Contract: all regression CI in v9fs/test; v9fs/linux is mirror-only

[ericvh]

Summary

Keep all automated regression CI in v9fs/test. Treat v9fs/linux as a git mirror only (branches/tags to check out). Do not add .github workflows (cron, build, or otherwise) to v9fs/linux, so rebases/syncs from torvalds/linux stay clean.

Pipeline (owned by v9fs/test)

1. Cron sync — fetch torvalds/linux refs + tags; push to v9fs/linux (contents write for refs/tags only).
2. Build — existing linux-kernel-publish.yml checks out a v9fs/linux ref and publishes an arm64 Image release asset (GitHub-hosted runners).
3. Harness — existing ci.yml matrix runs suites against that Image.
4. Report — wiki summary table of suite status (pass/fail/xfail/delta) plus results.json and diff-report artifacts for relative comparison.

Explicit non-goals

• No CI / workflow files in v9fs/linux.
• Self-hosted runners are not required for this regression path (GitHub-hosted is fine). Self-hosted is reserved for Cursor agent automations elsewhere.

Related issues

• Fix existing GitHub action framework and runner setup for existing regression setup #3 — fix existing Actions framework
• Automate nightly runs against mainline, for-next and pending fixes. #5 — automate mainline / for-next / fixes runs
• Add trigger for pushes/merges to v9fs/linux to trigger regression runs #6 — retarget: test orchestrates linux refs (not linux→test webhooks from the kernel repo)
• Revised regression test infrastructure #2 — revised infra + dashboard over time
• Add scanning of qemu log for BUGs and WARNs #4 — include BUG/WARN scanning in reports
• Add mechanisms for tracking/profiling memory usage, operations, etc. #11 — profiling / tracking metrics (feeds comparison)

Acceptance sketch

• Scheduled sync workflow lives in v9fs/test and updates v9fs/linux refs/tags without modifying the kernel tree contents for CI
• Kernel Image build/publish remains in v9fs/test only
• New tags (or synced mainline refs) can trigger publish → harness without workflows on v9fs/linux
• Wiki page shows a human-readable status table; JSON/diff artifacts are retained per run

[ericvh]

Sync cron sketch (from personal tracking)

Proposed workflow path: .github/workflows/sync-torvalds-linux.yml in this repo.

Behavior

1. Cron / workflow_dispatch on v9fs/test
2. Fetch torvalds/linux master → push to v9fs/linux upstream (FF-only; no force of maintainer branches)
3. Push newly seen v* tags to v9fs/linux
4. For each new tag, repository_dispatch publish-kernel-image with linux_ref=<tag>, release_tag=kernel-<tag> (hooks existing linux-kernel-publish.yml)

Auth: repo/org secret V9FS_LINUX_SYNC_TOKEN with Contents write on v9fs/linux. Same-repo dispatch can use GITHUB_TOKEN.

Non-goal: no files written into the v9fs/linux work tree / no .github on the kernel mirror.

Local sketch copy (second brain): 01-projects/v9fs/sync-torvalds-workflow-sketch.md — can be turned into a PR on this repo when ready.

Related: #3 #5 #6

[ericvh]

Draft PR for the sync half: #16

Harness + wiki summary-table follow-on sketched next (workflow_run after publish → results.json/diff → wiki dashboard).

[ericvh]

Assessment (2026-08-26) — mostly satisfied; keep open until acceptance boxes ticked

Still a problem?

Contract is largely implemented. Tip pipeline matches the design; a few acceptance/doc gaps remain.

Checklist vs issue body

• Sync workflow in v9fs/test updates v9fs/linux refs/tags only (no kernel-tree CI files; .github on linux → Not Found)
• Image build/publish remains in v9fs/test only
• New tip tags can trigger publish → harness without workflows on v9fs/linux
• Wiki status table + JSON/diff artifacts on tip path (Regression-Dashboard, kernel-latest assets)

Remaining (track elsewhere, don’t expand this contract)

• Multi-ref coverage → Automate nightly runs against mainline, for-next and pending fixes. #5 / Add trigger for pushes/merges to v9fs/linux to trigger regression runs #6
• BUG/WARN in reports → Add scanning of qemu log for BUGs and WARNs #4
• README still describes pre-rework demand.yml/nightly.yml

Plan

1. Update README to the three-workflow model; tick acceptance boxes here.
2. Close this issue once docs + tip pipeline are acknowledged source of truth.
3. Keep Add scanning of qemu log for BUGs and WARNs #4/Automate nightly runs against mainline, for-next and pending fixes. #5/Add trigger for pushes/merges to v9fs/linux to trigger regression runs #6 as the follow-on work items.

[ericvh]

Validation (2026-08-26)

Contract is in place. Acceptance sketch from the issue body is met; remaining gaps belong to #5/#6 (coverage of for-next/fixes) and README drift (#3).

Acceptance item	Status
Scheduled sync in v9fs/test updating v9fs/linux refs/tags without CI files in the kernel tree	Done (sync-torvalds-linux.yml, cron every 6h, last success 32941764840). GET .../v9fs/linux/contents/.github → 404.
Image build/publish only in v9fs/test	Done (linux-kernel-publish.yml, releases kernel-v7.2 / kernel-latest).
New tags trigger publish → harness without workflows on linux	Done for the newest v6+ tag (gh workflow run + harness workflow_run).
Wiki status table + JSON/diff artifacts	Done: Regression-Dashboard, results.json + diff-report.md on kernel-latest. Tip v7.2 all pass (32931311311).

Known leftovers (not contract violations):

• kernel-main Image not refreshed on schedule (publish_upstream_tip is manual).
• README still describes demand.yml / nightly.yml and linux repository_dispatch.
• Maintainer branches (ericvh/for-next, fixes/next) are not in the pipeline (Automate nightly runs against mainline, for-next and pending fixes. #5/Add trigger for pushes/merges to v9fs/linux to trigger regression runs #6).

Recommend close once README matches the contract, or close now and point leftover coverage at #5/#6.

Plan

1. Tick the acceptance checkboxes; close this issue.
2. Docs PR: README + TODO.md describe sync → publish → harness → wiki, secret V9FS_LINUX_SYNC_TOKEN, no .github on linux.
3. Do not expand this issue into linux-next/for-next work; that is Automate nightly runs against mainline, for-next and pending fixes. #5.

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Progress 2026-08-26: Implementation is committed locally on cursor/issue-progress-266e (adce3d6). Push/PR is blocked: the PAT can write Issues but not Contents. After Contents + Pull requests write is granted, this will go up as a PR.