fix: answer eth_chainId and net_version from loaded state (closes #317)

Both methods answered from currentNetwork(), which reads the module-level state
singleton, and nothing populates that at module scope. A service worker revived
by the page's own message therefore held DEFAULT_STATE and reported mainnet
0x1 / 1 to a page whose user was on Sepolia, so a dApp asking which chain the
wallet is on built its interaction for the wrong one. Neither method is gated on
a connection, so any page got the stale answer.

Both now answer from getState() — the per-call storage read that returns a
detached object, which every other read handler in this file already uses —
rather than by loading the singleton. Loading it would fix the stale answer but
introduce a worse defect on the same path: loadState() replaces state.wallets
wholesale, and backgroundRefresh() hands the singleton's wallets to
refreshBalances(), which mutates those address objects in place across a network
round trip before stamping lastBalanceRefresh and saving. A load landing inside
that round trip detaches the objects being mutated, so the save persists the
pre-refresh balances while still marking the refresh done, and the freshness
guard then suppresses the redo for half the alarm period. These two methods are
reachable by any page, and the injected provider sends eth_chainId on every page
load, so an ordinary page load would be enough to drop a refresh and a polling
page could keep any refresh from ever persisting. getState() reads storage once
per call and mutates nothing shared. networkById(undefined) already falls back
to mainnet, which is the answer a profile with no stored networkId had before.

Read-side audit of the background, which the fix was the occasion for: the other
singleton reads are wallet_switchEthereumChain, the transaction verify/broadcast
path and backgroundRefresh, and all three already load first. Every other
handler answers from storage per call through getState(). One stale read remains
and is deliberately not fixed here, being a different handler rather than the
same one-line shape: handleSendTransaction calls getProvider() with no network
name, so balances.js falls back to the same unloaded singleton for ethers'
static network hint, and a cold-worker send on Sepolia is prepared with a
mainnet hint. It is caught later — the artifact is verified against the loaded
chain before broadcast — so it fails the send rather than sending on the wrong
chain.

The test's storage stub structured-clones in both directions, as the real
chrome.storage.local does. A stub that hands back the live stored object aliases
it into whatever reads it, which makes an in-place mutation of a detached copy
look as though it reached storage and hides this entire class of defect: with an
aliasing get, the whole suite passes against the loadState() version above.

Verified failing first, two mutations, each with the rest of the tree untouched.
Reverting the handler to the singleton read gives 3 failed / 791 passed: exactly
the three cases that read the chain on a cold worker, each answering 0x1 / 1
instead of 0xaa36a7 / 11155111. Replacing getState() with await loadState() plus
currentNetwork() gives 1 failed / 793 passed: the new mid-refresh case, with the
persisted balance "0" where the refresh wrote "1.5". With the fix, 794 passed /
37 suites, and lint ran uncached in the pinned container.

TODO.md

@@ -50,15 +50,32 @@ but the review is broader than any of them.
   the module-level `state` singleton that nothing populates at module scope, so
   a service worker revived by the page's own message answered out of
   `DEFAULT_STATE` and reported mainnet `0x1`/`1` to a user on Sepolia — a dApp
-  building its interaction for the wrong chain. Both now `await loadState()`
-  first, under one load covering the pair. The read side of the background was
-  audited with it: the remaining singleton reads are the chain switch, the
-  transaction verification path and `backgroundRefresh`, which each already
-  load, and everything else answers from storage per call through `getState()`.
-  One stale read is left named but unfixed, outside this issue's scope:
-  `handleSendTransaction` builds its provider with no network name, so
+  building its interaction for the wrong chain. Both now answer from
+  `getState()`, the per-call detached storage read the other read handlers use,
+  rather than from the singleton: these two are reachable by any page on every
+  provider init, and mutating the shared singleton on that path would detach the
+  wallet objects an in-flight `backgroundRefresh()` is mutating. The read side
+  of the background was audited with it: the remaining singleton reads are the
+  chain switch, the transaction verification path and `backgroundRefresh`, which
+  each already load, and everything else answers from storage per call through
+  `getState()`. One stale read is left named but unfixed, outside this issue's
+  scope: `handleSendTransaction` builds its provider with no network name, so
   `getProvider()` falls back to the same unloaded singleton for ethers' static
   network hint.
+- 2026-08-20: The dApp approval screen no longer shows a token transfer it
+  cannot scale as `0.0000`
+  ([#306](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/306)). `decodeCalldata`
+  read decimals from the 512-entry bundled token list alone and fell back to 18,
+  so every token outside it — most of them, including anything the user added by
+  contract address — was displayed at the wrong scale: a `transfer` of 5,000
+  units of a 6-decimal token read as `0.0000`, and a user who reads zero
+  confirms the drain. The new `src/shared/approvalAmount.js` resolves the scale
+  from the bundled list, then `state.trackedTokens`, then the decimals the block
+  explorer already reported in `addr.tokenBalances`, and refuses one the
+  explorer's own entries disagree about. Where no source knows it, the amount
+  line is not formatted at all: it shows the base-unit integer and states that
+  the scale is unknown, for `approve` as well as `transfer`. An unbounded
+  allowance still reads `Unlimited`, which needs no scale.
 - 2026-08-20: A web page can no longer switch the wallet's chain, and switching
   no longer destroys the user's endpoints
   ([#308](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/308)).

