README.md

@@ -252,6 +252,10 @@ less than ten times as long after the last look ended as that look took. After a
 look that took one minute, the next one starts 10 to 15 minutes after that look
 ended.
 
+Each look also drops the rows of variants whose files are missing. When pixa
+cannot read a variant file's size for another reason, it keeps the variant's
+row. It logs a warning naming the variant key and the error.
+
 pixa's target is 1-5k r/s, which has not been measured at that rate (see Load
 Test). Toward it, a cache hit opens the variant's file and nothing else, and
 makes no database call. The content type comes from the file's first bytes,

TODO.md

@@ -30,6 +30,13 @@ P2: security: per-origin rate limiting
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-26 the reconciliation pass drops a variant's accounting row only when
+  its file is missing (closes #340). Any other error reading the file's size
+  keeps the row. It dropped the row on any error and logged the file as missing.
+    - The kept row gets the warning "kept accounting row for unreadable variant
+      file", with the variant key and the error.
+    - The pass checks for `ErrNotFound`, which `FileStore.Size` returns for a
+      missing file.
 - 2026-10-26 on both image routes, a request is answered 499 and logged at info
   level when its client goes away before its image is ready, unless it is the
   request making the image (closes #339). It was answered 500 and logged at

internal/imgcache/eviction.go

@@ -613,7 +613,9 @@ func (c *Cache) adoptVariantFile(
 }
 
 // reconcileVariantRows drops accounting rows whose variant files are
-// missing, so the database never references deleted content.
+// missing, so the database never references deleted content. A file whose
+// size cannot be read for another reason may still be on disk, so its row
+// stays, with a warning naming its key and the error.
 func (c *Cache) reconcileVariantRows(ctx context.Context) error {
 	var after imagerequest.VariantKey
 
@@ -641,6 +643,13 @@ func (c *Cache) reconcileVariantRows(ctx context.Context) error {
 				continue
 			}
 
+			if !errors.Is(err, ErrNotFound) {
+				c.log.Warn("kept accounting row for unreadable variant file",
+					"cache_key", key, "error", err)
+
+				continue
+			}
+
 			_, err = c.db.ExecContext(ctx,
 				`DELETE FROM variant_content WHERE cache_key = ?`, string(key))
 			if err != nil {