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proofs: transaction atomicity in the Agda kernel (T-1..T-3), and the gaps it exposes (T-4..T-7) - #161

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What

First of the "What Needs Proving" obligations: transaction atomicity, stated and proved in the Agda kernel (--safe --without-K, resource-algebra pinned). No Rust is changed.

New module verification/proofs/agda/TransactionAtomicity.agda, checked by scripts/check-agda.sh.

Part A — rollback. rollback-restores: if every recorded operation executed successfully and each undo restores the state its execute started from, undoing the list in reverse order (what cmd_rollback does) restores the state the transaction began in. The per-step premise is the existing TESTED row execute_then_undo_is_identity; it is not proved here.

Part B — lifecycle. A model of TransactionManager (begin, add_operation, commit, mark_rolled_back) and the invariant Good:

  • lifecycle-preserves-good: every transition keeps Good (begin needs a fresh id) and rewrites only the Active transaction, so a completed transaction is never modified.
  • at-most-one-active: at most one transaction is Active, and exactly one when the active pointer is set.

Ledger and dashboards

Row Status Claim
T-1 PROVEN reverse-order rollback restores the initial state
T-2 PROVEN lifecycle transitions preserve the invariant; only the Active transaction changes
T-3 PROVEN at most one Active transaction, exactly when the pointer is set
T-4 OPEN a rollback that fails part-way can be retried to completion
T-5 OPEN the log survives an I/O failure or crash during save
T-6 ASSUMED a failed execute is a no-op; each undo restores its execute's start state
T-7 ASSUMED transaction ids (UUID v4) never collide

Dashboards: 8 → 11 proofs (the PROVEN rows, as dashboard-check measures them).

Findings (recorded, not fixed)

Modelling the real code exposed two gaps. They are on the ledger as OPEN rows rather than hidden by the model.

  • T-4, reproduced with the real jk binary. cmd_rollback undoes operations in reverse and stops at the first error (? on undo), leaving the transaction Active with the later operations already undone. After the user repairs the problem and retries, the retry stops at the first, now already-undone, operation (Operation … already undone). Observed: rollback chore(deps): Bump the actions group with 3 updates #1 → File not found, b.txt removed; rollback Implement JanusKey reversible file operations #2 → already undone; status still shows the transaction Active with 2 operations. The only way out is jk commit, which would commit a half-undone transaction (from the code; I did not run commit).
  • T-5, by inspection, not reproduced. begin, add_operation and commit mutate the in-memory log before save()?, and save is a plain fs::write rather than write-and-rename. A failed save leaves memory and disk disagreeing, and a crash mid-write can corrupt the log.

Also not covered: obliterating operations (they have no undo; cf. C-3), and concurrency.

Verification

  • bash scripts/check-agda.sh: OK, including both new expected-rejection fixtures and the two existing ones.
  • Negative controls in tests/reject-agda/: ForwardRollback (undoing in execution order ends at 0, not 1: 0 != 1) and CommitWhenIdle (nothing != just).
  • Mutation check. Six mutants of the module, each breaking one definition, were refused by the checker: forward-order rollback; begin without the freshness premise; settle keeping the transaction Active; a wrong active count; commit succeeding when idle; and begin succeeding while active.
  • dashboard-check: the new rows pass and the proof counts match. Ten rows fail locally, all Idris2 rows, because idris2 is not installed in this sandbox. CI's pinned idris2-pack image is the gate of record for those.

Notes for review

  • The Agda model is hand-transcribed from the Rust, like G-2. There is no mechanical link, and the module header lists what is not modelled.
  • Other checks on this PR may fail in setup with invalid lockfile pin. That was a separate estate-wide problem; ci: re-pin standards callers to a85aa8e and relock (fixes "invalid lockfile pin") #159 re-pinned the standards callers, so it may already be fixed. Treat any such failure as unrelated and check against main.

Generated by Claude Code

… gaps it exposes (T-4..T-7)

New module verification/proofs/agda/TransactionAtomicity.agda, checked by
scripts/check-agda.sh (--safe --without-K, resource-algebra pinned).

Part A. rollback-restores: if every recorded operation executed
successfully and each undo restores the state its execute started from,
undoing the list in reverse order (what cmd_rollback does) restores the
state the transaction began in. The per-step premise is the TESTED row
execute_then_undo_is_identity; it is not proved here.

