Hmbown/CodeWhale · error · PersistenceBacklogError

persistence measurement source tree is dirty

Error message

persistence measurement source tree is dirty

What it means

When the checker runs with `require_clean_source=True` (always in main for the measured/receipt check), the receipt's `source_dirty` flag must be false. A dirty tree means the measurement may not correspond to any committed source revision, so performance numbers are not reproducible and the budget comparison would be untrustworthy. The error fires when the receipt records uncommitted changes at measurement time.

Solutions

1. Commit or stash all changes (including untracked files, or add them to .gitignore) and re-run the measurement so source_dirty is false
2. Regenerate the receipt on a clean tree: `git status --porcelain` must output nothing before measuring
3. Remove or ignore stray generated files that make `git status` non-empty

Example fix

// before
$ git status --porcelain
 M crates/tui/src/main.rs
$ python scripts/check-persistence-backlog-budget.py
ERROR: persistence measurement source tree is dirty
// after
$ git stash -u
$ python scripts/check-persistence-backlog-budget.py
PASS: one-way ceilings respected

import subprocess
dirty = bool(subprocess.run(["git","status","--porcelain","--untracked-files=normal"], capture_output=True, text=True).stdout.strip())
assert not dirty, "commit/stash changes before measuring"

try:
    compare(receipt, budget, require_clean_source=True)
except PersistenceBacklogError as e:
    if "source tree is dirty" in str(e):
        stash_or_commit_then_remeasure()

When it happens

Trigger: Running the checker with uncommitted edits in the working tree; a receipt generated on a dirty tree is later validated with require_clean_source; untracked files present when `git status --porcelain --untracked-files=normal` runs (untracked files count as dirty).

Common situations: Editing code, then running the persistence check before committing; CI artifacts (logs, build outputs) left in the tree; checking out a receipt generated during local experimentation.

Understand the failure class

Background: "git command failed": what it means when a tool shells out to git and git exits non-zero — this error's family across 21 libraries.

Related errors

• baseline provenance must identify a clean source tree
• baseline provenance needs an exact source SHA
• expected revision must be an exact 40-character Git SHA
• gh pr view did not return exact base and head commit IDs
• GitHub tag ref did not include an object SHA

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@433685b202 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/296882440a24ab0f. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at scripts/check-persistence-backlog-budget.py:178

        if not isinstance(receipt[field], str) or not receipt[field].startswith(prefix):
            raise PersistenceBacklogError(f"receipt {field} must be a version string")
    validate_frozen_field("build_profile", receipt["build_profile"], "test")
    validate_frozen_field("sample_count", receipt["sample_count"], 1)
    if expected_source is not None:
        for field in (
            "source_sha",
            "source_dirty",
            "rustc_version",
            "cargo_version",
            "build_profile",
            "sample_count",
        ):
            if receipt[field] != expected_source[field]:
                raise PersistenceBacklogError(
                    f"receipt {field} does not match the checked source"
                )
    if require_clean_source and receipt["source_dirty"]:
        raise PersistenceBacklogError("persistence measurement source tree is dirty")
    platform = receipt["platform"]
    if not isinstance(platform, str) or platform not in SUPPORTED_PLATFORMS:
        raise PersistenceBacklogError("receipt platform is unsupported")

    attempted = non_negative_integer(receipt["requests_attempted"], "requests_attempted")
    accepted = non_negative_integer(receipt["accepted_requests"], "accepted_requests")
    if accepted != attempted:
        raise PersistenceBacklogError(
            "accepted_requests must equal requests_attempted; sender rejection is not backlog improvement"
        )
    retained = non_negative_integer(
        receipt["retained_queued_requests"], "retained_queued_requests"
    )
    if retained > accepted:
        raise PersistenceBacklogError("retained_queued_requests exceeds accepted_requests")
    for field in ("estimated_retained_payload_bytes", "enqueue_elapsed_ns"):
        non_negative_integer(receipt[field], field)
    if retained == 0 or receipt["estimated_retained_payload_bytes"] == 0:

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