@animalabs/agent-framework 0.21.0 → 0.22.0

package/src/modules/workspace/observe.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,839 @@
+/**
+ * How the workspace observes disk for reconciliation, under the mount's
+ * boundary.
+ *
+ * Observation honors the boundary the way openContainedFile does: the lexical
+ * path is lstat'd first, a symlink is refused unless the mount follows
+ * symlinks, and a followed one must resolve inside the canonical mount root.
+ * Anything that isn't a regular file inside the mount is `unobserved` — it
+ * proves nothing either way, and reconciliation leaves the path alone.
+ *
+ * Reads go through one descriptor that is fstat'd, located inside the mount
+ * and then read, so what is read and the fingerprint recorded with its hash
+ * describe the same file, inside the mount. A hard link is a name inside the
+ * mount like any other, and reading through it shows what that path holds;
+ * only a write in place reaches a file's other names, so effects.ts refuses
+ * that instead.
+ *
+ * Directories are checked (CheckedDir): located inside the mount, with their
+ * identity, and what they showed — a listing, an absence — is accepted only
+ * if each is still the directory its logical path names afterwards. A walk records which
+ * directories it listed completely, and only those prove a file absent: an
+ * unreadable directory, an ignored subtree, the file cap, a symlink the walk
+ * doesn't descend, or a directory that changed while it was listed leave
+ * everything beneath them unproven. Outside a walk, absence is proven the
+ * same way: by a directory inside the mount, still at its path, that lacks
+ * the entry (confirmAbsent). A missing parent alone proves nothing, since a
+ * dangling symlink or a swapped directory looks just like one.
+ *
+ * Each check is made where the operation happens, against what is there at
+ * that moment, so the boundary holds against what is in the mount, including
+ * what appears while an operation runs. Node has no openat or fdopendir, so
+ * a directory is checked by its canonical path and identity, not held open:
+ * a parent replaced concurrently in the window between a check and its use
+ * (or replaced and restored around it) can still redirect a listing or
+ * lookup there. File contents are bound regardless: a file is read only
+ * through a descriptor bound to its path first.
+ */
+
+import { createHash } from 'node:crypto';
+import { constants as fsConstants } from 'node:fs';
+import type { BigIntStats } from 'node:fs';
+import { lstat, mkdir, open, readdir, realpath, stat, statfs } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import type { FileHandle } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { dirname, join, sep } from 'node:path';
+import { sameRootIdentity, type Fingerprint, type RootIdentity } from './disk-agreement.js';
+
+export interface MountView {
+  /** Mount root as configured. */
+  root: string;
+  /**
+   * The root directory disk last agreed under, once the mount has evidence.
+   * A root that resolves to any other directory is unavailable.
+   */
+  rootIdentity?: RootIdentity;
+  followSymlinks: boolean;
+  /** Text above this size is not ingested. */
+  maxFileSize: number;
+  ignore: string[];
+}
+
+export type StatFingerprint = Omit<Fingerprint, 'hashedAt'>;
+
+/**
+ * Opened with every read or write of a workspace path, where the platform has
+ * it: for a regular file it changes nothing, and a FIFO or other special file
+ * swapped in at the path neither blocks the open nor passes the regular-file
+ * check that follows.
+ */
+export const NONBLOCK = typeof fsConstants.O_NONBLOCK === 'number' ? fsConstants.O_NONBLOCK : 0;
+
+export type Observation =
+  | { kind: 'absent' }
+  | { kind: 'file'; size: number; mtimeMs: number; fp: StatFingerprint }
+  | { kind: 'unobserved'; reason: string };
+
+export interface ReadResult {
+  kind: 'read';
+  size: number;
+  mtimeMs: number;
+  fp: Fingerprint;
+  hash: string;
+  /** The whole file, when it is at most the requested limit. */
+  bytes: Buffer | null;
+  /** First bytes, for binary detection and MIME sniffing. */
+  head: Buffer;
+}
+
+/** The first bytes of a file and its size: nothing else was read or hashed. */
+export interface HeadResult {
+  kind: 'head';
+  size: number;
+  mtimeMs: number;
+  head: Buffer;
+}
+
+/** Bytes hashed per read when streaming a file larger than the read limit. */
+const HASH_CHUNK = 1 << 20;
+/** Bytes kept for binary detection and MIME sniffing. */
+export const HEAD_BYTES = 8192;
+/** Timestamps this close to the hashing time can't vouch for the bytes. */
+export const RACY_WINDOW_MS = 2000;
+
+export const OUTSIDE_PARENT = 'a parent directory resolves outside the mount';
+export const NOT_FOLLOWED = 'a symlink, which this mount does not follow';
