Smoke Test Skillpack

Run gbrain smoke-test after any machine or container restart, or whenever something seems broken.

Contract

This skill guarantees:

• 8 core tests verify gbrain health after restart (plus OpenClaw services when present; skipped otherwise)
• Bounded local failures are auto-fixed before reporting; worker repair is explicit because process topology and shell-job policy are operator choices
• User-extensible via ~/.gbrain/smoke-tests.d/*.sh drop-in scripts
• Results logged to /tmp/gbrain-smoke-test.log
• Exit code = number of unfixed failures (0 = all pass)

Built-in Tests

#	Test	Auto-Fix
1	Bun runtime	Install from bun.sh
2	GBrain CLI loads	Reinstall deps
3	GBrain database (engine identity via gbrain engine status --json, then doctor --json's connection check)	gbrain db-repair --yes, re-test
4	GBrain worker process	— (native supervisor status + duplicate detection)
5	OpenClaw Codex plugin (Zod CJS); skips if OpenClaw absent	npm install zod@4 --force
6	OpenClaw gateway; skips if OpenClaw absent	— (may not be started yet)
7	Embedding API key	— (check .env)
8	Brain repo exists	—

Usage

CLI

gbrain smoke-test

This is the invocation for all installs; it resolves the test script from the installed package.

From any startup script or login hook

gbrain smoke-test >> /tmp/bootstrap.log 2>&1

From OpenClaw bootstrap (OpenClaw deployments only)

Add to your ensure-services.sh or equivalent:

bash /path/to/gbrain/scripts/smoke-test.sh >> /tmp/bootstrap.log 2>&1

From an agent

exec: gbrain smoke-test

Contributor note: inside a gbrain repo checkout you can also run the script directly with bash scripts/smoke-test.sh.

Adding Custom Tests

Create executable scripts in ~/.gbrain/smoke-tests.d/:

# ~/.gbrain/smoke-tests.d/check-redis.sh
#!/bin/bash
redis-cli ping | grep -q PONG

Rules:

• Exit 0 = pass, non-zero = fail
• Filename becomes the test name (e.g. check-redis from check-redis.sh)
• Keep tests fast (< 10s each)
• Tests run in alphabetical order

Adding Built-in Tests (gbrain contributors)

This section is for contributors working in the gbrain source repo. Plugin installs ship the script read-only and upgrades overwrite it; if you just want extra checks, use the ~/.gbrain/smoke-tests.d/ drop-in scripts above.

Edit scripts/smoke-test.sh. Follow this pattern:

# ── N. [Service Name] ──────────────────────────────────────
if [test condition]; then
  pass "[Service Name]"
else
  # Auto-fix attempt
  [fix command]
  if [re-test condition]; then
    fixed "[What was fixed]"
    pass "[Service Name] (after fix)"
  else
    fail "[Service Name] — [error detail]"
  fi
fi

Design rules:

1. Test first — never fix without confirming broken
2. Re-test after fix — verify the fix worked
3. Timeout everything — timeout N on any command that could hang
4. Use helpers — pass(), fail(), fixed(), skip()
5. Idempotent fixes — safe to run repeatedly
6. Skip gracefully — skip() when a prerequisite is missing, don't fail

Environment Variables

Var	Default	Description
GBRAIN_SMOKE_LOG	/tmp/gbrain-smoke-test.log	Log file path
GBRAIN_DIR_OVERRIDE	(auto-detect)	Force gbrain install path
GBRAIN_BUN_PATH	(auto-detect)	Force Bun binary path
GBRAIN_DATABASE_URL	(from .env)	Database connection URL
GBRAIN_SMOKE_WORKER_PID_FILE	/tmp/gbrain-worker.pid	Legacy bare-worker PID path
OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT	18789	Gateway port to test
GBRAIN_BRAIN_PATH	(deployment-specific)	Brain repo path. Container deployments default to /data/brain; set it to your brain repo path otherwise. Test 8 skips (not fails) when unset.

Known Issues & Their Auto-Fixes

Codex Zod core.cjs Missing (discovered 2026-04-23)

(OpenClaw gateway deployments only: this concerns OpenClaw's Codex ACP plugin, not the OpenAI Codex CLI.)

• Symptom: Cannot find module './core.cjs' → all Codex ACP sessions fail
• Cause: Zod v4 npm package ships without core.cjs in some installs
• Auto-fix: npm install zod@4 --force in the codex extension's zod dir
• Persistence: Does NOT survive container restart (gateway reinstalls deps)
• This is why smoke tests must run on every restart

GBrain Worker Auth Failure

• Symptom: Worker can't connect to DB
• Cause: GBRAIN_DATABASE_URL not propagated to worker subprocess
• Auto-fix: Script explicitly passes both DATABASE_URL and GBRAIN_DATABASE_URL

When it fails

Follow the agent operator protocol for any gbrain error code, exit code, [AGENT] block or notice block. Specific to this skill:

• Exit code = number of unfixed failures: report each by name and the attempted fix; never report all-green when a test was skipped.
• The database test fails with a GBRAIN_DB_ACCESS marker: run gbrain db-repair and re-test; the rewrite tier needs the user's agreement.
• The embedding API key check fails: there is no auto-fix. Tell the user which key is missing and that search runs keyword-only until it is set.

Anti-Patterns

• ❌ Running smoke tests on every chat turn. Once per container restart (or on user request) is plenty. The script is cheap but it's not free.
• ❌ Writing a user drop-in without timeout N around any command that could hang. A single hung drop-in stalls every subsequent run.
• ❌ Auto-fixing without confirming the check is actually broken first. The pass → fail-detected → fix → re-test loop is the contract; fixes that skip the re-test can report success on a still-broken state.
• ❌ Treating skip as fail. Missing prerequisites (no OpenClaw installed, no brain repo configured) are skips, not failures. Exit code = count of real failures, not skipped checks.
• ❌ Hardcoding paths in a user drop-in. Read env vars (GBRAIN_DATABASE_URL, HOME, etc.) so the script travels across container rebuilds.

Output Format

The script writes a one-line status per check to stdout (✅/❌/🔧/⏭️) plus a final summary line: Results: N/M passed, F auto-fixed, S skipped. A structured timestamped log appends to $GBRAIN_SMOKE_LOG (default /tmp/gbrain-smoke-test.log) for post-run forensics. Exit code equals the count of unfixed failures (0 = all pass, positive integer = count of remaining failures).