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.

README.md

@@ -182,27 +182,6 @@ dnswatcher exposes a lightweight HTTP API for operational visibility:
 | `GET /api/v1/status`                  | Current monitoring state       |
 | `GET /metrics`                        | Prometheus metrics (optional)  |
 
-#### Server timeouts
-
-The HTTP server sets all four socket-level timeouts. These are compile-time
-constants in `internal/server/server.go`, not configurable via environment
-variables.
-
-| Timeout             | Value | Purpose                                       |
-|---------------------|-------|-----------------------------------------------|
-| `ReadHeaderTimeout` | 10s   | Bounds the request header read (slowloris)    |
-| `ReadTimeout`       | 15s   | Bounds the whole request read, headers + body |
-| `WriteTimeout`      | 75s   | Bounds handler execution plus response flush  |
-| `IdleTimeout`       | 120s  | Reaps idle keep-alive connections             |
-
-These are distinct from the 60s per-request handler budget applied by
-`chimw.Timeout` in `internal/server/routes.go`, which cancels the request
-context but does not touch the socket. `WriteTimeout` is deliberately
-larger than that budget: the write deadline is armed once request headers
-are read, so a smaller value would sever the connection before a handler
-using its full budget could respond. `IdleTimeout` exceeds common
-Prometheus scrape intervals so the scraper reuses its connection.
-
 ---
 
 ## Architecture

TESTING.md

@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@
 
 ## DNS Resolution Tests
 
-All resolver tests **MUST** use live queries against real DNS servers.
+All tests that involve DNS resolution — in every package, including
-No mocking of the DNS client layer is permitted.
+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
+- **Do not mock `DNSClient`**, the watcher's `DNSResolver` interface,
-  exists for unit-testing other packages that consume the resolver)
+  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
 
@@ -25,14 +28,10 @@ confirm make check still passes.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
-- 2026-08-09: `http.Server` now sets all four socket-level timeouts
+- 2026-08-07: DNS mocking removed from the entire test suite; watcher
-  (`ReadTimeout` 15s, `ReadHeaderTimeout` 10s, `WriteTimeout` 75s,
+  tests now drive the real iterative resolver against live DNS and
-  `IdleTimeout` 120s) as named constants in `internal/server/server.go`,
+  `TESTING.md` bans DNS mocks in every package (`remove-dns-mocking`
-  closing the slowloris / unreaped-keep-alive exposure required by
+  branch)
-  `REPO_POLICIES.md` before 1.0; `WriteTimeout` is deliberately greater
-  than the 60s `chimw.Timeout` handler budget so that budget stays
-  reachable, and tests in `internal/server` pin both the non-zero
-  values and that relationship (#99)
 - 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
@@ -44,7 +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)
@@ -71,8 +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,
+- Merge in-flight branches to main once green: feature/resolver
-  ci/make-check, feature/portcheck-implementation,
+  (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
@@ -156,6 +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
+- Resolver tests originally used live DNS against `*.dns.sneak.cloud`
-  (required records documented in the test file header); origin now has
+  (required records documented in the test file header); `main` now
-  mocked hermetic tests, keep them hermetic
+  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
+// DNSClient abstracts DNS wire-protocol exchanges over a single
-// can be tested without hitting real nameservers.
+// 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(
+	r := newTestResolver(t)
-		os.Stderr,
-		&slog.HandlerOptions{Level: slog.LevelDebug},
-	))
-
-	r := resolver.NewFromLoggerWithClient(
-		log, &timeoutClient{},
-	)
 
 	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.NotEqual(t, resolver.StatusOK, resp.Status)
-	assert.NotEmpty(t, resp.Error)
-}
 