Part B. A model of TransactionManager (begin, add_operation, commit,
mark_rolled_back) with the invariant Good. lifecycle-preserves-good: each
transition keeps Good (begin needs a fresh id) and rewrites only the Active
transaction, so a completed one is never modified. at-most-one-active: at
most one transaction is Active, and exactly one when the pointer is set.

Negative controls (tests/reject-agda): ForwardRollback (undoing in
execution order does not restore the state: 0 != 1) and CommitWhenIdle
(commit with nothing active is an error, not a state change). Six mutants of
the module, each breaking one definition (rollback order, begin without the
freshness premise, settle keeping Active, wrong active count, commit when
idle, begin while active), were refused by the checker.

Ledger: T-1..T-3 PROVEN; T-4..T-7 added as OPEN/ASSUMED so the limits are
on the record rather than implied:
  T-4 OPEN: a rollback that fails part-way cannot be retried. Reproduced
      with the real jk: after one undo error, the repaired retry stops at
      the first (already undone) operation and the transaction stays
      Active. cmd_rollback uses `?` on undo and has no resume.
  T-5 OPEN: by inspection, begin/add_operation/commit mutate the in-memory
      log before save()?, and save is a plain fs::write (not reproduced).
  T-6, T-7 ASSUMED: failed execute is a no-op; transaction ids do not
      collide.
Dashboards: 8 -> 11 proofs (the PROVEN rows). The Idris2 rows could not be
run in this sandbox (no idris2); CI's pinned image is the gate of record.

No Rust changed. The T-4/T-5 gaps are recorded, not fixed.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Kjdf4Mf4Z41bNQh2TrsEp9
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📝 Summary

Summary by CodeRabbit

  • Documentation
    • Updated the readiness and methodology assessments to report 11 checked proofs.
    • Clarified which transaction-atomicity claims are proven, open or assumed, and noted remaining verification gaps.
  • Tests
    • Expanded the Agda verification gate to check transaction atomicity.
    • Added rejection tests for committing an idle transaction and rolling back operations in the wrong order.
  • New Features
    • Added a formal model proving reverse-order rollback and preservation of transaction lifecycle invariants under stated assumptions.

The change adds Agda models and proofs for rollback and transaction lifecycle invariants. It adds rejection tests, runs both proof modules in the Agda gate, and updates documentation with transaction claim statuses and the checked-proof count.

Changes: Transaction atomicity proofs

Layer / File(s) Summary
Rollback model and order check
verification/proofs/agda/TransactionAtomicity.agda, tests/reject-agda/ForwardRollback.agda
The Agda model proves that reverse-order undo restores the initial state when each undo is correct. The rejection test asserts a forward-order rollback result that the comments identify as incorrect.
Transaction lifecycle invariant
verification/proofs/agda/TransactionAtomicity.agda, tests/reject-agda/CommitWhenIdle.agda
The model defines transaction lifecycle transitions and proves preservation of the Good invariant and active-transaction count. The rejection test asserts that committing an idle log returns the unchanged log.
Proof gate and status reporting
scripts/check-agda.sh, PROOF-NEEDS.adoc, READINESS.adoc, TOPOLOGY.adoc
The Agda gate runs Reversibility.agda and TransactionAtomicity.agda. The documentation records T-1 to T-3 as proven, T-4 to T-7 as open or assumed, and updates the checked-proof count from 8 to 11.

Priority: Low

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~25 minutes

Change: Other

Merge Risk: Low · previous review 5710c

The proofs can be checked, but the readiness documents should name the new transaction-model proofs so readers understand what the count covers. This is a bounded correction before or shortly after merge.

Pre-merge checks: Passed 5
Check name Status Explanation
Title check Passed The title clearly identifies the main change: Agda proofs for transaction atomicity and the related T-4 to T-7 gaps.
Description check Passed The description is directly related to the changes. It explains the new Agda model, proof scope, open gaps, verification results, and known limitations.
Docstring Coverage Passed No eligible functions found in the changed files. Skipping docstring coverage check. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 0 functions across 1 files. (6 skipped: 6 …
Linked Issues check Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Full details: Docstring Coverage

Explanation

No eligible functions found in the changed files. Skipping docstring coverage check. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 0 functions across 1 files. (6 skipped: 6 unsupported.)

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Actionable comments posted: 1


ℹ️ Fix comments skipped. No unresolved review comments with fix instructions found.

  • 🪄 Fix comments: Fix CodeRabbit comments on this PR
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Inline comments:
Review comments at @READINESS.adoc:
- Line 12: Update the PROVEN ledger scope note in READINESS.adoc and the
matching note in TOPOLOGY.adoc to include transaction-model lemmas alongside ABI
and grade lemmas, reflecting the T-1, T-2 and T-3 proofs.

