@rindle/api-server 0.7.11 → 0.8.0

package/src/streams.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,1341 @@
+// LM stream checkpointing — the two-plane response path (designs/LM-STREAM-CHECKPOINT-DESIGN.md).
+//
+// A model response arrives as hundreds of tiny deltas per second. Every one wants to be on a screen
+// immediately; none wants to be a durable write. So the response runs on TWO planes sharing ONE
+// monotone coordinate (`seq`, in UTF-16 code units of the response text):
+//
+//   - the LIVE plane (this module): process-local, volatile, every delta, straight to subscribers;
+//   - the DURABLE plane: the app's own tables, advanced at coarse boundaries — N chars, T ms, an
+//     explicit `flush()`, and always at close.
+//
+// The contract both planes stand on (§0):
+//
+//   S (splice)  durableText(f) ++ concat(frames delivered from f) == producedText, for every join
+//               offset f and every join time.
+//   P (prefix)  durableText is always a PREFIX of producedText, and durableSeq is monotone.
+//
+// P is what makes S mechanical — two prefixes of one string merge by taking the longer (see
+// {@link spliceStreamText}). Everything else here is bookkeeping in service of those two.
+//
+// TWO THINGS THIS DELIBERATELY IS NOT (both were wrong in the first cut of this module):
+//
+//   1. Checkpoints are SYSTEM WRITES, not mutation envelopes. `lmid` is client-authored and exists
+//      to release a client's optimistic rebase point; a server-authored checkpoint has no
+//      prediction to release, and CDC → IVM fanout needs no envelope at all. Checkpoints therefore
+//      go through `outsideSql` with no clientID/mid — the same rule the realtime lifecycle writes
+//      follow ("a system write must never advance an lmid").
+//   2. A checkpoint INSERTS A CHUNK ROW; it never appends to a growing column. A normalized `edit`
+//      carries BOTH the old and the new full row, so advancing a `body` column would re-stream the
+//      whole message twice per checkpoint — O(n²) wire to deliver n characters. One row per chunk
+//      makes each checkpoint a single `add` carrying only its own slice.
+//
+// Durability is never overclaimed (§0, the RINDLE-REALTIME §8.1 "ack honesty" rule): a `chunk` frame
+// says only "produced", a `durable` frame says "committed", an `end` frame says "sealed". Losing
+// this plane entirely costs latency and the un-checkpointed tail — never consistency: a client with
+// no live stream still sees the message grow through IVM at checkpoint granularity, which is why
+// `absent`/`stale` are ordinary answers rather than errors.
+
+// Type-only (erased at runtime) — no import cycle with ./index.ts.
+import { STREAM_STATUS_STREAMING, frameResumePoint } from "@rindle/client";
+import type { StreamFrame, StreamStatus } from "@rindle/client";
+import type { SqlStatement } from "@rindle/daemon-client";
+
+import type { Authorizer, ServerSql, SqlDialect } from "./index.ts";
+
+// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the wire
+//
+// The frame shapes and the two pure reassembly functions live in `@rindle/client` — BOTH tiers need
+// them, and a browser must never pull this package to read a stream. Re-exported here so the
+// server-side import path is unchanged.
+
+export {
+  STREAM_STATUS_STREAMING,
+  assembleDurableText,
+  frameResumePoint,
+  spliceStreamText,
+} from "@rindle/client";
+export type { StreamFrame, StreamStatus } from "@rindle/client";
+
+// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the durable seam
+
+/** What a checkpoint hands the durable plane when the app supplies its own {@link StreamCommit}. */
+export type StreamCommitInput =
+  /** The pointer is marked live. The app's own mutator created the row (it owns `chatId`, `role`,
+   *  the model name…); this only flips it to `streaming`. */
+  | { kind: "open"; streamId: string; meta: unknown; hostId?: string; startedAt: number }
+  /** A prefix advance carrying ONLY its own slice. `text.length === seq - from`, and `from` is the
+   *  last append the PLANE saw confirmed — so appends are contiguous in the fault-free run, but an
+   *  append that committed while its ack was lost makes the next one RE-COVER (its `from` lags what
+   *  the app already applied). See {@link StreamCommit} for the two ways to stay idempotent. */
+  | { kind: "append"; streamId: string; from: number; seq: number; text: string }
+  /** The seal. `body` is the producer's retained text and `bodyFrom` its absolute start offset:
+   *  `bodyFrom === 0` — and `body` is the WHOLE response — unless the app opted into trimming via
+   *  `retainChars` (`commit` mode only). A compacting app requires `bodyFrom === 0` and writes
+   *  `body` wholesale; a non-compacting app appends the outstanding tail —
+   *  `body.slice(from - bodyFrom)` — as a final chunk. `seq === bodyFrom + body.length`, always. */
+  | { kind: "close"; streamId: string; from: number; seq: number; body: string; bodyFrom: number; status: StreamStatus; error?: string };
+
+/** The escape hatch: persist the checkpoint however the app likes. Retried on throw (§3.3), so it
+ *  must be idempotent under a repeated `(from, seq)` — AND under a RE-COVER: an append whose write
+ *  committed but whose ack was lost leaves the plane believing less than the store holds, so the
+ *  next append's `(from, seq)` can OVERLAP text already applied. Apply only the unseen suffix
+ *  (`text.slice(applied - from)` when `applied > from`), or better, return `{seq: applied}` — the
+ *  authoritative applied length — and the plane resynchronizes instead of re-covering at all.
+ *  Return `{cancelRequested: true}` to tell the producer the reader asked it to stop (§6). */
+export type StreamCommit = (
+  input: StreamCommitInput,
+) => Promise<void | { cancelRequested?: boolean; seq?: number }>;
+
+/** Which columns of the app's own tables the plane reads and writes. Every entry has a default
+ *  except `cancel`, `error`, and `host`, which are opt-in BY NAMING: the plane never emits SQL
+ *  against a column the app did not ask it to use. */
+export interface StreamColumns {
+  /** The message row's primary key, matched against `streamId`. Default `id`. */
+  key?: string;
+  /** The compacted response text. Default `body`. */
+  body?: string;
+  /** {@link STREAM_STATUS_STREAMING} then a {@link StreamStatus}. Default `status`. */
+  status?: string;
+  /** Total durable length — `length(body) + Σ chunk lengths`. The CAS column (§3.2). Default `seq`. */
+  seq?: string;
+  /** Opt-in (§6): a truthy value here stops the generation at the next checkpoint. No default —
+   *  naming it is what turns cancellation on. */
+  cancel?: string;
+  /** Opt-in: where a failed generation's message is recorded. No default. */
+  error?: string;
+  /** Opt-in: where the open write records this producer's identity ({@link RindleStreamOptions.hostId}).
+   *  Naming it upgrades the row-level single-flight guard from check-then-act to a true
+   *  compare-and-swap — the open write turns conditional and a read-back names the winner (§5.1) —
+   *  and gives multi-instance subscribe routing a column to read (§4). No default. */
+  host?: string;
+  /** Chunk primary key; the plane writes the deterministic `"<streamId>:<seq>"`. Default `id`. */
+  chunkKey?: string;
+  /** Chunk → message reference. Default `streamId`. */
+  chunkStream?: string;
+  /** The chunk's END offset — the ordering key. Default `seq`. */
+  chunkSeq?: string;
+  /** The chunk's slice of the response. Default `text`. */
+  chunkText?: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * The app's tables (§5). The app authors and migrates BOTH — the message row is unambiguously
+ * app-owned (it has `chatId`, `role`, token counts) and the chunk row must be reachable from the
+ * app's own query as a `related` subquery, which a Rindle system table would make awkward. The plane
+ * only needs to be told where things live. Use {@link streamChunkTableDdl} for the chunk table's
+ * migration.
