# Code Review — commit 769224c8 "Abort and return to the previous state when elevation is dismissed"

High-effort review (multi-angle finders + independent verification). Items ranked most severe first.

## Findings

1. [x] **`installSelected()` ignores `updateApt()` failure, so a dismissal during the source refresh still shows the install confirmation dialog** — `src/mainwindow.cpp:2242` (MX Test branch) and `:2247` (Backports branch).
   On the MX Test tab with the test repo already enabled, `updateApt()` is the first elevated call; if the user dismisses its pkexec prompt the return value is discarded and the flow continues into `install()`: the user gets the full "OK to install the following packages?" dialog, confirms it, then the operation aborts quietly at the sticky `isLockedGUI()` check — the user believes the packages were installed when nothing happened.
   *Fix: add `if (operationWasCanceled()) { return false; }` after the `updateApt()` calls in `installSelected()` (same pattern as `installPopularApps()`).*

2. [x] **`setupSnapd()` core-snap retry loop has no dismissal guard — one dismissal becomes up to 3 prompts, 3 modal boxes, and multi-minute stalls** — `src/mainwindow.cpp:4538–4567`.
   If the user dismisses the pkexec prompt for `snap install core` (line 4552), the loop just retries: each remaining attempt runs `timeout 120 snap wait system seed.loaded` (up to 120 s with a busy cursor), a 3 s backoff, then a fresh pkexec prompt; each dismissal pops another "Administrator Access Required" box, and the function ends with a misleading "the base \"core\" snap could not be installed" error. No `operationWasCanceled()` check exists anywhere after line 4489.
   *Fix: `if (Cmd::elevationDismissed()) break;` (or return-to-tab) after the `procAsRoot` call in the loop, and skip the final `showError` when dismissed.*

3. [x] **`installFlatpak()` cancel path strands the user on the Output tab and leaves `displayFlatpaksIsRunning` stuck at `true`** — `src/mainwindow.cpp:4182–4187`.
   The early return resets the cursor and re-enables tabs but never calls `setCurrentWidget()` back to a package tab (unlike every other abort path in this commit), and never clears `displayFlatpaksIsRunning` (set at line 4180), so `blockInterfaceFP()` later applies a busy cursor on the next Flatpak-tab visit until some `displayFlatpaks()` run resets it.
   *Fix: restore the previous tab and reset `displayFlatpaksIsRunning` in the canceled branch.*

4. [x] **`Cmd::lockingProcessAsRoot()` now fails open: any non-dismissal helper failure reports "not locked"** — `src/cmd.cpp:125`.
   Returning `{}` on every `helperProc` failure means an outdated helper (exit 1, "Unsupported helper action"), or missing `fuser`/`ps` (exit 127), makes `isLockedGUI()` return false while another apt/dpkg process genuinely holds the lock — the operation proceeds and apt-get fails with the raw "could not get lock" error instead of the friendly "locked by another program: X" warning. The old code surfaced the failure output, which blocked the operation up front.
   *Fix: distinguish dismissal from other failures — e.g. return `{}` only when `Cmd::elevationDismissed()` is set, otherwise return the error output (or a sentinel the caller treats as "locked/unknown").*

5. [x] **`isLockedGUI()` runs the elevated helper before consulting the dismissed flag, forcing a pointless second pkexec prompt** — `src/lockfile.cpp:48–49`.
   When the flag is already set from an earlier dismissal in the same operation (e.g. quit-time cleanup after a dismissed `cleanup_temp`), `getLockingProcess()` still spawns a fresh pkexec prompt whose result is then discarded; dismissing it pops yet another "Administrator Access Required" box.
   *Fix: early-return `true` when `Cmd::elevationDismissed()` is already set, before calling `getLockingProcess()`; keep the existing after-call check for dismissals that happen during this call.*

6. [x] **"Administrator Access Required" text still says "Please restart the application…" — wrong under the new no-exit behavior** — `src/cmd.cpp:241`.
   The app keeps running and simply retrying the action re-prompts; the message may cause users to needlessly restart and lose selections/search state. *(Deliberately deferred: message kept as-is for now to avoid retranslation — reword next time translations are updated.)*

## Known follow-ups (surfaced before commit, listed here for tracking)

7. [x] **`runScriptAsRoot()` bypasses dismissal detection entirely** — `src/mainwindow.cpp:174`.
   `mxpi-lib` calls (`snapd_setup`, `flatpak_add_repos` — polkit `auth_admin_keep`, so they do prompt) launch pkexec directly via `cmd.proc()`: a dismissal there sets no flag and shows no message box, and callers fall into generic error paths. (`mxpi-maintenance` is unaffected in practice: its polkit action is `allow_active=yes`.)
   *Fix options: pass the same `--marker` mechanism to the scripts, or route `mxpi-lib` through the helper's exec allowlist.*

8. [x] **Sticky flag can leak across flows that never call `beginOperation()`** — `src/cmd.cpp:33`.
   A dismissal during a non-button flow (e.g. tab-refresh `updateApt()`) leaves the flag set; the next non-button flow's `isLockedGUI()` then treats a successful lock check as "locked" and shows a spurious "problem updating sources" error. All button-driven flows reset correctly.
   *Fix: reset at the remaining entry points (tab-refresh/startup flows), or clear the flag on the next successful elevated call (weigh against the intentional stickiness documented in cmd.h).*
