From f6f00c1931079fc9fc4028737c34b459fd7d025a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: PandaMan <joewartson757@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2026 10:47:25 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] [2.x] fix: Exclude autoStartServer from lintUnused warnings
 (#6624) (#8708)

**Problem**
Setting `Global / autoStartServer := false` in global.sbt triggers a
spurious lintUnused warning, even though the setting is correctly used
by sbt's server startup logic.

**Solution**
Add `autoStartServer` to the `excludeLintKeys` set in LintUnused.scala,
similar to other server-related settings like `serverConnectionType` and
`serverIdleTimeout`. This prevents the warning while maintaining the
functionality of the setting.
---
 .../main/scala/sbt/internal/LintUnused.scala  |  1 +
 .../project/lint-autostartserver/build.sbt    | 23 +++++++++++++++++++
 .../project/lint-autostartserver/test         |  1 +
 3 files changed, 25 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/lint-autostartserver/build.sbt
 create mode 100644 sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/lint-autostartserver/test

diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/LintUnused.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/LintUnused.scala
index 6f78f3fc4..936caf31d 100644
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/LintUnused.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/LintUnused.scala
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ object LintUnused {
     },
     excludeLintKeys := Set(
       aggregate,
+      autoStartServer,
       concurrentRestrictions,
       commands,
       configuration,
diff --git a/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/lint-autostartserver/build.sbt b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/lint-autostartserver/build.sbt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..974058aa8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/lint-autostartserver/build.sbt
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+// Test for issue #6624: autoStartServer should not trigger lintUnused warning
+Global / autoStartServer := false
+
+@transient
+lazy val check = taskKey[Unit]("")
+
+lazy val root = (project in file("."))
+  .settings(
+    check := Def.uncached {
+      val state = Keys.state.value
+      val includeKeys = (Global / lintIncludeFilter).value
+      val excludeKeys = (Global / lintExcludeFilter).value
+      val result = sbt.internal.LintUnused.lintUnused(state, includeKeys, excludeKeys)
+      // autoStartServer should not appear in the lint results
+      val autoStartServerWarnings = result.filter { case (_, key, _) =>
+        key.contains("autoStartServer")
+      }
+      assert(
+        autoStartServerWarnings.isEmpty,
+        s"autoStartServer should not trigger lintUnused warnings, but found: ${autoStartServerWarnings.map(_._2).mkString(", ")}"
+      )
+    }
+  )
diff --git a/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/lint-autostartserver/test b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/lint-autostartserver/test
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..15675b169
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/lint-autostartserver/test
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+> check