scan: skip OS default excludes, and record nothing on filesystems that are not persistent (closes #124)

scan never records or reads anything on a filesystem that is not
persistent (tmpfs, proc, sysfs and the like), however it reaches it; no
flag turns this off. It notes each such filesystem's device ID as it
starts: on Linux from /proc/self/mountinfo, on macOS by lstat of each
listed mount point. Below an operand the walk also skips the default
excludes, a path list per system (Linux, macOS, and Windows, not used
yet); --no-default-excludes turns off only those. A default exclude that
is itself an operand gets no skip line. The tests stop at once, saying
why, when TMPDIR is not on a persistent filesystem.

Judgement call: an unreadable mount list fails the scan, and no flag gets round it.
Judgement call: a file on such a filesystem below an operand gets the same line as a directory.
Judgement call: such an operand that another operand's walk also reaches is named twice.
Unverified: whether macOS's mount list gives the device lstat reports, so macOS keeps lstat, and a hidden mount there can still add another filesystem's device.
Unverified: the macOS code is never built or run here; bind mounts need root to test.

Model: opus-5-5

README.md

@@ -100,9 +100,11 @@ As a file `/etc/cron.d/sfdupes`:
   `/var/log/sfdupes.log`, holds a first line naming the database (see
   "Database"), plain progress lines naming each phase and its place among the
   five, as `[2/5] walk` (one as the phase starts, one every 5 seconds while it
-  runs, and one as it ends), a warning for each path it skips, and the summary
-  line (see "Progress" and "`scan` mode"). The log grows with every scan; rotate
-  it like any other.
+  runs, and one as it ends), a warning for each path it skips, a line for each
+  default exclude its walk does not enter and for each path it leaves out
+  because it is not on a persistent filesystem (see "Rules for the walk"), and
+  the summary line (see "Progress" and "`scan` mode"). The log grows with every
+  scan; rotate it like any other.
 - Skipped paths do not fail a scan: it still exits 0, and cron sends nothing. A
   scan that fails, or is stopped by `SIGINT` or `SIGTERM`, exits 1 with the
   reason among the last lines of the log; `tail` prints them, and cron mails
@@ -248,7 +250,7 @@ Four subcommands, all implemented:
     schema version and the counts of its records.
 
 ```
-sfdupes scan [--workers N] [-x] PATH...
+sfdupes scan [--workers N] [-x] [--no-default-excludes] PATH...
 sfdupes report > dupes.tsv
 sfdupes trees > dupetrees.tsv
 sfdupes info
@@ -257,8 +259,9 @@ sfdupes [command] --help
 ```
 
 `--workers N` sets the size of each `scan` worker pool (default: the number of
-CPUs), and `-x` (`--one-file-system`) keeps the walk of each operand on that
-operand's filesystem; both are described under "`scan` mode".
+CPUs), `-x` (`--one-file-system`) keeps the walk of each operand on that
+operand's filesystem, and `--no-default-excludes` lets the walk enter the
+default excludes, a list of paths; all three are described under "`scan` mode".
 `sfdupes --version` (or `-v`) prints one line, `sfdupes VERSION`, to stdout and
 exits 0, writing nothing to stderr. `-h` or `--help`, alone or after a
 subcommand, prints the help text to stderr and exits 0, writing nothing to
@@ -439,11 +442,12 @@ results do not depend on the working directory. All operands belong to a single
 scan and are enumerated concurrently: every operand seeds the shared walk worker
 pool. Overlapping operands are harmless — an operand that duplicates another or
 lies under another is dropped before walking, so every file is reached exactly
-once and produces one database record. With `-x`, though, an operand under
-another one is kept and walked on its own when any directory from it (from its
-directory, for a regular file) up to but not including the operand covering it
-is on a different filesystem than that operand, because that operand's walk does
-not enter such a directory and so does not reach it.
+once and produces one database record. An operand under another one is kept,
+though, and walked on its own when any directory from it (from its directory,
+for a regular file) up to but not including the operand covering it is a default
+exclude, is not on a persistent filesystem (see "Rules for the walk"), or, with
+`-x`, is on a different filesystem than that operand, because that operand's
+walk does not enter such a directory and so does not reach it.
 
 An operand that is a symlink (never followed, not even as an operand), socket,
 FIFO, or device node, or a directory named `.zfs`, is not scanned. `scan` prints
@@ -453,7 +457,10 @@ beneath it is still scanned. The records stored beneath it are not deleted: they
 are treated like any other record outside the scanned operands, including the
 content-phase exception below. If it lies under another operand, they are under
 that operand instead, and are treated like any other record there. This is not
-an error: a scan whose every operand is dropped walks nothing and exits 0.
+an error: a scan whose every operand is dropped walks nothing and exits 0. An
+operand that is not on a persistent filesystem (see "Rules for the walk") is
+dropped the same way, except that the line `scan` prints for it is not a
+warning, and it is not counted as skipped.
 
