review fixes: seeded-auth hard gate, ci.yml build serialization, assets 404

- M1: E2E_REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH=1 in the CI e2e step makes login failures hard
  failures (loginAs throws, guards disabled, globalSetup refuses a pre-populated
  DB); auth.spec redirect test asserts outright under the flag; non-admin
  /admin test is now a real authorization assertion
- M2: ci.yml build step depends_on test — never two concurrent turbo builds
  on the shared workspace
- M3: unknown /assets/* paths 404 from the SPA catch-all instead of serving
  index.html with an immutable cache header; spec arm added
- minors: e2e step gets when: *image_build_when, health poll uses
  GATEWAY_PORT + AbortSignal.timeout, BETTER_AUTH_SECRET generated per run
  (no literal in tree), failure echoes artifact path, dev-guide documents the
  gate, stale verify-release comment fixed

apps/web/e2e/admin.spec.ts

@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
 import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
-import { loginAs, ADMIN_USER, TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
+import { loginAs, ADMIN_USER, REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH, TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
 
 test.describe('Admin page — admin user', () => {
   test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
     await loginAs(page, ADMIN_USER.email, ADMIN_USER.password);
     const url = page.url();
-    test.skip(!url.includes('/chat'), 'No seeded admin user — skipping admin tests');
+    test.skip(
+      !REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH && !url.includes('/chat'),
+      'No seeded admin user — skipping admin tests',
+    );
   });
 
   test('admin page loads with the Admin Panel heading', async ({ page }) => {
@@ -43,26 +46,19 @@ test.describe('Admin page — non-admin user', () => {
   test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
     await loginAs(page, TEST_USER.email, TEST_USER.password);
     const url = page.url();
-    test.skip(!url.includes('/chat'), 'No seeded test user — skipping non-admin tests');
+    test.skip(
+      !REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH && !url.includes('/chat'),
+      'No seeded test user — skipping non-admin tests',
+    );
   });
 
-  test('non-admin visiting /admin sees access denied or is redirected', async ({ page }) => {
+  test('non-admin visiting /admin never sees the admin panel', async ({ page }) => {
     await page.goto('/admin');
-    // Either redirected away or shown an access-denied message
-    const onAdmin = page.url().includes('/admin');
-    if (onAdmin) {
-      // Should show some access-denied content rather than the full admin panel
-      const hasPanel = await page
-        .getByRole('heading', { name: /admin panel/i })
-        .isVisible()
-        .catch(() => false);
-      // If heading is visible, the guard allowed access (user may have admin role in this env)
-      // — not a failure, just informational
-      if (!hasPanel) {
-        // access denied message, redirect, or guard placeholder
-        const url = page.url();
-        expect(url).toBeTruthy(); // environment-dependent — no hard assertion
-      }
-    }
+    // Wait for the app shell to render (redirect and access-denied views both
+    // keep the sidebar), then assert the panel itself is absent. globalSetup
+    // seeds TEST_USER with role 'member', so this is a real authorization
+    // assertion, not environment-dependent.
+    await expect(page.getByRole('img', { name: /mosaic logo/i })).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
+    await expect(page.getByRole('heading', { name: /admin panel/i })).not.toBeVisible();
   });
 });

apps/web/e2e/auth.spec.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
-import { TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
+import { REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH, TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
 
 // ── Login page ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -49,18 +49,14 @@ test.describe('Login page', () => {
   });
 
   test('redirects to /chat after successful login', async ({ page }) => {
+    // Only meaningful with known-good credentials; against a live environment
+    // this would just probe someone else's user table.
+    test.skip(!REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH, 'needs seeded credentials (E2E_REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH=1)');
     await page.goto('/login');
     await page.getByLabel('Email').fill(TEST_USER.email);
     await page.getByLabel('Password').fill(TEST_USER.password);
     await page.getByRole('button', { name: /sign in/i }).click();
-    // Either reaches /chat or shows an error (if credentials are wrong in this env).
-    // We assert a navigation away from /login, or the alert is shown.
-    await Promise.race([
-      expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/chat/, { timeout: 10_000 }),
-      expect(page.getByRole('alert')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 }),
-    ]).catch(() => {
-      // Acceptable — environment may not have seeded credentials
-    });
+    await expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/chat/, { timeout: 10_000 });
   });
 });
 

apps/web/e2e/chat.spec.ts

@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
 import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
-import { loginAs, TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
+import { loginAs, REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH, TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
 
 test.describe('Chat page', () => {
   test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
     await loginAs(page, TEST_USER.email, TEST_USER.password);
     // If login failed (no seeded user in env) we may be on /login — skip
     const url = page.url();
-    test.skip(!url.includes('/chat'), 'No seeded test user — skipping authenticated tests');
+    test.skip(
+      !REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH && !url.includes('/chat'),
+      'No seeded test user — skipping authenticated tests',
+    );
   });
 
   test('chat page loads and shows the conversation area', async ({ page }) => {

apps/web/e2e/global-setup.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import type { FullConfig } from '@playwright/test';
-import { ADMIN_USER, TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
+import { ADMIN_USER, REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH, TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
 
