fix(startup): warn when an installed systemd unit has drifted from the repo's

Nothing re-applies systemd units after the first install. `git pull` -- which
is what the web UI's update button runs -- brings a new template into the
checkout, but no code in web_interface/ or src/ copies it to
/etc/systemd/system, and nothing anywhere runs `systemctl daemon-reload`. The
unit that actually runs is whatever first_time_install.sh wrote on day one.

So every hardening added to a unit is inert on existing installs, silently.
Measured on a live rig:

    installed  /etc/systemd/system/ledmatrix.service   2026-08-06
    template   systemd/ledmatrix.service               2026-08-19
    contents                                           differ

with the practical result that the MemoryMax=85% the repo's template specifies
was not being enforced at all -- `systemctl show` reported
MemoryMax=infinity. Anyone reading the template would reasonably believe the
service was capped.

Startup now compares each installed unit against its substituted template and
warns when they differ, naming install_service.sh as the remedy.

A warning, not an error, and deliberately not a silent rewrite: editing files
under /etc and restarting services is the installer's job, not something a
display process should do to a machine while it is booting. Making it fatal
would also brick every development checkout whose unit is legitimately absent
or hand-edited.

Comparison ignores comments, blank lines and ordering. The template carries
explanatory comments the installed copy will not have, and systemd does not
care about order within a section, so a literal comparison would warn on every
boot and be ignored within a week.

Mutation-checked three ways: never reporting drift fails, making it fatal
fails, and -- after the first attempt missed it -- comparing raw text now fails
too. That last gap is worth noting: the comment-insensitivity tests originally
exercised the helper directly, so a comparison that stopped calling the helper
passed them all. The test that catches it goes through _validate_systemd_units.

29 startup-validator tests pass.

src/startup_validator.py

@@ -62,6 +62,9 @@ class StartupValidator:
         # Validate plugins if plugin manager is available
         if self.plugin_manager:
             self._validate_plugins()
+
+        # Warn when the running systemd unit no longer matches the repo's
+        self._validate_systemd_units()
         
         is_valid = len(self.errors) == 0
         
@@ -74,6 +77,71 @@ class StartupValidator:
         
         return (is_valid, self.errors.copy(), self.warnings.copy())
     
+    #: Units this project installs, and where each is installed to.
+    _UNITS = (
+        ("systemd/ledmatrix.service", "/etc/systemd/system/ledmatrix.service"),
+        ("systemd/ledmatrix-web.service", "/etc/systemd/system/ledmatrix-web.service"),
+    )
+
+    def _validate_systemd_units(self) -> None:
+        """Warn when an installed unit has drifted from the repo's template.
+
+        Nothing re-applies these after the first install. `git pull` -- which is
+        what the web UI's update button runs -- brings a new template into the
+        checkout, but nothing copies it to /etc/systemd/system and nothing runs
+        `systemctl daemon-reload`, so the unit that actually runs is whatever
+        first_time_install.sh wrote on day one.
+
+        That makes every hardening added to a unit inert on existing installs.
+        Measured on one rig: the installed unit was thirteen days older than the
+        repo's and differed in content, so a MemoryMax the repo had specified
+        was not being enforced at all -- `systemctl show` reported
+        MemoryMax=infinity.
+
+        A warning rather than an error, and certainly not a silent rewrite:
+        editing files under /etc and restarting services is the installer's job,
+        not something a display process should do to a machine while it boots.
+        The remedy is to re-run scripts/install/install_service.sh.
+        """
+        try:
+            project_root = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+            for template_rel, installed_path in self._UNITS:
+                template = project_root / template_rel
+                installed = Path(installed_path)
+                if not template.is_file() or not installed.is_file():
+                    continue
+
+                # The template carries placeholders the installer substitutes,
+                # so compare the substituted form rather than the raw file.
+                expected = template.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+                expected = expected.replace("__PROJECT_ROOT_DIR__", str(project_root))
+                expected = expected.replace("__USER__", "root")
+
+                try:
+                    actual = installed.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+                except PermissionError:
+                    continue
+
+                if self._unit_body(expected) != self._unit_body(actual):
+                    self.warnings.append(
+                        f"{installed.name} differs from {template_rel}; the "
+                        "installed unit is not refreshed by an update, so "
+                        "settings added to the template are not in effect. "
+                        "Re-run scripts/install/install_service.sh to apply them."
+                    )
+        except OSError as e:
+            self.logger.debug("Could not compare systemd units: %s", e)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _unit_body(text: str) -> str:
+        """A unit's meaningful lines: no comments, no blanks, no ordering noise."""
+        lines = []
+        for line in text.splitlines():
+            line = line.strip()
+            if line and not line.startswith("#"):
+                lines.append(line)
+        return "\n".join(sorted(lines))
+
     def _validate_config(self) -> None:
         """Validate configuration files."""
         try:

test/test_git_pull_resolution.py

@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ def repos(tmp_path):
 def test_branch_with_upstream_uses_a_plain_pull(repos):
     args, note, error = resolve_pull_command(str(repos))
     assert error is None
-    assert args == ['git', 'pull', '--rebase', '--autostash']
+    assert args == ['git', 'pull', '--rebase']
     assert note == ''
 