src/background/index.js

@@ -3,7 +3,11 @@
 // non-sensitive calls to the configured Ethereum JSON-RPC endpoint.
 
 const { DEFAULT_RPC_URL } = require("../shared/constants");
-const { SUPPORTED_CHAIN_IDS, networkByChainId } = require("../shared/networks");
+const {
+    SUPPORTED_CHAIN_IDS,
+    networkById,
+    networkByChainId,
+} = require("../shared/networks");
 const { onChainSwitch } = require("../shared/chainSwitch");
 const {
     state,
@@ -663,20 +667,27 @@ async function handleRpc(method, params, origin) {
         return { result: [] };
     }
 
-    // Both answer from currentNetwork(), which reads the module-level state
+    // Both answered from currentNetwork(), which reads the module-level state
     // singleton, and nothing populates that at module scope. A worker revived
     // by the page's own message therefore held DEFAULT_STATE and told a page
     // it was on mainnet while the user was on Sepolia
-    // (https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/317). One load covers both:
-    // they are the same read of the same value, and the switch handler below
-    // and the transaction path have the same await for the same reason.
+    // (https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/317).
+    //
+    // Answered from getState() rather than by loading the singleton. Any page
+    // reaches these two — neither is gated on a connection, and the injected
+    // provider sends eth_chainId on every page load — and loadState() replaces
+    // state.wallets wholesale, which would detach the address objects an
+    // in-flight backgroundRefresh() is mutating across its network round trip,
+    // so its saveState() would persist the pre-refresh balances while still
+    // stamping lastBalanceRefresh. getState() is the detached per-call storage
+    // read the other read handlers here already use.
+    // networkById(undefined) falls back to mainnet, matching the default for a
+    // profile with no stored networkId.
     if (method === "eth_chainId" || method === "net_version") {
-        await loadState();
+        const s = await getState();
+        const net = networkById(s.networkId);
         return {
-            result:
-                method === "eth_chainId"
-                    ? currentNetwork().chainId
-                    : currentNetwork().networkVersion,
+            result: method === "eth_chainId" ? net.chainId : net.networkVersion,
         };
     }
 

src/popup/views/approval.js

@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ const {
 const { getPrice, formatUsd } = require("../../shared/prices");
 const { ERC20_ABI } = require("../../shared/constants");
 const { TOKEN_BY_ADDRESS } = require("../../shared/tokenList");
+const {
+    resolveTokenDecimals,
+    unknownDecimalsAmount,
+} = require("../../shared/approvalAmount");
 const { decryptWithPassword } = require("../../shared/vault");
 const { getSignerForAddress } = require("../../shared/wallet");
 const { walletDefect } = require("../../shared/walletDefects");
@@ -43,6 +47,23 @@ function formatTxValue(val) {
     return parts[0] + "." + dec;
 }
 