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Additional comments: 7
verification/proofs/agda/TransactionAtomicity.agda: 2

92-130: LGTM!

Also applies to: 136-364


14-15: 📐 Maintainability & Code Quality

The cited test exists and checks execute followed by undo.

execute_then_undo_is_identity calls exec.execute(op), calls exec2.undo(&meta.id), and asserts that the working tree matches its initial state. The TESTED references are supported.

tests/reject-agda/ForwardRollback.agda: 1

1-42: LGTM!

tests/reject-agda/CommitWhenIdle.agda: 1

1-19: LGTM!

scripts/check-agda.sh: 1

14-16: LGTM!

PROOF-NEEDS.adoc: 1

70-76: LGTM!

Also applies to: 140-140, 183-185, 196-199, 209-211

READINESS.adoc: 1

64-64: LGTM!

Also applies to: 68-68

Comment thread READINESS.adoc Outdated
…emmas

READINESS and TOPOLOGY described the checked proofs as "ABI and grade
lemmas"; T-1..T-3 added transaction-model lemmas (CodeRabbit on #161).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Kjdf4Mf4Z41bNQh2TrsEp9
@hyperpolymath
hyperpolymath marked this pull request as ready for review October 26, 2026 22:27
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@hyperpolymath
hyperpolymath merged commit 3f3cc1d into main Oct 27, 2026
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hyperpolymath deleted the claude/new-session-lwzjw0 branch October 27, 2026 00:07
hyperpolymath added a commit that referenced this pull request Oct 27, 2026
…ically, repair damaged ones (#163)

## Summary

First step out of a proof-statement audit of `PROOF-NEEDS.adoc`. These
are bugs in `reversible-core`'s `ContentStore` that make the "content
store never returns wrong content" obligation false as stated. They are
fixed before anything is proved about it.

Each defect was reproduced by a test that **failed before this change**.

### 1. A hash string could name a path outside the store
`content_path` split the hash text after two characters and joined it
onto the store root. `Path::join` replaces the root when the right-hand
side is absolute, so a hash such as `sha256:ab/<absolute path>` resolved
to that path. `delete` acts on that path, and so does `obliterate`,
which calls `content_path` and then overwrites and removes the file.
`ContentHash` has a public field and derives `Deserialize`, so its text
is untrusted.

**Not shown:** that stored metadata can actually deliver such a hash to
those callers. I only showed that the store API accepted it. Please
treat this as a possible security issue when deciding how to talk about
it.

Fix: `content_path` fails closed. Anything other than `sha256:` plus 64
lowercase hex digits maps to a fixed path under the root that no blob
occupies. The layout for well-formed hashes is unchanged, pinned by
`well_formed_hash_keeps_the_existing_layout` (which passes on the old
code too).

### 2. A crash could leave a blob truncated for good
`store` wrote in place, and its deduplication check was `path.exists()`.
After a crash, every later `store` of that content was a no-op and every
`retrieve` failed. `store` now writes a temporary file in the blob's
directory, flushes it, and renames it into place, so the final path only
ever holds a complete blob.

### 3. A damaged blob was never repaired
Deduplication now reads the existing blob back and trusts it only if its
hash matches; otherwise it is replaced. This also heals blobs damaged by
an older crash or by bit rot.

`count()` ignores `.tmp-` files, which a crash can orphan. Nothing
collects them yet.

## Cost (your call whether it is acceptable)

Measured on one VM, release mode, 200 distinct 4 KiB blobs:

| | before | after |
|---|---|---|
| per blob, plain | 0.07 ms | 0.5–0.6 ms |
| per blob, gzip | 0.14–0.20 ms | 0.8–1.3 ms |

Almost all of that is the `fsync`, so it depends on the disk and will be
worse on spinning or network storage. Storing content that is already
stored now also reads the existing blob back: about +20 ms at 16 MiB and
+90–130 ms at 64 MiB. The `fsync` is what makes the write durable across
power loss. If you would rather trade that for speed, the atomic rename
alone still covers a process crash.

