quak collections reads the collection list alone (closes #210)

On an empty cache the read commands opened their library with a refresh that fetched and decrypted the files of every collection in turn, printing nothing and storing nothing until it had them all, so `quak collections` seemed to hang on a large account. The new `lib.freshCollections()` is the fresh read of the collection list alone: one request, and nothing stored, so a later refresh still fetches every collection's files. The read commands open their library with the new `refreshOnOpen: false` and make only the refresh they ask for. A refresh sends a "progress" event after each collection whose files it fetched; the commands that wait on one print it on stderr, except with `--json`.

Model: opus-5-5

README.md

@@ -661,7 +661,15 @@ library. The read commands — `collections`, `files`, `get`, `get-thumb`,
 `backup-metadata`, `helper list-missing-thumbnails` and
 `helper fix-missing-thumbnails` — force a fresh server round-trip before they
 answer, so they report current account state rather than whatever the cache last
-held. If that round-trip fails, the command prints the error on one line and
+held. `collections` asks the server for the collection list alone, in one
+request, and neither fetches any collection's files nor changes the cache. The
+others wait for a refresh. With an empty cache, as on a first run, that refresh
+fetches the files of every collection, one collection after another, and stores
+nothing until it has them all, which on a large account takes a while. Meanwhile
+the command prints a line on stderr for each collection whose files it has
+fetched, such as `Fetched the files of 3 of 120 collections`; with `--json`,
+`files` and the two helpers print no such line. stdout holds only the command's
+output. If that round-trip fails, the command prints the error on one line and
 exits 1, or 3 when the server no longer accepts the saved session (see "Session
 handling"). An album or file quak cannot decrypt does not fail it; the command
 answers from what did decrypt (see "Default reads vs. fresh reads").
@@ -961,7 +969,11 @@ loop, and resolves to a `Library`. On an empty cache it awaits the first
 refresh, so it opens onto the account's data whenever the server is reachable;
 if that refresh fails, it opens with no data and records the error in
 `lib.status()`. On an existing cache it returns immediately and refreshes in the
-background, so an unreachable server does not block opening.
+background, so an unreachable server does not block opening. With
+`refreshOnOpen: false` it starts no refresh and returns at once onto what the
+cache holds, empty or not; a refresh then starts only when `fresh()` or
+`lib.backup()` asks, or the background timer fires. The CLI's read commands open
+it so (see "CLI surface").
 
 `LibraryOptions`:
 
@@ -971,6 +983,7 @@ background, so an unreachable server does not block opening.
 | `cacheDirectory`         | `quak/<userID>` under the per-user cache directory | where `metadata.json` and the content cache live                     |
 | `downloadDirectory`      | `photos` in the working directory                  | root of the save paths; an original stored there counts as cached    |
 | `refreshIntervalSeconds` | `3`                                                | background refresh cadence; `Infinity` for no background timer       |
+| `refreshOnOpen`          | `true`                                             | start a refresh as the library opens                                 |
 | `precacheThumbnails`     | `true`                                             | prefetch every thumbnail, newest first                               |
 | `precacheOriginals`      | `true`                                             | prefetch the favorites album and the latest-window originals         |
 | `precacheOriginalsDays`  | `7`                                                | length in days of that latest window                                 |
@@ -984,6 +997,14 @@ background, so an unreachable server does not block opening.
 The default `downloadDirectory` is resolved against the working directory once,
 when the library opens; `lib.downloadDirectory` holds the result.
 
+`onProgress` receives a `RefreshEvent` with status `"started"` as a refresh, an
+ML data fetch or a precache sweep starts, and `"done"` or `"failed"` as it ends.
+In between, a refresh sends `"progress"` after each collection whose files it
+fetched, with `fetched`, how many collections it has fetched the files of so
+far, and `total`, how many it will. A refresh fetches the files of each
+collection that is new or changed since the cache's copy, so on an empty cache
+it fetches those of every collection.
+
 Concurrency is set through `pools`: construct
 `new RequestPools({ metadataConcurrency, contentConcurrency, thumbnailConcurrency })`
 and pass it. The three pools default to 10 / 5 / 25 (see Request pools below).
@@ -1023,6 +1044,15 @@ rejects the caller (default reads stay silent and keep serving the last good
 copy). The CLI's read commands use fresh reads (issue
 https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/quak/issues/75).
 