+export const ROOT_UNAVAILABLE = 'the mount root is unavailable';
+export const ROOT_REPLACED =
+  'the mount root is not the directory disk last agreed with (an unmounted drive, or a replaced directory): ' +
+  'reconnect it; if it was replaced on purpose, sync the mount with acceptRoot to take it as it is now';
+const CHANGED = 'it changed while it was observed';
+const CHANGED_WALK = 'the directory changed while the walk ran';
+const BENEATH_SYMLINK = 'beneath a symlink that does not lead to a directory inside the mount';
+
+export function errno(err: unknown): string | undefined {
+  return (err as { code?: string } | null)?.code;
+}
+
+export function contained(rootReal: string, candidate: string): boolean {
+  return candidate === rootReal || candidate.startsWith(rootReal.endsWith(sep) ? rootReal : rootReal + sep);
+}
+
+/** The mount-relative parent of a path ('' for the root). */
+export function parentOf(relativePath: string): string {
+  const slash = relativePath.lastIndexOf('/');
+  return slash < 0 ? '' : relativePath.slice(0, slash);
+}
+
+/** The last component of a mount-relative path. */
+export function nameOf(relativePath: string): string {
+  return relativePath.slice(relativePath.lastIndexOf('/') + 1);
+}
+
+function lexicalOf(view: MountView, rel: string): string {
+  return rel === '' ? view.root : join(view.root, rel);
+}
+
+// ===========================================================================
+// Checked directories
+// ===========================================================================
+
+export type DirCheck =
+  | { kind: 'checked'; dir: CheckedDir }
+  /**
+   * No directory there, proven: nothing can exist beneath the path. `by` is
+   * the directory whose entries prove it — the one that lacks it, or that
+   * holds the non-directory in its place.
+   */
+  | { kind: 'absent'; by: string }
+  /** Unproven either way; `outside` when it resolves outside the mount. */
+  | { kind: 'unobserved'; reason: string; outside?: true };
+
+/** Errors meaning a directory can't be synced on this filesystem, not that syncing it failed. */
+const DIRECTORY_SYNC_UNSUPPORTED = new Set(['EINVAL', 'ENOTSUP']);
+
+/**
+ * A directory inside the mount, as it was checked: its canonical path and
+ * its identity. Its entries are named through that path, and what it showed
+ * is accepted only while it is still the directory its logical path names
+ * (see the module doc for what that does and doesn't bind).
+ */
+export class CheckedDir {
+  constructor(
+    /** Mount-relative path ('' for the root). */
+    readonly rel: string,
+    /** Its canonical location when checked. */
+    readonly real: string,
+    private readonly lexical: string,
+    private readonly dev: bigint,
+    private readonly ino: bigint,
+  ) {}
+
+  /** Which directory it is. */
+  identity(): RootIdentity {
+    return { dev: String(this.dev), ino: String(this.ino) };
+  }
+
+  /** A path that reaches `name` in this directory. */
+  at(name: string): string {
+    return join(this.real, name);
+  }
+
+  /** Whether it is still the directory its logical path names: same location, same directory. */
+  async stillHere(): Promise<boolean> {
+    if ((await realpath(this.lexical).catch(() => null)) !== this.real) return false;
+    const info = await lstat(this.real, { bigint: true }).catch(() => null);
+    return info !== null && info.isDirectory() && info.dev === this.dev && info.ino === this.ino;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Make its entries durable: this very directory, never one that replaced
+   * it at its path. Throws if it can't; a filesystem that can't sync
+   * directories (or Windows, where a directory can't be opened for it) is
+   * not a failure.
+   */
+  async sync(): Promise<void> {
+    if (process.platform === 'win32') return;
+    const handle = await open(this.real, 'r');
+    try {
+      const info = await handle.stat({ bigint: true });
+      if (!info.isDirectory() || info.dev !== this.dev || info.ino !== this.ino) throw new Error(CHANGED);
+      try {
+        await handle.sync();
+      } catch (err) {
+        if (!DIRECTORY_SYNC_UNSUPPORTED.has(errno(err) ?? '')) throw err;
+      }
+    } finally {
+      await handle.close();
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+/** Check the directory at a canonical location, if one is there. */
+async function checkedAt(view: MountView, rel: string, real: string): Promise<CheckedDir | null> {
+  const info = await lstat(real, { bigint: true }).catch(() => null);
+  if (!info?.isDirectory()) return null;
+  return new CheckedDir(rel, real, lexicalOf(view, rel), info.dev, info.ino);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Where a mount directory is now: checked; missing — nothing there, or not a
+ * directory, either way for confirmAbsent to prove; or not inside the mount.