+ *
+ * The message table carries WHATEVER ELSE the app wants; the plane's hard requirements are only:
+ *
+ * | mapped column | requirement | why |
+ * | --- | --- | --- |
+ * | `key`    | UNIQUE (normally the pk) | every checkpoint targets one row by it |
+ * | `seq`    | integer, **NOT NULL DEFAULT 0** | the CAS column — nothing matches NULL (§3.2) |
+ * | `body`   | text, empty at open | compaction overwrites it with the whole response |
+ * | `status` | text accepting `streaming`/`complete`/`cancelled`/`error`/`interrupted` | a CHECK
+ *              constraint that omits one of these turns a seal into an infra failure |
+ * | `cancel` | truthy-readable, if mapped | read on the checkpoint round-trip (§6) |
+ * | `error`  | nullable text, if mapped | compaction writes `NULL` when there is no error |
+ * | `host`   | text, if mapped | written at open with the producer's token; the read-back decides the open race (§5.1) |
+ *
+ * `body` is PLANE-OWNED and always a bare string. Rich content (an array of content blocks, tool
+ * calls, attachments) belongs in SIBLING columns the app's own mutators write — `flush()` orders the
+ * text before them. For genuinely multi-block streaming, point `message` at a per-BLOCK table
+ * instead: `streamId` is just an app key, so one stream per block needs nothing from this plane.
+ */
+export interface StreamTables {
+  /** The app's message table. Must already contain the row when {@link StreamPlane.open} runs. */
+  message: string;
+  /** The append-only chunk table. */
+  chunks: string;
+  columns?: StreamColumns;
+}
+
+export type StreamCheckpointTarget = { tables: StreamTables } | { commit: StreamCommit };
+
+// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- configuration
+
+/** When a checkpoint fires — the FIRST of these wins (§3.1). Checkpoints are serialized, so a slow
+ *  store degrades to fewer, larger checkpoints, never to a queue of them. */
+export interface StreamCheckpointPolicy {
+  /** Produced-but-uncommitted characters that force a checkpoint. Default 512. */
+  chars?: number;
+  /** Milliseconds since the last checkpoint that force one. Default 750. */
+  intervalMs?: number;
+  /** Retries for a failing commit before the slice is left for the next trigger. Default 3. */
+  retries?: number;
+}
+
+export interface AuthorizeStreamInput<User> {
+  user: User;
+  streamId: string;
+  /** Where the subscriber claims to be. */
+  from: number;
+  /** The `meta` this stream was opened with — `undefined` when the stream is not hosted here, which
+   *  is precisely when the app must decide from `streamId` and its own durable state. */
+  meta: unknown;
+  request?: unknown;
+}
+
+export interface RindleStreamOptions<User> {
+  /** Where checkpoints land: the app's tables (the default path) or a raw `commit` callback. */
+  checkpoint: StreamCheckpointTarget;
+  /** REQUIRED. Subscribing to a stream is reading someone's chat, so there is no default-allow.
+   *  Runs BEFORE existence is checked, so a denial cannot be used to probe for stream ids. */
+  authorize: Authorizer<AuthorizeStreamInput<User>>;
+  policy?: StreamCheckpointPolicy;
+  /** This process's identity — it must be UNIQUE per producer process, because the open CAS trusts
+   *  it to distinguish rivals (§5.1). In `tables` mode, map {@link StreamColumns.host} and the open
+   *  write persists it on the message row (so the app can route later subscribers to the hosting
+   *  instance, §4) and uses it as the single-flight token; setting it WITHOUT a mapped `host` column
+   *  is refused at construction. In `commit` mode it rides the `open` input. When a `host` column is
+   *  mapped and no hostId is given, a random per-plane token is used — the CAS still holds, routing
+   *  just has no stable name to read. */
+  hostId?: string;
+  /** Slack retained BELOW `durableSeq` so a client whose IVM view lags a checkpoint can still join
+   *  without a `stale` round trip. Text at or above `durableSeq` is never trimmed. Default 64 KiB.
+   *  `commit`-mode only — REFUSED (a construction-time `TypeError`) in `tables` mode, where
+   *  compaction needs the whole produced text at close (§3.4), so the buffer is retained in full. */
+  retainChars?: number;
+  /** How long a sealed stream stays joinable before eviction. Default 30s. */
+  lingerMs?: number;
+  /** Per-subscriber frame queue cap; overflow drops that subscriber with `stale` (§4). Default 1024. */
+  maxQueuedFrames?: number;
+  /** A checkpoint that exhausted its retries. The stream keeps streaming — this is a durability
+   *  stall, not a stream stall — so the error must not vanish. Absent ⇒ `console.error`. */
+  onCheckpointError?: (err: unknown, info: { streamId: string; from: number; seq: number }) => void;
+}
+
+// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- producer handle
+
+export interface OpenStreamInput<User> {
+  user: User;
+  /** The app's message-row id: the durable pointer AND the live plane's key. The row must already
+   *  exist (the app's own mutator wrote it, alongside the user's prompt) with `seq = 0`. */
+  streamId: string;
+  /** Opaque app payload, passed through to a `commit` callback. Unused in `tables` mode. */
+  meta?: unknown;
+  request?: unknown;
+}
+
+/** The producer's handle (§2). One writer per stream, by construction. */
+export interface StreamHandle {
+  readonly streamId: string;
+  /** Total produced code units. */
+  readonly seq: number;
+  /** Total code units the store has committed. Never exceeds {@link seq} (contract P). */
+  readonly durableSeq: number;
+  /** True once a checkpoint round-trip has seen the reader's cancel flag (§6). `pump` stops on it;
+   *  a hand-rolled generation loop should check it. */
+  readonly cancelled: boolean;
+  /** Append a delta: fanned to subscribers synchronously, checkpointed on policy. */
+  push(text: string): void;
+  /** Force a checkpoint and resolve once the store holds every character produced so far. This is
+   *  the ORDERING primitive: `await flush()` before writing a discrete row (a tool call, a stop
+   *  reason) so the text precedes it in the store (§1). Rejects if the checkpoint cannot commit. */
+  flush(): Promise<number>;
+  /** Drain a delta iterable into the stream (the shape every LLM SDK's text stream already has),
+   *  stopping early — and closing the iterator, which aborts the underlying request — once the
+   *  reader has cancelled. */
+  pump(deltas: AsyncIterable<string>): Promise<void>;
+  /** Seal the stream: `cancelled` if the reader asked it to stop, else `complete`. In `tables` mode
+   *  this is the compaction (§3.4) — it writes the whole body and drops the chunk rows in one
+   *  transaction, so it also REPAIRS any checkpoint that failed along the way. */
+  close(): Promise<void>;
+  /** Seal `error` at whatever was produced. Never throws for the reason it is sealing. */
+  fail(error: unknown): Promise<void>;
+}
+
+export interface SubscribeStreamInput<User> {
+  user: User;
+  streamId: string;
+  /** "I already have this many characters" — from the client's IVM view, or a `Last-Event-ID`.