+// The amount line for a decoded ERC-20 call. With a known scale it is the
+// token quantity; with `decimals` null it is the base-unit integer with the
+// unknown scale stated, because formatting it with an assumed scale is what
+// showed a 5,000-token transfer as `0.0000`. `raw` is what the status screens
+// carry, `display` is what the approval screen shows.
+function tokenAmountText(rawAmount, decimals, symbol) {
+    if (decimals === null) {
+        const unknown = unknownDecimalsAmount(rawAmount);
+        return { raw: unknown, display: unknown };
+    }
+    const formatted = formatTxValue(formatUnits(rawAmount, decimals));
+    return {
+        raw: formatted,
+        display: formatted + (symbol ? " " + symbol : ""),
+    };
+}
+
 function tokenLabel(address) {
     const t = TOKEN_BY_ADDRESS.get(address.toLowerCase());
     return t ? t.symbol : null;
@@ -59,7 +80,15 @@ function decodeCalldata(data, toAddress) {
         if (parsed) {
             const token = TOKEN_BY_ADDRESS.get(toAddress.toLowerCase());
             const tokenSymbol = token ? token.symbol : null;
-            const tokenDecimals = token ? token.decimals : 18;
+            // null when no source knows this token's scale. It is not
+            // defaulted to 18: an amount formatted with a guessed scale is
+            // the wrong number, and for a token with fewer decimals than the
+            // guess it is the wrong number in the direction that reads as
+            // zero. See tokenAmountText().
+            const tokenDecimals = resolveTokenDecimals(toAddress, {
+                trackedTokens: state.trackedTokens,
+                wallets: state.wallets,
+            });
             const contractLabel = tokenSymbol
                 ? tokenSymbol + " (" + toAddress + ")"
                 : toAddress;
@@ -71,12 +100,11 @@ function decodeCalldata(data, toAddress) {
                     "0xffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff",
                 );
                 const isUnlimited = rawAmount === maxUint;
-                const amountRaw = isUnlimited
-                    ? "Unlimited"
-                    : formatTxValue(formatUnits(rawAmount, tokenDecimals));
-                const amountStr = isUnlimited
-                    ? "Unlimited"
-                    : amountRaw + (tokenSymbol ? " " + tokenSymbol : "");
+                // An unbounded allowance needs no scale to describe, so it is
+                // still named rather than refused.
+                const amount = isUnlimited
+                    ? { raw: "Unlimited", display: "Unlimited" }
+                    : tokenAmountText(rawAmount, tokenDecimals, tokenSymbol);
 
                 return {
                     name: "Token Approval",
@@ -97,8 +125,8 @@ function decodeCalldata(data, toAddress) {
                         },
                         {
                             label: "Amount",
-                            value: amountStr,
-                            rawValue: amountRaw,
+                            value: amount.display,
+                            rawValue: amount.raw,
                         },
                     ],
                 };
@@ -107,11 +135,11 @@ function decodeCalldata(data, toAddress) {
             if (parsed.name === "transfer") {
                 const to = parsed.args[0];
                 const rawAmount = parsed.args[1];
-                const amountRaw = formatTxValue(
-                    formatUnits(rawAmount, tokenDecimals),
+                const amount = tokenAmountText(
+                    rawAmount,
+                    tokenDecimals,
+                    tokenSymbol,
                 );
-                const amountStr =
-                    amountRaw + (tokenSymbol ? " " + tokenSymbol : "");
 
                 return {
                     name: "Token Transfer",
@@ -128,8 +156,8 @@ function decodeCalldata(data, toAddress) {
                         { label: "Recipient", value: to, address: to },
                         {
                             label: "Amount",
-                            value: amountStr,
-                            rawValue: amountRaw,
+                            value: amount.display,
+                            rawValue: amount.raw,
                         },
                     ],
                 };

