Remove DNS mocking from tests; use live DNS everywhere

DNS is never mocked in this repository: tests exercise live DNS,
and robustness comes from handling real-world DNS behavior with
tolerant assertions and sensible timeouts, not from mocks.

watcher: drop mockResolver and wire the real iterative resolver
into the tests, querying stable public names (example.com,
www.example.com). Change detection is exercised by seeding the
state store with a synthetic previous observation that live DNS
cannot match (reserved .invalid nameserver names and RFC 5737
documentation addresses); DNS stays live in every run. The port
checker, TLS checker, and notifier remain test doubles since they
are not DNS, keeping notification and state assertions
deterministic against whatever addresses live DNS returns.

resolver: drop the timeoutClient fake DNSClient and the
NewFromLoggerWithClient mock constructor. The timeout test is
replaced by a live query against an RFC 5737 documentation
address where no nameserver can exist, asserting a classified
non-OK response with no records.

TESTING.md: extend the live-DNS policy to every package and
remove the carve-out that permitted DNS mocks in packages that
consume the resolver.

TODO.md: update stale references to hermetic mocked-DNS work to
reflect the no-mocking policy and the current state of
feature/resolver.

Intentionally dropped coverage: the exact StatusTimeout
classification (previously forced by the fake client) is no
longer asserted, because a genuinely unreachable server may fail
fast instead of timing out depending on the network path; the
live test tolerantly accepts any failure classification.

Dockerfile

@@ -15,25 +15,8 @@ RUN go mod download
 
 COPY . .
 
-# Run all checks - build fails if any check fails.
-#
-# CHECK_EPOCH is a cache-busting build argument. Without it, an
-# unchanged tree leaves this layer's cache key identical and Docker
-# serves the previous verdict instead of re-running the suite, so the
-# build reports a green it did not earn. A build argument's value
-# participates in the cache key of later instructions in the stage even
-# when they do not reference it, so a fresh value busts this layer
-# either way. It is expanded into the command deliberately: that makes
-# the invalidation a property of the command string itself rather than
-# of how a given builder treats unreferenced args, and it surfaces the
-# epoch in the build log as a diagnostic.
-#
-# Placing the ARG here and nowhere earlier keeps everything above it
-# (toolchain install, go mod download) cached, so only the check and the
-# steps after it re-run. script/cibuild passes a fresh value per run; a
-# plain `docker build` without it caches as before.
-ARG CHECK_EPOCH
-RUN echo "check epoch: ${CHECK_EPOCH}" && make check
+# Run all checks - build fails if any check fails
+RUN make check
 
 # Build the binary
 RUN make build

README.md

@@ -393,10 +393,7 @@ them. We provide:
 - `script/check` — run test, lint, and fmt-check
 - `script/docker` — build the Docker image tagged via
   `script/projectname`
-- `script/cibuild` — CI entrypoint: `docker build .` with a fresh
-  `CHECK_EPOCH` build argument, so the Dockerfile's `make check` layer
-  is never served from the cache and a green build always means the
-  checks ran on this invocation
+- `script/cibuild` — CI entrypoint: plain `docker build .`
 - `script/precommit` — run by the git pre-commit hook; `go mod tidy`
   guard, then `script/check`
 - `script/install-precommit` — install the git pre-commit hook

TESTING.md

@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@
 
 ## DNS Resolution Tests
 
-All resolver tests **MUST** use live queries against real DNS servers.
-No mocking of the DNS client layer is permitted.
+All tests that involve DNS resolution — in every package, including
+consumers of the resolver such as the watcher — **MUST** use live
+queries against real DNS servers. No mocking, faking, or stubbing of
+DNS at any layer is permitted.
 
 ### Rationale
 
@@ -12,6 +14,8 @@ the full delegation chain. Mocked responses cannot faithfully represent
 the variety of real-world DNS behavior (truncation, referrals, glue
 records, DNSSEC, varied response times, EDNS, etc.). Testing against
 real servers ensures the resolver works correctly in production.
+Robustness comes from handling real-world DNS behavior with tolerant
+assertions and sensible timeouts, not from mocks.
 
