---
name: feedback-verify-from-exit-codes-not-output
description: "Never conclude a build/test/launch result from grepped console text — use /workspace/devtools wrappers, which report from exit codes and structured artifacts"
metadata: 
  node_type: memory
  type: feedback
  originSessionId: 08c1f89c-4d24-4fb2-9488-0fe155872388
  modified: 2026-09-18T21:05:18.382Z
---

**Never report a build, test, or launch result based on grepped console output.**
Use the shared wrappers, invoked by absolute path:

```
/workspace/devtools/bin/gradle-verify <project-dir> <task...>
/workspace/devtools/bin/gradle-test   <project-dir> [task] -- --rerun-tasks
/workspace/devtools/bin/android-launch-check <package> [--apk <path>] [--settle <s>]
```

**Why:** in one session (2026-09-18) I reported three results that were about
something other than what I believed I was testing, and Peter noticed:

1. A failed `cd` in a chained command left the shell in the previous directory;
   the `BUILD SUCCESSFUL` I then reported was for a different project tree.
2. `adb shell monkey` + a single `pidof` sample reported a healthy app as crashed
   and a crashed app as healthy, on the same emulator minutes apart.
3. `adb install` refused a filename (not ending `.apk`) and said so on stdout,
   which I had redirected to `/dev/null`; the previous build stayed installed and
   was what actually got tested.

`gradle-test` caught a fourth immediately on first real use: nav reporting
`UP-TO-DATE` with 33 stale result files, which read naively as "241 tests pass"
without a single test having run.

**Shell traps that cause this class of error** (all encoded in the wrappers, all
worth avoiding in ad-hoc commands too):

- `cmd | tail; echo $?` reports `tail`'s status. Redirect to a file and check
  `$?`, or use `${PIPESTATUS[0]}`.
- `... | grep -q` under `set -o pipefail` SIGPIPEs the upstream command when grep
  exits early on a match — the pipeline reports failure *because* it matched. Do
  membership tests in pure shell (`case`).
- `set -e` plus `pid=$(pidof x)` aborts the script exactly when the process is
  gone, i.e. when you are trying to detect a crash. Use `|| true` on any
  substitution whose non-zero status is meaningful data.
- Gradle `UP-TO-DATE` means results on disk describe older code. Pass
  `-- --rerun-tasks` whenever the number matters.
- A green build with zero tests executed is not a passing suite.

**How to apply:** when stating a result to Peter, the number must come from a
fresh parsed artifact, not from console text. If a claim can't be backed that
way, say so rather than asserting it. He does not read the code, so an
unverified claim is one he cannot catch.

See `/workspace/devtools/README.md` for the full trap table. Referenced from
nav's and feedreader's `CLAUDE.md`. Related: [[project_feedreader_apk_publishing]]
(the `am start` vs `monkey` detail), [[feedback_verify_before_asserting_root_cause]].