_tasks is a SEPARATE nested git repo (gitignored). A self-referential symlink
_tasks -> its own path was tracked here; every pull materialized it over the real
_tasks repo, destroying plans/specs/hands-off. Now untracked (and /_tasks in
.gitignore prevents re-capture).
Integrated into release/v3.8.8. Applied review fixes: moved the SELECT 1 into a pingDb() db helper (no raw SQL in route, Hard Rule #5) + the 503 catch no longer leaks err.message (Hard Rule #12). Thanks @herjarsa!