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/cli.ts

@@ -935,10 +935,7 @@ export function formatResult(opName: string, result: unknown): string {
         lines.push(`Link coverage (entities): ${(h.link_coverage * 100).toFixed(1)}%`);
       }
       if (h.timeline_coverage !== undefined) {
-        lines.push(`Timeline coverage (entity pages): ${(h.timeline_coverage * 100).toFixed(1)}%`);
-      }
-      if (h.timeline_coverage_score !== undefined) {
-        lines.push(`Timeline density (all pages): ${h.timeline_coverage_score}/15 (whole-brain brain-score component)`);
+        lines.push(`Timeline coverage (entities): ${(h.timeline_coverage * 100).toFixed(1)}%`);
       }
       if (Array.isArray(h.most_connected) && h.most_connected.length > 0) {
         lines.push('Most connected entities:');

src/commands/doctor.ts

@@ -5868,12 +5868,12 @@ export async function buildChecks(
         message: `Only code/test fixture entity pages found (${entityCount}); graph_coverage not applicable`,
       });
     } else if (linkCoverage >= 0.5 && timelineCoverage >= 0.5) {
-      checks.push({ name: 'graph_coverage', status: 'ok', message: `Entity link coverage ${linkPct}%, entity timeline coverage ${timelinePct}%` });
+      checks.push({ name: 'graph_coverage', status: 'ok', message: `Entity link coverage ${linkPct}%, timeline ${timelinePct}%` });
     } else {
       checks.push({
         name: 'graph_coverage',
         status: 'warn',
-        message: `Entity link coverage ${linkPct}%, entity timeline coverage ${timelinePct}% (${eligibleEntityCount} entity pages). Run: gbrain extract all`,
+        message: `Entity link coverage ${linkPct}%, timeline ${timelinePct}% (${eligibleEntityCount} entity pages). Run: gbrain extract all`,
       });
     }
 
@@ -5885,7 +5885,7 @@ export async function buildChecks(
       const parts = [
         `embed ${health.embed_coverage_score}/35`,
         `links ${health.link_density_score}/25`,
-        `timeline density (all pages) ${health.timeline_coverage_score}/15`,
+        `timeline ${health.timeline_coverage_score}/15`,
         `orphans ${health.no_orphans_score}/15`,
         `dead-links ${health.no_dead_links_score}/10`,
       ];

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/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/doctor-timeline-metric-labels-2298.test.ts

