Default precedence

mainattributesdefault.rb

# main/attributes/default.rb
default['foo'] = 'foo'

mainattributesother.rb

# main/attributes/other.rb
include_attribute 'main::default'
default['foo'] = 'bar'

mainrecipesdefault.rb

# main/recipes/default.rb
Chef::Log.info "#### #{node['foo']}"

mainrecipesother.rb

# main/recipes/other.rb
Chef::Log.info "#### #{node['foo']}"

node.json

{ "run_list": "recipe[main::other]" }

Amazingly, it does not matter if run_list is set to main::other or main::default. You get the random foo/bar issue regardless, even though when running main::default, i would not expect it to ever even load the main/attributes/other.rb file!