compare/0.42.0...0.43.0) - 2026-07-24
 
 ### Added

release.sh

@@ -326,8 +326,15 @@ function release::rollback::restore_files() {
 
 function release::rollback::auto() {
  release::log_error "Release failed. Initiating rollback..."
- release::rollback::restore_files || true
- release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ # `if` (not `|| true`) so a failed restore is reported as such: announcing
+ # "Rollback complete" over a restore that never happened sends the operator
+ # away from a half-released working tree.
+ if release::rollback::restore_files; then
+ release::log_info "Rollback complete. Files restored to pre-release state."
+ else
+ release::log_error "Rollback FAILED: files were not restored from backup."
+ release::log_error "The working tree may be left in a half-released state."
+ fi
  release::log_info "Manual rollback command if needed: ./release.sh --rollback"
 }
 
@@ -400,6 +407,20 @@ function release::sandbox::create() {
  "$SANDBOX_DIR/node_modules" "$SANDBOX_DIR/.tasks" "$SANDBOX_DIR/tmp"
  release::log_verbose "Copied project files to sandbox (cp)"
  fi
+
+ # Neither copy method reports a conclusive exit code (the tar pipe silences
+ # its own stderr, and `cp -r` may trip over transient files), so assert the
+ # postcondition explicitly. A sandbox rehearsal on an empty directory would
+ # otherwise "pass" every step it never actually ran.
+ if [ ! -f "$SANDBOX_DIR/bashunit" ]; then
+ release::log_error "Failed to copy the project into the sandbox: $SANDBOX_DIR"
+ release::log_error "Neither the tar pipe nor the cp fallback produced a usable copy."
+ # Default the constant: when release.sh is sourced from a function (the unit
+ # tests do), its top-level `declare -r` is function-local and long gone by
+ # now — a bare `exit $EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR` would then exit 0 and turn this
+ # fatal error into a silent pass.
+ exit "${EXIT_EXECUTION_ERROR:-2}"
+ fi
 }
 
 function release::sandbox::setup_git() {