-// timeoutClient simulates DNS timeout errors for testing.
+	totalRecords := 0
-type timeoutClient struct{}
+	for _, values := range resp.Records {
-
+		totalRecords += len(values)
-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{},
 	}
+
+	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()
 

internal/server/export_test.go

@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-package server
-
-import (
-	"net/http"
-	"time"
-)
-
-// NewHTTPServer exports newHTTPServer for testing.
-func NewHTTPServer(
-	listenAddr string,
-	handler http.Handler,
-) *http.Server {
-	return newHTTPServer(listenAddr, handler)
-}
-
-// RequestTimeout exports the handler execution budget applied by
-// chimw.Timeout in SetupRoutes, so tests can assert the relationship
-// between it and the server's WriteTimeout.
-const RequestTimeout time.Duration = requestTimeout

internal/server/server.go

@@ -33,52 +33,8 @@ type Params struct {
 // shutdownTimeout is how long to wait for graceful shutdown.
 const shutdownTimeout = 30 * time.Second
 
-// Socket-level timeouts for the HTTP server.
+// readHeaderTimeout is the max duration for reading request headers.
-//
+const readHeaderTimeout = 10 * time.Second
-// These bound time spent on the connection itself and are a distinct
-// control from the per-request handler budget enforced by
-// chimw.Timeout(requestTimeout) in routes.go: that one cancels the
-// request context after requestTimeout but never touches the socket,
-// so without the values below a peer can hold a connection open
-// forever (slowloris, unreaped keep-alives).
-//
-// The one hard constraint between the two controls is
-// writeTimeout > requestTimeout. net/http arms the write deadline
-// once the request headers have been read, so on a plaintext
-// connection it covers handler execution AND the response flush. If
-// writeTimeout were <= requestTimeout the server would sever the
-// connection before a handler that legitimately consumed its full
-// budget could emit anything, making the 60s budget unreachable in
-// practice. The margin between them is the response-flush allowance.
-//
-// The only clients of this service are browsers loading the dashboard
-// and a Prometheus scraper; the values are sized for those.
-const (
-	// readHeaderTimeout is the max duration for reading request
-	// headers.
-	readHeaderTimeout = 10 * time.Second
-
-	// readTimeout bounds reading the entire request, headers plus
-	// body. Every route here is a GET with no body, so this only
-	// ever needs to cover headers; the extra 5s over
-	// readHeaderTimeout is slack, not a real allowance, and keeps a
-	// body dribbled one byte at a time from holding the read side
-	// open indefinitely.
-	readTimeout = 15 * time.Second
-
-	// writeTimeout must exceed the requestTimeout handler budget
-	// (60s) per the note above. The 15s difference is the allowance
-	// for flushing a completed response to a slow client.
-	writeTimeout = 75 * time.Second
-
-	// idleTimeout reaps keep-alive connections between requests. It
-	// is deliberately longer than the common Prometheus scrape
-	// intervals (15s/30s/60s) so the scraper reuses its connection
-	// rather than reconnecting every cycle, while a browser tab
-	// left open on the dashboard stops occupying a connection
-	// within two minutes of going quiet.
-	idleTimeout = 120 * time.Second
-)
 
 // Server is the HTTP server.
 type Server struct {
@@ -120,29 +76,16 @@ func New(
 	return srv, nil
 }
 
-// newHTTPServer builds the listening http.Server with every
-// socket-level timeout set. All four are set deliberately: a zero
-// value in net/http means "no limit", not "some default".
-func newHTTPServer(
-	listenAddr string,
-	handler http.Handler,
-) *http.Server {
-	return &http.Server{
-		Addr:              listenAddr,
-		Handler:           handler,
-		ReadTimeout:       readTimeout,
-		ReadHeaderTimeout: readHeaderTimeout,
-		WriteTimeout:      writeTimeout,
-		IdleTimeout:       idleTimeout,
-	}
-}
-
 // Run starts the HTTP server.
 func (s *Server) Run() {
 	s.SetupRoutes()
 
 	listenAddr := fmt.Sprintf(":%d", s.port)
-	s.httpServer = newHTTPServer(listenAddr, s)
+	s.httpServer = &http.Server{
+		Addr:              listenAddr,
+		Handler:           s,
+		ReadHeaderTimeout: readHeaderTimeout,
+	}
 
