ci: add lock file sync validation to prevent confusing npm install failures

Add pre-installation validation step in E2E, Lighthouse, and Jest workflows to detect when package-lock.json is out of sync with package.json. This provides clear, actionable error messages instead of cryptic npm ETARGET errors.

Affected workflows:
- pr-cypress-e2e.yml (E2E Tests)
- lighthouse-ci.yml (Lighthouse Performance Audit)
- pr-jest-tests.yml (Jest Unit Tests)

When lock files are mismatched, workflows now fail with:
- Clear error message explaining the problem
- Step-by-step instructions to fix it locally
- Guidance to run npm install and commit the lock file

This improves developer experience by eliminating confusion about npm registry vs lock file sync issues.

Author: Sekar-C-Mca

.github/workflows/lighthouse-ci.yml

@@ -28,6 +28,25 @@ jobs:
           node-version: '20'
           cache: 'npm'
 
+      - name: Validate lock file sync
+        run: |
+          echo "Validating package-lock.json is in sync with package.json..."
+          if ! npm ci --dry-run > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo ""
+            echo "ERROR: package-lock.json is out of sync with package.json"
+            echo ""
+            echo "This usually means package.json was modified but package-lock.json was not updated."
+            echo ""
+            echo "To fix this, run the following commands locally and commit the changes:"
+            echo "  1. npm install"
+            echo "  2. git add package-lock.json"
+            echo "  3. git commit -m 'chore: update lock file'"
+            echo "  4. git push"
+            echo ""
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "Lock file is in sync. Proceeding with Lighthouse audit..."
+
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: npm ci
 

.github/workflows/pr-cypress-e2e.yml

@@ -24,6 +24,25 @@ jobs:
           node-version: '20'
           cache: 'npm'
 
+      - name: Validate lock file sync
+        run: |
+          echo "Validating package-lock.json is in sync with package.json..."
+          if ! npm ci --dry-run > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo ""
+            echo "ERROR: package-lock.json is out of sync with package.json"
+            echo ""
+            echo "This usually means package.json was modified but package-lock.json was not updated."
+            echo ""
+            echo "To fix this, run the following commands locally and commit the changes:"
+            echo "  1. npm install"
+            echo "  2. git add package-lock.json"
+            echo "  3. git commit -m 'chore: update lock file'"
+            echo "  4. git push"
+            echo ""
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "Lock file is in sync. Proceeding with E2E tests..."
+
       - name: Run Cypress E2E Tests
         uses: cypress-io/github-action@v6
         with:

.github/workflows/pr-jest-tests.yml

@@ -26,6 +26,25 @@ jobs:
         with:
           node-version: '20'
 
+      - name: Validate lock file sync
+        run: |
+          echo "Validating package-lock.json is in sync with package.json..."
+          if ! npm ci --dry-run > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo ""
+            echo "ERROR: package-lock.json is out of sync with package.json"
+            echo ""
+            echo "This usually means package.json was modified but package-lock.json was not updated."
+            echo ""
+            echo "To fix this, run the following commands locally and commit the changes:"
+            echo "  1. npm install"
+            echo "  2. git add package-lock.json"
+            echo "  3. git commit -m 'chore: update lock file'"
+            echo "  4. git push"
+            echo ""
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "Lock file is in sync. Proceeding with Jest tests..."
+
       - name: Install Dependencies
         run: npm install