fix: lock sync's first inspection, resolve symlinks without their target

Fourth Codex (gpt-6.1-sol, xhigh) pass over 5e0831d, each item verified
before fixing:

- sync inspects the local database under the shared lock, so another
  sync cannot swap it under that connection.
- symlinks are resolved by reading the link (db::resolve_db_path), not
  canonicalize, so a symlinked path finds the same lock and install
  target even while the real file is missing (fresh install, mid-swap)
  or the link dangles.
- readers go ahead unlocked when no lock file can be created; nothing
  can replace the database there. (A read-only data directory still
  fails in SQLite's WAL setup, as in 0.2.4.)
- XLSX shared strings are capped at 2,000,000 entries.

Verified live: an install waits for a reader's shared lock; a symlinked
db_path waits on the real path's lock and stays a symlink. CLI goldens
unchanged; live A/B vs 0.2.4: 16 passed, discover hits the IDX 403 on
both builds (exit 4 vs 1, intended).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

crates/idx-core/src/investor.rs

@@ -52,19 +52,8 @@ impl Investor {
     /// snapshot swap never happens under an open connection. Released when
     /// the returned file is dropped.
     fn lock_file(&self, exclusive: bool) -> Result<fs::File, IdxError> {
-        let db_path = self.db_path()?;
+        // Every path to one database (symlinks included) shares one lock.
-        let parent = match db_path.parent() {
+        let real = db::resolve_db_path(&self.db_path()?)?;
-            Some(parent) if !parent.as_os_str().is_empty() => parent.to_path_buf(),
-            _ => PathBuf::from("."),
-        };
-        fs::create_dir_all(&parent).map_err(|e| IdxError::Io(e.to_string()))?;
-        // Resolve symlinks, so every path to one database shares one lock.
-        let real = match fs::canonicalize(&db_path) {
-            Ok(real) => real,
-            Err(_) => fs::canonicalize(&parent)
-                .map_err(|e| IdxError::Io(e.to_string()))?
-                .join(db_path.file_name().unwrap_or_default()),
-        };
         let mut lock_name = real.into_os_string();
         lock_name.push(".lock");
         let file = fs::OpenOptions::new()
@@ -86,9 +75,11 @@ impl Investor {
         self.lock_file(true)
     }
 
-    /// A read connection holding the shared lock for its lifetime.
+    /// A read connection holding the shared lock for its lifetime. Where no
+    /// lock file can be created (a read-only filesystem), nothing can replace
+    /// the database either, so reads go ahead unlocked.
     fn connect(&self) -> Result<ReadConnection, IdxError> {
-        let lock = self.lock_file(false)?;
+        let lock = self.lock_file(false).ok();
         Ok(ReadConnection {
             conn: self.open_db()?,
             _lock: lock,
@@ -268,7 +259,9 @@ impl Investor {
     ) -> Result<OwnershipSyncResult, IdxError> {
         let manifest_source = snapshot::resolve_manifest_source(manifest)?;
         let db_path = self.db_path()?;
-        snapshot::sync_snapshot(&manifest_source, &db_path, force, || self.write_lock())
+        snapshot::sync_snapshot(&manifest_source, &db_path, force, |exclusive| {
+            self.lock_file(exclusive)
+        })
     }
 
     /// Imports one report. A release already imported (same SHA-256) is
@@ -467,8 +460,9 @@ pub struct OwnershipStatus {
 }
 
 struct ReadConnection {
+    // Dropped (closed) before the lock it is declared ahead of.
     conn: Connection,
-    _lock: fs::File,
+    _lock: Option<fs::File>,
 }
 
 impl std::ops::Deref for ReadConnection {

crates/idx-core/src/ownership/db.rs

@@ -133,6 +133,43 @@ pub fn open_db() -> Result<Connection, IdxError> {
 }
 
 /// Open the ownership database at `db_path`, creating it and migrating the schema.
+/// Where the database file really lives: symlinks are followed by reading
+/// the link, so this works even while the target does not exist (a fresh
+/// install, or mid-replacement during sync). Creates the parent directory.
+pub(crate) fn resolve_db_path(path: &Path) -> Result<PathBuf, IdxError> {
+    let mut current = path.to_path_buf();
+    for _ in 0..16 {
+        let parent = match current.parent() {
+            Some(parent) if !parent.as_os_str().is_empty() => parent.to_path_buf(),
+            _ => PathBuf::from("."),
+        };
+        fs::create_dir_all(&parent).map_err(|e| IdxError::Io(e.to_string()))?;
+        let parent = fs::canonicalize(&parent).map_err(|e| IdxError::Io(e.to_string()))?;
+        let name = current.file_name().ok_or_else(|| {
+            IdxError::ConfigError(format!(
+                "ownership database path has no file name: {}",
+                path.display()
+            ))
+        })?;
+        let candidate = parent.join(name);
+        match fs::symlink_metadata(&candidate) {
+            Ok(meta) if meta.file_type().is_symlink() => {
+                let target = fs::read_link(&candidate).map_err(|e| IdxError::Io(e.to_string()))?;
+                current = if target.is_absolute() {
+                    target
+                } else {
+                    parent.join(target)
+                };
+            }
+            _ => return Ok(candidate),
+        }
+    }
+    Err(IdxError::Io(format!(
+        "too many symlink levels resolving {}",
+        path.display()
+    )))
+}
+
 pub fn open_db_at(db_path: &Path) -> Result<Connection, IdxError> {
     if let Some(parent) = db_path.parent() {
         fs::create_dir_all(parent).map_err(|e| IdxError::DatabaseError(e.to_string()))?;
@@ -1965,4 +2002,37 @@ mod tests {
             .unwrap();
         assert_eq!(buyers, 1);
     }
+
+    #[cfg(unix)]
+    #[test]
+    fn resolve_db_path_follows_symlinks_even_when_the_target_is_missing() {
+        let root = std::env::temp_dir().join(format!(
+            "idx-resolve-{}-{}",
+            std::process::id(),
+            fastrand::u64(..)
+        ));
+        let real_dir = root.join("real");
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(&real_dir).unwrap();
+        let real_dir = std::fs::canonicalize(&real_dir).unwrap();
+        let link = root.join("link.db");
+        // Dangling: the target does not exist yet (fresh install, mid-swap).
+        std::os::unix::fs::symlink(real_dir.join("ownership.db"), &link).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(
+            super::resolve_db_path(&link).unwrap(),
+            real_dir.join("ownership.db")
+        );
+        // Relative link, resolved against the link's directory.
+        let relative = root.join("relative.db");
+        std::os::unix::fs::symlink("real/ownership.db", &relative).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(
+            super::resolve_db_path(&relative).unwrap(),
+            real_dir.join("ownership.db")
+        );
+        // A plain path is returned as-is (canonical parent).
+        assert_eq!(
+            super::resolve_db_path(&real_dir.join("ownership.db")).unwrap(),
+            real_dir.join("ownership.db")
+        );
+        let _ = std::fs::remove_dir_all(&root);
+    }
 }