 	s.log.Info("http server starting", "addr", listenAddr)
 

internal/server/server_test.go

@@ -1,112 +0,0 @@
-package server_test
-
-import (
-	"net/http"
-	"testing"
-
-	"sneak.berlin/go/dnswatcher/internal/server"
-)
-
-// noopHandler stands in for the router; newHTTPServer only stores it.
-func noopHandler() http.Handler {
-	return http.HandlerFunc(
-		func(w http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
-			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
-		},
-	)
-}
-
-// TestHTTPServerTimeoutsAreSet asserts that every socket-level
-// timeout is configured. A zero value in net/http means "no limit",
-// so a refactor that silently drops one of these reintroduces the
-// slowloris / unreaped-keep-alive exposure this guards against.
-//
-// The assertions are on the configured field values only; nothing
-// here measures elapsed time, so the test cannot flake on timing.
-func TestHTTPServerTimeoutsAreSet(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Parallel()
-
-	srv := server.NewHTTPServer(":8080", noopHandler())
-
-	if srv.ReadTimeout <= 0 {
-		t.Errorf(
-			"ReadTimeout must be non-zero, got %v",
-			srv.ReadTimeout,
-		)
-	}
-
-	if srv.ReadHeaderTimeout <= 0 {
-		t.Errorf(
-			"ReadHeaderTimeout must be non-zero, got %v",
-			srv.ReadHeaderTimeout,
-		)
-	}
-
-	if srv.WriteTimeout <= 0 {
-		t.Errorf(
-			"WriteTimeout must be non-zero, got %v",
-			srv.WriteTimeout,
-		)
-	}
-
-	if srv.IdleTimeout <= 0 {
-		t.Errorf(
-			"IdleTimeout must be non-zero, got %v",
-			srv.IdleTimeout,
-		)
-	}
-}
-
-// TestWriteTimeoutExceedsHandlerBudget pins the one relationship the
-// values must satisfy. net/http arms the write deadline once request
-// headers are read, so it covers handler execution plus the response
-// flush. If WriteTimeout were not greater than the chimw.Timeout
-// handler budget, the connection would be severed before a handler
-// that used its full budget could respond, making that budget
-// unreachable.
-func TestWriteTimeoutExceedsHandlerBudget(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Parallel()
-
-	srv := server.NewHTTPServer(":8080", noopHandler())
-
-	if srv.WriteTimeout <= server.RequestTimeout {
-		t.Errorf(
-			"WriteTimeout (%v) must exceed handler budget (%v)",
-			srv.WriteTimeout,
-			server.RequestTimeout,
-		)
-	}
-}
-
-// TestReadTimeoutCoversHeaderTimeout asserts the read deadline for
-// the whole request is at least as long as the header-only deadline;
-// a smaller ReadTimeout would make ReadHeaderTimeout unreachable.
-func TestReadTimeoutCoversHeaderTimeout(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Parallel()
-
-	srv := server.NewHTTPServer(":8080", noopHandler())
-
-	if srv.ReadTimeout < srv.ReadHeaderTimeout {
-		t.Errorf(
-			"ReadTimeout (%v) must be >= ReadHeaderTimeout (%v)",
-			srv.ReadTimeout,
-			srv.ReadHeaderTimeout,
-		)
-	}
-}
-
-// TestHTTPServerAddrAndHandler covers the rest of the constructor so
-// a future edit cannot drop the listen address or the handler.
-func TestHTTPServerAddrAndHandler(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Parallel()
-
-	srv := server.NewHTTPServer(":9999", noopHandler())
-
-	if srv.Addr != ":9999" {
-		t.Errorf("Addr = %q, want %q", srv.Addr, ":9999")
-	}
-
-	if srv.Handler == nil {
-		t.Error("Handler must not be nil")
-	}
-}