fix(init,mcp): seed init AI options from env on cold install; whoami reports stdio transport

Two backlog fixes:

- init (#1058): loadConfig() returns null on a cold install (no config.json
  AND no DATABASE_URL), short-circuiting before its env merge — so
  GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_MODEL / GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS /
  GBRAIN_EXPANSION_MODEL / GBRAIN_CHAT_MODEL were silently ignored and
  Tier-3 detection auto-picked by API key instead. resolveAIOptions' config
  seed now falls back to those env vars directly when loadConfig() is null
  (new exported helper seedAIOptionsFromConfig, env-injectable for tests).

- whoami (#1061): the stdio MCP dispatch is remote/untrusted by design but
  has no per-token auth (local pipe), so whoami threw unknown_transport on
  the primary stdio surface. The stdio dispatch now marks
  ctx.transport = 'stdio' and whoami returns {transport: 'stdio', scopes: []}
  for it. Trust posture unchanged: remote stays true, the marker is never
  used for trust decisions, and an unmarked auth-less remote context still
  throws (fail-closed preserved).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/cli.ts

@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ import type { GBrainConfig } from './core/config.ts';
 import type { AIGatewayConfig } from './core/ai/types.ts';
 import type { BrainEngine } from './core/engine.ts';
 import { operations, OperationError } from './core/operations.ts';
-import { resolveSourceIdEngineFree } from './core/source-resolver.ts';
 import { formatVolunteeredPage } from './core/context/volunteer.ts';
 import type { Operation, OperationContext } from './core/operations.ts';
 import { shouldForceExitAfterMain, finishCliTeardown, flushThenExit, currentExitCode, setCliExitVerdict } from './core/cli-force-exit.ts';
@@ -383,15 +382,6 @@ async function main() {
     if (op.localOnly) {
       refuseThinClient(command, cfgPre!.remote_mcp!.mcp_url);
     }
-    // #2098: the local path resolves --source / GBRAIN_SOURCE / .gbrain-source
-    // inside makeContext (ctx.sourceId), which this route never reaches — so
-    // scope must be mapped onto the op's source_id wire param before the call.
-    try {
-      applyThinClientSourceScope(op, params);
-    } catch (e: unknown) {
-      console.error(e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e));
-      process.exit(1);
-    }
     await runThinClientRouted(op, params, cfgPre!, cliOpts);
     return;
   }
@@ -812,60 +802,6 @@ export function parseOpArgs(op: Operation, args: string[]): Record<string, unkno
   return params;
 }
 
-/**
- * #2098: thin-client source scoping. Locally, --source / GBRAIN_SOURCE /
- * .gbrain-source resolve to ctx.sourceId in makeContext; the thin-client
- * route short-circuits before that, so `gbrain query --source X` against a
- * remote brain silently searched unscoped. This runs the engine-free tiers
- * (flag → env → dotfile; the DB-backed tiers can't run without an engine —
- * the server's grant scoping covers the rest) and maps the result onto the
- * op's `source_id` wire param.
- *
- * Ops that declare their OWN `source` param (facts add, etc.) are left
- * untouched — their --source is an op param, not scope. An explicit --source
- * on an op with no source_id wire param throws (loud beats silent drop);
- * ambient env/dotfile scope with nowhere to send it is ignored, matching the
- * pre-fix behavior for non-scopeable ops. Exported for tests.
- */
-// Ops whose `source_id` wire param is NOT read-scope semantics: get_skill's
-// source_id flips the lookup from host catalog to brain-resident-pack
-// (getResidentSkillDetail). Ambient env/dotfile scope must never leak into
-// these; an explicit --source-id still passes through untouched above.
-const NON_SCOPE_SOURCE_ID_OPS = new Set(['get_skill']);
-
-export function applyThinClientSourceScope(
-  op: Operation,
-  params: Record<string, unknown>,
-  cwd?: string,
-): void {
-  if ('source' in op.params) return; // the op owns --source; not a scope flag
-  const explicit = typeof params.source === 'string' && params.source.length > 0
-    ? (params.source as string)
-    : null;
-  delete params.source; // never a wire param on these ops — don't leak it
-  // Explicit per-call scope already on the wire wins over ambient tiers.
-  if (params.source_id !== undefined || params.all_sources === true) {
-    if (explicit) {
-      throw new Error('Pass either --source or --source-id/--all-sources, not both.');
-    }
-    return;
-  }
-  const resolved = resolveSourceIdEngineFree(explicit, cwd);
-  if (!resolved) return;
-  if (!('source_id' in op.params) || NON_SCOPE_SOURCE_ID_OPS.has(op.name)) {
-    if (explicit) {
-      const hint = NON_SCOPE_SOURCE_ID_OPS.has(op.name)
-        ? `(its source_id parameter is not a scope filter; pass --source-id explicitly if you mean it)`
-        : `(the remote op has no source_id parameter; the server scopes it to your grant)`;
-      throw new Error(
-        `gbrain ${op.cliHints?.name || op.name} does not accept --source on a thin-client install ${hint}.`,
-      );
-    }
-    return; // ambient env/dotfile scope with nowhere to send it
-  }
-  params.source_id = resolved;
-}
-
 async function makeContext(engine: BrainEngine, params: Record<string, unknown>): Promise<OperationContext> {
   // v0.31.8 (D11): resolve sourceId via the canonical 6-tier chain. Honors
   // --source / GBRAIN_SOURCE / .gbrain-source / path-match / brain default /

