checkin 2026-10-17 (volt): Q63 follow-up -- queue_index.py --index/--json no longer crash outside a git work tree (outside_ids returns None; run() fallback to {},0, git stderr silenced), two cells added; selftest 46/46, sweep 10 OK/0 fatal, --check rc 0 unchanged at 9 nested ids

checkins/2026-10-17-volt.md

@@ -455,3 +455,14 @@ while the grid printed 44 — a `COUNT_MISMATCH` fatal in the sweep
 (`queue_index.py  COUNT_MISMATCH  38 cells  44 cells`). Both strings now read 44. Re-run:
 `sweep: 11 tools, 10 OK, 0 fatal` (the one non-OK is `doc_census_check.py` NO_CLAIM,
 advisory and unchanged).
+
+
+**Addendum 2 — the verifier found a crash, so the commit grew one fix.** Writing
+`verify_q63.sh` against extracted blobs (`git show <rev>:WORK-QUEUE.md` into a directory with
+no `.git`) crashed the tool: `outside_ids()` returns `None` outside a work tree and `run()`
+did `outside, corpus = outside_ids(...)` → `TypeError: cannot unpack non-iterable NoneType`.
+`--index`/`--json` are supposed to work on an extracted copy, so the unpack now falls back to
+`({}, 0)` and `git ls-files` writes its stderr to `DEVNULL` instead of the tool's output. Two
+new cells hold it: `--index outside a git work tree exits 0` and `… still summarizes` →
+**selftest 46 cells, 46 passed, 0 failed**, sweep `11 tools, 10 OK, 0 fatal`, `--check` still
+rc 0 at 9 nested ids. This is a second commit on top of `e79cbca`, not a rewrite of it.

tools/queue_index.py

@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ USAGE
   python3 tools/queue_index.py --json out.json
   python3 tools/queue_index.py --write docs/queue-index.md
   python3 tools/queue_index.py --check docs/queue-index.md
-  python3 tools/queue_index.py --selftest               # fixture corpus, 44 cells
+  python3 tools/queue_index.py --selftest               # fixture corpus, 46 cells
 
   Re-run `--write` after any append to the queue. The document carries the
   queue's sha256, so a stale copy is a RED check, never a silent lie.
@@ -314,7 +314,8 @@ def outside_ids(repo, queue_path, exclude=(), exclude_tools=True):
     that (the document added itself to Q63's file list).
     """
     try:
-        out = subprocess.check_output(["git", "-C", repo, "ls-files"], text=True)
+        out = subprocess.check_output(["git", "-C", repo, "ls-files"], text=True,
+                                      stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL)
     except (subprocess.CalledProcessError, FileNotFoundError):
         return None
     skip = {os.path.realpath(p) for p in exclude if p}
@@ -511,7 +512,12 @@ def run(args):
         print("index current: %s" % summary(payload))
         return 0
 
-    outside, corpus = outside_ids(repo, args.queue, exclude=(args.write, args.check))
+    # `outside` is None outside a git work tree (no corpus to speak of); --index
+    # and --json still work there, which is what makes the tool usable on an
+    # extracted copy of the queue -- a bare `unpack NoneType` was a crash until
+    # this line, found by verifying the tool against `git show <rev>:...` blobs.
+    res = outside_ids(repo, args.queue, exclude=(args.write, args.check))
+    outside, corpus = res if res else ({}, 0)
     if args.outside:
         print("outside the queue: %d id(s) named by the %d tracked *.md files read "
               "(`tools/` excluded), which `WORK-QUEUE.md` never mentions" % (len(outside or {}), corpus or 0))
@@ -698,6 +704,22 @@ def selftest():
     check("--outside names Q63 and the file that carries it",
           "  Q63   notes.md" in out, True)
 
+    # --- a tree that is not a git repo must still index -----------------------
+    # The `outside` leg needs git; --index does not. A verifier that extracts
+    # `git show <rev>:WORK-QUEUE.md` into a temp dir has no .git, and this used to
+    # crash on `outside, corpus = outside_ids(...)` returning None.
+    plain = os.path.join(root, "plain")
+    os.makedirs(plain)
+    with open(os.path.join(plain, "WORK-QUEUE.md"), "w", encoding="utf-8") as fh:
+        fh.write(FIXTURE)
+    buf = io.StringIO()
+    with contextlib.redirect_stdout(buf):
+        rc = run(argparse.Namespace(repo=plain, queue="WORK-QUEUE.md", index=True,
+                                    json=None, write=None, check=None, outside=False))
+    check("--index outside a git work tree exits 0", rc, 0)
+    check("--index outside a git work tree still summarizes",
+          "index: 4 sections" in buf.getvalue(), True)
+
     # falsify 1: an append moves the last section's extent
     with open(queue, "a", encoding="utf-8") as fh:
         fh.write("- an appended line.\n")
@@ -743,7 +765,7 @@ def main(argv=None):
     ap.add_argument("--check", metavar="PATH", help="re-derive and compare a rendered index")
     ap.add_argument("--outside", action="store_true",
                     help="report ids the prose corpus names that the queue never mentions")
-    ap.add_argument("--selftest", action="store_true", help="fixture corpus, 44 cells")
+    ap.add_argument("--selftest", action="store_true", help="fixture corpus, 46 cells")
     args = ap.parse_args(argv)
     if args.selftest:
         return selftest()