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Workflow status is tracked in GitHub: https://github.com/emulebb/emulebb-rust/issues/156. This local document is retained as the durable engineering spec and evidence record.

RUST-CI-028 - Make Windows manifest embedding target-aware

Summary

Embed the Windows application manifest whenever the Cargo target is Windows, including cross-builds from Linux or macOS hosts, and prove that packaged binaries retain the long-path declaration.

Current State

crates/emulebb-daemon/build.rs reads CARGO_CFG_WINDOWS, which is target aware, but the embedding block is also compiled behind #[cfg(windows)], which describes the build-script host. A non-Windows host targeting Windows therefore skips manifest embedding even though the target is Windows. The resulting binary can omit longPathAware and other declared Windows process metadata.

Why This Matters

Build scripts must distinguish host and target explicitly. Native Windows release jobs can conceal this defect, while reproducible cross-build or future multi-platform packaging produces a behaviorally different executable.

Representative Sites

  • crates/emulebb-daemon/build.rs Windows manifest target detection and embed.
  • Windows package and long-path smoke lanes in emulebb-build-tests.
  • RUST-CI-008 cross-platform Unicode and long-path evidence.

Intended Shape

  • Gate manifest embedding only on Cargo target metadata, not host compile-time configuration.
  • Keep non-Windows target builds free of Windows resource work.
  • Inspect the produced PE resource instead of relying only on build-script log output.
  • Exercise at least one supported non-Windows-host to Windows-target build path.

Scope Constraints

  • Do not claim a supported release target solely because a cross-compile step succeeds; retain the supported package and lifecycle matrix.
  • Preserve the existing manifest contents unless a separate compatibility item approves a change.
  • Keep native Windows packaging as a validation lane even after cross-build coverage exists.

Acceptance Criteria

  • [ ] Every Windows target invokes manifest embedding regardless of build host.
  • [ ] Non-Windows targets do not invoke Windows resource embedding.
  • [ ] PE inspection proves the packaged daemon contains the expected manifest and longPathAware declaration.
  • [ ] At least one non-Windows-host cross-build and the native Windows package build pass the same manifest assertion.
  • [ ] Windows long-path package smoke succeeds with the inspected artifact.

Validation

  • Build-script target/host matrix tests where practical.
  • Native Windows and non-Windows-host Windows-target package builds.
  • PE resource inspection plus the bounded long-path smoke owned by RUST-CI-008.