From 06c1732891630bce3aeafa33682afd5684b7cd87 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Saloni Tanmor <saloni.tanmor1@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2026 08:37:22 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] fix: consistent dry-run behavior between NodeController and
 RuleController

---
 internal/controller/node_controller.go | 35 ++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 test/e2e/e2e_test.go                   | 25 +++++++++++-------
 2 files changed, 49 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/internal/controller/node_controller.go b/internal/controller/node_controller.go
index 2d1b1c12..7e0d9294 100644
--- a/internal/controller/node_controller.go
+++ b/internal/controller/node_controller.go
@@ -140,10 +140,41 @@ func (r *RuleReadinessController) processNodeAgainstAllRules(ctx context.Context
 			continue
 		}
 
-		// Skip if dry run
+		// Handle dry run
 		if rule.Spec.DryRun {
-			log.Info("Skipping rule - dry run mode",
+			log.Info("Evaluating rule - dry run mode",
 				"node", node.Name, "rule", rule.Name)
+
+			nodeList := &corev1.NodeList{}
+			if err := r.List(ctx, nodeList); err != nil {
+				log.Error(err, "Failed to list nodes for dry run evaluation", "rule", rule.Name)
+				errs = append(errs, err)
+				continue
+			}
+
+			if err := r.processDryRun(ctx, rule, nodeList); err != nil {
+				log.Error(err, "Failed to process dry run for node",
+					"node", node.Name, "rule", rule.Name)
+				errs = append(errs, err)
+				continue
+			}
+
+			err := retry.RetryOnConflict(retry.DefaultRetry, func() error {
+				latestRule := &readinessv1alpha1.NodeReadinessRule{}
+				if err := r.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKey{Name: rule.Name}, latestRule); err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+				patch := client.MergeFrom(latestRule.DeepCopy())
+				latestRule.Status.DryRunResults = rule.Status.DryRunResults
+				latestRule.Status.ObservedGeneration = rule.Status.ObservedGeneration
+				return r.Status().Patch(ctx, latestRule, patch)
+			})
+
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Error(err, "Failed to update rule status after dry run evaluation",
+					"node", node.Name, "rule", rule.Name)
+				errs = append(errs, err)
+			}
 			continue
 		}
 
diff --git a/test/e2e/e2e_test.go b/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
index e6382e09..1801e9b7 100644
--- a/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
@@ -543,15 +543,22 @@ status:
 			}, 10*time.Second, 2*time.Second).Should(BeTrue())
 
 			By("verifying rule has dry-run results showing what would happen")
-			Eventually(func() bool {
-				cmd := exec.Command("kubectl", "get", "nodereadinessrule", "dryrun-test-rule", "-o", "jsonpath={.status.dryRunResults}")
-				output, err := utils.Run(cmd)
-				if err != nil {
-					return false
-				}
-				// Check that dry run results exist and contain the node
-				return len(output) > 0
-			}, 30*time.Second, 2*time.Second).Should(BeTrue())
+			Eventually(func() string {
+				cmd := exec.Command("kubectl", "get", "nodereadinessrule", "dryrun-test-rule", "-o", "jsonpath={.status.dryRunResults.taintsToAdd}")
+				output, _ := utils.Run(cmd)
+				return output
+			}, 30*time.Second, 2*time.Second).Should(Equal("1"))
+
+			By("updating node condition to True")
+			err = patchNodeCondition(nodeName, "TestReady", "True")
+			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
+			By("verifying rule dry-run results update to reflect the change")
+			Eventually(func() string {
+				cmd := exec.Command("kubectl", "get", "nodereadinessrule", "dryrun-test-rule", "-o", "jsonpath={.status.dryRunResults.taintsToAdd}")
+				output, _ := utils.Run(cmd)
+				return output
+			}, 30*time.Second, 2*time.Second).Should(BeEmpty())
 
 			By("cleaning up test resources")
 			exec.Command("kubectl", "delete", "node", nodeName).Run()