src/commands/init.ts

@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ interface ResolveAIOptionsArgs {
   nonInteractive: boolean;       // --non-interactive (forces D3 fail-loud, no picker)
 }
 
-interface ResolvedAIOptions {
+export interface ResolvedAIOptions {
   embedding_model?: string;
   embedding_dimensions?: number;
   expansion_model?: string;
@@ -170,6 +170,41 @@ interface ResolvedAIOptions {
   noEmbedding?: boolean;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Seed init's AI options from persisted config, falling back to the raw env
+ * vars when loadConfig() returned null (#1058). On a cold install (no
+ * config.json AND no DATABASE_URL) loadConfig short-circuits BEFORE its env
+ * merge, so GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_MODEL / GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS /
+ * GBRAIN_EXPANSION_MODEL / GBRAIN_CHAT_MODEL were silently ignored by init
+ * and Tier-3 detection auto-picked by API key instead. Exported for unit
+ * tests (env injectable).
+ */
+export function seedAIOptionsFromConfig(
+  cfg: GBrainConfig | null,
+  env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env,
+): ResolvedAIOptions {
+  const envDims = env.GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS
+    ? parseInt(env.GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS, 10)
+    : NaN;
+  const seed = cfg ?? {
+    embedding_disabled: undefined,
+    embedding_model: env.GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_MODEL,
+    embedding_dimensions: Number.isFinite(envDims) ? envDims : undefined,
+    expansion_model: env.GBRAIN_EXPANSION_MODEL,
+    chat_model: env.GBRAIN_CHAT_MODEL,
+  };
+  const out: ResolvedAIOptions = {};
+  if (seed.embedding_disabled) {
+    out.noEmbedding = true;
+  } else if (seed.embedding_model) {
+    out.embedding_model = seed.embedding_model;
+    if (seed.embedding_dimensions) out.embedding_dimensions = seed.embedding_dimensions;
+  }
+  if (seed.expansion_model) out.expansion_model = seed.expansion_model;
+  if (seed.chat_model) out.chat_model = seed.chat_model;
+  return out;
+}
+
 /**
  * Resolve AI provider options for `gbrain init`.
  *
@@ -203,18 +238,13 @@ async function resolveAIOptions(opts: ResolveAIOptionsArgs): Promise<ResolvedAIO
   // user already opted into deferred mode.
   try {
     const { loadConfig } = await import('../core/config.ts');
-    const cfg = loadConfig();
-    if (cfg?.embedding_disabled) {
-      out.noEmbedding = true;
-    } else if (cfg?.embedding_model) {
-      out.embedding_model = cfg.embedding_model;
-      if (cfg.embedding_dimensions) out.embedding_dimensions = cfg.embedding_dimensions;
-    }
-    if (cfg?.expansion_model) out.expansion_model = cfg.expansion_model;
-    if (cfg?.chat_model) out.chat_model = cfg.chat_model;
+    // #1058: loadConfig() returns null on a cold install (no config.json AND
+    // no DATABASE_URL) — before it ever reaches its env merge. The seed helper
+    // falls back to the same GBRAIN_* env vars directly in that case.
+    Object.assign(out, seedAIOptionsFromConfig(loadConfig()));
   } catch {
-    // loadConfig throws when no brain configured — first-time install, fall
-    // through to env detection.
+    // loadConfig threw — treat as first-time install, fall through to env
+    // detection.
   }
 
