quak backup works on up to the content pool's limit of originals at once (closes #182)

The backup awaited each original before starting the next, so it used
one of the content pool's five slots. lib.backup(), and so quak backup,
now runs as many workers as the content pool's limit (5 by default, or
the contentConcurrency of the pools the library was opened with), each
taking the next file from one shared list, so the limit covers the
--verify hashing too. Once a worker has thrown or the lock is lost, no
worker takes another file; the backup waits for the files under way and
checks its lock before the ML data fetch. runBackup rejects a
contentConcurrency that is not a positive integer before it takes the
lock. Failed files are listed in the order they failed.

Model: opus-5-5

README.md

@@ -761,9 +761,9 @@ drops it.
 `backup.lock` keeps two backups of the same directory from running at once, such
 as a cron run that starts while the previous one is still going. A backup
 creates `<dir>` if it is missing and takes the lock before its refresh, and
-removes the lock when it ends, whether it succeeds or fails; `quak backup` takes
+removes the lock when it ends, whether it succeeds or fails, unless it lost the
-it before it opens its library, so a refused run sends no request. The lock is a
+lock (see below); `quak backup` takes it before it opens its library, so a
-directory that
+refused run sends no request. The lock is a directory that
 [proper-lockfile](https://github.com/moxystudio/node-proper-lockfile) creates
 and keeps touching while the backup runs. A second backup of the directory, from
 another process or the same one, fails at once: `quak backup` prints
@@ -775,6 +775,16 @@ over, so nobody has to remove it. The lock is outside the date folders and
 `collections/`, so it is never taken for an original, and the removal of old
 album directories never touches it.
 
+A running backup loses its lock when someone removes `backup.lock`, or when
+another backup takes it over because the running one left it untouched for 10
+seconds, as a stopped or stalled process does. The backup finds this out the
+next time it goes to touch the lock, which it does every 5 seconds, and then
+stops before it starts another file. The originals it is downloading at that
+moment are still stored. It leaves `failures.json` and `backup.lock` as they
+are, since another backup may be using them. `quak backup` prints
+`quak: lost the lock on <dir>: <reason>` as one line and exits 1, and
+`lib.backup()` rejects with `lost the lock on <dir>: <reason>`.
+
 A collection's directory and JSON are named after the collection, and a symlink
 after the file's title, both with unsafe characters replaced. When two
 collections would get the same name, or two symlinks in one collection the same
@@ -1060,21 +1070,24 @@ photos newest first). `lib.subscribe({ onChange })` delivers a `LibraryChange`
   directory, and fails at once with an error whose `code` is `ELOCKED` while
   another backup of it runs. A caller can instead take the lock itself, before
   it opens its library, as `quak backup` does: `await lockBackupDirectory(dir)`
-  takes it, failing the same way, and returns the function that releases it, and
+  takes it, failing the same way, and returns a `BackupLock`, whose `release()`
-  the caller passes `lockHeld: true` to the backup. It waits for a refresh as
+  removes the lock unless it was lost and whose `lost` holds why it was lost.
-  `fresh()` does, puts every in-scope original not already at its save path
+  The caller passes it to the backup as `lock`, and releases it once the backup
-  there as `photo.download()` does (and, with `includeThumbnails`, fetches
+  ends. It waits for a refresh as `fresh()` does, puts every in-scope original
-  thumbnails) through the content cache, waits for an ML data fetch, and
+  not already at its save path there as `photo.download()` does (and, with
-  rebuilds the on-disk backup tree with a durable failure ledger. Each file's
+  `includeThumbnails`, fetches thumbnails) through the content cache, waits for
-  JSON holds its ML data and, for an image (for a live photo, its image), its
+  an ML data fetch, and rebuilds the on-disk backup tree with a durable failure
-  original's EXIF and XMP, with its dimensions for a JPEG only; a video's JSON
+  ledger. Each file's JSON holds its ML data and, for an image (for a live
-  holds none of these three. A fetched original is written straight to its save
+  photo, its image), its original's EXIF and XMP, with its dimensions for a JPEG
-  path and not into the cache, which then counts it as present; one the cache
+  only; a video's JSON holds none of these three. A fetched original is written
-  already held is copied from there. `BackupOptions`: `downloadDirectory` (falls
+  straight to its save path and not into the cache, which then counts it as
-  back to the library's), `includeOriginals` (default `true`),
+  present; one the cache already held is copied from there. `BackupOptions`:
-  `includeThumbnails` (default `false`), `onlyAlbumNames`, `verify` (default
+  `downloadDirectory` (falls back to the library's), `includeOriginals` (default
-  `false`), `onProgress`, and `lockHeld` (default `false`). See Backup layout
+  `true`), `includeThumbnails` (default `false`), `onlyAlbumNames`, `verify`
-  above for the tree it writes.
+  (default `false`), `onProgress`, and `lock`. See Backup layout above for the
+  tree it writes. Whether the backup took the lock or its caller did, once the
+  lock is lost the backup rejects with `lost the lock on <dir>: <reason>` before
+  it starts another file.
 
