fix: sanitize error responses and remove sys.exit from library code

mempalace/cli.py

@@ -97,16 +97,19 @@ def cmd_mine(args):
 
 
 def cmd_search(args):
-    from .searcher import search
+    from .searcher import search, SearchError
 
     palace_path = os.path.expanduser(args.palace) if args.palace else MempalaceConfig().palace_path
-    search(
-        query=args.query,
-        palace_path=palace_path,
-        wing=args.wing,
-        room=args.room,
-        n_results=args.results,
-    )
+    try:
+        search(
+            query=args.query,
+            palace_path=palace_path,
+            wing=args.wing,
+            room=args.room,
+            n_results=args.results,
+        )
+    except SearchError:
+        sys.exit(1)
 
 
 def cmd_wakeup(args):

mempalace/mcp_server.py

@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ def _get_collection(create=False):
 def _no_palace():
     return {
         "error": "No palace found",
-        "palace_path": _config.palace_path,
         "hint": "Run: mempalace init <dir> && mempalace mine <dir>",
     }
 
@@ -744,9 +743,13 @@ def handle_request(request):
                 "id": req_id,
                 "result": {"content": [{"type": "text", "text": json.dumps(result, indent=2)}]},
             }
-        except Exception as e:
-            logger.error(f"Tool error in {tool_name}: {e}")
-            return {"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": req_id, "error": {"code": -32000, "message": str(e)}}
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception(f"Tool error in {tool_name}")
+            return {
+                "jsonrpc": "2.0",
+                "id": req_id,
+                "error": {"code": -32000, "message": "Internal tool error"},
+            }
 
     return {
         "jsonrpc": "2.0",

mempalace/searcher.py

@@ -6,11 +6,17 @@
 Returns verbatim text — the actual words, never summaries.
 """
 
-import sys
+import logging
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import chromadb
 
+logger = logging.getLogger("mempalace_mcp")
+
+
+class SearchError(Exception):
+    """Raised when search cannot proceed (e.g. no palace found)."""
+
 
 def search(query: str, palace_path: str, wing: str = None, room: str = None, n_results: int = 5):
     """
@@ -23,7 +29,7 @@ def search(query: str, palace_path: str, wing: str = None, room: str = None, n_r
     except Exception:
         print(f"\n  No palace found at {palace_path}")
         print("  Run: mempalace init <dir> then mempalace mine <dir>")
-        sys.exit(1)
+        raise SearchError(f"No palace found at {palace_path}")
 
     # Build where filter
     where = {}
@@ -47,7 +53,7 @@ def search(query: str, palace_path: str, wing: str = None, room: str = None, n_r
 
     except Exception as e:
         print(f"\n  Search error: {e}")
-        sys.exit(1)
+        raise SearchError(f"Search error: {e}") from e
 
     docs = results["documents"][0]
     metas = results["metadatas"][0]
@@ -95,7 +101,11 @@ def search_memories(
         client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
         col = client.get_collection("mempalace_drawers")
     except Exception as e:
-        return {"error": f"No palace found at {palace_path}: {e}"}
+        logger.error("No palace found at %s: %s", palace_path, e)
+        return {
+            "error": "No palace found",
+            "hint": "Run: mempalace init <dir> && mempalace mine <dir>",
+        }
 
     # Build where filter
     where = {}

tests/conftest.py

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
-def _isolate_home(tmp_path_factory):
+def _isolate_home():
     """Ensure HOME points to a temp dir for the entire test session.
 
     The env vars were already set at module level (above) so that

tests/test_dialect.py

@@ -109,11 +109,11 @@ def test_stats(self):
         original = "We decided to use GraphQL instead of REST. " * 10
         compressed = d.compress(original)
         stats = d.compression_stats(original, compressed)
-        assert stats["ratio"] > 1
-        assert stats["original_chars"] > stats["compressed_chars"]
+        assert stats["size_ratio"] > 1
+        assert stats["original_chars"] > stats["summary_chars"]
 
     def test_count_tokens(self):
-        assert Dialect.count_tokens("hello world") == len("hello world") // 3
+        assert Dialect.count_tokens("hello world") == 2
 
 
 class TestZettelEncoding:

tests/test_mcp_server.py

@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ def _patch_mcp_server(monkeypatch, config, palace_path, kg):
     """Patch the mcp_server module globals to use test fixtures."""
     from mempalace import mcp_server
 
+    assert getattr(config, "palace_path", None) == palace_path, (
+        f"config.palace_path ({getattr(config, 'palace_path', None)!r}) does not match palace_path fixture ({palace_path!r})"
+    )
     monkeypatch.setattr(mcp_server, "_config", config)
     monkeypatch.setattr(mcp_server, "_kg", kg)
 
@@ -149,6 +152,7 @@ def test_get_taxonomy(self, monkeypatch, config, palace_path, seeded_collection,
         assert result["taxonomy"]["notes"]["planning"] == 1
 
     def test_no_palace_returns_error(self, monkeypatch, config, kg):
+        config._file_config["palace_path"] = "/nonexistent/path"
         _patch_mcp_server(monkeypatch, config, "/nonexistent/path", kg)
         from mempalace.mcp_server import tool_status