fix(scripts): correct the pipe-shape exit-code advisory in every sibling banner

scripts/check-i18n-bundles.mjs

@@ -991,9 +991,11 @@ function reportPrerequisiteNotMet(headline, detail, options = {}) {
       alsoFix.map((l) => `        ${l}\n`).join('') +
       `\n${nothingChecked}\n` +
       `  (Exit code 1 — capture it BEFORE any pipe: \`pnpm check:i18n > /tmp/i18n.log 2>&1; echo "EXIT=$?"\`.\n` +
-      `  Piped, \`$?\` is the pipe's status, and \`| head -N\` turns even \`\${PIPESTATUS[0]}\`/\`pipefail\` green:\n` +
-      `  \`head\` closes the read end early, so this gate takes EPIPE and exits 0 — the pipe changed the\n` +
-      `  exit code itself. \`| tail\` reads to EOF; \`\${PIPESTATUS[0]}\` after it is the true status.)`,
+      `  Piped, \`$?\` is the LAST command's status, and \`head\`/\`tail\` essentially never fail — that\n` +
+      `  is the false green, and no pipe shape repairs it. \`\${PIPESTATUS[0]}\`/\`pipefail\` do recover\n` +
+      `  this gate's own code: \`| tail\` reads to EOF and forwards it, while \`| head -N\` closes the\n` +
+      `  read end early — the gate takes EPIPE, its verdict text is TRUNCATED, and a producer that\n` +
+      `  dies on SIGPIPE reports 141 rather than what it meant to say.)`,
   );
   process.exit(1);
 }

scripts/check-i18n-coverage.mjs

@@ -1133,8 +1133,13 @@ function reportPrerequisiteNotMet(headline, detail) {
       `  Nothing was measured: no config was linted and no count was compared, so this\n` +
       `  result says NOTHING about whether any declared label went untranslated — and\n` +
       `  the baseline was left exactly as committed (\`--update\` included).\n` +
-      `  (Exit code 1 — but piping this gate reports the PIPE's status, so\n` +
-      `  \`pnpm check:i18n-coverage | tail -4\` reads green either way. Use \`echo "EXIT=$?"\`.)`,
+      `  (Exit code 1 — capture it BEFORE any pipe:\n` +
+      `  \`pnpm check:i18n-coverage > /tmp/i18n-coverage.log 2>&1; echo "EXIT=$?"\`.\n` +
+      `  Piped, \`$?\` is the LAST command's status, and \`head\`/\`tail\` essentially never fail — that\n` +
+      `  is the false green, and no pipe shape repairs it. \`\${PIPESTATUS[0]}\`/\`pipefail\` do recover\n` +
+      `  this gate's own code: \`| tail\` reads to EOF and forwards it, while \`| head -N\` closes the\n` +
+      `  read end early — the gate takes EPIPE, its verdict text is TRUNCATED, and a producer that\n` +
+      `  dies on SIGPIPE reports 141 rather than what it meant to say.)`,
   );
   process.exit(1);
 }
@@ -1188,8 +1193,13 @@ function reportUnmeasuredConfigs(failures, measuredCount) {
       `  \`--update\` would freeze the survivors while silently dropping the rest. So this\n` +
       `  result says NOTHING about whether any declared label went untranslated, and the\n` +
       `  baseline was left exactly as committed (\`--update\` included).\n` +
-      `  (Exit code 1 — but piping this gate reports the PIPE's status, so\n` +
-      `  \`pnpm check:i18n-coverage | tail -4\` reads green either way. Use \`echo "EXIT=$?"\`.)`,
+      `  (Exit code 1 — capture it BEFORE any pipe:\n` +
+      `  \`pnpm check:i18n-coverage > /tmp/i18n-coverage.log 2>&1; echo "EXIT=$?"\`.\n` +
+      `  Piped, \`$?\` is the LAST command's status, and \`head\`/\`tail\` essentially never fail — that\n` +
+      `  is the false green, and no pipe shape repairs it. \`\${PIPESTATUS[0]}\`/\`pipefail\` do recover\n` +
+      `  this gate's own code: \`| tail\` reads to EOF and forwards it, while \`| head -N\` closes the\n` +
+      `  read end early — the gate takes EPIPE, its verdict text is TRUNCATED, and a producer that\n` +
+      `  dies on SIGPIPE reports 141 rather than what it meant to say.)`,
   );
   process.exit(1);
 }
@@ -1217,8 +1227,13 @@ function reportEmptyPopulation(verdict) {
       `  Nothing was measured: no config was linted and no count was compared, so this\n` +
       `  result says NOTHING about whether any declared label went untranslated — and\n` +
       `  the baseline was left exactly as committed (\`--update\` included).\n` +
-      `  (Exit code 1 — but piping this gate reports the PIPE's status, so\n` +
-      `  \`pnpm check:i18n-coverage | tail -4\` reads green either way. Use \`echo "EXIT=$?"\`.)`,
+      `  (Exit code 1 — capture it BEFORE any pipe:\n` +
+      `  \`pnpm check:i18n-coverage > /tmp/i18n-coverage.log 2>&1; echo "EXIT=$?"\`.\n` +
+      `  Piped, \`$?\` is the LAST command's status, and \`head\`/\`tail\` essentially never fail — that\n` +
+      `  is the false green, and no pipe shape repairs it. \`\${PIPESTATUS[0]}\`/\`pipefail\` do recover\n` +
+      `  this gate's own code: \`| tail\` reads to EOF and forwards it, while \`| head -N\` closes the\n` +
+      `  read end early — the gate takes EPIPE, its verdict text is TRUNCATED, and a producer that\n` +
+      `  dies on SIGPIPE reports 141 rather than what it meant to say.)`,
   );
   process.exit(1);
 }