+`await lib.freshCollections()` is the fresh read of the collection list alone:
+one collections request, answered with every live collection that decrypts, as
+the `Collection` objects `listCollections()` returns, in the server's order. It
+fetches no collection's files and stores nothing, not even the list: a refresh
+fetches a collection's files only when the collection is new or has changed
+since the stored copy, so a collection stored without its files would never get
+them. `quak collections` uses it (issue
+https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/quak/issues/210).
+
 An album or file in the server's answer that quak cannot decrypt, or whose
 metadata is not JSON, does not fail the refresh. The refresh leaves it out, an
 album with all its files, and drops any older copy the cache held, so reads

TODO.md

@@ -26,6 +26,17 @@ declares one.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-18: `quak collections` no longer waits for the files of every
+  collection (issue 210). On an empty cache it opened its library with a refresh
+  that fetched and decrypted the files of each collection in turn, printing
+  nothing and storing nothing until all were done, so on a large account it
+  seemed to hang. It now reads the collection list alone through the new
+  `lib.freshCollections()`, one request that stores nothing. The read commands
+  open their library with the new `refreshOnOpen: false`, so each makes only the
+  refresh it asks for. A refresh sends a `"progress"` event after each
+  collection whose files it fetched, and the commands that wait on one print it
+  on stderr, except with `--json`.
+
 - 2026-10-16: ML data the server sends that does not decrypt, gunzip or parse is
   no longer taken for no ML data (issue 198). `fetchMLDataBatch` returns why for
   each such file beside the payloads; ML data that parses to something other

src/cli-commands.ts

@@ -125,15 +125,29 @@ const readLibraryClient = (client: Client): LibraryClient => ({
 
 // Open a library for a single point command: the aggressive background precache
 // (issue #48) is off — a one-shot `collections` or `get` must not start
-// downloading the whole account — and the refresh interval is long so no second
-// refresh fires mid-command.
-const openReadLibrary = (ctx: CliContext, client: Client): Promise<Library> =>
+// downloading the whole account — and no refresh starts as it opens or on a
+// timer: each command asks for the one it needs, and `collections` needs none
+// (issue #210). While a refresh runs, each collection whose files it has
+// fetched is counted on stderr, unless `json` is set, so a large account shows
+// progress rather than nothing.
+const openReadLibrary = (
+    ctx: CliContext,
+    client: Client,
+    opts: { json?: boolean } = {},
+): Promise<Library> =>
     Library.open({
         client: readLibraryClient(client),
         cacheDirectory: ctx.cacheDir,
-        refreshIntervalSeconds: 3600,
+        refreshOnOpen: false,
+        refreshIntervalSeconds: Infinity,
         precacheThumbnails: false,
         precacheOriginals: false,
+        onProgress: (event) => {
+            if (opts.json || event.status !== "progress") return;
+            ctx.stderr.write(
+                `Fetched the files of ${event.fetched} of ${event.total} collections\n`,
+            );
+        },
     });
 
 export const loginCommand = async (ctx: CliContext): Promise<number> => {
@@ -221,9 +235,10 @@ export const collectionsCommand = async (
     if (!client) return 3;
     const lib = await openReadLibrary(ctx, client);
     try {
-        // Force a server round-trip and list in enumeration order (issue #36
-        // amendment, issue #52): the pre-library CLI printed current state in
-        // this order, not the albums projection's newest-first order.
+        // Ask the server for the collection list alone and list it in its
+        // order (issue #36 amendment, issues #52 and #210): the pre-library
+        // CLI printed current state in this order, not the albums
+        // projection's newest-first order.
         const collections = await freshCollections(lib);
 
         if (opts.json) {
@@ -264,7 +279,7 @@ export const filesCommand = async (
     const collectionID = parseID(ctx, "collection", opts.collection);
     if (collectionID === undefined) return 1;
 
-    const lib = await openReadLibrary(ctx, client);
+    const lib = await openReadLibrary(ctx, client, opts);
     try {
         // Force a server round-trip and list in enumeration order (issue #36
         // amendment, issue #52). Each file prints from its own decrypted
@@ -490,7 +505,7 @@ export const listMissingThumbnailsCommand = async (
     await init();
     const client = requireSession(ctx);
     if (!client) return 3;
-    const lib = await openReadLibrary(ctx, client);
+    const lib = await openReadLibrary(ctx, client, opts);
     try {
         // Refresh first so files added since the cache was written are
         // checked; a failed refresh throws.
@@ -535,7 +550,7 @@ export const fixMissingThumbnailsCommand = async (
         if (fileID === undefined) return 1;
         fileIDs.push(fileID);
     }
-    const lib = await openReadLibrary(ctx, client);
+    const lib = await openReadLibrary(ctx, client, opts);
     try {
         // Refresh first so files added since the cache was written are found;
         // a failed refresh throws.

src/cli-read.ts

@@ -2,12 +2,16 @@
 //
 // `collections`, `files --collection`, `get`, and `get-thumb` must answer for
 // the account's state at the moment the command runs, not for whatever the
-// local cache last happened to hold (owner amendment, issue #36). Each helper
-// therefore forces a server round-trip through `Library.fresh()` and only then
-// reads — so a collection, file, or metadata change made elsewhere is visible.
+// local cache last happened to hold (owner amendment, issue #36). `files`,
+// `get` and `get-thumb` therefore force a server round-trip through
+// `Library.fresh()` and only then read — so a collection, file, or metadata
+// change made elsewhere is visible. `collections` asks the library for the
+// collection list alone through `Library.freshCollections()` (issue #210): a
+// refresh would also fetch the files of every collection, which on a large
+// account takes long and which `collections` does not print.
 //
-// `collections` and `files` also list in the library's own enumeration order —
-// `listCollections()`/`listFiles()`, the order the pre-library CLI printed —
+// `collections` lists in the server's order and `files` in the library's own
+// enumeration order (`listFiles()`), the orders the pre-library CLI printed,
 // rather than the `albums`/`photos` projection's newest-first order, which
 // re-sorts the rows. The field values still come from each record's raw
 // metadata via `cli-output.ts`.
@@ -17,23 +21,22 @@ import type { Photo, PhotosAPI } from "./library/index.js";
 
