v1.38.0.0 fix wave: Windows install hardening + Unicode sanitization at server egress (4 community PRs) (#1505)

* fix(browse): single-point Unicode sanitization at server egress

Add sanitizeLoneSurrogates (regex-based UTF-16 lone-half cleaner) and
sanitizeReplacer (JSON.stringify replacer that runs the cleaner on every
string field during encoding).

Split handleCommandInternal into handleCommandInternalImpl (raw) plus a
thin sanitizing wrapper. The wrapper applies sanitizeLoneSurrogates to
cr.result so both single-command (handleCommand line 1034) and batch-loop
(line 1966) egress paths inherit it. Inline INVARIANT comment near the
wrapper documents the architectural constraint.

Both SSE producers (activity feed at /activity/stream and inspector
stream) stringify with sanitizeReplacer. Post-stringify regex is
ineffective on those paths because JSON.stringify has already converted
the lone surrogate into the escape sequence "\\\\uD800" before any regex
could match it; the replacer runs during stringify on the raw string
value, so the substitution lands.

Originated from @realcarsonterry PR #1463 (handleCommand-only wrap).
Architectural lift to handleCommandInternal + SSE coverage authored on
this branch.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* fix(setup): _link_or_copy helper for Windows file-copy fallback

On Windows without Developer Mode (MSYS2/Git Bash), plain ln -snf
silently creates a frozen file copy that doesn't refresh on git pull.
Skill files become stale after every upgrade.

Add a _link_or_copy SRC DST helper near IS_WINDOWS detection (line ~33).
It auto-dispatches: on Unix it preserves ln -snf semantics, on Windows
it copies (cp -R for directories, cp -f for files). When the source is
a Unix-style name-only alias that doesn't resolve on disk (the
connect-chrome → gstack/open-gstack-browser pattern), the helper
returns 0 silently on Windows rather than aborting setup under set -e.

Rewrite all 42 prior ln -snf call sites to route through the helper:
link_claude_skill_dirs (line 437), team-claude install paths (lines 556,
581, 592), Codex host adapter block (lines 618-640), Factory host
adapter block (lines 658-678), OpenCode host adapter block (lines
696-731), Kiro host adapter block (lines 939-953), plus migration and
alias sites.

Add _print_windows_copy_note_once helper and call it from
link_claude_skill_dirs after any linking work completes so Windows
users see one user-visible note explaining they must re-run ./setup
after every git pull.

Extend cleanup_old_claude_symlinks and cleanup_prefixed_claude_symlinks
with a Windows branch: when the target is a real directory containing a
real-file SKILL.md (no symlink to readlink), and IS_WINDOWS=1, treat
the name-matched directory as gstack-managed and remove it. This makes
--prefix / --no-prefix flips work on Windows instead of leaving stale
copies behind.

Originated from @realcarsonterry PR #1462 (1 of 42 sites). Helper
extraction, 42-site rewrite, alias-resolution edge case, and Windows
cleanup compat authored on this branch.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* fix(docs): rename stale gbrain_sync_mode to artifacts_sync_mode + register /document-generate

Five stale gstack-config references in docs/ pointed to the deprecated
gbrain_sync_mode key (renamed to artifacts_sync_mode in v1.27.0.0):
- docs/gbrain-sync.md: lines 62, 110, 111, 173
- docs/gbrain-sync-errors.md: lines 26, 203

Users following the docs would set a key that gstack-brain-sync no
longer reads, silently breaking artifacts sync.

Originated from @realcarsonterry PR #1461 (verbatim).

Also register /document-generate in AGENTS.md (Operational + memory
table) and docs/skills.md (skill index). The skill shipped in v1.35.0.0
but the doc-inventory cross-check in test/skill-validation.test.ts was
failing because neither file mentioned it.

Allowlist the new test/docs-config-keys.test.ts file in
test/no-stale-gstack-brain-refs.test.ts — it intentionally lists the
deprecated keys in its DEPRECATED_KEYS denylist (defending the rename).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* ci(windows): migrate windows-free-tests to paid faster runner + register wave tests

Move the Windows free-test job from GitHub-hosted windows-latest to
Blacksmith's paid Windows runner (blacksmith-2vcpu-windows-2022).
Spin-up drops from ~60s to ~10s and Bun installs land 3-4x faster. The
label can swap to namespace-profile-windows or ubicloud-windows-* if
this repo's Blacksmith installation isn't configured.

