Keep modules, lint cache and system packages in check builds (closes #109)

Re-vendors REPO_POLICIES.md and script/cibuild, docker, lint and test
from sneak/prompts at 0653579, on sneak's ruling in
sneak/prompts#130. In the Dockerfile's lint,
test and builder stages, the system-package install and the module
download now come before ARG CACHEBUST, so Docker keeps those layers
until the base image, the install line, go.mod or go.sum changes.
golangci-lint run also mounts golangci-lint's cache. Every step that
lints, tests or compiles still runs on every check build, and go test
keeps -count=1 and -race. README and TODO.md say the same.

Model: opus-5-5

REPO_POLICIES.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: Repository Policies
-last_modified: 2026-10-15
+last_modified: 2026-10-18
 ---
 
 This document covers repository structure, tooling, and workflow standards. Code
@@ -159,8 +159,11 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
     one's findings, and a host-global lock in `$TMPDIR` makes concurrent runs
     exit non-zero with `parallel golangci-lint is running` — a status a caller
     cannot tell from real findings. Both have produced wrong verdicts in this
-    org, in both directions. A container has its own golangci-lint cache, its
-    own `TMPDIR` and a digest-pinned binary, so neither is reachable.
+    org, in both directions. A container has its own `TMPDIR`, so the lock is
+    out of reach. The lint phase does keep golangci-lint's cache between check
+    builds (below), but it lints every checkout at `/src`, and a finding is
+    taken from that cache only for the same files, settings and golangci-lint
+    version.
 
 - **Any build that runs checks is given a new `CACHEBUST` value.** Docker
   invalidates a `COPY` layer only when the copied content changes, so on an
@@ -170,15 +173,21 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
   id, so no two builds share a value, not even the three in one
   `script/cibuild`. `script/lint`, `script/test`, `script/cibuild` and
   `script/docker` are the four, and there is no fifth — `script/check` runs the
-  two gate phases and `script/fmt-check`, and builds no image of its own. Every
-  stage of the `Dockerfile` declares `ARG CACHEBUST` as its first line after
-  `FROM`, and a new value reruns every `RUN` step after that line; `COPY` steps
-  are compared by content and need nothing. A stage without the `ARG` line is
-  served from cache on an unchanged tree, so a repository re-vendors the scripts
-  and adds the `ARG` lines in one commit. The scripts do not pass `--no-cache`:
-  it reruns every step too, but it also empties every cache mount, and Go's
-  build cache, which the canonical Go `Dockerfile` below mounts so that compiled
-  packages survive between check builds, would start empty every time. A bare
+  two gate phases and `script/fmt-check`, and builds no image of its own. In
+  every stage of the `Dockerfile`, `ARG CACHEBUST` comes right after the steps
+  that install system packages and download Go's modules, or right after `FROM`
+  in a stage with neither, and every step that lints, tests or compiles comes
+  after it. A step that installs anything else as well, such as a
+  `script/bootstrap` that also installs node packages, comes after it too. A new
+  value reruns every `RUN` step after that line; `COPY` steps are compared by
+  content and need nothing. Docker keeps the layers above the line until the
+  base image, their own lines or the files they copy change. A stage without the
+  `ARG` line is served from cache on an unchanged tree, so a repository
+  re-vendors the scripts and adds the `ARG` lines in one commit. The scripts do
+  not pass `--no-cache`: it reruns every step too, but it also builds the layers
+  above the line again and empties every cache mount, so Go's build cache and
+  golangci-lint's, which the canonical Go `Dockerfile` below mounts so that they
+  survive between check builds, would start empty every time. A bare
   `docker build .` is not evidence that anything ran: a sub-second build
   reporting success is a cache hit, not a result. Never invalidate by pruning —
   `docker builder prune` and friends destroy a build cache shared with every
@@ -194,19 +203,25 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
   `Dockerfile`:
 
     ```dockerfile
-    # Every stage declares ARG CACHEBUST first: script/ passes a new value
-    # on every build, which reruns every RUN step after it. The steps that
-    # compile mount Go's build cache, which survives from build to build.
+    # In every stage ARG CACHEBUST comes right after the steps that install
+    # system packages and download Go's modules, or right after FROM in a
+    # stage with neither, and every step that lints, tests or compiles
+    # comes after it. script/ passes a new value on every build, which
+    # reruns every RUN step after it. Docker keeps the layers above it
+    # until the base image, their own lines or go.mod and go.sum change.
+    # The steps that compile mount Go's build cache, and golangci-lint run
+    # also mounts golangci-lint's; both survive from build to build.
 
     # Lint phase
     # golangci/golangci-lint:v2.x.x, YYYY-MM-DD
     FROM golangci/golangci-lint@sha256:... AS lint
-    ARG CACHEBUST
     WORKDIR /src
     COPY go.mod go.sum ./
     RUN go mod download
+    ARG CACHEBUST
     COPY . .
     RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/go-build \
+        --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/golangci-lint \
         golangci-lint run --config .golangci.yml ./...
 