+   *  A non-negative integer; default 0. */
+  from?: number;
+  request?: unknown;
+}
+
+export interface StreamSubscription {
+  readonly streamId: string;
+  /** Terminates after exactly one of `end` / `stale` / `absent`. */
+  readonly frames: AsyncIterable<StreamFrame>;
+  /** Detach early (a disconnected client). Idempotent. */
+  close(): void;
+}
+
+// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- defaults
+
+const DEFAULT_CHECKPOINT_CHARS = 512;
+const DEFAULT_CHECKPOINT_INTERVAL_MS = 750;
+const DEFAULT_CHECKPOINT_RETRIES = 3;
+const DEFAULT_RETAIN_CHARS = 64 * 1024;
+const DEFAULT_LINGER_MS = 30_000;
+const DEFAULT_MAX_QUEUED_FRAMES = 1024;
+/** Retry backoff base — 50ms, 100ms, 200ms, … A checkpoint failure is usually a blip at the write
+ *  authority; the text is safe in the buffer meanwhile, so there is nothing to rush. */
+const RETRY_BACKOFF_MS = 50;
+
+/** A SCHEDULING timer — the checkpoint cadence, the linger window, the SSE keep-alive. It never
+ *  holds the process open: none of them is work in flight, and a stream plane must not keep a CLI
+ *  alive. `unref` is Node-only — Workers' `setTimeout` has no such method, hence the guard. */
+function timer(fn: () => void, ms: number): ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> {
+  const t = setTimeout(fn, ms);
+  (t as { unref?: () => void }).unref?.();
+  return t;
+}
+
+/** The retry backoff, and deliberately NOT unref'd: a checkpoint mid-retry IS work in flight, and a
+ *  process that exits during it drops text the caller is still awaiting. */
+function delay(ms: number): Promise<void> {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
+}
+
+function errText(err: unknown): string {
+  return String((err as Error)?.message ?? err);
+}
+
+/** A per-plane stand-in for {@link RindleStreamOptions.hostId} when only the open CAS — not
+ *  subscribe routing — needs a token. */
+function randomOpenToken(): string {
+  const c = (globalThis as { crypto?: { randomUUID?: () => string } }).crypto;
+  return c?.randomUUID?.() ?? `open-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2)}`;
+}
+
+// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- mapped-table SQL
+
+/** Every mapped column, defaults applied. `cancel`/`error` stay `undefined` unless named. */
+export interface ResolvedStreamColumns {
+  key: string;
+  body: string;
+  status: string;
+  seq: string;
+  cancel?: string;
+  error?: string;
+  host?: string;
+  chunkKey: string;
+  chunkStream: string;
+  chunkSeq: string;
+  chunkText: string;
+}
+
+export function resolveStreamColumns(columns: StreamColumns | undefined): ResolvedStreamColumns {
+  return {
+    key: columns?.key ?? "id",
+    body: columns?.body ?? "body",
+    status: columns?.status ?? "status",
+    seq: columns?.seq ?? "seq",
+    ...(columns?.cancel !== undefined ? { cancel: columns.cancel } : {}),
+    ...(columns?.error !== undefined ? { error: columns.error } : {}),
+    ...(columns?.host !== undefined ? { host: columns.host } : {}),
+    chunkKey: columns?.chunkKey ?? "id",
+    chunkStream: columns?.chunkStream ?? "streamId",
+    chunkSeq: columns?.chunkSeq ?? "seq",
+    chunkText: columns?.chunkText ?? "text",
+  };
+}
+
+/** Quote an identifier for both dialects (`"x"` is standard in SQLite and Postgres alike). An
+ *  embedded quote is refused rather than escaped: a mapping is app configuration, and a name that
+ *  needs escaping is a mistake worth failing loudly on. */
+function q(identifier: string): string {
+  if (identifier.includes('"')) throw new TypeError(`invalid stream column/table name: ${JSON.stringify(identifier)}`);
+  return `"${identifier}"`;
+}
+
+/** The chunk row's deterministic id: a replayed checkpoint collides with itself and is absorbed by
+ *  `ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING` — idempotency without an envelope or a dedup ledger (§3.3). */
+export function streamChunkId(streamId: string, seq: number): string {
+  return `${streamId}:${seq}`;
+}
+
+/**
+ * The chunk table's DDL, for the app's migration. The app owns the message table (this only states
+ * the three columns the plane needs on it); the chunk table is entirely protocol-shaped, so it is
+ * generated rather than hand-written.
+ */
+export function streamChunkTableDdl(tables: StreamTables, dialect: SqlDialect): string[] {
+  const c = resolveStreamColumns(tables.columns);
+  const text = dialect.name === "postgres" ? "text" : "TEXT";
+  const int = dialect.name === "postgres" ? "bigint" : "INTEGER";
+  return [
+    `CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS ${q(tables.chunks)} (` +
+      `${q(c.chunkKey)} ${text} PRIMARY KEY, ` +
+      `${q(c.chunkStream)} ${text} NOT NULL, ` +
+      `${q(c.chunkSeq)} ${int} NOT NULL, ` +
+      `${q(c.chunkText)} ${text} NOT NULL)`,
+    // The read path is always "this message's chunks, in order" — and compaction deletes by stream.
+    `CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS ${q(`${tables.chunks}_stream_seq`)} ` +
+      `ON ${q(tables.chunks)} (${q(c.chunkStream)}, ${q(c.chunkSeq)})`,
+  ];
+}
+
+/** The plane's SQL, one place, both dialects. */
+class MappedTableSql {
+  private readonly tables: StreamTables;
+  private readonly cols: ResolvedStreamColumns;
+  private readonly dialect: SqlDialect;
+
+  constructor(tables: StreamTables, dialect: SqlDialect) {
+    this.tables = tables;
+    this.cols = resolveStreamColumns(tables.columns);
+    this.dialect = dialect;
+  }
+
+  private p(i: number): string {
+    return this.dialect.placeholder(i);
+  }
+
+  /** The open probe: the row must exist and be empty. A generation is never a resume — regenerating
+   *  is a NEW message id — so an already-advanced row is a bug worth refusing loudly. */
+  probeOpen(): string {
+    const { key, seq, status } = this.cols;
+    return `SELECT ${q(seq)} AS seq, ${q(status)} AS status FROM ${q(this.tables.message)} WHERE ${q(key)} = ${this.p(1)}`;
+  }
+
+  /** The open write. With a `host` column mapped this is the CAS half of the single-flight guard:
+   *  set the status AND this producer's token only if no producer holds the row, verified by the
+   *  read-back in {@link probeHost}. Without one it is the plain flip the probe already vetted. */
+  markStreaming(streamId: string, hostToken: string): SqlStatement {
+    const { key, status, host } = this.cols;
+    if (host !== undefined) {
+      return {
+        sql:
+          `UPDATE ${q(this.tables.message)} SET ${q(status)} = ${this.p(1)}, ${q(host)} = ${this.p(2)} ` +
+          `WHERE ${q(key)} = ${this.p(3)} AND ${q(status)} <> ${this.p(4)}`,
+        params: [STREAM_STATUS_STREAMING, hostToken, streamId, STREAM_STATUS_STREAMING],
+      };
+    }
+    return {
+      sql: `UPDATE ${q(this.tables.message)} SET ${q(status)} = ${this.p(1)} WHERE ${q(key)} = ${this.p(2)}`,
+      params: [STREAM_STATUS_STREAMING, streamId],
+    };
+  }
+
+  /** The read-back half of the open CAS, or `undefined` when no `host` column is mapped. */
+  probeHost(): string | undefined {
+    const { host, key } = this.cols;
+    if (host === undefined) return undefined;
+    return `SELECT ${q(host)} AS host FROM ${q(this.tables.message)} WHERE ${q(key)} = ${this.p(1)}`;
+  }
+
+  /** ONE transaction: insert the slice, then CAS the message's durable length. BOTH statements are
+   *  gated on the same `seq = :from` predicate: the CAS refuses to apply twice or out of order, and
+   *  the guarded insert makes a STALE RE-COVER a no-op — after a committed-but-ack-lost append, the
