yoi/work-items/closed/20260531-085959-eliminate-test-only-env-vars/item.md

id: 20260531-085959-eliminate-test-only-env-vars slug: eliminate-test-only-env-vars title: Tests: eliminate test-only environment variables status: closed kind: task priority: P2 labels: [test, env, cleanup] created_at: 2026-05-31T08:59:59Z updated_at: 2026-05-31T10:04:28Z assignee: null legacy_ticket: null

Background

The environment-variable policy now treats process environment as an undesirable ambient input. Tests currently still use several test-only or test-generated env names, such as INSOMNIA_TEST_*, and many tests mutate process environment directly with local guards.

The user decision is to eliminate test-only environment-variable surfaces rather than documenting them as supported configuration. A shared test utility crate may be added if it helps remove duplicated unsafe env mutation and replace test-only env channels with typed fixtures.

Requirements

• Remove test-only environment variables from active code/tests, including INSOMNIA_TEST_* patterns.
• Do not add new test-only user-facing env vars.
• Where tests need to exercise real supported env behavior, keep those mutations isolated behind a shared guard rather than ad-hoc per-test set_var/remove_var code.
• Prefer typed fixtures, temporary files, explicit config structs, or dependency injection over process-global env channels.
• It is acceptable to introduce a small test-support crate if it reduces duplication and keeps env mutation serialized/restored.
• Update docs so test-only env vars are not listed as a supported surface.

Non-goals

• Removing tests that intentionally verify public path/env fallback behavior such as INSOMNIA_HOME, XDG_CONFIG_HOME, or INSOMNIA_RUNTIME_DIR.
• Removing credential env vars in this ticket; those belong with manifest-profile-encrypted-secrets.
• Removing INSOMNIA_POD_COMMAND; that is tracked by remove-insomnia-pod-command-env.

Acceptance criteria

• No active code/tests generate or depend on INSOMNIA_TEST_* env names.
• Test-only env vars are absent from docs/environment.md.
• Any remaining test env mutation is for documented public env behavior or unavoidable external compatibility and is guarded/serialized/restored.
• If a test-support crate is added, it is test-only/dev-only and does not become runtime dependency surface.
• Relevant test suites pass, including tools/provider/manifest/pod tests that previously mutated env.
• cargo fmt --check, relevant cargo test/cargo check, ./tickets.sh doctor, and git diff --check pass.