refactor: merge PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS into PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS

[Jammy2211]

Overview

Merge the two plot-speedup environment variables PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS and PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS into a single PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS flag. Today both vars are always set together in every workspace/release config and serve the same purpose — making plots cheaper for smoke tests and release runs. One flag is simpler to document, set, and reason about.

Plan

• Replace the PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS check in PyAutoGalaxy's plot_utils.py with a PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS check so the surviving flag also governs critical-curve/caustic overlay skipping.
• Remove PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS from PyAutoBuild's env-var config, release workflow, and CLAUDE docs.
• Sweep all 5 workspace repos, dropping the retired flag from their env_vars.yaml, run_scripts.sh, and CLAUDE.md command examples.
• Update admin_jammy/prompt/active.md to remove the stale bullet for the retired flag.
• Verify by running a PyAutoGalaxy plot script with and without PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS=1 and confirming overlays are skipped/computed as expected.
• Grep the whole tree afterwards to catch any lingering references.

Detailed implementation plan

Affected Repositories

• PyAutoGalaxy (primary — only repo with code changes)
• PyAutoBuild (configs + release workflow + CLAUDE.md)
• autofit_workspace (env_vars.yaml, run_scripts.sh)
• autogalaxy_workspace (env_vars.yaml, CLAUDE.md)
• autolens_workspace (env_vars.yaml, CLAUDE.md)
• autolens_workspace_test (env_vars.yaml)
• autofit_workspace_test (env_vars.yaml)
• admin_jammy (active.md)

Work Classification

Both (library + workspace) — starts as library work (PyAutoGalaxy, PyAutoBuild), workspace sweep follows.

Branch Survey

Repository	Current Branch	Dirty?
PyAutoGalaxy	main	clean (untracked only)
PyAutoArray	main	clean (untracked only)
PyAutoBuild	main	minor test_results churn
autofit_workspace	main	data fixtures dirty
autogalaxy_workspace	main	data fixtures dirty
autolens_workspace	main	data fixtures dirty
autolens_workspace_test	main	data fixtures dirty
autofit_workspace_test	main	clean
admin_jammy	main	papers.md dirty

Suggested branch: feature/merge-fast-plot-env-vars
Worktree root: ~/Code/PyAutoLabs-wt/merge-fast-plot-env-vars/ (created later by /start_library)

Note: PyAutoBuild has an old local branch feature/fast-plots-tight-layout from earlier work in this area — informational only, not a conflict.

Implementation Steps

1. PyAutoGalaxy — in both autogalaxy/plot/plot_utils.py and autogalaxy/util/plot_utils.py (currently byte-identical duplicates — flagged as a separate cleanup, not addressed here), at lines 379 and 431, replace:

   if os.environ.get("PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS") == "1":

   with:

   if os.environ.get("PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS") == "1":

2. PyAutoBuild:

   • autobuild/config/env_vars.yaml line 13 — remove the PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS entry.
   • .github/workflows/release.yml line 759 — remove export PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS=1.
   • CLAUDE.md line 116 — remove the bullet documenting the old var.

3. Workspaces — remove PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS from all config/build/env_vars.yaml (line 14): autofit_workspace, autogalaxy_workspace, autolens_workspace, autolens_workspace_test, autofit_workspace_test. Also drop the PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS entry from the autolens_workspace_test unset list (line 30).

4. Workspace scripts/docs:

   • autofit_workspace/run_scripts.sh line 17 — drop export PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS=1.
   • autolens_workspace/CLAUDE.md lines 36, 40 — remove from command example and doc bullet.
   • autogalaxy_workspace/CLAUDE.md lines 34, 38 — same.

5. admin_jammy — admin_jammy/prompt/active.md line 11 — remove the stale bullet.

6. Testing:

   • Run a PyAutoGalaxy script with PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS=1 and verify the caustic/critical-curve overlays are skipped.
   • Run without PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS and verify overlays are computed normally.
   • grep -r PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS across all repos — should return only historical archive entries (admin_jammy/prompt/issued/).