## Verification
- New tests in `content_store.rs`:
`malformed_hash_never_leaves_the_store_root` (11 malformed hashes, plain
and gzip), `well_formed_hash_keeps_the_existing_layout`,
`store_repairs_a_blob_truncated_by_a_crash`,
`store_leaves_no_temp_files_and_count_ignores_strays`. Run before the
fix: 3 failed, 1 passed (the layout pin).
- `cargo fmt --all -- --check`, `cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets
-- -D warnings` and `cargo test --workspace --locked` all pass (123
tests).
- `TOPOLOGY.adoc` and `READINESS.adoc`: 119 → 123 tests, as
`dashboard-check` requires.
- `dashboard-check` reports no divergence except the Idris2 and Agda
proof rows. I could not run those here because the binaries are not
installed in my sandbox; CI has them.

## Not in this PR
- Validating `ContentHash` on deserialization. `content_path` is now
safe regardless, but rejecting bad metadata earlier would be cleaner.
Follow-up.
- The audit-log field coverage, tail truncation and the
`ObliterationProof` wording, and the transaction-log atomic write
(already tracked as T-5 in #161). Each is its own change.
- Restating the `PROOF-NEEDS.adoc` obligations. The audit that motivated
this is a separate document.

---
_Generated by [Claude
Code](https://claude.ai/code/session_013CuBToxr5h9catptGiTsFX)_

Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
hyperpolymath added a commit that referenced this pull request Oct 27, 2026
…-5) (#162)

## What

Fixes the two OPEN gaps that #161 found while modelling transaction
atomicity. Both are Rust changes; the Agda model is untouched.

**T-4: a rollback that fails part-way can now be retried to
completion.**
`cmd_rollback` undoes operations last-first and stops at the first
error, leaving the transaction Active with the later operations already
undone. The retry then stopped at the first, already undone, operation
(`Operation … already undone`), so the rollback could never finish and
the only way out was `jk commit` on a half-undone transaction.
`cmd_rollback` now skips operations already marked undone and resumes at
the one that failed.

**T-5: a failed save no longer leaves memory and disk disagreeing, and
the log is replaced atomically.**
`begin`, `add_operation`, `commit` and `mark_rolled_back` mutated the
in-memory log before `save()?`, and `save` was a plain `fs::write`. Each
mutator now builds the successor log on a copy, saves it, and only then
makes it the in-memory log. The save writes a sibling `.tmp` file,
fsyncs it, renames it over the log, and fsyncs the directory.

## Tests

- `crates/januskey-cli/tests/rollback_resume_test.rs` drives the real
`jk`: copy then modify in a transaction, break the second undo, repair,
retry. A second case checks the retry does not undo an operation twice
(a hand edit to its file survives).
- Four unit tests in `transaction.rs`, with the save made to fail at its
last step (a non-empty directory planted where the log goes, so the temp
file is written but the rename is refused; works as root too): begin,
add_operation, and commit/rollback each stay unapplied and succeed on
retry; a save leaves no temp file and ignores a stale torn one.

## Negative controls

Each test was run against the behaviour it guards:

| Mutant | Result |
|---|---|
| old `cmd_rollback` (no skip) | both rollback tests fail with `already
undone` |
| in-memory log updated before the save | the three `failed_save_*`
tests fail |
| plain `fs::write` instead of write-and-rename | the atomic-replace
test fails |
| failed save leaves its temp file behind | the three `failed_save_*`
tests fail |

(An earlier version of the unit tests injected the fault at
`create_dir_all`, which does not distinguish the ordering; that mutant
survived, so the fault was moved to the rename step.)

## Ledger and dashboards

- T-4 and T-5: OPEN → TESTED, six ledger rows, each with its test as the
checked command.
- **Not claimed:** crash-safety of the rename itself is by construction
(write, fsync, rename), not crash-injected. The Rust is tested, not
proved; the Agda model is unchanged.
- New **T-8 (OPEN)**: `MetadataStore::save` has the same plain
`fs::write`, and an undo whose `mark_undone` fails to persist is still
not retryable. Same class of fault, deliberately not widened into this
PR.
- Dashboards: 119 → 125 tests (TOPOLOGY, READINESS).

## Verification

- `cargo fmt --all -- --check`, `cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets
--locked -- -D warnings`, `cargo test --workspace --locked`,
`tests/aspect/cross_cutting_test.sh` (32 pass): all clean.
- `dashboard-check` locally: the new rows pass and the counts match; the
same 10 Idris2 rows fail only because `idris2` is not installed in this
sandbox. CI's pinned image is the gate of record for those.

---
_Generated by [Claude
Code](https://claude.ai/code/session_01Kjdf4Mf4Z41bNQh2TrsEp9)_

---------

Signed-off-by: Jonathan D.A. Jewell <6759885+hyperpolymath@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: coderabbitai[bot] <136622811+coderabbitai[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
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