 // The slice of `Library` these helpers read. `Library` satisfies it
 // structurally; a test can drive them with a stand-in that records the
-// `fresh()` call and serves records in a known enumeration order.
+// `fresh()` and `freshCollections()` calls and serves records in a known
+// enumeration order.
 export interface FreshReadLibrary {
     fresh(): Promise<unknown>;
-    listCollections(): Collection[];
+    freshCollections(): Promise<Collection[]>;
     getCollection(id: number): Collection | undefined;
     listFiles(collectionID: number): EnteFile[];
     getFileByID(fileID: number): EnteFile | undefined;
     photos: Pick<PhotosAPI, "byID">;
 }
 
-// Every live collection, current as of a forced refresh, in enumeration order.
-export const freshCollections = async (
+// Every live collection, current as of one collections request, in the
+// server's order.
+export const freshCollections = (
     lib: FreshReadLibrary,
-): Promise<Collection[]> => {
-    await lib.fresh();
-    return lib.listCollections();
-};
+): Promise<Collection[]> => lib.freshCollections();
 
 // The files of one collection, current as of a forced refresh, in enumeration
 // order. `undefined` (not an empty list) when the collection does not exist, so

src/library/index.ts

@@ -18,6 +18,16 @@
 // the caller (the default reads stay silent and serve the last good copy). The
 // default methods and the background loop are unchanged.
 //
+// `freshCollections()` is the fresh read of the collection list alone (issue
+// #210): one collections request, no collection's files, and nothing stored,
+// for a caller such as `quak collections` that needs no more. A caller that
+// asks for each refresh it needs can also open the library with
+// `refreshOnOpen: false`, so that `open()` starts none.
+//
+// A refresh reports through `onProgress` each collection whose files it has
+// fetched, so a large account, whose first refresh fetches the files of every
+// collection, shows progress.
+//
 // A refresh stages all of its network work first and only mutates the store
 // once every fetch has succeeded. A refresh that fails partway therefore never
 // becomes visible to reads: the last good snapshot stays in place, and the
@@ -161,18 +171,21 @@ export interface LibraryClient {
 // exactly one of "done" or "failed"; "failed" carries the error message and
 // an ML "done" reports how many payloads it stored and, in `mlDataErrors`,
 // each file whose ML data did not decrypt, gunzip or parse, with the reason.
-// The precache fills ("precacheThumbnails"/"precacheOriginals", #48) fire
-// "started"/"done" around each sweep that has work, "done" reporting the count
-// newly cached.
+// In between, a refresh fires "progress" after each collection whose files it
+// fetched: `fetched` is how many collections it has fetched the files of so
+// far, `total` how many it will. The precache fills
+// ("precacheThumbnails"/"precacheOriginals", #48) fire "started"/"done" around
+// each sweep that has work, "done" reporting the count newly cached.
 export interface RefreshEvent {
     operation:
         | "refresh"
         | "fetchMLData"
         | "precacheThumbnails"
         | "precacheOriginals";
-    status: "started" | "done" | "failed";
+    status: "started" | "progress" | "done" | "failed";
     error?: string;
     fetched?: number;
+    total?: number;
     mlDataErrors?: { fileID: number; error: string }[];
 }
 
@@ -192,6 +205,10 @@ export interface LibraryOptions {
     // `Infinity` starts none: the library then refreshes only as it opens and
     // when `fresh()` or `backup()` asks.
     refreshIntervalSeconds?: number;
+    // Whether `open()` starts a refresh. Defaults to true. With false, `open()`
+    // returns at once onto what the cache holds, empty or not, and a refresh
+    // starts only when `fresh()` or `backup()` asks or the timer fires.
+    refreshOnOpen?: boolean;
     onProgress?: RefreshProgressCallback;
     // The bounded request pools (issue #45), shared by the ML-data fetch (the
     // metadata pool) and the content cache. Defaults to a fresh set at the
@@ -382,7 +399,8 @@ export class Library {
     // then opens empty with the failure recorded in `status()`. With an
     // existing cache the first refresh runs in the background and `open()`
     // returns as soon as the cached data is ready — an unreachable server does
-    // not block opening.
+    // not block opening. With `refreshOnOpen: false` there is no first
+    // refresh: `open()` returns onto the cache as it is.
     static async open(opts: LibraryOptions): Promise<Library> {
         const { userID } = opts.client.whoami();
         const cacheDirectory =
@@ -485,7 +503,10 @@ export class Library {
         // refresh.
         precache?.start();
 
