fix(web): stop an unrelated config edit from erasing a plugin's secret

Saving any field on a plugin's config form destroyed that plugin's stored
credential. On a rig with a weather API key, changing the city silently
emptied the key, and the plugin stopped working at the next fetch with no
indication why.

The path had no guard at any step. The config partial masks secrets before
rendering (pages_v3.py:740), so the browser posts them back blank; _parse_value
deliberately preserves "" for optional string fields; separate_secrets routes
that "" into secrets_config, which is a truthy dict; deep_merge writes it over
the stored value; save_raw_file_content persists it.

The blank does not even need the round-trip. merge_with_defaults injects the
schema's api_key default ("") into every save, so a client that never sends
the field at all still erases it. test_secret_count_message_counts_top_level_keys
was counting exactly that injected blank as a saved secret field -- the visible
edge of the bug, pinned as expected behaviour.

remove_empty_secrets() already existed for this, with seven unit tests and a
docstring describing this precise scenario ("clients will send those empty
strings back ... so that existing stored secrets are not overwritten with
blanks"). It was never wired into a call site. This wires it into both save
paths that merge into the secrets file.

A blank now means "unchanged" rather than "delete", which is the same contract
the helper's tests already describe. The cost is that a secret can no longer be
cleared by emptying the field; clearing needs its own affordance, since a
control that erases credentials as a side effect of ordinary edits is not one.

Verified by reverting the guard: the new round-trip test then fails with the
stored key read back as ''. 262 web tests pass with it.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01STMbQE4YctTacQXfbYqKuW

src/plugin_system/plugin_manager.py

@@ -76,9 +76,6 @@ class PluginManager:
         # Lock protecting plugin_manifests and plugin_directories from
         # concurrent mutation (background reconciliation) and reads (requests).
         self._discovery_lock = threading.RLock()
-        #: Directories already reported as unloadable, so the warning is
-        #: emitted once rather than on every discovery scan.
-        self._skip_reported: set = set()
 
         # Lock protecting plugin_last_update from concurrent mutation/iteration.
         # It's written from run_scheduled_updates()/update_all_plugins() (main
@@ -198,45 +195,18 @@ class PluginManager:
                     continue
 
                 manifest_path = item / "manifest.json"
-                if not manifest_path.exists():
+                if manifest_path.exists():
-                    # Once per directory per process. Discovery runs on every
-                    # web UI page load and every config reconcile, so warning
-                    # unconditionally would put a line in the journal each
-                    # time someone opened a page -- the same log-volume
-                    # problem this is meant to help diagnose.
-                    # A directory here that carries no manifest is not a
-                    # plugin. Said once, because the alternative is a plugin
-                    # that is enabled in config, enabled in plugin state,
-                    # present on disk, and simply absent from the running
-                    # process with nothing anywhere to say why. Working that
-                    # out afterwards means reading cache-file mtimes.
-                    if item.name not in self._skip_reported:
-                        self._skip_reported.add(item.name)
-                        self.logger.warning(
-                            "Skipping %s: no manifest.json, so it cannot be "
-                            "loaded as a plugin", item.name)
-                    continue
                     try:
                         with open(manifest_path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
                             manifest = json.load(f)
-                except (json.JSONDecodeError, PermissionError, OSError) as e:
-                    self.logger.warning("Error reading manifest from %s: %s", manifest_path, e, exc_info=True)
-                    continue
-
                             plugin_id = manifest.get('id')
-                if not plugin_id:
+                            if plugin_id:
-                    # Parsed but unusable. This was the quietest path of all:
-                    # the manifest is read successfully and then dropped.
-                    if item.name not in self._skip_reported:
-                        self._skip_reported.add(item.name)
-                        self.logger.warning(
-                            "Skipping %s: its manifest.json has no \"id\", so "
-                            "there is nothing to register it under", item.name)
-                    continue
-
                                 plugin_ids.append(plugin_id)
                                 new_manifests[plugin_id] = manifest
                                 new_directories[plugin_id] = item
+                    except (json.JSONDecodeError, PermissionError, OSError) as e:
+                        self.logger.warning("Error reading manifest from %s: %s", manifest_path, e, exc_info=True)
+                        continue
         except (OSError, PermissionError) as e:
             self.logger.error("Error scanning directory %s: %s", directory, e, exc_info=True)
 

