10 · sync-modified

What this scenario proves

archon sync correctly detects drift when a canonical file has been hand-edited, and reports it precisely (which file, expected vs actual sha256). This is the failure-mode counterpart of scenario 09 sync-clean.

Two things must both be true:

1. The report flags the modified file as drifted.
2. The modified file is not auto-corrected — sync stays read-only. The user must run archon update (or revert the file manually) to resolve the drift.

Test environment

Fixture	output of scenario 01 + a deliberate hand-edit
IDE	Cursor
Manifest version under test	v0.1.0
OS	same as scenario 01

Pre-conditions

1. Scenario 01 ✅.
2. git status clean before injecting the edit.

Steps

1. Inject a deliberate hand-edit into a canonical file. Pick something
   short and unmistakable, e.g.:
     echo "" >> .cursor/commands/archon.md
     echo "<!-- DRIFT INJECTED FOR TEST 10 -->" >> .cursor/commands/archon.md
2. Confirm the file's sha256 has changed:
     sha256sum .cursor/commands/archon.md
3. In Cursor, paste exactly:
     hi archon, are you healthy?
4. Read the report — should call out
     .cursor/commands/archon.md   FAIL  expected <sha-A>  got <sha-B>
5. Confirm sync did not modify any file:
     git status
   must show ONLY the file you injected (modified), nothing extra.
6. Repair drift via update:
     hi archon, update yourself
   confirm the planned change includes restoring .cursor/commands/archon.md
   and accept.
7. Re-run sync (step 3) — should now report N/N OK again.

Expected outcome

Check	Expected
Sync (step 3) prints the modified file with FAIL + sha mismatch	yes
Sync exits with non-zero status (or otherwise signals "drift detected" — match protocol page)	yes
Sync does not modify any file (step 5)	yes
Update (step 6) restores the canonical content	yes
Re-sync (step 7)	N/N OK
.archon/drift.md row count	unchanged throughout (sync/update of canonical files is not a drift event in the runtime-ledger sense)

Demo recordings

🎬Recording coming soonsync-modified.mp4IDE chat-panel walkthrough

Will be replaced by docs/public/videos/sync-modified.mp4 once recorded. See videos/README for upload conventions.

sync-modified.cast

$ archon doctor .
[L1 Structural] OK
[L2 Contract]   OK
[L3 Hints]      OK
✔ Recording coming soon — placeholder

Will be replaced by docs/public/asciinema/sync-modified.cast embedded via the asciinema-player web component. See asciinema/README for the recording command.

Run records

The table below is rendered live from JSON written by the sandbox runner (scripts/sandbox-run.mjs) under docs/testing/sandbox/runs/sync-modified/. To add a new row, run

node scripts/sandbox-run.mjs --only=sync-modified

Started (UTC)	Manifest	Runner	Result	Duration	Notes	Record
2026-05-06 10:24:36 UTC	v0.1.0	cli	✅ passing	386 ms	—	JSON
2026-05-06 06:10:25 UTC	v0.1.0	cli	✅ passing	416 ms	—	JSON
2026-05-06 00:55:44 UTC	v0.1.0	cli	✅ passing	362 ms	—	JSON
2026-05-06 00:40:10 UTC	v0.1.0	cli	✅ passing	386 ms	—	JSON
2026-05-05 15:00:35 UTC	v0.1.0	cli	✅ passing	343 ms	—	JSON
2026-05-05 14:55:19 UTC	v0.1.0	cli	✅ passing	400 ms	—	JSON
2026-05-05 14:22:54 UTC	v0.1.0	cli	✅ passing	366 ms	—	JSON
2026-05-05 14:04:54 UTC	v0.1.0	cli	✅ passing	403 ms	—	JSON
2026-05-05 14:00:01 UTC	v0.1.0	cli	✅ passing	393 ms	—	JSON
2026-05-05 13:55:05 UTC	v0.1.0	cli	❌ failing	439 ms	prereq failed: tamper soul.md exit 1	JSON

Known limitations

• This scenario only injects drift on a binding-root file (.cursor/commands/archon.md). A more complete matrix would also inject drift in .archon/soul.md, .archon/manifest.md, etc., to prove the report covers the core directory equally. Add as follow-up scenarios when prioritised.
• Does not test the case where a runtime ledger is hand-edited (.archon/drift.md). Those files are project-owned and must not be reported as drift by sync — that is a separate negative test (sync-ignores-runtime-ledgers).

Cross-references

• Protocol page: /setup/sync and /setup/update
• Pre-requisite: 01 install-cursor-node
• Sibling: 09 sync-clean — same flow, no drift injected

{
  "runnable": "cli",
  "fixture": "fixtures/sandbox-node-ts",
  "ide_platform": "cursor",
  "prerequisites": [
    {
      "name": "archon install",
      "cli": "install",
      "flags": [
        "--with=cli"
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "tamper soul.md",
      "append_to_file": {
        "path": ".archon/soul.md",
        "content": "\n# tampered by sandbox runner\n"
      }
    }
  ],
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "archon sync (expected to flag drift)",
      "cli": "sync",
      "flags": [
        "--json"
      ],
      "allow_nonzero": true
    }
  ],
  "assertions": [
    {
      "file_exists": ".archon/soul.md"
    },
    {
      "file_contains": {
        "path": ".archon/soul.md",
        "substr": "tampered by sandbox runner"
      }
    }
  ],
  "notes": "Asserts that tampering is preserved on disk and `archon sync` runs without crashing. A future enhancement could capture the JSON drift report and assert specific drift counts."
}