Build under the sanitizers and with -Werror in CI

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -9,26 +9,60 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   build-and-test:
+    # Two compilers times two build modes, so four jobs.
+    #
     # Both compilers, so a warning or a standard-library difference that only
     # one of them notices still fails the build.
+    #
+    # Both modes, because -O2 and the sanitizers do not see the same program:
+    # the optimised build is what ships, and the sanitised one is the only
+    # thing that reports a read past the end of a buffer rather than returning
+    # whatever was next to it.
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         cxx: [g++, clang++]
+        mode: [optimised, sanitised]
+        include:
+          # -Werror lives here rather than in the Makefile on purpose: a
+          # warning should stop a change being merged, not stop a contributor
+          # building the thing at all. `make` on a clean checkout stays warm.
+          - mode: optimised
+            cxxflags: -std=c++17 -O2 -Wall -Wextra -Werror
+
+          # -fno-sanitize-recover=undefined is what makes this entry mean
+          # anything. UBSan's default is to print the diagnostic and carry on,
+          # exiting 0 -- so without it, a real finding is a green build and
+          # nobody reads the log of a job that passed.
+          - mode: sanitised
+            cxxflags: >-
+              -std=c++17 -O1 -g -Wall -Wextra -Werror
+              -fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-sanitize-recover=undefined
+              -fno-omit-frame-pointer
 
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
+    # Set for the job rather than passed to each make: the Makefile takes both
+    # with ?=, and the test and golden targets have to be built with the same
+    # flags as the objects they link against, which is easy to get wrong one
+    # step at a time.
+    env:
+      CXX: ${{ matrix.cxx }}
+      CXXFLAGS: ${{ matrix.cxxflags }}
+      # Names the source line rather than an address when something does fire.
+      UBSAN_OPTIONS: print_stacktrace=1
+
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Show compiler version
         run: ${{ matrix.cxx }} --version
 
       - name: Build
-        run: make CXX=${{ matrix.cxx }}
+        run: make
 
       - name: Run tests
-        run: make test CXX=${{ matrix.cxx }}
+        run: make test
 
       - name: Run golden end-to-end tests
-        run: make golden CXX=${{ matrix.cxx }}
+        run: make golden

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -21,6 +21,19 @@ detail, which is where the reasoning lives.
   the merge and after it, and applying only the difference. A deck whose history
   began before the log keeps it.
 
+### Changed
+
+- **CI builds under the sanitizers and with `-Werror`,** as a four-way matrix of
+  both compilers against an optimised and a sanitised build. Every pull request
+  so far was checked under `-fsanitize=address,undefined` by hand and came back
+  clean, which is the argument for making it a job rather than a habit.
+
+  `-Werror` is deliberately not in the Makefile: a warning should stop a change
+  being merged, not stop a contributor building the project at all. The
+  sanitised entry also compiles with `-fno-sanitize-recover=undefined`, without
+  which UBSan prints its diagnostic and exits 0 — so a real finding would have
+  been a green build that nobody reads the log of.
+
 ## 0.2.0 — 2026-08-17
 
 Audio, a second test suite, and a review screen that fits in a terminal.

README.md

@@ -544,7 +544,7 @@ cannot drive an app that insists on a tty.
 
 ## Contributing
 
-Issues and pull requests are welcome. `make check` should pass before you open one; CI runs both suites on gcc and clang.
+Issues and pull requests are welcome. `make check` should pass before you open one; CI runs both suites on gcc and clang, in an optimised build and again under `-fsanitize=address,undefined`, all four with `-Werror`. Warnings are deliberately not errors in the Makefile itself, so a warning never stops you building — it stops the change being merged.
 
 Released versions and what changed in them are in [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md).