+   *  next slice's `from` lags the row, and an unguarded insert would land an OVERLAPPING chunk row
+   *  (a different deterministic id, so `ON CONFLICT` alone cannot absorb it) and corrupt the
+   *  assembled text until compaction. The `ON CONFLICT` clause stays as the belt under that
+   *  guard's braces. Which case actually happened is decided by the read-back ({@link probeState}),
+   *  never assumed (§3.2/§3.3). */
+  append(streamId: string, from: number, seq: number, text: string): SqlStatement[] {
+    const c = this.cols;
+    return [
+      {
+        sql:
+          `INSERT INTO ${q(this.tables.chunks)} ` +
+          `(${q(c.chunkKey)}, ${q(c.chunkStream)}, ${q(c.chunkSeq)}, ${q(c.chunkText)}) ` +
+          `SELECT ${this.p(1)}, ${this.p(2)}, ${this.p(3)}, ${this.p(4)} ` +
+          `WHERE EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM ${q(this.tables.message)} ` +
+          `WHERE ${q(c.key)} = ${this.p(5)} AND ${q(c.seq)} = ${this.p(6)}) ` +
+          `ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING`,
+        params: [streamChunkId(streamId, seq), streamId, seq, text, streamId, from],
+      },
+      {
+        sql:
+          `UPDATE ${q(this.tables.message)} SET ${q(c.seq)} = ${this.p(1)} ` +
+          `WHERE ${q(c.key)} = ${this.p(2)} AND ${q(c.seq)} = ${this.p(3)}`,
+        params: [seq, streamId, from],
+      },
+    ];
+  }
+
+  /** Compaction (§3.4): write the whole body, seal the status, drop every chunk — atomically. Also
+   *  the repair path: whatever the chunks did or did not capture, the body ends up correct. */
+  compact(streamId: string, body: string, status: StreamStatus, error: string | undefined): SqlStatement[] {
+    const c = this.cols;
+    const sets = [`${q(c.body)} = ${this.p(1)}`, `${q(c.seq)} = ${this.p(2)}`, `${q(c.status)} = ${this.p(3)}`];
+    const params: Array<string | number | null> = [body, body.length, status];
+    if (c.error !== undefined) {
+      sets.push(`${q(c.error)} = ${this.p(params.length + 1)}`);
+      params.push(error ?? null);
+    }
+    params.push(streamId);
+    return [
+      {
+        sql: `UPDATE ${q(this.tables.message)} SET ${sets.join(", ")} WHERE ${q(c.key)} = ${this.p(params.length)}`,
+        params,
+      },
+      {
+        sql: `DELETE FROM ${q(this.tables.chunks)} WHERE ${q(c.chunkStream)} = ${this.p(1)}`,
+        params: [streamId],
+      },
+    ];
+  }
+
+  get hasCancel(): boolean {
+    return this.cols.cancel !== undefined;
+  }
+
+  /** The post-append read-back: the row's authoritative length — what CONFIRMS an append applied
+   *  (and absorbs a committed-but-ack-lost one) — plus the cancel flag when mapped (§6). */
+  probeState(): string {
+    const { cancel, key, seq } = this.cols;
+    const picked = cancel === undefined ? `${q(seq)} AS seq` : `${q(seq)} AS seq, ${q(cancel)} AS cancel`;
+    return `SELECT ${picked} FROM ${q(this.tables.message)} WHERE ${q(key)} = ${this.p(1)}`;
+  }
+}
+
+// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- subscribers
+
+/** One attached reader. Frames queue; a reader that stops draining is bounded and then DROPPED with
+ *  `stale` rather than allowed to pin the producer's memory — it resolves that by rejoining. */
+class Subscriber {
+  private queue: StreamFrame[] = [];
+  private waiter?: (r: IteratorResult<StreamFrame>) => void;
+  private done = false;
+  private readonly cap: number;
+  private readonly onDetach: (s: Subscriber) => void;
+
+  constructor(cap: number, onDetach: (s: Subscriber) => void) {
+    this.cap = cap;
+    this.onDetach = onDetach;
+  }
+
+  /** @returns false when the queue overflowed (caller drops this subscriber). */
+  offer(frame: StreamFrame): boolean {
+    if (this.done) return true;
+    if (this.waiter) {
+      const w = this.waiter;
+      this.waiter = undefined;
+      w({ value: frame, done: false });
+      return true;
+    }
+    if (this.queue.length >= this.cap) return false;
+    this.queue.push(frame);
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  /** Deliver a terminal frame (bypassing the cap — it is the last one) and end the iterator. */
+  finish(frame: StreamFrame): void {
+    if (this.done) return;
+    if (this.waiter) {
+      const w = this.waiter;
+      this.waiter = undefined;
+      this.done = true;
+      w({ value: frame, done: false });
+      return;
+    }
+    this.queue.push(frame);
+    this.done = true;
+  }
+
+  close(): void {
+    this.done = true;
+    this.queue.length = 0;
+    if (this.waiter) {
+      const w = this.waiter;
+      this.waiter = undefined;
+      w({ value: undefined as never, done: true });
+    }
+    this.onDetach(this);
+  }
+
+  frames(): AsyncIterable<StreamFrame> {
+    const self = this;
+    return {
+      [Symbol.asyncIterator](): AsyncIterator<StreamFrame> {
+        return {
+          next(): Promise<IteratorResult<StreamFrame>> {
+            const queued = self.queue.shift();
+            if (queued !== undefined) return Promise.resolve({ value: queued, done: false });
+            if (self.done) {
+              self.onDetach(self);
+              return Promise.resolve({ value: undefined as never, done: true });
+            }
+            return new Promise((resolve) => {
+              self.waiter = resolve;
+            });
+          },
+          return(): Promise<IteratorResult<StreamFrame>> {
+            self.close();
+            return Promise.resolve({ value: undefined as never, done: true });
+          },
+        };
+      },
+    };
+  }
+}
+
+// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the live stream
+
+interface Waiter {
+  at: number;
+  resolve: (seq: number) => void;
+  reject: (err: unknown) => void;
+}
+
+class LiveStream<User> {
+  /** Retained text; `buf[0]` sits at offset {@link bufFrom}. */
+  private buf = "";
+  private bufFrom = 0;
+  seq = 0;
+  durableSeq = 0;
+  ended = false;
+  cancelled = false;
+
+  readonly streamId: string;
+  readonly user: User;
+  readonly meta: unknown;
+  private readonly plane: StreamPlane<User>;
+
+  private readonly subs = new Set<Subscriber>();
+  private sealing?: { status: StreamStatus; error?: string };
+  private draining = false;
+  private forced = false;
+  /** The last drain round left a slice uncommitted: wait out the interval instead of re-attempting
+   *  immediately, so a down store costs a retry cadence and not a hot loop. */
+  private stalled = false;
+  private tick: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null = null;
+  private waiters: Waiter[] = [];
+  private sealed?: { resolve: () => void; reject: (e: unknown) => void; promise: Promise<void> };
+  private sealError: unknown;
+
+  constructor(streamId: string, user: User, meta: unknown, plane: StreamPlane<User>) {
+    this.streamId = streamId;
+    this.user = user;
+    this.meta = meta;
+    this.plane = plane;
+  }
+
+  // ---- producer side
+
+  push(text: string): void {
+    if (this.sealing || this.ended) throw new Error(`stream ${this.streamId} is closed`);
+    if (text.length === 0) return;
+    const from = this.seq;
+    this.buf += text;
+    this.seq += text.length;
+    this.fanout({ type: "chunk", from, seq: this.seq, text });
+    if (this.seq - this.durableSeq >= this.plane.chars) this.kick(true);
+    else this.arm();
+  }
+
+  flush(): Promise<number> {
+    const at = this.seq;
+    if (this.durableSeq >= at) return Promise.resolve(this.durableSeq);
+    // After a failed seal the shortfall is PERMANENT (the stream ended; nothing will retry it), so a
+    // late flush rejects honestly instead of quietly re-running the seal.
