fix: integration test now uses podman-compose (the actually-installed tool)

Every CI integration run for the past 3+ months has failed with:

  unable to get image 'python:3.12-alpine': Cannot connect to the Docker
  daemon at unix:///run/user/1001/podman/podman.sock
  Error: executing /usr/libexec/docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose
  up --detach --build: exit status 1

Root cause: the script invoked `podman compose` (the built-in subcommand on
Podman 4.x), which on Linux delegates to whichever external compose provider
it finds in /usr/libexec/docker/cli-plugins/. That provider expects a Docker-
compatible daemon socket, which rootless podman on ubuntu-latest doesn't
activate by default.

Meanwhile the workflow already installs `podman-compose` (the Python wrapper)
via pip. That tool shells out to the podman CLI directly and needs no socket
- it just wasn't being used. Switching the three call sites in
integration-test.js to `podman-compose` resolves the failure with no further
runner setup, and works equally on macOS dev (where `podman-compose` is also
installed via Homebrew).

The CI yaml's comment claiming the test was non-blocking because "Schneider
download is flaky" was misdiagnosis - the failures never reached the C-Gate
download step. Removing `continue-on-error: true` so future regressions
actually gate merges, and updating the prereq check + comments in the script
to reflect what's actually called.

Author: dougrathbone

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -70,9 +70,6 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     # Only run on push to main branches — not on PRs — to avoid long waits during review.
     if: github.event_name == 'push'
-    # Network download of C-Gate can be slow; mark non-blocking so a flaky
-    # Schneider download does not gate merges.
-    continue-on-error: true
     timeout-minutes: 20
     needs: test
 

test-env/integration-test.js

@@ -3,7 +3,13 @@
  * Integration test for cgateweb managed mode.
  *
  * Validates the full managed-mode stack:
- *   podman compose  →  C-Gate install  →  C-Gate start  →  cgateweb  →  MQTT ready
+ *   podman-compose  →  C-Gate install  →  C-Gate start  →  cgateweb  →  MQTT ready
+ *
+ * Uses `podman-compose` (the Python wrapper, installed via pip / brew) rather
+ * than `podman compose` (the built-in subcommand). `podman compose` on Linux
+ * delegates to an external docker-compose plugin that expects a daemon socket
+ * which isn't activated on rootless CI runners; `podman-compose` shells out
+ * to the podman CLI directly and works in both environments without setup.
  *
  * Usage:
  *   node test-env/integration-test.js                # full lifecycle (build → test → teardown)
@@ -12,7 +18,8 @@
  *   node test-env/integration-test.js --attach       # stack already up, just run assertions
  *
  * Prerequisites:
- *   podman machine start
+ *   podman machine start    (macOS/Windows only)
+ *   pip install podman-compose   OR   brew install podman-compose
  *   cp test-env/options-managed-download.json test-env/active-options.json
  */
 
@@ -56,7 +63,7 @@ function fail(label) { log(`  ${RED}✘${RESET}  ${label}`); }
 function section(h)  { log(`\n${BOLD}${h}${RESET}`); }
 
 function compose(...args) {
-    const result = spawnSync('podman', ['compose', ...args], {
+    const result = spawnSync('podman-compose', args, {
         cwd: TEST_ENV_DIR,
         stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
         encoding: 'utf8',
@@ -66,18 +73,18 @@ function compose(...args) {
 
 function composeUp(build) {
     const buildArgs = build ? ['--build'] : [];
-    info(`podman compose up${build ? ' --build' : ''} (this may take a few minutes on first run)`);
-    const result = spawnSync('podman', ['compose', 'up', '--detach', ...buildArgs], {
+    info(`podman-compose up${build ? ' --build' : ''} (this may take a few minutes on first run)`);
+    const result = spawnSync('podman-compose', ['up', '--detach', ...buildArgs], {
         cwd: TEST_ENV_DIR,
         stdio: 'inherit',
         encoding: 'utf8',
     });
-    if (result.status !== 0) throw new Error('podman compose up failed');
+    if (result.status !== 0) throw new Error('podman-compose up failed');
 }
 
 function composeDown() {
     info('Stopping compose stack...');
-    spawnSync('podman', ['compose', 'down'], {
+    spawnSync('podman-compose', ['down'], {
         cwd: TEST_ENV_DIR,
         stdio: 'inherit',
     });
@@ -94,6 +101,15 @@ function checkPrereqs() {
     }
     pass(`podman ${pv.stdout.trim().split('\n')[0]}`);
 
+    // podman-compose (the Python wrapper) available?
+    const pcv = spawnSync('podman-compose', ['--version'], { encoding: 'utf8' });
+    if (pcv.status !== 0) {
+        fail('podman-compose not found — install with: pip install podman-compose (or: brew install podman-compose)');
+        process.exit(1);
+    }
+    const firstLine = pcv.stdout.trim().split('\n')[0] || 'podman-compose';
+    pass(firstLine);
+
     // podman machine running? (macOS/Windows only — Linux runs containers natively)
     if (process.platform !== 'linux') {
         const pm = spawnSync('podman', ['machine', 'list', '--format', '{{.Running}}'], { encoding: 'utf8' });