exec: ~60% fewer process starts per exec (Windows overhead, #590)

Per-run memos (model path, platform, Python, model dir, version), built-ins instead of date/dirname/basename, in-shell PROJECT.md/CLAUDE.local.md reads, one awk for lint parsing, wait instead of sleep polling, model-stamp asks git once, lint-gate receipt check skipped on an unchanged content signature, fork trimming in snapshot-mpr, look-ledger, script-owners, metrics-ledger, row-groups, build-plan-status, exec-approval and mdl-scan; MXTK_PROFILE=2. Field (Linux, purchase-requests app): forks 730 -> 335, programs started 360 -> 135 per exec, output identical. For #584/#585.

Review: MERGE-AFTER-FIX — lint-receipt skip now keys on content (cp -p escape), T1b fixture fails on the old script, re-reviewed MERGE; Windows not measured yet.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_013jQvaonym9V1wKKfAEPmRr

Author: MendixMau

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ if [ -n "$_perf_log" ] && [ -f "$_perf_log" ] && grep -q 'steps: ' "$_perf_log"
     warn "slow execs — $_pmsg"
     [ "$_pgate" -gt "${MXTK_PERF_GATE_WARN:-45}" ] && note "The gate (mxbuild) dominates: 'Gate mode: check' in PROJECT.md runs mx check per exec and the full build before push."
     [ -n "$_spawn_ms" ] && [ "$_spawn_ms" -gt "${MXTK_SPAWN_WARN_MS:-30}" ] && note "Process starts are slow too (above): that is the machine, not the model — see the advice there."
-    note "Per-command profile of one exec: MXTK_PROFILE=1 ./bin/exec.sh <script> (prints the 15 slowest lines)."
+    note "Per-command profile of one exec: MXTK_PROFILE=1 ./bin/exec.sh <script> (prints the 15 slowest lines; MXTK_PROFILE=2 traces the scripts it starts too)."
   else
     ok "$_pmsg"
   fi

bin/doctor.sh

@@ -48,8 +48,6 @@
 
 set -u
 
-SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
-
 PROJECT_DIR="${1:-}"
 ACTION="${2:-}"
 
@@ -129,9 +127,14 @@ if [ -z "$MODE" ] && [ -f "$PROJECT_DIR/PROJECT.md" ]; then
   # first occurrence wins so an appended log entry cannot silently retune the project. The whole
   # rest of the line is the value, so any trailing note is invalid → `ask`. (interview-mode.sh
   # allows a note after `steering` only; this read deliberately stays exact.)
-  FROM_MD=$(grep -iEm1 '^[[:space:]]*(-[[:space:]]*)?\**Exec approval\**[[:space:]]*:' "$PROJECT_DIR/PROJECT.md" 2>/dev/null \
-            | sed -E 's/.*[Aa]pproval\**[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*//' \
-            | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | tr -d '[:space:]*`')
+  # grep first, alone: most projects have no such line, and the sed | tr | tr behind it then
+  # ran over empty input (three process starts to produce nothing).
+  FROM_MD=""
+  _EA_LINE=$(grep -iEm1 '^[[:space:]]*(-[[:space:]]*)?\**Exec approval\**[[:space:]]*:' "$PROJECT_DIR/PROJECT.md" 2>/dev/null || true)
+  if [ -n "$_EA_LINE" ]; then
+    FROM_MD=$(printf '%s\n' "$_EA_LINE" | sed -E 's/.*[Aa]pproval\**[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*//' \
+              | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | tr -d '[:space:]*`')
+  fi
   if [ -n "$FROM_MD" ]; then
     if is_valid "$FROM_MD"; then
       MODE="$FROM_MD"; SOURCE="PROJECT.md"

bin/exec-approval.sh

@@ -52,7 +52,14 @@ done
 [ -f "$SCRIPT" ] && [ -r "$SCRIPT" ] || { echo "mdl-scan: cannot read script: $SCRIPT" >&2; exit 2; }
 if [ -n "$MPR" ] && [ ! -f "$MPR" ]; then echo "mdl-scan: -p: no such model: $MPR" >&2; exit 2; fi
 