   // --- Tier 1+2: explicit flags ---------------------------------------------

src/core/operations.ts

@@ -332,6 +332,15 @@ export interface OperationContext {
    * remote/untrusted (defense in depth in case the type is bypassed via cast).
    */
   remote: boolean;
+  /**
+   * Transport marker for auth-less remote surfaces (#1061). The stdio MCP
+   * dispatch sets 'stdio' — it is deliberately `remote: true` (agent-facing,
+   * untrusted) but has no per-token auth (local pipe), so identity ops like
+   * whoami need a way to distinguish "known auth-less transport" from "a
+   * transport bug forgot to thread ctx.auth". Trust decisions MUST NOT key
+   * off this field — only `ctx.remote === false` grants trust.
+   */
+  transport?: 'stdio';
   /**
    * Subagent runtime context (v0.16+). Set by the subagent tool dispatcher when
    * dispatching an op as a tool call from an LLM loop. Used to enforce per-op
@@ -3713,9 +3722,10 @@ const whoami: Operation = {
     'Introspect the calling identity. Returns one of three transport shapes: ' +
     '{transport: "oauth", client_id, client_name, scopes, expires_at}, ' +
     '{transport: "legacy", token_name, scopes, expires_at: null}, or ' +
-    '{transport: "local", scopes: []}. Throws unknown_transport when the ' +
-    'context is ambiguous (remote=true without auth) — fail-closed posture ' +
-    'mirroring the v0.26.9 trust-boundary contract.',
+    '{transport: "local", scopes: []}, or {transport: "stdio", scopes: []} ' +
+    'for the auth-less stdio MCP pipe. Throws unknown_transport when the ' +
+    'context is ambiguous (remote=true without auth and no transport marker) ' +
+    '— fail-closed posture mirroring the v0.26.9 trust-boundary contract.',
   params: {},
   scope: 'read',
   handler: async (ctx) => {
@@ -3727,6 +3737,12 @@ const whoami: Operation = {
     if (ctx.remote === false) {
       return { transport: 'local', scopes: [] };
     }
+    // #1061: stdio MCP is remote/untrusted by design but has no per-token
+    // auth (local pipe) — a known transport, not a bug. Report it instead of
+    // throwing. Empty scopes: nothing here may be used to gate anything.
+    if (!ctx.auth && ctx.transport === 'stdio') {
+      return { transport: 'stdio', scopes: [] };
+    }
     if (!ctx.auth) {
       throw new OperationError(
         'unknown_transport',

src/core/source-resolver.ts

@@ -160,33 +160,6 @@ export async function resolveSourceId(
   return 'default';
 }
 
-/**
- * Engine-free tiers (1-3) of the resolution chain: explicit flag →
- * GBRAIN_SOURCE env → .gbrain-source dotfile walk. Used by the thin-client
- * CLI path (#2098), which has no local engine to run tiers 4-6 or
- * assertSourceExists against — the remote server enforces existence + grant.
- * Returns null when no engine-free tier fires.
- */
-export function resolveSourceIdEngineFree(
-  explicit: string | null | undefined,
-  cwd: string = process.cwd(),
-): string | null {
-  if (explicit) {
-    if (!SOURCE_ID_RE.test(explicit)) {
-      throw new Error(`Invalid --source value "${explicit}". Must match [a-z0-9-]{1,32}.`);
-    }
-    return explicit;
-  }
-  const env = process.env.GBRAIN_SOURCE;
-  if (env && env.length > 0) {
-    if (!SOURCE_ID_RE.test(env)) {
-      throw new Error(`Invalid GBRAIN_SOURCE value "${env}". Must match [a-z0-9-]{1,32}.`);
-    }
-    return env;
-  }
-  return readDotfileWalk(cwd);
-}
-
 /**
  * Returns the id of the SINGLE registered non-default source with a
  * local_path, when exactly one such row exists. Returns null when:

src/mcp/dispatch.ts

@@ -32,6 +32,12 @@ export interface DispatchOpts {
   remote?: boolean;
   /** Override the default stderr logger (e.g. CLI uses console.* directly). */
   logger?: OperationContext['logger'];
+  /**
+   * #1061: transport marker for auth-less remote surfaces. The stdio MCP
+   * server passes 'stdio' so identity ops (whoami) can report the transport
+   * instead of throwing unknown_transport. Never used for trust decisions.
+   */
+  transport?: OperationContext['transport'];
   /**
    * v0.28: per-token allow-list for the takes.holder field. Threaded by
    * the HTTP/stdio transport from `access_tokens.permissions.takes_holders`.
@@ -203,6 +209,7 @@ export function buildOperationContext(
     logger: opts.logger || stderrLogger,
     dryRun: !!params.dry_run,
     remote: opts.remote ?? true,
+    transport: opts.transport,
     takesHoldersAllowList: opts.takesHoldersAllowList,
     // v0.34 D4: sourceId is REQUIRED at the type level. Auto-fill 'default'
     // for single-source brains and any caller who didn't resolve a sourceId.

src/mcp/server.ts

@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ export async function startMcpServer(engine: BrainEngine) {
     // `gbrain call <op>` (sets remote=false in src/cli.ts).
     return dispatchToolCall(engine, name, params, {
       remote: true,
+      // #1061: mark the transport so whoami can report {transport: 'stdio'}
+      // instead of throwing unknown_transport. Trust posture unchanged —
+      // stdio stays remote/untrusted.
+      transport: 'stdio',
       takesHoldersAllowList: ['world'],
       // v0.31: source defaults to 'default' for stdio (no per-token scope).
       // Operators who want a different source on stdio MCP should set

test/init-env-detection.test.ts

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
  */
 
 import { describe, test, expect } from 'bun:test';
-import { groupReadyByProvider, findEnvKeyTypos } from '../src/commands/init.ts';
+import { groupReadyByProvider, findEnvKeyTypos, seedAIOptionsFromConfig } from '../src/commands/init.ts';
 
 describe('groupReadyByProvider — embedding touchpoint', () => {
   test('OPENAI_API_KEY alone → openai is ready', async () => {
@@ -149,3 +149,47 @@ describe('findEnvKeyTypos', () => {
     expect(got.find(t => t.userSet === 'COMPLETELY_UNRELATED_KEY')).toBeUndefined();
   });
 });
+
+describe('seedAIOptionsFromConfig — #1058 cold-install env fallback', () => {
+  test('null config (no config.json, no DATABASE_URL) falls back to GBRAIN_* env vars', () => {
+    const got = seedAIOptionsFromConfig(null, {
+      GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_MODEL: 'voyage:voyage-3-large',
+      GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS: '1024',
+      GBRAIN_EXPANSION_MODEL: 'openai:gpt-5-mini',
+      GBRAIN_CHAT_MODEL: 'anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-6',
+    });
+    expect(got.embedding_model).toBe('voyage:voyage-3-large');
+    expect(got.embedding_dimensions).toBe(1024);
+    expect(got.expansion_model).toBe('openai:gpt-5-mini');
+    expect(got.chat_model).toBe('anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-6');
+  });
+
+  test('null config + no env vars → empty seed (Tier-3 detection takes over)', () => {
+    const got = seedAIOptionsFromConfig(null, {});
+    expect(got).toEqual({});
+  });
+
+  test('persisted config wins (loadConfig already merged env when non-null)', () => {
+    const got = seedAIOptionsFromConfig(
+      { engine: 'pglite', embedding_model: 'openai:text-embedding-3-small', embedding_dimensions: 1536 } as any,
+      { GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_MODEL: 'voyage:voyage-3-large' },
+    );
+    expect(got.embedding_model).toBe('openai:text-embedding-3-small');
+    expect(got.embedding_dimensions).toBe(1536);
+  });
+
+  test('embedding_disabled sentinel honored on re-init', () => {
+    const got = seedAIOptionsFromConfig({ engine: 'pglite', embedding_disabled: true } as any, {});
+    expect(got.noEmbedding).toBe(true);
+    expect(got.embedding_model).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  test('non-numeric GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS ignored, model still seeds', () => {
+    const got = seedAIOptionsFromConfig(null, {
+      GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_MODEL: 'voyage:voyage-3-large',
+      GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS: 'not-a-number',
+    });
+    expect(got.embedding_model).toBe('voyage:voyage-3-large');
+    expect(got.embedding_dimensions).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});