src/shared/approvalAmount.js

@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+// The scale an ERC-20 amount in a dApp's calldata is displayed with, and what
+// to display when there is no such scale.
+//
+// The approval screen decodes `transfer` and `approve` calldata into a
+// quantity the user confirms against. That quantity is a base-unit integer,
+// and turning it into a number a person can read needs the token's decimals.
+// Assuming a scale is how a drain gets confirmed: a `transfer` of 5000000000
+// units of a 6-decimal token is 5,000 tokens, but formatted with the ERC-20
+// default of 18 it reads `0.0000`, and a user who reads zero signs.
+//
+// So a scale is either found or the amount is not formatted. Decimals are
+// looked for in the bundled token list, then in the tokens the user tracks,
+// then in what the block explorer reported for the contract; where none of
+// them answers, unknownDecimalsAmount() renders the base-unit integer with the
+// unknown scale stated, and no formatUnits() call is reached at all.
+//
+// This is the display counterpart to transferAmount.js, which takes the same
+// stance on the wallet's own send path: an amount whose scale is unknown or
+// disputed is refused rather than guessed at.
+
+// Solidity's decimals() is a uint8, and every source here is ultimately
+// reporting that call's result.
+const { MAX_DECIMALS } = require("./transferAmount");
+const { TOKEN_BY_ADDRESS } = require("./tokenList");
+
+// A decimals value as a number, or null if it is not one. The bundled list
+// stores numbers, the explorer's copy arrives as a string, and a token the
+// user added by hand can carry whatever lookupTokenInfo() got back, so the
+// accepted types are enumerated rather than coerced: Number([]) is 0 and
+// Number(true) is 1, so a coercing check would read an empty array as a scale
+// of zero and format the amount as whole tokens.
+function toDecimals(value) {
+    let n;
+    if (typeof value === "number") {
+        n = value;
+    } else if (typeof value === "bigint") {
+        if (value < 0n || value > BigInt(MAX_DECIMALS)) return null;
+        n = Number(value);
+    } else if (typeof value === "string") {
+        if (!/^[0-9]+$/.test(value)) return null;
+        n = Number(value);
+    } else {
+        return null;
+    }
+    if (!Number.isInteger(n) || n < 0 || n > MAX_DECIMALS) return null;
+    return n;
+}
+
+// Every decimals the explorer reported for this contract, across all the
+// addresses whose balances have been fetched. They describe one contract, so
+// they should agree; a set that does not agree is a scale in dispute, and this
+// screen has no way to tell which member is the true one.
+function explorerDecimals(lower, wallets) {
+    let found = null;
+    for (const wallet of wallets || []) {
+        for (const addr of wallet.addresses || []) {
+            for (const tb of addr.tokenBalances || []) {
+                if ((tb.address || "").toLowerCase() !== lower) continue;
+                const d = toDecimals(tb.decimals);
+                if (d === null) continue;
+                if (found !== null && found !== d) return null;
+                found = d;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return found;
+}
+
+// The decimals to render a token amount with, or null when nothing knows.
+// `sources` is { trackedTokens, wallets }, both shaped as they are on `state`.
+function resolveTokenDecimals(tokenAddress, sources) {
+    const lower = (tokenAddress || "").toLowerCase();
+    if (!lower) return null;
+
+    const bundled = TOKEN_BY_ADDRESS.get(lower);
+    if (bundled) {
+        const d = toDecimals(bundled.decimals);
+        if (d !== null) return d;
+    }
+
+    const tracked = ((sources && sources.trackedTokens) || []).find(
+        (t) => (t.address || "").toLowerCase() === lower,
+    );
+    if (tracked) {
+        const d = toDecimals(tracked.decimals);
+        if (d !== null) return d;
+    }
+
+    return explorerDecimals(lower, sources && sources.wallets);
+}
+
+// What the amount line reads when the scale is unknown. The base units are
+// exact and the caveat is part of the same string, so the number on the screen
+// cannot be mistaken for a token quantity, and it can never read as zero for a
+// transfer that is not zero.
+function unknownDecimalsAmount(rawAmount) {
+    return String(rawAmount) + " base units (decimals unknown)";
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+    resolveTokenDecimals,
+    unknownDecimalsAmount,
+};

