phase: 168_admin_settings_panel

**Phase 168 — Admin Settings panel — final verification: PASS**

1. **Implemented/verified:** `/settings.html` (admin-only) with the 75-field catalogue (`app/core/settings_catalog.py`), DB-over-env overrides in Postgres (`app_settings`, migration 0028 at head, `settings_overlay.py` resolver, `app/api/admin_settings.py` — 4 admin-only routes), live-apply on save with no restart + restart-required badges, Reset/Clear all, write-only secrets, `.env`-never-written, `BOR_SETTINGS_DB=0` kill switch.
2. **Phase E2E: 12/12** — run with `E2E_APP_PORT=8200` (ports 8123/8124 are held by an unrelated "undercooked" project; no process killed, no code change — the documented env override).
3. **Regression set: all 7 suites green in isolation** (theme tab, API tokens, configurable brand, global tuning, admin auth, cache busting, wide desktop column — 38 tests).
4. **Full suite: unit+integration exit 0 (4066 passed), app/ coverage 99%** (gate >90%); **ruff clean, pyright 0 errors / 0 warnings.**
5. **Log contract (rule 10) verified live:** per-turn + per-response byte-budget lines present; settings write lines carry key + action, **never the value**.
6. **Byte-budget audit: all endpoints under the 262,144 B budget**; settings catalogue 23,513 B (gzip 3,326).
7. **Defect fixed (one):** criterion 5 had no integration pin — added `test_bad_row_inserted_directly_never_bricks_boot` to `tests/integration/test_admin_settings_api.py` (malformed row inserted directly → fresh `create_app()` boots, row skipped with logged reason, rest of table applies, `/api/health` 200) — 12/12 green.
8. **Docs pass:** `README.md` and `AGENTS.md` reviewed in full — both consistent with the as-built feature (Settings page table, Settings section, Configuration-reference note, `.env.example` block); **no changes required**.
9. **Cleanup:** audit app killed (by PID); `app_settings` left empty (0 rows); all changes left in the working tree (no commit, per protocol).
10. **Completion criteria:** all 7 checkboxes verified green (criterion 7's commit is the harness's).
11. **Next pending phase:** `170_edit_bubble_sizing`.

tests/conftest.py

@@ -35,6 +35,15 @@ SESSION_SECRET = "test-session-secret-0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"
 os.environ.setdefault("BOR_ADMIN_PASSWORD", ADMIN_PASSWORD)
 os.environ.setdefault("BOR_SESSION_SECRET", SESSION_SECRET)
 
+# Phase 168 (task 02): the DB-over-env overlay
+# (app/core/settings_overlay) is pinned OFF for every in-process suite
+# — the shared test DB must never retune the app under test (the same
+# poison-guard reasoning as the phase-140 BOR_PDF_PICTORIAL pin in
+# tests/e2e/conftest.py): a row left behind by one suite would
+# silently change every later suite's settings. Tests that WANT the
+# overlay set BOR_SETTINGS_DB=1 + get_settings.cache_clear() themselves.
+os.environ.setdefault("BOR_SETTINGS_DB", "0")
+
 # Phase 61 (defect fix): the app under test must see the code DEFAULTS,
 # not an operator's local (gitignored) ``.env`` — ``Settings`` loads
 # ``env_file=".env"`` from the repo root, and a machine-specific corpus