@@ -1,155 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Issue #2298 — timeline metric presentation contract.
- *
- * Authoritative upstream semantics (src/core/types.ts):
- *   - Metric A `timeline_coverage` (entity-scoped, fraction 0–1):
- *       eligible entity pages WITH a timeline entry / eligible entity pages
- *     -> surfaced by `graph_coverage` check AND `get_health` CLI entity line.
- *   - Metric B `timeline_coverage_score` (whole-brain, 0–15 brain-score component):
- *       all pages WITH a timeline entry / all pages
- *     -> surfaced by `brain_score` component breakdown AND (separately) CLI.
- *
- * The two have DIFFERENT numerators/denominators. This PR labels each
- * explicitly and keeps BOTH the entity CLI line and the whole-brain line.
- *
- * Tests (no private EriadorMu data, no production/home DB, no network):
- *   - numeric denominator assertions (Metric A = 50%, Metric B = 4/15)
- *   - doctor rendered-message assertions (exact labels, no ambiguous old label)
- *   - CLI rendered-output assertions (exact lines, guard matrix)
- *   - red/green: same assertions FAIL on origin/master, PASS on this branch
- *
- * Scoring formula UNCHANGED. Canonical PGLite fixture via resetPgliteState.
- */
-
-import { describe, expect, test, beforeAll, afterAll, beforeEach } from 'bun:test';
-import { PGLiteEngine } from '../src/core/pglite-engine.ts';
-import { sqlQueryForEngine } from '../src/core/sql-query.ts';
-import { resetPgliteState } from './helpers/reset-pglite.ts';
-import { buildChecks } from '../src/commands/doctor.ts';
-import { formatResult } from '../src/cli.ts';
-
-let engine: PGLiteEngine;
-
-async function seedFourPages(eng: PGLiteEngine): Promise<void> {
-  const sql = sqlQueryForEngine(eng);
-  // 2 eligible entity pages, 2 technical/non-entity pages.
-  // Only ONE entity page has a timeline entry; only ONE total page does.
-  await sql`
-    INSERT INTO pages (slug, source_id, type, title, compiled_truth, frontmatter, content_hash, created_at, updated_at)
-    VALUES
-      ('acme-example', 'default', 'company', 'Acme', '', '{}', 'h1', now(), now()),
-      ('alice-example', 'default', 'person', 'Alice', '', '{}', 'h2', now(), now()),
-      ('technical-a', 'default', 'note', 'Tech A', '', '{}', 'h3', now(), now()),
-      ('technical-b', 'default', 'note', 'Tech B', '', '{}', 'h4', now(), now())
-  `;
-  const companyId = (await sql`SELECT id FROM pages WHERE slug='acme-example'`)[0].id as number;
-  await sql`INSERT INTO timeline_entries (page_id, date, source, summary, detail)
-    VALUES (${companyId}, CURRENT_DATE, 'test', 'milestone', '{}')`;
-}
-
-beforeAll(async () => {
-  engine = new PGLiteEngine();
-  await engine.connect({});
-  await engine.initSchema();
-});
-
-afterAll(async () => {
-  await engine.disconnect();
-});
-
-beforeEach(async () => {
-  await resetPgliteState(engine);
-});
-
-describe('issue #2298 — numeric denominator semantics', () => {
-  test('entity timeline coverage = 1/2 = 50% (2 eligible entities, 1 with timeline)', async () => {
-    await seedFourPages(engine);
-    const health = await engine.getHealth();
-    expect(health.timeline_coverage).toBeDefined();
-    expect(Math.round((health.timeline_coverage ?? 0) * 100)).toBe(50);
-  });
-
-  test('whole-brain timeline density = 1/4 -> score 4/15 (4 total pages, 1 with timeline)', async () => {
-    await seedFourPages(engine);
-    const health = await engine.getHealth();
-    expect(health.timeline_coverage_score).toBeDefined();
-    expect(health.timeline_coverage_score).toBe(4);
-  });
-
-  test('the two metrics use independent denominators', async () => {
-    await seedFourPages(engine);
-    const health = await engine.getHealth();
-    expect(Math.round((health.timeline_coverage ?? 0) * 100)).toBe(50);
-    expect(health.timeline_coverage_score ?? 0).toBe(4);
-    // 50% (entity, /2) != 26.7% (whole-brain, /4). Provably distinct.
-    expect(Math.round(((health.timeline_coverage_score ?? 0) / 15) * 100)).not.toBe(50);
-  });
-});
-
-describe('issue #2298 — doctor rendered-message contract', () => {
-  test('graph_coverage renders entity-scoped label with 50%', async () => {
-    await seedFourPages(engine);
-    const checks = await buildChecks(engine, [], null);
-    const graph = checks.find((c) => c.name === 'graph_coverage');
-    expect(graph, 'graph_coverage check must be present').toBeDefined();
-    expect(graph!.message).toContain('entity timeline coverage 50%');
-    // ambiguous old label must NOT be present
-    expect(graph!.message).not.toMatch(/timeline 50%/);
-    expect(graph!.message).not.toMatch(/timeline \(entity, brain score\)/);
-  });
-
-  test('brain_score renders whole-brain density label 4/15', async () => {
-    await seedFourPages(engine);
-    const checks = await buildChecks(engine, [], null);
-    const brain = checks.find((c) => c.name === 'brain_score');
-    expect(brain, 'brain_score check must be present').toBeDefined();
-    expect(brain!.message).toContain('timeline density (all pages) 4/15');
-    // wrong labels must NOT be present
-    expect(brain!.message).not.toMatch(/timeline 4\/15/);
-    expect(brain!.message).not.toMatch(/timeline \(entity, brain score\)/);
-    // brain-score component must NOT carry the word "entity" (it is whole-brain)
-    const timelinePart = brain!.message.split('timeline density (all pages) 4/15')[0] + 'timeline density (all pages) 4/15';
-    expect(timelinePart).not.toMatch(/entity/);
-  });
-});
-
-describe('issue #2298 — CLI get_health rendered-output contract', () => {
-  function fakeHealth(overrides: Record<string, unknown>): any {
-    return {
-      embed_coverage: 1, missing_embeddings: 0, stale_pages: 0, orphan_pages: 0,
-      link_coverage: 1, timeline_coverage: 0.5, timeline_coverage_score: 4,
-      most_connected: [], ...overrides,
-    };
-  }
-
-  test('both entity and whole-brain lines render, no undefined/15', () => {
-    const out = formatResult('get_health', fakeHealth({}));
-    expect(out).toContain('Timeline coverage (entity pages): 50.0%');
-    expect(out).toContain('Timeline density (all pages): 4/15');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('undefined/15');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('Timeline coverage (entities)');
-    expect(out).not.toMatch(/timeline \(entity, brain score\)/);
-    expect(out).not.toMatch(/bare "timeline 4\/15"/);
-  });
-
-  test('guard matrix: entity present, whole-brain absent -> only entity line', () => {
-    const out = formatResult('get_health', fakeHealth({ timeline_coverage_score: undefined }));
-    expect(out).toContain('Timeline coverage (entity pages): 50.0%');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('Timeline density (all pages)');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('undefined/15');
-  });
-
-  test('guard matrix: whole-brain present, entity absent -> only whole-brain line', () => {
-    const out = formatResult('get_health', fakeHealth({ timeline_coverage: undefined }));
-    expect(out).toContain('Timeline density (all pages): 4/15');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('Timeline coverage (entity pages)');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('undefined/15');
-  });
-
-  test('guard matrix: both absent -> neither timeline line, never undefined/15', () => {
-    const out = formatResult('get_health', fakeHealth({ timeline_coverage: undefined, timeline_coverage_score: undefined }));
-    expect(out).not.toContain('Timeline coverage (entity pages)');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('Timeline density (all pages)');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('undefined/15');
-  });
-});

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.