JuliusBrussee/caveman · error

file changed while securing

Error message

file changed while securing

What it means

After chmodding, secureSQLiteFile re-stats the file and requires os.SameFile(info, secured) to hold, i.e. the same inode/device as when it was inspected. This error means the file at the path was replaced (different inode) between the initial Lstat and the post-chmod Stat, so the permission change may have been applied to a different inode than the one that will be used.

Solutions

1. Ensure only one process opens the CCR store at a time; serialize startup or use a lock file
2. Retry the Open once the conflicting writer finishes
3. Stop sync/backup jobs from touching the store directory while the engine starts
4. If the error is transient and rare, wrap Open in a short retry loop

Example fix

// before
store, err := ccr.Open(dbPath) // races with backup restore
// after
for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
    store, err = ccr.Open(dbPath)
    if err == nil || !strings.Contains(fmt.Sprint(err), "file changed while securing") { break }
    time.Sleep(200 * time.Millisecond)
}

// best-effort pre-check: ensure no other process holds the db
if f, err := os.OpenFile(dbPath, os.O_EXCL|os.O_CREATE, 0o600); err == nil {
    defer os.Remove(dbPath + ".lock") // external lock convention
    f.Close()
}

var store *ccr.Store
var err error
for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
    store, err = ccr.Open(dbPath)
    if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "file changed while securing") { break }
    time.Sleep(250 * time.Millisecond)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Two processes opening/securing the same CCR store concurrently while one recreates the db file; an external script (vacuum, backup-restore, temp-file-rename) replacing the db file during startup; antivirus or sync tools swapping the file mid-operation.

Common situations: Multiple engine instances pointed at the same recovery.db started simultaneously; a deploy script restoring a db backup while the engine boots; Dropbox/rsync-style atomic replace (write temp + rename) colliding with startup.

Related errors

• file changed while opening
• file changed while securing
• budget is below CCR storage minimum
• cave_ccr_budget_exceeded
• ccr storage budget is below minimum

AI-assisted analysis of JuliusBrussee/caveman@3ee70a1026 (2026-09-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c14fb24535b048fc. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/ccr/store_sqlite.go:371

	}
	err = chmodSQLiteFile(path, info)
	if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) && !create {
		// The sidecar vanished while securing it — a concurrent process
		// checkpointed the WAL and removed it. Nothing left to secure.
		return nil
	}
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	secured, err := os.Lstat(path)
	if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) && !create {
		return nil
	}
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	if !os.SameFile(info, secured) {
		return fmt.Errorf("file changed while securing")
	}
	return nil
}

func configureStorageBudget(db *sql.DB, maxBytes int64) error {
	var pageSize int64
	if err := db.QueryRow(`PRAGMA page_size`).Scan(&pageSize); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("read page size: %w", err)
	}
	if pageSize <= 0 {
		return errors.New("invalid sqlite page size")
	}
	maxPages := maxBytes / pageSize
	if maxPages < minimumStoragePages {
		return fmt.Errorf("budget %d is below CCR storage minimum %d", maxBytes, minimumStoragePages*pageSize)
	}
	var applied int64
	if err := db.QueryRow(fmt.Sprintf(`PRAGMA max_page_count=%d`, maxPages)).Scan(&applied); err != nil {

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