 `scan` synchronizes the database with the filesystem state under the scanned
 operands:
@@ -489,14 +496,16 @@ operands:
   can be scanned on different schedules into the same database. The one
   exception is the content phase below: a stored file of 10 MiB or more without
   a `content` hash is read for one, wherever it lies, once its size, `head`, and
-  `tail` match another record's. If that file is gone or has changed since its
-  record was written, the record is left as it is.
-- With `-x`, a record below a directory the walk did not enter because that
-  directory is on another filesystem than its operand counts as outside the
-  scanned operands: it is not deleted, and its size joins the size census. A
-  filesystem mounted under an operand can therefore be scanned on its own
-  schedule into the same database. Records below an operand at or inside such a
-  directory are not kept this way, since that operand's own walk verifies them.
+  `tail` match another record's. If that file is gone, has changed since its
+  record was written, or is not on a persistent filesystem, it is not read and
+  the record is left as it is.
+- A record at or below a path the walk left out, because that path is a default
+  exclude, is not on a persistent filesystem, or, with `-x`, is a directory on
+  another filesystem than its operand, counts as outside the scanned operands:
+  it is not deleted, and its size joins the size census. A filesystem mounted
+  under an operand can therefore be scanned on its own schedule into the same
+  database. Records below an operand at or inside such a path are not kept this
+  way, since that operand's own walk verifies them.
 
 `scan` runs **five sequential phases over the whole scan**. Parallelism lives
 inside the walk, hash and content phases; batched database writes begin during
@@ -542,19 +551,20 @@ the hash phase:
     be read are kept in memory, never every file's hashes. Every record sharing
     their size, `head`, and `tail`, including one that already has a `content`
     hash, has its file checked with `lstat` first. A file that is gone, is no
-    longer a regular file, or has changed (a different size, or an mtime newer
-    than recorded) keeps its record as it is and does not count as a match for
-    the others. Any other `lstat` error is warned about and counted as skipped,
-    with the same result. If such a record has no `content` hash, it stays out
-    of duplicate groups; if it has one, it is still reported until a scan
-    covering its own tree updates or removes it. The files that pass and have no
-    `content` hash are read only if at least two of those records pass, so a
-    file whose only matches are stale costs no read; a file that already has a
-    `content` hash is never read again. They are read by a worker pool as in the
-    hash phase, in inode order and once per inode, and their content hashes are
-    committed in batches. A failed read is warned about and counted as skipped;
-    its record keeps an empty `content`, so it is not a duplicate, and a later
-    scan tries again.
+    longer a regular file, has changed (a different size, or an mtime newer than
+    recorded), or is not on a persistent filesystem (see "Rules for the walk")
+    keeps its record as it is and does not count as a match for the others. Any
+    other `lstat` error is warned about and counted as skipped, with the same
+    result. If such a record has no `content` hash, it stays out of duplicate
+    groups; if it has one, it is still reported until a scan covering its own
+    tree updates or removes it. The files that pass and have no `content` hash
+    are read only if at least two of those records pass, so a file whose only
+    matches are stale costs no read; a file that already has a `content` hash is
+    never read again. They are read by a worker pool as in the hash phase, in
+    inode order and once per inode, and their content hashes are committed in
+    batches. A failed read is warned about and counted as skipped; its record
+    keeps an empty `content`, so it is not a duplicate, and a later scan tries
+    again.
 
 Rules for the walk:
 
