fix(e2e): run electron-backend-e2e targets without nested pnpm exec

Under `pnpm nx`, the outer pnpm switches to the pinned version and exports
npm_config_manage_package_manager_versions=false. A nested `pnpm exec` then
runs as the older global pnpm, which executes from the workspace root instead
of the target cwd, so cwd-relative specs, globs and configs are not found
("Could not find '<paths joined by commas>'").

Call tsx and playwright directly (run-commands already puts node_modules/.bin
on PATH), quote the harness glob so Node expands it, guard against pnpm exec
returning, and run the performance harness in CI's unit/typecheck job.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -435,6 +435,15 @@ jobs:
             - name: Check i18n drift
               run: pnpm run i18n:check
 
+            # Node specs for the benchmark and journey harness (about ten
+            # seconds). They live in the E2E app, which the unit coverage scope
+            # below treats as out of scope, so this step is not gated by it.
+            - name: Test the performance harness
+              run: pnpm nx run electron-backend-e2e:test-performance-harness --skip-nx-cache
+              env:
+                  CI: true
+                  NX_TASKS_RUNNER_DYNAMIC_OUTPUT: false
+
             # A pull request whose changes cannot reach any Tier A test (docs,
             # notes, other workflows, website, E2E and mock-server apps, release
             # and packaging tooling, a scripts-only package.json edit) skips the

apps/electron-backend-e2e/project.json

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
             "executor": "nx:run-commands",
             "options": {
                 "cwd": "apps/electron-backend-e2e",
-                "command": "pnpm exec tsx --test src/performance/*.spec.ts"
+                "command": "tsx --test \"src/performance/*.spec.ts\""
             }
         },
         "benchmark-m3u-refresh-cancellation": {
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
             "parallelism": false,
             "options": {
                 "cwd": "apps/electron-backend-e2e",
-                "command": "pnpm exec playwright test --config=playwright.performance.config.ts src/m3u-refresh-cancellation.performance.ts"
+                "command": "playwright test --config=playwright.performance.config.ts src/m3u-refresh-cancellation.performance.ts"
             }
         },
         "benchmark-m3u-import": {
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
             "parallelism": false,
             "options": {
                 "cwd": "apps/electron-backend-e2e",
-                "command": "pnpm exec playwright test --config=playwright.performance.config.ts src/m3u-import.performance.ts"
+                "command": "playwright test --config=playwright.performance.config.ts src/m3u-import.performance.ts"
             }
         },
         "benchmark-xtream": {
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
             "parallelism": false,
             "options": {
                 "cwd": "apps/electron-backend-e2e",
-                "command": "pnpm exec playwright test --config=playwright.xtream-performance.config.ts src/xtream.performance.ts"
+                "command": "playwright test --config=playwright.xtream-performance.config.ts src/xtream.performance.ts"
             }
         },
         "benchmark-charset-parse": {
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
             "parallelism": false,
             "options": {
                 "cwd": "apps/electron-backend-e2e",
-                "command": "pnpm exec tsx --expose-gc --tsconfig tsconfig.json src/performance/charset-parse.benchmark.ts"
+                "command": "tsx --expose-gc --tsconfig tsconfig.json src/performance/charset-parse.benchmark.ts"
             }
         },
         "journeys": {
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
             "parallelism": false,
             "options": {
                 "cwd": "apps/electron-backend-e2e",
-                "command": "pnpm exec playwright test --config=playwright.journeys.config.ts"
+                "command": "playwright test --config=playwright.journeys.config.ts"
             }
         },
         "packaged-frame-copy-smoke": {
@@ -78,14 +78,14 @@
             ],
             "options": {
                 "cwd": "apps/electron-backend-e2e",
-                "command": "pnpm exec playwright test --config=playwright.packaged.config.ts src/embedded-mpv-frame-copy-packaged.e2e.ts"
+                "command": "playwright test --config=playwright.packaged.config.ts src/embedded-mpv-frame-copy-packaged.e2e.ts"
             }
         },
         "test-packaged-frame-copy-fixtures": {
             "executor": "nx:run-commands",
             "options": {
                 "cwd": "apps/electron-backend-e2e",
-                "command": "pnpm exec tsx --test src/embedded-mpv-frame-copy-packaged-fixtures.spec.ts"
+                "command": "tsx --test src/embedded-mpv-frame-copy-packaged-fixtures.spec.ts"
             }
         },
         "lint": {

apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/performance/performance-build-config.spec.ts

