fix(sync): guard putPage 0-row RETURNING + reclassify sync failure copy (#2189)

Root cause of #2189's opaque per-file crash: putPage's INSERT … ON CONFLICT
DO UPDATE … RETURNING can yield 0 rows when brain-local DB state (e.g. a
BEFORE trigger) suppresses the write, and rowToPage(rows[0]) then died with
"undefined is not an object (evaluating 'row.deleted_at')". Both engines now
throw a descriptive error naming the slug + source_id so the failure is
diagnosable per-file instead of an anonymous TypeError.

Also lands the salvageable parts of community PR #2586 (takeover): the
"failed to parse / fix the frontmatter" copy misclassified runtime import
errors as YAML problems — reworded to "failed to import" — plus its
first-code-sync PGLite smoke test.

New regression test reproduces the exact 0-row RETURNING state via a
suppressing trigger: fails pre-fix with the reported crash signature,
passes with the guard.

Co-authored-by: javieraldape <javieraldape@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/commands/embed.ts

@@ -107,14 +107,6 @@ export interface EmbedOpts {
    * runs lock every source in sorted order. dryRun skips it.
    */
   singleFlight?: boolean;
-  /**
-   * #394: suppress human stdout summaries (the `[dry-run] Would embed ...` /
-   * `Embedded N chunks ...` slog lines). Set by structured-output callers —
-   * the cycle's embed phase (dream --json must keep stdout JSON-clean per
-   * docs/progress-events.md) reports counts via its own PhaseResult instead.
-   * Errors/warnings still go to stderr regardless.
-   */
-  quiet?: boolean;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -261,7 +253,7 @@ export async function runEmbedCore(engine: BrainEngine, opts: EmbedOpts): Promis
     for (const s of opts.slugs) {
       if (isAborted(opts.signal)) break; // #1737: stop the per-slug loop on abort
       try {
-        await embedPage(engine, s, !!opts.dryRun, result, opts.sourceId, opts.signal, opts.quiet);
+        await embedPage(engine, s, !!opts.dryRun, result, opts.sourceId, opts.signal);
       } catch (e: unknown) {
         serr(`  Error embedding ${s}: ${e instanceof Error ? e.message : e}`);
       }
@@ -355,7 +347,6 @@ export async function runEmbedCore(engine: BrainEngine, opts: EmbedOpts): Promis
         catchUp: opts.catchUp,
         pacer,
         paceMaxConcurrency,
-        quiet: opts.quiet,
       }, opts.signal);
     } finally {
       // E1: surface pacing telemetry (human + structured) when pacing was on.
@@ -385,7 +376,7 @@ export async function runEmbedCore(engine: BrainEngine, opts: EmbedOpts): Promis
     return result;
   }
   if (opts.slug) {
-    await embedPage(engine, opts.slug, !!opts.dryRun, result, opts.sourceId, opts.signal, opts.quiet);
+    await embedPage(engine, opts.slug, !!opts.dryRun, result, opts.sourceId, opts.signal);
     return result;
   }
   throw new Error('No embed target specified. Pass { slug }, { slugs }, { all }, or { stale }.');
@@ -530,7 +521,6 @@ async function embedPage(
   result: EmbedResult,
   sourceId?: string,
   signal?: AbortSignal,
-  quiet?: boolean,
 ) {
   const opts = sourceId ? { sourceId } : undefined;
   const page = await engine.getPage(slug, opts);
@@ -575,7 +565,7 @@ async function embedPage(
   result.skipped += chunks.length - toEmbed.length;
 
   if (toEmbed.length === 0) {
-    if (!quiet) slog(`${slug}: all ${chunks.length} chunks already embedded`);
+    slog(`${slug}: all ${chunks.length} chunks already embedded`);
     result.pages_processed++;
     return;
   }
@@ -612,7 +602,7 @@ async function embedPage(
   }
   result.embedded += toEmbed.length;
   result.pages_processed++;
-  if (!quiet) slog(`${slug}: embedded ${toEmbed.length} chunks`);
+  slog(`${slug}: embedded ${toEmbed.length} chunks`);
 }
 
 async function embedAll(
@@ -630,8 +620,6 @@ async function embedAll(
     pacer?: DbPacer;
     /** Resolved concurrency cap (E-1: the worker count, no separate permit). */
     paceMaxConcurrency?: number;
-    /** #394: suppress human stdout summaries (structured-output callers). */
-    quiet?: boolean;
   },
   signal?: AbortSignal,
 ) {
@@ -775,12 +763,10 @@ async function embedAll(
   });
 
