Replace the deprecated gomodguard with gomodguard_v2 by re-vendoring .golangci.yml (closes #57)

.golangci.yml is the canonical copy from the main branch of
sneak/prompts, fetched unchanged. It switches off the deprecated
gomodguard, whose deprecation warning was printed on every lint run,
and turns on its successor gomodguard_v2 with the shared module block
list. It also turns on depguard with the rule that keeps
net/http/httptest out of files that are not tests. pixa has no deny
entries of its own to carry forward, and the tree needs no code changes
under the new linters. The owner approved this config in sneak/prompts.

Model: opus-5-5

.gitattributes

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Every PR adds an entry at the top of TODO.md's Completed Steps; union keeps
+# both sides instead of conflicting. Git never reports a conflict here: read
+# the merged entries after every merge or rebase.
+TODO.md merge=union

.golangci.yml

@@ -10,14 +10,20 @@ run:
 
 linters:
   default: all
+  enable:
+    # Successor to the deprecated gomodguard. Named explicitly, rather than
+    # left to `default: all`, because it carries the module policy below.
+    - gomodguard_v2
   disable:
     # Genuinely incompatible with project patterns
     - exhaustruct      # Requires all struct fields
-    - depguard         # Dependency allow/block lists
     - godot            # Requires comments to end with periods
-    - wsl              # Deprecated, replaced by wsl_v5
     - wrapcheck        # Too verbose for internal packages
     - varnamelen       # Short names like db, id are idiomatic Go
+    # Deprecated: the warning is attached to the old name, so it is
+    # silenced by disabling that name, not by enabling the successor.
+    - wsl              # Deprecated, replaced by wsl_v5
+    - gomodguard       # Deprecated, replaced by gomodguard_v2
   settings:
     lll:
       line-length: 88
@@ -28,6 +34,64 @@ linters:
       max-complexity: 15
     dupl:
       threshold: 100
+    depguard:
+      # Test-support code must not be compiled into the shipped binary. A
+      # test-support package exists to hand a test privileges the program
+      # itself must never have, so a file that is not a test must not import
+      # one. Test files, and the files inside a package whose directory name
+      # ends in `test`, are where that code belongs, and are exempt.
+      #
+      # The deny list below is the one part of this file a repository is
+      # expected to extend, and the only part it may. depguard matches an
+      # import path against a list of prefixes, so it cannot be told "any path
+      # whose last segment ends in test"; a repository's own test-support
+      # packages have to be named here one at a time, by full import path,
+      # under a module path that differs from repository to repository. Add
+      # them; change nothing else.
+      rules:
+        test-support:
+          list-mode: lax
+          files:
+            - "$all"
+            - "!$test"
+            - "!**/*test/**"
+          deny:
+            - pkg: net/http/httptest
+              desc: >-
+                Test-support code belongs in test files and in packages whose
+                directory name ends in test, not in the shipped binary.
+    # Only decisions already recorded in the Go package defaults are
+    # listed here. Every entry matches the module path exactly.
+    gomodguard_v2:
+      blocked:
+        - module: github.com/rs/zerolog
+          recommendations:
+            - log/slog
+          reason: "Structured logging is stdlib log/slog."
+        # One entry per pre-fork module path, because the later releases
+        # are separate paths. A prefix match would be shorter but would
+        # also reach github.com/go-redis/redismock, the test double for
+        # the successor these entries recommend.
+        - module: github.com/go-redis/redis
+          recommendations:
+            - github.com/redis/go-redis/v9
+          reason: "Pre-fork module; use the maintained go-redis v9."
+        - module: github.com/go-redis/redis/v7
+          recommendations:
+            - github.com/redis/go-redis/v9
+          reason: "Pre-fork module; use the maintained go-redis v9."
+        - module: github.com/go-redis/redis/v8
+          recommendations:
+            - github.com/redis/go-redis/v9
+          reason: "Pre-fork module; use the maintained go-redis v9."
+        - module: github.com/sergi/go-diff
+          recommendations:
+            - github.com/aymanbagabas/go-udiff
+          reason: "No unified diff output; use go-udiff."
+        - module: github.com/hexops/gotextdiff
+          recommendations:
+            - github.com/aymanbagabas/go-udiff
+          reason: "Unmaintained fork; use go-udiff."
 
