From de5e2ee435d325d4833b9f006641837c47690b7d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: abrichr <richard.abrich@mldsai.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2026 02:07:43 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] fix: refuse capture before recorder readiness

---
 openadapt_capture/cli.py |  4 +++-
 tests/test_cli_record.py | 48 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 51 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 tests/test_cli_record.py

diff --git a/openadapt_capture/cli.py b/openadapt_capture/cli.py
index 380b82d..70c7aa3 100644
--- a/openadapt_capture/cli.py
+++ b/openadapt_capture/cli.py
@@ -101,7 +101,9 @@ def record(
         send_profile=send_profile,
         window=window,
     ) as recorder:
-        recorder.wait_for_ready()
+        if not recorder.wait_for_ready():
+            print("Recording did not become ready. No successful capture was saved.")
+            raise SystemExit(1)
         try:
             while recorder.is_recording:
                 time.sleep(1)
diff --git a/tests/test_cli_record.py b/tests/test_cli_record.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3dee62e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_cli_record.py
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+"""Behavior tests for the public capture CLI recording path."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import pytest
+
+from openadapt_capture.cli import record
+
+
+class _RecorderThatNeverBecomesReady:
+    """Small recorder double for startup-failure behavior."""
+
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        self.event_count = 0
+        self.exited = False
+
+    def __enter__(self):
+        return self
+
+    def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc, traceback):
+        self.exited = True
+        return False
+
+    def wait_for_ready(self):
+        return False
+
+
+def test_record_refuses_when_recorder_never_becomes_ready(monkeypatch, tmp_path, capsys):
+    import openadapt_capture.recorder as recorder_module
+
+    recorder = None
+
+    def recorder_factory(*args, **kwargs):
+        nonlocal recorder
+        recorder = _RecorderThatNeverBecomesReady(*args, **kwargs)
+        return recorder
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(recorder_module, "Recorder", recorder_factory)
+
+    with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as raised:
+        record(str(tmp_path / "capture"), video=False)
+
+    assert raised.value.code == 1
+    assert recorder is not None and recorder.exited
+    output = capsys.readouterr().out
+    assert "did not become ready" in output
+    assert "Recorded 0 events" not in output
+    assert "Saved to:" not in output