feat(media): the verdict splits what the database alone cannot

"No row at the destination" was one number, and it conflated three different
things: a sidecar the server never indexes, a file a later pass renamed again,
and a file that never left its source — the last one being actual damage. The
runbook already named the four classes; the tool never computed them, so an
operator reading `missing from the DB: 1851` had no way to tell a booklet.pdf
from a lost album and might have run a rollback over a false alarm.

`missing` rows are now stat'd on both paths and reported as
`on disk at dst, no row names it` / `REAL — file still at src` /
`gone — at neither path`, with offenders listed in that order. A row still
naming `src` stays a separate line: that is the server's own stale pointer, a
phantom, and it costs a re-scan rather than a restore.

Two new tests (REAL, and gone-vs-sidecar) plus two existing layout assertions
loosened from line positions to content. 14/14 in tests/media_verify.bats.

scripts/media-census.py

@@ -128,6 +128,26 @@ where p.file like ? and p.deleted_at is null and mi.deleted_at is null
   and al.deleted_at is null
 """
 
+def open_plex_ro(db):
+    """Plex's library, read the way Plex writes it.
+
+    `immutable=1` tells sqlite the file never changes, so it skips the
+    write-ahead log: every row a scan has committed but not yet checkpointed
+    is invisible, and reading a live database that way can fail outright as
+    "database disk image is malformed". Plain ro reads the WAL through its
+    -shm; immutable is only the fallback for a database whose -shm cannot be
+    read. The same law scripts/media-verify.py states.
+    """
+    last = None
+    for opt in ("mode=ro", "mode=ro&immutable=1"):
+        try:
+            return sqlite3.connect(f"file:{db}?{opt}", uri=True)
+        except sqlite3.Error as e:
+            last = e
+    sys.exit(f"cannot open the Plex database read-only ({db}): {last}\n"
+             "Plex runs rootless here: run this as the container's owner, never "
+             "with sudo — rootless storage is per-user, so root sees nothing.")
+
 
 def enumerate_lib(root, out):
     """One row per real file under root: size, extension, path."""
@@ -227,13 +247,7 @@ def probe(enum, out, jobs):
 
 def plex(root, db, out):
     """Plex's matched titles for files under root, from its DB, read-only."""
-    uri = f"file:{db}?mode=ro&immutable=1"
-    try:
-        con = sqlite3.connect(uri, uri=True)
-    except sqlite3.Error as e:
-        sys.exit(f"cannot open the Plex database read-only ({db}): {e}\n"
-                 "Plex runs rootless here: run this as the container's owner, never "
-                 "with sudo — rootless storage is per-user, so root sees nothing.")
+    con = open_plex_ro(db)
     with open(out, "w", newline="") as fh:
         w = csv.writer(fh, delimiter="\t", lineterminator="\n")
         w.writerow(PLEX_COLS)
@@ -405,13 +419,7 @@ def audiobooks(root, db, out):
     at least one un-indexed chapter, so the relayout that reads this file must
     not renumber anything from it.
     """
-    uri = f"file:{db}?mode=ro&immutable=1"
-    try:
-        con = sqlite3.connect(uri, uri=True)
-    except sqlite3.Error as e:
-        sys.exit(f"cannot open the Plex database read-only ({db}): {e}\n"
-                 "Plex runs rootless here: run this as the container's owner, never "
-                 "with sudo — rootless storage is per-user, so root sees nothing.")
+    con = open_plex_ro(db)
     tables = {r[0] for r in con.execute(
         "select name from sqlite_master where type='table'")}
     missing = {"media_parts", "media_items", "metadata_items"} - tables

scripts/media-verify.py

@@ -9,8 +9,13 @@ its destination, and NO row may still name its source — a source row is a scan
 that has not caught up, and it is the one signature of a library pointing at
 files that no longer exist.
 