 /**
  * Seed the E2E users through the gateway's real APIs (#1445, P6).
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@ import { ADMIN_USER, TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
  *
  * Against an environment that already has users (needsSetup=false), seeding is
  * skipped entirely: the specs keep their own skip-when-login-fails guards, so
- * a live environment stays usable as a test target without mutation.
+ * a live environment stays usable as a test target without mutation. Under
+ * E2E_REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH=1 (CI) that state is instead a hard failure and the
+ * guards are disabled — see helpers/auth.ts.
  *
  * On a fresh database, any seeding failure throws and fails the whole run: an
  * E2E gate whose authenticated suites silently skip would pass while proving
@@ -25,6 +27,14 @@ export default async function globalSetup(config: FullConfig): Promise<void> {
   }
   const status = (await statusRes.json()) as { needsSetup: boolean };
   if (!status.needsSetup) {
+    if (REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH) {
+      // CI boots the gateway on a fresh HOME-isolated database, so an
+      // already-populated one means the isolation regressed — refuse to run
+      // against unknown data rather than skip-and-pass.
+      throw new Error(
+        'E2E_REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH=1 but the database already has users — gateway HOME isolation regressed?',
+      );
+    }
     console.info('[e2e setup] users already exist; skipping seed');
     return;
   }

apps/web/e2e/helpers/auth.ts

@@ -12,17 +12,29 @@ export const ADMIN_USER = {
   name: 'E2E Admin User',
 };
 
+/**
+ * Set when the database was seeded by global-setup (CI sets it in the
+ * publish.yml e2e step). Seeded credentials MUST work, so login failures are
+ * hard failures and the skip-when-login-fails guards are disabled — otherwise
+ * a login regression would skip every authenticated suite and the gate would
+ * pass while proving nothing. Unset (a live environment used as a test
+ * target), the guards stay on and unseeded credentials skip their suites.
+ */
+export const REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH = process.env['E2E_REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH'] === '1';
+
 /**
  * Fill the login form and submit, then wait for the post-login redirect to
- * /chat. On failed login the wait times out and is swallowed: the page stays
- * on /login, and the callers' `test.skip(!url.includes('/chat'))` guards see
- * that. Without this wait, every guard read page.url() before the redirect
- * happened and skipped its suite even when login succeeded (#1445).
+ * /chat. Under REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH a missed redirect throws (failing the
+ * test). Otherwise the timeout is swallowed: the page stays on /login and the
+ * callers' `test.skip(...)` guards see that. Without this wait, every guard
+ * read page.url() before the redirect happened and skipped its suite even
+ * when login succeeded (#1445).
  */
 export async function loginAs(page: Page, email: string, password: string): Promise<void> {
   await page.goto('/login');
   await page.getByLabel('Email').fill(email);
   await page.getByLabel('Password').fill(password);
   await page.getByRole('button', { name: /sign in/i }).click();
-  await page.waitForURL(/\/chat/, { timeout: 10_000 }).catch(() => {});
+  const redirect = page.waitForURL(/\/chat/, { timeout: 10_000 });
+  await (REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH ? redirect : redirect.catch(() => {}));
 }

apps/web/e2e/navigation.spec.ts

@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
 import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
-import { loginAs, TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
+import { loginAs, REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH, TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
 
 test.describe('Sidebar navigation', () => {
   test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
     await loginAs(page, TEST_USER.email, TEST_USER.password);
     const url = page.url();
-    test.skip(!url.includes('/chat'), 'No seeded test user — skipping authenticated tests');
+    test.skip(
+      !REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH && !url.includes('/chat'),
+      'No seeded test user — skipping authenticated tests',
+    );
   });
 
   test('sidebar shows the Mosaic brand', async ({ page }) => {
@@ -64,7 +67,10 @@ test.describe('Route transitions', () => {
   test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
     await loginAs(page, TEST_USER.email, TEST_USER.password);
     const url = page.url();
-    test.skip(!url.includes('/chat'), 'No seeded test user — skipping authenticated tests');
+    test.skip(
+      !REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH && !url.includes('/chat'),
+      'No seeded test user — skipping authenticated tests',
+    );
   });
 
   test('navigating chat → projects → settings → chat works without errors', async ({ page }) => {

apps/web/e2e/projects.spec.ts

@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
 import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
-import { loginAs, TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
+import { loginAs, REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH, TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
 
 test.describe('Projects page', () => {
   test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
     await loginAs(page, TEST_USER.email, TEST_USER.password);
     const url = page.url();
-    test.skip(!url.includes('/chat'), 'No seeded test user — skipping authenticated tests');
+    test.skip(
+      !REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH && !url.includes('/chat'),
+      'No seeded test user — skipping authenticated tests',
+    );
   });
 
   test('projects page loads with heading', async ({ page }) => {

apps/web/e2e/settings.spec.ts

@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
 import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
-import { loginAs, TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
+import { loginAs, REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH, TEST_USER } from './helpers/auth.js';
 
 test.describe('Settings page', () => {
   test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
     await loginAs(page, TEST_USER.email, TEST_USER.password);
     const url = page.url();
-    test.skip(!url.includes('/chat'), 'No seeded test user — skipping authenticated tests');
+    test.skip(
+      !REQUIRE_SEEDED_AUTH && !url.includes('/chat'),
+      'No seeded test user — skipping authenticated tests',
+    );
   });
 
   test('settings page loads with heading', async ({ page }) => {