The 9 make-pdf/test/e2e gate tests probe make-pdf/dist/pdf,
browse/dist/browse, and the diagram-render bundle, then self-skip when
absent. The required free-tests lane never built any of them, so the
gates silently skipped on Linux for their entire life (verified: 9 of
14 skip, exit 0). make-pdf-gate.yml's justification for deleting its
Linux leg claimed the free lane covered this — it didn't.
- new build:gates script: exactly the three artifacts the gates probe
(full bun run build compiles five binaries; ~60-90s tax on the only
required check is not warranted)
- free-tests.yml: build:gates step + poppler-utils +
fonts-noto-color-emoji (fonts must precede the first browse daemon
launch — Chromium snapshots fontconfig at startup; verified live:
a warm daemon renders tofu, a fresh one embeds NotoColorEmoji)
- make-pdf/test/e2e/ci-prereqs.test.ts: GSTACK_EXPECT_BINARIES=1 (set
by the workflow) inverts the skip polarity in CI — dropping the
build step or poppler fails the lane instead of re-opening the
silent-skip hole
Pre-flight: all 9 gates green on Linux locally.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>