   // Stdout summary preserved for scripts/tests that grep for counts.
-  if (!staleOpts?.quiet) {
-    if (dryRun) {
-      slog(`[dry-run] Would embed ${result.would_embed} chunks across ${pages.length} pages`);
-    } else {
-      slog(`Embedded ${result.embedded} chunks across ${pages.length} pages`);
-    }
+  if (dryRun) {
+    slog(`[dry-run] Would embed ${result.would_embed} chunks across ${pages.length} pages`);
+  } else {
+    slog(`Embedded ${result.embedded} chunks across ${pages.length} pages`);
   }
 }
 
@@ -816,8 +802,6 @@ async function embedAllStale(
     pacer?: DbPacer;
     /** Resolved concurrency cap (E-1: the worker count, no separate permit). */
     paceMaxConcurrency?: number;
-    /** #394: suppress human stdout summaries (structured-output callers). */
-    quiet?: boolean;
   },
   signature?: string,
   externalSignal?: AbortSignal,
@@ -835,7 +819,7 @@ async function embedAllStale(
       signature,
       ...(sourceId && { sourceId }),
     });
-    if (invalidated > 0 && !staleOpts?.quiet) {
+    if (invalidated > 0) {
       slog(`[embed] invalidated ${invalidated} chunk(s) embedded under a prior model signature`);
     }
   }
@@ -846,12 +830,10 @@ async function embedAllStale(
     dryRun && signature ? { ...sourceOpt, signature } : sourceOpt,
   );
   if (staleCount === 0) {
-    if (!staleOpts?.quiet) {
-      if (dryRun) {
-        slog('[dry-run] Would embed 0 chunks (0 stale found)');
-      } else {
-        slog('Embedded 0 chunks (0 stale found)');
-      }
+    if (dryRun) {
+      slog('[dry-run] Would embed 0 chunks (0 stale found)');
+    } else {
+      slog('Embedded 0 chunks (0 stale found)');
     }
     return;
   }
@@ -860,7 +842,7 @@ async function embedAllStale(
     result.would_embed += staleCount;
     result.total_chunks += staleCount;
     if (onProgress) onProgress(1, 1, 0);
-    if (!staleOpts?.quiet) slog(`[dry-run] Would embed ${staleCount} stale chunks`);
+    slog(`[dry-run] Would embed ${staleCount} stale chunks`);
     return;
   }
 
@@ -1100,7 +1082,7 @@ async function embedAllStale(
     if (budgetTimer) clearTimeout(budgetTimer);
   }
 
-  if (!staleOpts?.quiet) slog(`Embedded ${result.embedded} chunks across ${totalProcessedPages} pages`);
+  slog(`Embedded ${result.embedded} chunks across ${totalProcessedPages} pages`);
 
   // #1946 (OV2a): a catch-up pass that completed without being aborted but left
   // chunks unembedded means those chunks are stuck (a non-transient embed

src/commands/sync.ts

@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ export interface SyncResult {
   /** Pages re-embedded during this sync's auto-embed step. 0 if --no-embed or skipped. */
   embedded: number;
   pagesAffected: string[];
-  failedFiles?: number; // count of parse failures (Bug 9)
+  failedFiles?: number; // count of per-file import/sync failures (Bug 9)
   /**
    * v0.41.13.0 partial-sync fields (only set when status === 'partial').
    *
@@ -3183,7 +3183,7 @@ async function performSyncInner(engine: BrainEngine, opts: SyncOpts): Promise<Sy
     await clearOpCheckpoint(engine, ckpt.target);
   };
 
-  // issue #1939 adversarial finding #1: a file that failed to parse (open ledger
+  // issue #1939 adversarial finding #1: a file that failed to import (open ledger
   // row) and is then deleted/renamed-away never re-enters failedFiles and never
   // imports, so its row would never clear and would age doctor to a permanent
   // FAIL. Treat removed paths as resolved so the ledger self-heals.
@@ -3215,9 +3215,9 @@ async function performSyncInner(engine: BrainEngine, opts: SyncOpts): Promise<Sy
     } else {
       const fileFailCount = failedFiles.filter(f => isSkippablePath(f.path)).length;
       serr(
-        `\nSync blocked: ${fileFailCount} file(s) failed to parse:\n` +
+        `\nSync blocked: ${fileFailCount} file(s) failed to import:\n` +
         `${codeBreakdown}\n\n` +
-        `Fix the frontmatter and re-run, or use 'gbrain sync --skip-failed' to ` +
+        `Fix the listed file errors and re-run, or use 'gbrain sync --skip-failed' to ` +
         `acknowledge and move on. A file that keeps failing auto-skips after ` +
         `${resolveAutoSkipThreshold()} consecutive syncs.`,
       );
@@ -5355,7 +5355,7 @@ function printSyncResult(result: SyncResult, sink: NodeJS.WriteStream = process.
     case 'dry_run':
       break; // already printed in performSync
     case 'blocked_by_failures':
-      write(`Sync BLOCKED at ${result.toCommit.slice(0, 8)}: ${result.failedFiles ?? 0} file(s) failed to parse.`);
+      write(`Sync BLOCKED at ${result.toCommit.slice(0, 8)}: ${result.failedFiles ?? 0} file(s) failed to import.`);
       write(`  See ~/.gbrain/sync-failures.jsonl for details, or run 'gbrain doctor'.`);
       write(`  Fix the files then re-run 'gbrain sync', or 'gbrain sync --skip-failed' to move on.`);
       break;