 ### Request pools
 
@@ -1139,7 +1152,7 @@ from a very old client, is stored unchecked.
 - `src/library/mlsearch.ts`: `MLDataAPI`, `SimilarResult`
 - `src/exif.ts`: `ExifTags`, `PhotoExif`
 - `src/library/pools.ts`: `RequestPools`, `RequestPoolsOptions`, `BoundedPool`
-- `src/backup.ts`: `BackupOptions`, `BackupResult`, `BackupError`
+- `src/backup.ts`: `BackupLock`, `BackupOptions`, `BackupResult`, `BackupError`
 - `src/client.ts`: `Client`, `LoginOptions`, `ClientSnapshot`
 - `src/api/client.ts`: `ApiClient`, `ApiClientOptions`, `StreamOptions`
 - `src/errors.ts`: `ApiError`, `TruncatedStreamError`

TODO.md

@@ -17,8 +17,9 @@ pre-1.0
 
 # Next Step
 
-None: no implementation work is open. The cache design,
+None: no implementation work is open. The check of quak against a live Ente
-https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/quak/issues/36, waits on sneak's review.
+account, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/quak/issues/187, needs an account only sneak
+has, so it waits on him.
 
 Tagging and releases are decided by sneak alone, and happen only when he
 declares one.
@@ -31,7 +32,24 @@ declares one.
   the work for one original, its `--verify` hashing included, so no more
   originals than that are open at once. `BackupLibrary` says the limit as
   `contentConcurrency`. A test holds each download at the fake Ente server to
-  count those in flight.
+  count those in flight. Once a worker has thrown, as one does when `onProgress`
+  throws, or the lock is lost, no worker takes another file; the backup fails
+  once the originals under way are in place, and a lost lock stops it before it
+  fetches ML data.
+
+- 2026-10-14: Next Step said the cache design, issue 36, waits on sneak's
+  review, though that issue closed on 2026-10-03 (issue 194). It now names the
+  issues open on the tracker.
+
+- 2026-10-14: A backup whose lock is lost no longer dies with a stack trace
+  (issue 184). `lockBackupDirectory` gives proper-lockfile an `onCompromised`
+  that records why the lock was lost instead of throwing from its timer, and
+  returns the lock, which `quak backup` passes to `lib.backup()` as `lock`. The
+  backup then stops before it starts another file with
+  `lost the lock on DIR: REASON`, which `quak backup` prints as one line before
+  it exits 1. Releasing a lost lock leaves `backup.lock` alone. Tests in
+  `test/cli/backup-end-to-end.test.ts` remove the lock, or put another backup's
+  in its place, while a download is held open.
 
 - 2026-10-14: An album or file quak cannot decrypt, or whose metadata is not
   JSON, no longer fails the refresh, so one bad record no longer stops

src/backup.ts

@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 // The backup command, rebuilt on the library API (issue #51).
 //
 // `lib.backup()` takes the lock in `downloadDirectory` (unless its caller
-// already holds it), and fails at once when another backup of it holds the
+// passes one in), and fails at once when another backup of it holds the
-// lock. It waits for a completed refresh of the library (a failed one fails the
+// lock; when the lock is lost while it runs, it fails before it starts another
+// file. It waits for a completed refresh of the library (a failed one fails the
 // backup before any file is touched), then, for every file in scope, puts its
 // original at its save path under `downloadDirectory`, as `Photo.download()`
 // does, up to the content pool's limit of them at once, waits for an ML data
@@ -96,6 +97,14 @@ import type { Collection, EnteFile, FileMetadata } from "./model/types.js";
 
 export type ProgressCallback = (message: string) => void;
 