tests/approvalAmount.test.js

@@ -0,0 +1,208 @@
+// The quantity the dApp approval screen shows for a decoded ERC-20 call.
+//
+// The screen's amount line is the only place a user sees how much a page is
+// asking for, and it is decoded from calldata, which carries base units and
+// no scale. Issue #306: decodeCalldata read decimals from the bundled token
+// list alone and fell back to 18, so a `transfer` of 5000000000 units of a
+// 6-decimal token — 5,000 tokens — was displayed as `0.0000` and confirmed.
+//
+// What is asserted here is that the scale is found wherever the wallet
+// already has it, and that where it is nowhere at all no formatted number is
+// produced: the amount line has to say base units and say the scale is
+// unknown, because a wrong quantity that reads as zero is worse than an
+// unwieldy correct one.
+
+globalThis.chrome = {
+    storage: { local: { get: async () => ({}), set: async () => {} } },
+};
+
+const { Interface } = require("ethers");
+const { ERC20_ABI } = require("../src/shared/constants");
+const { state } = require("../src/shared/state");
+const {
+    resolveTokenDecimals,
+    unknownDecimalsAmount,
+} = require("../src/shared/approvalAmount");
+const { decodeCalldata } = require("../src/popup/views/approval");
+
+const iface = new Interface(ERC20_ABI);
+
+// Outside the bundled list, as the great majority of ERC-20s are.
+const NOVEL_TOKEN = "0xE2E0000000000000000000000000000000000E2e";
+// In the bundled list, at 6 decimals.
+const USDC = "0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48";
+const RECIPIENT = "0xC0FfEE0000000000000000000000000000c0fFEe";
+const SPENDER = "0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111";
+
+// 5,000 units of a 6-decimal token, the amount from the issue.
+const FIVE_THOUSAND_AT_SIX = 5000000000n;
+const MAX_UINT256 = (1n << 256n) - 1n;
+
+function transferData(amount) {
+    return iface.encodeFunctionData("transfer", [RECIPIENT, amount]);
+}
+
+function approveData(amount) {
+    return iface.encodeFunctionData("approve", [SPENDER, amount]);
+}
+
+// The Amount line as the approval screen renders it.
+function amountLine(data, tokenAddress) {
+    const decoded = decodeCalldata(data, tokenAddress);
+    const detail = decoded.details.find((d) => d.label === "Amount");
+    return detail.value;
+}
+
+// A wallet holding `token` with the decimals the block explorer reported,
+// shaped as balances.js writes it onto state.
+function walletsHolding(token, decimals) {
+    return [
+        {
+            name: "Wallet 1",
+            addresses: [
+                {
+                    address: "0x" + "a".repeat(40),
+                    balance: "1.0",
+                    tokenBalances: [
+                        {
+                            address: token,
+                            symbol: "NOVEL",
+                            decimals,
+                            balance: "5000.0",
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+            ],
+        },
+    ];
+}
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+    state.trackedTokens = [];
+    state.wallets = [];
+});
+
+describe("resolveTokenDecimals", () => {
+    test("prefers the bundled list", () => {
+        state.trackedTokens = [{ address: USDC, symbol: "USDC", decimals: 2 }];
+        expect(resolveTokenDecimals(USDC, state)).toBe(6);
+    });
+
+    test("reads a token the user tracks", () => {
+        state.trackedTokens = [
+            {
+                address: NOVEL_TOKEN.toLowerCase(),
+                symbol: "NOVEL",
+                decimals: 6,
+            },
+        ];
+        expect(resolveTokenDecimals(NOVEL_TOKEN, state)).toBe(6);
+    });
+
+    test("reads the decimals the explorer reported", () => {
+        // Blockscout's copy arrives as a string.
+        state.wallets = walletsHolding(NOVEL_TOKEN, "6");
+        expect(resolveTokenDecimals(NOVEL_TOKEN, state)).toBe(6);
+    });
+
