| name | ring:using-assert |
| description | Using lib-observability/assert, Lerian's runtime assertion package, in two modes. Sweep Mode detects panic()/log.Fatal zero-panic violations, DIY invariant checks, hand-rolled domain predicates, and missing InitAssertionMetrics. Reference Mode catalogs the asserter lifecycle, domain predicates, observability trident, AssertionError unwrapping, and the panic-vs-assert-vs-error decision tree. Go-only. Skip for non-Go or frontend code. |
ring:using-assert
Moved from lib-commons
The canonical home for this package is now github.com/LerianStudio/lib-observability/assert. It lived in github.com/LerianStudio/lib-commons/v4/commons/assert and github.com/LerianStudio/lib-commons/v5/commons/assert through the v4 and v5 shim period; lib-commons v5 still re-exports every symbol via type aliases and thin wrappers for backward compatibility, but every type and function in lib-commons/v5/commons/assert is marked Deprecated: and delegates to lib-observability/assert. New code MUST import github.com/LerianStudio/lib-observability/assert. Existing imports continue to compile during the deprecation window — there are no behavior changes, only an import-path move.
When to use
Sweep mode:
- "Sweep the codebase for lib-observability/assert opportunities"
- "Audit this service for zero-panic policy compliance"
- "Find panic()/log.Fatal violations"
- "Replace DIY invariant checks with lib-observability/assert"
Reference mode:
- "What's the signature for assert.DebitsEqualCredits?"
- "How do I initialize assertion metrics?"
- "Should I panic, assert, or return an error here?"
- "How do I unwrap AssertionError in a Fiber error handler?"
Skip when
- Working on non-Go services
- Working on frontend code
- Target codebase is Ring itself
Related
Similar: ring:using-lib-observability, ring:using-runtime
Compatibility: ring:using-lib-commons (covers the v5 deprecation shim and re-export aliases)
Mode Selection
| Request Shape | Mode |
|---|
| "Sweep / audit for assert opportunities" | Sweep |
| "Find panic()/log.Fatal() violations" | Sweep |
| "What's the signature for X?" | Reference |
| "Should I panic, assert, or return error?" | Reference |
SWEEP MODE
4-phase sweep. Each phase has a hard gate — do not proceed until the current phase produces its artifact.
Phase 1: Version Reconnaissance → assert-version-report.json
Phase 2: CHANGELOG Delta Analysis → assert-delta-report.json
Phase 3: Multi-Angle DIY Sweep → 6 × assert-sweep-{N}-{angle}.json
Phase 4: Consolidated Report → assert-sweep-report.md + assert-sweep-tasks.json
Phase 1: Version Reconnaissance
- Read
go.mod — extract pinned versions of github.com/LerianStudio/lib-observability and (if present) github.com/LerianStudio/lib-commons/vN. Either import path is valid: lib-observability is canonical; lib-commons/v5/commons/assert is a deprecation shim that re-exports the same symbols.
- WebFetch
https://api.github.com/repos/LerianStudio/lib-observability/releases/latest — extract tag_name. Also fetch the lib-commons release tag for shim consumers.
- Classify drift: up-to-date / minor-drift / moderate-drift / major-upgrade / module-mismatch. Treat "imports lib-commons assert shim" as
module-mismatch for new code — the recommended migration is to switch the import to lib-observability/assert.
- Emit
/tmp/assert-version-report.json: {pinned_observability_version, pinned_commons_version, latest_observability_version, drift_classification, major_upgrade_required, module_path, uses_shim}
Phase 2: CHANGELOG Delta Analysis
- WebFetch
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LerianStudio/lib-observability/main/CHANGELOG.md
- Filter entries between pinned_observability_version and latest_observability_version that affect
assert
- Classify:
new-predicate / new-method / breaking-change / security-fix / bugfix
- Emit
/tmp/assert-delta-report.json
Phase 3: Multi-Angle DIY Sweep
⛔ STOP-CHECK BEFORE DISPATCH
Before emitting any Task call, count the explorers you intend to launch in this turn.
- Count MUST equal 6.
- If count < 6 → STOP. Do not partial-dispatch. Reconcile against the 6 angles below and try again.
