Defuse the clone-and-run trap: tracked pipeline data warns loudly

Eric spotted it: the README told people to clone this repo, rm the
committed data, and run — which writes THEIR pipeline artifacts at
git-TRACKED paths. The next `git pull` (this repo commits data every
session) refuses to merge, and the internet's standard remedies for
that error — reset --hard, checkout ., stash, clean -fdx — destroy
their review decisions, hand-written games, upload log, and photos.

Two layers. The README's "Bring your own shelves" now leads with
`uv tool install git+…` and running in a directory of your own: data
lands untracked by construction and a bug fix is `uv tool upgrade`,
which cannot touch it. And because nobody re-reads a README, Config
gains tracked_data_warning(): if artifacts under data_dir are
git-tracked, `bggpipe init` and the web dashboard both warn in plain
words. The owner's exemption is data/.own_repo — a GITIGNORED marker,
so the author's checkout is silent while a fresh clone of the same
repo still gets the warning (a committed marker or config key would
have shipped the exemption to exactly the people who need warning).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_016jXZFSTZQKzAC8fqpWSz9g

.gitignore

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 .env
 *.storage_state.json
 data/.lan_key
+data/.own_repo
 playwright/.auth/
 storage_state.json
 

README.md

@@ -143,14 +143,20 @@ Straight-on, one shelf (or part of one) per shot, close enough that spine text i
 
 ## Bring your own shelves
 
-This repo doubles as its author's live pipeline, so `data/` ships with his real artifacts — extracted titles, matches, and 2018 collection snapshots. Before running against *your* shelves, clear the data:
+Install bggpipe as a tool and run it in its own directory — **not inside a clone of this repo**:
 
 ```sh
-rm data/*.csv data/*.json data/*.xml data/STUB_DATA.marker
-rm -rf data/bgg_cache data/extract_raw
+uv tool install git+https://git.kestrelsnest.social/eric/bggpipe
+mkdir ~/shelves && cd ~/shelves
+bggpipe init        # folders, credentials, one-time browser install
+bggpipe web         # or run stages from the terminal
 ```
 
-Two of those files deserve a word:
+Everything the pipeline produces — photos, matches, review decisions, your upload log — lives in the directory where you run it. A bug fix is `uv tool upgrade bggpipe`, which by construction cannot touch your data.
+
+**Why not clone and run?** This repo doubles as its author's live pipeline: `data/` ships with their real artifacts, committed and updated often. Run inside a clone and *your* data lands at git-tracked paths — the next `git pull` will refuse to merge, and the usual remedies (`git reset --hard`, `git checkout .`, `git stash`, `git clean -fdx`) would destroy your review decisions, hand-written games, upload log, and photos. bggpipe detects this arrangement and warns at `init` and on the web dashboard; don't ignore it. Clone only to develop (see [Development](#development)), and keep your own pipeline runs elsewhere.
+
+Two files of the author's data deserve a word:
 
 - **`data/STUB_DATA.marker`** — normally absent. It appears only if the synthetic stub fixtures (from `scripts/write_stub_fixtures.py`) regenerate the CSVs, and the upload stage refuses to run while it exists — so placeholder data can never reach a real BGG account. The committed CSVs are real API data.
 - **`data/collection_snapshot_*.xml`** — with `BGG_API_TOKEN` set, `diff` fetches your collection live and you don't need these. Without a token (still waiting on approval?), you can use the logged-in-browser exemption: while signed in to BGG, save these two URLs as `data/collection_snapshot_base.xml` and `data/collection_snapshot_expansions.xml` (if you get a "queued" message, refresh after a few seconds):

src/bggpipe/config.py

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ account has exactly one home.
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import os
+import subprocess
 import tomllib
 import warnings
 from dataclasses import dataclass, replace
@@ -74,6 +75,38 @@ class Config:
     def games_path(self) -> Path:
         return self.data_dir / "games.json"
 
