test: keep .env out of the suite; report the real interpreter in notebooks

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -46,7 +46,9 @@ jobs:
       # No env vars and no secrets: the suite is hermetic. Every outbound call
       # is mocked, storage is redirected at a temp dir by tests/conftest.py,
       # and the notebook-verification tests get their Jupyter kernel from the
-      # venv's own kernelspec (ipykernel is a dependency).
+      # venv's own kernelspec (ipykernel is a dependency). conftest.py also
+      # sets DATA_CONCIERGE_ENV_FILE="" so a local .env — which core/config.py
+      # reads for every field — cannot change what the suite asserts.
       #
       # Do not add `working-directory` here — mcp/registry.py resolves its
       # config relative to the process cwd, and four tests read it.

.serena/memories/suggested_commands.md

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ Two traps:
 - **Always run from the repo root.** `mcp/registry.py` sets `MCP_CONFIG_DIR = Path.cwd() / "configs"` at module scope, and several tests read it. This is why `.github/workflows/ci.yml` carries a comment forbidding `working-directory`.
 - **`addopts` in `pyproject.toml` includes `--cov=src/data_concierge --cov-report=term-missing`**, so a bare `pytest` is slower than CI and prints a coverage table. Pass `--no-cov` to match CI.
 
-The suite is hermetic: no API key, no network, no `.env`. `asyncio_mode = "auto"`, so `async def` tests need no marker. Notebook-verification tests really execute notebooks (the venv's own ipykernel), so a full run is slower than a typical unit suite.
+The suite is hermetic: no API key, no network, no `.env`. It actively ignores `.env` — `core/config.py` reads that file for every setting, so `tests/conftest.py` sets `DATA_CONCIERGE_ENV_FILE=""` before anything imports the `settings` singleton. Assert shipped defaults via `Settings.model_fields["x"].default`, never the live `settings`, which still reflects the process environment (a shell `FOO=bar pytest` bypasses the conftest guard). `asyncio_mode = "auto"`, so `async def` tests need no marker. Notebook-verification tests really execute notebooks (the venv's own ipykernel), so a full run is slower than a typical unit suite.
 
 ## Lint / format / types
 ```bash

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -13,9 +13,13 @@ pytest
 
 The full local setup — configuration, sign-in, Docker — is in the [README](README.md).
 
-**The test suite is hermetic.** ~640 tests, under a minute, and it needs no API key, no
+**The test suite is hermetic.** ~800 tests, under a minute, and it needs no API key, no
 network and no `.env`: every outbound call is mocked, and a fixture points storage at a
-temporary directory so a run never writes into your checkout. If a change you make can only be
+temporary directory so a run never writes into your checkout. It also *ignores* your `.env` —
+`core/config.py` reads that file for every setting, so `tests/conftest.py` sets
+`DATA_CONCIERGE_ENV_FILE=""` to keep your local configuration out of the run. Assert shipped
+defaults against `Settings.model_fields[...]`, not the live `settings` singleton, which still
+reflects the process environment. If a change you make can only be
 tested with a live key or a running service, the test is at the wrong boundary — mock the
 boundary, or make it a manual script.
 

README.md

@@ -260,9 +260,8 @@ All settings come from `.env` (see [`.env.example`](.env.example)). **Only
 Notebook verification executes generated code. It's contained: a subprocess with a hard
 timeout, a minimal environment allowlist that withholds every credential, shell-escape cells
 skipped, and an egress guard blocking loopback, private, link-local and cloud-metadata
-addresses from inside the kernel. To turn it off, pass `NOTEBOOK_VERIFICATION_ENABLED=false`
-in the environment for that run rather than adding it to `.env` — see *Notebook verification
-never completes* under Troubleshooting for why.
+addresses from inside the kernel. Set `NOTEBOOK_VERIFICATION_ENABLED=false` to turn it off —
+in `.env` for a persistent local default, or on the command line for a single run.
 
 </details>
 
@@ -444,12 +443,9 @@ depending on the notebook. To skip it, pass the flag for that run:
 NOTEBOOK_VERIFICATION_ENABLED=false ./run_web.sh
 ```
 
-Pass it in the environment, not in `.env`. `core/config.py` sets `env_file=".env"`, and the
-test suite reads the same settings singleton — so a `.env` entry also disables verification
-under `pytest` and fails
-`tests/unit/test_notebook_verifier.py::TestFeatureFlag::test_ships_enabled`, the test that
-pins the shipped default to on. A shell variable applies only to the command you prefix,
-which is what you want here.
+Or set it in `.env` to make it your local default. Either is safe: `tests/conftest.py` sets
+`DATA_CONCIERGE_ENV_FILE=""` before anything imports the settings singleton, so the test suite
+ignores your `.env` and a local override cannot turn it red.
 
