Replaying a saved test double-prefixes variable namespace ({{secrets.user.secrets.user.X}}) → variable never resolves

[komal-lt]

Summary

When a saved *_test.md references a store/secret variable using its namespaced form (e.g. {{secrets.user.KANE_TEST_USER}} — which is exactly how the TUI writes it into the saved test), replaying the test prepends the namespace again, producing {{secrets.user.secrets.user.KANE_TEST_USER}}, which does not resolve. The literal placeholder string is typed into the field instead of the value.

Severity

S1 — TUI-authored tests that use variables cannot be replayed reliably; the doubled key never resolves.

kane-cli version

0.4.0

Repro

1. In the TUI, author a test that types a store secret variable (e.g. email/password) and save it. The saved *_test.md frontmatter + step use {{secrets.user.KANE_TEST_USER}}.
2. Replay it: kane-cli testmd run <saved>_test.md --env prod --agent --headless.

Actual

Action log shows:

Filled '{{secrets.user.secrets.user.KANE_TEST_USER}}' via DOM locator ... success:true
Filled '{{secrets.user.secrets.user.KANE_TEST_PASSWORD}}' via DOM locator ... success:true

i.e. the namespace is doubled and the literal is typed. (The run may still "recover" via self-heal re-authoring or a persisted browser session, masking the bug.)

Expected

Replaying a saved test should resolve {{secrets.user.X}} to its value once, not re-prefix it to {{secrets.user.secrets.user.X}}.

Impact

This is the core author-in-TUI → replay-in-CI workflow. The doubling silently breaks credential injection on replay; it only "works" when something else (self-heal / cached session) compensates. Related: #69, #75.

[komal-lt]

Still reproduces on 0.4.0 — confirmed via a clean author-then-replay isolation

Re-tested on kane-cli 0.4.0 with a minimal single-step login test. The variable is referenced as a bare {{KANE_TEST_USER}} / {{KANE_TEST_PASSWORD}} resolving from the auto-loaded store (~/.testmuai/kaneai/variables/*.json, secret: true), and the start URL is in the step prose (Open https://...) — so this is not related to any frontmatter/target confusion.

Run 1 — fresh author (author_decisions: 1, replay_decisions: 0): passed. Action log filled the single-prefixed form {{secrets.user.KANE_TEST_PASSWORD}} and login succeeded. The bug is invisible here because authoring resolves/self-heals correctly.

Run 2 — replay from the cached recording (replay_decisions: 1, author_decisions: 0): failed, exit 1. The action stream contains the doubled namespace signature:

secrets.user.secrets.user.KANE_TEST_PASSWORD

i.e. on replay the namespace is prepended a second time, the placeholder never resolves, the literal is typed into the field, and login fails.

Takeaway: this is strictly a replay-path bug. An author pass (or a persisted browser session) masks it, so it only surfaces in the author-in-TUI → replay-in-CI workflow — exactly the path this issue is about. Keeping open.

Confirmed-on: 0.4.0 · Related: #69, #75

[siddhant573]

@komal-lt The issue has been resolved in the version 0.4.1