+ */
+async function locateDir(view: MountView, rootReal: string, rel: string): Promise<DirCheck | { kind: 'missing' }> {
+  const lexical = lexicalOf(view, rel);
+  let real: string;
+  try {
+    real = await realpath(lexical);
+  } catch (err) {
+    const code = errno(err);
+    if (code === 'ENOENT' || code === 'ENOTDIR') return rel === '' ? { kind: 'unobserved', reason: ROOT_UNAVAILABLE } : { kind: 'missing' };
+    return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: `cannot resolve the directory (${code ?? String(err)})` };
+  }
+  if (rel === '') {
+    // The root is whatever the configured path names, and it must still be
+    // the root the pass was given.
+    if (real !== rootReal) return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: ROOT_UNAVAILABLE };
+  } else if (!contained(rootReal, real)) {
+    return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: OUTSIDE_PARENT, outside: true };
+  }
+  const checked = await checkedAt(view, rel, real);
+  if (checked) {
+    // A root that isn't the directory disk last agreed under proves nothing
+    // about the files that agreed: an empty mountpoint where a drive was
+    // would otherwise read as every file deleted.
+    if (rel === '' && view.rootIdentity && !sameRootIdentity(checked.identity(), view.rootIdentity)) {
+      return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: ROOT_REPLACED };
+    }
+    return { kind: 'checked', dir: checked };
+  }
+  return rel === '' ? { kind: 'unobserved', reason: ROOT_UNAVAILABLE } : { kind: 'missing' };
+}
+
+/**
+ * The mount root as it is now: its identity if it is available (a directory,
+ * the one the pass was given, and the one disk last agreed under), else why not.
+ */
+export async function locateRoot(view: MountView, rootReal: string): Promise<{ identity: RootIdentity } | { reason: string }> {
+  const found = await checkRoot(view, rootReal);
+  return 'dir' in found ? { identity: found.dir.identity() } : found;
+}
+
+/** The mount root as locateRoot finds it, checked, so a caller can ask later whether it's still there. */
+export async function checkRoot(view: MountView, rootReal: string): Promise<{ dir: CheckedDir } | { reason: string }> {
+  const found = await locateDir(view, rootReal, '');
+  if (found.kind === 'checked') return { dir: found.dir };
+  return { reason: found.kind === 'unobserved' ? found.reason : ROOT_UNAVAILABLE };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Check the directory at a mount-relative path. With `create`, missing
+ * directories are made one at a time beneath the deepest one that exists;
+ * the mount root itself is never created (a missing root is an unavailable
+ * mount). Without it, a missing directory is `absent` only where that can be
+ * proven (confirmAbsent).
+ */
+export async function checkDir(view: MountView, rootReal: string, rel: string, opts: { create?: boolean } = {}): Promise<DirCheck> {
+  const found = await locateDir(view, rootReal, rel);
+  if (found.kind !== 'missing') return found;
+  if (opts.create) return createDir(view, rootReal, rel);
+  const proof = await confirmAbsent(view, rootReal, rel, 'beneath');
+  return typeof proof === 'string' ? { kind: 'unobserved', reason: proof } : { kind: 'absent', by: proof.by };
+}
+
+async function createDir(view: MountView, rootReal: string, rel: string): Promise<DirCheck> {
+  const parts = rel.split('/');
+  let base: CheckedDir | null = null;
+  let depth = parts.length - 1;
+  for (; depth >= 0; depth--) {
+    const found = await locateDir(view, rootReal, parts.slice(0, depth).join('/'));
+    if (found.kind === 'checked') {
+      base = found.dir;
+      break;
+    }
+    if (found.kind !== 'missing') return found;
+  }
+  if (base === null) return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: ROOT_UNAVAILABLE };
+  for (let i = depth; i < parts.length; i++) {
+    const childRel = parts.slice(0, i + 1).join('/');
+    try {
+      await mkdir(base.at(parts[i]!));
+    } catch (err) {
+      const code = errno(err);
+      if (code !== 'EEXIST') return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: `cannot create the directory ${childRel} (${code ?? String(err)})` };
+    }
+    // Made, or there already (made meanwhile, or not a directory): it must
+    // be a real directory now, never a symlink or file in its place.
+    const checked = await checkedAt(view, childRel, base.at(parts[i]!));
+    if (!checked) return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: 'a parent path is not a directory' };
+    base = checked;
+  }
+  return { kind: 'checked', dir: base };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Prove that nothing exists at a mount-relative path (`entry`), or that no
+ * directory does, so nothing can exist beneath it (`beneath`). Walking down
+ * from the root through checked directories: some directory lacks the next
+ * component; or a component is a non-directory, still the same one, beneath
+ * which nothing can exist. Either proves it only while every directory the
+ * walk went through, the root included, is still the one its path names
+ * afterwards: a root or parent replaced during the walk would otherwise lend
+ * its replacement's absence to the original's path. Symlinked directories
+ * inside the mount are followed as parents; any other symlink proves
+ * nothing. Returns the directory whose entries prove it, or why absence
+ * couldn't be shown.