scripts/check-test-completeness.mjs

@@ -478,9 +478,13 @@ function prerequisiteNotMet({ headline, detail, fix }) {
       '  this result says NOTHING about whether every test vitest counted actually ran,',
       '  nor about whether every scheduled package reported.',
       '  ⛔ It is NOT a finding, and it is not evidence that anything in the tree is wrong.',
-      `  (Exit code ${EXIT_PREREQUISITE_NOT_MET}, distinct from a finding's ${EXIT_FINDINGS} — but a pipe reports the PIPE's`,
-      '  status, so `node scripts/check-test-completeness.mjs | tail -4` reads green either',
-      '  way. Capture `echo "EXIT=$?"` BEFORE any pipe.)',
+      `  (Exit code ${EXIT_PREREQUISITE_NOT_MET}, distinct from a finding's ${EXIT_FINDINGS} — capture it BEFORE any pipe:`,
+      '  `node scripts/check-test-completeness.mjs > /tmp/test-completeness.log 2>&1; echo "EXIT=$?"`.',
+      "  Piped, `$?` is the LAST command's status, and `head`/`tail` essentially never fail — that",
+      '  is the false green, and no pipe shape repairs it. `${PIPESTATUS[0]}`/`pipefail` do recover',
+      "  this gate's own code: `| tail` reads to EOF and forwards it, while `| head -N` closes the",
+      '  read end early — the gate takes EPIPE, its verdict text is TRUNCATED, and a producer that',
+      '  dies on SIGPIPE reports 141 rather than what it meant to say.)',
     ],
   };
 }