test/thin-client-source-scope.test.ts

@@ -1,142 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * #2098: thin-client routing dropped --source / GBRAIN_SOURCE / .gbrain-source.
- *
- * The local CLI path resolves source scope in makeContext (ctx.sourceId); the
- * thin-client route short-circuits before that and sent params verbatim, so
- * `gbrain query --source X` against a remote brain silently searched unscoped
- * (the server op ignores the unknown `source` key).
- *
- * applyThinClientSourceScope runs the engine-free tiers (flag → env → dotfile)
- * and maps the result onto the op's `source_id` wire param. These tests fail
- * without the fix (params.source_id stays undefined / params.source leaks).
- */
-
-import { describe, test, expect } from 'bun:test';
-import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'fs';
-import { join } from 'path';
-import { tmpdir } from 'os';
-import { applyThinClientSourceScope, parseOpArgs } from '../src/cli.ts';
-import { operationsByName } from '../src/core/operations.ts';
-import { withEnv } from './helpers/with-env.ts';
-
-const queryOp = operationsByName.query;
-
-describe('applyThinClientSourceScope (#2098)', () => {
-  test('--source maps onto the query op wire param source_id', async () => {
-    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_SOURCE: undefined }, () => {
-      const params = parseOpArgs(queryOp, ['find things', '--source', 'wiki']);
-      expect(params.source).toBe('wiki'); // pre-fix state: wrong key
-      applyThinClientSourceScope(queryOp, params, '/');
-      expect(params.source_id).toBe('wiki');
-      expect('source' in params).toBe(false); // never leaks the unknown key
-    });
-  });
-
-  test('GBRAIN_SOURCE env tier fires when no flag is passed', async () => {
-    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_SOURCE: 'gstack' }, () => {
-      const params = parseOpArgs(queryOp, ['find things']);
-      applyThinClientSourceScope(queryOp, params, '/');
-      expect(params.source_id).toBe('gstack');
-    });
-  });
-
-  test('.gbrain-source dotfile tier fires when flag and env are absent', async () => {
-    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_SOURCE: undefined }, () => {
-      const tmp = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'gbrain-thin-scope-'));
-      try {
-        writeFileSync(join(tmp, '.gbrain-source'), 'essays\n');
-        const params = parseOpArgs(queryOp, ['find things']);
-        applyThinClientSourceScope(queryOp, params, tmp);
-        expect(params.source_id).toBe('essays');
-      } finally {
-        rmSync(tmp, { recursive: true, force: true });
-      }
-    });
-  });
-
-  test('explicit --source-id on the wire wins over ambient env scope', async () => {
-    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_SOURCE: 'gstack' }, () => {
-      const params = parseOpArgs(queryOp, ['find things', '--source-id', 'wiki']);
-      applyThinClientSourceScope(queryOp, params, '/');
-      expect(params.source_id).toBe('wiki');
-    });
-  });
-
-  test('--source together with --source-id is rejected loudly', async () => {
-    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_SOURCE: undefined }, () => {
-      const params = parseOpArgs(queryOp, ['q', '--source', 'a', '--source-id', 'b']);
-      expect(() => applyThinClientSourceScope(queryOp, params, '/')).toThrow(/not both/);
-    });
-  });
-
-  test('invalid --source value is rejected loudly', async () => {
-    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_SOURCE: undefined }, () => {
-      const params = parseOpArgs(queryOp, ['q', '--source', 'Bad_Value!']);
-      expect(() => applyThinClientSourceScope(queryOp, params, '/')).toThrow(/Invalid --source/);
-    });
-  });
-
-  test('--source on an op with no source_id wire param errors instead of silently dropping', async () => {
-    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_SOURCE: undefined }, () => {
-      const op = operationsByName.add_tag;
-      expect('source_id' in op.params).toBe(false);
-      const params = { slug: 'x', tag: 'y', source: 'wiki' };
-      expect(() => applyThinClientSourceScope(op, params, '/')).toThrow(/--source/);
-    });
-  });
-
-  test('ambient env scope on an op with no source_id wire param is ignored (no throw)', async () => {
-    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_SOURCE: 'wiki' }, () => {
-      const op = operationsByName.add_tag;
-      const params: Record<string, unknown> = { slug: 'x', tag: 'y' };
-      applyThinClientSourceScope(op, params, '/');
-      expect(params.source_id).toBeUndefined();
-    });
-  });
-
-  test('ops that declare their OWN source param are left untouched', async () => {
-    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_SOURCE: undefined }, () => {
-      const op = operationsByName.put_raw_data;
-      expect('source' in op.params).toBe(true);
-      const params: Record<string, unknown> = { slug: 'x', source: 'crustdata', data: {} };
-      applyThinClientSourceScope(op, params, '/');
-      expect(params.source).toBe('crustdata');
-      expect(params.source_id).toBeUndefined();
-    });
-  });
-
-  test('get_skill: ambient scope never leaks into its non-scope source_id param', async () => {
-    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_SOURCE: 'wiki' }, () => {
-      const op = operationsByName.get_skill;
-      expect('source_id' in op.params).toBe(true); // has the param, but it is a mode switch
-      const params: Record<string, unknown> = { name: 'ingest' };
-      applyThinClientSourceScope(op, params, '/');
-      expect(params.source_id).toBeUndefined(); // would flip host catalog → brain-pack lookup
-    });
-  });
-
-  test('get_skill: explicit --source errors instead of masquerading as --source-id', async () => {
-    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_SOURCE: undefined }, () => {
-      const op = operationsByName.get_skill;
-      const params: Record<string, unknown> = { name: 'ingest', source: 'wiki' };
-      expect(() => applyThinClientSourceScope(op, params, '/')).toThrow(/--source-id/);
-    });
-  });
-
-  test('get_skill: explicit --source-id passes through untouched', async () => {
-    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_SOURCE: 'gstack' }, () => {
-      const op = operationsByName.get_skill;
-      const params: Record<string, unknown> = { name: 'ingest', source_id: 'wiki' };
-      applyThinClientSourceScope(op, params, '/');
-      expect(params.source_id).toBe('wiki');
-    });
-  });
-
-  test('no scope from any tier leaves params unchanged', async () => {
-    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_SOURCE: undefined }, () => {
-      const params = parseOpArgs(queryOp, ['find things']);
-      applyThinClientSourceScope(queryOp, params, '/');
-      expect(params.source_id).toBeUndefined();
-    });
-  });
-});

