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min completions install reports success for shells that will never load the file #1027
Description
Fixed with: #1082
Surface: min completions install · Severity: Medium · Class: silent no-op
Source: completions.rs:116-158 (install_one)
install_one probes the target directory for writability, writes, and returns the path. There
is no loader check of any kind, for any shell. Its help names one failure mode only:
“A shell that cannot be installed for (an unwritable shared directory, say) is a warning on
stderr, not a failure.” Writing a file nothing will ever read is not covered.
bash — the documented path is not a bash mechanism
bash has no completion search path; complete is a builtin that registers into the running
shell. The documented path is read only by the separate bash-completion project, whose
_completion_loader (hooked via complete -D) searches
$BASH_COMPLETION_USER_DIR/completions/<cmd>, defaulting to
${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/bash-completion — correct given bash-completion ≥2.0
installed and sourced. Measured on the validation host:
/bin/bash -> 3.2.57 (bash-completion 2.x needs >=4.1)
/opt/homebrew/bin/bash -> 5.3.9
/opt/homebrew/share/bash-completion -> missing
/opt/homebrew/etc/profile.d/bash_completion.sh -> missing
~/.bashrc, ~/.bash_profile -> absent entirely
/opt/homebrew/etc/bash_completion.d/ exists (legacy v1 drop-in dir used by other formulae)
but the main bash_completion script that would load it does not. The written file is inert;
exit 0.
zsh — no XDG convention exists
~/.local/share/zsh/completions is meaningful only if something adds it to fpath. It happens
to reach fpath on the validation host from somewhere in the startup chain, and end-to-end
completion works there:
COMPLETE=zsh _CLAP_COMPLETE_INDEX=1 min -- min ses
-> session:Session management subcommands
That is the finding restated, not weakened: whether the installed file is ever read is a
property of the host, and install never checks it.
fish
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/fish/completions is native. Unconditionally correct.
Fix
Skip bash with a warning when no bash_completion script is found; for zsh, test fpath and
print the fpath+=(~/.local/share/zsh/completions) line the user needs when it is absent.
Shared failure mode
One of four high-severity findings with the same shape: a command performs a consequential action while its stated safeguard does not fire, or reports success for a condition it never checked. The others are min init overwriting an existing config, bare min creating a session under --no-input before failing, and min completions install reporting success for shells that will never load the file.
The reference implementation already ships in this binary: min session destroy --all refuses non-interactively and names the flag that would proceed (error: refusing to destroy all sessions without confirmation; pass --force, exit 1). That message is the convention the other three should copy.
QA sweep of the published min help tree against a live local-minvmd daemon (min 0.5.0-rc3.dev.31.gc1375225, HEAD c137522); every finding re-executed against main at df22d71 and read back to source. Ledger finding F22 (confirmed on main, one attribution corrected).
Activity
gominimal-aw-bot commentedon Jul 29, 2026
Routing triage — #1027
Kind: bug · Route: patch · Confidence: 0.92 · Target: gominimal/minimal
Evidence
install_oneconfirmed atcrates/minimal/src/completions.rs:116-158ingominimal/minimal(direct match to the source cited in the issue). This is the strongest routing signal available.feat(installer): setup PATH and shell completions,fix(installer): better handle case where shell dir is not writeable) confirms this is an active area of the minimal CLI codebase; no prior fix for the loader-check gap was found.gominimal/minimalorgominimal/inboxtracking this exact defect. Sibling issues from the same QA sweep — inbox#379 (min session policysilent false negative), inbox#380 (min initsilent overwrite), inbox#382 (bareminorphaned session) — are distinct findings; none is a duplicate.gominimal/minimalas the target for CLI subcommand bugs (informed by routing-outcome entries frominbox-route-retro).gominimal/minimalisroute: allow; CLI subcommand bugs are its stated domain.Patch scope
Expected change: 1 file —
