Previously the rate-limit probe emitted a warning box when it
detected active rate limiting (implying the backend was started
without DISABLE_RATE_LIMIT_FOR_TESTS=true) but let the test run
proceed. The flaky 401s on 02-navigation.spec.ts:77 (and sibling
specs using loginViaAPI in beforeEach) all trace to this silent
failure mode — seed users get progressively locked out as each
spec fires rapid login attempts against the real rate limiter.
Replace console.error(box) with throw new Error(), pointing the
developer at `make dev-e2e`. Preserves fast-iteration when the
setup is correct — only blocks misconfigured runs.
Root cause trace:
- tests/e2e/playwright.config.ts:139 uses reuseExistingServer=true,
so env vars declared in webServer.env (DISABLE_RATE_LIMIT_FOR_TESTS,
APP_ENV=test, RATE_LIMIT_LIMIT=10000, ACCOUNT_LOCKOUT_EXEMPT_EMAILS)
are IGNORED if a non-test-mode backend already owns port 18080.
- Previous global-setup warn path emitted a console box but kept
running — lockout appeared later, looking like a random flake.
Refactored the try/catch: probe stays wrapped (API-down still OK),
got429 sentinel lifted outside so the throw isn't swallowed.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