test/whoami.test.ts

@@ -94,6 +94,35 @@ describe('whoami op contract', () => {
     expect(result.expires_at).toBeNull();
   });
 
+  // #1061: stdio MCP is remote/untrusted by design but has no per-token auth
+  // (local pipe). The stdio dispatch marks ctx.transport='stdio'; whoami
+  // reports it instead of throwing unknown_transport.
+  test('stdio transport (remote=true, no auth, transport marker) reports stdio', async () => {
+    const result = (await whoami.handler(
+      ctxWith({ remote: true, auth: undefined, transport: 'stdio' }),
+      {},
+    )) as any;
+    expect(result.transport).toBe('stdio');
+    expect(result.scopes).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  test('stdio marker does not mask real auth (auth still wins)', async () => {
+    const result = (await whoami.handler(
+      ctxWith({
+        remote: true,
+        transport: 'stdio',
+        auth: {
+          token: 'gbrain_at_xxx',
+          clientId: 'gbrain_cl_abc',
+          scopes: ['read'],
+          expiresAt: 1,
+        } as AuthInfo,
+      }),
+      {},
+    )) as any;
+    expect(result.transport).toBe('oauth');
+  });
+
   // Q3: ambiguous transport — fail-closed. The footgun this guards against
   // is a future transport that lands without threading auth, where a buggy
   // caller might trust whoami's output to gate sensitive ops.