+ */
+export async function confirmAbsent(view: MountView, rootReal: string, rel: string, target: 'entry' | 'beneath' = 'entry'): Promise<{ by: string } | string> {
+  const root = await locateDir(view, rootReal, '');
+  if (root.kind !== 'checked') return ROOT_UNAVAILABLE;
+  let cur: CheckedDir = root.dir;
+  /** Every directory the walk went through, the root first. */
+  const walked: CheckedDir[] = [cur];
+  const proven = async (): Promise<{ by: string } | string> => {
+    for (const dir of walked) if (!(await dir.stillHere())) return CHANGED;
+    return { by: cur.rel };
+  };
+  const parts = rel.split('/');
+  for (let i = 0; i < parts.length; i++) {
+    const name = parts[i]!;
+    const last = i === parts.length - 1;
+    const childRel = parts.slice(0, i + 1).join('/');
+    let info;
+    try {
+      info = await lstat(cur.at(name), { bigint: true });
+    } catch (err) {
+      const code = errno(err);
+      if (code === 'ENOTDIR') return CHANGED;
+      if (code !== 'ENOENT') return `cannot stat (${code ?? String(err)})`;
+      // Absent from a directory that, like each above it, is still the one its path names.
+      return proven();
+    }
+    if (info.isDirectory()) {
+      if (last) return CHANGED; // present after all
+      cur = new CheckedDir(childRel, cur.at(name), lexicalOf(view, childRel), info.dev, info.ino);
+      walked.push(cur);
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (info.isSymbolicLink()) {
+      if (last && target === 'entry') return CHANGED; // present: the link itself
+      const located = await locateDir(view, rootReal, childRel);
+      if (located.kind !== 'checked') return BENEATH_SYMLINK;
+      if (last) return CHANGED; // a directory there after all
+      cur = located.dir;
+      walked.push(cur);
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (last && target === 'entry') return CHANGED; // present after all
+    // A non-directory: nothing can exist beneath it, while it is still this
+    // same one, in the directory still at its path.
+    const again = await lstat(cur.at(name), { bigint: true }).catch(() => null);
+    if (again === null || again.isDirectory() || again.isSymbolicLink() || again.dev !== info.dev || again.ino !== info.ino) return CHANGED;
+    return proven();
+  }
+  return CHANGED;
+}
+
+async function absence(view: MountView, rootReal: string, rel: string): Promise<Exclude<Observation, { kind: 'file' }>> {
+  const proof = await confirmAbsent(view, rootReal, rel);
+  return typeof proof === 'string' ? { kind: 'unobserved', reason: proof } : { kind: 'absent' };
+}
+
+// ===========================================================================
+// Fingerprints
+// ===========================================================================
+
+function statFingerprint(st: { size: bigint; mtimeNs: bigint; ctimeNs: bigint; ino: bigint; dev: bigint }): StatFingerprint {
+  return {
+    size: Number(st.size),
+    mtimeNs: st.mtimeNs.toString(),
+    ctimeNs: st.ctimeNs.toString(),
+    ino: st.ino.toString(),
+    dev: st.dev.toString(),
+  };
+}
+
+/** Same file, same bytes, as far as stat can tell. */
+export function sameFingerprint(a: StatFingerprint, b: StatFingerprint): boolean {
+  return a.size === b.size && a.mtimeNs === b.mtimeNs && a.ctimeNs === b.ctimeNs && a.ino === b.ino && a.dev === b.dev;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether a recorded fingerprint vouches that the current file still holds
+ * the bytes hashed with it: the filesystem maintains ctime (so no user-space
+ * tool can restore the old stamps after a write), every field matches, and
+ * the file's timestamps were already more than the racy window old when it
+ * was hashed (a write in the same timestamp tick can't hide behind them).
+ * Device and inode are part of it, so a stat that reached another file — a
+ * path whose parent was swapped, say — can never vouch for P's bytes.
+ */
+export function fingerprintVouches(recorded: Fingerprint | undefined, current: StatFingerprint, trusted: boolean): boolean {
+  if (!trusted || !recorded || !sameFingerprint(recorded, current)) return false;
+  const newest = Math.max(Number(BigInt(current.mtimeNs) / 1_000_000n), Number(BigInt(current.ctimeNs) / 1_000_000n));
+  return recorded.hashedAt - newest > RACY_WINDOW_MS;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Linux filesystems known to maintain ctime on every content write (statfs
+ * f_type). Elsewhere a fingerprint can't vouch, and every observation rehashes.