 issues:
   max-issues-per-linter: 0

README.md

@@ -413,10 +413,10 @@ pixa finds: `/etc/pixa/config.yml`, `/etc/pixa/config.yaml`,
 `~/.config/pixa/config.yml`, `~/.config/pixa/config.yaml`, then `config.yml`
 and `config.yaml` in the working directory. A named file that does not exist,
 cannot be read or does not parse aborts startup. Of the files pixa looks for on
-its own, one it finds but cannot read or parse aborts startup; one it cannot
+its own, only one that does not exist is passed over, without a message. One
-find, for any reason, is passed over without a message, even when the file is
+that pixa cannot read or parse aborts startup, naming the file. So does one in a
-there in a directory pixa may not enter. With no file, pixa uses the environment
+directory pixa may not enter, whether or not it is there, since pixa cannot
-and the defaults.
+tell. With no file, pixa uses the environment and the defaults.
 
 | Variable                             | Config key                      | Meaning                                                                      |
 | ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

TODO.md

@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 * branch per issue from `next`
 * do the work in Next Step
 * move Next Step to the top of Completed Steps
+* `TODO.md` merges with git's union merge (`.gitattributes`), which never
+  reports a conflict: read the merged entries after every merge or rebase
 * move the top item of Future Steps into Next Step
 * commit (`TODO.md` changes in the same commit as the work)
 * open a PR based on `next`
@@ -29,6 +31,14 @@ P2: security: referer blacklist
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-04 `TODO.md` merges with git's union merge (closes #190): a root
+  `.gitattributes`, copied from `sneak/prompts`, marks it `merge=union`, so two
+  branches that each add an entry at the top of Completed Steps merge without a
+  conflict and keep both entries. Git now never reports a conflict in
+  `TODO.md`: a real one keeps both versions of the lines, and two entries that
+  share an identical line can end up one inside the other, which a rebase can
+  do to an entry already on `next`. The Workflow above says to read the merged
+  entries after every merge or rebase.
 - 2026-10-04 `TestEvictionRunsOnPeriodicSchedule` no longer races the evictor
   (closes #183): it wrote each variant file and then inserted its accounting row
   by hand, and a reconciliation pass between the two adopted the file first, so
@@ -38,6 +48,16 @@ P2: security: referer blacklist
   files and the eviction pass after it evicts them. No other test in
   `internal/imgcache` inserts a row by hand after starting the evictor. Test
   only.
+- 2026-10-04 a config file pixa cannot read aborts startup (closes #176): of the
+  places pixa looks for its config file on its own, only one where the file does
+  not exist is passed over; any other error, such as a directory on the path
+  that pixa may not enter, aborts startup naming the file, as a file that does
+  not parse already did.
+- 2026-10-04 `.golangci.yml` re-vendored from the canonical copy (closes #57):
+  the deprecated `gomodguard` is switched off, so lint runs print no
+  deprecation warning; its successor `gomodguard_v2` runs with the shared
+  module block list, and `depguard` keeps `net/http/httptest` out of files that
+  are not tests. The tree needed no code changes.
 - 2026-10-04 deployment guide and example Caddy config (closes #89):
   "Deployment" in `README.md` says what the reverse proxy in front of pixa must
   do (terminate TLS; pass `Host`, `Origin` and `Referer` on unchanged; set

internal/config/config.go

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ package config
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"io/fs"
 	"log/slog"
 	"math"
 	"net/netip"
@@ -14,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"sort"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
 	"git.eeqj.de/sneak/smartconfig"
@@ -778,19 +780,27 @@ func loadConfigFile(log *slog.Logger, appName string) (*smartconfig.Config, erro
 	for _, path := range configPaths {
 		cleanPath := filepath.Clean(path)
 