+// The lock in a backup directory, as `lockBackupDirectory` returns it.
+export interface BackupLock {
+    // Removes `backup.lock`, unless the lock was lost.
+    release(): Promise<void>;
+    // Why the lock was lost, once it is.
+    lost?: Error;
+}
+
 export interface BackupOptions {
     // Where the backup tree lives. `lib.backup()` defaults it to the library's
     // download directory; `runBackup` with none throws before any network
@@ -112,10 +121,11 @@ export interface BackupOptions {
     // bytes do not match the content hash its metadata records. Default false.
     verify?: boolean;
     onProgress?: ProgressCallback;
-    // The caller already holds the lock in `downloadDirectory`, taken with
+    // The lock in `downloadDirectory`, when the caller took it with
-    // `lockBackupDirectory`, and releases it itself, so the backup does not
+    // `lockBackupDirectory` and releases it itself. The backup then does not
-    // take it. `quak backup` takes it before it opens its library.
+    // take the lock, and fails once this one is lost. `quak backup` takes it
-    lockHeld?: boolean;
+    // before it opens its library.
+    lock?: BackupLock;
 }
 
 export interface BackupError {
@@ -513,11 +523,14 @@ const writeAlbumJSON = (
     writeFileSync(path, JSON.stringify(album, null, 2));
 };
 
-// The backup itself, which `runBackup` below runs while the lock is held.
+// The backup itself, which `runBackup` below runs while `lock` is held. Once
+// the lock is lost, another backup may be writing to `downloadDirectory`, so
+// this one fails before it starts another file.
 const runLockedBackup = async (
     lib: BackupLibrary,
     opts: BackupOptions,
     downloadDirectory: string,
+    lock: BackupLock,
 ): Promise<BackupResult> => {
     const includeOriginals = opts.includeOriginals ?? true;
     const includeThumbnails = opts.includeThumbnails ?? false;
@@ -527,6 +540,7 @@ const runLockedBackup = async (
 
     log("Refreshing library...");
     await lib.refresh();
+    if (lock.lost) throw lock.lost;
 
     const collectionsDir = join(downloadDirectory, "collections");
     const thumbnailsDir = join(downloadDirectory, "thumbnails");
@@ -716,13 +730,25 @@ const runLockedBackup = async (
     // Up to the content pool's limit of originals are worked on at once,
     // their `verify` hashing included, so however large the account is, no
     // more than that many are open. Each worker takes the next file from the
-    // iterator they all share until none is left. A worker that throws, as
+    // iterator they all share until none is left. Once a worker has thrown,
-    // one does when `onProgress` throws, fails the backup only once every
+    // as one does when `onProgress` throws, or the lock is lost, no worker
-    // worker has stopped, so none writes into the backup after it has ended.
+    // takes another file. The backup fails only once every worker has
+    // stopped, so none writes into the backup after it has ended. It checks
+    // the lock then too, so it does not go on to the thumbnails or the ML
+    // data fetch without it.
     if (includeOriginals) {
         const pending = distinct.values();
+        let workerThrew = false;
         const worker = async (): Promise<void> => {
-            for (const file of pending) await storeOriginal(file);
+            for (const file of pending) {
+                if (workerThrew || lock.lost) return;
+                try {
+                    await storeOriginal(file);
+                } catch (err) {
+                    workerThrew = true;
+                    throw err;
+                }
+            }
         };
         const workers = await Promise.allSettled(
             Array.from({ length: lib.contentConcurrency }, worker),
@@ -730,10 +756,12 @@ const runLockedBackup = async (
         for (const w of workers) {
             if (w.status === "rejected") throw w.reason;
         }
+        if (lock.lost) throw lock.lost;
     }
 
     if (includeThumbnails) {
         for (const [fileID, file] of distinct) {
+            if (lock.lost) throw lock.lost;
             const dest = join(thumbnailsDir, `${fileID}.jpg`);
             if (isPresent(dest)) continue;
             try {
@@ -766,6 +794,7 @@ const runLockedBackup = async (
             log(`FAILED ML data: ${mlDataError}`);
         }
         for (const file of distinct.values()) {
+            if (lock.lost) throw lock.lost;
             const stored = storedAtSavePath(downloadDirectory, file);
             if (stored === undefined) continue;
             const path = withExtension(
@@ -809,6 +838,7 @@ const runLockedBackup = async (
     const albumDirNames = new Map(
         allCollections.map((c, i) => [c.id, dirNames[i]!]),
     );
+    if (lock.lost) throw lock.lost;
     try {
         removeStaleAlbumDirs(
             collectionsDir,
@@ -820,6 +850,7 @@ const runLockedBackup = async (
     }
 