-        if (store.loadedFromDisk) {
+        if (opts.refreshOnOpen === false) {
+            // The caller asks for each refresh it needs.
+            lib.scheduleNext();
+        } else if (store.loadedFromDisk) {
             // An existing copy already answers reads; refresh in the background
             // and start the interval once that first cycle settles.
             void lib.runRefresh().then(() => lib.scheduleNext());
@@ -589,6 +610,21 @@ export class Library {
         };
     }
 
+    // The fresh read of the collection list alone (issue #210): every live
+    // collection that decrypts, in the server's order, from one collections
+    // request. Unlike a refresh, it fetches no collection's files, which on a
+    // large account take long. Nothing is stored: a refresh fetches a
+    // collection's files only when the collection is new or has changed since
+    // the stored copy, so a collection stored here without its files would
+    // never have them fetched.
+    async freshCollections(): Promise<Collection[]> {
+        if (this.closed) throw new Error("the library is closed");
+        const { collections } = await this.client.collectionsSince({
+            sinceTime: 0,
+        });
+        return collections;
+    }
+
     // Back up every in-scope file to `opts.downloadDirectory`, or else the
     // library's, each original at its save path, with a durable failure
     // ledger (issue #51). Takes the lock in that directory first, unless the
@@ -742,18 +778,28 @@ export class Library {
         // Stage per-collection file diffs. A collection's files are
         // re-enumerated only when its updationTime has advanced past the cached
         // copy; an unchanged album's file list cannot have changed. New
-        // collections enumerate from the beginning of time.
+        // collections enumerate from the beginning of time. Each collection
+        // whose files are fetched is reported, with how many there are to
+        // fetch.
+        const changedCollections = page.collections.filter((collection) => {
+            const known = this.store.getCollection(collection.id);
+            return !known || collection.updationTime > known.updationTime;
+        });
         const filePages: { collectionID: number; page: FilesPage }[] = [];
-        for (const collection of page.collections) {
+        for (const collection of changedCollections) {
             const known = this.store.getCollection(collection.id);
-            if (known && collection.updationTime <= known.updationTime)
-                continue;
             const filePage = await this.client.filesSince({
                 collectionID: collection.id,
                 collectionKey: collection.key,
                 sinceTime: known ? known.updationTime : 0,
             });
             filePages.push({ collectionID: collection.id, page: filePage });
+            this.emit({
+                operation: "refresh",
+                status: "progress",
+                fetched: filePages.length,
+                total: changedCollections.length,
+            });
         }
 
         // Network work done; commit to the store and persist only if something

test/cli/commands.test.ts

@@ -53,11 +53,21 @@ import {
 } from "../../src/cli-commands.js";
 import { run } from "../../src/cli-run.js";
 import { loadSession } from "../../src/cli-session.js";
-import type { Client, ClientSnapshot, LoginOptions } from "../../src/client.js";
+import {
+    Client,
+    type ClientSnapshot,
+    type LoginOptions,
+} from "../../src/client.js";
 import { savePath, type ContentSource } from "../../src/library/content.js";
 import type { Collection, EnteFile } from "../../src/model/types.js";
 import { encryptBlob, init, toBase64 } from "../../src/crypto/index.js";
 import { defaultCacheDirectory } from "../../src/library/index.js";
+import {
+    buildAccount,
+    buildMetaFetch,
+    encryptSecretbox,
+    encryptStreamBlob,
+} from "../ente-server.js";
 import { HEIC_WITH_EXIF } from "../exif-heic.js";
 import {
     asLivePhoto,
@@ -171,6 +181,12 @@ const fakeClient = (
     return fake as unknown as Client;
 };
 
+// What a read command prints on stderr while the refresh it waits for fetches
+// the files of each of the fake's two albums, on an empty cache.
+const FETCHED_BOTH_ALBUMS =
+    "Fetched the files of 1 of 2 collections\n" +
+    "Fetched the files of 2 of 2 collections\n";
+
 // Collects everything written to it.
 class Output {
     text = "";
@@ -510,7 +526,9 @@ describe("files", () => {
 
     it("exits 1 for an unknown collection", async () => {
         expect(await filesCommand(context(), { collection: "9" })).toBe(1);
-        expect(stderr.text).toBe("Collection 9 not found\n");
+        expect(stderr.text).toBe(
+            FETCHED_BOTH_ALBUMS + "Collection 9 not found\n",
+        );
     });
 });
 