scripts/import-prerequisite.mjs

@@ -394,21 +394,61 @@ export async function requireDefaultExport(specifier, load, importerUrl, options
  * The shared frame, in `check-i18n-coverage.mjs`'s wording and order: what is
  * unmet, why, the command that clears it, and — load-bearing — that nothing was
  * measured, so the exit code says nothing about the gate's actual question.
+ *
+ * ── The pipe-shape advisory, and why it says what it says ──────────────────
+ *
+ * Every importer of this module inherits the closing paragraph verbatim, so a
+ * wrong claim there is wrong in every gate at once. Measured here 2026-08-31 on
+ * node 22.22.2 / bash 5, one refusing gate plus constructed producers:
+ *
+ *   node scripts/check-test-completeness.mjs            -> 3   (no pipe)
+ *   … 2>&1 | tail -4   $? = 0   ${PIPESTATUS[0]} = 3   pipefail -> 3
+ *   … 2>&1 | head -1   $? = 0   ${PIPESTATUS[0]} = 3   pipefail -> 3
+ *
+ * So the false green is `$?` after ANY pipe — it is the LAST command's status,
+ * and `head`/`tail` both essentially never fail. It is NOT a property of one
+ * shape, and choosing a different shape does not repair it.
+ *
+ * ⚠️ `| head -N` does close the read end early and the producer DOES take EPIPE
+ * — proven by a producer that prints what it caught — but node ignores SIGPIPE
+ * and swallows the stdout write error, so the gate still reaches its own exit:
+ * a producer instrumented to exit 7 reported `${PIPESTATUS[0]}` = 7 through
+ * `| head -1`. ⛔ Do NOT write that `| head` turns `${PIPESTATUS[0]}`/`pipefail`
+ * green; it does not, and an earlier draft of this advisory said so. What `head`
+ * really costs is the VERDICT TEXT (truncated), and — for a producer that does
+ * not ignore SIGPIPE, unlike node — a real code replaced by 141: `seq 1
+ * 100000000 | head -1` reports `${PIPESTATUS[0]}` = 141. That is a false RED,
+ * the opposite direction.
+ *
+ * `selfTest` pins the four load-bearing clauses below.
  */
 export function reportPrerequisiteNotMet(importerUrl, verdict, measures) {
+  console.error(prerequisiteNotMetText(importerUrl, verdict, measures));
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
+/**
+ * The text `reportPrerequisiteNotMet` prints, as a value — so the self-test can
+ * assert on the advisory without spawning a process or stubbing `process.exit`.
+ */
+function prerequisiteNotMetText(importerUrl, verdict, measures) {
   const gate = fileURLToPath(importerUrl).split('/').pop().replace(/\.mjs$/, '');
   const subject = measures ? `whether ${measures}` : `what it gates`;
-  console.error(
+  return (
     `\n${gate}: PREREQUISITE NOT MET — ${verdict.headline}\n\n` +
       verdict.detail.map((l) => (l ? `  ${l}` : '')).join('\n') +
       `\n\n  Fix:  ${verdict.fix}\n\n` +
       `  Nothing was measured: this gate exited before running a single check, so this\n` +
       `  result says NOTHING about ${subject}. It is NOT a finding, and it is not\n` +
       `  evidence that anything in the tree is wrong.\n` +
-      `  (Exit code 1 — but piping this gate reports the PIPE's status, so\n` +
-      `  \`node scripts/${gate}.mjs | tail -4\` reads green either way. Use \`echo "EXIT=$?"\`.)`,
+      `  (Exit code 1 — capture it BEFORE any pipe:\n` +
+      `  \`node scripts/${gate}.mjs > /tmp/${gate}.log 2>&1; echo "EXIT=$?"\`.\n` +
+      `  Piped, \`$?\` is the LAST command's status, and \`head\`/\`tail\` essentially never fail — that\n` +
+      `  is the false green, and no pipe shape repairs it. \`\${PIPESTATUS[0]}\`/\`pipefail\` do recover\n` +
+      `  this gate's own code: \`| tail\` reads to EOF and forwards it, while \`| head -N\` closes the\n` +
+      `  read end early — the gate takes EPIPE, its verdict text is TRUNCATED, and a producer that\n` +
+      `  dies on SIGPIPE reports 141 rather than what it meant to say.)`
   );
-  process.exit(1);
 }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -586,6 +626,32 @@ export function selfTest() {
     rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
   }
 
+  // ── the inherited pipe-shape advisory ───────────────────────────────────
+  // Pinned HERE and nowhere else, because this is the one copy 45 importers
+  // print. The clauses are the four the advisory is for; the negative one is
+  // the load-bearing one, since the wrong claim it excludes reads perfectly
+  // plausible and shipped once already.
+  const advisory = prerequisiteNotMetText(
+    new URL('file:///repo/scripts/check-fixture-gate.mjs').href,
+    { headline: 'h', detail: ['d'], fix: 'f' },
+    undefined,
+  );
+  t('the advisory prescribes capturing the code BEFORE any pipe',
+    advisory.includes('capture it BEFORE any pipe') && advisory.includes('> /tmp/check-fixture-gate.log 2>&1'),
+    advisory);
+  t('the advisory names the shape-independent false green: `$?` is the LAST command\'s status',
+    advisory.includes("`$?` is the LAST command's status") && advisory.includes('no pipe shape repairs it'));
+  t('the advisory keeps `| tail` as the shape that FORWARDS the true status',
+    advisory.includes('`| tail` reads to EOF and forwards it'));
+  t('the advisory names `| head -N` and the EPIPE mechanism, with its real cost',
+    advisory.includes('`| head -N` closes the') && advisory.includes('EPIPE')
+      && advisory.includes('TRUNCATED') && advisory.includes('141'));
+  // ⛔ The claim this gate must never make again: measured 2026-08-31, `| head`
+  // does NOT defeat `${PIPESTATUS[0]}`/`pipefail` — node ignores SIGPIPE and
+  // reaches its own exit. See the mechanism note on `reportPrerequisiteNotMet`.
+  t('the advisory does NOT claim a pipe shape defeats `${PIPESTATUS[0]}`/`pipefail`',
+    !/turns even .*PIPESTATUS.*green|reads green either way/.test(advisory));
+
   const failed = cases.filter((c) => !c.ok);
   for (const c of failed) console.error(`  ✗ ${c.name}${c.detail ? ` -- ${c.detail}` : ''}`);
   if (failed.length) {