+    if (this.ended) {
+      return Promise.reject(
+        new Error(`stream ${this.streamId} ended with only ${this.durableSeq} of ${this.seq} characters durable`),
+      );
+    }
+    const p = new Promise<number>((resolve, reject) => {
+      this.waiters.push({ at, resolve, reject });
+    });
+    this.kick(true);
+    return p;
+  }
+
+  /** Seal the stream. Resolves once the terminal checkpoint has committed; rejects if it could not
+   *  (the stream still ENDS — subscribers always get their `end` frame — the caller just learns the
+   *  store is short of what was produced). */
+  seal(status: StreamStatus, error?: string): Promise<void> {
+    // Already sealed: hand back the SAME settled promise (already marked handled below), so a second
+    // `close()`/`fail()` can neither re-seal nor mint a stray rejection.
+    if (this.ended) return this.sealed?.promise ?? Promise.resolve();
+    if (!this.sealing) {
+      this.sealing = { status, error };
+      let resolve!: () => void;
+      let reject!: (e: unknown) => void;
+      const promise = new Promise<void>((res, rej) => {
+        resolve = res;
+        reject = rej;
+      });
+      // A `fail()` nobody awaited must not become an unhandled rejection at process level. This
+      // marks the promise handled WITHOUT consuming it — a caller that does await still sees the
+      // rejection, because `await` attaches its own handler to the same promise.
+      promise.catch(() => {});
+      this.sealed = { resolve, reject, promise };
+      this.disarm();
+      this.kick(true);
+    }
+    return this.sealed!.promise;
+  }
+
+  // ---- checkpoint driving
+
+  private arm(): void {
+    if (this.tick || this.seq === this.durableSeq) return;
+    this.tick = timer(() => {
+      this.tick = null;
+      this.kick(true);
+    }, this.plane.intervalMs);
+  }
+
+  private disarm(): void {
+    if (this.tick) clearTimeout(this.tick);
+    this.tick = null;
+  }
+
+  private kick(force: boolean): void {
+    if (force) this.forced = true;
+    if (this.draining) return;
+    this.draining = true;
+    void this.drain();
+  }
+
+  private async drain(): Promise<void> {
+    this.stalled = false;
+    try {
+      for (;;) {
+        // Sealing goes STRAIGHT to the seal: it writes the whole body (§3.4), so committing the
+        // outstanding tail as one more chunk first would be pure waste — and the seal repairs any
+        // earlier checkpoint that failed, which a tail commit could not.
+        if (this.sealing) {
+          await this.commitSeal();
+          break;
+        }
+        const behind = this.seq - this.durableSeq;
+        if (behind > 0 && (this.forced || behind >= this.plane.chars)) {
+          // Consume the force BEFORE the round, not after: a `flush()` that lands while this round
+          // is already in flight re-sets it and gets a round of its OWN — clearing it afterwards
+          // would swallow that request and leave the flush to the interval cadence.
+          this.forced = false;
+          this.disarm();
+          const failure = await this.commitTail();
+          if (failure) {
+            this.stalled = true;
+            // A seal requested WHILE this checkpoint was in flight outranks the retry cadence: the
+            // seal writes the whole body anyway, so it both supersedes and repairs the failed slice.
+            // Backing off here instead would make `close()` wait out `intervalMs` for nothing. An
+            // explicit re-force during the failed round likewise earns one immediate re-attempt —
+            // someone is waiting on it — while an unforced failure stalls to the cadence.
+            if (!this.sealing && !this.forced) break;
+          }
+          continue;
+        }
+        this.forced = false;
+        break;
+      }
+    } finally {
+      this.draining = false;
+      if (!this.ended) {
+        // A pending seal ALWAYS proceeds at once — including out of a stall (see the loop above);
+        // otherwise a stall waits out the interval, and deltas that landed mid-commit may already
+        // meet the threshold and deserve an immediate round.
+        if (this.sealing) this.kick(false);
+        else if (this.stalled) this.arm();
+        else if (this.seq - this.durableSeq >= this.plane.chars) this.kick(false);
+        else this.arm();
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /** @returns the failure, or `undefined` when the slice committed. */
+  private async commitTail(): Promise<{ err: unknown } | undefined> {
+    const from = this.durableSeq;
+    const to = this.seq;
+    const text = this.buf.slice(from - this.bufFrom, to - this.bufFrom);
+    let out: { cancelRequested?: boolean; seq?: number } | void;
+    try {
+      out = await this.plane.commit({ kind: "append", streamId: this.streamId, from, seq: to, text });
+    } catch (err) {
+      // The store may hold MORE than we believe — an append that committed while its ack was lost,
+      // somewhere in the retry chain. The read-back is the truth, and adopting it is what keeps the
+      // NEXT slice contiguous instead of overlapping (§3.3).
+      const truth = await this.plane.probeDurableSeq(this.streamId);
+      if (truth !== undefined && truth > this.durableSeq) this.advanceDurable(truth);
+      this.plane.reportCheckpointError(err, { streamId: this.streamId, from, seq: to });
+      // Waiters that asked for THIS prefix learn it did not land; later waiters keep waiting for a
+      // later attempt. A durability failure is never silent.
+      this.rejectWaiters(to, err);
+      return { err };
+    }
+    if (out?.cancelRequested) this.cancelled = true;
+    // `durableSeq` advances to what the store CONFIRMED — the mapped path reads it back, a `commit`
+    // callback may report it — never to a plane-side assumption. A confirmation short of `to` means
+    // this slice's `from` was stale (a prior ack loss the read-back could not see at the time): the
+    // guarded statements made it a no-op, and the next round re-covers from the confirmed offset.
+    const confirmed = out?.seq ?? to;
+    if (confirmed > this.durableSeq) this.advanceDurable(confirmed);
+    if (confirmed < to) {
+      const err = new Error(
+        `stream ${this.streamId}: the store confirmed ${confirmed} of ${to} — re-covering from there`,
+      );
+      this.plane.reportCheckpointError(err, { streamId: this.streamId, from, seq: to });
+      this.rejectWaiters(to, err);
+      return { err };
+    }
+    return undefined;
+  }
+
+  /** The one place durable progress is recorded: position, `durable` frame, buffer trim, waiters. */
+  private advanceDurable(seq: number): void {
+    this.durableSeq = seq;
+    this.fanout({ type: "durable", seq });
+    this.trim();
+    this.resolveWaiters();
+  }
+
+  private async commitSeal(): Promise<void> {
+    const seal = this.sealing!;
+    const from = this.durableSeq;
+    try {
+      await this.plane.commit({
+        kind: "close",
+        streamId: this.streamId,
+        from,
+        seq: this.seq,
+        // A trimmed buffer (only reachable in `commit`-callback mode, where the app opted into
+        // trimming) cannot supply the whole body: `bodyFrom` says where the retained text starts,
+        // so the app can still append exactly the outstanding tail (`body.slice(from - bodyFrom)`).
