From 1bb0f9b3951e1065898565c7761e411d4dc43a09 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Tim Smith <tsmith84@proton.me>
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2026 16:49:26 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Render the creating resource when a path has several
 resources

The render_file matcher looked up the resource for a path by trying
cookbook_file, then file, then template, and stopped at the first match
regardless of the action that resource performed.

A recipe that renders a config file with a template and removes it with a
guarded file resource therefore matched the file[:delete] resource and
reported the file as unrendered, even though create_template matched and
the template really was rendered.

Prefer whichever candidate resource actually performs a create-like
action and fall back to the first match so failure messages are unchanged
when nothing creates the file.

Fixes chefspec/chefspec#858

Signed-off-by: Tim Smith <tsmith84@proton.me>
---
 examples/render_file/recipes/default.rb      | 10 ++++++++
 examples/render_file/spec/default_spec.rb    |  7 ++++++
 lib/chefspec/matchers/render_file_matcher.rb | 26 +++++++++++++++++---
 3 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/examples/render_file/recipes/default.rb b/examples/render_file/recipes/default.rb
index c761390b..788e8954 100644
--- a/examples/render_file/recipes/default.rb
+++ b/examples/render_file/recipes/default.rb
@@ -13,3 +13,13 @@
 template '/tmp/partial' do
   source 'partial.erb'
 end
+
+# A template and a file resource for the same path, as produced by a recipe
+# that either renders or removes a config file depending on an attribute.
+template '/tmp/template_or_delete' do
+  source 'template.erb'
+end
+
+file '/tmp/template_or_delete' do
+  action :delete
+end
diff --git a/examples/render_file/spec/default_spec.rb b/examples/render_file/spec/default_spec.rb
index 15c15c4e..1f1d3c56 100644
--- a/examples/render_file/spec/default_spec.rb
+++ b/examples/render_file/spec/default_spec.rb
@@ -195,4 +195,11 @@
       it { is_expected.to_not render_file('/tmp/partial').with_content(/^Not(.+)$/) }
     end
   end
+
+  context 'a path with both a template and a file resource' do
+    describe 'renders the template rather than matching the delete' do
+      it { is_expected.to render_file('/tmp/template_or_delete') }
+      it { is_expected.to render_file('/tmp/template_or_delete').with_content('This is content!') }
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/lib/chefspec/matchers/render_file_matcher.rb b/lib/chefspec/matchers/render_file_matcher.rb
index 4bd029c3..8eeb03b1 100644
--- a/lib/chefspec/matchers/render_file_matcher.rb
+++ b/lib/chefspec/matchers/render_file_matcher.rb
@@ -86,9 +86,18 @@ def expected_content_message
     end
 
     def resource
-      @resource ||= @runner.find_resource(:cookbook_file, @path) ||
-        @runner.find_resource(:file, @path) ||
-        @runner.find_resource(:template, @path)
+      return @resource if defined?(@resource)
+
+      candidates = %i{cookbook_file file template}.filter_map do |type|
+        @runner.find_resource(type, @path)
+      end
+
+      # A recipe may declare more than one resource for the same path, most
+      # commonly a template that creates the file and a file resource that
+      # deletes it, with guards selecting between them. Prefer whichever
+      # resource actually creates the file so that we do not report the file as
+      # unrendered just because a sibling delete resource was found first.
+      @resource = candidates.find { |candidate| create_action?(candidate) } || candidates.first
     end
 
     #
@@ -99,6 +108,17 @@ def resource
     # @return [true, false]
     #
     def has_create_action?
+      create_action?(resource)
+    end
+
+    #
+    # Determines if the given resource has a create-like action.
+    #
+    # @param [Chef::Resource] resource
+    #
+    # @return [true, false]
+    #
+    def create_action?(resource)
       %i{create create_if_missing}.any? { |action| resource.performed_action?(action) }
     end