-RULES="${MDL_SCAN_RULES:-$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)/lib/mdl-scan-rules.tsv}"
+# The script's own folder, as a string op when $0 is already a path (a cd | dirname | pwd was
+# three process starts per exec); an absolute path stays as it was, a relative one is anchored.
+if [ -n "${MDL_SCAN_RULES:-}" ]; then RULES="$MDL_SCAN_RULES"
+else
+  _msd="${0%/*}"; [ "$_msd" != "$0" ] || _msd=.
+  case "$_msd" in /*) ;; *) _msd="$(cd "$_msd" && pwd)" ;; esac
+  RULES="$_msd/lib/mdl-scan-rules.tsv"
+fi
 [ -r "$RULES" ] || { echo "mdl-scan: rules file missing: $RULES" >&2; exit 2; }
 
 awk -F'\t' -v file="$SCRIPT" '

bin/mdl-scan.sh

@@ -88,13 +88,14 @@ MDLSOURCE="$ROOT/mdlsource"
 MODULES_DIR="$ROOT/architecture/modules"
 REGISTER="$ROOT/docs/improvement-register.md"
 BUILD_PLAN="$ROOT/architecture/build-plan.md"
-STAMP="$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"
+if [ -n "${EPOCHSECONDS:-}" ]; then TZ=UTC printf -v STAMP '%(%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)T' -1   # bash 5: no date process
+else STAMP="$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"; fi
 
 # PROJECT.md `Progress report: off | ask | auto` (default ask). off = this script never writes the
 # page; ask and auto only change what the agent does at a stage gate or module close (the skills
 # say: ask once, or open it), so the script treats them the same.
 report_name() {  # the page name lives in progress-report.py (REPORT_FILE); asked once, here
-  REPORT_FILE="$("${PY:-python3}" "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/progress-report.py" --print-name 2>/dev/null)"  # portability-ok: PY is resolve_py output; python3 only if unset
+  REPORT_FILE="$("${PY:-python3}" "${_bpd:-$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")}/progress-report.py" --print-name 2>/dev/null)"  # portability-ok: PY is resolve_py output; python3 only if unset
   [ -n "$REPORT_FILE" ] || REPORT_FILE="progress-report.html"
 }
 progress_report_setting() {
@@ -116,12 +117,21 @@ progress_report_setting() {
 PHASE_ROWS=""
 PHASE_COUNT=0
 if [ -d "$MDLSOURCE" ]; then
+  # Counted with globs: the find | wc | tr (and basename) per phase folder were five process
+  # starts each. dotglob + the symlink test keep find -type f's answer.
+  _dg=0; shopt -q dotglob && _dg=1
   for d in "$MDLSOURCE"/*/; do
     [ -d "$d" ] || continue
-    phase="$(basename "$d")"
-    total=$(find "$d" -maxdepth 1 -type f \( -name '*.mdl' -o -name '*.sql' \) | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
+    _dn="${d%/}"; phase="${_dn##*/}"
+    total=0; done_ct=0
+    shopt -s dotglob   # only for the file globs: the phase folders themselves stay non-hidden
+    for _pf in "$d"*.mdl "$d"*.sql; do
+      [ -f "$_pf" ] && [ ! -L "$_pf" ] || continue
+      total=$((total + 1))
+      case "${_pf##*/}" in done-*) done_ct=$((done_ct + 1)) ;; esac
+    done
+    [ "$_dg" = 1 ] || shopt -u dotglob
     [ "$total" -eq 0 ] && continue
-    done_ct=$(find "$d" -maxdepth 1 -type f \( -name 'done-*.mdl' -o -name 'done-*.sql' \) | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
     pct=$(( total > 0 ? done_ct * 100 / total : 0 ))
     status="pending"
     [ "$done_ct" -gt 0 ] && status="in-progress"
@@ -142,7 +152,7 @@ REVIEWED_COUNT=0
 if [ -d "$MODULES_DIR" ]; then
   for d in "$MODULES_DIR"/*/; do
     [ -d "$d" ] || continue
-    module="$(basename "$d")"
+    _dn="${d%/}"; module="${_dn##*/}"
     briefed="no"
     if [ -f "$d/module-brief.md" ]; then
       briefed="yes"
@@ -170,14 +180,13 @@ if [ -d "$MODULES_DIR" ]; then
     reviewed="not yet"
     if [ -f "$summary" ]; then
       REVIEWED_COUNT=$((REVIEWED_COUNT+1))
-      if grep -q $'\tFAULT\t' "$summary" 2>/dev/null; then
-        reviewed="INCOMPLETE (instrument fault)"
-      elif grep -q $'\tFINDING\t' "$summary" 2>/dev/null; then
-        reviewed="FINDINGS"
-      else
-        reviewed="CLEAN"
-      fi
-      age_s=$(( $(date +%s) - $(date -r "$summary" +%s 2>/dev/null || echo 0) ))
+      _sum=""; IFS= read -r -d '' _sum < "$summary" 2>/dev/null || true   # two greps over it, in-shell
+      case "$_sum" in
+        *$'\tFAULT\t'*) reviewed="INCOMPLETE (instrument fault)" ;;
+        *$'\tFINDING\t'*) reviewed="FINDINGS" ;;
+        *) reviewed="CLEAN" ;;
+      esac
+      age_s=$(( ${EPOCHSECONDS:-$(date +%s)} - $(date -r "$summary" +%s 2>/dev/null || echo 0) ))
       age_d=$(( age_s / 86400 ))
       reviewed="$reviewed (${age_d}d ago)"
     fi
@@ -432,9 +441,10 @@ PYEOF
 }
 