- The 6 angles are the canonical sweep. No substitutions, no omissions.
⛔ MUST NOT trickle-dispatch
All 6 explorers leave in the SAME TURN, before reading any explorer output.
Forbidden sequences:
- Dispatch explorer 1 → read result → dispatch explorer 2
- Dispatch a subset → wait → dispatch the rest
- Dispatch follow-up explorers conditioned on partial output
- Loop sequentially over the angle list
If you find yourself about to dispatch an explorer in a turn AFTER any explorer has already returned a result → STOP. You violated parallel dispatch. Report the violation and mark the phase INCOMPLETE rather than completing the trickle.
Self-verify after dispatch
After the dispatch turn, verify all 6 Task calls were emitted in that single turn. If fewer than 6 went out, the phase did NOT execute correctly. Mark INCOMPLETE and surface the dispatch failure — do NOT silently continue with a partial pool.
Parallel dispatch — atomic batch
Emit all 6 Task calls in a SINGLE TURN, as one atomic batch.
If your runtime exposes a multi_tool_use.parallel wrapper, use it to dispatch the complete pool in one wrapped invocation. This is the canonical fan-out mechanism on OpenAI-style tool envelopes and on certain Anthropic SDK consumers — naming it explicitly activates parallel emission on runtimes where trickle-dispatch is the default behavior.
If your runtime emits parallel tool_use blocks natively (Claude Code with Claude models), multi_tool_use.parallel may not be needed — but naming it is harmless and serves as an enforcement anchor.
The STOP-CHECK, anti-trickle, and self-verify guards above remain binding regardless of which mechanism your runtime uses.
Dispatch all 6 explorer angles in one parallel batch. Wait for all before Phase 4.
Per-explorer dispatch (subagent_type: ring:codebase-explorer):
## Target: <absolute path>
## Your Angle: <angle number + name>
## Severity Calibration / DIY Patterns / Replacement / Migration Complexity / Version Context
<verbatim from sub-files/sweep-angles.md for this angle>
## Output
Write to: /tmp/assert-sweep-{N}-{angle-slug}.json
Schema: { angle_number, angle_name, severity, migration_complexity,
findings: [{file, line, diy_pattern, replacement, evidence_snippet, notes}],
summary, requires_major_upgrade }
If no findings: write file with empty findings array.
Full angle specifications: sub-files/sweep-angles.md
The 6 angles cover:
panic() in non-test code (CRITICAL)
- Defensive nil/empty checks without metric emission (HIGH)
- Hand-rolled domain predicates duplicating
assert.* (HIGH)
- Missing
InitAssertionMetrics at startup (HIGH)
- Financial invariants in tests only, not production (CRITICAL)
AssertionError not unwrapped in error boundaries (MEDIUM)
Phase 4: Consolidated Report
Dispatch synthesizer to read all 6 explorer files and emit:
/tmp/assert-sweep-report.md — aggregate findings by severity
/tmp/assert-sweep-tasks.json — one task per DIY pattern cluster
Surface report path + task count; offer handoff to ring:running-dev-cycle.
REFERENCE MODE
Full API reference in sub-files/reference.md. Load sections relevant to your task.
Quick Navigation
| # | Section | What you'll find |
|---|
| 1 | API Surface | Exported symbols, signatures |
| 2 | Asserter Lifecycle | Scoping, naming, anti-patterns |
| 3 | Instance Methods | That / NotNil / NotEmpty / NoError / Never / Halt |
| 4 | Domain Predicate Catalog | Numeric / financial / state-machine / network / time |
| 5 | Composition Pattern | Pure predicates + observable asserter |
| 6 | Observability Trident | Log + span event + metric on every failure |
| 7 | AssertionError Unwrapping | Error boundary patterns |
| 8 | Decision Tree | panic vs assert vs error |
| 9 | Testing Patterns | Proving assertions fire |
| 10 | Anti-Pattern Catalog | Six anti-patterns |
| 11 | Bootstrap Order | InitAssertionMetrics placement |
| 12–14 | Cross-references, Patterns, Breaking Changes | v4→v5 delta |
Read sub-files/reference.md for full API detail.