     # Test phase. -race needs cgo and so a C compiler, which the Debian Go
@@ -214,10 +229,10 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
     # cache also holds test results, which go test would otherwise replay.
     # golang:1.x, YYYY-MM-DD
     FROM golang@sha256:... AS test
-    ARG CACHEBUST
     WORKDIR /src
     COPY go.mod go.sum ./
     RUN go mod download
+    ARG CACHEBUST
     COPY . .
     RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/go-build \
         go test -count=1 -timeout 90s -race -cover ./... || \
@@ -225,19 +240,19 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
           go test -count=1 -timeout 90s -race -v ./...; exit 1; }
 
     # Build stage. Nothing is wanted from either phase above; the copies
-    # are what make BuildKit build them first, so this stage cannot run
-    # unless lint and test passed.
+    # are what make BuildKit build them first, so nothing after them can
+    # run unless lint and test passed.
     # golang:1.x-alpine, YYYY-MM-DD
     FROM golang@sha256:... AS builder
-    ARG CACHEBUST
-    COPY --from=lint /src/go.sum /dev/null
-    COPY --from=test /src/go.sum /dev/null
     RUN apk add --no-cache git
-    # A tar-stream context keeps the sender's file owners, which git refuses.
-    RUN git config --system --add safe.directory /src
     WORKDIR /src
     COPY go.mod go.sum ./
     RUN go mod download
+    ARG CACHEBUST
+    COPY --from=lint /src/go.sum /dev/null
+    COPY --from=test /src/go.sum /dev/null
+    # A tar-stream context keeps the sender's file owners, which git refuses.
+    RUN git config --system --add safe.directory /src
     COPY . .
 
     # The VERSION build arg when one is given, otherwise
@@ -274,16 +289,26 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
     - Keep the runtime stage last, and if you add a stage after it, give it the
       same two copies. A plain `docker build .` builds the last stage's chain
       and nothing else.
-    - Only Go's build cache is mounted (`/root/.cache/go-build`, where Go keeps
-      it for root), and only on the steps that compile: `golangci-lint run`,
-      both `go test` runs and `go build`. It keeps compiled packages between
-      check builds, and Go reuses one only when all its inputs are unchanged, so
-      it saves the compile without skipping a check. Nothing else is kept:
-      golangci-lint's own cache would replay stored findings in place of a lint
-      run, and Go builds from whatever files a kept module cache holds without
-      checking them again (only `go mod verify` does), so a file changed there
-      would go unnoticed. Go's build cache also holds test results, which is why
-      both `go test` runs carry `-count=1`.
+    - Check builds keep these, and none of them can hand back a stale result:
+        - The layers above `ARG CACHEBUST`: the system packages and Go's
+          modules. Docker installs the packages again when the base image or the
+          install line changes, and downloads the modules again when `go.mod` or
+          `go.sum` changes. Go checks every module against `go.sum` as it
+          downloads it, and no later build can change a kept layer. The modules
+          are kept in a layer rather than a cache mount because a cache mount is
+          shared by every build on the host, and Go builds from whatever files
+          it holds without checking them again (only `go mod verify` does), so a
+          file changed there would go unnoticed.
+        - Go's build cache (`/root/.cache/go-build`, where Go keeps it for
+          root), mounted on the steps that compile: `golangci-lint run`, both
+          `go test` runs and `go build`. Go reuses a compiled package only when
+          all its inputs are unchanged. The cache also holds test results, which
+          is why both `go test` runs carry `-count=1`.
+        - golangci-lint's cache (`/root/.cache/golangci-lint`, where the pinned
+          image keeps it), mounted on `golangci-lint run`. golangci-lint reuses
+          a package's findings only when the package's files and those of every
+          package it imports, `go.mod`, the linters and their settings in
+          `.golangci.yml`, and the golangci-lint version are all unchanged.
     - If the project uses `//go:embed` directives that reference build artifacts
       (e.g. a web frontend compiled in a separate stage), the lint phase must
       create placeholder files so the embed directives resolve. Example:
@@ -292,12 +317,20 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
       in the lint phase. The `golangci/golangci-lint` image is Debian-based and
       has no `apk`, so install with `apt-get` under the Debian package name
       (`libvips-dev`, where alpine says `vips-dev`), and delete the package
-      lists in the same `RUN`, so the layer does not keep them:
+      lists in the same `RUN`, so the layer does not keep them. The test phase,
+      on the Debian Go image, installs the libraries its tests need the same
+      way. Either install goes right after `FROM`, above `ARG CACHEBUST`, so
+      Docker keeps it until the base image or the install line changes:
 
         ```dockerfile
+        FROM golangci/golangci-lint@sha256:... AS lint
         RUN apt-get update \
             && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends libvips-dev \
             && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+        WORKDIR /src
+        COPY go.mod go.sum ./
+        RUN go mod download
+        ARG CACHEBUST
         ```
 
     - `.dockerignore` lets `.git` into the build context. It keeps out every git