ci: Skip dev-realm boot index in realm-server tests instead of mount gate

Replaces the mount-only readiness gate with a cleaner fix for the same goal.
The realm-server suite runs its own in-process realms + test Postgres and only
needs the boot dev realms (base/skills/openrouter/software-factory) to serve
*source* — definitions resolve lazily via the prerenderer, so those realms
don't need a populated index. CI uses a fresh Postgres every run, so each boot
realm would otherwise run a from-scratch index (~minutes) that both delayed
`_readiness-check` and competed with the tests' own renders for the prerender
page pool, intermittently starving render-heavy tests into timeouts.

New `REALM_SERVER_SKIP_BOOT_INDEX` env (Realm `skipBootIndex` option) makes a
realm mount and serve source without the boot index, even on a new index. It's
set only on the phase-1 dev realm server in the test launcher — the phase-2
node-test realm, whose indexed content the suite reads, still indexes. With no
boot index to await, `_readiness-check` resolves at mount, so the readiness
gate reverts to `_readiness-check`.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: backspace

mise-tasks/test-services/realm-server

@@ -27,6 +27,13 @@ NODE_TEST_REALM_READY="${REALM_TEST_READY_SCHEME}://${REALM_TEST_URL#*://}/node-
 # on wait-on (overriding NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED), so the documented
 # INSECURE flag is the right escape hatch. Does not affect services
 # under test.
+#
+# REALM_SERVER_SKIP_BOOT_INDEX=true is scoped to the phase-1 dev realm
+# server (base/skills/openrouter/software-factory) only — not the phase-2
+# node-test realm, which the suite reads indexed content from. Those boot
+# realms only need to serve source for the suite, so skipping their
+# from-scratch index keeps `_readiness-check` fast and frees the prerender
+# pool for the tests' own renders.
 WAIT_ON_TIMEOUT=900000 \
   SKIP_EXPERIMENTS=true \
   SKIP_CATALOG=true \
@@ -35,7 +42,7 @@ WAIT_ON_TIMEOUT=900000 \
   NODE_NO_WARNINGS=1 \
   START_SERVER_AND_TEST_INSECURE=1 \
   start-server-and-test \
-    'run-p -ln start:icons start:host-dist start:pg start:prerender-dev start:prerender-manager-dev start:matrix start:smtp start:worker-development start:development' \
+    'REALM_SERVER_SKIP_BOOT_INDEX=true run-p -ln start:icons start:host-dist start:pg start:prerender-dev start:prerender-manager-dev start:matrix start:smtp start:worker-development start:development' \
     "${BASE_REALM_READY}|${REALM_READY_SCHEME}://${REALM_BASE_URL#*://}/software-factory/${READY_PATH}|${MATRIX_URL_VAL}|http://localhost:5001|${ICONS_URL}|${HOST_URL}" \
     'run-p -ln start:worker-test start:test-realms' \
     "${NODE_TEST_REALM_READY}" \

packages/realm-server/main.ts

@@ -153,6 +153,14 @@ const FULL_INDEX_ON_STARTUP_OVERRIDE =
 // test's first lookupDefinition.
 const SKIP_MODULES_CACHE_CLEAR_ON_STARTUP =
   process.env.REALM_SERVER_SKIP_MODULES_CACHE_CLEAR_ON_STARTUP === 'true';
+// When set to 'true', every realm in this process mounts and serves source
+// without running a from-scratch index on startup (even on a new/empty index).
+// Definitions resolve lazily via the prerenderer on first lookup. Used by the
+// realm-server test stack's boot realm server: the suite runs its own
+// in-process realms and only needs the boot realms to serve source, so
+// skipping their boot index removes both the ~minutes-long startup wait and
+// the prerender-pool contention that index would create with the tests.
+const SKIP_BOOT_INDEX = process.env.REALM_SERVER_SKIP_BOOT_INDEX === 'true';
 // CS-10953 cross-process prerender coalesce. Off by default — flip on
 // after a stage burn-in. Effectively inert at N=1 (no contention; the
 // in-process #inFlight coalescer already dedups same-process callers),
@@ -526,6 +534,7 @@ const smokeTestHostApp = async () => {
         },
         {
           ...(fullIndexOnStartup ? { fullIndexOnStartup: true as const } : {}),
+          ...(SKIP_BOOT_INDEX ? { skipBootIndex: true as const } : {}),
           ...(process.env.DISABLE_MODULE_CACHING === 'true'
             ? { disableModuleCaching: true }
             : {}),

packages/runtime-common/realm.ts

@@ -669,6 +669,15 @@ interface Options {
   copiedFromRealm?: URL;
   fullIndexOnStartup?: true;
   fromScratchIndexPriority?: number;
+  // When set, the realm mounts and serves source but does not run a
+  // from-scratch index on startup, even when its index is empty (new). Card
+  // definitions are still resolved lazily on demand via the prerenderer, so
+  // source serving and definition lookup keep working. Used by the
+  // realm-server test stack, whose suite runs its own in-process realms and
+  // only needs the boot realms to serve source — skipping their boot index
+  // removes both the startup wait and the prerender-pool contention it would
+  // otherwise create with the tests.
+  skipBootIndex?: true;
 }
 
 interface UpdateItem {
@@ -700,6 +709,7 @@ export class Realm {
   #realmSecretSeed: string;
   #disableModuleCaching = false;
   #fullIndexOnStartup = false;
+  #skipBootIndex = false;
   #fromScratchIndexPriority = systemInitiatedPriority;
   #definitionLookup: DefinitionLookup;
   #copiedFromRealm: URL | undefined;
@@ -842,6 +852,7 @@ export class Realm {
     this.#queue = queue;
     this.#virtualNetwork = virtualNetwork;
     this.#fullIndexOnStartup = opts?.fullIndexOnStartup ?? false;
+    this.#skipBootIndex = opts?.skipBootIndex ?? false;
     this.#fromScratchIndexPriority =
       opts?.fromScratchIndexPriority ?? systemInitiatedPriority;
     this.#matrixClient = matrixClient;
@@ -2475,7 +2486,10 @@ export class Realm {
       });
     } else {
       let isNewIndex = await this.#realmIndexUpdater.isNewIndex();
-      if (isNewIndex || this.#fullIndexOnStartup) {
+      if (this.#skipBootIndex) {
+        // Mount-and-serve only: no from-scratch index, even on a new index.
+        // Definitions resolve lazily via the prerenderer on first lookup.
+      } else if (isNewIndex || this.#fullIndexOnStartup) {
         if (this.#fullIndexOnStartup) {
           // CS-11245: bootstrap realms (kind='bootstrap': base,
           // catalog, skills, …) full-index on every realm-server