# ADR 0006: Default Status Policy timeouts-killed-v1

- Status: accepted
- Date: 2026-10-01
- PR: #9

## Context

The specification starts with the status policy `strict-v1`, under which one `TIMED_OUT` result makes a method `INCONCLUSIVE` (5.2).
It allows a later timeout policy under an identifier of its own and forbids changing `strict-v1` unnoticed.

The first probe run on hsadmin-ng showed that timeouts are a normal result of mutation testing: a mutant that turns a loop endless makes the tests not finish.
Under `strict-v1` every such method had no score, and a strict gate failed with an analysis error on every real run.
Nobody can make these mutants go away.

## Decision

A second policy `timeouts-killed-v1` is `strict-v1` except that `TIMED_OUT` counts as killed — in the numerator and the denominator.
It becomes the default; `strict-v1` stays unchanged and selectable.

- Gradle plugin: `werkcrappit { scorePolicy = "strict-v1" }`.
- PIT plugin alone: `pluginConfiguration` key `werkcrappit.scorePolicy`.
- An unknown policy stops the run.

Why killed and not neutral: a timeout shows that the tests reacted to the change, and PIT's own mutation score counts it as detected; werkcrappit's mutation score then equals PIT's for the same counts.
Why `MEMORY_ERROR` and `RUN_ERROR` stay inconclusive: they may as well come from a broken setup, and counting them as kills would turn a broken setup into good test strength.

## Deviation From the Specification

The default changes from `strict-v1` to `timeouts-killed-v1`, which section 2.3 calls a starting decision, not a fixed one.
`strict-v1` itself, the formula and the non-numeric states are unchanged.
Every report names its policy in `definition.scorePolicyId`, so reports of different policies are never mistaken for each other.

## Consequences

- A timeout from a genuinely hanging setup counts as a kill; the raw count `TIMED_OUT` stays visible per method.
- Reports made before 0.3.0 used `strict-v1`; comparing scores across that boundary needs the same policy.