Avoid Action Scheduler next-action checks before AS datastore initializes during wp-phpunit install

[chubes4]

Problem

The Playground proof for Extra-Chill/homeboy-extensions#422 is now green through Stage 3, and Data Machine Code's pre-install schema option warnings were fixed by Extra-Chill/data-machine-code#273 / PR #274.

The only remaining noisy bootstrap output in Stage 1/2 is this Action Scheduler notice:

NOTICE:USER_NOTICE: Function as_next_scheduled_action was called incorrectly. as_next_scheduled_action() was called before the Action Scheduler data store was initialized Please see https://developer.wordpress.org/advanced-administration/debug/debug-wordpress/ for more information. (This message was added in version 3.1.6.) at /wordpress/wp-includes/functions.php:6131 context=stage=load_component hook=wp_loaded wp_installing=true

Stage 3 is clean, and all stages pass, so this is non-blocking noise. It is still a real lifecycle mismatch worth cleaning up upstream.

Likely path

The likely route is activation-time flow re-scheduling:

• data-machine.php → datamachine_activate_plugin()
• datamachine_activate_scheduled_flows() at data-machine.php:716
• inc/migrations/flows.php delegates non-manual flows to DataMachine\Api\Flows\FlowScheduling::handle_scheduling_update()
• FlowScheduling delegates to DataMachine\Engine\Tasks\RecurringScheduler::ensureSchedule()
• RecurringScheduler::ensureSchedule() schedules and then verifies persistence with RecurringScheduler::isScheduled()
• RecurringScheduler::isScheduled() calls as_next_scheduled_action() when the function exists, but in wp-phpunit's install bootstrap Action Scheduler's function exists before its datastore is initialized.

Relevant code today:

public static function isScheduled( string $hook, array $args, string $group = self::GROUP ): bool {
    if ( ! function_exists( 'as_next_scheduled_action' ) ) {
        return false;
    }
    return false !== as_next_scheduled_action( $hook, $args, $group );
}

Repro

Use the current proof branch and upstream dependencies:

cd /Users/chubes/Developer/wc-store-blueprints@feat-playground-ci-proof-stage3
bash tests/playground-ci/scripts/run-stage-1.sh
bash tests/playground-ci/scripts/run-stage-2.sh

Both pass but print the notice above. run-stage-3.sh passes cleanly.

Expected

No Action Scheduler "called before the Action Scheduler data store was initialized" notice during wp-phpunit/Playground boot.

Suggested fix shape

Smallest reasonable options:

1. In RecurringScheduler::isScheduled(), also guard for AS datastore readiness before calling as_next_scheduled_action(). If the datastore is not ready, return false or a typed "unavailable" result that callers can handle without triggering _doing_it_wrong().
2. Or, skip activation-time re-scheduling while wp_installing() is true, similar to DMC's schema-upgrade guard. This may be broader than needed; prefer the scheduler-level guard if it keeps production behavior intact.

Do not change the Playground proof branch or homeboy-extensions to suppress the notice. The scheduler should avoid calling AS read helpers before AS is ready.

Related

• WordPress extension: explore running Data Machine end-to-end inside Playground via configured workloads homeboy-extensions#422 — overall proof.
• WordPress bench runner: load validation_dependencies before plugins_loaded fires homeboy-extensions#426 / PR feat: backfill undo support to AltTextTask and ImageGenerationTask #427 — dependency plugins load before plugins_loaded.
• WordPress bench runner: defer plugin activation until AFTER wp-phpunit install creates tables homeboy-extensions#431 / PR fix(tests): match trySetFeaturedImage return type with parent class #434 — activation hooks run post-install.
• Synchronous flow drain ability for one-shot CI execution #1803 / PR Add synchronous job drain ability #1805 — datamachine/drain-job for Stage 3.
• Avoid schema option writes during wp-phpunit pre-install plugins_loaded data-machine-code#273 / PR #274 — fixed DMC pre-install schema option writes.

[chubes4]

Verified after PR #1813 landed on main (7af39531 fix: guard scheduler checks before AS datastore init).

Local dependency checkout updated:

cd /Users/chubes/Developer/data-machine
git pull --ff-only

Proof worktree:

cd /Users/chubes/Developer/wc-store-blueprints@feat-playground-ci-proof-stage3
bash tests/playground-ci/scripts/run-stage-1.sh && \
  bash tests/playground-ci/scripts/run-stage-2.sh && \
  bash tests/playground-ci/scripts/run-stage-3.sh

Result: all stages passed sequentially and the previous Action Scheduler datastore notice is gone.

Stage summaries:

✓ Stage 1 PASSED — DM + DMC cold-booted under PHP-WASM + SQLite
✓ Stage 2 PASSED — wc-idea-agent imported and queryable inside Playground
✓ Stage 3 PASSED — DM flow ran and drained synchronously inside Playground

Stage 3 final state:

run-flow succeeded:              true
drain-job succeeded:             true
Terminal state:                  completed_no_items
Persisted job status:            completed_no_items
Actions drained:                 1

Closing as fixed.