     for (const c of collections) {
+        if (lock.lost) throw lock.lost;
         const colDirName = albumDirNames.get(c.id)!;
         const colDir = join(collectionsDir, colDirName);
         mkdirSync(colDir, { recursive: true });
@@ -877,7 +908,9 @@ const runLockedBackup = async (
     // its failure resolved; a file gone from the library (deleted) or outside
     // this run's scope is not something this run can resolve, so keeping its
     // stale entry would keep the exit code non-zero forever — a single
-    // since-deleted photo would fail every future scheduled backup.
+    // since-deleted photo would fail every future scheduled backup. A backup
+    // whose lock was lost leaves the ledger as it is.
+    if (lock.lost) throw lock.lost;
     for (const fileID of [...ledger.keys()]) {
         if (!failedThisRun.has(fileID)) ledger.delete(fileID);
     }
@@ -898,18 +931,36 @@ const runLockedBackup = async (
 
 // Only one backup of a directory runs at a time, in this process or another.
 // Creates `downloadDirectory` if it is missing, takes the lock in it and
-// returns the function that releases it; while another backup holds the lock,
+// returns it; while another backup holds the lock, fails at once with an error
-// fails at once with an error whose `code` is `ELOCKED`. The lock is the
+// whose `code` is `ELOCKED`. The lock is the directory `backup.lock`, whose
-// directory `backup.lock`, whose modification time proper-lockfile keeps
+// modification time proper-lockfile keeps current while it is held. One it has
-// current while it is held. One it has not touched for 10 seconds was left by
+// not touched for 10 seconds was left by a run that could not remove it, and
-// a run that could not remove it, and is taken over.
+// is taken over.
+//
+// proper-lockfile finds the lock lost when `backup.lock` is gone or is another
+// backup's, and calls `onCompromised` from a timer, where throwing would end
+// the process. The `onCompromised` given here sets the lock's `lost` instead,
+// and the backup holding the lock stops before it starts another file (see
+// `runLockedBackup`). Releasing a lost lock leaves `backup.lock` alone, since
+// it may be another backup's.
 export const lockBackupDirectory = async (
     downloadDirectory: string,
-): Promise<() => Promise<void>> => {
+): Promise<BackupLock> => {
     mkdirSync(downloadDirectory, { recursive: true });
+    let release: () => Promise<void>;
+    const lock: BackupLock = {
+        release: async () => {
+            if (lock.lost === undefined) await release();
+        },
+    };
     try {
-        return await lockfile.lock(downloadDirectory, {
+        release = await lockfile.lock(downloadDirectory, {
             lockfilePath: join(downloadDirectory, "backup.lock"),
+            onCompromised: (err) => {
+                lock.lost = new Error(
+                    `lost the lock on ${downloadDirectory}: ${err.message}`,
+                );
+            },
         });
     } catch (err) {
         if ((err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code !== "ELOCKED") throw err;
@@ -918,10 +969,11 @@ export const lockBackupDirectory = async (
             { code: "ELOCKED" },
         );
     }
+    return lock;
 };
 
 // Runs the backup holding the lock, which it takes and releases itself unless
-// the caller already holds it (`opts.lockHeld`).
+// the caller passes the lock it took (`opts.lock`).
 export const runBackup = async (
     lib: BackupLibrary,
     opts: BackupOptions,
@@ -941,13 +993,13 @@ export const runBackup = async (
             `contentConcurrency must be a positive integer, got ${contentConcurrency}`,
         );
     }
-    if (opts.lockHeld) {
+    if (opts.lock) {
-        return runLockedBackup(lib, opts, downloadDirectory);
+        return runLockedBackup(lib, opts, downloadDirectory, opts.lock);
     }
-    const release = await lockBackupDirectory(downloadDirectory);
+    const lock = await lockBackupDirectory(downloadDirectory);
     try {
-        return await runLockedBackup(lib, opts, downloadDirectory);
+        return await runLockedBackup(lib, opts, downloadDirectory, lock);
     } finally {
-        await release();
+        await lock.release();
     }
 };