+    test("falls past a tracked entry whose decimals are unusable", () => {
+        state.trackedTokens = [
+            { address: NOVEL_TOKEN, symbol: "NOVEL", decimals: NaN },
+        ];
+        state.wallets = walletsHolding(NOVEL_TOKEN, 6);
+        expect(resolveTokenDecimals(NOVEL_TOKEN, state)).toBe(6);
+    });
+
+    test("refuses a scale the explorer's own entries disagree about", () => {
+        const wallets = walletsHolding(NOVEL_TOKEN, 6);
+        wallets[0].addresses.push({
+            address: "0x" + "b".repeat(40),
+            balance: "0.0",
+            tokenBalances: [
+                { address: NOVEL_TOKEN, symbol: "NOVEL", decimals: 18 },
+            ],
+        });
+        state.wallets = wallets;
+        expect(resolveTokenDecimals(NOVEL_TOKEN, state)).toBeNull();
+    });
+
+    test("rejects values that are not a uint8", () => {
+        for (const decimals of [-1, 256, 1.5, true, [], {}, null, "6.0", ""]) {
+            state.trackedTokens = [{ address: NOVEL_TOKEN, decimals }];
+            expect(resolveTokenDecimals(NOVEL_TOKEN, state)).toBeNull();
+        }
+    });
+
+    test("is null when nothing knows the token", () => {
+        expect(resolveTokenDecimals(NOVEL_TOKEN, state)).toBeNull();
+    });
+});
+
+describe("decodeCalldata amount", () => {
+    test("transfer of a tracked 6-decimal token shows the true quantity", () => {
+        state.trackedTokens = [
+            { address: NOVEL_TOKEN, symbol: "NOVEL", decimals: 6 },
+        ];
+        expect(
+            amountLine(transferData(FIVE_THOUSAND_AT_SIX), NOVEL_TOKEN),
+        ).toBe("5000.0000");
+    });
+
+    test("transfer priced off the explorer's decimals shows the true quantity", () => {
+        state.wallets = walletsHolding(NOVEL_TOKEN, "6");
+        expect(
+            amountLine(transferData(FIVE_THOUSAND_AT_SIX), NOVEL_TOKEN),
+        ).toBe("5000.0000");
+    });
+
+    test("transfer of an unknown-decimals token shows base units, not a number", () => {
+        const line = amountLine(
+            transferData(FIVE_THOUSAND_AT_SIX),
+            NOVEL_TOKEN,
+        );
+        expect(line).toBe("5000000000 base units (decimals unknown)");
+        expect(line).toBe(unknownDecimalsAmount(FIVE_THOUSAND_AT_SIX));
+        // The defect: any rendering that reads as a token quantity, and above
+        // all one that reads as zero.
+        expect(line).not.toMatch(/0\.0000/);
+    });
+
+    test("approve of a tracked 6-decimal token shows the true quantity", () => {
+        state.trackedTokens = [
+            { address: NOVEL_TOKEN, symbol: "NOVEL", decimals: 6 },
+        ];
+        expect(amountLine(approveData(FIVE_THOUSAND_AT_SIX), NOVEL_TOKEN)).toBe(
+            "5000.0000",
+        );
+    });
+
+    test("approve of an unknown-decimals token shows base units, not a number", () => {
+        const line = amountLine(approveData(FIVE_THOUSAND_AT_SIX), NOVEL_TOKEN);
+        expect(line).toBe("5000000000 base units (decimals unknown)");
+        expect(line).not.toMatch(/0\.0000/);
+    });
+
+    test("an unbounded allowance is still named, with or without a scale", () => {
+        expect(amountLine(approveData(MAX_UINT256), NOVEL_TOKEN)).toBe(
+            "Unlimited",
+        );
+        expect(amountLine(approveData(MAX_UINT256), USDC)).toBe("Unlimited");
+    });
+
+    test("a bundled token keeps its symbol and its scale", () => {
+        expect(amountLine(transferData(FIVE_THOUSAND_AT_SIX), USDC)).toBe(
+            "5000.0000 USDC",
+        );
+    });
+
+    test("the amount carried to the status screens is the same string", () => {
+        const decoded = decodeCalldata(
+            transferData(FIVE_THOUSAND_AT_SIX),
+            NOVEL_TOKEN,
+        );
+        const detail = decoded.details.find((d) => d.label === "Amount");
+        expect(detail.rawValue).toBe(
+            "5000000000 base units (decimals unknown)",
+        );
+    });
+});

