README.md

@@ -725,11 +725,14 @@ 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
-  `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
+  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` of `/`
+  or one starting with `//` it starts `file:////`, so SQLite does not read the
+  first name in the path 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
 - `cache_max_bytes` — disk cache size limit in bytes; `0` disables the disk
   cache entirely; omitted defaults to 75% of the sum of the free space on the
   filesystem containing `<state_dir>/cache/` and the bytes of source and

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` of `/` or one starting
+  with `//` it starts `file:////`, so SQLite no longer reads the first name in
+  the path as a host.
 - 2026-10-16 a size with one side `0` keeps the side computed from the source's
   proportions at 1 or more (closes #283): it was rounded down, so for a thin
   source it came out at 0, and libvips then made the size square. An 8192x1

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 +353,30 @@ 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. The path written into the URL is stateDir followed by
+// /state.sqlite3; when it starts with //, as it does for a stateDir of /
+// or one starting with //, the empty host is kept, so the URL starts
+// file://// and SQLite does not read the first name in the path as a
+// host.
+func defaultDBURL(stateDir string) string {
+	dbPath := stateDir + "/state.sqlite3"
+
+	dbURL := url.URL{
+		Scheme:   "file",
+		OmitHost: !strings.HasPrefix(dbPath, "//"),
+		Path:     dbPath,
+		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 +135,104 @@ 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"))
+}
+
+// TestDerivedDBURLForRootStateDir checks the db_url derived from a
+// state_dir of /. The path written into the URL is then
+// //state.sqlite3, and written right after file: it gives a URL starting
+// file://, where SQLite reads state.sqlite3 as a host and refuses to open
+// it. The test only checks the URL, since it cannot write to /.
+func TestDerivedDBURLForRootStateDir(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	c, err := configFromYAML(t, signingKeyLine+"state_dir: /\n")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("config with state_dir / should be valid, got: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	t.Logf("state_dir / gives db_url %q", c.DBURL)
+
+	wantDBURL := "file:////state.sqlite3?_pragma=journal_mode(WAL)"
+	if c.DBURL != wantDBURL {
+		t.Errorf("DBURL = %q, want %q", c.DBURL, wantDBURL)
+	}
+}
+
+// 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()