scripts/pm/check-half-states.mjs

@@ -8502,8 +8502,13 @@ function reportPrerequisiteNotMet(v, options = {}) {
       `  per label", because a first page is not a count and this gate could not be run to get one.\n` +
       `  ⇒ Treat this exit as an unread instrument, never as a quiet board: the H39 census below\n` +
       `  does not appear at all in a run that ends here.\n` +
-      `  (Exit code ${EXIT_PREREQUISITE_NOT_MET}, distinct from the unclassified failure's 2 — but piping this\n` +
-      `  reports the PIPE's status, so \`… | tail -4\` reads green either way. Use \`echo "EXIT=$?"\`.)`,
+      `  (Exit code ${EXIT_PREREQUISITE_NOT_MET}, distinct from the unclassified failure's 2 — capture it BEFORE\n` +
+      `  any pipe: \`node scripts/pm/check-half-states.mjs > /tmp/half-states.log 2>&1; echo "EXIT=$?"\`.\n` +
+      `  Piped, \`$?\` is the LAST command's status, and \`head\`/\`tail\` essentially never fail — that\n` +
+      `  is the false green, and no pipe shape repairs it. \`\${PIPESTATUS[0]}\`/\`pipefail\` do recover\n` +
+      `  this gate's own code: \`| tail\` reads to EOF and forwards it, while \`| head -N\` closes the\n` +
+      `  read end early — the gate takes EPIPE, its verdict text is TRUNCATED, and a producer that\n` +
+      `  dies on SIGPIPE reports 141 rather than what it meant to say.)`,
   );
   process.exit(EXIT_PREREQUISITE_NOT_MET);
 }

scripts/pm/ci-failure.mjs

@@ -167,7 +167,9 @@
  *                    environment exactly as much as one that was dead at
  *                    request 1.
  *
- * Piping hides all of it (`… | tail` reports the PIPE's status). Read `$?`.
+ * Piping hides all of it: after ANY pipe `$?` is the LAST command's status, and `head`/`tail`
+ * essentially never fail. Capture the exit code BEFORE any pipe; `${PIPESTATUS[0]}`/`pipefail`
+ * recover it, `| tail` reading to EOF while `| head -N` truncates the verdict text.
  *
  * ## The transport — node's fetch does not read HTTPS_PROXY, and the failure
  *    wears a credential fault's face
@@ -1537,7 +1539,12 @@ function render(result, target) {
 
   say(`(Exit ${verdict.exit}: 0 green · 1 red with the assertion in hand · 2 undetermined · ` +
       `${EXIT_PREREQUISITE_NOT_MET} prerequisite not met.`);
-  say(" Piping reports the PIPE's status, so `... | tail` reads green either way. Use `echo 'EXIT=$?'`.)");
+  say(" Capture it BEFORE any pipe: `node scripts/pm/ci-failure.mjs > /tmp/ci-failure.log 2>&1; echo \"EXIT=$?\"`.");
+  say(" Piped, `$?` is the LAST command's status, and `head`/`tail` essentially never fail — that is the");
+  say(" false green, and no pipe shape repairs it. `${PIPESTATUS[0]}`/`pipefail` do recover this tool's own");
+  say(" code: `| tail` reads to EOF and forwards it, while `| head -N` closes the read end early — the tool");
+  say(" takes EPIPE, its verdict text is TRUNCATED, and a producer that dies on SIGPIPE reports 141 rather");
+  say(" than what it meant to say.)");
   return { text: out.join('\n'), exit: verdict.exit, verdict };
 }
 
@@ -2421,7 +2428,12 @@ async function reportMidWalkFailure(error, stage) {
   console.error(`\nci-failure: ${decision.verdict} — ${decision.headline}\n`);
   for (const line of decision.detail) console.error(line ? `  ${line}` : '');
   for (const line of renderFixLines(decision.fix)) console.error(line);
-  console.error("  Piping reports the PIPE's status, so `... | tail` reads green either way. Use `echo \"EXIT=$?\"`.");
+  console.error("  Capture the exit code BEFORE any pipe: `node scripts/pm/ci-failure.mjs > /tmp/ci-failure.log 2>&1; echo \"EXIT=$?\"`.");
+  console.error("  Piped, `$?` is the LAST command's status, and `head`/`tail` essentially never fail — that is the");
+  console.error("  false green, and no pipe shape repairs it. `${PIPESTATUS[0]}`/`pipefail` do recover this tool's own");
+  console.error("  code: `| tail` reads to EOF and forwards it, while `| head -N` closes the read end early — the tool");
+  console.error("  takes EPIPE, its verdict text is TRUNCATED, and a producer that dies on SIGPIPE reports 141 rather");
+  console.error("  than what it meant to say.");
   process.exit(decision.exit);
 }