+        body: this.buf,
+        bodyFrom: this.bufFrom,
+        status: seal.status,
+        ...(seal.error !== undefined ? { error: seal.error } : {}),
+      });
+      this.durableSeq = this.seq;
+    } catch (err) {
+      this.sealError = err;
+      this.plane.reportCheckpointError(err, { streamId: this.streamId, from, seq: this.seq });
+    }
+    this.ended = true;
+    this.disarm();
+    this.rejectWaiters(
+      Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY,
+      new Error(`stream ${this.streamId} ended with only ${this.durableSeq} of ${this.seq} characters durable`),
+    );
+    this.resolveWaiters();
+    const frame: StreamFrame = {
+      type: "end",
+      seq: this.durableSeq,
+      status: seal.status,
+      ...(seal.error !== undefined ? { error: seal.error } : {}),
+    };
+    for (const sub of [...this.subs]) sub.finish(frame);
+    this.plane.retire(this.streamId);
+    if (this.sealError) this.sealed?.reject(this.sealError);
+    else this.sealed?.resolve();
+  }
+
+  /** Keep everything at or above `durableSeq`, plus a slack window below it so a client whose IVM
+   *  view lags one checkpoint can still join without a `stale` round trip (§4). A `retainChars` of
+   *  `Infinity` (the mapped-table default — compaction needs the whole text) never trims. */
+  private trim(): void {
+    if (!Number.isFinite(this.plane.retainChars)) return;
+    const floor = Math.max(0, this.durableSeq - this.plane.retainChars);
+    if (floor <= this.bufFrom) return;
+    this.buf = this.buf.slice(floor - this.bufFrom);
+    this.bufFrom = floor;
+  }
+
+  private resolveWaiters(): void {
+    if (this.waiters.length === 0) return;
+    const still: Waiter[] = [];
+    for (const w of this.waiters) {
+      if (w.at <= this.durableSeq) w.resolve(this.durableSeq);
+      else still.push(w);
+    }
+    this.waiters = still;
+  }
+
+  private rejectWaiters(upTo: number, err: unknown): void {
+    if (this.waiters.length === 0) return;
+    const still: Waiter[] = [];
+    for (const w of this.waiters) {
+      if (w.at <= upTo && w.at > this.durableSeq) w.reject(err);
+      else still.push(w);
+    }
+    this.waiters = still;
+  }
+
+  // ---- subscriber side
+
+  private fanout(frame: StreamFrame): void {
+    for (const sub of [...this.subs]) {
+      if (!sub.offer(frame)) {
+        // Bounded, then dropped: a reader that stopped draining costs itself a rejoin, never the
+        // producer's memory.
+        sub.finish({ type: "stale", floorSeq: this.bufFrom, durableSeq: this.durableSeq });
+        this.subs.delete(sub);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /** Attach a reader at `from`. Runs in ONE synchronous block — snapshot, replay, register — so no
+   *  delta can slip between the replay and the live tail (the gap-free half of contract S). */
+  subscribe(from: number): StreamSubscription {
+    const sub = new Subscriber(this.plane.maxQueuedFrames, (s) => this.subs.delete(s));
+    // Floored as well as clamped: a fractional `from` (a hand-built subscribe input) would otherwise
+    // produce a replay chunk whose `text.length !== seq - from`, breaking the frame invariant.
+    const at = Math.min(Math.max(Math.floor(from), 0), this.seq);
+    if (at < this.bufFrom) {
+      sub.finish({ type: "stale", floorSeq: this.bufFrom, durableSeq: this.durableSeq });
+      return this.wrap(sub);
+    }
+    sub.offer({ type: "open", streamId: this.streamId, from: at, seq: this.seq, durableSeq: this.durableSeq, ended: this.ended });
+    if (this.seq > at) {
+      sub.offer({ type: "chunk", from: at, seq: this.seq, text: this.buf.slice(at - this.bufFrom) });
+    }
+    if (this.durableSeq > at) sub.offer({ type: "durable", seq: this.durableSeq });
+    if (this.ended) {
+      const seal = this.sealing ?? { status: "interrupted" as StreamStatus };
+      sub.finish({
+        type: "end",
+        seq: this.durableSeq,
+        status: seal.status,
+        ...(seal.error !== undefined ? { error: seal.error } : {}),
+      });
+      return this.wrap(sub);
+    }
+    this.subs.add(sub);
+    return this.wrap(sub);
+  }
+
+  private wrap(sub: Subscriber): StreamSubscription {
+    return { streamId: this.streamId, frames: sub.frames(), close: () => sub.close() };
+  }
+
+  /** Drop every reader without sealing (process teardown — `drainStreams` seals first). */
+  detachAll(): void {
+    for (const sub of [...this.subs]) sub.close();
+    this.subs.clear();
+    this.disarm();
+  }
+}
+
+// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the plane
+
+/** What the plane needs from the api-server to write a checkpoint: the backend's OUTSIDE-transaction
+ *  SQL surface (`batch` is one transaction on every backend) and its dialect. Deliberately narrow so
+ *  `streams.ts` never imports the server (no cycle). */
+export interface StreamSqlSink {
+  readonly dialect: SqlDialect;
+  readonly sql: ServerSql;
+}
+
+export class StreamPlane<User> {
+  readonly chars: number;
+  readonly intervalMs: number;
+  readonly retries: number;
+  readonly retainChars: number;
+  readonly lingerMs: number;
+  readonly maxQueuedFrames: number;
+
+  private readonly live = new Map<string, LiveStream<User>>();
+  private readonly opts: RindleStreamOptions<User>;
+  private readonly sink: StreamSqlSink | undefined;
+  private readonly mapped: MappedTableSql | undefined;
+  private readonly tables: StreamTables | undefined;
+  /** The open CAS token (§5.1): `hostId`, or a random per-plane stand-in when only the CAS — not
+   *  routing — needs it. */
+  private readonly openToken: string;
+
+  constructor(opts: RindleStreamOptions<User>, sink?: StreamSqlSink) {
+    this.opts = opts;
+    this.sink = sink;
+    this.chars = opts.policy?.chars ?? DEFAULT_CHECKPOINT_CHARS;
+    this.intervalMs = opts.policy?.intervalMs ?? DEFAULT_CHECKPOINT_INTERVAL_MS;
+    this.retries = opts.policy?.retries ?? DEFAULT_CHECKPOINT_RETRIES;
+    this.lingerMs = opts.lingerMs ?? DEFAULT_LINGER_MS;
+    this.maxQueuedFrames = opts.maxQueuedFrames ?? DEFAULT_MAX_QUEUED_FRAMES;
+    this.openToken = opts.hostId ?? randomOpenToken();
+    if ("tables" in opts.checkpoint) {
+      if (!sink) throw new TypeError("streams.checkpoint.tables needs a SQL-capable mutation backend");
+      this.tables = opts.checkpoint.tables;
+      this.mapped = new MappedTableSql(opts.checkpoint.tables, sink.dialect);
+      // Options this mode cannot honour are refused loudly (the room-profile rule), never ignored.
+      if (opts.retainChars !== undefined) {
+        throw new TypeError(
+          "streams.retainChars is `commit`-mode only — mapped tables retain the whole text for compaction (§3.4)",
+        );
+      }
+      if (opts.hostId !== undefined && resolveStreamColumns(opts.checkpoint.tables.columns).host === undefined) {
+        throw new TypeError("streams.hostId does nothing in tables mode until columns.host names where to persist it");
+      }
+      // Compaction writes the WHOLE body at close, so the buffer is retained in full. `retainChars`
+      // is honoured only where the app owns persistence and may not need the tail.
+      this.retainChars = Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
+    } else {
+      this.retainChars = opts.retainChars ?? DEFAULT_RETAIN_CHARS;
+    }
+  }
+
+  /** Open a stream on an EXISTING message row (§5): the app's own mutator wrote it, alongside the
+   *  user's prompt, so the pointer is already durable and every client's query already shows the
+   *  message. This verifies it and flips it to `streaming`. */
+  async open(input: OpenStreamInput<User>): Promise<StreamHandle> {
+    if (this.live.has(input.streamId)) {
+      throw new Error(`stream ${input.streamId} is already open on this host`);
+    }
+    const stream = new LiveStream<User>(input.streamId, input.user, input.meta, this);
+    this.live.set(input.streamId, stream);
+    try {
+      if (this.mapped) await this.assertOpenable(input.streamId);
+      await this.commit({
+        kind: "open",
+        streamId: input.streamId,
+        meta: input.meta ?? null,
+        ...(this.opts.hostId !== undefined ? { hostId: this.opts.hostId } : {}),
+        startedAt: Date.now(),
+      });
+    } catch (err) {
+      this.live.delete(input.streamId);
+      throw err;
+    }
+    return {
+      streamId: stream.streamId,
+      get seq() {
+        return stream.seq;
+      },
+      get durableSeq() {
+        return stream.durableSeq;
+      },
+      get cancelled() {
+        return stream.cancelled;
+      },
+      push: (text) => stream.push(text),
+      flush: () => stream.flush(),
+      pump: async (deltas) => {
+        // `for await` closes the iterator on `break`, which is what aborts the SDK's underlying
+        // request — the whole point of honouring cancellation here rather than in the caller.
