bin/disinto

@@ -684,13 +684,21 @@ _disinto_init_nomad() {
     exit 1
   fi
 
-  # Step 2/3/4 scripts must exist as soon as any --import-* flag is set,
-  # since we unconditionally invoke policies+auth and optionally import.
+  # --empty short-circuits after cluster-up: no policies, no auth, no
+  # import, no deploy. It's the "cluster-only escape hatch" for debugging
+  # (docs/nomad-migration.md). Caller-side validation already rejects
+  # --empty combined with --with or any --import-* flag, so reaching
+  # this branch with those set is a bug in the caller.
+  #
+  # On the default (non-empty) path, vault-apply-policies.sh and
+  # vault-nomad-auth.sh are invoked unconditionally — they are idempotent
+  # and cheap to re-run, and subsequent --with deployments depend on
+  # them. vault-import.sh is invoked only when an --import-* flag is set.
   local import_any=false
   if [ -n "$import_env" ] || [ -n "$import_sops" ]; then
     import_any=true
   fi
-  if [ "$import_any" = true ]; then
+  if [ "$empty" != "true" ]; then
     if [ ! -x "$vault_policies_sh" ]; then
       echo "Error: ${vault_policies_sh} not found or not executable" >&2
       exit 1
@@ -699,7 +707,7 @@ _disinto_init_nomad() {
       echo "Error: ${vault_auth_sh} not found or not executable" >&2
       exit 1
     fi
-    if [ ! -x "$vault_import_sh" ]; then
+    if [ "$import_any" = true ] && [ ! -x "$vault_import_sh" ]; then
       echo "Error: ${vault_import_sh} not found or not executable" >&2
       exit 1
     fi
@@ -722,6 +730,13 @@ _disinto_init_nomad() {
     "${cmd[@]}" || true
     echo ""
 
+    # --empty skips policies/auth/import/deploy — cluster-up only, no
+    # workloads. The operator-visible dry-run plan must match the real
+    # run, so short-circuit here too.
+    if [ "$empty" = "true" ]; then
+      exit 0
+    fi
+
     # Vault policies + auth are invoked on every nomad real-run path
     # regardless of --import-* flags (they're idempotent; S2.1 + S2.3).
     # Mirror that ordering in the dry-run plan so the operator sees the
@@ -793,6 +808,12 @@ _disinto_init_nomad() {
     sudo -n -- "${cluster_cmd[@]}" || exit $?
   fi
 
+  # --empty short-circuits here: cluster-up only, no policies/auth/import
+  # and no deploy. Matches the dry-run plan above and the docs/runbook.
+  if [ "$empty" = "true" ]; then
+    exit 0
+  fi
+
   # Apply Vault policies (S2.1) — idempotent, safe to re-run.
   echo ""
   echo "── Applying Vault policies ────────────────────────────"
@@ -1005,6 +1026,15 @@ disinto_init() {
     exit 1
   fi
 
+  # --empty is the cluster-only escape hatch — it skips policies, auth,
+  # import, and deploy. Pairing it with --import-* silently does nothing,
+  # which is a worse failure mode than a clear error. Reject explicitly.
+  if [ "$empty" = true ] \
+     && { [ -n "$import_env" ] || [ -n "$import_sops" ] || [ -n "$age_key" ]; }; then
+    echo "Error: --empty and --import-env/--import-sops/--age-key are mutually exclusive" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
   # Dispatch on backend — the nomad path runs lib/init/nomad/cluster-up.sh
   # (S0.4). The default and --empty variants are identical today; Step 1
   # will branch on $empty to add job deployment to the default path.

docs/nomad-migration.md

@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ This runs, in order:
 - `--age-key` without `--import-sops` → error.
 - `--import-env` alone (no sops) → OK (imports just the plaintext `.env`).
 - `--backend=docker` with any `--import-*` flag → error.
+- `--empty` with any `--import-*` flag → error (mutually exclusive: `--empty`
+  skips the import step, so pairing them silently discards the import
+  intent).
 
 ## Idempotency
 

tests/disinto-init-nomad.bats

@@ -280,3 +280,33 @@ setup_file() {
   [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
   [[ "$output" == *"env file:  /tmp/.env"* ]]
 }
+
+# --empty short-circuits after cluster-up: no policies, no auth, no
+# import, no deploy. The dry-run plan must match that — cluster-up plan
+# appears, but none of the S2.x section banners do.
+@test "disinto init --backend=nomad --empty --dry-run skips policies/auth/import sections" {
+  run "$DISINTO_BIN" init placeholder/repo --backend=nomad --empty --dry-run
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  # Cluster-up still runs (it's what --empty brings up).
+  [[ "$output" == *"Cluster-up dry-run"* ]]
+  # Policies + auth + import must NOT appear under --empty.
+  [[ "$output" != *"Vault policies dry-run"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" != *"Vault auth dry-run"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" != *"Vault import dry-run"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" != *"no --import-env/--import-sops"* ]]
+}
+
+# --empty + any --import-* flag silently does nothing (import is skipped),
+# so the CLI rejects the combination up front rather than letting it
+# look like the import "succeeded".
+@test "disinto init --backend=nomad --empty --import-env errors" {
+  run "$DISINTO_BIN" init placeholder/repo --backend=nomad --empty --import-env /tmp/.env --dry-run
+  [ "$status" -ne 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == *"--empty and --import-env/--import-sops/--age-key are mutually exclusive"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "disinto init --backend=nomad --empty --import-sops --age-key errors" {
+  run "$DISINTO_BIN" init placeholder/repo --backend=nomad --empty --import-sops /tmp/.env.vault.enc --age-key /tmp/keys.txt --dry-run
+  [ "$status" -ne 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == *"--empty and --import-env/--import-sops/--age-key are mutually exclusive"* ]]
+}