src/core/cycle.ts

@@ -1214,9 +1214,7 @@ async function runPhaseEmbed(engine: BrainEngine, dryRun: boolean, signal?: Abor
     // 10-15 min one) bails within a batch instead of running to completion
     // after the job was killed — which left gbrain_cycle_locks held and
     // wedged every subsequent autopilot cycle.
-    // #394: quiet — the cycle reports embed counts via its own PhaseResult;
-    // raw `[dry-run] Would embed ...` stdout lines would corrupt `dream --json`.
-    const result = await runEmbedCore(engine, { stale: true, dryRun, signal, quiet: true });
+    const result = await runEmbedCore(engine, { stale: true, dryRun, signal });
     const embeddedCount = dryRun ? result.would_embed : result.embedded;
     return {
       phase: 'embed',

src/core/pglite-engine.ts

@@ -1058,6 +1058,16 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
        RETURNING id, source_id, slug, type, title, compiled_truth, timeline, frontmatter, content_hash, created_at, updated_at, effective_date, effective_date_source, import_filename, source_kind, source_uri, ingested_via, ingested_at`,
       [sourceId, slug, page.type, pageKind, page.title, page.compiled_truth, page.timeline || '', JSON.stringify(frontmatter), hash, effectiveDate, effectiveDateSource, importFilename, chunkerVersion, sourcePath, sourceKind, sourceUri, ingestedVia, ingestedAt]
     );
+    // #2189: an INSERT … ON CONFLICT DO UPDATE … RETURNING that yields 0 rows
+    // (e.g. a BEFORE trigger suppressing the write) previously crashed in
+    // rowToPage with an opaque "undefined is not an object (row.deleted_at)".
+    // Throw a diagnosable error naming the row instead. Mirrors postgres-engine.ts.
+    if (!rows[0]) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `putPage: INSERT … RETURNING produced no row for slug='${slug}' source_id='${sourceId}'. ` +
+        `A trigger or rule on the pages table may be suppressing the write.`
+      );
+    }
     return rowToPage(rows[0] as Record<string, unknown>);
   }
 

src/core/postgres-engine.ts

@@ -1119,6 +1119,16 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
         ingested_at           = COALESCE(EXCLUDED.ingested_at,           pages.ingested_at)
       RETURNING id, source_id, slug, type, title, compiled_truth, timeline, frontmatter, content_hash, created_at, updated_at, effective_date, effective_date_source, import_filename, source_kind, source_uri, ingested_via, ingested_at
     `;
+    // #2189: an INSERT … ON CONFLICT DO UPDATE … RETURNING that yields 0 rows
+    // (e.g. a BEFORE trigger suppressing the write) previously crashed in
+    // rowToPage with an opaque "undefined is not an object (row.deleted_at)".
+    // Throw a diagnosable error naming the row instead. Mirrors pglite-engine.ts.
+    if (!rows[0]) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `putPage: INSERT … RETURNING produced no row for slug='${slug}' source_id='${sourceId}'. ` +
+        `A trigger or rule on the pages table may be suppressing the write.`
+      );
+    }
     return rowToPage(rows[0]);
   }
 

test/dream.test.ts

@@ -292,33 +292,6 @@ describe('runDream — output format', () => {
     expect(parsed).toHaveProperty('totals');
   });
 
-  // #394 / takeover of #854: the embed phase's `[dry-run] Would embed ...`
-  // summary must not leak onto stdout ahead of the JSON CycleReport.
-  test('--dry-run --json emits only JSON even when embed has stale chunks', async () => {
-    await engine.putPage('concepts/testing', {
-      type: 'concept',
-      title: 'Testing',
-      compiled_truth: 'Testing keeps JSON contracts honest.',
-      timeline: '',
-    });
-    await engine.upsertChunks('concepts/testing', [
-      { chunk_index: 0, chunk_text: 'Testing keeps JSON contracts honest.', chunk_source: 'compiled_truth' },
-    ]);
-
-    const lines: string[] = [];
-    const logSpy = spyOn(console, 'log').mockImplementation((msg: string) => { lines.push(String(msg)); });
-    await runDream(engine, ['--dir', repo, '--phase', 'embed', '--dry-run', '--json']);
-    logSpy.mockRestore();
-
-    const output = lines.join('\n');
-    expect(output.trimStart().startsWith('{')).toBe(true);
-    const parsed = JSON.parse(output);
-    expect(parsed.schema_version).toBe('1');
-    expect(parsed.phases[0].phase).toBe('embed');
-    // The stale chunk was still counted in the structured report.
-    expect(parsed.phases[0].details.would_embed).toBe(1);
-  });
-
   test('human output for clean status mentions "Brain is healthy"', async () => {
     const lines: string[] = [];
     const logSpy = spyOn(console, 'log').mockImplementation((msg: string) => { lines.push(String(msg)); });

