Keep the empty host for a state_dir starting with //

With OmitHost set, a state_dir starting with // gave a db_url starting
file://, and SQLite read the first directory name as a host, so pixa
failed to start. OmitHost is now left off for such a directory: the URL
starts file://// and SQLite reads an empty host followed by the path.
Every other state_dir gives the same URL as before.

Model: opus-5-5

README.md

@@ -693,8 +693,11 @@ Key settings in more detail:
 - `signing_key` — HMAC secret for URL signatures
 - `db_url` — the SQLite database to open; omitted, it is
   `file:<state_dir>/state.sqlite3?_pragma=journal_mode(WAL)`, which keeps the
-  database in WAL mode. pixa opens one connection to it, so its own reads and
-  writes run one at a time. pixa adds `_pragma=busy_timeout(5000)` to any
+  database in WAL mode. `state_dir` is percent-encoded in it, so a `%`, `?` or
+  `#` in the name is written as `%25`, `%3F` or `%23`. For a `state_dir`
+  starting with `//` it starts `file:////`, so SQLite does not read the first
+  directory name as a host. pixa opens one connection to it, so its own reads
+  and writes run one at a time. pixa adds `_pragma=busy_timeout(5000)` to any
   `db_url`, so a write that finds another program writing to the file waits up
   to five seconds for it instead of failing. WAL mode comes only from the URL:
   keep `_pragma=journal_mode(WAL)` in one you set

TODO.md

@@ -30,6 +30,14 @@ P2: security: per-origin rate limiting
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-16 a `state_dir` whose name holds `%`, `?` or `#` keeps its database
+  at `state.sqlite3` in that directory (closes #290): the `db_url` derived from
+  it put the name into a `file:` URL as it was, so SQLite read `%41` as `A`, a
+  `?` or `#` ended the path early, and the journal mode parameter was lost. The
+  derived `db_url` is now built with Go's `net/url`, which writes those
+  characters as `%25`, `%3F` and `%23`. For a `state_dir` starting with `//` it
+  starts `file:////`, so SQLite no longer reads the first directory name as a
+  host.
 - 2026-10-15 a thin source requested with `fit=cover` no longer makes libvips
   build a huge image (closes #282): libvips' thumbnail scaled the whole source
   to cover the requested size and copied that into memory before it cut out the

internal/config/config.go

@@ -338,8 +338,7 @@ func newFromSmartConfig(sc *smartconfig.Config) (*Config, error) {
 				settingName(keyDBURL), errValueEmpty)
 		}
 
-		// The driver sets the journal mode only through a _pragma parameter.
-		c.DBURL = fmt.Sprintf("file:%s/state.sqlite3?_pragma=journal_mode(WAL)", c.StateDir)
+		c.DBURL = defaultDBURL(c.StateDir)
 	}
 
 	if loader.err != nil {
@@ -354,6 +353,26 @@ func newFromSmartConfig(sc *smartconfig.Config) (*Config, error) {
 	return c, nil
 }
 
+// defaultDBURL returns the db_url used when db_url is omitted: the file
+// state.sqlite3 in stateDir, in WAL mode, which the driver sets only
+// through a _pragma parameter. String() percent-encodes any %, ? or # in
+// the directory name, which SQLite decodes back, so the URL names exactly
+// this file. OmitHost writes file:/var/lib/pixa/... instead of
+// file:///var/lib/pixa/..., and keeps a relative stateDir from being read
+// as a host name. A stateDir starting with // keeps the empty host, so the
+// URL starts file://// and SQLite does not read the first directory name
+// as a host.
+func defaultDBURL(stateDir string) string {
+	dbURL := url.URL{
+		Scheme:   "file",
+		OmitHost: !strings.HasPrefix(stateDir, "//"),
+		Path:     stateDir + "/state.sqlite3",
+		RawQuery: "_pragma=journal_mode(WAL)",
+	}
+
+	return dbURL.String()
+}
+
 // validateKnownKeys rejects configuration files containing keys the
 // application does not understand, so typos fail at startup instead of
 // being silently ignored, and rejects keys that are explicitly set to

internal/config/config_validation_internal_test.go

@@ -135,6 +135,83 @@ func TestDefaultDBURLOpensTheDatabaseInWALMode(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestDerivedDBURLOpensStateDirHoldingURLCharacters opens the db_url
+// derived from a state_dir whose name holds %41, ? and #, and checks that
+// the database is state.sqlite3 in that directory, in WAL mode. Put into
+// a file: URL as it is, the name would lose its meaning: %41 is read as
+// A, and the path ends at the ?, which also loses the journal mode.
+func TestDerivedDBURLOpensStateDirHoldingURLCharacters(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	stateDir := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "a%41b?c#d")
+
+	err := os.Mkdir(stateDir, 0o750)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to create %q: %v", stateDir, err)
+	}
+
+	// Quoted so YAML takes the whole name as it is.
+	c, err := configFromYAML(t, signingKeyLine+"state_dir: '"+stateDir+"'\n")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("config with state_dir %q should be valid, got: %v", stateDir, err)
+	}
+
+	t.Logf("state_dir %q gives db_url %q", stateDir, c.DBURL)
+
+	checkDBURLOpensFileInWALMode(t, c.DBURL, filepath.Join(stateDir, "state.sqlite3"))
+}
+
+// TestDerivedDBURLOpensStateDirStartingWithTwoSlashes opens the db_url
+// derived from a state_dir that starts with //, and checks that the
+// database is state.sqlite3 in that directory, in WAL mode. Written right
+// after file:, such a name gives a URL starting file://, and SQLite reads
+// the first directory name as a host and refuses to open it.
+func TestDerivedDBURLOpensStateDirStartingWithTwoSlashes(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	stateDir := "/" + dir
+
+	c, err := configFromYAML(t, signingKeyLine+"state_dir: "+stateDir+"\n")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("config with state_dir %q should be valid, got: %v", stateDir, err)
+	}
+
+	t.Logf("state_dir %q gives db_url %q", stateDir, c.DBURL)
+
+	checkDBURLOpensFileInWALMode(t, c.DBURL, filepath.Join(dir, "state.sqlite3"))
+}
+
+// checkDBURLOpensFileInWALMode opens dbURL with the SQLite driver pixad
+// uses, and checks that the database is in WAL mode and is the file
+// dbFile.
+func checkDBURLOpensFileInWALMode(t *testing.T, dbURL, dbFile string) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	db, err := sql.Open("sqlite", dbURL)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to open %q: %v", dbURL, err)
+	}
+
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = db.Close() })
+
+	var journalMode string
+
+	err = db.QueryRowContext(t.Context(), "PRAGMA journal_mode").Scan(&journalMode)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to read the journal mode of %q: %v", dbURL, err)
+	}
+
+	if journalMode != "wal" {
+		t.Errorf("journal mode of %q = %q, want wal", dbURL, journalMode)
+	}
+
+	_, err = os.Stat(dbFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("opening %q did not create %q: %v", dbURL, dbFile, err)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestExplicitValidValuesAreUsed(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()