src/cli-commands.ts

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ import {
     type ClientSnapshot,
     type LoginOptions,
 } from "./client.js";
-import { lockBackupDirectory } from "./backup.js";
+import { lockBackupDirectory, type BackupLock } from "./backup.js";
 import { init } from "./crypto/index.js";
 import {
     defaultCacheDirectory,
@@ -416,9 +416,9 @@ export const backupCommand = async (
     ctx.stderr.write("Starting backup...\n");
     // The lock is taken before the library opens and starts its refresh, so a
     // run refused while another backup of `dir` runs sends no request.
-    let release: () => Promise<void>;
+    let lock: BackupLock;
     try {
-        release = await lockBackupDirectory(dir);
+        lock = await lockBackupDirectory(dir);
     } catch (err) {
         if ((err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code !== "ELOCKED") throw err;
         ctx.stderr.write(`quak: ${(err as Error).message}\n`);
@@ -440,7 +440,7 @@ export const backupCommand = async (
         try {
             const result = await lib.backup({
                 downloadDirectory: dir,
-                lockHeld: true,
+                lock,
                 verify: opts.verify,
                 onProgress: (msg) => {
                     if (!opts.json) ctx.stderr.write(msg + "\n");
@@ -477,7 +477,7 @@ export const backupCommand = async (
             await lib.close();
         }
     } finally {
-        await release();
+        await lock.release();
     }
 };
 

src/index.ts

@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ export {
     type EnsureEvent,
     lockBackupDirectory,
     runBackup,
+    type BackupLock,
     type BackupOptions,
     type BackupResult,
     type BackupError,

src/library/index.ts

@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ import { runBackup, type BackupOptions, type BackupResult } from "../backup.js";
 export {
     lockBackupDirectory,
     runBackup,
+    type BackupLock,
     type BackupOptions,
     type BackupResult,
     type BackupError,
@@ -570,9 +571,10 @@ export class Library {
 
     // 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
+    // ledger (issue #51). Takes the lock in that directory first, unless the
-    // `opts.lockHeld` says the caller holds it, failing at once while another
+    // caller passes the lock it took as `opts.lock`, failing at once while
-    // backup of it runs (see `runBackup`). Waits for a
+    // another backup of it runs, and before it starts another file once the
+    // lock is lost (see `lockBackupDirectory`). Waits for a
     // completed refresh, as `fresh()` does, joining one already running, and
     // rejects before touching any file but the lock when it fails. Then puts
     // pending originals at their save paths as `Photo.download()` does (and

test/cli/backup-concurrency.test.ts

@@ -397,19 +397,33 @@ describe("lib.backup()", () => {
     });
 
     // A throw from `onProgress` fails the backup: `lib.backup()` rejects with
-    // it. It rejects only once it has finished with every original it was
+    // it. From then on the backup starts no further original. It finishes the
-    // working on, so nothing is written into the backup after it has ended
+    // ones it is working on, and rejects only once they are in place, so
-    // and removed its lock. Here, with a content pool of eight, all eight
+    // nothing is written into the backup after it has ended and removed its
-    // downloads wait at once. Photo 103's is let go first and answered 404,
+    // lock. Here the first five downloads wait. Photo 103's is let go first
-    // and the line reporting that failure throws while the other seven wait.
+    // and answered 404, and the line reporting that failure throws while the
-    it("when onProgress throws, rejects only once the originals it was working on are in place", async () => {
+    // other four wait. Only those five downloads are held: a backup that went
+    // on would store the other three photos.
+    it("when onProgress throws, starts no further original, and rejects once the originals it was working on are in place", async () => {
         const dir = mkdtempSync(join(root, "backup-"));
-        const holding = holdingServer(103);
+        const downloads: number[] = [];
-        const lib = await openLibrary(
+        const held: { id: number; release: () => void }[] = [];
-            dir,
+        const fetch: typeof globalThis.fetch = async (input, init) => {
-            holding.fetch,
+            const id = downloadOf(input);
-            new RequestPools({ contentConcurrency: 8 }),
+            if (id !== undefined) {
-        );
+                downloads.push(id);
+                if (downloads.length <= 5) {
+                    await new Promise<void>((release) =>
+                        held.push({ id, release }),
+                    );
+                }
+                if (id === 103) {
+                    return new Response("not found", { status: 404 });
+                }
+            }
+            return server(input, init);
+        };
+        const lib = await openLibrary(dir, fetch);
         const lines: string[] = [];
         try {
             const backup = lib.backup({
@@ -432,12 +446,12 @@ describe("lib.backup()", () => {
                 return err;
             });
 