 </details>
 

src/data_concierge/agents/notebook_generator.py

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 """
 
 import json
+import platform
 from datetime import datetime
 from typing import Any
 
@@ -300,7 +301,10 @@ async def process(self, state: GraphState) -> GraphState:
             },
             "language_info": {
                 "name": "python",
-                "version": "3.11",
+                # The interpreter that actually ran this, not a hardcoded one:
+                # the notebook is the deliverable and its provenance has to be
+                # true. A pinned "3.11" outlived support for 3.11 entirely.
+                "version": platform.python_version(),
                 "codemirror_mode": {"name": "ipython", "version": 3},
                 "file_extension": ".py",
                 "mimetype": "text/x-python",
@@ -1287,7 +1291,7 @@ def generate_notebook_from_trace(
         },
         "language_info": {
             "name": "python",
-            "version": "3.11",
+            "version": platform.python_version(),
         },
         "data_concierge": {
             "version": "0.1.0",

src/data_concierge/core/config.py

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 """Application configuration using Pydantic Settings."""
 
+import os
 from functools import lru_cache
 from typing import Literal
 
@@ -11,7 +12,12 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     """Application settings loaded from environment variables."""
 
     model_config = SettingsConfigDict(
-        env_file=".env",
+        # `.env` feeds every field here, so it reaches a test run too: the suite
+        # is otherwise only as hermetic as whatever happens to be in the working
+        # copy's .env, and a developer following the README's own advice to
+        # disable notebook verification turned the suite red. tests/conftest.py
+        # sets this to "" so a run never depends on it. Empty means no file.
+        env_file=os.environ.get("DATA_CONCIERGE_ENV_FILE", ".env") or None,
         env_file_encoding="utf-8",
         case_sensitive=False,
         extra="ignore",

tests/conftest.py

@@ -14,8 +14,17 @@
 original.
 """
 
+import os
+
 import pytest
 
+# Set before anything imports `data_concierge.core.config`, which builds its
+# `settings` singleton at import time. `.env` feeds every field, so without this
+# the suite inherits whatever a developer happens to have configured locally —
+# which is how a documented `NOTEBOOK_VERIFICATION_ENABLED=false` turned the
+# suite red. Empty means "no env file"; export it to a path to opt back in.
+os.environ.setdefault("DATA_CONCIERGE_ENV_FILE", "")
+
 
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True, scope="session")
 def _isolate_storage_from_the_repo(tmp_path_factory):

tests/unit/test_mcp_guards.py

@@ -68,9 +68,15 @@ def test_metadata_refused_even_with_private_allowed(self) -> None:
             validate_server_url("http://169.254.169.254/", allow_private=True)
 
     def test_ships_locked_down(self) -> None:
-        from data_concierge.core.config import settings
+        """Asserts the declared default, not the live singleton.
 
-        assert settings.mcp_allow_private_urls is False
+        `MCP_ALLOW_PRIVATE_URLS` exists precisely so local development can point
+        at localhost MCP servers, so the one developer most likely to run this
+        suite is the one most likely to have it set.
+        """
+        from data_concierge.core.config import Settings
+
+        assert Settings.model_fields["mcp_allow_private_urls"].default is False
 
 
 class TestSseEndpointPinning:
@@ -133,13 +139,21 @@ def test_model_validator_rejects_metadata_url(self) -> None:
                 url="http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/",
             )
 
-    def test_model_validator_rejects_on_update_construction(self) -> None:
+    def test_model_validator_rejects_on_update_construction(
+        self, monkeypatch: "pytest.MonkeyPatch"
+    ) -> None:
         """The update path rebuilds the model, so it is covered too."""
         import pytest
         from pydantic import ValidationError
 
+        from data_concierge.core import config
         from data_concierge.mcp.models import MCPServerConfig, MCPTransportType
 
+        # The validator consults the live setting, and MCP_ALLOW_PRIVATE_URLS
+        # exists for local development — pin the default posture so an exported
+        # variable cannot quietly turn this guard test into a failure.
+        monkeypatch.setattr(config.settings, "mcp_allow_private_urls", False)
+
         good = MCPServerConfig(
             id="x", name="x", transport=MCPTransportType.STREAMABLE_HTTP,
             url="https://example.com/mcp",

tests/unit/test_notebook_verifier.py

@@ -206,10 +206,16 @@ def _score():
         )
 
     def test_ships_enabled(self) -> None:
-        """Verification is ON (#131) — the egress guard makes it safe."""
-        from data_concierge.core.config import settings
+        """Verification is ON (#131) — the egress guard makes it safe.
 
-        assert settings.notebook_verification_enabled is True
+        Reads the declared default rather than the live `settings` singleton.
+        conftest already keeps `.env` out of a test run, but the singleton also
+        reflects the process environment, so asserting the class default is what
+        makes this independent of the machine it runs on.
+        """
+        from data_concierge.core.config import Settings
+
+        assert Settings.model_fields["notebook_verification_enabled"].default is True
 
     def test_disabled_omits_the_factor_entirely(self, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
         """When off, no perpetual 'still running' for a check that never runs.