fix(dso-q523): validate.sh handles missing APP_DIR and unbound variable errors

- Guard `cd "$APP_DIR"` with existence check; falls back to REPO_ROOT when
  the app directory does not exist (e.g. DSO plugin repo has no app/ subdir)
- Fix `$CI` unbound variable: use `${CI:-}` at lines 657/858 for set -u safety
- Fix `CLEANUP_PIDS[@]` unbound variable: use safe empty-array expansion pattern
- Remove `args=-q --tb=line` from tests run_check call (was passed literally
  to pytest as a file path, causing "file or directory not found" failures)
- Update test-validate-config-driven.sh: replace config-workaround test with
  a structural test verifying the code-level guard in validate.sh

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: JoeOakhartNava

.claude-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "dso",
-  "version": "0.5.0",
+  "version": "0.5.1",
   "description": "Workflow infrastructure plugin for Claude Code projects",
   "commands": "./commands/",
   "skills": "./skills/",

.tickets/dso-q523.md

@@ -35,3 +35,7 @@ CHECKPOINT 2/6: RED tests confirmed - 5 new tests fail as expected. Now applying
 **2026-03-18T19:00:52Z**
 
 CHECKPOINT 3/6: GREEN - tests pass. workflow-config.conf updated with paths.app_dir=. and all missing command keys (commands.syntax_check=true, commands.lint_ruff=ruff..., commands.lint_mypy=true, commands.test_plugin=true). validate.sh no longer shows 'cd: app: No such file'. Pre-existing CLEANUP_PIDS unbound variable error and tests:FAIL (args=-q --tb=line appended to CMD_TEST_UNIT) are not caused by our changes.
+
+**2026-03-18T19:24:54Z**
+
+CHECKPOINT 6/6: Done ✓ — Fixed validate.sh: (1) guard cd APP_DIR with existence check, (2) $CI → ${CI:-} at lines 657/858, (3) CLEANUP_PIDS[@] → safe empty-array expansion, (4) removed args=-q --tb=line from tests run_check call (broke custom pytest CMD). Also fixed test-validate-config-driven.sh to verify the code-level guard instead of config workaround. All 1606 script tests pass, validate.sh --ci exits 0.

scripts/validate.sh

@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ timestamp=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"
             fi
         fi
     fi
-    for pid in "${CLEANUP_PIDS[@]}"; do
+    for pid in "${CLEANUP_PIDS[@]+"${CLEANUP_PIDS[@]}"}"; do
         kill -TERM "$pid" 2>/dev/null || true
         kill -KILL "$pid" 2>/dev/null || true
     done
@@ -608,7 +608,13 @@ check_ci() {
 }
 
 # Launch all independent checks in parallel
-cd "$APP_DIR"
+# Guard: if APP_DIR doesn't exist (e.g. DSO plugin repo has no app/ subdir),
+# fall back to running checks from REPO_ROOT.
+if [ -d "$APP_DIR" ]; then
+    cd "$APP_DIR"
+else
+    cd "$REPO_ROOT"
+fi
 # Track launched checks for crash detection (missing .rc file = process crash)
 # REVIEW-DEFENSE: Keep this list in sync with the run_check/check_* calls below.
 # Each name must match the first argument passed to run_check or check_*.
@@ -626,7 +632,7 @@ run_check "ruff" "$TIMEOUT_RUFF" $CMD_LINT_RUFF &
 # shellcheck disable=SC2086
 run_check "mypy" "$TIMEOUT_MYPY" $CMD_LINT_MYPY &
 # shellcheck disable=SC2086
-run_check "tests" "$TIMEOUT_TESTS" $CMD_TEST_UNIT args="-q --tb=line" &
+run_check "tests" "$TIMEOUT_TESTS" $CMD_TEST_UNIT &
 # shellcheck disable=SC2086
 (cd "$REPO_ROOT" && run_check "plugin" "$TIMEOUT_PLUGIN" $CMD_TEST_PLUGIN) &
 check_migrations &
@@ -648,7 +654,7 @@ if [ $CHECK_CI -eq 1 ]; then
         # Only trigger when CI definitively completed with failure and we are not
         # already inside a CI environment (where the E2E block above handles it).
         if [ "$local_ci_rc" != "0" ] && [ "$local_ci_rc" != "skip" ] && \
-           [[ "$local_e2e_result" == completed:* ]] && [ -z "$CI" ]; then
+           [[ "$local_e2e_result" == completed:* ]] && [ -z "${CI:-}" ]; then
             [ "$VERBOSE" = "1" ] && verbose_print "e2e" "running (parallel, CI failed)"
             # shellcheck disable=SC2086
             run_check "e2e" "$TIMEOUT_E2E" $CMD_TEST_E2E
@@ -848,8 +854,8 @@ if [ $CHECK_CI -eq 1 ]; then
     fi
 
     # E2E tests: skip if CI passed for main, always run in CI environment
-    cd "$APP_DIR"
-    if [ -n "$CI" ]; then
+    if [ -d "$APP_DIR" ]; then cd "$APP_DIR"; else cd "$REPO_ROOT"; fi
+    if [ -n "${CI:-}" ]; then
         # In CI environment: always run E2E tests
         E2E_RAN=1
         [ "$VERBOSE" = "1" ] && verbose_print "e2e" "running"

tests/scripts/test-validate-config-driven.sh

@@ -116,14 +116,15 @@ done
 
 assert_pass_if_clean "test_workflow_config_has_all_validate_keys"
 
-# ── test_workflow_config_has_paths_app_dir ────────────────────────────────
-# workflow-config.conf must define paths.app_dir so validate.sh does not
-# default to "app" (which does not exist in the DSO plugin repo).
+# ── test_validate_handles_missing_app_dir ────────────────────────────────
+# validate.sh must not fail with "cd: app: No such file" when APP_DIR
+# does not exist (e.g. DSO plugin repo has no app/ subdirectory).
+# The guard in validate.sh falls back to REPO_ROOT when APP_DIR is absent.
 _snapshot_fail
 
-found=$(grep -c "^paths\.app_dir=" "$REAL_CONFIG" || true)
-assert_ne "workflow-config.conf has paths.app_dir" "0" "$found"
+found=$(grep -c '"\$APP_DIR" \]; then' "$VALIDATE_SH" || true)
+assert_ne "validate_sh_guards_cd_to_app_dir" "0" "$found"
 
-assert_pass_if_clean "test_workflow_config_has_paths_app_dir"
+assert_pass_if_clean "test_validate_handles_missing_app_dir"
 
 print_summary