@@ -519,27 +537,27 @@ describe("get and get-thumb", () => {
         const out = join(root, "diagram.png");
         expect(await getCommand(context(), "200", { out })).toBe(0);
         expect(readFileSync(out)).toEqual(Buffer.alloc(7, 200));
-        expect(stderr.text).toBe(`7 bytes -> ${out}\n`);
+        expect(stderr.text).toBe(FETCHED_BOTH_ALBUMS + `7 bytes -> ${out}\n`);
     });
 
     it("get-thumb finds a file in any album without --collection", async () => {
         const out = join(root, "thumb.jpg");
         expect(await getThumbCommand(context(), "200", { out })).toBe(0);
         expect(readFileSync(out)).toEqual(Buffer.alloc(3, 200));
-        expect(stderr.text).toBe(`3 bytes -> ${out}\n`);
+        expect(stderr.text).toBe(FETCHED_BOTH_ALBUMS + `3 bytes -> ${out}\n`);
     });
 
     it("get exits 1 when no album has the file", async () => {
         const out = join(root, "x");
         expect(await getCommand(context(), "999", { out })).toBe(1);
-        expect(stderr.text).toBe("File 999 not found\n");
+        expect(stderr.text).toBe(FETCHED_BOTH_ALBUMS + "File 999 not found\n");
         expect(existsSync(out)).toBe(false);
     });
 
     it("get-thumb exits 1 when no album has the file", async () => {
         const out = join(root, "x");
         expect(await getThumbCommand(context(), "999", { out })).toBe(1);
-        expect(stderr.text).toBe("File 999 not found\n");
+        expect(stderr.text).toBe(FETCHED_BOTH_ALBUMS + "File 999 not found\n");
         expect(existsSync(out)).toBe(false);
     });
 });
@@ -549,6 +567,9 @@ describe("get and get-thumb", () => {
 // one live photo, 300, downloaded through the real download layer
 // (test/live-photo.ts).
 describe("a live photo", () => {
+    // What `get` prints on stderr while its refresh fetches Vacation's files.
+    const FETCHED_ONE_ALBUM = "Fetched the files of 1 of 1 collections\n";
+
     const livePhotoClient = async (image = IMAGE): Promise<Client> => {
         const { file: live, body } = await asLivePhoto(
             file(300, 1, "IMG_0300.HEIC"),
@@ -593,7 +614,8 @@ describe("a live photo", () => {
             Buffer.from(VIDEO),
         );
         expect(stderr.text).toBe(
-            `${IMAGE.length} bytes -> IMG_0300.heic\n` +
+            FETCHED_ONE_ALBUM +
+                `${IMAGE.length} bytes -> IMG_0300.heic\n` +
                 `${VIDEO.length} bytes -> IMG_0300.mov\n`,
         );
     });
@@ -609,7 +631,8 @@ describe("a live photo", () => {
         expect(readFileSync(out)).toEqual(Buffer.from(IMAGE));
         expect(readFileSync(video)).toEqual(Buffer.from(VIDEO));
         expect(stderr.text).toBe(
-            `${IMAGE.length} bytes -> ${out}\n${VIDEO.length} bytes -> ${video}\n`,
+            FETCHED_ONE_ALBUM +
+                `${IMAGE.length} bytes -> ${out}\n${VIDEO.length} bytes -> ${video}\n`,
         );
     });
 
@@ -623,7 +646,8 @@ describe("a live photo", () => {
         expect(existsSync(out)).toBe(false);
         expect(existsSync(join(root, "photo.mov"))).toBe(false);
         expect(stderr.text).toBe(
-            `File 300 is a live photo, and its video would also be written to ${out}\n`,
+            FETCHED_ONE_ALBUM +
+                `File 300 is a live photo, and its video would also be written to ${out}\n`,
         );
     });
 
@@ -1103,11 +1127,12 @@ describe("backup-metadata --exif", () => {
     });
 });
 
