refactor(cli): make charm execution explicit via required runIt parameter (#1967)

* refactor(cli): make charm execution explicit via required runIt parameter

Previously, CharmManager.get() defaulted to running charms (runIt=true),
causing unnecessary charm execution for read/write operations. This change
makes the default false and requires all callers to explicitly pass the
runIt parameter.

Changes:
- Change default runIt from true to false in CharmManager.get() and CharmsController.get()
- Update CLI lib functions to explicitly pass runIt:
  - Pass false for read/write operations (inspect, get, set, apply, getsrc, setsrc)
  - Pass true for operations requiring execution (call, render)
- Update shell AppView to pass runIt: true when displaying active charm

Benefits:
- Eliminates unnecessary charm runs for ct charm ls, inspect, get, set, etc.
- Makes code intent explicit at every call site
- Improves performance by avoiding unnecessary work
- Maintains correct behavior for commands that need execution (call, render, step)

Technical notes:
- Preserved all three overload signatures to avoid TypeScript type explosion
- Only changed the default value in the implementation
- All tests pass without type checker OOM

* add step to integration test
* fix script to not exit early without printing an error message when charm is not found

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: seefeldb

packages/charm/src/manager.ts

@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ export class CharmManager {
   ): Promise<Cell<T>>;
   async get<T = unknown>(
     id: string | Cell<unknown>,
-    runIt: boolean = true,
+    runIt: boolean = false,
     asSchema?: JSONSchema,
   ): Promise<Cell<T>> {
     // Load the charm from storage.

packages/charm/src/ops/charms-controller.ts

@@ -49,15 +49,21 @@ export class CharmsController<T = unknown> {
 
   async get<S extends JSONSchema = JSONSchema>(
     charmId: string,
+    runIt: boolean,
     schema: S,
   ): Promise<CharmController<Schema<S>>>;
   async get<T = unknown>(
     charmId: string,
+    runIt?: boolean,
     schema?: JSONSchema,
   ): Promise<CharmController<T>>;
-  async get(charmId: string, schema?: JSONSchema): Promise<CharmController> {
+  async get(
+    charmId: string,
+    runIt: boolean = false,
+    schema?: JSONSchema,
+  ): Promise<CharmController> {
     this.disposeCheck();
-    const cell = await this.#manager.get(charmId, true, schema);
+    const cell = await this.#manager.get(charmId, runIt, schema);
     if (!cell) {
       throw new Error(`Charm "${charmId}" not found.`);
     }

packages/cli/integration/integration.sh

@@ -158,10 +158,14 @@ echo "Testing --input flag operations..."
 test_json_value "Input flag set" "userData" '{"user":{"name":"test"}}' "--input"
 test_value "Nested input path" "userData/user/name" '"inputValue"' '"inputValue"' "--input"
 
+echo "Testing charm step..."
+
+# Recompute (one iteration) with updated inputs
+ct charm step $SPACE_ARGS --charm $CHARM_ID
+
 # Check space has new charm with correct inputs and title
 TITLE="Simple counter 2: 10"
-ct charm ls $SPACE_ARGS | grep -q "$CHARM_ID $TITLE <unnamed>"
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+if ! ct charm ls $SPACE_ARGS | grep -q "$CHARM_ID $TITLE <unnamed>"; then
   error "Charm did not appear in list of space charms."
 fi
 

packages/cli/lib/charm-render.ts

@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ export async function renderCharm(
   // 2. Get charm controller to access the Cell
   const manager = await loadManager(config);
   const charms = new CharmsController(manager);
-  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm);
+  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm, true);
   const cell = charm.getCell().asSchema({
     type: "object",
     properties: {

packages/cli/lib/charm.ts

@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ export async function setCharmRecipe(
 ): Promise<void> {
   const manager = await loadManager(config);
   const charms = new CharmsController(manager);
-  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm);
+  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm, false);
   if (entry.mainPath.endsWith(".iframe.js")) {
     await charm.setIframeRecipe(entry.mainPath);
   } else {
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ export async function saveCharmRecipe(
   await ensureDir(outPath);
   const manager = await loadManager(config);
   const charms = new CharmsController(manager);
-  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm);
+  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm, false);
   const meta = await charm.getRecipeMeta();
   const iframeRecipe = await charm.getIframeRecipe();
 
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ export async function applyCharmInput(
 ) {
   const manager = await loadManager(config);
   const charms = new CharmsController(manager);
-  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm);
+  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm, false);
   await charm.setInput(input);
 }
 
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ export async function inspectCharm(
 }> {
   const manager = await loadManager(config);
   const charms = new CharmsController(manager);
-  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm);
+  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm, false);
 
   const id = charm.id;
   const name = charm.name();
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ export async function getCellValue(
 ): Promise<unknown> {
   const manager = await loadManager(config);
   const charms = new CharmsController(manager);
-  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm);
+  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm, false);
   if (options?.input) {
     return charm.input.get(path);
   } else {
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ export async function setCellValue(
 ): Promise<void> {
   const manager = await loadManager(config);
   const charms = new CharmsController(manager);
-  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm);
+  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm, false);
   if (options?.input) {
     await charm.input.set(value, path);
   } else {
@@ -480,7 +480,7 @@ export async function callCharmHandler<T = any>(
 ): Promise<void> {
   const manager = await loadManager(config);
   const charms = new CharmsController(manager);
-  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm);
+  const charm = await charms.get(config.charm, true);
 
   // Get the cell and traverse to the handler using .key()
   const cell = charm.getCell().asSchema({

packages/shell/src/views/AppView.ts

@@ -134,7 +134,11 @@ export class XAppView extends BaseView {
       ) {
         return current;
       }
-      const activeCharm = await rt.cc().get(app.activeCharmId, nameSchema);
+      const activeCharm = await rt.cc().get(
+        app.activeCharmId,
+        true,
+        nameSchema,
+      );
       // Record the charm as recently accessed so recents stay fresh.
       await rt.cc().manager().trackRecentCharm(activeCharm.getCell());
       this.#setTitleSubscription(activeCharm);