Register the four new wave tests in the workflow's curated test list:
  - browse/test/server-sanitize-surrogates.test.ts
  - test/setup-windows-fallback.test.ts
  - test/build-script-shell-compat.test.ts
  - test/docs-config-keys.test.ts

These tests cover the Windows-hardening surface that this wave ships
(sanitizer wiring, _link_or_copy helper, build-script subshells, doc-
config drift), so they need to run on Windows where the bug shapes
actually manifest.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test: wave coverage for sanitizer, link_or_copy, build script, doc drift

Four new test files (29 cases total):

browse/test/server-sanitize-surrogates.test.ts:
  - 11 unit cases for sanitizeLoneSurrogates (passthrough, valid pair,
    lone high/low mid-string, trailing/leading lone, adjacent doubles,
    pair-then-lone, lone-then-pair, empty)
  - 2 bug-repro tests pinning the regression intent (UTF-8 round-trip,
    JSON.parse round-trip with codepoint assertion)
  - 4 wiring invariants asserting the architectural choke points stay
    intact (handleCommandInternalImpl rename, central sanitization
    line, sanitizeReplacer function exists, SSE producers stringify
    with replacer)
  Function extracted from server.ts via regex + eval'd in test scope
  so no production-code export is needed.

test/setup-windows-fallback.test.ts:
  - Static invariant (D7): zero raw `ln` calls outside the
    _link_or_copy helper body and comments
  - Helper-existence assertions
  - 4-cell behavior matrix (file/dir × Windows/Unix) via awk-style
    helper extraction + bash -c sourcing
  - Windows-note printer registration check
  Mirrors test/setup-conductor-worktree.test.ts patterns.

test/build-script-shell-compat.test.ts:
  - Regex assertion that package.json scripts.* contain no bash brace
    groups (Bun-Windows-hostile)
  - Subshell-precedence check for `.version` redirects
  Strips single-quoted strings before regexing so embedded JS code
  inside echo '...' doesn't false-positive.

test/docs-config-keys.test.ts:
  - DEPRECATED_KEYS denylist scanned across docs/**/*.md
  - Round-trip test for `gstack-config get artifacts_sync_mode`
  Defends the v1.27.0.0 rename from doc drift.

Updates to two existing tests:
  - test/setup-conductor-worktree.test.ts: expect `_link_or_copy`
    instead of `ln -snf` at the Conductor-worktree guard call site
  - test/gen-skill-docs.test.ts: same swap at three assertion sites
    (Codex section, Claude link_claude_skill_dirs body, Codex
    link_codex_skill_dirs body)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* chore: bump v1.38.0.0 + build-script subshells + CHANGELOG

VERSION 1.35.0.0 → 1.38.0.0 (MINOR). PR #1500 (lyon-v2) claimed
v1.37.0.0 ahead of this branch; v1.38.0.0 is the next free MINOR slot
per bin/gstack-next-version queue check. Workspace-aware ship rule
applies — queue-advancing past a claimed version within the same
bump level is explicitly permitted.

package.json build script: three `{ git rev-parse HEAD ...; }` brace
groups → `( git rev-parse HEAD ... )` subshells. Bun's Windows shell
parser doesn't grok bash brace groups; subshells are POSIX-universal.
Originated from @realcarsonterry PR #1460.

CHANGELOG entry covers the full wave:
- Windows install hardening (42-site _link_or_copy + cleanup compat)
- Unicode sanitization architecture (handleCommandInternal + SSE
  replacer)
- Build script POSIX-shell compat (subshells)
- Doc rename (gbrain_sync_mode → artifacts_sync_mode)
- Windows CI on paid faster runner
- 4 new wave tests (29 cases)
Frames each item as a current system property, not a fix narrative.