-// Each test first runs `collections` so the cache holds the account as it was,
-// then changes the server under it.
+// Each test first runs `files` so the cache holds the account as it was, then
+// changes the server under it. (`collections` would not do: it reads the
+// collection list alone and stores nothing.)
 describe("backup-metadata and the thumbnail helpers refresh first", () => {
     beforeEach(async () => {
-        expect(await collectionsCommand(context(), {})).toBe(0);
+        expect(await filesCommand(context(), { collection: "1" })).toBe(0);
         stdout.text = "";
         stderr.text = "";
     });
@@ -1292,3 +1317,169 @@ describe("an ID given on the command line", () => {
         },
     );
 });
+
+// An account with many albums (issue #210). On an empty cache `collections`
+// used to wait for a refresh that fetched and decrypted the files of every
+// album, one album after another, before it printed anything, so on such an
+// account it seemed to hang. The account here has 40 albums of one photo each,
+// encrypted as Ente's clients encrypt them, on the fake Ente server of
+// `test/ente-server.ts`, which also records the path of each request quak
+// sends. The session is the one logging in to that server saves.
+describe("an account with many albums", () => {
+    const ALBUMS = 40;
+    const PASSWORD = "many-albums";
+    const paths: string[] = [];
+    let server: typeof globalThis.fetch;
+    let snapshot: ClientSnapshot;
+
+    // Album n is named `Album n` and holds one photo, n * 100, titled
+    // `photo-n.jpg`.
+    beforeAll(async () => {
+        await sodium.ready;
+        const account = await buildAccount(PASSWORD);
+        const collections: Record<string, unknown>[] = [];
+        const filesByCollection: Record<number, Record<string, unknown>[]> = {};
+        for (let id = 1; id <= ALBUMS; id++) {
+            const albumKey = sodium.crypto_secretbox_keygen();
+            const albumKeyBox = encryptSecretbox(albumKey, account.masterKey);
+            const name = encryptSecretbox(
+                new TextEncoder().encode(`Album ${id}`),
+                albumKey,
+            );
+            collections.push({
+                id,
+                owner: { id: USER_ID },
+                encryptedKey: toBase64(albumKeyBox.ciphertext),
+                keyDecryptionNonce: toBase64(albumKeyBox.nonce),
+                encryptedName: toBase64(name.ciphertext),
+                nameDecryptionNonce: toBase64(name.nonce),
+                type: "album",
+                updationTime: 1,
+            });
+            const photoKey =
+                sodium.crypto_secretstream_xchacha20poly1305_keygen();
+            const photoKeyBox = encryptSecretbox(photoKey, albumKey);
+            const metadata = encryptStreamBlob(
+                new TextEncoder().encode(
+                    JSON.stringify({
+                        title: `photo-${id}.jpg`,
+                        fileType: 0,
+                        creationTime: 1000,
+                        modificationTime: 1000,
+                    }),
+                ),
+                photoKey,
+            );
+            filesByCollection[id] = [
+                {
+                    id: id * 100,
+                    collectionID: id,
+                    ownerID: USER_ID,
+                    encryptedKey: toBase64(photoKeyBox.ciphertext),
+                    keyDecryptionNonce: toBase64(photoKeyBox.nonce),
+                    metadata: {
+                        encryptedData: toBase64(metadata.ciphertext),
+                        decryptionHeader: toBase64(metadata.header),
+                    },
+                    // These tests fetch no original and no thumbnail.
+                    file: { decryptionHeader: "" },
+                    thumbnail: { decryptionHeader: "" },
+                    updationTime: 1,
+                },
+            ];
+        }
+        const ente = buildMetaFetch({
+            verifier: account.verifier,
+            srpAttributes: account.srpAttributes,
+            keyAttributes: account.keyAttributes,
+            encryptedToken: account.encryptedToken,
+            collections,
+            filesByCollection,
+            encryptedMLData: {},
+            fileCiphertexts: {},
+        });
+        server = (async (input: RequestInfo | URL, init?: RequestInit) => {
+            const url =
+                typeof input === "string"
+                    ? input
+                    : input instanceof URL
+                      ? input.href
+                      : input.url;
+            paths.push(new URL(url).pathname);
+            return ente(input, init);
+        }) as typeof globalThis.fetch;
+        const client = await Client.login({
+            email: "many@example.com",
+            password: PASSWORD,
+            apiOptions: { fetch: server },
+        });
+        snapshot = client.toJSON();
+    });
+
+    beforeEach(() => {
+        paths.length = 0;
+    });
+
+    // A context whose saved session sends its requests to the fake server.
+    const accountContext = (): CliContext => {
+        const ctx = context();
+        saveSession(ctx.sessionDir, snapshot);
+        return {
+            ...ctx,
+            loadSession: (path) => loadSession(path, { fetch: server }),
+        };
+    };
+
+    it("collections lists every album from one request, fetching no album's files", async () => {
+        const ctx = accountContext();
+        expect(await collectionsCommand(ctx, {})).toBe(0);
+
+        let albums = "";
+        for (let id = 1; id <= ALBUMS; id++)
+            albums += `${id}\talbum\tAlbum ${id}\n`;
+        expect(stdout.text).toBe(albums);
+        expect(stderr.text).toBe("");
+        expect(paths).toEqual(["/collections/v2"]);
+
+        // It stored nothing that would make a refresh skip an album's files:
+        // `files` after it still finds the album's photo.
+        stdout.text = "";
+        expect(await filesCommand(ctx, { collection: "7" })).toBe(0);
+        expect(stdout.text).toBe("700\timage\tphoto-7.jpg\n");
+    });
+
+    it("files counts on stderr each album whose files its refresh fetched", async () => {
+        expect(await filesCommand(accountContext(), { collection: "7" })).toBe(
+            0,
+        );
+
+        expect(stdout.text).toBe("700\timage\tphoto-7.jpg\n");
+        let progress = "";
+        for (let n = 1; n <= ALBUMS; n++) {
+            progress += `Fetched the files of ${n} of ${ALBUMS} collections\n`;
+        }
+        expect(stderr.text).toBe(progress);
+    });
+
+    // With `--json` the refresh's progress is not printed, as `backup` and
+    // the thumbnail helpers print none of theirs.
+    it("files --json prints no progress", async () => {
+        expect(
+            await filesCommand(accountContext(), {
+                collection: "7",
+                json: true,
+            }),
+        ).toBe(0);
+
+        expect(JSON.parse(stdout.text)).toEqual([
+            {
+                id: 700,
+                title: "photo-7.jpg",
+                fileType: "image",
+                creationTime: 1000,
+                collectionID: 7,
+            },
+        ]);
+        expect(stderr.text).toBe("");
+    });
+});

