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REQ-F-066: Subprocess Locale Normalization

Tier: Framework-Automatic | Priority: P1

Source: §57 Locale-Dependent Error Messages

Addresses: Severity: Medium / Token Spend: High / Time: Low / Context: Medium

Description

The framework MUST set LC_ALL=C (or LC_MESSAGES=C and LANG=C) in the environment of all spawned subprocesses unless the command explicitly opts out via preserve_locale: true. This ensures that error messages from subprocesses (git, curl, system tools) are always in English and can be reliably pattern-matched. The framework MUST also normalize number formatting (decimal separators, thousands separators) by setting LC_NUMERIC=C in subprocess environments, preventing locale-dependent numeric output from breaking JSON parsing. The locale override applies only to spawned subprocesses; the framework itself always serializes using invariant locale (covered by REQ-F-005).

Acceptance Criteria

  • git error messages are in English regardless of the system locale
  • A subprocess that would normally emit 1.234,56 in a German locale emits 1234.56 under framework management
  • A command with preserve_locale: true does not have LC_ALL=C injected for its subprocesses
  • The parent process locale is unaffected; only subprocess environments are modified

Schema

No dedicated schema type — this requirement governs subprocess environment injection without adding new wire-format fields.

Wire Format

No wire-format fields — this requirement governs framework behavior only.

Example

Framework-Automatic: no command author action needed. The framework sets LC_ALL=C and LC_NUMERIC=C in the environment of every spawned subprocess.

# System locale is German (de_DE)
# Without framework: git outputs German error messages
git push → "Fehler: Zugriff verweigert"

# With framework: LC_ALL=C injected into subprocess env
framework.exec(["git", "push"])
→ "error: access denied"
→ pattern-matchable by any agent

# preserve_locale: true opt-out
register command "localize":
  preserve_locale: true
→ LC_ALL not injected; subprocess uses system locale
Requirement Tier Relationship
REQ-F-005 F Composes: locale-invariant serialization ensures the framework's own output is also locale-clean
REQ-F-062 F Composes: locale injection is applied at the same subprocess-spawn point as array-form enforcement
REQ-F-030 F Composes: tracked child processes receive the normalized locale environment
REQ-F-016 F Composes: UTF-8 sanitization and locale normalization together ensure subprocess output is always parseable