fix: resolve the issue store path independently of the working directory

ISSUE_ROOT was the relative `tmp/issues`, so "the store" was whatever
directory the shell happened to be standing in. It is the --out default
in all eight scripts of both layers, which made one `cd` — and a `cd`
outlives the command that ran it — enough for readers to report an empty
store on a full one and for writers to quietly build a second store
beside the first. `issue_index.py` run from inside tmp/issues left
tmp/issues/tmp/issues/ behind and exited 0.

The anchor is issue.py's own __file__, not cwd. A script's location is a
fact about the installation; cwd is a fact about the last `cd`, and the
scripts are invoked by path from wherever the agent happens to be. From
there `store_root()` walks up to the nearest repo marker — `.git`
(exists(), not isdir(): a worktree's .git is a file) or AGENTS.md for a
copy taken out of git — and joins tmp/issues. Markers rather than a
fixed number of `..` hops, because the layout is not a promise. cwd is
tried only if the scripts are not inside a repository at all.

The function lives in the domain layer and skills/sync imports it, so
both layers agree by construction — the direction the layering rule
allows. skills/issue stays stdlib-only.

An explicit --out still wins and is used exactly as typed: a relative
--out stays relative to cwd, because that is what the operator asked
for. No new environment surface.

Two consequences the issue also asked for:

- Missing is no longer reported as empty. `store_error()` returns one
  message for a path that is not there and another for a store with no
  issues in it.
- Nothing conjures a store as a side effect of a write. save() and
  issue_index.build() require it instead of os.makedirs'ing it; only
  issue_new.py and pull.py create one, and both say so on stderr.

Establishes tests/ — plain stdlib unittest, no pytest, no dependencies.
The store tests build a throwaway repo in a TemporaryDirectory (a .git
marker, a copy of both script layers, fixture issues) and run the real
scripts inside it as subprocesses from five different working
directories; tmp/issues/ is never touched. Against the pre-fix scripts
15 of the 21 fail, reproducing the report exactly — five stray stores,
including tmp/issues/tmp/issues.

    python3 -m unittest discover -s tests -v

Closes claude-skills/tea#15

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

skills/sync/SKILL.md

@@ -48,6 +48,12 @@ Key forms for `<key>`: `42`, `#42`, `owner/repo#42`, or a full issue URL. Repo
 defaults to the current directory's git remote; add `--repo owner/repo` outside
 one.
 
+`--out` defaults to `issue.ISSUE_ROOT` on every one of them — the domain layer's
+`<repo root>/tmp/issues`, resolved from the scripts' own location rather than
+cwd. Both layers therefore address the same store by construction, from any
+directory. Pass `--out` to override; a relative one stays relative to cwd. Only
+`pull.py` will create a missing store, and it says so on stderr.
+
 ## Identity mapping
 
 The local id is a slug; Gitea's is a number. The pair is recorded in the issue

skills/sync/scripts/comment.py

@@ -43,10 +43,13 @@ def main():
     ap.add_argument("--edit", type=int, metavar="COMMENT_ID",
                     help="PATCH an existing comment instead of posting a new one")
     ap.add_argument("--repo", help="owner/repo (default: auto-detect from CWD git remote)")
-    ap.add_argument("--out", default=issue.ISSUE_ROOT, help="store root (default: tmp/issues)")
+    ap.add_argument("--out", default=issue.ISSUE_ROOT,
+                    help="store root (default: <repo>/tmp/issues)")
     args = ap.parse_args()
 
     root = args.out
+    if not issue.store_exists(root):
+        _gitea.die("store %s does not exist — nothing was created" % root)
     if not os.path.isfile(issue.path_of(root, args.id)):
         _gitea.die("no issue %r in %s" % (args.id, root))
     iss = issue.load(root, args.id)

skills/sync/scripts/pull.py

@@ -108,7 +108,8 @@ def main():
     ap.add_argument("--cached", action="store_true",
                     help="skip issues already on disk instead of refetching")
     ap.add_argument("--repo", help="owner/repo (default: auto-detect from CWD git remote)")
-    ap.add_argument("--out", default=issue.ISSUE_ROOT, help="store root (default: tmp/issues)")
+    ap.add_argument("--out", default=issue.ISSUE_ROOT,
+                    help="store root (default: <repo>/tmp/issues)")
     args = ap.parse_args()
 
     filtered = bool(args.milestone or args.label or args.query)
@@ -118,6 +119,11 @@ def main():
         _gitea.die("nothing to pull: pass issue keys, or --milestone / --label / -q")
 
     root = args.out
+    # A first pull into a fresh checkout has to create the store; it says so,
+    # and the path is absolute, so it cannot be a stray cwd.
+    if issue.create_store(root):
+        sys.stderr.write("created store %s\n" % os.path.abspath(root))
+
     login = _gitea.require_login()
 
     # ---- which repo ------------------------------------------------------

skills/sync/scripts/push.py

@@ -90,13 +90,15 @@ def main():
     ap.add_argument("--dry-run", action="store_true", help="validate only, no network")
     ap.add_argument("--force", action="store_true", help="push despite format violations")
     ap.add_argument("--repo", help="owner/repo (default: auto-detect from CWD git remote)")
-    ap.add_argument("--out", default=issue.ISSUE_ROOT, help="store root (default: tmp/issues)")
+    ap.add_argument("--out", default=issue.ISSUE_ROOT,
+                    help="store root (default: <repo>/tmp/issues)")
     args = ap.parse_args()
 
     root = args.out
+    problem = issue.store_error(root)
+    if problem:
+        _gitea.die("%s — create an issue with issue_new.py first" % problem)
     issues = issue.load_all(root)
-    if not issues:
-        _gitea.die("store %s is empty — create an issue with issue_new.py first" % root)
 
     chosen = select(issues, args.ids, args.update)
 

skills/sync/scripts/remote.py

@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ def main():
     ap.add_argument("--milestone", help="milestone id or title")
     ap.add_argument("--limit", type=int, default=30)
     ap.add_argument("--repo", help="owner/repo (default: auto-detect from CWD git remote)")
-    ap.add_argument("--out", default=issue.ISSUE_ROOT, help="store root (default: tmp/issues)")
+    ap.add_argument("--out", default=issue.ISSUE_ROOT,
+                    help="store root (default: <repo>/tmp/issues)")
     args = ap.parse_args()
 
     login = _gitea.require_login()