+ */
+const CTIME_TRUSTED_FS_TYPES = new Set<number>([
+  0xef53, // ext2/ext3/ext4
+  0x58465342, // xfs
+  0x9123683e, // btrfs
+  0x01021994, // tmpfs
+  0xf2f52010, // f2fs
+  0x2fc12fc1, // zfs
+  0x794c7630, // overlayfs
+]);
+
+/** Whether a statfs f_type is one of those filesystems. */
+export function fsTypeTrustsCtime(type: number | bigint): boolean {
+  return CTIME_TRUSTED_FS_TYPES.has(Number(type) >>> 0);
+}
+
+export async function filesystemTrustsCtime(root: string): Promise<boolean> {
+  if (process.platform !== 'linux') return false;
+  try {
+    return fsTypeTrustsCtime((await statfs(root)).type);
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+// ===========================================================================
+// Paths and files
+// ===========================================================================
+
+/**
+ * Where a path's parent directory canonically lies: inside the mount, gone
+ * (absence is then proven separately), or somewhere a no-follow open would
+ * still reach through — O_NOFOLLOW guards only the final component.
+ */
+async function parentPlacement(rootReal: string, lexical: string): Promise<'inside' | 'gone' | { reason: string }> {
+  try {
+    const parent = await realpath(dirname(lexical));
+    return contained(rootReal, parent) ? 'inside' : { reason: OUTSIDE_PARENT };
+  } catch (err) {
+    const code = errno(err);
+    if (code === 'ENOENT' || code === 'ENOTDIR') return 'gone';
+    return { reason: `cannot resolve the parent directory (${code ?? String(err)})` };
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Observe a mount-relative path without reading it. A `file` here is only a
+ * stat — anything decided on its bytes is read through a located descriptor,
+ * or vouched for by a fingerprint of the very inode P was recorded from — so
+ * only `absent` needs proof beyond the path lookup, and gets it.
+ */
+export async function observePath(view: MountView, rootReal: string, relativePath: string): Promise<Observation> {
+  const lexical = join(view.root, relativePath);
+  const placement = await parentPlacement(rootReal, lexical);
+  if (placement === 'gone') return absence(view, rootReal, relativePath);
+  if (placement !== 'inside') return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: placement.reason };
+  let info;
+  try {
+    info = await lstat(lexical, { bigint: true });
+  } catch (err) {
+    const code = errno(err);
+    if (code === 'ENOENT' || code === 'ENOTDIR') return absence(view, rootReal, relativePath);
+    return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: `cannot stat (${code ?? String(err)})` };
+  }
+  if (info.isSymbolicLink()) {
+    if (!view.followSymlinks) return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: NOT_FOLLOWED };
+    let target;
+    try {
+      target = await stat(lexical, { bigint: true });
+    } catch (err) {
+      return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: `a symlink whose target cannot be read (${errno(err) ?? String(err)})` };
+    }
+    let real: string;
+    try {
+      real = await realpath(lexical);
+    } catch (err) {
+      return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: `a symlink that cannot be resolved (${errno(err) ?? String(err)})` };
+    }
+    if (!contained(rootReal, real)) return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: 'a symlink that leaves the mount' };
+    if (!target.isFile()) return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: 'not a regular file' };
+    info = target;
+  } else if (info.isDirectory()) {
+    return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: 'a directory' };
+  } else if (!info.isFile()) {
+    return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: 'not a regular file' };
+  }
+  return { kind: 'file', size: Number(info.size), mtimeMs: Number(info.mtimeMs), fp: statFingerprint(info) };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Open a mount-relative file for reading, located: a regular file that
+ * canonically lies inside the mount — whatever the symlink policy, since a
+ * symlinked parent escapes O_NOFOLLOW — and is the file the canonical path
+ * names now. The handle is the caller's to close.
+ */
+async function openContained(
+  view: MountView,
+  rootReal: string,
+  relativePath: string,
+): Promise<{ handle: FileHandle; info: BigIntStats } | Exclude<Observation, { kind: 'file' }>> {
+  const lexical = join(view.root, relativePath);
+  const noFollow = !view.followSymlinks && typeof fsConstants.O_NOFOLLOW === 'number';
+  if (!view.followSymlinks && !noFollow) {
+    // No O_NOFOLLOW (Windows): refuse a symlink by lstat before opening.
+    const seen = await observePath(view, rootReal, relativePath);
+    if (seen.kind !== 'file') return seen;
+  }
+  let handle;
+  try {
+    // O_NONBLOCK: a FIFO swapped in since any lstat opens at once instead of
+    // waiting for a writer, and the regular-file check below refuses it.
