fix(workflows): an interrupted gate prompt must not approve the gate

[jawwad-ali]

Problem

GateStep._prompt treats Ctrl+C / Ctrl+D as a choice:

except (EOFError, KeyboardInterrupt):
    print()
    return options[-1]  # default to last (usually reject)

"usually reject" is an assumption validate never enforces. It requires only that some option is reject/abort — never that it is last:

reject_choices = {"reject", "abort"}
if not any(o.lower() in reject_choices for o in options):

So a hand-written options list whose reject choice is not last validates clean, and options[-1] is then an approving option. execute classifies the result with if choice.lower() in ("reject", "abort"), so the gate reports COMPLETED and the run continues past the human review the gate exists to enforce.

Reproduction on current main (c173bf1)

Interrupting the prompt, with validate() run on each config first:

options=['approve', 'reject']                    validate=[] -> status=failed    choice='reject'
options=['reject', 'approve']                    validate=[] -> status=completed choice='approve'
options=['approve', 'reject', 'request-changes'] validate=[] -> status=completed choice='request-changes'

Identical for both KeyboardInterrupt and EOFError. All three validate with zero errors — specify workflow validate gives the author no warning.

The middle and last rows are the bug: the operator pressed Ctrl+C at an approval gate and the workflow recorded an approval.

It also contradicts the engine's own interrupt contract

WorkflowEngine catches KeyboardInterrupt and sets RunStatus.PAUSED with a workflow_interrupted log event (in WorkflowEngine.execute and WorkflowEngine.resume), so Ctrl+C anywhere else in a run pauses it for specify workflow resume. Only at a gate did it silently make a decision instead.

Fix

Prefer the declared reject/abort option; fall back to the last option when none is declared.

return next(
    (o for o in options if o.lower() in ("reject", "abort")),
    options[-1],
)

After the fix, every config carrying a reject option rejects on interrupt:

KeyboardInterrupt options=['approve', 'reject']                    -> failed    choice='reject'
KeyboardInterrupt options=['reject', 'approve']                    -> failed    choice='reject'
KeyboardInterrupt options=['approve', 'reject', 'request-changes'] -> failed    choice='reject'
KeyboardInterrupt options=['yes', 'no']                            -> completed choice='no'   <-- unchanged

Behaviour change — disclosed

The returned choice changes only when the prompt is interrupted and a reject/abort option is not last. The documented default options: [approve, reject] is byte-for-byte unchanged, which the reject_last parametrization pins by passing both before and after. A workflow that deliberately relied on Ctrl+C selecting a trailing non-reject option (say defer) would now reject instead — that reliance is precisely the defect being fixed, but it is a real change and worth stating.

Verification

• Fail-before / pass-after: 5 new-vs-baseline failures with the source reverted to upstream/main → 55 passed with the fix.
• Parametrized over both interrupt types × three option orderings, plus a step-level test asserting the gate does not report COMPLETED, plus a guard that the no-reject-option fallback is unchanged.
• Scoped regression on tests/test_workflows.py: 21 failed / 964 passed against a clean-main baseline of 21 failed / 956 passed — no new failures (the 21 are the known Windows os.replace flakiness in that file).
• uvx ruff@0.15.0 check src tests → clean

---

Written with assistance from Claude Code. Bug found, reproduced, and verified by me on current main.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[Copilot]

🟡 Changes recommended

Ctrl+C is still converted into a verdict instead of propagating to the engine’s pause handler.

Get a fresh assessment by requesting another Copilot review.

Pull request overview

Fixes gate prompts selecting an approving option when interrupted.

Changes:

• Selects a declared reject/abort option on prompt interruption.
• Adds regression tests for option ordering and fallback behavior.

File summaries

File	Description
src/specify_cli/workflows/steps/gate/__init__.py	Changes interrupted-prompt fallback selection.
tests/test_workflows.py	Adds prompt and step-level regression coverage.

Review details

• Files reviewed: 2/2 changed files
• Comments generated: 1
• Review effort level: Balanced (auto)

Note

Copilot is running an experiment and ran this review at Balanced.

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[mnriem]

Please address Copilot feedback and rebase on upstream/main

[mnriem]

Please resolve conflicts

[jawwad-ali]

@mnriem Conflicts resolved (5492c9e). The fix now lives at src/specify_cli/workflows/step/gate/__init__.py after the restructure, with the test imports updated to workflows.step.gate. I also dropped a stray .coverage file that had been committed on this branch by mistake.

Verified against current main: with the gate source reverted, 6 of the new TestGateStep cases fail; with the fix, all 55 pass.

Rebased as a single commit on current main; uvx ruff@0.15.0 check src tests is clean. Any remaining local failures are the pre-existing Windows symlink-privilege tests, which fail identically on unmodified main.

[Copilot]

Copilot review overview

🟢 Approval recommended

The behavior and regression coverage are sound; only a non-blocking stale line-reference comment remains.

Review effort: Balanced
Findings: 1

Open (1)

• Use method references instead of stale line numbers · New

Resolved since last review (1)

• Returning the reject option still converts KeyboardInterrupt into a gate verdict. The engine's…

[mnriem]

Please address Copilot feedback

[jawwad-ali]

@mnriem Copilot feedback addressed in 4dd4a28, and the thread is resolved. The gate's Ctrl+C comment now cites WorkflowEngine.execute / WorkflowEngine.resume instead of engine.py line numbers that had gone stale, and the same stale reference in the PR description is fixed. It's a comment-only change. I also rebased onto current main and re-verified: 6 TestGateStep cases fail with the source reverted and all 55 pass with the fix, with no new failures in tests/test_workflows.py.

[Copilot]

🟢 Approval recommended

The fix matches engine interrupt semantics and includes positive, negative, and end-to-end regression coverage.

0 open findings

1 resolved since last review

• Use method references instead of stale line numbers

🧠 Review effort: Balanced

[mnriem]

Thank you!