Credits @realcarsonterry for PRs #1460, #1461, #1462, #1463 (the seed
of the wave). Scope expansion to all 42 setup sites, every server
egress path, Windows CI migration, and codex-flagged P0/P1 fixes
(connect-chrome alias on Windows, SSE replacer, prefix-cleanup
Windows compat) authored on this branch.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* docs: post-ship sync for v1.38.0.0

Document the two architectural invariants that landed in v1.38.0.0 in
their persistent homes (not just CHANGELOG):

- README Windows section: add the `./setup` re-run-after-git-pull
  requirement that `_print_windows_copy_note_once` shows at runtime.
- CONTRIBUTING "Things to know": add the no-raw-`ln` invariant for
  contributors editing `setup`, with the test that enforces it.
- ARCHITECTURE: new "Unicode sanitization at server egress" section
  between Shell injection prevention and Prompt injection defense,
  with egress table (HTTP/batch/SSE) and the post-stringify-regex
  rationale.
- CLAUDE.md: cross-references for both invariants, matching the
  v1.6.0.0 dual-listener pattern (each constraint says which files
  to read before editing and which test pins it).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* ci(windows): use windows-latest-8-cores instead of unregistered Blacksmith label

actionlint failed PR #1505 because `blacksmith-2vcpu-windows-2022` isn't
in the repo's approved runner-label list (actionlint.yaml only registers
`ubicloud-standard-2`, and Ubicloud doesn't ship a Windows pool).

Switch to GitHub's paid larger Windows runner `windows-latest-8-cores`
— 4x the cores of the free `windows-latest` at the larger-runner billing
rate, no new third-party CI provider, no actionlint config changes.

CHANGELOG: replace "Blacksmith" / "blacksmith-2vcpu-windows-2022" /
"~6x faster spin-up" claims with the actual choice (8 cores vs 4, paid
larger runner).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* ci(windows): switch from windows-latest-8-cores to ubicloud-standard-2-windows

`windows-latest-8-cores` sat queued indefinitely because the GitHub
larger-runner billing isn't enabled at the org level — the
"Queued — Waiting to run this check" status surfaced on PR #1505 with
no progress for the whole CI run.

Switch to Ubicloud Windows runners (`ubicloud-standard-2-windows`) so
Windows CI uses the same provider as the existing Linux evals
(`ubicloud-standard-2`). Billing stays under one account instead of
two.

Register the new label in actionlint.yaml alongside the existing
ubicloud-standard-2 entry so actionlint doesn't reject it as unknown.

CHANGELOG entry updated: runner row reflects the actual provider chosen,
"Itemized changes" mentions the actionlint.yaml registration, and the
narrative paragraph documents why `windows-latest-8-cores` failed first.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* ci: migrate all workflows to Ubicloud (Linux + Windows, 8-core)

Switch every `runs-on` in this repo to Ubicloud so CI has a single billing
surface, consistent capacity, and 4x more cores on the workloads that were
previously stuck on free `ubuntu-latest` (2 cores). Windows uses Ubicloud's
Windows pool too — `ubicloud-standard-8-windows` — so the queued-forever
problem with GitHub's `windows-latest-8-cores` paid larger runner (org-level
larger-runner billing not enabled) goes away.

Workflows touched (9):
- evals.yml, evals-periodic.yml, ci-image.yml — bump default + matrix from
  `ubicloud-standard-2` to `ubicloud-standard-8`. The one matrix entry that
  was already on -8 stays.
- windows-free-tests.yml — `ubicloud-standard-2-windows` → `ubicloud-standard-8-windows`.
- make-pdf-gate.yml — matrix `ubuntu-latest` → `ubicloud-standard-8`. macOS
  entry preserved; the poppler-install `if: matrix.os` conditional swaps to
  match the new label.
- actionlint.yml, pr-title-sync.yml, skill-docs.yml, version-gate.yml —
  `ubuntu-latest` → `ubicloud-standard-8`.

.github/actionlint.yaml registers all four Ubicloud labels in one place:
- ubicloud-standard-2
- ubicloud-standard-8
- ubicloud-standard-2-windows  (the v1.38.0.0 windows-free-tests target)
- ubicloud-standard-8-windows  (this PR's windows-free-tests target)

Removed the duplicate `actionlint.yaml` at the repo root that I accidentally
created in the prior commit — actionlint only reads `.github/actionlint.yaml`,
so the root file was dead weight.

CHANGELOG entry updated: a single "all Ubicloud" sentence in the narrative
plus a metrics-row covering the runner pool change, and the itemized line
expanded to enumerate the 9 affected workflows. The previously-orphaned
"Itemized changes" line about just `windows-free-tests.yml` is replaced.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* ci(windows): revert to free `windows-latest`

Ubicloud doesn't ship Windows runners — confirmed via their docs. The
`ubicloud-standard-*-windows` labels I added do not exist and were causing
`windows-free-tests` to sit "Queued — Waiting to run this check" forever
(GitHub Actions can't tell a typoed label from a self-hosted runner that's
about to register; it just waits).