+    handle = await open(lexical, fsConstants.O_RDONLY | NONBLOCK | (noFollow ? fsConstants.O_NOFOLLOW : 0));
+  } catch (err) {
+    const code = errno(err);
+    if (code === 'ENOENT' || code === 'ENOTDIR') return absence(view, rootReal, relativePath);
+    if (code === 'ELOOP' && !view.followSymlinks) return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: NOT_FOLLOWED };
+    if (code === 'EISDIR') return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: 'a directory' };
+    return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: `cannot open (${code ?? String(err)})` };
+  }
+  let keep = false;
+  try {
+    const info = await handle.stat({ bigint: true });
+    if (!info.isFile()) return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: info.isDirectory() ? 'a directory' : 'not a regular file' };
+    const real = await realpath(lexical).catch(() => null);
+    if (real === null) return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: 'the file changed while it was read' };
+    if (!contained(rootReal, real)) {
+      return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: view.followSymlinks ? 'a symlink that leaves the mount' : OUTSIDE_PARENT };
+    }
+    const named = await stat(real, { bigint: true }).catch(() => null);
+    if (named === null || named.dev !== info.dev || named.ino !== info.ino) {
+      return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: 'the file changed while it was read' };
+    }
+    if (!view.followSymlinks) {
+      // Where no symlink is followed, the path itself must be the file the
+      // descriptor holds: without O_NOFOLLOW, a link swapped in after the
+      // lstat above is followed by the open.
+      const entry = await lstat(lexical, { bigint: true }).catch(() => null);
+      if (entry?.isSymbolicLink()) return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: NOT_FOLLOWED };
+      if (entry === null || !entry.isFile() || entry.dev !== info.dev || entry.ino !== info.ino) {
+        return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: 'the file changed while it was read' };
+      }
+    }
+    keep = true;
+    return { handle, info };
+  } catch (err) {
+    const code = errno(err);
+    if (code === 'ENOENT') return absence(view, rootReal, relativePath);
+    return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: `cannot read (${code ?? String(err)})` };
+  } finally {
+    if (!keep) await handle.close();
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Read and hash a mount-relative file through one located descriptor. The
+ * whole file is returned when it is at most `limit` bytes; larger files are
+ * hashed in chunks and only their head is kept.
+ */
+export async function readPath(
+  view: MountView,
+  rootReal: string,
+  relativePath: string,
+  limit: number,
+): Promise<ReadResult | Exclude<Observation, { kind: 'file' }>> {
+  const opened = await openContained(view, rootReal, relativePath);
+  if (!('handle' in opened)) return opened;
+  const { handle, info } = opened;
+  try {
+    const hashedAt = Date.now();
+    const size = Number(info.size);
+    const fp: Fingerprint = { ...statFingerprint(info), hashedAt };
+    if (size <= limit) {
+      const bytes = await handle.readFile();
+      return {
+        kind: 'read',
+        size: bytes.byteLength,
+        mtimeMs: Number(info.mtimeMs),
+        fp: { ...fp, size: bytes.byteLength },
+        hash: createHash('sha256').update(bytes).digest('hex'),
+        bytes,
+        head: bytes.subarray(0, HEAD_BYTES),
+      };
+    }
+    const hash = createHash('sha256');
+    const chunk = Buffer.alloc(HASH_CHUNK);
+    let head: Buffer | null = null;
+    let offset = 0;
+    for (;;) {
+      const { bytesRead } = await handle.read(chunk, 0, HASH_CHUNK, offset);
+      if (bytesRead === 0) break;
+      if (head === null) head = Buffer.from(chunk.subarray(0, Math.min(bytesRead, HEAD_BYTES)));
+      hash.update(chunk.subarray(0, bytesRead));
+      offset += bytesRead;
+    }
+    return {
+      kind: 'read',
+      size: offset,
+      mtimeMs: Number(info.mtimeMs),
+      fp: { ...fp, size: offset },
+      hash: hash.digest('hex'),
+      bytes: null,
+      head: head ?? Buffer.alloc(0),
+    };
+  } catch (err) {
+    const code = errno(err);
+    if (code === 'ENOENT') return absence(view, rootReal, relativePath);
+    return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: `cannot read (${code ?? String(err)})` };
+  } finally {
+    await handle.close();
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * The first bytes of a mount-relative file and its size, through the same
+ * located descriptor as readPath — for listing a file nothing tracks, which
+ * needs a MIME type, not a hash.
