daw-smoke

name	daw-smoke
description	Real-DAW (REAPER) functional smoke for reload/editor/format-adapter changes — opt-in, scoped, headless-safe, zero-pollution

daw-smoke — functional reload/editor verification in a real DAW (REAPER)

Use this when you need proof that a reload / editor / format-adapter behavior actually works inside a host, beyond what auval / pluginval / clap-validator give (those prove scan+load, not functional behavior).

Harness: tools/testing/daw-smoke/reaper_smoke.py (+ insert_and_float.lua). Full rules: docs/guides/daw-smoke.md. CLAUDE.md has the one-paragraph policy.

Modes (--mode, default reload)

• reload — the original flow. Seed watched DSP variant A, insert+float the FX, copy variant B over the watched path, scrape swapped DSP / reload rejected.
• live-plugin-swap — a live plugin-INSTANCE swap inside a Pulp host that hosts another plugin in a SignalGraph. Insert+float the host FX, write a swap request to --watched-swap-request, then scrape [live-swap] committed (PASS) vs live plugin swap refused (FAIL). The success marker is NOT logged by the core swap path — SignalGraph::prepare_swap logs ONLY refusals. The host plugin must emit [live-swap] committed itself from its NodeLiveSwapPolicy::on_instance_swapped observer (that is the seam the smoke scrapes and the headless test exercises). The DAW-free, CI-runnable mirror is test/test_signal_graph_live_swap_continuity.cpp, which drives the same stage + prepare_swap commit through process() and asserts sample continuity (no dropout/xrun) across the swap block for every hosted format (VST3/AU/CLAP/ LV2). Use the REAPER mode as the local-only in-host confirmation.
• All modes share the same REAPER lifecycle (ReaperSession): fresh portable dir, temp scan path, pre-warm scan, scripted insert+float, guaranteed teardown. They differ only in what they SEED, the TRIGGER they fire once the FX is shown, and how they VERIFY the captured log. Add a mode by writing seed/trigger/verify around ReaperSession, not by duplicating the launch plumbing.

When to reach for it

• A headless / standalone / render_to_png capture PASSES but you're not sure it works in a host. It usually doesn't tell the whole story — see the gotcha below.
• Reload/editor/format-adapter change, especially before asking a human to test.
• Opt-in (default OFF), enabled per-machine in ~/.config/pulp/daw-smoke.toml; a ship gate only when enabled + gate + the diff hits the allowlist. NOT every build. DAW-Smoke: skip reason="..." trailer bypasses a single commit.

Gotchas (the expensive lessons)

• Headless capture hides adapter-only bugs. The format adapter injects state no headless path has. 2026-07-04: it synthesizes a Bypass parameter in a host, so the reload param-contract gate rejected every in-DAW reload (parameter contract differs) while every headless capture passed. Only REAPER surfaced it (fixed 4a6e048f4: the contract gate now excludes an adapter-synthesized bypass). If you change reload/editor/adapter code, a real-DAW smoke is the check that catches this.
• screencapture returns BLACK frames in an agent/SSH context (no Screen- Recording TCC grant). Do NOT verify visually via screencapture. Verify by scraping the plugin reload log from REAPER's captured stdout (swapped DSP = applied, reload rejected + reject-diff = fail, loaded initial logic = it loaded). Use render_to_png (e.g. examples/hot-reload-morph capture) for human-viewable visuals.
• REAPER launch is flaky (scan dialogs, stuck instances, first-run per portable dir). Mitigate: fresh temp portable dir per run, a pre-warm scan launch you kill, pkill -9 -x REAPER stragglers, timeouts, and an INCONCLUSIVE outcome — never a spurious FAIL. A STATUS: None/no-FX-load run is INCONCLUSIVE, not PASS.
• Never pollute the user's machine. VST3/CLAP scan from a TEMP path (portable reaper.ini vstpath/clap_path), never ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins. AU can't be scanned from a custom path, so --format au installs to the real Components folder and MUST uninstall on exit. Cleanup ALWAYS runs (finally): kill REAPER, rm temp dirs, uninstall AU. Prefer VST3/CLAP — the reload path is format-agnostic (shared editor pump), so they validate the same code the owner runs as AU in Logic.
• SKIP is never PASS. Exit codes: 0 PASS / 1 FAIL / 2 SKIP (REAPER absent) / 3 INCONCLUSIVE. A gate must treat SKIP/INCONCLUSIVE as not-passed.
• A REAPER license is a secret — provide it through the contributor's configured credential store; never commit, echo, or bake it into a CI image.