-            await vi.waitFor(() => expect(holding.held).toHaveLength(8), {
+            await vi.waitFor(() => expect(held).toHaveLength(5), {
                 interval: 5,
                 timeout: 5000,
             });
-            const at103 = holding.held.findIndex((h) => h.id === 103);
+            const at103 = held.findIndex((h) => h.id === 103);
-            holding.held.splice(at103, 1)[0]!.release();
+            held.splice(at103, 1)[0]!.release();
             await vi.waitFor(
                 () =>
                     expect(
@@ -445,20 +459,84 @@ describe("lib.backup()", () => {
                     ).toBe(true),
                 { interval: 5, timeout: 5000 },
             );
-            for (const download of holding.held) download.release();
+            for (const download of held) download.release();
 
             expect(await rejection).toEqual(
                 new Error("the progress output is closed"),
             );
-            expect(storedWhenRejected).toEqual(
+            expect(downloads.sort()).toEqual([101, 102, 103, 104, 105]);
-                PHOTO_IDS.filter((id) => id !== 103),
+            expect(storedWhenRejected).toEqual([101, 102, 104, 105]);
-            );
             expect(lockedWhenRejected).toBe(false);
         } finally {
             await lib.close();
         }
     });
 
+    // Once the backup's lock is lost, another backup may be writing to the
+    // directory, so the backup starts no further original. It finishes the
+    // ones it is working on, and `lib.backup()` rejects once they are all in
+    // place. Here `backup.lock` is removed while the first five downloads
+    // wait, and proper-lockfile's timer finds it gone. As in
+    // `backup-end-to-end.test.ts`, only `setTimeout` and `clearTimeout` are
+    // faked, so the test can fire that timer without waiting 5 seconds. Only
+    // the first five downloads are held: a backup that went on would store
+    // the other three photos.
+    it("when its lock is lost, starts no further original, and rejects once the originals it was working on are in place", async () => {
+        const dir = mkdtempSync(join(root, "backup-"));
+        const lockPath = join(dir, "backup.lock");
+        const downloads: number[] = [];
+        const held: (() => void)[] = [];
+        const fetch: typeof globalThis.fetch = async (input, init) => {
+            const id = downloadOf(input);
+            if (id !== undefined) {
+                downloads.push(id);
+                if (downloads.length <= 5) {
+                    await new Promise<void>((release) => held.push(release));
+                }
+            }
+            return server(input, init);
+        };
+        const lib = await openLibrary(dir, fetch);
+        vi.useFakeTimers({ toFake: ["setTimeout", "clearTimeout"] });
+        try {
+            const backup = lib.backup();
+            // The photos whose originals are in place at the moment
+            // `lib.backup()` rejects.
+            let storedWhenRejected: number[] = [];
+            const rejection = backup.catch((err: unknown) => {
+                storedWhenRejected = PHOTO_IDS.filter((id) =>
+                    existsSync(savedAt(dir, id)),
+                );
+                return err;
+            });
+
+            await vi.waitFor(() => expect(held).toHaveLength(5), {
+                interval: 5,
+                timeout: 5000,
+            });
+            rmSync(lockPath, { recursive: true });
+            // Fire proper-lockfile's timer, and wait for the look at the lock
+            // on disk that it starts to finish: Node lists a file system call
+            // in progress as an `FSReqCallback`.
+            vi.advanceTimersByTime(5_000);
+            while (process.getActiveResourcesInfo().includes("FSReqCallback")) {
+                await new Promise((resolve) => setImmediate(resolve));
+            }
+            for (const release of held) release();
+
+            expect(await rejection).toEqual(
+                new Error(
+                    `lost the lock on ${dir}: ENOENT: no such file or directory, stat '${lockPath}'`,
+                ),
+            );
+            expect(downloads.sort()).toEqual([101, 102, 103, 104, 105]);
+            expect(storedWhenRejected).toEqual([101, 102, 103, 104, 105]);
+        } finally {
+            vi.useRealTimers();
+            await lib.close();
+        }
+    });
+
     // Working on several originals at once changes only how long a backup
     // takes. The same two runs, with a content pool of one, which backs up
     // one original at a time, and with the default pools, end the same way:

test/cli/backup-end-to-end.test.ts

@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@
  * data this file encrypts with libsodium, as Ente's clients encrypt it. So
  * quak's own code fetches each original, decrypts it, checks it against the
  * hash its uploader recorded and unpacks a live photo, and quak's own retries
- * repeat a failed request.
+ * repeat a failed request. Two tests run `lib.backup()` instead, as a program
+ * using quak as a library does.
  *
  * The account, user 42, has three albums:
  *
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@
 import {
     existsSync,
     lstatSync,
+    mkdirSync,
     mkdtempSync,
     readdirSync,
     readFileSync,
@@ -36,7 +38,16 @@ import { join } from "node:path";
 import { Writable } from "node:stream";
 import { gzipSync } from "node:zlib";
 import sodium from "libsodium-wrappers-sumo";
-import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import {
+    afterAll,
+    afterEach,
+    beforeAll,
+    beforeEach,
+    describe,
+    expect,
+    it,
+    vi,
+} from "vitest";
 
 import {
     backupCommand,
@@ -47,6 +58,7 @@ import { run } from "../../src/cli-run.js";
 import { loadSession } from "../../src/cli-session.js";
 import { Client } from "../../src/client.js";
 import { init, toBase64 } from "../../src/crypto/index.js";
+import { Library, lockBackupDirectory } from "../../src/library/index.js";
 import { UNATTENDED_RETRY_OPTIONS } from "../../src/retry.js";
 import {
     buildAccount,
@@ -633,3 +645,191 @@ describe("quak backup", () => {
         expect(stderr).toContain("  Verified:    2\n  Mismatched:  1\n");
     });
 });
+
+// `backup.lock` is a directory that proper-lockfile touches every 5 seconds,
+// from a timer, while the backup runs. Each time, it first looks at the lock
+// on disk. The lock is lost when it is gone, or when another backup has made
+// its own in its place, as one does with a lock nobody touched for 10
+// seconds. Another backup may then be writing to the directory, so the backup
+// stops before it starts another file.
+//
+// The fake server holds one file's download open until the test lets it go,
+// so the lock can be lost while the backup runs: beach.jpg's, the first file
+// backed up, unless the test names another. Only `setTimeout` and
+// `clearTimeout` are faked, so a test can fire proper-lockfile's timer without
+// waiting 5 seconds.
+describe("a backup whose lock is lost", () => {
+    let dir: string;
+    let lockPath: string;
+    let downloads: number[];
+    let heldFile: number;
+    let heldRequested: Promise<void>;
+    let releaseHeld: () => void;
+    let fetch: typeof globalThis.fetch;
+
+    beforeEach(() => {
+        dir = mkdtempSync(join(root, "backup-"));
+        lockPath = join(dir, "backup.lock");
+        downloads = [];
+        heldFile = BEACH.id;
+        let requested!: () => void;
+        heldRequested = new Promise((resolve) => {
+            requested = resolve;
+        });
+        const released = new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+            releaseHeld = resolve;
+        });
+        const recording = recordingDownloads(downloads);
+        fetch = async (input, init) => {
+            if (downloadOf(input) === heldFile) {
+                requested();
+                await released;
+            }
+            return recording(input, init);
+        };
+        vi.useFakeTimers({ toFake: ["setTimeout", "clearTimeout"] });
+    });
+
+    afterEach(() => {
+        vi.useRealTimers();
+    });
+
+    // Fire proper-lockfile's timer, and wait for the look at the lock on disk
+    // that it starts to finish: Node lists a file system call in progress as
+    // an `FSReqCallback`.
+    const fireLockTimer = async (): Promise<void> => {
+        vi.advanceTimersByTime(5_000);
+        while (process.getActiveResourcesInfo().includes("FSReqCallback")) {
+            await new Promise((resolve) => setImmediate(resolve));
+        }
+    };
+
+    // The backup downloads up to five originals at once, so it has started
+    // all three when the lock is lost, and beach.jpg is stored. The backup
+    // then stops before it fetches ML data. `quak backup` prints why as one
+    // line, with no stack trace, and exits 1.
+    it("stops quak backup before it fetches ML data when backup.lock is removed, and exits 1", async () => {
+        const result = backup(dir, {}, fetch);
+        await heldRequested;
+        rmSync(lockPath, { recursive: true });
+        await fireLockTimer();
+        releaseHeld();
+        const { code, stderr } = await result;
+
+        expect(code).toBe(1);
+        expect(stderr).toBe(
+            "Starting backup...\n" +
+                "Refreshing library...\n" +
+                "Fetching original beach.jpg (100)...\n" +