test/test_plugin_discovery_reports_skips.py

@@ -1,81 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python3
-"""Discovery must say when it skips a directory.
-
-A plugin can be enabled in config, enabled in plugin state, present on disk
-with a valid entry point -- and simply absent from the running process, with
-nothing in the journal to say why. Working that out afterwards meant comparing
-cache-file mtimes to find when it had last run.
-
-Two paths were silent. A directory with no manifest.json was ignored, and --
-quieter still -- a manifest that parsed but carried no "id" was read
-successfully and then dropped on the floor.
-"""
-import json
-import logging
-import sys
-from pathlib import Path
-from unittest.mock import MagicMock
-
-sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent))
-
-from src.plugin_system.plugin_manager import PluginManager  # noqa: E402
-
-
-def _manager(tmp_path):
-    pm = PluginManager.__new__(PluginManager)
-    pm.plugins_dir = tmp_path
-    pm.logger = logging.getLogger("test.discovery")
-    pm.plugin_manifests = {}
-    pm.plugin_directories = {}
-    pm._discovery_lock = __import__("threading").RLock()
-    pm._skip_reported = set()
-    pm.schema_manager = MagicMock()
-    return pm
-
-
-def test_a_directory_without_a_manifest_is_reported(tmp_path, caplog):
-    (tmp_path / "not-a-plugin").mkdir()
-    pm = _manager(tmp_path)
-    with caplog.at_level(logging.WARNING, logger="test.discovery"):
-        pm._scan_directory_for_plugins(tmp_path)
-    joined = " ".join(r.message for r in caplog.records)
-    assert "not-a-plugin" in joined and "manifest" in joined, (
-        f"skip was silent; log said: {joined!r}")
-
-
-def test_a_manifest_without_an_id_is_reported(tmp_path, caplog):
-    d = tmp_path / "idless"
-    d.mkdir()
-    (d / "manifest.json").write_text(json.dumps({"name": "No Id", "version": "1.0.0"}))
-    pm = _manager(tmp_path)
-    with caplog.at_level(logging.WARNING, logger="test.discovery"):
-        pm._scan_directory_for_plugins(tmp_path)
-    joined = " ".join(r.message for r in caplog.records)
-    assert "idless" in joined and "id" in joined, (
-        f"a parsed-but-unusable manifest vanished silently; log said: {joined!r}")
-
-
-def test_a_good_plugin_still_registers(tmp_path, caplog):
-    d = tmp_path / "real-plugin"
-    d.mkdir()
-    (d / "manifest.json").write_text(json.dumps(
-        {"id": "real-plugin", "name": "Real", "version": "1.0.0"}))
-    pm = _manager(tmp_path)
-    pm._scan_directory_for_plugins(tmp_path)
-    assert "real-plugin" in pm.plugin_manifests, "a valid plugin was not registered"
-
-
-def test_the_warning_does_not_repeat_on_every_scan(tmp_path, caplog):
-    """Discovery runs on every web UI page load and every config reconcile.
-
-    Warning unconditionally would put a line in the journal each time someone
-    opened a page -- the same log-volume problem this is meant to help
-    diagnose.
-    """
-    (tmp_path / "not-a-plugin").mkdir()
-    pm = _manager(tmp_path)
-    with caplog.at_level(logging.WARNING, logger="test.discovery"):
-        for _ in range(5):
-            pm._scan_directory_for_plugins(tmp_path)
-    hits = [r for r in caplog.records if "not-a-plugin" in r.message]
-    assert len(hits) == 1, f"warned {len(hits)} times across 5 scans"

test/web_interface/test_api_v3_secret_roundtrip.py

@@ -194,15 +194,46 @@ class TestSavePluginConfig:
 
