chore: try to make it easier to debug the flakiness of test_shell_command_approval_triggers_elicitation (#2848)

`test_shell_command_approval_triggers_elicitation()` is one of a number
of integration tests that we have observed to be flaky on GitHub CI, so
this PR tries to reduce the flakiness _and_ to provide us with more
information when it flakes. Specifically:

- Changed the command that we use to trigger the elicitation from `git
init` to `python3 -c 'import pathlib; pathlib.Path(r"{}").touch()'`
because running `git` seems more likely to invite variance.
- Increased the timeout to wait for the task response from 10s to 20s.
- Added more logging.

codex-rs/mcp-server/tests/common/mcp_process.rs

@@ -283,6 +283,7 @@ impl McpProcess {
     }
 
     async fn send_jsonrpc_message(&mut self, message: JSONRPCMessage) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+        eprintln!("writing message to stdin: {message:?}");
         let payload = serde_json::to_string(&message)?;
         self.stdin.write_all(payload.as_bytes()).await?;
         self.stdin.write_all(b"\n").await?;
@@ -294,13 +295,15 @@ impl McpProcess {
         let mut line = String::new();
         self.stdout.read_line(&mut line).await?;
         let message = serde_json::from_str::<JSONRPCMessage>(&line)?;
+        eprintln!("read message from stdout: {message:?}");
         Ok(message)
     }
 
     pub async fn read_stream_until_request_message(&mut self) -> anyhow::Result<JSONRPCRequest> {
+        eprintln!("in read_stream_until_request_message()");
+
         loop {
             let message = self.read_jsonrpc_message().await?;
-            eprint!("message: {message:?}");
 
             match message {
                 JSONRPCMessage::Notification(_) => {
@@ -323,10 +326,10 @@ impl McpProcess {
         &mut self,
         request_id: RequestId,
     ) -> anyhow::Result<JSONRPCResponse> {
+        eprintln!("in read_stream_until_response_message({request_id:?})");
+
         loop {
             let message = self.read_jsonrpc_message().await?;
-            eprint!("message: {message:?}");
-
             match message {
                 JSONRPCMessage::Notification(_) => {
                     eprintln!("notification: {message:?}");
@@ -352,8 +355,6 @@ impl McpProcess {
     ) -> anyhow::Result<mcp_types::JSONRPCError> {
         loop {
             let message = self.read_jsonrpc_message().await?;
-            eprint!("message: {message:?}");
-
             match message {
                 JSONRPCMessage::Notification(_) => {
                     eprintln!("notification: {message:?}");
@@ -377,10 +378,10 @@ impl McpProcess {
         &mut self,
         method: &str,
     ) -> anyhow::Result<JSONRPCNotification> {
+        eprintln!("in read_stream_until_notification_message({method})");
+
         loop {
             let message = self.read_jsonrpc_message().await?;
-            eprint!("message: {message:?}");
-
             match message {
                 JSONRPCMessage::Notification(notification) => {
                     if notification.method == method {
@@ -405,10 +406,10 @@ impl McpProcess {
     pub async fn read_stream_until_legacy_task_complete_notification(
         &mut self,
     ) -> anyhow::Result<JSONRPCNotification> {
+        eprintln!("in read_stream_until_legacy_task_complete_notification()");
+
         loop {
             let message = self.read_jsonrpc_message().await?;
-            eprint!("message: {message:?}");
-
             match message {
                 JSONRPCMessage::Notification(notification) => {
                     let is_match = if notification.method == "codex/event" {
@@ -427,6 +428,8 @@ impl McpProcess {
 
                     if is_match {
                         return Ok(notification);
+                    } else {
+                        eprintln!("ignoring notification: {notification:?}");
                     }
                 }
                 JSONRPCMessage::Request(_) => {

codex-rs/mcp-server/tests/suite/codex_tool.rs

@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ use mcp_test_support::create_final_assistant_message_sse_response;
 use mcp_test_support::create_mock_chat_completions_server;
 use mcp_test_support::create_shell_sse_response;
 
-const DEFAULT_READ_TIMEOUT: std::time::Duration = std::time::Duration::from_secs(10);
+// Allow ample time on slower CI or under load to avoid flakes.
+const DEFAULT_READ_TIMEOUT: std::time::Duration = std::time::Duration::from_secs(20);
 
 /// Test that a shell command that is not on the "trusted" list triggers an
 /// elicitation request to the MCP and that sending the approval runs the
@@ -52,9 +53,22 @@ async fn test_shell_command_approval_triggers_elicitation() {
 }
 
 async fn shell_command_approval_triggers_elicitation() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-    // We use `git init` because it will not be on the "trusted" list.
-    let shell_command = vec!["git".to_string(), "init".to_string()];
+    // Use a simple, untrusted command that creates a file so we can
+    // observe a side-effect.
+    //
+    // Cross‑platform approach: run a tiny Python snippet to touch the file
+    // using `python3 -c ...` on all platforms.
     let workdir_for_shell_function_call = TempDir::new()?;
+    let created_filename = "created_by_shell_tool.txt";
+    let created_file = workdir_for_shell_function_call
+        .path()
+        .join(created_filename);
+
+    let shell_command = vec![
+        "python3".to_string(),
+        "-c".to_string(),
+        format!("import pathlib; pathlib.Path('{created_filename}').touch()"),
+    ];
 
     let McpHandle {
         process: mut mcp_process,
@@ -67,7 +81,7 @@ async fn shell_command_approval_triggers_elicitation() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
             Some(5_000),
             "call1234",
         )?,
-        create_final_assistant_message_sse_response("Enjoy your new git repo!")?,
+        create_final_assistant_message_sse_response("File created!")?,
     ])
     .await?;
 
@@ -122,8 +136,7 @@ async fn shell_command_approval_triggers_elicitation() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     .expect("task_complete_notification timeout")
     .expect("task_complete_notification resp");
 
-    // Verify the original `codex` tool call completes and that `git init` ran
-    // successfully.
+    // Verify the original `codex` tool call completes and that the file was created.
     let codex_response = timeout(
         DEFAULT_READ_TIMEOUT,
         mcp_process.read_stream_until_response_message(RequestId::Integer(codex_request_id)),
@@ -136,7 +149,7 @@ async fn shell_command_approval_triggers_elicitation() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
             result: json!({
                 "content": [
                     {
-                        "text": "Enjoy your new git repo!",
+                        "text": "File created!",
                         "type": "text"
                     }
                 ]
@@ -145,10 +158,7 @@ async fn shell_command_approval_triggers_elicitation() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         codex_response
     );
 
-    assert!(
-        workdir_for_shell_function_call.path().join(".git").is_dir(),
-        ".git folder should have been created"
-    );
+    assert!(created_file.is_file(), "created file should exist");
 
     Ok(())
 }