feat(engine): fixture-path dead links are SKIP, not WARN

A file living under test/, tests/, fixtures/, or a *golden* path is
presumed to break its own links on purpose. nav-golden-escape/bundle/
index.md's deliberate `../../../../etc/passwd` escape pops the whole
base path instead of resolving to null, so it read as a genuine WARN
against three repos in the org — the check was at fault, not them.

The finding still fires, as LINK-INTERNAL-FIXTURE at SKIP with file
and line, so it is never silently dropped. Measured before shipping:
16 LINK-INTERNAL-* findings before, 16 after, across all 20 local
clones — every one converted 1:1, none disappeared.

135 tests (was 129).

CLAUDE.md

@@ -80,6 +80,16 @@ would recreate, in data, exactly the drift this plugin exists to remove.
   root it is a `WARN`: that is where session plans, agent working files and
   path-traversal fixtures with deliberately invalid targets live. Measured, 30
   of 43 findings were down there and all were `ERROR`s.
+- **A fixture-path dead link is `SKIP`, not `WARN` — and never silently
+  dropped.** `test/`, `tests/`, `fixtures/` (exact segment) and `*golden*`
+  (substring) mark a path as presumed intentional; the finding still fires as
+  `LINK-INTERNAL-FIXTURE` with its file and line, it just isn't judged.
+  Grounded in `nav-golden-escape/bundle/index.md`'s deliberate
+  `../../../../etc/passwd` escape: the deep `..` pops the whole base path
+  rather than resolving to `null`, so it read as a genuine `WARN` — third tool
+  in the org to hit this exact pattern, which is the signal the check was at
+  fault. Measured before shipping: 16 findings before, 16 after, across all 20
+  local clones — every one converted 1:1, none disappeared.
 - **A repo's name is its remote, not its directory.** `catalog/` holds
   `ktg-plugin-marketplace`. The basename left it unregistered with zero checks
   run, against the one repo every catalog rule depends on.
@@ -89,7 +99,7 @@ would recreate, in data, exactly the drift this plugin exists to remove.
 ## Commands
 
 ```bash
-npm test                                                  # 129 tests
+npm test                                                  # 135 tests
 node scripts/repo-standard-check.mjs --dir "$PWD"         # gate one repo
 node scripts/repo-standard-check.mjs --offline            # no network call
 node scripts/repo-standard-check.mjs --json               # machine output

README.md

@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ without that, a raw scan turns three dead names into about twenty.
 npm test
 ```
 
-129 tests over the pure classifiers. The reference fixtures are measured false
+135 tests over the pure classifiers. The reference fixtures are measured false
 positives, each with its expected verdict — the six that produced the
 three-outcome reference rule, plus the noise sources found by running the gate
 against a real repository: regexes inside code spans that are markdown links to

scripts/repo-standard-check.mjs

@@ -768,6 +768,20 @@ function linkLevelFor(path) {
   return String(path).includes('/') ? 'WARN' : 'ERROR';
 }
 
+// A file living in a test/fixture path is presumed to break its own links on
+// purpose — `nav-golden-escape/bundle/index.md` escapes with `../../../../etc/passwd`
+// deliberately, and the deep `..` pops the whole base path rather than resolving
+// to `null`, so it read as a genuine WARN. Third tool in the org to hit this
+// exact pattern, which is the signal that the check was at fault, not the repos.
+// Only `*golden*` is a substring glob; the other three are exact segment names,
+// so `testing/` or `fixturesque/` — real directories — are not swept in.
+function isFixturePath(path) {
+  return String(path)
+    .toLowerCase()
+    .split('/')
+    .some((seg) => seg === 'test' || seg === 'tests' || seg === 'fixtures' || seg.includes('golden'));
+}
+
 // Relative file links only. Anchor resolution depends on per-renderer heading
 // slug rules and is a rabbit hole; external URLs need the network. Both are
 // deliberately out — a check that is sometimes wrong teaches people to ignore it.
@@ -804,12 +818,20 @@ export function checkInternalLinks({ files, present }) {
           continue;
         }
         if (!have.has(resolved) && !haveDirs.has(resolved)) {
-          findings.push({
+          if (isFixturePath(path)) {
-            level: linkLevelFor(path),
+            findings.push({
-            code: 'LINK-INTERNAL-MISSING',
+              level: 'SKIP',
-            bucket: 'broken',
+              code: 'LINK-INTERNAL-FIXTURE',
-            msg: `${path}:${i + 1} — link points at \`${clean}\` (${resolved}), which is not a tracked file`,
+              msg: `${path}:${i + 1} — link points at \`${clean}\` (${resolved}), which is not a tracked file; ${path} is a test/fixture path, so this is presumed intentional and not judged`,
-          });
+            });
+          } else {
+            findings.push({
+              level: linkLevelFor(path),
+              code: 'LINK-INTERNAL-MISSING',
+              bucket: 'broken',
+              msg: `${path}:${i + 1} — link points at \`${clean}\` (${resolved}), which is not a tracked file`,
+            });
+          }
         }
       }
     });

scripts/repo-standard-check.test.mjs

@@ -1093,6 +1093,71 @@ test('WARN-only links must not also report that every link resolves', () => {
   assert.equal(f.some((x) => x.code === 'LINKS-INTERNAL'), false);
 });
 