test/cli/read.test.ts

@@ -3,10 +3,13 @@
  * issue #36, issue #52).
  *
  * The `collections`, `files`, `get`, and `get-thumb` commands must answer for
- * current server state, not the local cache, so each helper forces a
- * `Library.fresh()` round-trip before it reads. The stand-in library below
- * serves nothing until `fresh()` has been awaited, so a helper that read
- * without refreshing would come back empty and fail here.
+ * current server state, not the local cache. `files`, `get` and `get-thumb`
+ * force a `Library.fresh()` round-trip before they read; the stand-in library
+ * below serves nothing until `fresh()` has been awaited, so a helper that read
+ * without refreshing would come back empty and fail here. `collections` asks
+ * the library for the collection list alone (`freshCollections()`, issue
+ * #210), and must not wait for a refresh, which would fetch the files of every
+ * collection.
  *
  * `collections` and `files` also list in the library's enumeration order
  * (`listCollections`/`listFiles`) — the order the pre-library CLI printed — not
@@ -60,10 +63,13 @@ const file = (
 });
 
 // A library that reveals its records only after `fresh()` has been awaited, and
-// serves them in the enumeration order it was given. `photos.byID` returns a
-// stand-in `Photo` carrying just the fileID the helper passes through.
+// serves them in the enumeration order it was given. `freshCollections()`
+// answers the collection list in that order without a refresh. `photos.byID`
+// returns a stand-in `Photo` carrying just the fileID the helper passes
+// through.
 class FakeLibrary implements FreshReadLibrary {
     freshCalls = 0;
+    freshCollectionsCalls = 0;
     private refreshed = false;
 
     constructor(
@@ -77,12 +83,14 @@ class FakeLibrary implements FreshReadLibrary {
         return {};
     }
 
-    listCollections(): Collection[] {
-        return this.refreshed ? this.collections : [];
+    async freshCollections(): Promise<Collection[]> {
+        this.freshCollectionsCalls++;
+        return this.collections;
     }
 
     getCollection(id: number): Collection | undefined {
-        return this.listCollections().find((c) => c.id === id);
+        if (!this.refreshed) return undefined;
+        return this.collections.find((c) => c.id === id);
     }
 
     listFiles(collectionID: number): EnteFile[] {
@@ -106,7 +114,7 @@ class FakeLibrary implements FreshReadLibrary {
 }
 
 describe("CLI read helpers (issue #36 amendment, issue #52)", () => {
-    it("freshCollections refreshes first, then lists in enumeration order", async () => {
+    it("freshCollections reads the collection list alone, in enumeration order", async () => {
         // Enumeration order 2, 1, 3; a newest-first sort would be 3, 2, 1.
         const lib = new FakeLibrary(
             [collection(2, 200), collection(1, 300), collection(3, 100)],
@@ -114,7 +122,8 @@ describe("CLI read helpers (issue #36 amendment, issue #52)", () => {
         );
         const rows = await freshCollections(lib);
 
-        expect(lib.freshCalls).toBe(1);
+        expect(lib.freshCollectionsCalls).toBe(1);
+        expect(lib.freshCalls).toBe(0);
         expect(rows.map((c) => c.id)).toEqual([2, 1, 3]);
         // The projection's newest-first order is a different sequence, so this
         // is not accidentally that order.

test/library/fresh.test.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@
  *     three.
  *  3. A refresh that fails rejects the fresh read (currency was unavailable),
  *     while the default reads stay silent and keep serving the last good copy.
+ *  4. `freshCollections()` reads the collection list alone, with one request
+ *     and no collection's files, and stores nothing, so the next refresh still
+ *     fetches the files of every collection (issue #210).
  *
  * The client is the same metadata-only mock the background-refresh tests use:
  * no crypto, no network, scripted pages, and a record of each call. A long
@@ -270,3 +273,70 @@ describe("Library.fresh", () => {
         }
     });
 });
+
+describe("Library.freshCollections", () => {
+    let dir: string;
+    let cacheDirectory: string;
+
+    beforeEach(() => {
+        dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "quak-fresh-collections-"));
+        cacheDirectory = join(dir, "cache");
+    });
+
+    afterEach(() => {
+        rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    });
+
+    // A refresh fetches a collection's files only when the collection is new
+    // or its updationTime has advanced past the stored copy's. Had the
+    // collection list been stored, the next refresh would take every
+    // collection for one it already holds the files of, and fetch none.
+    it("asks for the collection list alone and stores nothing", async () => {
+        const client = new MockClient();
+        const page = {
+            collections: [collection(2, 100), collection(1, 110)],
+            deleted: [],
+            cursor: 110,
+        };
+        client.collectionsQueue.push(page, page);
+        client.filesFor(1, {
+            files: [file(1001, 1, 90)],
+            deleted: [],
+            cursor: 90,
+        });
+        client.filesFor(2, {
+            files: [file(2001, 2, 95)],
+            deleted: [],
+            cursor: 95,
+        });
+
+        const lib = await Library.open({
+            client,
+            cacheDirectory,
+            refreshOnOpen: false,
+            refreshIntervalSeconds: SLOW_INTERVAL,
+        });
+        try {
+            // One request, the whole list in the server's order, and no
+            // collection's files.
+            const collections = await lib.freshCollections();
+            expect(collections.map((c) => c.id)).toEqual([2, 1]);
+            expect(collections.map((c) => c.name)).toEqual([
+                "album-2",
+                "album-1",
+            ]);
+            expect(client.collectionsSinceTimes).toEqual([0]);
+            expect(client.filesCalls).toEqual([]);
+            expect(lib.listCollections()).toEqual([]);
+
+            // The next refresh still asks from the beginning and fetches the
+            // files of both collections.
+            const reads = await lib.fresh();
+            expect(client.collectionsSinceTimes).toEqual([0, 0]);
+            expect(reads.photos.byID({ fileID: 1001 })?.fileID).toBe(1001);
+            expect(reads.photos.byID({ fileID: 2001 })?.fileID).toBe(2001);
+        } finally {
+            await lib.close();
+        }
+    });
+});