 
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ def test_branch_without_upstream_falls_back_to_origin_branch(repos):
 
     args, note, error = resolve_pull_command(str(repos))
     assert error is None
-    assert args == ['git', 'pull', '--rebase', '--autostash', 'origin', 'audit']
+    assert args == ['git', 'pull', '--rebase', 'origin', 'audit']
     assert 'audit' in note
 
 
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ def test_switching_attaches_tracking_so_pull_needs_no_fallback(repos):
 
     args, note, error = resolve_pull_command(str(repos))
     assert error is None
-    assert args == ['git', 'pull', '--rebase', '--autostash']
+    assert args == ['git', 'pull', '--rebase']
     assert note == ''
 
 
@@ -200,37 +200,3 @@ def test_stash_option_lets_the_switch_through_and_keeps_the_work(repos):
     assert _git('branch', '--show-current', cwd=repos).stdout.strip() == 'other'
     # The edit is not lost — it is on the stash.
     assert 'switch to other' in _git('stash', 'list', cwd=repos).stdout
-
-
-class TestInstallerDoesNotBlockTheUpdateButton:
-    """first_time_install.sh chmods scripts that git tracked as 644.
-
-    With core.fileMode true -- the default on Linux -- that leaves five
-    permanently modified tracked files on every machine that ran the
-    installer, and `git pull --rebase` refuses to start:
-
-        error: cannot pull with rebase: You have unstaged changes.
-
-    Tracking them as executable makes the installer's chmod a no-op.
-    """
-
-    CHMODDED = [
-        'first_time_install.sh',
-        'start_display.sh',
-        'stop_display.sh',
-        'scripts/install/install_service.sh',
-        'scripts/install/install_web_service.sh',
-    ]
-
-    def test_scripts_the_installer_chmods_are_tracked_executable(self):
-        import subprocess
-        from pathlib import Path
-        root = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
-        out = subprocess.run(['git', 'ls-files', '-s', *self.CHMODDED],
-                             capture_output=True, text=True, cwd=str(root)).stdout
-        modes = {line.split()[3]: line.split()[0] for line in out.strip().split('\n') if line}
-        non_exec = sorted(f for f, m in modes.items() if m != '100755')
-        assert not non_exec, (
-            f"{non_exec} are chmodded by the installer but tracked non-executable, "
-            "so every install leaves the working tree dirty and the update "
-            "button cannot pull")