@@ -88,10 +88,23 @@ test('the performance harness target runs only Node performance specs', () => {
     assert.equal(target.options?.['cwd'], 'apps/electron-backend-e2e');
     assert.equal(
         target.options?.['command'],
-        'pnpm exec tsx --test src/performance/*.spec.ts'
+        'tsx --test "src/performance/*.spec.ts"'
     );
 });
 
+// A nested `pnpm exec` under `pnpm nx` can run from the workspace root instead
+// of the target cwd (an older global pnpm with version switching disabled), so
+// cwd-relative globs, specs and configs are not found. run-commands already
+// puts node_modules/.bin on PATH.
+test('electron-backend-e2e command targets call binaries without pnpm exec', () => {
+    for (const [name, target] of Object.entries(e2eProject.targets)) {
+        const command = target.options?.['command'];
+        if (typeof command !== 'string') continue;
+
+        assert.doesNotMatch(command, /\bpnpm exec\b/, name);
+    }
+});
+
 test('the web performance build keeps production renderer behavior with profiling source maps', () => {
     const build = webProject.targets['build'];
     const production = build.configurations?.['production'];
@@ -242,7 +255,7 @@ test('the cancellation benchmark command is pinned to its Playwright test file',
 
     assert.equal(
         target.options?.['command'],
-        'pnpm exec playwright test --config=playwright.performance.config.ts src/m3u-refresh-cancellation.performance.ts'
+        'playwright test --config=playwright.performance.config.ts src/m3u-refresh-cancellation.performance.ts'
     );
 });
 
@@ -283,7 +296,7 @@ test('the initial M3U import benchmark command is pinned to its Playwright test
 
     assert.equal(
         target.options?.['command'],
-        'pnpm exec playwright test --config=playwright.performance.config.ts src/m3u-import.performance.ts'
+        'playwright test --config=playwright.performance.config.ts src/m3u-import.performance.ts'
     );
 });
 

apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/performance/xtream-benchmark-configuration.spec.ts

@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ describe('Xtream Playwright and Nx plumbing', () => {
         assert.equal(target?.['parallelism'], false);
         assert.equal(
             (target?.['options'] as Record<string, unknown>)?.['command'],
-            'pnpm exec playwright test --config=playwright.xtream-performance.config.ts src/xtream.performance.ts'
+            'playwright test --config=playwright.xtream-performance.config.ts src/xtream.performance.ts'
         );
         assert.equal(
             (entrypoint.match(/runXtreamBenchmark\(\)/g) ?? []).length,

docs/architecture/validation-map.md

@@ -264,7 +264,12 @@ target `master` and for `master` pushes (dispatch it with
 journey spec against the Xtream mock: J1 launch, then J2 open-source (a
 second set of launches, each followed by the click on the portal card), both
 written to the same summary file; its probe specs run with
-`pnpm nx run electron-backend-e2e:test-performance-harness`. The contract, what
+`pnpm nx run electron-backend-e2e:test-performance-harness`, which CI runs in
+the `Unit Tests and Typechecks` job of `ci.yml` on every run. The
+`electron-backend-e2e` command targets call `tsx` and `playwright` directly,
+not through `pnpm exec`: under `pnpm nx`, a nested `pnpm exec` can run from the
+workspace root instead of the target `cwd` and miss cwd-relative specs, globs
+and configs. The contract, what
 counts and how to add a counter or a journey are in the
 [performance journeys](performance-journeys.md) document.