+ */
+export async function readHead(
+  view: MountView,
+  rootReal: string,
+  relativePath: string,
+): Promise<HeadResult | Exclude<Observation, { kind: 'file' }>> {
+  const opened = await openContained(view, rootReal, relativePath);
+  if (!('handle' in opened)) return opened;
+  const { handle, info } = opened;
+  try {
+    const head = Buffer.alloc(HEAD_BYTES);
+    const { bytesRead } = await handle.read(head, 0, HEAD_BYTES, 0);
+    return { kind: 'head', size: Number(info.size), mtimeMs: Number(info.mtimeMs), head: head.subarray(0, bytesRead) };
+  } catch (err) {
+    return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: `cannot read (${errno(err) ?? String(err)})` };
+  } finally {
+    await handle.close();
+  }
+}
+
+/** Null bytes in the first 8 KB: the store holds text only from disk. */
+export function looksBinary(head: Buffer): boolean {
+  return head.subarray(0, HEAD_BYTES).includes(0);
+}
+
+/** Image MIME type from magic bytes, for listing disk-only files. */
+export function sniffImageMime(head: Buffer): string | undefined {
+  if (head.length >= 8 && head.subarray(0, 8).equals(Buffer.from([0x89, 0x50, 0x4e, 0x47, 0x0d, 0x0a, 0x1a, 0x0a]))) return 'image/png';
+  if (head.length >= 3 && head[0] === 0xff && head[1] === 0xd8 && head[2] === 0xff) return 'image/jpeg';
+  if (head.length >= 6 && (head.subarray(0, 6).toString('ascii') === 'GIF87a' || head.subarray(0, 6).toString('ascii') === 'GIF89a')) return 'image/gif';
+  if (head.length >= 12 && head.subarray(0, 4).toString('ascii') === 'RIFF' && head.subarray(8, 12).toString('ascii') === 'WEBP') return 'image/webp';
+  return undefined;
+}
+
+// ===========================================================================
+// Walks
+// ===========================================================================
+
+export interface Walk {
+  /** Regular files seen. */
+  files: Set<string>;
+  /** Directories seen. */
+  dirs: Set<string>;
+  /** Names seen that are neither (symlinks, sockets…), or ignored: present, unproven. */
+  others: Map<string, string>;
+  /** Directories listed completely. */
+  complete: Set<string>;
+  /** Directories that don't exist (everything beneath them is absent). */
+  missing: Set<string>;
+  /**
+   * Where the walk didn't reach, and why. `error` and `cap` regions may hide
+   * files the listing would show; `ignored` and `symlink` ones matter only
+   * where tracked entries lie beneath them.
+   */
+  incomplete: Array<{ path: string; reason: string; kind: 'error' | 'cap' | 'ignored' | 'symlink' }>;
+}
+
+/** Simple ignore patterns, as the watcher and the old walk read them. */
+export function isIgnored(relativePath: string, name: string, patterns: string[]): boolean {
+  for (const pattern of patterns) {
+    if (pattern === name) return true;
+    if (pattern.endsWith('/**')) {
+      const prefix = pattern.slice(0, -3);
+      if (relativePath === prefix || relativePath.startsWith(prefix + '/')) return true;
+    }
+    if (!pattern.includes('/') && relativePath === pattern) return true;
+    if (pattern.startsWith('*.') && name.endsWith(pattern.slice(1))) return true;
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+
+/**
+ * A subdirectory a checked directory's listing showed, checked in turn: still a
+ * real directory beneath that same directory. One that became a symlink or a
+ * file since is never followed, and proves nothing.
+ */
+async function checkChild(view: MountView, rootReal: string, parent: CheckedDir, rel: string): Promise<DirCheck> {
+  const real = parent.at(nameOf(rel));
+  let info;
+  try {
+    info = await lstat(real, { bigint: true });
+  } catch (err) {
+    if (errno(err) !== 'ENOENT') return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: `cannot stat (${errno(err) ?? String(err)})` };
+    const proof = await confirmAbsent(view, rootReal, rel, 'beneath');
+    return typeof proof === 'string' ? { kind: 'unobserved', reason: proof } : { kind: 'absent', by: proof.by };
+  }
+  if (!info.isDirectory()) return { kind: 'unobserved', reason: CHANGED_WALK };
+  return { kind: 'checked', dir: new CheckedDir(rel, real, lexicalOf(view, rel), info.dev, info.ino) };
+}
+
+/**
+ * List a directory scope ('' for the mount root), descending when recursive,
+ * up to `cap` files in total. A scope that resolves outside the mount is not
+ * listed at all; beneath it, the walk only descends real directories, never
+ * symlinks. Each directory's listing counts only if, once listed, it is still
+ * the directory at its path: a directory moved or replaced meanwhile is an
+ * incomplete region, contributing no names and proving nothing absent.