-Two doors, both read-only, both without a lock while the server runs
-(`mode=ro&immutable=1`; there is no `sqlite3` binary on these hosts):
+Two doors, both read-only, both without a lock while the server runs (there is
+no `sqlite3` binary on these hosts). Open `mode=ro` PLAIN: both servers keep
+their libraries in WAL mode, and `immutable=1` — which claims the file never
+changes — makes sqlite skip the write-ahead log entirely, so every row the
+server has committed but not yet checkpointed reads as MISSING, and a read
+beside a running scanner can even fail as "database disk image is malformed".
+`immutable=1` is only the fallback, for a database whose `-shm` cannot be read.
 
   jellyfin  `BaseItems.Path`. The container binds the share at `/data`, so the
             database holds `/data/<library>/…` where the journal holds
@@ -22,9 +27,14 @@ Two doors, both read-only, both without a lock while the server runs
 
 Neither server holds a row for everything the journal renames: a `.log`, `.cue`
 or cover image has no row to land in, so its absence is not a fault. The report
-therefore breaks the missing rows down by extension, and `--ignore-ext` names
-the extensions this server does not index, which are then counted separately and
-kept out of the verdict.
+therefore breaks the missing rows down by extension, and `--ignore-ext` names the
+extensions this server does not index, which are then counted separately and kept
+out of the verdict. What is left is split by what the filesystem says, because
+the database alone cannot: a file still at its `src` is `REAL` (this pass's own
+damage), a file at neither path is `gone` (a later pass or the server renamed it),
+and a file sitting at its `dst` with no row naming it is simply something the
+server does not index. A row that still names `src` is none of these: it is the
+server's own stale pointer — a phantom — and it costs a re-scan, never a restore.
 
 Exit codes: 0 every move landed; 1 something is stale or missing (the details are
 printed); 2 the journal or the database is not usable at all.
@@ -92,10 +102,18 @@ def read_moves(path):
 def server_paths(db, kind):
     """Every path the server holds, or a refusal that names what is missing."""
     spec = KINDS[kind]
-    try:
-        con = sqlite3.connect(f"file:{db}?mode=ro&immutable=1", uri=True)
-    except sqlite3.Error as e:
-        die(f"cannot open {db}: {e}")
+    con = None
+    err = None
+    # Plain ro reads the WAL the server commits through; immutable is the last
+    # resort, because it cannot see a row the server has not checkpointed.
+    for opt in ("mode=ro", "mode=ro&immutable=1"):
+        try:
+            con = sqlite3.connect(f"file:{db}?{opt}", uri=True)
+            break
+        except sqlite3.Error as e:
+            err = e
+    if con is None:
+        die(f"cannot open {db}: {err}")
     with con:
         have = {r[1] for r in con.execute(f"pragma table_info({spec['table']})")}
         if not spec["columns"] <= have:
@@ -161,20 +179,37 @@ def main():
         if at_src:
             stale.append(src)
         if not at_dst:
-            missing.append(dst)
+            missing.append((src, dst))
+
+    # The database cannot tell a lost file from one it never indexes: both read
+    # as "no row at the destination". Stat both paths, so the report separates
+    # the classes the runbook names — `REAL` is the only one that is this pass's
+    # own damage, and `gone` is a later pass or the server's own rename.
+    on_disk, real, gone = [], [], []
+    for src, dst in missing:
+        if os.path.exists(dst):
+            on_disk.append(dst)
+        elif os.path.exists(src):
+            real.append(src)
+        else:
+            gone.append(dst)
 
     print(f"{args.db_kind}: {len(moves)} moves checked")
     print(f"landed: {landed}")
     print(f"still at src: {len(stale)}")
     print(f"missing from the DB: {len(missing)}")
+    print(f"  on disk at dst, no row names it: {len(on_disk)}")
+    print(f"  REAL — file still at src: {len(real)}")
+    print(f"  gone — at neither path: {len(gone)}")
     if ignored:
         print(f"not indexed (extension ignored): {ignored}")
     if missing:
         exts = Counter(os.path.splitext(d)[1].lower() or "(no extension)"
-                       for d in missing)
+                       for _, d in missing)
         print("missing by extension: "
               + ", ".join(f"{e} {n}" for e, n in sorted(exts.items())))
-    for label, items in (("stale", stale), ("missing", missing)):
+    for label, items in (("real", real), ("gone", gone), ("missing", on_disk),
+                         ("stale", stale)):
         for path in items[:args.show]:
             print(f"  {label}: {path}")
         if len(items) > args.show:

tests/media_audiobooks.bats

@@ -228,6 +228,51 @@ PY
     [ "$(wc -l < "$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/exp.tsv")" -eq 1 ]   # header only
 }
 