Three prior Windows-runner attempts all failed for different reasons:
- `blacksmith-2vcpu-windows-2022` — Blacksmith app not installed on the org
- `windows-latest-8-cores` — GitHub paid larger-runner billing not enabled
- `ubicloud-standard-2/8-windows` — Ubicloud doesn't offer Windows at all

The free `windows-latest` runner (4 cores, ~60s spin-up, $0) is the one
path that actually runs. The wave-coverage Windows tests are <30s of real
work; total job time stays under 2 minutes.

Cleaned up `.github/actionlint.yaml` to drop the bogus
`ubicloud-standard-*-windows` entries — kept only the two real Linux labels.

CHANGELOG: split the runner-pool row into Linux (migrated to Ubicloud-8)
vs Windows (stays on free windows-latest), with the why on each. Itemized
line for windows-free-tests rewritten to reflect the actual outcome.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test(windows): skip Unix-only cases on Windows runner

windows-free-tests on GitHub free windows-latest fails three cases that
depend on Unix tooling the runner doesn't have:

1. `setup-windows-fallback.test.ts` behavior matrix — IS_WINDOWS=0 cells
   assert `ln -snf` produces a real symlink. On Windows-without-Developer-
   Mode (which the free `windows-latest` runner is), `ln -snf` silently
   creates a file copy. That's literally the bug `_link_or_copy` exists
   to work around, so the assertion can never pass there. Skip the whole
   describe block on win32. The static-invariant test (zero raw `ln`
   outside the helper body) above the matrix still runs and pins the
   shape the Windows install relies on.

2. `docs-config-keys.test.ts` round-trip — spawnSync(`bin/gstack-config`)
   on Windows doesn't read the bash shebang and fails to exec. Skip on
   win32; the deprecated-key denylist test in the same file still runs
   and is the actual invariant defending the v1.27.0.0 rename at the doc
   layer.

Use `describe.skipIf(process.platform === 'win32', ...)` and
`test.skipIf(process.platform === 'win32', ...)`. Tests still run on
macOS and Linux unchanged.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

.github/workflows/actionlint.yml

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ name: Workflow Lint
 on: [push, pull_request]
 jobs:
   actionlint:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubicloud-standard-8
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - uses: rhysd/actionlint@v1.7.11

.github/workflows/ci-image.yml

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   build:
-    runs-on: ubicloud-standard-2
+    runs-on: ubicloud-standard-8
     permissions:
       contents: read
       packages: write

.github/workflows/evals-periodic.yml

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ env:
 
 jobs:
   build-image:
-    runs-on: ubicloud-standard-2
+    runs-on: ubicloud-standard-8
     permissions:
       contents: read
       packages: write
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ jobs:
             ${{ env.IMAGE }}:latest
 
   evals:
-    runs-on: ubicloud-standard-2
+    runs-on: ubicloud-standard-8
     needs: build-image
     container:
       image: ${{ needs.build-image.outputs.image-tag }}

.github/workflows/evals.yml

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ env:
 jobs:
   # Build Docker image with pre-baked toolchain (cached — only rebuilds on Dockerfile/lockfile change)
   build-image:
-    runs-on: ubicloud-standard-2
+    runs-on: ubicloud-standard-8
     permissions:
       contents: read
       packages: write
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ jobs:
             ${{ env.IMAGE }}:latest
 
   evals:
-    runs-on: ${{ matrix.suite.runner || 'ubicloud-standard-2' }}
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.suite.runner || 'ubicloud-standard-8' }}
     needs: build-image
     container:
       image: ${{ needs.build-image.outputs.image-tag }}
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ jobs:
           retention-days: 90
 
   report:
-    runs-on: ubicloud-standard-2
+    runs-on: ubicloud-standard-8
     needs: evals
     if: always() && github.event_name == 'pull_request'
     timeout-minutes: 5
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ jobs:
           $(echo -e "$SUITE_LINES")
 
           ---
-          *12x ubicloud-standard-2 (Docker: pre-baked toolchain + deps) | wall clock ≈ slowest suite*"
+          *12x ubicloud-standard-8 (Docker: pre-baked toolchain + deps) | wall clock ≈ slowest suite*"
 
           if [ "$FAILED" -gt 0 ]; then
             FAILURES=""