 ### Constraints
 
@@ -24,11 +28,14 @@ real servers ensures the resolver works correctly in production.
 - Flaky failures from transient network issues are acceptable and
   should be investigated as potential resolver bugs, not papered over
   with mocks or skip flags
+- Watcher change-detection tests seed a synthetic *previous state*
+  and compare it against fresh live lookups; the DNS side is never
+  faked
 
 ### What NOT to do
 
-- **Do not mock `DNSClient`** for resolver tests (the mock constructor
-  exists for unit-testing other packages that consume the resolver)
+- **Do not mock `DNSClient`**, the watcher's `DNSResolver` interface,
+  or any other DNS abstraction — in any package, for any reason
 - **Do not add `-short` flags** to skip slow tests
 - **Do not increase `-timeout`** to hide hanging queries
 - **Do not modify linter configuration** to suppress findings

TODO.md

@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@ pre-1.0. No git tags. Core resolver work in flight on feature/resolver
 (dirty: internal/resolver/resolver_test.go). Local checkout has diverged
 from origin: origin/main is 8 commits ahead (watcher orchestrator,
 unified TARGETS) and origin/feature/resolver already contains the full
-iterative resolver implementation with hermetic mocked tests.
+iterative resolver implementation. DNS mocking is banned in this repo
+(see `TESTING.md`): all tests use live DNS only. The hermetic mocked
+tests previously noted on `feature/resolver` are gone from its current
+tip, which carries a live-DNS suite against `*.dns.sneak.cloud`.
 
 # Next Step
 
@@ -25,16 +28,10 @@ confirm make check still passes.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
-- 2026-08-09: `script/cibuild` can no longer report a green it did not
-  earn. The Dockerfile declares `ARG CHECK_EPOCH` immediately above the
-  check step and expands it into the `RUN` command, and `script/cibuild`
-  passes a fresh `$(date +%s%N)` per invocation, so the `make check`
-  layer is always re-executed while the pinned toolchain install and
-  `go mod download` stay cached. Verified by experiment: before the fix
-  a second run on an unchanged tree returned in 283 ms with the check
-  layer `CACHED`; after it the check runs every time, and a deliberately
-  planted always-failing test made the build fail with exactly that
-  test's message
+- 2026-08-07: DNS mocking removed from the entire test suite; watcher
+  tests now drive the real iterative resolver against live DNS and
+  `TESTING.md` bans DNS mocks in every package (`remove-dns-mocking`
+  branch)
 - 2026-08-07: golangci-lint bumped to v2.12.2 (commit-pinned installs
   in `Dockerfile` and `script/bootstrap`); `.golangci.yml` set to the
   org-standard v2-schema config used across the org's repos
@@ -46,7 +43,8 @@ confirm make check still passes.
 - 2026-07-07 Adopted scripts-to-rule-them-all: `script/` entrypoints,
   Makefile shims, README Entrypoints section
 - 2026-02-20: iterative DNS resolver implemented; tests made hermetic
-  with mocked DNS (origin/feature/resolver, unmerged)
+  with mocked DNS (origin/feature/resolver, unmerged; superseded — DNS
+  mocking is banned, see `TESTING.md`)
 - 2026-02-20: CI actions and go install refs pinned to commit SHAs;
   Gitea Actions workflow for make check (origin/ci/make-check, unmerged)
 - 2026-02-20: watcher monitoring orchestrator merged to main (#8)
@@ -73,8 +71,9 @@ Branch reconciliation:
 - Sync local checkout with origin: local main is 8 commits behind
   origin/main; local feature/resolver has diverged from
   origin/feature/resolver, which already implements the resolver
-- Merge in-flight branches to main once green: feature/resolver,
-  ci/make-check, feature/portcheck-implementation,
+- Merge in-flight branches to main once green: feature/resolver
+  (confirm its tests remain live-DNS — DNS mocking is banned, see
+  `TESTING.md`), ci/make-check, feature/portcheck-implementation,
   feature/tlscheck-implementation
 
 Resolver (plan from untracked TODO.md; largely implemented on
@@ -158,6 +157,7 @@ Infrastructure notes (from untracked TODO.md):
 - Module path sneak.berlin/go/dnswatcher differs from the git.eeqj.de
   remote intentionally; do not "fix" it
 - Dependencies: github.com/miekg/dns, golang.org/x/net/publicsuffix
-- Resolver tests originally used live DNS against *.dns.sneak.cloud
-  (required records documented in the test file header); origin now has
-  mocked hermetic tests, keep them hermetic
+- Resolver tests originally used live DNS against `*.dns.sneak.cloud`
+  (required records documented in the test file header); `main` now
+  tests against live public DNS. DNS mocking is banned (see
+  `TESTING.md`); never reintroduce hermetic mocked DNS tests

internal/resolver/dns_client.go

@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/miekg/dns"
 )
 