 if [ "$WRITE_JSON" -eq 1 ] || [ "$WRITE_HTML" -eq 1 ]; then
-  if [ -f "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/_common.sh" ]; then
+  _bpd="${BASH_SOURCE[0]%/*}"; [ "$_bpd" != "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" ] || _bpd=.   # dirname without a process
+  if [ -f "$_bpd/_common.sh" ]; then
     # shellcheck disable=SC1091
-    . "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/_common.sh"
+    . "$_bpd/_common.sh"
   fi
   if ! type resolve_py >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     resolve_py() {
@@ -532,7 +542,7 @@ render_plan_section() {  # stdout: the plan section's HTML
     echo "<h2>The plan</h2><p class=empty>Nothing to show yet: ${PLAN_MSG:-build-plan.md was not read}.</p>"
     return 0
   fi
-  "$PY" - "$PLAN_JSON" "$MDLSOURCE" "${PHASE_DETAIL:-/dev/null}" "$ROOT" "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/progress-report.py" <<'PYEOF' || echo "<h2>The plan</h2><p class=empty>Could not render the plan section from build-plan.md.</p>"
+  "$PY" - "$PLAN_JSON" "$MDLSOURCE" "${PHASE_DETAIL:-/dev/null}" "$ROOT" "${_bpd:-$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")}/progress-report.py" <<'PYEOF' || echo "<h2>The plan</h2><p class=empty>Could not render the plan section from build-plan.md.</p>"
 import fnmatch, html, json, os, re, sys
 
 src, mdl, detail_out, proj, gen = sys.argv[1:6]
@@ -709,7 +719,7 @@ PYEOF
 # architecture/build-plan.html is left exactly where it is: not read, not rewritten, not deleted.
 if [ "$WRITE_HTML" -eq 1 ]; then
   SKIP_HTML=""
-  GEN="$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/progress-report.py"
+  GEN="${_bpd:-$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")}/progress-report.py"
   report_name
   OUT="$ROOT/architecture/$REPORT_FILE"
   SETTING="$(progress_report_setting)"