fix(db): prevent Windows native-driver hang from stalling requests (#10627) (#10709)

Merged via merge-train (release/v3.8.50, batch1 2026-08-20) — static gates (typecheck/file-size/complexity/cognitive/changelog) green on the combined tree; test:unit reds observed in the boarded run were verified pre-existing on the pure release tip (unrelated flake), not caused by this PR. Thanks for the contribution!

src/proxy.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,25 @@
 import type { NextRequest } from "next/server";
 import { runAuthzPipeline } from "./server/authz/pipeline";
 
+// #10627: the proxy runs in its own Next.js runtime and never executes
+// instrumentation-node.ts's startup warm-ups, so its FIRST request used to
+// trigger a cold `import("@/lib/db/settings")` → native SQLite driver load ON
+// the request path. If that addon hangs (see driverFactory's #10627 probe),
+// every proxied request stalled indefinitely with 0 bytes and no logs.
+// Warm the settings cache here at boot instead: a driver failure now surfaces
+// as a logged startup error, and real requests start with a hot cache.
+// Fire-and-forget — never blocks proxy initialization, never rejects the
+// module (mirrors the `void warmModelCatalogCache()` pattern in
+// instrumentation-node.ts).
+void import("./lib/db/readCache")
+  .then(({ getCachedSettings }) => getCachedSettings())
+  .catch((err: unknown) => {
+    console.error(
+      "[proxy] DB settings warm failed; requests will use default limits:",
+      err instanceof Error ? err.message : err
+    );
+  });
+
 export async function proxy(request: NextRequest) {
   return runAuthzPipeline(request, { enforce: true });
 }