test(gate): the coverage guard counts the perf lane's config as a gate

tests/configs/vitest.perf.config.ts (npm run test:perf) is a real gate,
not a manual-only slot, so inGate() now recognizes its include list
(tests/performance/** plus the four named files) directly. The 7 files
already correctly listed as perf move out of MANUAL_ONLY, which is now
reserved for files no automated lane covers.

That alone left the guard red: tests/vfs/vfs-search-path-scope.test.ts
was a genuine new orphan (added this cycle, named without the
.unit.test.ts suffix its siblings use) — it ran under the broad root
gate but silently missed test:unit. Renamed to match the sibling
convention in tests/vfs/, which puts it back in the unit gate.

tests/unit/test-suite-coverage-guard.test.ts

@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
  * config (so it never runs and gives false coverage confidence — the exact drift
  * that left ~27 test files un-run before 8.0). Every `*.test.ts` must either match
  * a gate config (`tests/unit/**`, `tests/integration/**`, `*.unit.test.ts`,
- * `*.integration.test.ts`) or be explicitly listed in MANUAL_ONLY below.
+ * `*.integration.test.ts`, or the perf lane's `tests/configs/vitest.perf.config.ts`
+ * — see PERF_LANE_FILES below) or be explicitly listed in MANUAL_ONLY below.
  */
 import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest'
 import { readdirSync } from 'node:fs'
@@ -24,10 +25,12 @@ function allTestFiles(dir: string, out: string[] = []): string[] {
 }
 
 /**
- * Test files INTENTIONALLY excluded from the unit/integration gate: benchmarks,
+ * Test files INTENTIONALLY excluded from every automated gate — conformance
- * scale/perf measurements, package-size checks, and real-model-load checks. They
+ * suites invoked directly, and checks that need real resources (network,
- * are run manually (slow / need real resources), not in CI. Every entry is a
+ * unusual scale) no CI lane provides. Wall-clock/scale benchmarks that DO
- * conscious decision — a NEW orphan not listed here fails the guard below.
+ * run automatically belong to the perf lane (PERF_LANE_FILES / inGate
+ * below), not here. Every entry is a conscious decision — a NEW orphan not
+ * listed here fails the guard below.
  */
 const MANUAL_ONLY = new Set<string>([
   // Conformance suites run as an explicit gate stage (both engines run them
@@ -40,15 +43,11 @@ const MANUAL_ONLY = new Set<string>([
   // The sparse-store cut's shared operator rows (both engines run these):
   // explicit conformance-gate invocation, like its siblings.
   'tests/conformance/sparse-store-cut.test.ts',
-  'tests/api/performance-benchmarks.test.ts',
+  // NOT the perf lane: no wall-clock/scale assertion, so it does not belong
+  // in tests/configs/vitest.perf.config.ts's include list — genuinely run
+  // by hand only.
   'tests/critical-neural-validation.test.ts',
-  'tests/critical-performance-benchmark.test.ts',
-  'tests/model-loading.test.ts',
   'tests/package-size-breakdown.test.ts',
-  'tests/package-size-limit.test.ts',
-  'tests/performance/graph-scale-performance.test.ts',
-  'tests/performance/triple-intelligence-scale.test.ts',
-  'tests/performance/typeAware.bench.test.ts',
   // Cross-engine field-addressing conformance suite: pinned bit-for-bit against
   // the native accelerator's implementation of the SAME contract, and invoked
   // directly (`npx vitest run tests/conformance/namespace-law.test.ts`), never
@@ -59,6 +58,21 @@ const MANUAL_ONLY = new Set<string>([
   'tests/conformance/namespace-law.test.ts'
 ])
 
+/**
+ * The perf lane's own gate: `tests/configs/vitest.perf.config.ts`, run by
+ * `npm run test:perf`. Mirrors that config's `include` list — kept in sync
+ * by inspection, the same convention that config uses against the root
+ * gate's exclude list (see its own header comment). A file that runs here
+ * is GATED, not manual: it belongs in this set (or the `tests/performance/`
+ * prefix below), never in MANUAL_ONLY.
+ */
+const PERF_LANE_FILES = new Set<string>([
+  'tests/critical-performance-benchmark.test.ts',
+  'tests/api/performance-benchmarks.test.ts',
+  'tests/package-size-limit.test.ts',
+  'tests/model-loading.test.ts'
+])
+
 function inGate(rel: string): boolean {
   return (
     rel.startsWith('tests/unit/') ||
@@ -67,7 +81,11 @@ function inGate(rel: string): boolean {
     // ('tests/lifecycle/**/*.test.ts'; see tests/lifecycle/README.md).
     rel.startsWith('tests/lifecycle/') ||
     rel.endsWith('.unit.test.ts') ||
-    rel.endsWith('.integration.test.ts')
+    rel.endsWith('.integration.test.ts') ||
+    // The perf lane (see PERF_LANE_FILES above) — mirrors
+    // tests/configs/vitest.perf.config.ts's `tests/performance/**` glob.
+    rel.startsWith('tests/performance/') ||
+    PERF_LANE_FILES.has(rel)
   )
 }
 

tests/vfs/vfs-search-path-scope.unit.test.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /**
- * @module tests/vfs/vfs-search-path-scope
+ * @module tests/vfs/vfs-search-path-scope.unit
  * @description `vfs.search({ path })` scopes with a SERVED filter.
  *
  * The scope used to be emitted as `path: { $startsWith }` — an operator that is