fix(release): the packaged-app smoke verifies the database opened, not a driver line the primary path never prints

The packaged app does open SQLite during the smoke (migrations run, [DB] Added …
column, cache_size lines) but its primary open path prints no "[DB] Driver: …"
line — only the recovery path and the sql.js fallback do — so the #7592 assertion
demanded a line that never exists and every Linux release leg failed on it. The
guard now: rejects the sql.js fallback line (which the fallback always prints),
accepts a native driver line, and otherwise accepts demonstrable database activity;
after readiness the smoke requests /api/monitoring/health and waits for that
activity, outside the readiness retry loop so a missing database is a verdict, not
a retry. The previous commit on this branch had the wait inside the loop and made
ci.yml's Electron Package Smoke fail; electron-smoke-script suite 10/10.

.github/workflows/electron-release.yml

@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ on:
   push:
     tags:
       - "v*"
+  # A dispatch builds the ref it is dispatched ON (`gh workflow run … --ref v3.8.50` rebuilds
+  # that tag; `--ref main` builds the repaired line). The ref is deliberately NOT an input:
+  # CodeQL flags an input-controlled checkout next to the npm cache on the default branch as
+  # cache poisoning (actions/cache-poisoning/poisonable-step), and `github.ref` is trusted.
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       version:
@@ -15,11 +19,6 @@ on:
         required: false
         default: true
         type: boolean
-      build_ref:
-        description: "Git ref to BUILD from (default: the version tag). Set to a branch when the tag itself cannot build — e.g. a lockfile that was already broken when it was cut — and the assets must come from the repaired line"
-        required: false
-        default: ""
-        type: string
 
 # Least-privilege default: read-only at the top level; each job grants the writes it
 # needs (build/release upload assets, publish-npm forwards npm provenance / packages
@@ -86,9 +85,6 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
-          # workflow_dispatch: build the tag being (re)built, not the dispatching branch. On a
-          # tag push this resolves to the same commit.
-          ref: ${{ inputs.build_ref || needs.validate.outputs.version }}
       - name: Setup Node
         uses: actions/setup-node@v7
         with:
@@ -174,9 +170,6 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
-          # workflow_dispatch: build the tag being (re)built, not the dispatching branch. On a
-          # tag push this resolves to the same commit.
-          ref: ${{ inputs.build_ref || needs.validate.outputs.version }}
       - name: Setup Node
         uses: actions/setup-node@v7
         with:
@@ -363,8 +356,6 @@ jobs:
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
           fetch-depth: 0
-          # Source archives + SBOM come from the tag being released, not the dispatching branch.
-          ref: ${{ inputs.build_ref || needs.validate.outputs.version }}
 
       # `merge-multiple` is deliberately OFF. It resolves same-name collisions by ARRIVAL
       # ORDER, and the two macOS jobs each emit their own `latest-mac.yml` listing only their

scripts/dev/smoke-electron-packaged.mjs

@@ -123,6 +123,48 @@ function discoverPackagedExecutable() {
   throw new Error(`Packaged Electron smoke check does not support ${platform()}.`);
 }
 
+/**
+ * The packaged app opens SQLite lazily: `/login` (the readiness URL) never touches the
+ * database, so a smoke that only waits for readiness sees no `[DB]` line at all. After
+ * readiness the smoke requests a DB-backed endpoint and waits for evidence that the
+ * database opened. The primary open path does NOT print "[DB] Driver: ..." (only the
+ * recovery path and the sql.js fallback do), so the evidence is any `[DB]`/`[Migration]`
+ * startup line — and the #7592 guard below rejects the fallback's own line explicitly.
+ */
+export const DB_TOUCH_PATH = "/api/monitoring/health";
+export const DB_OPEN_EVIDENCE_PATTERN =
+  /\[DB\] (Driver: |SQLite database ready|Added [^\n]* column|Changing cache_size|cache_size changed)|\[Migration\] (Applied|Pre-migration backup)/;
+
+export async function waitForDatabaseOpen(getLogs, { timeoutMs = 15_000, pollMs = 250 } = {}) {
+  const startedAt = Date.now();
+  while (Date.now() - startedAt < timeoutMs) {
+    const logs = getLogs();
+    assertNoFatalLogs(logs);
+    if (DB_OPEN_EVIDENCE_PATTERN.test(logs)) return logs;
+    await sleep(pollMs);
+  }
+  throw new Error(
+    `Packaged Electron app logged no [DB]/[Migration] startup line within ${timeoutMs}ms of ` +
+      `touching ${DB_TOUCH_PATH} — the database never opened, so the SQLite driver cannot be verified.`
+  );
+}
+
+async function openDatabaseForSmoke({ logs, smokeUrl }) {
+  const touchUrl = new URL(DB_TOUCH_PATH, smokeUrl).toString();
+  try {
+    const response = await fetchWithTimeout(touchUrl, 5_000);
+    console.log(
+      `[electron-smoke] touched ${touchUrl} (HTTP ${response.status}) to open the database`
+    );
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.log(
+      `[electron-smoke] touching ${touchUrl} failed (${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}) — waiting for the database anyway`
+    );
+  }
+  await waitForDatabaseOpen(() => logs.value);
+  console.log("[electron-smoke] database opened");
+}
+
 async function fetchWithTimeout(url, timeoutMs) {
   const controller = new AbortController();
   const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), timeoutMs);
@@ -450,8 +492,13 @@ export function assertNativeDriverSelected(logs) {
     );
   }
 