Key Files

• PyAutoGalaxy/autogalaxy/plot/plot_utils.py — swap env var name (lines 379, 431)
• PyAutoGalaxy/autogalaxy/util/plot_utils.py — swap env var name (lines 379, 431)
• PyAutoBuild/autobuild/config/env_vars.yaml — remove entry
• PyAutoBuild/.github/workflows/release.yml — remove export
• PyAutoBuild/CLAUDE.md — remove doc bullet
• autofit_workspace/config/build/env_vars.yaml — remove entry
• autogalaxy_workspace/config/build/env_vars.yaml — remove entry
• autolens_workspace/config/build/env_vars.yaml — remove entry
• autolens_workspace_test/config/build/env_vars.yaml — remove entry + unset list
• autofit_workspace_test/config/build/env_vars.yaml — remove entry
• autofit_workspace/run_scripts.sh — drop export
• autolens_workspace/CLAUDE.md — remove from command + bullet
• autogalaxy_workspace/CLAUDE.md — remove from command + bullet
• admin_jammy/prompt/active.md — remove stale bullet

Known issues flagged (out of scope)

• PyAutoGalaxy/autogalaxy/plot/plot_utils.py and autogalaxy/util/plot_utils.py are byte-identical duplicates. Worth deduplicating in a follow-up task.
• admin_jammy/prompt/issued/import_optimization.md is a historical archive mentioning the old var; left untouched.

Original Prompt

Click to expand starting prompt

Can you merge the environment variables PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CURVES And PYAUTO_FAST_PLOT into jsut PYAUTO_FAST_PLOT

(Note: actual var names are PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS and PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS — the surviving flag will be PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS.)

[Jammy2211]

Smoke Test Results — 2026-04-10

All 27 smoke tests passed across 4 workspaces, exercising the PyAutoGalaxy PR #340 changes via the task worktree.

Workspace	Passed	Failed	Total
autofit_workspace	7	0	7
autogalaxy_workspace	6	0	6
autolens_workspace	7	0	7
autolens_workspace_test	7	0	7

Confirms the env-var merge is behaviourally compatible: workspace configs still set both PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS=1 (now a no-op) and PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS=1 (which now covers overlay skipping), so no downstream regression.

[Jammy2211]

Library PR Created — 2026-04-10

PRs

• refactor: merge PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS into PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS #340 (refactor: merge PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS into PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS)
• refactor: drop PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS in favor of PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS PyAutoBuild#43 (refactor: drop PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS in favor of PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS)

Status

Library changes shipped and smoke-tested (all 27 scripts passed with the worktree PRs active). Next: workspace sweep via /start_workspace to remove the now-dead PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS references from workspace env_vars.yaml, run_scripts.sh, and CLAUDE.md files.

API Changes

• Retired env var: PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS
• PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS=1 now also skips critical curve / caustic overlay computation (in addition to tight_layout())
• No Python API changes

[Jammy2211]

Smoke Test Results (Workspace Sweep) — 2026-04-12

25 of 27 smoke tests passed across 4 workspaces after removing PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS from all workspace configs.

Workspace	Passed	Failed	Total
autofit_workspace	6	1	7
autogalaxy_workspace	6	0	6
autolens_workspace	7	0	7
autolens_workspace_test	6	1	7

Failures (pre-existing, unrelated to env var merge)

autofit_workspace — cookbooks/samples.py

IndexError accessing parameter_lists[4] in bypass mode — PYAUTOFIT_TEST_MODE=2 produces fewer samples than the script expects.

autolens_workspace_test — database/scrape/general.py

Shape mismatch (100×100 vs 15×15) — pre-existing data at full resolution incompatible with PYAUTO_WORKSPACE_SMALL_DATASETS=1 mask.

[Jammy2211]

Shipped — 2026-04-12

Library PRs

• refactor: merge PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS into PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS #340
• refactor: drop PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS in favor of PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS PyAutoBuild#43

Workspace PRs

• refactor: drop PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS env var autofit_workspace#28
• refactor: drop PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS env var autogalaxy_workspace#24
• refactor: drop PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS env var autolens_workspace#50
• refactor: drop PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS env var autolens_workspace_test#24
• refactor: drop PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS env var autofit_workspace_test#5

Summary

Merged PYAUTO_DISABLE_CRITICAL_CAUSTICS into PYAUTO_FAST_PLOTS across the entire codebase. The surviving flag now governs both tight_layout() skipping and critical curve/caustic overlay skipping. All 7 PRs (2 library + 5 workspace) merged successfully. 25/27 smoke tests passed (2 pre-existing failures unrelated to this change).