+# wal_fresh DB ROOT OUT — a row Plex matched during a scan and committed, but
+# has not checkpointed: the normal state of a library being walked. The holder
+# connection stops the WAL folding into the main file when the writer closes,
+# and the census runs as a real subprocess against those same files.
+wal_fresh() {
+    local db="$1" root="$2" out="$3"
+    python3 - "$db" "$root" "$out" "$CENSUS" <<'PY'
+import sqlite3, subprocess, sys
+db, root, out, census = sys.argv[1:5]
+w = sqlite3.connect(db)
+w.execute("pragma journal_mode=wal")
+w.execute("pragma wal_autocheckpoint=0")
+w.commit()
+w.execute("pragma wal_checkpoint(truncate)")     # the rows so far are on disk
+holder = sqlite3.connect(db)                     # last close would checkpoint
+ar = w.execute('insert into metadata_items (parent_id, metadata_type, title,'
+               ' year, "index", deleted_at) VALUES (NULL, 8, ?, NULL, NULL, NULL)',
+               ("Fresh Narrator",)).lastrowid
+al = w.execute('insert into metadata_items (parent_id, metadata_type, title,'
+               ' year, "index", deleted_at) VALUES (?, 9, ?, ?, NULL, NULL)',
+               (ar, "Fresh Book", 2026)).lastrowid
+mi = w.execute('insert into metadata_items (parent_id, metadata_type, title,'
+               ' year, "index", deleted_at) VALUES (?, 10, ?, NULL, ?, NULL)',
+               (al, "Fresh Chapter", 1)).lastrowid
+it = w.execute("insert into media_items (metadata_item_id, deleted_at)"
+               " VALUES (?, NULL)", (mi,)).lastrowid
+w.execute("insert into media_parts (media_item_id, file, deleted_at)"
+          " VALUES (?, ?, NULL)", (it, root + "/Fresh/01.mp3"))
+w.commit()
+sys.exit(subprocess.run([sys.executable, census, "audiobooks", "--root", root,
+                         "--db", db, "--out", out]).returncode)
+PY
+}
+
+@test "the census exports a row the scanner committed but has not checkpointed" {
+    DB="$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/plex.db"
+    db_with_part "$DB" "$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/Audiobooks/Old/01.mp3" \
+        "Old Narrator" "Old Book" 1990 1 "Old Chapter"
+    run wal_fresh "$DB" "$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/Audiobooks" "$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/exp.tsv"
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [ "$(wc -l < "$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/exp.tsv")" -eq 3 ]   # header + both rows
+    tail -1 "$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/exp.tsv" \
+        | grep -q "^$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/Audiobooks/Fresh/01\.mp3	Fresh Narrator	Fresh Book	2026	1	Fresh Chapter$"
+}
+
 # -------------------------------------------------------------------- the plan
 
 @test "a matched chapter files under its narrator and its book, name untouched" {

tests/media_verify.bats

@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ setup() {
         --share "$SHARE" --container /data
     [ "$status" -eq 1 ]
     [ "${lines[3]}" = "missing from the DB: 2" ]
-    [ "${lines[4]}" = "missing by extension: .log 1, .mkv 1" ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"missing by extension: .log 1, .mkv 1"* ]]
 }
 