+  // The primary open path prints no "[DB] Driver: ..." line at all (only the recovery path and
+  // the sql.js fallback do), so a database that demonstrably opened WITHOUT the fallback's own
+  // line is the native driver — that is exactly what #7592 guards.
+  if (DB_OPEN_EVIDENCE_PATTERN.test(logs)) return;
+
   throw new Error(
-    "Packaged Electron app logs contain no '[DB] Driver: ...' line — cannot confirm which SQLite " +
+    "Packaged Electron app logs show no database activity at all — cannot confirm which SQLite " +
       "driver loaded."
   );
 }
@@ -506,7 +553,14 @@ async function waitForReady({ logs, smokeUrl, timeoutMs, settleMs, exitState })
  * by the single-launch path and the cold-restart (two-launch) path so both
  * exercise identical spawn/readiness/shutdown behavior.
  */
-async function launchAndCollectLogs({ appExecutable, smokeUrl, dataDir, timeoutMs, settleMs, streamLogs }) {
+async function launchAndCollectLogs({
+  appExecutable,
+  smokeUrl,
+  dataDir,
+  timeoutMs,
+  settleMs,
+  streamLogs,
+}) {
   const smokeEnv = buildSmokeEnv({ dataDir });
   await assertPortIsFree(smokeUrl);
   await ensureSmokeEnvDirs(smokeEnv, dataDir);
@@ -538,6 +592,8 @@ async function launchAndCollectLogs({ appExecutable, smokeUrl, dataDir, timeoutM
 
   try {
     await waitForReady({ logs, smokeUrl, timeoutMs, settleMs, exitState });
+    // Outside waitForReady on purpose: a missing database is a verdict, not a readiness retry.
+    await openDatabaseForSmoke({ logs, smokeUrl });
     return logs.value;
   } catch (error) {
     if (!streamLogs) {
@@ -568,7 +624,14 @@ async function main() {
     !process.env.ELECTRON_SMOKE_DATA_DIR && process.env.ELECTRON_SMOKE_KEEP_DATA !== "1";
 
   try {
-    await launchAndCollectLogs({ appExecutable, smokeUrl, dataDir, timeoutMs, settleMs, streamLogs });
+    await launchAndCollectLogs({
+      appExecutable,
+      smokeUrl,
+      dataDir,
+      timeoutMs,
+      settleMs,
+      streamLogs,
+    });
 
     if (!coldRestart) return;
 

tests/unit/electron-smoke-script.test.ts

@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import {
   FATAL_LOG_PATTERNS,
   LINUX_EXECUTABLE_NAMES,
   stopApp,
+  waitForDatabaseOpen,
+  DB_TOUCH_PATH,
 } from "../../scripts/dev/smoke-electron-packaged.mjs";
 
 test("electron smoke discovers the default Linux executable name", () => {
@@ -94,6 +96,46 @@ test("electron smoke flags a cold-restart fallback to the sql.js WASM driver", (
 test("electron smoke flags startup logs missing any driver selection line", () => {
   assert.throws(
     () => assertNativeDriverSelected("[electron] [server] listening on 20128"),
-    /no '\[DB\] Driver: \.\.\.' line/
+    /no database activity/
+  );
+});
+
+test("electron smoke waits for database-open evidence after touching a DB-backed endpoint", async () => {
+  assert.equal(DB_TOUCH_PATH, "/api/monitoring/health");
+  let logs = "[electron] [Server] [STARTUP] ready\n";
+  setTimeout(() => {
+    logs += "[electron] [Server] [DB] Added usage_history.combo_strategy column\n";
+  }, 60);
+  const seen = await waitForDatabaseOpen(() => logs, { timeoutMs: 2_000, pollMs: 20 });
+  assert.match(seen, /\[DB\] Added/);
+});
+
+test("electron smoke fails clearly when the database never opens", async () => {
+  await assert.rejects(
+    () =>
+      waitForDatabaseOpen(() => "[electron] [Server] [STARTUP] ready\n", {
+        timeoutMs: 120,
+        pollMs: 20,
+      }),
+    /logged no \[DB\]\/\[Migration\] startup line within 120ms/
+  );
+});
+
+test("electron smoke driver guard: native line, DB evidence and sql.js fallback", () => {
+  assert.doesNotThrow(() =>
+    assertNativeDriverSelected("[DB] Driver: better-sqlite3 | file: /tmp/x/storage.sqlite\n")
+  );
+  assert.doesNotThrow(() =>
+    assertNativeDriverSelected(
+      "[electron] [Server] [DB] Added call_logs.session_tag column\n[electron] [Server] [Migration] Applied: 046_database_settings\n"
+    )
+  );
+  assert.throws(
+    () => assertNativeDriverSelected("[DB] Driver: sql.js | file: /tmp/x/storage.sqlite\n"),
+    /sql\.js \(WASM\) driver/
+  );
+  assert.throws(
+    () => assertNativeDriverSelected("[STARTUP] nothing here\n"),
+    /no database activity/
   );
 });