+                "Fetching original IMG_0002.HEIC (300)...\n" +
+                "Fetching original toast.mp4 (200)...\n" +
+                `quak: lost the lock on ${dir}: ENOENT: no such file or directory, stat '${lockPath}'\n`,
+        );
+        expect(downloads.sort()).toEqual([100, 200, 300]);
+        expect(readFileSync(join(dir, DAY, "2024-03-01.100.jpg"))).toEqual(
+            Buffer.from(JPEG_WITH_EXIF),
+        );
+    });
+
+    // Here the lock is lost while toast.mp4, the last original, downloads.
+    // All three originals are stored, beside what the backup wrote before it
+    // started them, but no file's JSON and no album is written.
+    it("stops quak backup before any file's JSON when the lock is lost during the last original", async () => {
+        heldFile = TOAST_VIDEO.id;
+        const result = backup(dir, {}, fetch);
+        await heldRequested;
+        rmSync(lockPath, { recursive: true });
+        await fireLockTimer();
+        releaseHeld();
+        const { code, stderr } = await result;
+
+        expect(code).toBe(1);
+        expect(stderr).toContain(`quak: lost the lock on ${dir}: `);
+        expect(listTree(dir)).toEqual([
+            "2024",
+            "2024/2024-03",
+            "2024/2024-03/2024-03-01",
+            "2024/2024-03/2024-03-01/2024-03-01.100.jpg",
+            "2024/2024-03/2024-03-01/2024-03-01.200.mp4",
+            "2024/2024-03/2024-03-01/2024-03-01.300.heic",
+            "2024/2024-03/2024-03-01/2024-03-01.300.livephoto.json",
+            "2024/2024-03/2024-03-01/2024-03-01.300.mov",
+            "account.json",
+            "collections",
+        ]);
+    });
+
+    // Nothing touches the lock but quak, which finds it as it left it each
+    // time it looks, so the backup runs to the end and removes its lock.
+    it("lets quak backup run to the end while its lock stays", async () => {
+        const result = backup(dir, {}, fetch);
+        await heldRequested;
+        await fireLockTimer();
+        await fireLockTimer();
+        releaseHeld();
+        const { code } = await result;
+
+        expect(code).toBe(0);
+        expect(downloads.sort()).toEqual([100, 200, 300]);
+        expect(existsSync(lockPath)).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    // The library a program using quak opens to back `dir` up.
+    const openLibrary = () =>
+        Library.open({
+            client: loadSession(join(sessionDir, "session.json"), { fetch })!,
+            cacheDirectory: `${dir}-cache`,
+            downloadDirectory: dir,
+            refreshIntervalSeconds: Infinity,
+            precacheThumbnails: false,
+            precacheOriginals: false,
+        });
+
+    // A program using quak as a library sees the same: `lib.backup()` rejects
+    // with the reason. Here another backup has made its own lock in place of
+    // quak's, and that lock is left where it is.
+    it("rejects lib.backup() when another backup has taken the lock over", async () => {
+        const lib = await openLibrary();
+        try {
+            const result = lib.backup();
+            await heldRequested;
+            rmSync(lockPath, { recursive: true });
+            mkdirSync(lockPath);
+            await fireLockTimer();
+            releaseHeld();
+
+            await expect(result).rejects.toThrow(
+                `lost the lock on ${dir}: Unable to update lock within the stale threshold`,
+            );
+            expect(downloads.sort()).toEqual([100, 200, 300]);
+            expect(existsSync(lockPath)).toBe(true);
+        } finally {
+            await lib.close();
+        }
+    });
+
+    // A program can take the lock before it opens its library, as `quak
+    // backup` does: `lockBackupDirectory` returns the lock, which the program
+    // passes to `lib.backup()` and releases once the backup ends. The backup
+    // checks it as it checks a lock it took, and the lock's `lost` says why it
+    // was lost.
+    it("rejects lib.backup() given its caller's lock once that lock is lost", async () => {
+        const lock = await lockBackupDirectory(dir);
+        const lib = await openLibrary();
+        try {
+            const result = lib.backup({ lock });
+            await heldRequested;
+            rmSync(lockPath, { recursive: true });
+            await fireLockTimer();
+            releaseHeld();
+
+            const lost = `lost the lock on ${dir}: ENOENT: no such file or directory, stat '${lockPath}'`;
+            await expect(result).rejects.toThrow(lost);
+            expect(lock.lost?.message).toBe(lost);
+            expect(downloads.sort()).toEqual([100, 200, 300]);
+        } finally {
+            await lib.close();
+            await lock.release();
+        }
+    });
+});