lintian

name	lintian
description	Resolve lintian -EvIL +pedantic output on a Debian source package by classifying each tag and producing the right fix — packaging change, DEP-3 quilt patch, or justified override with a comment. Bails to the maintainer after 3 attempts on the same tag. Never blanket-suppresses.

debaid lintian

Drive a package toward lintian -EvIL +pedantic clean, or justified-overrides-only.

Preconditions

• A context JSON exists at ./.debaid/context.json. If missing, build it: run ${DEBAID_ROOT}/scripts/detect-source.sh and ${DEBAID_ROOT}/scripts/tooling-probe.sh, merge their outputs (see ${DEBAID_ROOT}/shared-context.md for the full schema).
• source.has_debian_dir == true.
• tooling.lintian.available == true. If not, ask the maintainer to install lintian.

Tag classification

For every tag lintian emits, classify it into exactly one bucket:

Bucket	Use when	How to fix
fix in packaging	Tag is fixable by a change in debian/	Smallest patch that resolves the tag without side effects.
fix upstream via patch	Tag points to an upstream source issue	Author a DEP-3 patch via the gbp pq workflow: commit on patch-queue/<branch>, then gbp pq export materialises the .patch file under debian/patches/ with series updated. Include a Forwarded: header (URL or no + reason). See ${DEBAID_ROOT}/docs/house-style.md § "Patches".
justified override	Tag is a false positive, or the right answer is to suppress for this package	lintian-overrides file with a # reason: line directly above the override.
won't fix	Tag is real but maintainer accepts the cost	Report in summary; do NOT silently override.

Default: prefer fix in packaging > fix upstream > override

won't fix. Use override only when fix isn't possible or has worse trade-offs.

Hard rules

Suite-wide (apply to every debaid skill):

• Never invoke dput, debrelease, dgit push, or any upload command.
• Never git push to any remote.
• Never edit debian/changelog distribution from UNRELEASED to anything else.
• Never edit Maintainer: or Uploaders: fields.
• Never edit upstream source files directly (use debian/patches/ with DEP-3 headers).
• Never run rm -rf or git clean -fdx on the workspace.
• Never write a lintian override without a # reason comment.
• Never set Multi-Arch: same without verifying file paths.

Phase-specific (lintian):

• Every override needs a # reason: comment immediately above it. No exceptions. If you cannot write a clear reason, the tag is not eligible for an override — it's "won't fix" until the maintainer decides.
• Never override a tag class wholesale. No * wildcards in override files unless the maintainer explicitly approves.
• Place overrides correctly. Source-level tags go to debian/source/lintian-overrides. Binary-level tags go to debian/$pkg.lintian-overrides. Don't mix.
• Never edit upstream source files directly to fix a tag. Always a quilt patch.
• Never bump the package version. A lintian-fix run is not a release. The maintainer will dch -i if they want to record the change.

Process

1. Load context.
2. Run verify. Call ${DEBAID_ROOT}/scripts/verify.sh. This produces a JSON snapshot of build state and lintian tags bucketed by severity. If build.ok == false and lintian couldn't run, bail to the maintainer — the build failure is not your problem.
3. Classify each tag. Print the classification table to the maintainer.
4. Resolve, tag by tag. Process in order of severity (E → W → I → P). For each:
   • Apply the chosen fix.
   • Re-run verify (use --no-build if you have not changed anything that affects the build artefacts).
   • If the tag persists, count an attempt.
   • After budget.max_attempts_per_error_class attempts on the same tag, bail out for that tag with a structured summary and move on to the next.
5. Final pass. Run a full verify (no --no-build). Confirm only justified overrides remain. Report.

For the verify-script output schema, see ${DEBAID_ROOT}/shared-context.md § "Verify-script output schema (v1)".

Override file format

# reason: <one-line justification, ideally citing policy/devref/DEP>
<package-or-source>: <tag> [<extra context>]

Example:

# reason: upstream ships a pre-built README.html for offline use;
# regenerating it would require a Sphinx Build-Depends just to
# delete the file, which is worse than the tag.
mypkg: privacy-breach-generic [usr/share/doc/mypkg/README.html]

Bail-out conditions

• Same tag persists after max_attempts_per_error_class fix attempts.
• Tag classification is ambiguous (could be packaging fix OR upstream patch and the right answer needs domain knowledge).
• Fix introduces a NEW lintian error.
• Build fails as a precondition for running lintian.

Use the bail-out summary format from ${DEBAID_ROOT}/shared-context.md § "Bail-out summary format". Include:

• The unresolved tag and lintian's --info text for it (read it from verify.sh's lintian.log_path).
• Each fix attempt and why it didn't work.
• Concrete proposed options for the maintainer.