From 4109491469795692b0a7a996d35ababf238daca4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Vernon Stinebaker <vernon.stinebaker@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 5 May 2026 14:35:45 +0800
Subject: [PATCH] build(test): make backend test entrypoint deterministic

---
 .github/workflows/ci.yml | 2 +-
 README.md                | 6 +++---
 build.zig                | 2 +-
 3 files changed, 5 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index b5158e9..946bb27 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ jobs:
           npm --prefix ui run build
 
       - name: Run unit tests
-        run: zig build test -Dbuild-ui=false --summary all 2>&1 | tee test-output.txt
+        run: zig build test -Dembed-ui=false -Dbuild-ui=false --summary all 2>&1 | tee test-output.txt
 
       - name: Run E2E tests
         if: runner.os == 'Linux'
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 73f7c48..28eff4d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ Local access chain:
 
 ### Build Prerequisites
 
-- `npm` is required for `zig build` and `zig build test` because the Svelte UI is
-  built and embedded into the binary during the Zig build.
+- `npm` is required for `zig build` and for any build that embeds the Svelte UI.
+- Backend-only tests can run without UI assets via `zig build test -Dembed-ui=false -Dbuild-ui=false`.
 
 When these tools are missing, `nullhub` will try to install them automatically
 via available system package managers (`apt`, `dnf`, `yum`, `pacman`, `zypper`,
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ optional `NULLTICKETS_TOKEN`.
 Backend:
 
 ```bash
-zig build test
+zig build test -Dembed-ui=false -Dbuild-ui=false --summary all
 ```
 
 Frontend:
diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index 54b11ac..7762e75 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ fn ensureUiBuildReady(b: *std.Build) void {
 
 fn ensureUiBuildExists() void {
     if (!pathExists("ui/build")) {
-        std.debug.panic("embedded UI assets are missing; run `npm --prefix ui run build` or build with -Dbuild-ui=true", .{});
+        std.debug.panic("embedded UI assets are missing; run `npm --prefix ui run build`, build with -Dbuild-ui=true, or disable embedding with -Dembed-ui=false for backend-only tests", .{});
     }
 }