+        for await (const d of deltas) {
+          stream.push(d);
+          if (stream.cancelled) break;
+        }
+      },
+      close: () => stream.seal(stream.cancelled ? "cancelled" : "complete"),
+      fail: (error) => stream.seal("error", errText(error)),
+    };
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * The read-only precondition on the app's message row, checked ONCE per `open` (§5.1). Read-only on
+   * purpose: it is a decision about the app's data, so re-deciding it per write attempt would let a
+   * lost ack turn a success into a refusal.
+   *
+   * The `streaming` check is the **single-flight guard**, and it lives at the ROW rather than in this
+   * process's map because the thing it defends against is distributed: the kick that starts a
+   * generation is an at-least-once effect (a retried mutation envelope re-runs its post-commit code,
+   * §10.5), so a second kick can land on another instance, where the in-memory map is empty. Two
+   * producers on one `streamId` would interleave: both CAS the same length, one stalls, and whichever
+   * closes last overwrites the body with ITS buffer. Cheap to refuse; expensive to debug.
+   *
+   * This probe alone is check-then-act — it and the open write are separate round trips, so two
+   * SIMULTANEOUS kicks can both pass it. Mapping a `host` column closes that window: the open write
+   * turns conditional and {@link verifyOpenWinner}'s read-back names the winner.
+   */
+  private async assertOpenable(streamId: string): Promise<void> {
+    const cols = resolveStreamColumns(this.tables!.columns);
+    const rows = await this.sink!.sql.query<{ seq: number | null; status: string | null }>(
+      this.mapped!.probeOpen(),
+      [streamId],
+    );
+    const row = rows[0];
+    if (!row) {
+      throw new StreamOpenRefused(
+        `stream ${streamId}: no row in "${this.tables!.message}" — the app's own mutator must write the message ` +
+          `(with its chatId/role/…) BEFORE opening the stream on it`,
+      );
+    }
+    // A NULL length is refused as loudly as an advanced one, and for a subtler reason: it is the CAS
+    // column, and `WHERE seq = 0` can never match NULL. A nullable column would let every chunk
+    // insert land while its length CAS silently matched nothing — the one failure mode this plane
+    // cannot detect (`batch` reports no row count) and one compaction would paper over (§5.1).
+    if (typeof row.seq !== "number") {
+      throw new StreamOpenRefused(
+        `stream ${streamId}: "${this.tables!.message}"."${cols.seq}" is ${row.seq === null ? "NULL" : typeof row.seq} — ` +
+          `the length column must be NOT NULL DEFAULT 0 (it is compare-and-swapped on every checkpoint, and no ` +
+          `comparison matches NULL)`,
+      );
+    }
+    if (row.seq !== 0) {
+      throw new StreamOpenRefused(
+        `stream ${streamId}: the message row already holds ${row.seq} characters — a regeneration is a NEW message ` +
+          `id, never a resume of an advanced row`,
+      );
+    }
+    if (row.status === STREAM_STATUS_STREAMING) {
+      throw new StreamOpenRefused(
+        `stream ${streamId}: "${cols.status}" is already "${STREAM_STATUS_STREAMING}" — another producer holds this ` +
+          `stream. Two producers on one stream interleave their checkpoints; if the first one's host died, the ` +
+          `sweeper marking it "interrupted" is what releases the row (§7)`,
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
+  async subscribe(input: SubscribeStreamInput<User>): Promise<StreamSubscription> {
+    const stream = this.live.get(input.streamId);
+    const from = input.from ?? 0;
+    // Authorize BEFORE existence is consulted: a denial must not double as an existence oracle.
+    const verdict = await this.opts.authorize({
+      user: input.user,
+      streamId: input.streamId,
+      from,
+      meta: stream === undefined ? undefined : stream.meta,
+      request: input.request,
+    });
+    if (verdict === false) throw new StreamForbidden(input.streamId);
+    if (!stream) return oneFrame(input.streamId, { type: "absent" });
+    return stream.subscribe(from);
+  }
+
+  /** Seal every live stream `interrupted`. In mapped-table mode the seal IS the compaction, so a
+   *  graceful drain loses nothing PRODUCED; the status still says the response was cut short rather
+   *  than claiming completion (§5). Wire it to SIGTERM. */
+  async drainStreams(): Promise<void> {
+    await Promise.allSettled([...this.live.values()].map((s) => s.seal("interrupted")));
+  }
+
+  /** Teardown: drop readers and timers WITHOUT a durable write (that is `drainStreams`). */
+  closeSync(): void {
+    for (const s of this.live.values()) s.detachAll();
+    this.live.clear();
+  }
+
+  /** A sealed stream stays joinable for the linger window, so a subscribe that races the last token
+   *  still gets `end` (and the tail it missed) rather than a bare `absent`. */
+  retire(streamId: string): void {
+    timer(() => {
+      const entry = this.live.get(streamId);
+      if (entry?.ended) {
+        this.live.delete(streamId);
+        entry.detachAll();
+      }
+    }, this.lingerMs);
+  }
+
+  reportCheckpointError(err: unknown, info: { streamId: string; from: number; seq: number }): void {
+    // Reporting runs INSIDE the drain loop, so a throwing hook would take the loop down with it and
+    // wedge the stream — the one failure mode a diagnostic must never cause.
+    try {
+      if (this.opts.onCheckpointError) this.opts.onCheckpointError(err, info);
+      else console.error(`[rindle api-server] stream ${info.streamId}: checkpoint ${info.from}→${info.seq} failed:`, err);
+    } catch (hookErr) {
+      console.error(`[rindle api-server] stream ${info.streamId}: onCheckpointError itself threw:`, hookErr);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /** Drive ONE checkpoint, retrying on failure. Every statement it emits is idempotent under replay
+   *  — the chunk insert dedups on its deterministic id, the length CAS refuses to apply twice, the
+   *  compaction is a whole-row overwrite — so "retry until it sticks" needs no dedup ledger and no
+   *  `lmid` (§3.3). */
+  async commit(input: StreamCommitInput): Promise<{ cancelRequested?: boolean; seq?: number } | void> {
+    let lastErr: unknown;
+    for (let attempt = 0; attempt <= this.retries; attempt++) {
+      if (attempt > 0) await delay(RETRY_BACKOFF_MS * 2 ** (attempt - 1));
+      try {
+        return await this.commitOnce(input);
+      } catch (err) {
+        if (err instanceof StreamOpenRefused) throw err; // a settled verdict, not a blip
+        lastErr = err;
+      }
+    }
+    throw lastErr;
+  }
+
+  private async commitOnce(input: StreamCommitInput): Promise<{ cancelRequested?: boolean; seq?: number } | void> {
+    const target = this.opts.checkpoint;
+    if ("commit" in target) return (await target.commit(input)) ?? undefined;
+    const sql = this.sink!.sql;
+    const mapped = this.mapped!;
+    switch (input.kind) {
+      case "open": {
+        // The PRECONDITION is checked once, in `assertOpenable`, before this write — never here.
+        // Re-reading it per attempt would make a lost ack on the write below refuse its own success
+        // (the row would already say `streaming`).
+        await sql.batch([mapped.markStreaming(input.streamId, this.openToken)]);
+        await this.verifyOpenWinner(input.streamId);
+        return undefined;
+      }
+      case "append": {
+        try {
+          await sql.batch(mapped.append(input.streamId, input.from, input.seq, input.text));
+        } catch (err) {
+          // The batch may have COMMITTED with its ack lost. The read-back is the truth: a row at
+          // (or past) this slice's end means it landed, and the throw was only the reply.