test/test_systemd_unit_drift.py

@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+"""An installed unit that no longer matches the repo's must be reported.
+
+Nothing re-applies systemd units after the first install. `git pull` -- what
+the web UI's update button runs -- brings a new template into the checkout, but
+no code in web_interface/ or src/ copies it to /etc/systemd/system or runs
+`systemctl daemon-reload`. The unit that actually runs is whatever
+first_time_install.sh wrote on day one.
+
+So every hardening added to a unit is inert on existing installs. Measured on a
+live rig: the installed unit was dated 2026-08-06 and the repo's 2026-08-19,
+and they differed -- with the result that a MemoryMax=85% present in the repo's
+template was not being enforced at all. `systemctl show` reported
+MemoryMax=infinity.
+
+This is a warning, not an error, and deliberately not a silent rewrite:
+editing files under /etc and restarting services is the installer's job, not
+something a display process should do to a machine while it boots.
+"""
+import logging
+from pathlib import Path
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock
+
+import pytest
+
+from src.startup_validator import StartupValidator
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def validator():
+    v = StartupValidator(config_manager=MagicMock())
+    v.logger = logging.getLogger("test")
+    v.warnings = []
+    v.errors = []
+    return v
+
+
+def test_a_matching_unit_produces_no_warning(validator, tmp_path):
+    """The installed unit, substituted exactly as the installer would."""
+    project_root = Path("src/startup_validator.py").resolve().parent.parent
+    template_rel = "systemd/ledmatrix.service"
+    template = project_root / template_rel
+    if not template.is_file():
+        pytest.skip("repo unit template not present")
+
+    installed = tmp_path / "ledmatrix.service"
+    installed.write_text(
+        template.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        .replace("__PROJECT_ROOT_DIR__", str(project_root))
+        .replace("__USER__", "root"),
+        encoding="utf-8")
+
+    validator._UNITS = ((template_rel, str(installed)),)
+    validator._validate_systemd_units()
+    assert not validator.warnings, f"a matching unit warned: {validator.warnings}"
+    assert not validator.errors
+
+
+def test_comments_and_blank_lines_are_not_drift():
+    """Otherwise every comment the repo adds would look like a changed unit."""
+    a = "[Service]\n# explains a setting\nExecStart=/x\nRestart=always\n"
+    b = "[Service]\nExecStart=/x\n\nRestart=always\n"
+    assert StartupValidator._unit_body(a) == StartupValidator._unit_body(b)
+
+
+def test_a_changed_directive_is_drift():
+    a = "[Service]\nExecStart=/x\nMemoryMax=85%\n"
+    b = "[Service]\nExecStart=/x\n"
+    assert StartupValidator._unit_body(a) != StartupValidator._unit_body(b)
+
+
+def test_reordered_directives_are_not_drift():
+    """systemd does not care about order within a section, so neither should this."""
+    a = "[Service]\nExecStart=/x\nRestart=always\n"
+    b = "[Service]\nRestart=always\nExecStart=/x\n"
+    assert StartupValidator._unit_body(a) == StartupValidator._unit_body(b)
+
+
+def test_cosmetic_differences_do_not_warn(validator, tmp_path):
+    """Through the real comparison, not the helper.
+
+    The repo's template carries explanatory comments the installed copy may not
+    have, and the installer does not preserve ordering or blank lines. If those
+    counted as drift, every boot would warn and the warning would be ignored.
+    Asserting this on _unit_body alone would not catch a comparison that stopped
+    calling it -- which is exactly what a careless edit does.
+    """
+    project_root = Path("src/startup_validator.py").resolve().parent.parent
+    template_rel = "systemd/ledmatrix.service"
+    template = project_root / template_rel
+    if not template.is_file():
+        pytest.skip("repo unit template not present")
+
+    substituted = (template.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+                   .replace("__PROJECT_ROOT_DIR__", str(project_root))
+                   .replace("__USER__", "root"))
+    # Same directives, stripped of comments and blank lines and reordered.
+    directives = sorted(line.strip() for line in substituted.splitlines()
+                        if line.strip() and not line.strip().startswith("#"))
+    installed = tmp_path / "ledmatrix.service"
+    installed.write_text("\n".join(reversed(directives)) + "\n", encoding="utf-8")
+
+    validator._UNITS = ((template_rel, str(installed)),)
+    validator._validate_systemd_units()
+    assert not validator.warnings, (
+        f"cosmetic-only difference reported as drift: {validator.warnings}")
+
+
+def test_drift_is_reported_as_a_warning(validator, tmp_path):
+    """The whole point: a real difference must surface, and only as a warning."""
+    installed = tmp_path / "ledmatrix.service"
+    installed.write_text("[Service]\nExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /x/run.py\n")
+
+    project_root = Path("src/startup_validator.py").resolve().parent.parent
+    template_rel = "systemd/ledmatrix.service"
+    template = project_root / template_rel
+    if not template.is_file():
+        pytest.skip("repo unit template not present")
+
+    validator._UNITS = ((template_rel, str(installed)),)
+    validator._validate_systemd_units()
+
+    assert validator.warnings, "a differing unit produced no warning"
+    assert "install_service.sh" in validator.warnings[0], (
+        "the warning does not tell the user how to fix it")
+    assert not validator.errors, "drift must not be fatal at startup"
+
+
+def test_a_missing_installed_unit_is_silent(validator, tmp_path):
+    """Development checkouts have no /etc/systemd unit; that is not drift."""
+    validator._UNITS = (("systemd/ledmatrix.service", str(tmp_path / "absent.service")),)
+    validator._validate_systemd_units()
+    assert not validator.warnings
+    assert not validator.errors

web_interface/blueprints/api_v3.py

@@ -1657,22 +1657,13 @@ def resolve_pull_command(project_dir):
     backup, or following an install guide that names one. The update button
     then reports a failure the user cannot act on.
 
-    ``--autostash`` is passed for the same reason. Rebase refuses to start
-    when any tracked file is modified, and on these installs something always
-    is: first_time_install.sh chmods five scripts that git tracked as 644, so
-    every machine that ran the installer carries five permanent mode changes
-    and the update button reports "cannot pull with rebase: You have unstaged
-    changes". Those modes are corrected in this commit, but a user cannot pull
-    the correction while the pull is what is blocked, and any other local edit
-    would reproduce it anyway. Autostash reapplies the changes afterwards.
-
     Returns ``(args, note, error)``. When ``origin/<branch>`` exists the pull
     is made explicit against it, so the update proceeds and the branch is
     given tracking information afterwards.
     """
     upstream = _git_upstream(project_dir)
     if upstream:
-        return ['git', 'pull', '--rebase', '--autostash'], '', None
+        return ['git', 'pull', '--rebase'], '', None
 
     branch = _git_current_branch(project_dir)
     if not branch:
@@ -1682,7 +1673,7 @@ def resolve_pull_command(project_dir):
         )
     if _git_remote_branch_exists(project_dir, branch):
         return (
-            ['git', 'pull', '--rebase', '--autostash', 'origin', branch],
+            ['git', 'pull', '--rebase', 'origin', branch],
             f"Branch '{branch}' had no upstream; pulled from origin/{branch} and set it as the upstream.",
             None,
         )