fix: make embedded NATS opt-in so tests don't hang

Move NATS startup from New() to Start(), so tests that don't use
pubsub never block on server initialization. Add a 10s timeout to
WaitForServer() and skip NATS tests gracefully when unavailable.

nats.go

@@ -56,7 +56,19 @@ func startDefaultNATS() (dn *defaultNATS, err error) {
 		os.RemoveAll(dataDir)
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("start embedded nats: %w", err)
 	}
-	ns.WaitForServer()
+	ready := make(chan struct{})
+	go func() {
+		ns.WaitForServer()
+		close(ready)
+	}()
+	select {
+	case <-ready:
+	case <-time.After(10 * time.Second):
+		ns.Close()
+		cancel()
+		os.RemoveAll(dataDir)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("embedded nats server did not start within 10s")
+	}
 
 	nc, err := ns.Client()
 	if err != nil {

nats_test.go

@@ -10,9 +10,24 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
-func TestPubSub_RoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
+// setupNATSTest creates a *V with an embedded NATS server.
+// Skips the test if NATS fails to start (e.g. port conflict in CI).
+func setupNATSTest(t *testing.T) *V {
+	t.Helper()
 	v := New()
-	defer v.Shutdown()
+	dn, err := getSharedNATS()
+	if err != nil {
+		v.Shutdown()
+		t.Skipf("embedded NATS unavailable: %v", err)
+	}
+	v.defaultNATS = dn
+	v.pubsub = &natsRef{dn: dn}
+	t.Cleanup(v.Shutdown)
+	return v
+}
+
+func TestPubSub_RoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
+	v := setupNATSTest(t)
 
 	var received []byte
 	done := make(chan struct{})
@@ -38,8 +53,7 @@ func TestPubSub_RoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestPubSub_MultipleSubscribers(t *testing.T) {
-	v := New()
-	defer v.Shutdown()
+	v := setupNATSTest(t)
 
 	var mu sync.Mutex
 	var results []string
@@ -84,8 +98,7 @@ func TestPubSub_MultipleSubscribers(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestPubSub_SubscriptionCleanupOnDispose(t *testing.T) {
-	v := New()
-	defer v.Shutdown()
+	v := setupNATSTest(t)
 
 	c := newContext("cleanup-ctx", "/", v)
 	c.View(func() h.H { return h.Div() })
@@ -100,8 +113,7 @@ func TestPubSub_SubscriptionCleanupOnDispose(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestPubSub_ManualUnsubscribe(t *testing.T) {
-	v := New()
-	defer v.Shutdown()
+	v := setupNATSTest(t)
 
 	c := newContext("unsub-ctx", "/", v)
 	c.View(func() h.H { return h.Div() })
@@ -120,8 +132,7 @@ func TestPubSub_ManualUnsubscribe(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestPubSub_NoOpDuringPanicCheck(t *testing.T) {
-	v := New()
-	defer v.Shutdown()
+	v := setupNATSTest(t)
 
 	// Panic-check context has id=""
 	c := newContext("", "/", v)

pubsub.go

@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 package via
 
 // PubSub is an interface for publish/subscribe messaging backends.
-// By default, New() starts an embedded NATS server. Supply a custom
-// implementation via Config(Options{PubSub: yourBackend}) to override.
+// By default, Start() launches an embedded NATS server if no backend
+// has been configured. Supply a custom implementation via
+// Config(Options{PubSub: yourBackend}) to override.
 type PubSub interface {
 	Publish(subject string, data []byte) error
 	Subscribe(subject string, handler func(data []byte)) (Subscription, error)

pubsub_helpers_test.go

@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestPublishSubscribe_RoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
-	v := New()
-	defer v.Shutdown()
+	v := setupNATSTest(t)
 
 	type event struct {
 		Name  string `json:"name"`
@@ -43,8 +42,7 @@ func TestPublishSubscribe_RoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestSubscribe_SkipsBadJSON(t *testing.T) {
-	v := New()
-	defer v.Shutdown()
+	v := setupNATSTest(t)
 
 	type msg struct {
 		Text string `json:"text"`

via.go

@@ -358,6 +358,16 @@ func (v *V) reapOrphanedContexts(suspendAfter, ttl time.Duration) {
 // Start starts the Via HTTP server and blocks until a SIGINT or SIGTERM
 // signal is received, then performs a graceful shutdown.
 func (v *V) Start() {
+	if v.pubsub == nil {
+		dn, err := getSharedNATS()
+		if err != nil {
+			v.logWarn(nil, "embedded NATS unavailable: %v", err)
+		} else {
+			v.defaultNATS = dn
+			v.pubsub = &natsRef{dn: dn}
+		}
+	}
+
 	handler := http.Handler(v.mux)
 	if v.sessionManager != nil {
 		handler = v.sessionManager.LoadAndSave(v.mux)
@@ -833,14 +843,6 @@ func New() *V {
 		v.cleanupCtx(c)
 	})
 
-	dn, err := getSharedNATS()
-	if err != nil {
-		v.logWarn(nil, "embedded NATS unavailable: %v", err)
-	} else {
-		v.defaultNATS = dn
-		v.pubsub = &natsRef{dn: dn}
-	}
-
 	return v
 }