test/library/library.test.ts

@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@
  *    opening.
  * 8. A save failure that leaves RAM ahead of disk keeps `status().lastError`
  *    set and keeps retrying the write; a later empty refresh does not clear it.
+ * 9. With `refreshOnOpen: false`, `open()` starts no refresh at all, and a
+ *    refresh reports through `onProgress` each collection whose files it
+ *    fetched.
  *
  * The client is a mock: no crypto, no network. It serves scripted pages and
  * records the `sinceTime` each call carried so cursor threading is provable.
@@ -581,6 +584,107 @@ describe("Library.open and background refresh", () => {
         }
     });
 
+    // A caller that asks for each refresh it needs, as the CLI's read commands
+    // do, opens without one: on an empty cache the refresh `open()` would
+    // await fetches the files of every collection, which `quak collections`
+    // never needs (issue #210).
+    it("starts no refresh as it opens when refreshOnOpen is false", async () => {
+        const client = new MockClient();
+        client.collectionsQueue.push({
+            collections: [collection(1, 100)],
+            deleted: [],
+            cursor: 100,
+        });
+
+        const lib = await Library.open({
+            client,
+            cacheDirectory,
+            refreshOnOpen: false,
+            refreshIntervalSeconds: Infinity,
+        });
+        try {
+            expect(client.collectionsSinceTimes).toEqual([]);
+            expect(lib.listCollections()).toEqual([]);
+            expect(lib.status().lastRefreshAt).toBeUndefined();
+
+            // The refresh comes when the caller asks for it.
+            await lib.fresh();
+            expect(client.collectionsSinceTimes).toEqual([0]);
+            expect(lib.listCollections().map((c) => c.id)).toEqual([1]);
+        } finally {
+            await lib.close();
+        }
+    });
+
+    // A refresh fetches the files of each collection that changed, one
+    // collection after another, and stores nothing until it has them all. On
+    // a large account that takes a while, so it reports each collection whose
+    // files it has fetched, and how many it will fetch in all (issue #210).
+    it("reports each collection whose files a refresh fetched", async () => {
+        const events: RefreshEvent[] = [];
+        const client = new MockClient();
+        client.collectionsQueue.push({
+            collections: [
+                collection(1, 100),
+                collection(2, 100),
+                collection(3, 100),
+            ],
+            deleted: [],
+            cursor: 100,
+        });
+
+        const lib = await Library.open({
+            client,
+            cacheDirectory,
+            refreshIntervalSeconds: Infinity,
+            onProgress: (e) => events.push(e),
+        });
+        try {
+            expect(events).toEqual([
+                { operation: "refresh", status: "started" },
+                {
+                    operation: "refresh",
+                    status: "progress",
+                    fetched: 1,
+                    total: 3,
+                },
+                {
+                    operation: "refresh",
+                    status: "progress",
+                    fetched: 2,
+                    total: 3,
+                },
+                {
+                    operation: "refresh",
+                    status: "progress",
+                    fetched: 3,
+                    total: 3,
+                },
+                { operation: "refresh", status: "done" },
+            ]);
+
+            // Only collection 2 changed since, so the next refresh fetches
+            // its files alone and counts one.
+            events.length = 0;
+            client.collectionsQueue.push({
+                collections: [collection(2, 200)],
+                deleted: [],
+                cursor: 200,
+            });
+            await lib.fresh();
+            expect(events.filter((e) => e.status === "progress")).toEqual([
+                {
+                    operation: "refresh",
+                    status: "progress",
+                    fetched: 1,
+                    total: 1,
+                },
+            ]);
+        } finally {
+            await lib.close();
+        }
+    });
+
     it("keeps a save failure visible until a save actually succeeds", async () => {
         const saveSpy = vi
             .spyOn(MetadataStore.prototype, "save")