test(agent-mesh): make approval timeout test deterministic

[Buriro Chimodoi Ezekia (buriro-ezekia)]

Related Issue

No dedicated issue. The affected regression was introduced as part of #3106.

Problem & Solution

Problem: TestCallbackTimeoutDeprecation.test_timeout_always_denies relied on time.sleep(0.005) and a subsequent time.monotonic() delta. On Windows, the monotonic clock in the local test environment reported a resolution of 15.625 ms, so a 5 ms sleep could still produce an observed elapsed time of 0.0. With timeout_seconds=0, the test could therefore return the callback's approval instead of exercising the timeout-denial branch.

This made the security regression test intermittently fail even though the implementation remained fail-closed when an elapsed timeout was actually observed.

Solution: replace the real-clock sleep with deterministic monotonic values in the test. The test patches the exact CallbackApproval.request_approval function-global clock for the duration of the test, so it always observes a positive elapsed interval and verifies the intended system:timeout denial without depending on host timer granularity.

Production approval code is unchanged.

Impact on Your Work

The flaky test blocked a clean AgentMesh approval-test baseline on Windows and made repeated local verification unreliable. This change preserves the existing security assertion while making the regression deterministic and portable across platforms.

Timeline

None.

Alternatives Considered

• Increase the sleep duration. This would reduce the likelihood of failure but would still depend on operating-system scheduling and clock resolution, while making the test slower.
• Patch time.monotonic through a separately imported module alias. This was tested first, but the consolidated package layout can load the implementation through a different module object in editable or local installations. Patching the function's own globals targets the clock actually resolved by the implementation.
• Change the production timeout comparison. This was rejected because the failure was caused by the test's timing assumption rather than by the production fail-closed behaviour.

Type of Change

• Bug fix (non-breaking change that fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change that adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)
• Documentation update
• Maintenance (dependency updates, CI/CD, refactoring)
• Security fix

Package(s) Affected

Core & runtime:

• agent-governance-toolkit-core
• agent-primitives
• agent-os
• agent-mesh
• agent-runtime
• agent-sre
• agent-compliance

Governance & security:

• agent-mcp-governance
• agent-rag-governance
• agent-sandbox
• agent-discovery
• agt-policies
• policy-engine

Platform & tooling:

• agent-hypervisor
• agent-lightning
• agent-marketplace
• agent-governance-toolkit-cli
• agent-governance-toolkit-integrations
• agent-governance-toolkit-protocols
• agentmesh-integrations (framework integrations)

CLI plugins:

• agent-governance CLI plugins (copilot-cli / claude-code / opencode / antigravity-cli)

Shared / other:

• schemas
• action (GitHub Action)
• examples
• docs / root

Testing

Unit Testing

• AgentMesh approval-focused suite: 76 passed.
• The previously flaky timeout-denial regression now passes with a deterministic clock.
• Three existing package-consolidation deprecation warnings remain unchanged.

Manual Testing

Verified locally on Windows with Python 3.12:

• python -m pip check — No broken requirements found.
• python -m ruff check agent-governance-python/agent-mesh/tests/test_approval_strict.py — All checks passed!
• Working tree clean after verification.

Checklist

• I have linked a related issue above, or completed "Problem & Solution", "Impact on Your Work", and "Alternatives Considered"
• My code follows the project style guidelines (ruff check)
• I have added tests that prove my fix/feature works
• All new and existing tests pass (pytest)
• I have updated documentation as needed
• I have signed the Microsoft CLA

The full AgentMesh package suite has not been run locally; the focused approval suite passed cleanly. The CLA checkbox is intentionally left open for the repository's CLA bot to confirm.

Attribution & Prior Art

• This contribution does not contain code copied or derived from other projects without attribution
• Any external projects that inspired this design are credited in code comments or documentation
• If this PR implements functionality similar to an existing open-source project, I have listed it below

Prior art / related projects (if any):

None.

AI Assistance

• I can explain every meaningful change in this PR: what it does, why, and what tradeoffs were considered
• I have run tests and verification appropriate for this change
• No part of this PR was autonomously submitted by an AI agent without my review
• I have not used AI to generate review comments on others' PRs

ChatGPT was used to help diagnose the Windows timer-resolution failure and draft the deterministic test change. The exact diff was reviewed and the validation commands were run locally before submission.

IP, Patents, and Licensing

• This contribution does not implement patent-pending or patent-encumbered techniques
• This contribution does not require an NDA or licensing agreement to understand or use
• Any AI tools used have terms compatible with the MIT License

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[github-actions]

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[github-actions]

PR Review Summary

Check	Status	Details
🔍 Code Review	⚠️ Missing	No current-run comment
🛡️ Security Scan	⚠️ Missing	No current-run comment
🔄 Breaking Changes	⚠️ Missing	No current-run comment
📝 Docs Sync	⚠️ Missing	No current-run comment
🧪 Test Coverage	⚠️ Missing	No current-run comment

Verdict: ⚠️ AI review incomplete; ready for human review

AI review comments are untrusted advisory output. The summary reports workflow-generated completion status only, not model-authored pass/fail claims.

[Buriro Chimodoi Ezekia (buriro-ezekia)]

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