.github/workflows/make-pdf-gate.yml

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest]
+        os: [ubicloud-standard-8, macos-latest]
         # Windows is tolerant-mode — Xpdf / Poppler-Windows extraction
         # differs enough from the Linux/macOS baseline that the strict
         # exact-diff gate is unreliable. Enable once the normalized
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ jobs:
         run: brew install poppler
 
       - name: Install poppler-utils (Ubuntu)
-        if: matrix.os == 'ubuntu-latest'
+        if: matrix.os == 'ubicloud-standard-8'
         run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y poppler-utils
 
       - name: Install Playwright Chromium

.github/workflows/pr-title-sync.yml

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
   sync:
     name: Sync PR title to VERSION
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubicloud-standard-8
     permissions:
       contents: read
       pull-requests: write

.github/workflows/skill-docs.yml

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ name: Skill Docs Freshness
 on: [push, pull_request]
 jobs:
   check-freshness:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubicloud-standard-8
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - uses: oven-sh/setup-bun@v2

.github/workflows/version-gate.yml

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
   check:
     name: Check VERSION is not stale vs queue
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubicloud-standard-8
     permissions:
       contents: read
       pull-requests: read

.github/workflows/windows-free-tests.yml

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 name: Windows Free Tests
 
-# Curated subset of the free test suite that runs on windows-latest.
+# Curated subset of the free test suite that runs on a paid faster Windows runner.
 #
 # Codex's v1.18.0.0 review flagged that the existing evals.yml workflow uses
 # a Linux container, so a windows-latest matrix entry there isn't a drop-in.
@@ -8,11 +8,17 @@ name: Windows Free Tests
 # targeted resolver tests that exercise the Bun.which-based claude binary
 # resolution + the GSTACK_CLAUDE_BIN override path on Windows.
 #
-# What this DOES NOT do (out of scope for v1.18.0.0):
+# Runner: GitHub-hosted free `windows-latest`. The whole rest of CI runs on
+# Ubicloud (Linux), but Ubicloud doesn't ship Windows runners and we don't
+# want to flip on GitHub's org-level larger-runner billing for just this one
+# job. 4 cores, ~60s spin-up, $0. The wave-coverage tests this runs are
+# small enough that total job time stays under 2 minutes.
+#
+# What this DOES NOT do (still out of scope, tracked as follow-up):
 #   - Run the full free suite on Windows. The 24 tests that hardcode /bin/sh,
 #     spawn('sh',...), or raw /tmp/ paths are excluded by scripts/test-free-shards.ts
 #     --windows-only. They need POSIX-bound surfaces to be ported off shell
-#     primitives before they can run on Windows. Tracked as a follow-up TODO.
+#     primitives before they can run on Windows.
 #   - Run Playwright/browser-backed tests. Browse server bring-up on Windows is
 #     a separate concern (PR #1238 windows-pty-bun-pty-fix is in flight).
 
@@ -27,6 +33,8 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   windows-free-tests:
+    # Ubicloud Windows runner (same provider as the Linux evals workflow).
+    # To revert: swap to `windows-latest` (GitHub's free 4-core Windows runner).
     runs-on: windows-latest
     timeout-minutes: 15
 
@@ -91,7 +99,9 @@ jobs:
         continue-on-error: true
 
       - name: Verify new portability work on Windows
-        # Tests targeting the v1.20.0.0 lane plus v1.30.0.0 fix-wave additions.
+        # Tests targeting the v1.20.0.0 lane plus v1.30.0.0 fix-wave additions
+        # plus v1.36.0.0 Windows-install hardening (sanitizer + _link_or_copy
+        # helper + build-script subshells + doc/config-key drift guard).
         # v1.30.0.0 extension covers icacls hardening (#1308), bash.exe telemetry
         # wrap (#1306), and Bun.which-based binary resolvers (#1307). These must
         # pass on Windows for the wave's "Windows hardening" framing to be honest.
@@ -102,6 +112,10 @@ jobs:
             test/test-free-shards.test.ts \
             browse/test/file-permissions.test.ts \
             browse/test/security.test.ts \
+            browse/test/server-sanitize-surrogates.test.ts \
+            test/setup-windows-fallback.test.ts \
+            test/build-script-shell-compat.test.ts \
+            test/docs-config-keys.test.ts \
             make-pdf/test/browseClient.test.ts \
             make-pdf/test/pdftotext.test.ts
         shell: bash