+ */
+export async function walkScope(view: MountView, rootReal: string, scope: string, recursive: boolean, cap: number): Promise<Walk> {
+  const walk: Walk = { files: new Set(), dirs: new Set(), others: new Map(), complete: new Set(), missing: new Set(), incomplete: [] };
+  const top = await checkDir(view, rootReal, scope);
+  if (top.kind === 'absent') {
+    walk.missing.add(scope);
+    return walk;
+  }
+  if (top.kind === 'unobserved') {
+    walk.incomplete.push({ path: scope, reason: top.outside ? 'the directory resolves outside the mount' : top.reason, kind: 'error' });
+    return walk;
+  }
+  let capped = false;
+
+  const visit = async (dir: CheckedDir): Promise<void> => {
+    const rel = dir.rel;
+    if (capped) {
+      walk.incomplete.push({ path: rel, reason: `not visited: the file cap (${cap}) was reached`, kind: 'cap' });
+      return;
+    }
+    let entries;
+    try {
+      entries = await readdir(dir.real, { withFileTypes: true });
+    } catch (err) {
+      const code = errno(err);
+      if (code === 'ENOENT' || code === 'ENOTDIR') {
+        // Gone since it was checked: absent beneath only if that can be shown.
+        const proof = rel === '' ? ROOT_UNAVAILABLE : await confirmAbsent(view, rootReal, rel, 'beneath');
+        if (typeof proof === 'string') walk.incomplete.push({ path: rel, reason: proof, kind: 'error' });
+        else walk.missing.add(rel);
+        return;
+      }
+      walk.incomplete.push({ path: rel, reason: `cannot list (${code ?? String(err)})`, kind: 'error' });
+      return;
+    }
+    const files: string[] = [];
+    const subdirs: string[] = [];
+    const others: Array<[string, string]> = [];
+    const regions: Walk['incomplete'] = [];
+    let reachedCap = false;
+    for (const entry of entries) {
+      const childRel = rel ? `${rel}/${entry.name}` : entry.name;
+      if (isIgnored(childRel, entry.name, view.ignore)) {
+        others.push([childRel, 'ignored by the mount']);
+        regions.push({ path: childRel, reason: 'ignored by the mount', kind: 'ignored' });
+        continue;
+      }
+      if (entry.isDirectory()) {
+        subdirs.push(childRel);
+      } else if (entry.isFile()) {
+        if (walk.files.size + files.length >= cap) {
+          capped = true;
+          reachedCap = true;
+          regions.push({ path: rel, reason: `the file cap (${cap}) was reached`, kind: 'cap' });
+          break;
+        }
+        files.push(childRel);
+      } else {
+        const symlink = entry.isSymbolicLink();
+        others.push([childRel, symlink ? 'a symlink' : 'not a regular file']);
+        if (symlink) regions.push({ path: childRel, reason: 'a symlink, not walked', kind: 'symlink' });
+      }
+    }
+    // A listing of a directory that was moved or replaced meanwhile says
+    // nothing about this path: neither its names nor its absences count.
+    if (!(await dir.stillHere())) {
+      walk.incomplete.push({ path: rel, reason: CHANGED_WALK, kind: 'error' });
+      return;
+    }
+    for (const f of files) walk.files.add(f);
+    for (const d of subdirs) walk.dirs.add(d);
+    for (const [p, why] of others) walk.others.set(p, why);
+    walk.incomplete.push(...regions);
+    if (reachedCap) return;
+    walk.complete.add(rel);
+    if (!recursive) return;
+    for (const sub of subdirs) {
+      const child = await checkChild(view, rootReal, dir, sub);
+      if (child.kind === 'checked') await visit(child.dir);
+      else if (child.kind === 'absent') walk.missing.add(sub);
+      else walk.incomplete.push({ path: sub, reason: child.reason, kind: 'error' });
+    }
+  };
+
+  await visit(top.dir);
+  return walk;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether the walk proves nothing exists at `path`: some ancestor directory
+ * is missing, or a completely listed ancestor holds no entry that could lead
+ * to it. Ancestors outside the walked scope are passed through, so a walk of
+ * `a/b` decides paths beneath `a/b` and nothing else.
+ */
+export function provenAbsent(walk: Walk, path: string): boolean {
+  const parts = path.split('/');
+  let dir = '';
+  for (let i = 0; i < parts.length; i++) {
+    if (walk.missing.has(dir)) return true;
+    const child = dir ? `${dir}/${parts[i]}` : parts[i]!;
+    if (walk.complete.has(dir)) {
+      if (walk.others.has(child)) return false; // present, but unproven
+      if (i === parts.length - 1) return !walk.files.has(child) && !walk.dirs.has(child);
+      if (!walk.dirs.has(child)) return true; // no directory there: nothing beneath can exist
+    }
+    dir = child;
+  }
+  return false;
+}