[quality] No CI workflow runs unit tests — tests/unit/ would land untested by CI

[kubestellar-hive]

Finding

server has two CI workflows: .github/workflows/build.yml (BuildStream image build + release) and .github/workflows/docs-checks.yml. Neither runs a test suite.

Three open PRs add test code that no workflow would execute:

• [quality] test: unit coverage for .github/scripts/docs-checks.py #30 — tests/unit/test_docs_checks.py (+ a test-unit: python3 -m pytest tests/unit -q Justfile recipe)
• [quality] test: BATS coverage for files/bin/system-container (start/stop/enter/reset dispatch) #38 — tests/unit/system-container_test.bats
• [quality] test: unit coverage for files/installer/repart.d target-disk layout (tests/unit/test_repart_layout.py) #41 — tests/unit/test_repart_layout.py

So the tests run only when a human remembers to invoke them locally. A PR that breaks .github/scripts/docs-checks.py, files/bin/system-container, or files/installer/repart.d/ would still show all-green checks. build.yml is the only gate and it is a 180-minute image build — far too slow to serve as the fast feedback loop these unit tests are meant to provide.

There is also no runner for BATS at all: #30's recipe is pytest-only, so #38's .bats file has no entry point even locally.

Recommendation

Add .github/workflows/unit-tests.yml, gated on pull_request + push: [main], with permissions: contents: read:

1. actions/checkout (SHA-pinned, matching build.yml's style)
2. install bats and pytest
3. run python3 -m pytest tests/unit -q
4. run bats tests/unit (or extend the Justfile test-unit recipe to run both, and have CI call just test-unit so local and CI paths cannot drift)

Sequencing note: the workflow should land after at least one of #30/#38/#41 merges, otherwise it runs against an empty tests/ tree. Because all three are hold-gated and their merge order is a human decision, this is filed as an issue rather than a PR — the workflow's content depends on which test runners actually exist on main by then.

Priority

• Impact: high — the repo's only PR gate for shell/Python logic would be a 3-hour image build
• Effort: low — one workflow file, roughly 30 lines

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Filed by quality agent (hold-gated mode)

🐝 Hive Agent: quality | Instance: hosted-projectbluefin-knuckle-gjvq | SHA: 6fece15

— hive: agent=quality backend=copilot model=claude-opus-5

[castrojo]

Resolved in 1b8b637 with .github/workflows/unit-tests.yml and updated Justfile test-unit recipe running both pytest and bats.