+    def tracked_data_warning(self) -> str | None:
+        """The clone-and-run trap: pipeline data written at git-TRACKED
+        paths is one `git pull` + one panicked `git reset --hard` away
+        from destruction. Warn whenever artifacts under data_dir are
+        tracked — unless the owner has marked this checkout as their own
+        repo (the marker is gitignored, so a fresh clone never inherits
+        the exemption)."""
+        if (self.data_dir / ".own_repo").exists():
+            return None
+        try:
+            tracked = subprocess.run(  # noqa: S603
+                ["git", "ls-files", "--", str(self.data_dir)],  # noqa: S607
+                capture_output=True,
+                text=True,
+                timeout=10,
+                cwd=self.data_dir.resolve().parent,
+            )
+        except (OSError, subprocess.TimeoutExpired):
+            return None  # no git, no repo, no trap
+        if tracked.returncode != 0 or not tracked.stdout.strip():
+            return None
+        return (
+            f"your pipeline data ({self.data_dir}) sits at git-TRACKED "
+            "paths — a `git pull` here can refuse to merge, and the usual "
+            "remedies (reset --hard, checkout ., stash) would destroy your "
+            "review decisions, hand-written games, and upload log. Run "
+            "bggpipe from a directory outside this repository (see README: "
+            "Bring your own shelves). If this repo is genuinely where you "
+            f"version your own data, `touch {self.data_dir}/.own_repo` to "
+            "accept the arrangement and silence this warning."
+        )
+
     @property
     def local_games_path(self) -> Path:
         # hand-written metadata for games BGG doesn't have — the only

src/bggpipe/init_wizard.py

@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ class InitReport:
     keys_written: list[str] = field(default_factory=list)
     keys_missing: list[str] = field(default_factory=list)
     browser_installed: bool = False
+    warnings: list[str] = field(default_factory=list)
 
 
 def _env_file_keys(env_path: Path) -> set[str]:
@@ -153,6 +154,9 @@ def run_init(
 
     report = InitReport()
     typer.echo("bggpipe setup — checks what exists, fills only the gaps.\n")
+    if trap := cfg.tracked_data_warning():
+        typer.echo(f"WARNING: {trap}\n", err=True)
+        report.warnings.append(trap)
 
     # -- directories ----------------------------------------------------
     for path in (project_dir / cfg.photos_dir, project_dir / cfg.data_dir):

src/bggpipe/webreview.py

@@ -354,6 +354,9 @@ def create_app(
     # server-side degradations, shown in-browser (quarantined dismiss file,
     # unreadable thumbnails, torn artifacts)
     app_warnings: list[str] = list(startup_notes)
+    if trap := cfg.tracked_data_warning():
+        typer.echo(f"WARNING: {trap}", err=True)
+        app_warnings.append(trap)
 
     def warn_once(note: str) -> None:
         if note not in app_warnings:

tests/test_config.py

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import os
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
@@ -96,3 +97,44 @@ model = "claude-sonnet-5"
         pytest.warns(UserWarning, match="anthorpic"),
     ):
         load_config(p)
+
+
+def _git(tmp_path, *args):
+    import subprocess
+
+    subprocess.run(
+        ["git", *args],
+        cwd=tmp_path,
+        check=True,
+        capture_output=True,
+        env={
+            "PATH": os.environ["PATH"],
+            "HOME": str(tmp_path),
+            "GIT_AUTHOR_NAME": "t",
+            "GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL": "t@t",
+            "GIT_COMMITTER_NAME": "t",
+            "GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL": "t@t",
+        },
+    )
+
+
+def test_tracked_data_warning_fires_only_inside_a_repo(tmp_path):
+    """The clone-and-run trap: data at git-tracked paths is one panicked
+    `git reset --hard` from destruction. Outside a repo, silence."""
+    data = tmp_path / "data"
+    data.mkdir()
+    (data / "matches.csv").write_text("x")
+    cfg = Config(data_dir=data)
+    assert cfg.tracked_data_warning() is None  # no repo, no trap
+
+    _git(tmp_path, "init")
+    assert cfg.tracked_data_warning() is None  # repo, but nothing tracked
+    _git(tmp_path, "add", "data/matches.csv")
+    _git(tmp_path, "commit", "-m", "seed")
+    warning = cfg.tracked_data_warning()
+    assert warning and "git-TRACKED" in warning and ".own_repo" in warning
+
+    # the owner's exemption is a gitignored marker: a fresh clone of this
+    # repo would NOT carry it, so only the author's checkout is silenced
+    (data / ".own_repo").touch()
+    assert cfg.tracked_data_warning() is None

tests/test_upload.py

@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ from bggpipe.upload import (
     _scrub,
     annotate_queue,
     build_queue,
-    stale_jobs,
     run_upload,
+    stale_jobs,
     verify_uploads,
 )