---
id: "bug-1407"
status: "fixed"
status_updated: "2026-09-24"
status_note: ""
component: "controller"
severity: "unknown"
timestamp: "2026-07-03T08:00:00.000Z"
last_seen: "2026-09-19T09:00:00Z"
occurrences: 5
files: ["src/controller/testsuite/test_config_repl.c"]
tags: ["testsuite", "controller", "commit-engine", "build-environment", "false-positive", "raft-apply-decoupling"]
related: ["bug-924"]
fix_commits: ["3ecb724"]
legacy: true
---

# bug-1407: controller_unit_test: test_commit_advance_retry_clears_push_before_commit_fence FAILS ("Expected…

## Description
controller_unit_test: test_commit_advance_retry_clears_push_before_commit_fence FAILS ("Expected TRUE Was FALSE") when running --run test_config_repl (RUN_TEST site: test_config_repl.c:4008). NOTE: Unity's own printed file:line prefix for this failure is misleading/stale (shows test_repl_unit.c:1543 or controller_test.c:1543 depending on which other suites ran earlier in the same process) -- Unity.TestFile is apparently not re-set per test_xxx(void) group in this harness, only Unity.CurrentTestLineNumber is accurate. The true source is test_config_repl.c.

## Environment
_Not recorded (migrated from buglog.json)._

## Reproduction
_Not recorded (migrated from buglog.json)._

## Root cause
DEFINITIVELY ROOT-CAUSED 2026-07-03: this was never a source-code bug. It was a stale/corrupted incremental-build artifact in the main worktree's shared `build/` directory, which had been incrementally `ninja -C build`-rebuilt across 5 sequential tasks (1.1-1.5) without ever a fresh `meson setup`. Proof (four independent measurements, isolated via separate `git worktree add` + fresh `meson setup` + `ninja`, never mutating the main worktree in place): (1) pre-feature commit 17b210c, fresh build: 0 failures, 3/3 runs. (2) commit 9b4b805 (task-1.4 HEAD, IDENTICAL source to the failing main-worktree binary), fresh build in a separate worktree: 0 failures, 3/3 runs. (3) main worktree's stale incrementally-rebuilt `build/`, same 9b4b805 commit: 100% failure, 8/8 runs across two investigation sessions. (4) main worktree after `rm -rf build && meson setup --buildtype=debug -Db_sanitize=address && ninja -C build` (full clean rebuild, same source, same commit): 0 failures, 3/3 runs. This conclusively isolates the failure to the incremental build state, not the code. This is a DIFFERENT gotcha from bug-924 (which is about the `meson test` driver hanging on overlayfs fdatasync) -- this one is `ninja -C build`'s incremental compilation silently producing a wrong/stale binary despite reporting success, likely a header-dependency tracking gap on this overlayfs-backed worktree. The prior 'CLOSED' (task 1.4, 70/70) and 'REOPENED' (task 1.5, 10/10 fail) statuses were BOTH real, contradictory, correct measurements of the SAME source code in DIFFERENT incremental-build states -- neither implementer did anything wrong; the build itself was non-deterministic relative to source content.

## Fix
CLOSED 2026-07-03 (high confidence, this time backed by cross-checked fresh-build isolation, not just an in-place re-run). No source-code fix needed -- `test_commit_advance_retry_clears_push_before_commit_fence` has apparently been correct since at least commit 3ecb724 (pre-feature). ACTION ITEM for all future tasks in this series: do not trust `ninja -C build` incremental results alone when a test result looks surprising or contradicts a very recent prior measurement on the same commit -- rebuild with `rm -rf build && meson setup build --buildtype=debug -Db_sanitize=address && ninja -C build` (or isolate via a throwaway `git worktree add` + fresh setup) before concluding a regression exists. Added to `.wolf/cerebrum.md` Do-Not-Repeat.

## Verification
_Not recorded (migrated from buglog.json)._

## References
- Related: bug-924