tests/coldWorkerChainId.test.js

@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@
 // state yet.
 //
 // The MV3 service worker is terminated when idle and revived by the next
-// message, and nothing loads state at module scope. Both methods answer from
+// message, and nothing loads state at module scope. Both methods answered from
 // currentNetwork(), which reads the module-level `state` singleton, so a
 // worker revived by the page's own message answered out of DEFAULT_STATE and
 // told a page it was on mainnet while the user was on Sepolia
 // (https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/317).
 //
 // This file therefore uses the REAL state module and never calls loadState()
-// itself: the handler has to do it. Same shape as
+// itself: the handler has to answer from storage on its own. Same shape as
 // tests/coldWorkerChainSwitch.test.js, which covers the write side.
 
 const { networkById } = require("../src/shared/networks");
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ const UNKNOWN_ORIGIN = "https://stranger.example";
 const MAINNET = networkById("mainnet");
 const SEPOLIA = networkById("sepolia");
 
+const REFRESHED_BALANCE = "1.5";
+
 function storedProfile(networkId) {
     return {
         hasWallet: true,
@@ -54,36 +56,50 @@ afterEach(() => {
 });
 
 // Load the background worker with the real state module behind it, over a
-// storage stub that keeps what is written — so the test can also show that
-// answering a read method persists nothing.
-function loadColdWorker(networkId) {
+// storage stub that keeps what is written.
+//
+// The stub structured-clones in both directions, as the real
+// chrome.storage.local does. A stub that handed back the live stored object
+// would alias it into whatever read it, so an in-place mutation of a detached
+// copy would appear to have reached storage and this whole class of defect
+// would be invisible here.
+//
+// opts.refreshBalances replaces the balances stub, so a test can hold a
+// refresh open across a message.
+function loadColdWorker(networkId, opts) {
     jest.resetModules();
 
+    const options = opts || {};
+
     jest.doMock("../src/shared/balances", () => ({
         getProvider: () => ({}),
-        refreshBalances: jest.fn(async () => {}),
+        refreshBalances: options.refreshBalances || jest.fn(async () => {}),
     }));
     jest.doMock("../src/shared/phishingDomains", () => ({
         isPhishingDomain: () => false,
     }));
+
+    let alarmHandlers = {};
     jest.doMock("../src/shared/alarms", () => ({
         BALANCE_REFRESH_ALARM: "balance",
         BALANCE_REFRESH_PERIOD_MINUTES: 1,
         ensureRecurringAlarms: jest.fn(async () => {}),
-        registerAlarmHandlers: jest.fn(),
+        registerAlarmHandlers: jest.fn((handlers) => {
+            alarmHandlers = handlers;
+        }),
     }));
 
     const store = { autistmask: storedProfile(networkId) };
 
     let messageListener = null;
     const set = jest.fn(async (items) => {
-        store.autistmask = items.autistmask;
+        store.autistmask = structuredClone(items.autistmask);
     });
 
     global.chrome = {
         storage: {
             local: {
-                get: jest.fn(async () => ({ autistmask: store.autistmask })),
+                get: jest.fn(async () => structuredClone(store)),
                 set,
             },
         },
@@ -129,7 +145,12 @@ function loadColdWorker(networkId) {
         return result;
     }
 
-    return { rpc, persisted: () => store.autistmask, storageSet: set };
+    return {
+        rpc,
+        persisted: () => store.autistmask,
+        storageSet: set,
+        fireBalanceAlarm: () => alarmHandlers.balance(),
+    };
 }
 
 describe("chain identity read by a worker that never loaded state", () => {
@@ -189,4 +210,49 @@ describe("chain identity read by a worker that never loaded state", () => {
         expect(bg.storageSet).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
         expect(bg.persisted()).toEqual(storedProfile("sepolia"));
     });
+
+    test("a chain read arriving mid-refresh does not discard the refresh", async () => {
+        // Any page reaches these two methods, and the injected provider sends
+        // eth_chainId on every page load, so this overlap is ordinary traffic
+        // rather than a contrived race.
+        //
+        // backgroundRefresh() hands the singleton's wallets to
+        // refreshBalances(), which mutates those address objects in place once
+        // the network round trip resolves, and only then saves. Answering the
+        // page by calling loadState() would replace state.wallets mid-flight,
+        // so the refreshed balances would land on detached objects and the
+        // save that follows would persist the pre-refresh values — while still
+        // stamping lastBalanceRefresh, suppressing the redo.
+        let releaseRoundTrip;
+        const roundTrip = new Promise((resolve) => {
+            releaseRoundTrip = resolve;
+        });
+        let refreshReachedNetwork;
+        const inFlight = new Promise((resolve) => {
+            refreshReachedNetwork = resolve;
+        });
+
+        const bg = loadColdWorker("sepolia", {
+            refreshBalances: async (wallets) => {
+                refreshReachedNetwork();
+                await roundTrip;
+                // In place, on the objects handed in — as balances.js does.
+                wallets[0].addresses[0].balance = REFRESHED_BALANCE;
+            },
+        });
+
+        const refresh = bg.fireBalanceAlarm();
+        await inFlight;
+
+        expect(await bg.rpc("eth_chainId", UNKNOWN_ORIGIN)).toEqual({
+            result: SEPOLIA.chainId,
+        });
+
+        releaseRoundTrip();
+        await refresh;
+
+        expect(bg.persisted().wallets[0].addresses[0].balance).toBe(
+            REFRESHED_BALANCE,
+        );
+    });
 });