 @test "--ignore-ext keeps a file the server never indexes out of the verdict" {
@@ -208,5 +208,75 @@ setup() {
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     [ "${lines[1]}" = "landed: 1" ]
     [ "${lines[3]}" = "missing from the DB: 0" ]
-    [ "${lines[4]}" = "not indexed (extension ignored): 1" ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"not indexed (extension ignored): 1"* ]]
+}
+
+# wal_case <db> — a Jellyfin database whose NEW row lives only in the
+# write-ahead log: the server has committed the rename but not checkpointed it,
+# which is the normal state of a library a scan is writing. The holder
+# connection keeps the WAL from folding into the main file, and the verifier
+# runs as a real subprocess so it faces the same files Plex and Jellyfin leave.
+wal_case() {
+    python3 - "$JFDB" "$JOURNAL" "$SHARE" "$VERIFY" <<'PY'
+import sqlite3, subprocess, sys
+db, journal, share, verify = sys.argv[1:5]
+w = sqlite3.connect(db)
+w.execute("pragma journal_mode=wal")
+w.execute("pragma wal_autocheckpoint=0")
+w.execute("insert into BaseItems (Path, Type) values ('/data/Movies/Old.mkv', 'x')")
+w.commit()
+w.execute("pragma wal_checkpoint(truncate)")
+holder = sqlite3.connect(db)  # last-connection close would checkpoint
+w.execute("update BaseItems set Path='/data/Movies/Old/Old.mkv'")
+w.commit()
+r = subprocess.run([sys.executable, verify, "--journal", journal,
+                    "--db-kind", "jellyfin", "--db", db,
+                    "--share", share, "--container", "/data"],
+                   capture_output=True, text=True)
+print(r.stdout, end="")
+sys.exit(r.returncode)
+PY
+}
+
+@test "a row the server committed but has not checkpointed is proof, not a miss" {
+    move_row "$SHARE/Movies/Old.mkv" "$SHARE/Movies/Old/Old.mkv"
+    run wal_case
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [ "${lines[1]}" = "landed: 1" ]
+    [ "${lines[3]}" = "missing from the DB: 0" ]
+}
+
+# The DB alone cannot tell a lost file from a sidecar: both are "no row at the
+# destination". The tool therefore stats the two paths and separates the classes
+# the runbook names, so an operator never reads a `.pdf` as a lost film or,
+# worse, reads a real loss as a sidecar.
+@test "a file the database does not name that still sits at src is the pass's own damage" {
+    mkdir -p "$SHARE/Movies"
+    echo film > "$SHARE/Movies/Old.mkv"
+    move_row "$SHARE/Movies/Old.mkv" "$SHARE/Movies/Old/Old.mkv"
+
+    run python3 "$VERIFY" --journal "$JOURNAL" --db-kind jellyfin --db "$JFDB" \
+        --share "$SHARE" --container /data
+    [ "$status" -eq 1 ]
+    [ "${lines[3]}" = "missing from the DB: 1" ]
+    [ "${lines[4]}" = "  on disk at dst, no row names it: 0" ]
+    [ "${lines[5]}" = "  REAL — file still at src: 1" ]
+    [ "${lines[6]}" = "  gone — at neither path: 0" ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"real: $SHARE/Movies/Old.mkv"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "a file at neither path is gone, and a file at dst the server ignores is not a loss" {
+    move_row "$SHARE/Movies/Gone.mkv" "$SHARE/Movies/Gone/Gone.mkv"
+    mkdir -p "$SHARE/Movies/Sidecar"
+    echo cover > "$SHARE/Movies/Sidecar/cover.jpg"
+    move_row "$SHARE/Movies/Album/cover.jpg" "$SHARE/Movies/Sidecar/cover.jpg"
+
+    run python3 "$VERIFY" --journal "$JOURNAL" --db-kind jellyfin --db "$JFDB" \
+        --share "$SHARE" --container /data
+    [ "$status" -eq 1 ]
+    [ "${lines[3]}" = "missing from the DB: 2" ]
+    [ "${lines[4]}" = "  on disk at dst, no row names it: 1" ]
+    [ "${lines[5]}" = "  REAL — file still at src: 0" ]
+    [ "${lines[6]}" = "  gone — at neither path: 1" ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"gone: $SHARE/Movies/Gone/Gone.mkv"* ]]
 }