+		// Only a config file that does not exist is skipped, including
+		// one whose path runs through a file, such as under a HOME of
+		// /dev/null. One that cannot be read or does not parse is a
+		// fatal startup error.
 		_, statErr := os.Stat(cleanPath)
-		if statErr == nil {
+		if errors.Is(statErr, fs.ErrNotExist) || errors.Is(statErr, syscall.ENOTDIR) {
-			// A config file that exists but does not parse is a fatal
+			continue
-			// startup error, never something to skip over.
-			sc, err := smartconfig.NewFromConfigPath(path)
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse config file %s: %w", path, err)
-			}
-
-			log.Info("loaded config file", "path", path)
-
-			return sc, nil
 		}
+
+		if statErr != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read config file %s: %w", path, statErr)
+		}
+
+		sc, err := smartconfig.NewFromConfigPath(path)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse config file %s: %w", path, err)
+		}
+
+		log.Info("loaded config file", "path", path)
+
+		return sc, nil
 	}
 
 	return nil, nil //nolint:nilnil // nil config is valid (use defaults)

internal/config/config_validation_internal_test.go

@@ -564,6 +564,116 @@ func TestMalformedConfigFileAbortsStartup(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Logf("got expected error: %v", err)
 }
 
+// TestConfigFileInDirectoryPixaMayNotEnterAbortsStartup checks that a
+// config file pixa cannot read because it may not enter its directory
+// aborts startup instead of being passed over.
+func TestConfigFileInDirectoryPixaMayNotEnterAbortsStartup(t *testing.T) {
+	if os.Geteuid() == 0 {
+		t.Skip("root may enter any directory")
+	}
+
+	home := t.TempDir()
+	configDir := filepath.Join(home, ".config", "pixa-test-nonexistent-app")
+	configPath := filepath.Join(configDir, "config.yml")
+
+	err := os.MkdirAll(configDir, 0o700)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to create config directory: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	err = os.WriteFile(configPath, []byte(signingKeyLine), 0o600)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to write config: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	err = os.Chmod(configDir, 0)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to remove the config directory's permissions: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Give the directory back its permissions so t.TempDir can remove it.
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		//nolint:gosec // G302: a directory needs its execute bit to be removed
+		_ = os.Chmod(configDir, 0o700)
+	})
+
+	// The ~/.config candidate is the only one that exists: the appname
+	// rules out /etc, and the working directory is empty.
+	t.Setenv("PIXA_CONFIG_PATH", "")
+	t.Setenv("HOME", home)
+	t.Chdir(t.TempDir())
+
+	log := slog.New(slog.DiscardHandler)
+
+	sc, err := loadConfigFile(log, "pixa-test-nonexistent-app")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("config file pixa cannot read must abort startup, got config: %v",
+			sc)
+	}
+
+	t.Logf("got expected error: %v", err)
+
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), configPath) {
+		t.Errorf("error %q does not name the config file %s", err.Error(), configPath)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestConfigFileLinkingToItselfAbortsStartup checks that a config file
+// pixa cannot read for a reason other than not existing aborts startup,
+// as root too: a symbolic link to itself fails with "too many levels of
+// symbolic links".
+func TestConfigFileLinkingToItselfAbortsStartup(t *testing.T) {
+	workDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	err := os.Symlink("config.yml", filepath.Join(workDir, "config.yml"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to create symbolic link: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Only the working directory's config.yml is there: the appname rules
+	// out /etc, and HOME is empty.
+	t.Setenv("PIXA_CONFIG_PATH", "")
+	t.Setenv("HOME", t.TempDir())
+	t.Chdir(workDir)
+
+	log := slog.New(slog.DiscardHandler)
+
+	sc, err := loadConfigFile(log, "pixa-test-nonexistent-app")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("config file pixa cannot read must abort startup, got config: %v",
+			sc)
+	}
+
+	t.Logf("got expected error: %v", err)
+
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "config.yml") {
+		t.Errorf("error %q does not name the config file config.yml", err.Error())
+	}
+}
+
+// TestConfigPathThroughFileIsPassedOver checks that a config file path
+// that runs through a file, such as one under a HOME of /dev/null, is
+// passed over like one that does not exist, since no file can be there.
+func TestConfigPathThroughFileIsPassedOver(t *testing.T) {
+	// No config file is there: the appname rules out /etc, HOME is
+	// /dev/null, and the working directory is empty.
+	t.Setenv("PIXA_CONFIG_PATH", "")
+	t.Setenv("HOME", os.DevNull)
+	t.Chdir(t.TempDir())
+
+	log := slog.New(slog.DiscardHandler)
+
+	sc, err := loadConfigFile(log, "pixa-test-nonexistent-app")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a config path through a file must be passed over, got error: %v",
+			err)
+	}
+
+	if sc != nil {
+		t.Errorf("expected no config file, got config: %v", sc)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestEnsureStateDirCreatesDirectory(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()