test/putpage-returning-guard.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+// #2189 regression guard: putPage's INSERT … ON CONFLICT DO UPDATE … RETURNING
+// can yield 0 rows when brain-local DB state (e.g. a BEFORE INSERT trigger)
+// suppresses the write. Pre-fix, rowToPage(rows[0]) crashed with the opaque
+// "undefined is not an object (evaluating 'row.deleted_at')" that failed
+// ~all files of a code sync. Post-fix, putPage throws a descriptive error
+// naming the slug + source_id so the failure is diagnosable per-file.
+//
+// Same guard lands in postgres-engine.ts (engine-parity invariant); this test
+// exercises the PGLite side, where the issue was reported.
+
+import { describe, expect, test, beforeAll, afterAll } from 'bun:test';
+import { PGLiteEngine } from '../src/core/pglite-engine.ts';
+
+let engine: PGLiteEngine;
+
+beforeAll(async () => {
+  engine = new PGLiteEngine();
+  await engine.connect({});
+  await engine.initSchema();
+  // Simulate the reporter's state-dependent failure: a trigger that
+  // suppresses inserts for one slug, making RETURNING produce no row.
+  await engine.executeRaw(`
+    CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION suppress_pages_insert() RETURNS trigger AS $$
+    BEGIN
+      IF NEW.slug = 'suppressed-page' THEN RETURN NULL; END IF;
+      RETURN NEW;
+    END;
+    $$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
+  `);
+  await engine.executeRaw(`
+    CREATE TRIGGER suppress_pages_insert_trg
+    BEFORE INSERT ON pages
+    FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE FUNCTION suppress_pages_insert();
+  `);
+});
+
+afterAll(async () => {
+  await engine.executeRaw('DROP TRIGGER IF EXISTS suppress_pages_insert_trg ON pages');
+  await engine.executeRaw('DROP FUNCTION IF EXISTS suppress_pages_insert');
+  await engine.disconnect();
+});
+
+describe('putPage RETURNING guard (#2189)', () => {
+  test('0-row RETURNING throws a descriptive error, not row.deleted_at TypeError', async () => {
+    let err: Error | undefined;
+    try {
+      await engine.putPage('suppressed-page', {
+        type: 'code',
+        title: 'Suppressed',
+        compiled_truth: 'x',
+        timeline: '',
+      });
+    } catch (e) {
+      err = e as Error;
+    }
+    expect(err).toBeDefined();
+    expect(err!.message).toContain('putPage');
+    expect(err!.message).toContain("slug='suppressed-page'");
+    expect(err!.message).toContain("source_id='default'");
+    // The pre-fix crash signature must be gone.
+    expect(err!.message).not.toContain('deleted_at');
+  });
+
+  test('unsuppressed slugs still upsert normally with the trigger installed', async () => {
+    const page = await engine.putPage('normal-page', {
+      type: 'concept',
+      title: 'Normal',
+      compiled_truth: 'y',
+      timeline: '',
+    });
+    expect(page.slug).toBe('normal-page');
+    expect(page.source_id).toBe('default');
+  });
+});

test/sync.test.ts

@@ -375,6 +375,31 @@ describe('performSync dry-run never writes', () => {
     expect(messages.some(m => m.includes('git pull failed'))).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  test('first PGLite code sync imports code files without runtime failures', async () => {
+    const { performSync } = await import('../src/commands/sync.ts');
+    mkdirSync(join(repoPath, 'src'), { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(
+      join(repoPath, 'src/example.ts'),
+      'export function add(left: number, right: number) { return left + right; }\n',
+    );
+    execSync('git add -A && git commit -m "add code file"', { cwd: repoPath, stdio: 'pipe' });
+
+    const result = await performSync(engine, {
+      repoPath,
+      noPull: true,
+      noEmbed: true,
+      noExtract: true,
+      strategy: 'code',
+    });
+
+    expect(result.status).toBe('first_sync');
+    expect(result.added).toBe(1);
+    expect(result.failedFiles ?? 0).toBe(0);
+    const page = await engine.getPage('src-example-ts');
+    expect(page?.type).toBe('code');
+    expect(page?.frontmatter).toMatchObject({ file: 'src/example.ts', language: 'typescript' });
+  });
+
   test('incremental dry-run does NOT write to DB or advance the bookmark', async () => {
     const { performSync } = await import('../src/commands/sync.ts');
     // First do a real sync to seed the bookmark.