crates/minimal/src/completions.rs. Add a bash-completion loader probe and a zsh fpath membership check toinstall_one, emitting a warning or skipping when the file would be ignored.Similar issues
[inbox-route:decision]
{"schema":"inbox-route/v1","issue":386,"issue_node_id":"I_kwDOSUhdos8AAAABKmglFQ","dry_run":false,"kind":"bug","route":"patch","confidence":0.92,"targets":[{"repo":"gominimal/minimal","reason":"install_one confirmed at crates/minimal/src/completions.rs; fix localised to that file"}],"labels":["kind:bug","priority:should-have"],"patch":{"target_ref":"main","brief":"install_one in completions.rs writes the completion file and returns success without verifying the shell will load it. For bash, the documented path only works with bash-completion >=2.0 installed and sourced — both are absent on the validation host. For zsh, the target directory reaches fpath only if something in the host startup chain adds it. Evidence suggests install_one should check for the bash-completion loader script before writing for bash, and test fpath membership for zsh, warning the user when the file would be silently ignored.","files":["crates/minimal/src/completions.rs"]},"work_issue":{"title":"bug: completions install exits 0 for bash and zsh without verifying the shell will load the file","body":"## Summary\n\n`min completions install` writes the completion file and exits 0 for bash and zsh even when nothing will ever load that file. Fish is unaffected (native XDG path).\n\n## Details\n\nSource: `crates/minimal/src/completions.rs:116-158` (`install_one`). The function probes directory writability, writes, and returns — no loader check exists for any shell.\n\n**bash**: the target path is only scanned by the separate `bash-completion` project. On the validation host, `bash-completion` was missing entirely, so the written file is inert. The function exits 0 regardless.\n\n**zsh**: `~/.local/share/zsh/completions` is only meaningful if something adds it to `fpath`. Whether it does is a property of the host startup chain; `install_one` never checks.\n\nExpected: warn (or skip with a clear message) when the file will not be loaded. The binary already ships the convention: `min session destroy --all` refuses without `--force` and names the flag.\n\n## Suggested next step\n\nIn `install_one` (or a helper), for bash: probe for the `bash_completion` init script before writing; warn or skip if absent. For zsh: query `$fpath` and emit the `fpath+=(...)` line the user needs when the directory is not already present."},"related":[{"repo":"gominimal/inbox","number":379,"relation":"related"},{"repo":"gominimal/inbox","number":380,"relation":"related"},{"repo":"gominimal/inbox","number":382,"relation":"related"},{"repo":"gominimal/minimal","number":711,"relation":"related"},{"repo":"gominimal/minimal","number":714,"relation":"related"}],"rationale":"install_one in crates/minimal/src/completions.rs (confirmed via code search: exact file and function match) writes the completion file and exits 0 with no shell-loader check for bash or zsh. The fix is isolated to that file and involves adding probes for bash-completion presence and fpath membership before writing. The issue provides exact line references, a concrete fix description, and live validation evidence. No prior tracking of this exact defect found in minimal or the inbox. Target is gominimal/minimal with high confidence because the source file is directly named and confirmed in that repo. Sibling issues from the same QA sweep (inbox#379, gominimal/inbox#380, gominimal/inbox#382) are distinct findings routed separately."}gominimal-aw-bot commentedon Jul 29, 2026
[inbox-route:ledger]
Routed from gominimal/inbox#386 by inbox-route (https://github.com/gominimal/inbox/actions/runs/30430277093)
Routing-Key: inbox-route/I_kwDOSUhdos8AAAABKmglFQ
Route: patch
Patch-Dispatched: https://github.com/gominimal/inbox/actions/runs/30430277093
gominimal-aw-bot commentedon Jul 29, 2026
[inbox-patch:handoff]
inbox-patch did not produce a verified fix PR for this issue — the agent run failed (agent result: failure).
Run: https://github.com/gominimal/inbox/actions/runs/30430804439
Manual retry:
gominimal-aw-bot commentedon Jul 29, 2026
[inbox-patch:handoff]
inbox-patch did not produce a verified fix PR for this issue — the agent run failed (agent result: failure).
Run: https://github.com/gominimal/inbox/actions/runs/30483084925
Manual retry: