objectstack-fleet · Nov 1, 2026 · Nov 1, 2026 · Nov 1, 2026 · Nov 1, 2026
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/doctor-ledger-posture-independence.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/doctor-ledger-posture-independence.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+// test-budget: 20 — spawns the real producer once per single-cause fixture: twenty in-process os doctor runs, one per posture, ledger fixture and flag, each shelling out to pnpm -v, tsc -v and git --version and bundling its own config, the first also paying the cold config-loader load; slowest CI reading 12.2 s (run 41255489006) of the five scheduled CI runs 41199450735, 41217827347, 41237094739, 41255489006, 41271604267, x 1.25, rounded up
 
 /**
  * `os doctor` reports an unreadable installed-package ledger under EVERY

diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/doctor-ledger-read-failure.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/doctor-ledger-read-failure.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+// test-budget: 20 — spawns the real producer once per single-cause fixture: fifteen in-process os doctor runs, one per ledger fixture or flag (three of them on a module graph re-imported after vi.resetModules to swap the ledger reader), each shelling out to pnpm -v, tsc -v and git --version and bundling its own config, the first also paying the cold config-loader load; the fourteen row-builder cases are pure; slowest CI reading 12.3 s (run 41199450735) of the five scheduled CI runs 41199450735, 41217827347, 41237094739, 41255489006, 41271604267, x 1.25, rounded up
 
 /**
  * `os doctor` does not print `✓ Unique scope` when it could not read the

diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/doctor-node-env-default.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/doctor-node-env-default.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+// test-budget: 20 — spawns the real producer once per single-cause fixture: fifteen in-process os doctor runs, one per NODE_ENV value, project shape and flag, each shelling out to pnpm -v, tsc -v and git --version and bundling its own config, the first also paying the cold config-loader load; the twenty-one row-builder cases are pure; slowest CI reading 11.4 s (run 41271604267) of the five scheduled CI runs 41199450735, 41217827347, 41237094739, 41255489006, 41271604267, x 1.25, rounded up
 
 /**
  * `os doctor`'s unset-`NODE_ENV` row (#5673).

diff --git a/packages/cli/test/authoring-rule-command-parity.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/authoring-rule-command-parity.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+// test-budget: 20 — spawns the real producer once per single-cause fixture: three spawns of the source CLI (os lint, os validate, os build) over one planted-defect stack, every one a distinct triple whose exit code is the contract; the nine rule cases run in process; slowest CI reading 12.5 s (run 41271604267) of the five scheduled CI runs 41199450735, 41217827347, 41237094739, 41255489006, 41271604267, x 1.25, rounded up
 
 /**
  * The BEHAVIOURAL half of #4409, next to the structural ratchet in

diff --git a/packages/cli/test/create-objectstack-stack-reach.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/create-objectstack-stack-reach.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+// test-budget: 20 — spawns the real producer once per single-cause fixture: one on-ramp scaffold child and three spawns of the source CLI (os g object, os g flow, os validate), chained over the one scaffolded project, every one a distinct triple; slowest CI reading 12.4 s (run 41255489006), taken through the tsx launcher this file no longer uses, of the five scheduled CI runs 41199450735, 41217827347, 41237094739, 41255489006, 41271604267, x 1.25, rounded up
 
 /**
  * PIN (#20333) — `npm create objectstack` → `os g flow` → `os validate`
@@ -63,14 +64,19 @@ import { GENERATOR_SCAFFOLD_TARGETS } from '../src/commands/generate.js';
 import { childEnv } from './helpers/serve-process.js';
 
 const HERE = resolve(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url), '..');
+/**
+ * Spawned by this process's own `node`, not through the `tsx` binary: the entry, its
+ * `src/` and its pinned `NODE_ENV=development` are the same either way, and the
+ * `.bin/tsx` launcher only adds a second node process in front of the CLI, about half
+ * of every spawn's wall (#23181).
+ */
 const CLI = resolve(HERE, '../bin/run-dev.js');
-const TSX = resolve(HERE, '../../../node_modules/.bin/tsx');
 
 // One `resolve(HERE, …)` call per line: `check:cross-package-test-inputs`
 // reconstructs this read by SOURCE SCAN.
 const ON_RAMP_BIN = resolve(HERE, '../../..', 'packages/create-objectstack/bin/create-objectstack.js');
 
-/** One plain-node scaffold, then three oclif + tsx cold starts, sequential. */
+/** One plain-node scaffold, then three oclif cold starts of the source CLI, sequential. */
 const RUN_TIMEOUT_MS = 240_000;
 
 const PROJECT = 'my-app';
@@ -106,7 +112,7 @@ function run(file: string, args: string[], cwd: string): Promise<Run> {
   });
 }
 
-const os = (args: string[], cwd: string) => run(TSX, [CLI, ...args], cwd);
+const os = (args: string[], cwd: string) => run(process.execPath, [CLI, ...args], cwd);
 const out = (r: Run) => r.stdout + r.stderr;
 
 const target = (type: string) => {

diff --git a/packages/cli/test/hook-timeout-override-refusal.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/hook-timeout-override-refusal.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+// test-budget: 20 — spawns the real producer once per single-cause fixture: four vitest list children of this package (--hookTimeout, --teardownTimeout, no override, --testTimeout), every one a distinct config-load question; slowest CI reading 11.3 s (run 41255489006) of the five scheduled CI runs 41199450735, 41217827347, 41237094739, 41255489006, 41271604267, x 1.25, rounded up
 
 /**
  * `--hookTimeout` must never return a GREEN from this package again (#18788).

diff --git a/packages/cli/test/i18n-extract-companion-orphan.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/i18n-extract-companion-orphan.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+// test-budget: 20 — spawns the real producer once per single-cause fixture: four spawns of the source CLI (os i18n extract on the apps-only stack, its --check over a seeded legacy companion, and the full stack under --objects-only and --no-objects-only), every one a distinct triple; slowest CI reading 11.3 s (run 41271604267), taken through the tsx launcher this file no longer uses, of the five scheduled CI runs 41199450735, 41217827347, 41237094739, 41255489006, 41271604267, x 1.25, rounded up
 
 /**
  * The provenance companion accompanies the bundle modules beside it, and its
@@ -80,8 +81,13 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 import { childEnv } from './helpers/serve-process.js';
 
 const HERE = resolve(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url), '..');
+/**
+ * Spawned by this process's own `node`, not through the `tsx` binary: the entry, its
+ * `src/` and its pinned `NODE_ENV=development` are the same either way, and the
+ * `.bin/tsx` launcher only adds a second node process in front of the CLI, about half
+ * of every spawn's wall (#23181).
+ */
 const CLI = resolve(HERE, '../bin/run-dev.js');
-const TSX = resolve(HERE, '../../../node_modules/.bin/tsx');
 const CLI_PACKAGE_ROOT = resolve(HERE, '..');
 
 /** One object (2 leaves) + one app (1 leaf); the registry baseline rides along. */
@@ -146,7 +152,7 @@ function runExtract(
 ): { stdout: string; dir: string; files: string[] } {
   const dir = join(outRoot, name);
   const stdout = execFileSync(
-    TSX,
+    process.execPath,
     [CLI, 'i18n', 'extract', config, '--locales=ja-JP', '--source-hashes', '--fill=default', ...flags, `--out=${dir}`],
     { encoding: 'utf8', env: childEnv(), timeout: 180_000 },
   );
@@ -210,7 +216,7 @@ describe('os i18n extract — the provenance companion accompanies a module (#16
 
     const stdout = plain(
       execFileSync(
-        TSX,
+        process.execPath,
         [
           CLI, 'i18n', 'extract', APPS_ONLY, '--locales=ja-JP', '--source-hashes',
           '--fill=default', '--no-metadata-forms', '--check', `--out=${dir}`,

diff --git a/packages/cli/test/translation-contributed-nav-validate-door.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/translation-contributed-nav-validate-door.test.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
  *
  * Integration tier: it spawns the source CLI (`packages/cli/vitest-tiers.ts`).
  * Two spawns, one per fixture. The CLI runs through `bin/run-dev.js` (source,
- * via tsx), and `@objectstack/spec` resolves through `exports` to `dist/`.
+ * spawned by this process's own `node`), and `@objectstack/spec` resolves through `exports` to `dist/`.
  */
 
 import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
@@ -31,8 +31,13 @@ import { childEnv } from './helpers/serve-process.js';
 import { writeDefineStackConfig } from './helpers/define-stack-fixture.js';
 
 const HERE = resolve(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url), '..');
+/**
+ * Spawned by this process's own `node`, not through the `tsx` binary: the entry, its
+ * `src/` and its pinned `NODE_ENV=development` are the same either way, and the
+ * `.bin/tsx` launcher only adds a second node process in front of the CLI, about half
+ * of every spawn's wall (#23181).
+ */
 const CLI = resolve(HERE, '../bin/run-dev.js');
-const TSX = resolve(HERE, '../../../node_modules/.bin/tsx');
 
 /** A service module contributing `nav_case` into an app another package owns. */
 const stackOf = (navCase: Record<string, string>) => ({
@@ -77,7 +82,7 @@ interface Run {
 function runCli(args: string[], cwd: string): Promise<Run> {
   return new Promise((resolvePromise) => {
     execFile(
-      TSX,
+      process.execPath,
       [CLI, ...args],
       { cwd, maxBuffer: 16 * 1024 * 1024, env: childEnv({ NO_COLOR: '1' }) },
       (err, stdout, stderr) => {