@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+//
+// Import this at module top in a test file whose cases make a served `view`
+// read or an object publish, so the file pays the first load of the
+// `@objectstack/lint` package ROOT during collection, never inside a clocked
+// case. Test-only: no product module imports it.
+//
+// The protocol loads the lint root lazily, on first use, in two places: a
+// served `view` read decorates its `_diagnostics` with the form-layout
+// warnings (`loadFormLayoutLint`, metadata-diagnostics.ts), and an object
+// publish runs its build probes (`runBuildProbes`, build-probes.ts). The lazy
+// shape is product design: the kernel boot path never reaches the root.
+// Under vitest the first such load in a file is a cold transform of the lint
+// module graph, paid inside whichever case gets there first. A module-top
+// import is paid during collection, which neither `testTimeout` nor
+// `hookTimeout` clocks, and the protocol's later `import()` gets the same
+// module instance back (AGENTS.md § Build & Test, the clocked-window rule).
+//
+// Here the root resolves to `lint/dist/index.js`: this package's row in
+// `check:test-source-alias` lists `@objectstack/lint` as still read from
+// `dist/`.
+//
+// Who imports it: every test file in which a traced run of the whole suite
+// saw that first load inside a case. A new file whose cases reach a view read
+// or an object publish imports it too. It is not a `setupFiles` entry,
+// because then every test file in the package pays the load, including the
+// many that never reach it: measured, that added about 200 s of worker time
+// and about a third to the suite's wall time.
+import '@objectstack/lint';
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@
  * `saveMetaItem` / `publishPackageDrafts` run.
  */
 
+// Pays the lint root's first load at collection, never inside a clocked case.
+import './lint-root-preload.testkit.js';
 import { describe, expect, it, vi, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 // The producer's OWN write-verb dispatch decisions, so the fake engine below
 // cannot accept a call ObjectQL refuses. From `@objectstack/metadata-core`,
 
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
 
+// Pays the lint root's first load at collection, never inside a clocked case.
+import './lint-root-preload.testkit.js';
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 // [#5619] The producer's OWN write-verb dispatch decisions (#4550 delete /
 // #5480 update), so the fake engine below cannot accept a call ObjectQL
 
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@
  * `publishPackageDrafts`; nothing on the gate path is stubbed.
  */
 
+// Pays the lint root's first load at collection, never inside a clocked case.
+import './lint-root-preload.testkit.js';
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 import { assertEngineDeleteDispatch, assertEngineUpdateDispatch, assertEngineFindOnePredicate } from '@objectstack/metadata-core';
 import { ObjectStackProtocolImplementation } from './protocol.js';
 
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2025 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
 
+// Pays the lint root's first load at collection, never inside a clocked case.
+import './lint-root-preload.testkit.js';
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 // [#5619] The producer's OWN write-verb dispatch decisions (#4550 delete /
 // #5480 update), so the fake engine below cannot accept a call ObjectQL
 
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2025 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
 
+// Pays the lint root's first load at collection, never inside a clocked case.
+import './lint-root-preload.testkit.js';
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 // [#5619] The producer's OWN write-verb dispatch decisions (#4550 delete /
 // #5480 update), so the fake engine below cannot accept a call ObjectQL
 
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@
  * `findOne` over `sys_metadata` rows, and a registry answering a
  * package-scoped lookup with that package's items only.
  */
+// Pays the lint root's first load at collection, never inside a clocked case.
+import './lint-root-preload.testkit.js';
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { assertEngineFindOnePredicate, isCodeArtifactBody } from '@objectstack/metadata-core';
 import { ObjectStackProtocolImplementation } from './protocol.js';
 
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@
  * shape). Nothing on the save, read or publish path is stubbed.
  */
 
+// Pays the lint root's first load at collection, never inside a clocked case.
+import './lint-root-preload.testkit.js';
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { assertEngineDeleteDispatch, assertEngineUpdateDispatch, assertEngineFindOnePredicate, hashSpec } from '@objectstack/metadata-core';
 import { ObjectStackProtocolImplementation } from './protocol.js';
 
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
  * as a row stored before the rule (`residueField()`).
  */
 
+// Pays the lint root's first load at collection, never inside a clocked case.
+import './lint-root-preload.testkit.js';
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 // [#5619] The producer's OWN write-verb dispatch decisions, imported from
 // `@objectstack/metadata-core` and NOT from `@objectstack/objectql`: objectql
 
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@
  * caller naming an organization reads as the environment does, and a type in
  * the overlay regime keeps its overlay.
  */
+// Pays the lint root's first load at collection, never inside a clocked case.
+import './lint-root-preload.testkit.js';
 import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { assertEngineFindOnePredicate, isCodeArtifactBody } from '@objectstack/metadata-core';
 import type { FlowRegistration } from '@objectstack/spec/api';