+// ------------------------------------ fixture paths are presumed intentional
+// `shared/examples/nav-golden-escape/bundle/index.md` in portfolio-optimiser
+// deliberately escapes with `../../../../etc/passwd` — the deep `..` pops the
+// whole base path and lands on `etc/passwd`, a path that is not `null` (still
+// inside the repo by the resolver's arithmetic) and not tracked, so it read as
+// a genuine WARN. It is the fixture doing its job, not a broken link. Third
+// tool in the org to hit this same pattern — the check was the thing at fault.
+
+test('a dead link inside a *golden* fixture path is SKIP with its own code, not WARN', () => {
+  const f = checkInternalLinks({
+    files: { 'shared/examples/nav-golden-escape/bundle/index.md': '[x](../../../../etc/passwd)' },
+    present: ['shared/examples/nav-golden-escape/bundle/index.md'],
+  });
+  assert.equal(f.some((x) => x.code === 'LINK-INTERNAL-MISSING'), false);
+  const hit = f.find((x) => x.code === 'LINK-INTERNAL-FIXTURE');
+  assert.equal(hit.level, 'SKIP');
+  assert.equal(hit.bucket, undefined);
+});
+
+test('a dead link inside a tests/ or fixtures/ directory is SKIP, not judged', () => {
+  const f = checkInternalLinks({
+    files: { 'tests/fixtures/plan.md': '[x](gone.md)' },
+    present: ['tests/fixtures/plan.md'],
+  });
+  assert.equal(f.some((x) => x.code === 'LINK-INTERNAL-MISSING'), false);
+  assert.equal(f.some((x) => x.code === 'LINK-INTERNAL-FIXTURE' && x.level === 'SKIP'), true);
+});
+
+test('a fixture-path dead link is never silently dropped — SKIP still names file and line', () => {
+  const f = checkInternalLinks({
+    files: { 'tests/plan.md': '[x](gone.md)' },
+    present: ['tests/plan.md'],
+  });
+  const hit = f.find((x) => x.code === 'LINK-INTERNAL-FIXTURE');
+  assert.match(hit.msg, /tests\/plan\.md:1/);
+});
+
+test('SKIP-classified fixture links do not suppress the every-link-resolves OK line', () => {
+  // LINK-OUTSIDE-REPO already sits outside the LINK-INTERNAL-MISSING check that
+  // gates the OK line; LINK-INTERNAL-FIXTURE follows the same precedent.
+  const f = checkInternalLinks({
+    files: { 'tests/plan.md': '[x](gone.md)' },
+    present: ['tests/plan.md'],
+  });
+  assert.equal(f.some((x) => x.code === 'LINKS-INTERNAL'), true);
+});
+
+test('a directory only substring-matching "test" or "fixtures" is not treated as a fixture path', () => {
+  // Exact segment match only for the literal names — "testing/" or
+  // "fixturesque/" are real directories, not the fixture convention. Only
+  // *golden* is a deliberate substring glob.
+  const f = checkInternalLinks({
+    files: { 'testing/plan.md': '[x](gone.md)' },
+    present: ['testing/plan.md'],
+  });
+  assert.equal(f.some((x) => x.code === 'LINK-INTERNAL-FIXTURE'), false);
+  assert.equal(f.some((x) => x.code === 'LINK-INTERNAL-MISSING' && x.level === 'WARN'), true);
+});
+
+test('a root-level dead link is unaffected by the fixture heuristic', () => {
+  const f = checkInternalLinks({ files: { 'README.md': '[e](docs/gone.md)' }, present: ['README.md'] });
+  assert.equal(f.some((x) => x.code === 'LINK-INTERNAL-FIXTURE'), false);
+  assert.equal(f.find((x) => x.code === 'LINK-INTERNAL-MISSING').level, 'ERROR');
+});
+
 // ------------------------------------------------ the repo name is the remote
 // `catalog/` is the working directory of the repo named `ktg-plugin-marketplace`.
 // Deriving the name from the directory basename left it REPO-UNREGISTERED and