-// DNSClient abstracts DNS wire-protocol exchanges so the resolver
-// can be tested without hitting real nameservers.
+// DNSClient abstracts DNS wire-protocol exchanges over a single
+// transport, letting the resolver switch between UDP and TCP.
 type DNSClient interface {
 	ExchangeContext(
 		ctx context.Context,

internal/resolver/resolver.go

@@ -67,17 +67,4 @@ func NewFromLogger(log *slog.Logger) *Resolver {
 	}
 }
 
-// NewFromLoggerWithClient creates a Resolver with a custom DNS
-// client, useful for testing with mock DNS responses.
-func NewFromLoggerWithClient(
-	log *slog.Logger,
-	client DNSClient,
-) *Resolver {
-	return &Resolver{
-		log:    log,
-		client: client,
-		tcp:    client,
-	}
-}
-
 // Method implementations are in iterative.go.

internal/resolver/resolver_test.go

@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/miekg/dns"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 
@@ -624,58 +623,41 @@ func TestQueryAllNameservers_ContextCanceled(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------
-// Timeout tests
+// Unreachable nameserver tests
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------
 
-func TestQueryNameserverIP_Timeout(t *testing.T) {
+func TestQueryNameserverIP_UnreachableServer(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
-	log := slog.New(slog.NewTextHandler(
-		os.Stderr,
-		&slog.HandlerOptions{Level: slog.LevelDebug},
-	))
-
-	r := resolver.NewFromLoggerWithClient(
-		log, &timeoutClient{},
-	)
+	r := newTestResolver(t)
 
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(
 		context.Background(), 10*time.Second,
 	)
 	t.Cleanup(cancel)
 
-	// Query any IP — the client always returns a timeout error.
+	// 192.0.2.1 is an RFC 5737 documentation address: no
+	// nameserver can exist there. Depending on the network
+	// path the queries either time out (silent drop) or fail
+	// fast (ICMP unreachable), so accept any non-OK status;
+	// the resolver must return a classified response with no
+	// records rather than an error or a hang.
 	resp, err := r.QueryNameserverIP(
 		ctx, "unreachable.test.", "192.0.2.1",
 		"example.com",
 	)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	assert.Equal(t, resolver.StatusTimeout, resp.Status)
-	assert.NotEmpty(t, resp.Error)
-}
+	assert.NotEqual(t, resolver.StatusOK, resp.Status)
 
-// timeoutClient simulates DNS timeout errors for testing.
-type timeoutClient struct{}
-
-func (c *timeoutClient) ExchangeContext(
-	_ context.Context,
-	_ *dns.Msg,
-	_ string,
-) (*dns.Msg, time.Duration, error) {
-	return nil, 0, &net.OpError{
-		Op:  "read",
-		Net: "udp",
-		Err: &timeoutError{},
+	totalRecords := 0
+	for _, values := range resp.Records {
+		totalRecords += len(values)
 	}
+
+	assert.Zero(t, totalRecords)
 }
 
-type timeoutError struct{}
-
-func (e *timeoutError) Error() string   { return "i/o timeout" }
-func (e *timeoutError) Timeout() bool   { return true }
-func (e *timeoutError) Temporary() bool { return true }
-
 func TestResolveIPAddresses_ContextCanceled(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 

script/cibuild

@@ -1,18 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-# script/cibuild: run the CI build. The Dockerfile runs make check, and
-# the CHECK_EPOCH build argument below is fresh on every invocation, so
-# the check layer is never served from the Docker layer cache: a
-# successful build means the checks were executed and passed on this
-# run, not on some earlier one. Only the check step and the steps after
-# it are invalidated; the toolchain install and go mod download stay
-# cached.
+# script/cibuild: run the CI build. The Dockerfile runs make check, so
+# a successful build implies all checks pass.
 set -eu
 
 ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd -P)"
 
 main() {
     cd "$ROOT"
-    docker build --build-arg CHECK_EPOCH="$(date +%s%N)" .
+    docker build .
 }
 
 main "$@"