     def test_secret_count_message_counts_top_level_keys(self, env):
         # Pinned: the "(N secret field(s))" message counts TOP-LEVEL keys of
-        # the separated secrets dict. Here that is 2: the posted accounts
+        # the separated secrets dict. Here that is 1: the posted accounts
-        # array (all its item tokens count as ONE key) plus the schema's
+        # array, whose item tokens all count as ONE key.
-        # api_key default ("") that merge_with_defaults adds before
+        #
-        # separation.
+        # It was 2 before blank secrets were dropped, the second being the
+        # schema's api_key default (""), which merge_with_defaults adds to
+        # every save. Counting it was the visible edge of a real bug: that
+        # injected blank was merged over the stored api_key, so saving any
+        # unrelated field destroyed the credential. See
+        # test_an_unrelated_edit_does_not_erase_a_stored_secret.
         resp = self._save(env, {
             "accounts": [{"name": "a", "token": "t"}],
         })
         message = resp.get_json()["message"]
-        assert "(2 secret field(s) saved to config_secrets.json)" in message
+        assert "(1 secret field(s) saved to config_secrets.json)" in message
+
+    def test_an_unrelated_edit_does_not_erase_a_stored_secret(self, env):
+        """Editing one field must not wipe the plugin's API key.
+
+        The config form renders secrets masked, so the browser posts them
+        back blank; merge_with_defaults injects a blank api_key even when
+        the client omits it entirely. Either way a "" reached the secrets
+        file and deep_merge wrote it over the stored credential.
+        """
+        assert self._save(env, {"api_key": "REAL-KEY-0123456789",
+                                "city": "Austin"}).status_code == 200
+        assert _on_disk(env.secrets_file)[PLUGIN_ID]["api_key"] == \
+            "REAL-KEY-0123456789"
+
+        # the user changes the city; the masked api_key rides along blank
+        assert self._save(env, {"api_key": "", "city": "Dallas"}).status_code == 200
+
+        assert _on_disk(env.secrets_file)[PLUGIN_ID]["api_key"] == \
+            "REAL-KEY-0123456789", "an unrelated edit destroyed the API key"
+        assert env.fresh_load()[PLUGIN_ID]["city"] == "Dallas"
+
+    def test_a_secret_can_still_be_changed(self, env):
+        """Dropping blanks must not stop a real new value from being saved."""
+        self._save(env, {"api_key": "first-key"})
+        self._save(env, {"api_key": "second-key"})
+        assert _on_disk(env.secrets_file)[PLUGIN_ID]["api_key"] == "second-key"
 
     def test_resave_replaces_stored_secrets_list_wholesale(self, env):
         # Characterized: api_v3's deep_merge intentionally replaces lists,

web_interface/blueprints/api_v3.py

@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 # Import new infrastructure
 from src.web_interface.api_helpers import success_response, error_response, validate_request_json
 from src.web_interface.errors import ErrorCode
-from src.web_interface.secret_helpers import find_secret_fields, separate_secrets
+from src.web_interface.secret_helpers import (find_secret_fields, remove_empty_secrets,
+                                              separate_secrets)
 from src.web_interface.error_handler import describe_exception, redact_text
 from src.plugin_system.operation_types import OperationType
 from src.web_interface.validators import (
@@ -1216,6 +1217,11 @@ def save_main_config():
 
                 # Separate secrets from regular config (same logic as save_plugin_config)
                 regular_config, secrets_config = separate_secrets(plugin_config, secret_fields)
+                # The config form renders secrets masked, so every save posts
+                # them back blank. Without this the blank is merged over the
+                # stored value and the credential is destroyed by the act of
+                # changing an unrelated setting. A blank means "unchanged".
+                secrets_config = remove_empty_secrets(secrets_config)
 
                 # PRE-PROCESSING: Preserve 'enabled' state if not in regular_config
                 # This prevents overwriting the enabled state when saving config from a form that doesn't include the toggle
@@ -5599,6 +5605,11 @@ def save_plugin_config():
         # Separate secrets from regular config (handles nested configs and
         # array-item secrets — see src/web_interface/secret_helpers.py)
         regular_config, secrets_config = separate_secrets(plugin_config, secret_fields)
+        # The config form renders secrets masked, so every save posts
+        # them back blank. Without this the blank is merged over the
+        # stored value and the credential is destroyed by the act of
+        # changing an unrelated setting. A blank means "unchanged".
+        secrets_config = remove_empty_secrets(secrets_config)
 
         # Get current configs
         current_config = api_v3.config_manager.load_config()