1 files changed, 34 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_cli_dispatch.py b/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_cli_dispatch.py
index caf672d..f58c020 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_cli_dispatch.py
+++ b/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_cli_dispatch.py
@@ -190,3 +190,37 @@ def test_lifecycle_commands_report_systemctl_failure(
         daemon_mod.main()
     assert exc.value.code == 1
     assert "not loaded" in capsys.readouterr().out
+
+
+def test_a_bare_invocation_with_no_config_yet_exits_cleanly(monkeypatch, tmp_path, capsys):
+    """
+    A bare `meshbay-node` — no subcommand, nothing dispatches, falls through to
+    "start the daemon" at the bottom of main() — is exactly what the Windows W3
+    Startup .vbs and the service-mode Scheduled Task both run unattended. On a
+    fresh install neither has ever provisioned anything, so this is the first
+    thing that runs on the very first boot, quite possibly before the user has
+    ever opened the client.
+
+    This must fail closed, fast, and without a trace: no exception (nothing
+    catches one — the .vbs and the Scheduled Task are both headless, so an
+    uncaught crash is invisible and, run on every boot, an inert but permanent
+    fixture in the Task Scheduler history and Windows' own Application log).
+    Confirmed by hand first: measured under a second and zero bytes written
+    to disk against a real, empty %LOCALAPPDATA%.
+
+    load_config() already returns an empty Config when the path does not
+    exist rather than raising — this pins that main() then notices the empty
+    hub.username and exits before ever reaching NodeDaemon()/asyncio.run(),
+    so nothing here has to mock the daemon startup at all.
+    """
+    missing_config = tmp_path / "does-not-exist" / "node.toml"
+    monkeypatch.setattr(daemon_mod, "DEFAULT_CONFIG_PATH", missing_config)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "argv", ["meshbay-node"])
+
+    with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as exc:
+        daemon_mod.main()
+
+    assert exc.value.code == 1
+    assert "meshbay-node init" in capsys.readouterr().out
+    assert not missing_config.parent.exists(), (
+        "a fresh, unprovisioned start must not create anything on disk")