crates/idx-core/src/ownership/snapshot.rs

@@ -144,22 +144,26 @@ pub fn parse_manifest(raw: &str) -> Result<OwnershipSnapshotManifest, IdxError>
     Ok(manifest)
 }
 
-/// `lock` takes the database's exclusive writer lock; it is held only while
+/// `lock(exclusive)` takes the database's lock: shared while inspecting the
-/// rechecking and installing, never during the downloads.
+/// local database, exclusive while rechecking and installing, and never held
+/// during the downloads.
 pub fn sync_snapshot<L>(
     manifest_source: &str,
     db_path: &Path,
     force: bool,
-    lock: impl FnOnce() -> Result<L, IdxError>,
+    lock: impl Fn(bool) -> Result<L, IdxError>,
 ) -> Result<OwnershipSyncResult, IdxError> {
     // Results report the configured path; files are read and replaced at the
     // resolved one, so a symlinked path updates its target instead of being
     // overwritten with a regular file.
     let configured_db_path = db_path;
-    let resolved_db_path = fs::canonicalize(db_path).unwrap_or_else(|_| db_path.to_path_buf());
+    let resolved_db_path = db::resolve_db_path(db_path)?;
     let db_path = resolved_db_path.as_path();
     let manifest = fetch_manifest(manifest_source)?;
-    let local_state = inspect_local_db(db_path)?;
+    let local_state = {
+        let _shared = lock(false)?;
+        inspect_local_db(db_path)?
+    };
     let decision = build_sync_decision(local_state.as_ref(), &manifest.snapshot, force);
 
     if !decision.should_download {
@@ -211,7 +215,7 @@ pub fn sync_snapshot<L>(
 
     let install_result = (|| -> Result<(), IdxError> {
         validate_snapshot_db(&temp_path, &manifest.snapshot)?;
-        let _lock = lock()?;
+        let _lock = lock(true)?;
         // The decision was made before the download; an import or edit that
         // landed since must not be overwritten without --force.
         if !force && !same_local_state(local_state.as_ref(), inspect_local_db(db_path)?.as_ref()) {

crates/idx-core/src/ownership/xlsx.rs

@@ -127,7 +127,10 @@ fn parse_shared_strings(xml: &str) -> Result<Vec<String>, IdxError> {
                 b"rPh" => in_phonetic = true,
                 _ => {}
             },
-            Ok(Event::Empty(e)) if e.local_name().as_ref() == b"si" => strings.push(String::new()),
+            Ok(Event::Empty(e)) if e.local_name().as_ref() == b"si" => {
+                check_shared_string_count(strings.len())?;
+                strings.push(String::new())
+            }
             Ok(Event::Text(text)) if in_text && !in_phonetic => {
                 if let Some(value) = current.as_mut() {
                     let unescaped = text
@@ -137,7 +140,10 @@ fn parse_shared_strings(xml: &str) -> Result<Vec<String>, IdxError> {
                 }
             }
             Ok(Event::End(e)) => match e.local_name().as_ref() {
-                b"si" => strings.push(current.take().unwrap_or_default()),
+                b"si" => {
+                    check_shared_string_count(strings.len())?;
+                    strings.push(current.take().unwrap_or_default())
+                }
                 b"t" => in_text = false,
                 b"rPh" => in_phonetic = false,
                 _ => {}
@@ -184,6 +190,18 @@ fn text_cap_error() -> IdxError {
     )
 }
 
+const MAX_SHARED_STRINGS: usize = 2_000_000;
+
+fn check_shared_string_count(count: usize) -> Result<(), IdxError> {
+    if count >= MAX_SHARED_STRINGS {
+        return Err(xml_error(
+            "shared strings",
+            format!("more than {MAX_SHARED_STRINGS} entries"),
+        ));
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 fn check_row_count(rows: usize) -> Result<(), IdxError> {
     if rows >= MAX_SHEET_ROWS {
         return Err(xml_error(