+          const truth = await this.readAppendState(input.streamId).catch(() => undefined);
+          if (truth === undefined || truth.seq < input.seq) throw err;
+          return truth;
+        }
+        // The read-back CONFIRMS the append (the guarded statements report no row count). If it
+        // throws, the retry is safe: a replay of an applied slice no-ops on the guard and confirms
+        // on its own read-back.
+        return await this.readAppendState(input.streamId);
+      }
+      case "close": {
+        await sql.batch(mapped.compact(input.streamId, input.body, input.status, input.error));
+        return undefined;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /** The read-back half of the open CAS, run only when a `host` column is mapped. The probe in
+   *  `assertOpenable` and the open write are separate round trips, so bare check-then-act leaves a
+   *  window where two simultaneous kicks both pass the probe; the conditional `markStreaming`
+   *  matches nothing when a rival got there first, and whichever token the row now holds names the
+   *  winner — a true CAS with no row counts needed. A replayed open (lost ack) reads back its OWN
+   *  token and proceeds. */
+  private async verifyOpenWinner(streamId: string): Promise<void> {
+    const probe = this.mapped!.probeHost();
+    if (probe === undefined) return;
+    const rows = await this.sink!.sql.query<{ host: unknown }>(probe, [streamId]);
+    if (rows[0]?.host !== this.openToken) {
+      throw new StreamOpenRefused(
+        `stream ${streamId}: another producer won the open race (the row's host is ` +
+          `${JSON.stringify(rows[0]?.host ?? null)}) — two producers on one stream interleave their checkpoints, ` +
+          `so the loser stands down`,
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
+  /** The post-append read-back (§3.2): the row's authoritative length — which both CONFIRMS an
+   *  append (the guarded batch reports no row count) and absorbs a committed-but-ack-lost one —
+   *  plus the reader's cancel flag when mapped (§6), riding the same indexed point read. This read
+   *  is LOAD-BEARING: a failure here fails the append attempt (retried, then stalled), because
+   *  claiming durability the store did not confirm is the one dishonesty this plane refuses. */
+  private async readAppendState(streamId: string): Promise<{ seq: number; cancelRequested?: boolean }> {
+    const rows = await this.sink!.sql.query<{ seq: unknown; cancel?: unknown }>(this.mapped!.probeState(), [
+      streamId,
+    ]);
+    const row = rows[0];
+    if (row === undefined || typeof row.seq !== "number") {
+      throw new Error(`stream ${streamId}: the read-back found no usable message row`);
+    }
+    return { seq: row.seq, ...(this.mapped!.hasCancel ? { cancelRequested: Boolean(row.cancel) } : {}) };
+  }
+
+  /** The store's word on how much is durable — for resynchronizing after a FAILED append, where a
+   *  lost ack may have left the store ahead of the plane. `undefined` in `commit` mode (no readable
+   *  authority) or when the read itself fails (the next attempt retries the resync too). */
+  async probeDurableSeq(streamId: string): Promise<number | undefined> {
+    if (!this.mapped) return undefined;
+    try {
+      return (await this.readAppendState(streamId)).seq;
+    } catch {
+      return undefined;
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+/** The open probe's verdict: the message row is missing or already advanced. Not retried — it is a
+ *  settled statement about the app's data, and retrying re-asks a question already answered. */
+export class StreamOpenRefused extends Error {
+  constructor(message: string) {
+    super(message);
+    this.name = "StreamOpenRefused";
+  }
+}
+
+/** Refused by {@link RindleStreamOptions.authorize}. Distinct from the api-server's own
+ *  `RindleApiError` so this module stays importable without the server (no cycle); the server
+ *  translates it to a 403 at the handler seam. */
+export class StreamForbidden extends Error {
+  readonly streamId: string;
+
+  constructor(streamId: string) {
+    super(`stream ${streamId}: forbidden`);
+    this.name = "StreamForbidden";
+    this.streamId = streamId;
+  }
+}
+
+function oneFrame(streamId: string, frame: StreamFrame): StreamSubscription {
+  let taken = false;
+  return {
+    streamId,
+    frames: {
+      [Symbol.asyncIterator](): AsyncIterator<StreamFrame> {
+        return {
+          next(): Promise<IteratorResult<StreamFrame>> {
+            if (taken) return Promise.resolve({ value: undefined as never, done: true });
+            taken = true;
+            return Promise.resolve({ value: frame, done: false });
+          },
+        };
+      },
+    },
+    close: () => {
+      taken = true;
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SSE transport
+
+/** Headers for the SSE response. `x-accel-buffering` is the nginx-family opt-out — without it a
+ *  buffering proxy holds the tokens and hands the user a paragraph at a time. */
+export const STREAM_SSE_HEADERS: Record<string, string> = {
+  "content-type": "text/event-stream; charset=utf-8",
+  "cache-control": "no-cache, no-transform",
+  connection: "keep-alive",
+  "x-accel-buffering": "no",
+};
+
+/** Pull a subscribe request out of a fetch-style GET: `?streamId=…&from=…`, with `Last-Event-ID`
+ *  winning over an explicit `from` (a reconnecting `EventSource` knows better than its own URL —
+ *  the URL is the ORIGINAL join point, the header is where it actually got to). */
+export function streamRequestFromHttp(req: {
+  url: string;
+  headers: { get(name: string): string | null };
+}): { streamId: string; from: number } {
+  const url = new URL(req.url);
+  const streamId = url.searchParams.get("streamId") ?? "";
+  const lastEventId = req.headers.get("last-event-id");
+  const raw = lastEventId ?? url.searchParams.get("from") ?? "0";
+  const from = Number.parseInt(raw, 10);
+  return { streamId, from: Number.isFinite(from) && from > 0 ? from : 0 };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Encode a subscription as an SSE body. Each positional frame carries `id: <seq>`, so a browser
+ * `EventSource` that drops the connection resumes at exactly the right offset with no application
+ * code — its own `Last-Event-ID` header is the `from` of the next subscribe ({@link
+ * streamRequestFromHttp}).
+ *
+ * The reader must close the `EventSource` on the `end` frame: `EventSource` reconnects on ANY close,
+ * including a clean one.
+ */
+export function streamFramesToSse(
+  sub: StreamSubscription,
+  opts?: { keepAliveMs?: number },
+): ReadableStream<Uint8Array> {
+  const encoder = new TextEncoder();
+  const keepAliveMs = opts?.keepAliveMs ?? 15_000;
+  let ping: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null = null;
+  let cancelled = false;
+  let iter: AsyncIterator<StreamFrame>;
+  // PULL-based on purpose: a frame is taken from the subscription only when the consumer has
+  // demand, so a slow HTTP client backs frames up in the SUBSCRIBER's bounded queue — where
+  // `maxQueuedFrames` drops it with `stale` (§4) — instead of unboundedly in this stream's own.
+  return new ReadableStream<Uint8Array>({
+    start(controller) {
+      iter = sub.frames[Symbol.asyncIterator]();
+      const beat = (): void => {
+        if (cancelled) return;
+        // A comment line: keeps intermediaries from reaping an idle connection, costs 8 bytes.
+        controller.enqueue(encoder.encode(": ping\n\n"));
+        ping = timer(beat, keepAliveMs);
+      };
+      ping = timer(beat, keepAliveMs);
+    },
+    async pull(controller) {
+      const next = await iter.next();
+      if (cancelled) return;
+      if (next.done) {
+        if (ping) clearTimeout(ping);
+        sub.close();
+        controller.close();
+        return;
+      }
+      const id = frameResumePoint(next.value);
+      const head = id === undefined ? "" : `id: ${id}\n`;
+      controller.enqueue(encoder.encode(`${head}data: ${JSON.stringify(next.value)}\n\n`));
+    },
+    cancel() {
+      cancelled = true;
+      if (ping) clearTimeout(ping);
+      sub.close();
+    },
+  });
+}