checkwash

Check whether a code change weakens your tests.

A test can pass after it stops checking something useful. checkwash reads your Git diff and flags known patterns such as deleted assertions, skipped tests, relaxed expectations, and CI checks that stop failing.

- assert total == 105.3
+ assert total > 0

The new assertion accepts many incorrect totals. checkwash can flag changes like this for review, including changes written by coding agents.

Runs locally. No LLM. No network during analysis. Never executes your code.

v0.3.0 replaces five file-wide exemption rules with content-bound ones. In v0.2.13 those rules could reuse a recorded approval for a later change to the same path; v0.3.0 retires their path-only keys. The upgrade notes describe the content-bound replacement, retired keys, and installation fixes.

v0.4.0 extends detection of runtime suppression, collection changes, expectation rewrites and substituted subjects, and recognizes more table refactors. The proofs retain input identity, execution context and conservative handling of unknown code. Release evidence and remaining limits

v0.4.1 repairs Node assertion recognition (#164) and covers Node test-file names, bounded import aliases and lexical shadows. Coverage warnings expose known assertion candidates the scanner cannot represent; they do not prove complete JS/TS coverage. The same assertion contract checks the source, wheel and zipapp. v0.4.1 evidence and limits

v0.4.2 strengthens JS/TS assertion evidence. Test callbacks own their assertions; changing a scalar expected value or loosening positive toBeCloseTo precision reaches the existing detectors. Equivalent scalar spellings remain equivalent across subject checks. This is bounded syntax support, not general JS/TS analysis. v0.4.2 evidence and limits

v0.5.0 closes a round of red-team reports (#172–#181). A skip in a fixture or setup the test runs, a selector over edited tests, a package manifest's test command, Jest's __tests__/ layout, JS block-level and imperative skips, JS module mocks, hand-rolled JS tolerances, chai assertions and CI control flow that stops a runner now reach the detectors; #173, #180 and #181 are closed in part. Some existing findings now carry a different fingerprint, so allowlist entries for those shapes must be re-recorded; the JSON shape is unchanged. v0.5.0 evidence and limits

v0.6.0 works through the reports and rulings that followed (#196–#261). JS/TS assertions keep their meaning across Jest, chai, Vitest and node:test, and the runner a file's imports name decides whether a moved test still runs and what a focus stops. Hand-rolled tolerances in both frontends, pytest selectors under explicit targets, skip guards in a body, a setup or a conftest hook, every pytestmark spelling and a CI config the reader cannot read now reach the detectors. Some existing findings now carry a different fingerprint, so allowlist entries for those shapes must be re-recorded; the JSON shape is unchanged. v0.6.0 evidence and limits

Try it

You need Python 3.11+ and Git. Download and try the offline examples first.

Windows PowerShell (including 5.1):

curl.exe -LO https://github.com/taipei49314/checkwash/releases/download/v0.6.0/checkwash.pyz
python checkwash.pyz --version
python checkwash.pyz demo

PowerShell 5.1 aliases curl to Invoke-WebRequest; use curl.exe as written. macOS/Linux or Git Bash:

curl -LO https://github.com/taipei49314/checkwash/releases/download/v0.6.0/checkwash.pyz
python checkwash.pyz --version
python checkwash.pyz demo

Then, from a repository with at least two commits:

python checkwash.pyz check HEAD~1..HEAD

This checks your last commit. Start with a change you already understand. You can also download the file in your browser. For uncommitted changes use python checkwash.pyz check. For a branch review, use python checkwash.pyz check BASE...HEAD to compare from the merge base; BASE..HEAD compares the two named snapshots directly.

The default threshold is high: a visible warn can still pass. REPAIR_EVIDENCE describes related changes in the same diff; it does not prove a repair is correct.

For JSON/SARIF output and more examples, see the usage guide.

Know the limits

v0.6.0 is alpha. A pass does not prove that a change is correct or honest. Python is the main language supported; JS/TS support covers a limited set of test patterns. Known gaps remain.

Legitimate refactors can be flagged. The frozen historical corpus records 22 blocks out of 60 (36.7%). A separate pre-release source replay records 4/60 blocks, including 2/57 strictly qualified cases; three existing fixture errors remain. These are selected examples, not a general false-positive rate. Try it on your own changes before making it required. Coverage and limitations · Known gaps

Use it in CI

To stop a merge, make the checkwash status check required in your repository's branch rules. Installing the tool or adding a workflow alone does not enforce its verdict.

The recommended Action is pinned to v0.5.0; the CLI above is v0.6.0. The prior-release Action includes the fixes for the #172–#181 reports, but lacks this release's work on the reports and rulings that followed them. Record which version you use. Full setup and exemptions

# .github/workflows/checkwash.yml
on: [pull_request]

permissions:
  contents: read

jobs:
  checkwash:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
          persist-credentials: false
      - uses: actions/setup-python@5fda3b95a4ea91299a34e894583c3862153e4b97 # v7.0.0
        with:
          python-version: "3.12"
      - uses: taipei49314/checkwash/action@24b60a2019a5900291ecb35ab8290f34af2d5438 # v0.5.0

gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/rulesets --method POST --input action/required-ruleset.json

More options and evidence

pipx install checkwash==0.6.0
# or from the release tag:
pipx install git+https://github.com/taipei49314/checkwash@v0.6.0

checkwash check HEAD~1..HEAD
checkwash demo                  # 8 real tampering cases, blocked, offline

Related projects: checkwash-corpus and smallestlie hold evaluation work.

The package also includes a limited quality preview for coverage, Ruff and mypy configuration review. Setup and CI adoption guide. Its frozen legacy-byte comparison remains red; publication does not establish natural-case acceptance or effective enforcement.

Alpha pre-release. 22 detectors, 14097 tests in the current source tree. Zero runtime dependencies. Apache-2.0.