@@ -572,6 +582,74 @@ Rules for the walk:
   unless they lie below an operand at or inside that directory, count as outside
   the scanned operands, as described in "`scan` mode" above: they are not
   deleted, and their sizes join the size census.
+- Never record anything that is not on a persistent filesystem. A filesystem is
+  not persistent when the kernel makes it up or keeps it in memory: one of type
+  `proc`, `sysfs`, `devtmpfs`, `devpts`, `tmpfs`, `ramfs`, `cgroup`, `cgroup2`,
+  `debugfs`, `tracefs`, `securityfs`, `pstore`, `bpf`, `configfs`, `fusectl`,
+  `mqueue`, `hugetlbfs`, `efivarfs`, `binfmt_misc`, `autofs`, `nsfs`,
+  `rpc_pipefs`, `selinuxfs` or `devfs` (the macOS filesystem of `/dev`). After
+  it names the database and before it takes the lock, `scan` lists the mounted
+  filesystems, from `/proc/self/mountinfo` on Linux and from the system's list
+  of mounted filesystems on macOS (on any other system it lists none), and notes
+  the device ID of each one of those types. On Linux that is the device ID the
+  list gives, so a filesystem that a later mount hides still gives its own. On
+  macOS it is read with `lstat` on the mount point, and where one filesystem is
+  mounted over another on the same mount point, the one mounted last counts. If
+  `scan` cannot list them, it fails (exit 1). The walk then never enters a
+  directory, and never records a file, on one of those devices, however it
+  reaches it: as an operand, below one, or through a bind mount, which keeps the
+  device ID of what it binds. The content phase never reads a file on one of
+  them either. No flag turns this off. For each operand, directory or file it
+  leaves out this way, `scan` prints a line on stderr naming it and the type of
+  its filesystem, as it prints a warning, so it never lands inside a progress
+  display:
+
+    ```
+    scan: skipped /dev/shm (tmpfs, not a persistent filesystem)
+    ```
+
+    That line is not a warning, and the path is not counted as skipped. Records
+    that an earlier scan left at or below it, unless they lie below an operand
+    at or inside it, count as outside the scanned operands, as described in
+    "`scan` mode" above: they are not deleted, and their sizes join the size
+    census.
+
+- Below an operand, never descend into a default exclude: a path that holds the
+  kernel's view of the running system, or temporary files, so that
+  `sfdupes scan /` walks only the files worth comparing. The default excludes
+  depend on the system, and `sfdupes scan --help` lists those of the system it
+  runs on:
+    - On Linux: `/proc`, `/sys`, `/dev`, `/run`, `/tmp` and `/var/tmp`.
+    - On macOS: `/dev`, `/private/tmp`, `/private/var/tmp`, `/private/var/vm`,
+      `/System/Volumes/VM` and `/System/Volumes/Data`. A walk of `/` reaches
+      everything in `/System/Volumes/Data` through the firmlinks, so walking it
+      as well would record each of those files twice.
+    - On Windows, relative to the root of the drive an operand lies on: the
+      page, swap and hibernation files `pagefile.sys`, `swapfile.sys` and
+      `hiberfil.sys`, and the directories `System Volume Information`,
+      `$Recycle.Bin`, `Windows\Temp` and `Users\*\AppData\Local\Temp`, where `*`
+      matches one path component, as it does in any default exclude. sfdupes
+      does not build for Windows yet, so this list is not used.
+    - On any other system there are none.
+
+    `--no-default-excludes` turns them all off; what is not on a persistent
+    filesystem stays left out. An operand at or inside a default exclude is
+    still walked, so `sfdupes scan /tmp/x` works, unless it is not on a
+    persistent filesystem. For each default exclude its walk does not enter,
+    `scan` prints a line on stderr naming it, as it prints a warning:
+
+    ```
+    scan: skipped /var/tmp (default exclude)
+    ```
+
+    That line is not a warning, and the directory is not counted as skipped. A
+    default exclude that is not on a persistent filesystem, as `/proc` is, gets
+    the line for its filesystem instead, and one that is itself an operand gets
+    no line, since it is walked as that operand. The records below a default
+    exclude the walk does not enter, unless they lie below an operand at or
+    inside it, count as outside the scanned operands, as described in "`scan`
+    mode" above: they are not deleted, and their sizes join the size census.
+
 - On any per-path error (permission denied, file vanished between passes,
   unreadable): print a one-line warning to stderr, skip the path, and continue.
   Per-file errors never abort the run; the final summary reports how many were

TODO.md

@@ -29,6 +29,23 @@
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- `scan` never records or reads anything that is not on a persistent filesystem
+  (`tmpfs`, `proc`, `sysfs` and the other kernel or memory-backed types),
+  matched by the device ID of each such filesystem, listed as the scan starts
+  from `/proc/self/mountinfo` on Linux and the mounted-filesystem list on macOS,
+  however the walk or the content phase reaches it; no flag turns that off.
+  Below an operand, its walk does not enter the default excludes either, so
+  `sfdupes scan /` skips the kernel's view of the running system and the
+  temporary directories: on Linux `/proc`, `/sys`, `/dev`, `/run`, `/tmp` and
+  `/var/tmp`, on macOS `/dev`, `/private/tmp`, `/private/var/tmp`,
+  `/private/var/vm`, `/System/Volumes/VM` and `/System/Volumes/Data`, and a
+  Windows list, not used yet. An operand at or inside a default exclude is still
+  walked. The scan prints a line for each path it leaves out, without counting
+  it as skipped, and the records there count as outside the scanned operands, as
+  for `-x`. `--no-default-excludes` turns off the default excludes only, and
+  `scan --help` lists them (2026-10-17,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/124)
+
 - the rate a progress display shows covers the items completed over the last 5
   seconds, or since the line before when stderr is not a terminal, so it falls
   to 0 while nothing completes, and a burst after a wait no longer reads as a

cancel_test.go

@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ func TestSyncScanCancelledMidWalkKeepsRecords(t *testing.T) {
 	base := baselineGoroutines(t)
 
 	st, err := syncScan(newWalkClock(walkCancelAtDone), db,
-		[]string{dir}, walkCancelWorkers, false)
+		[]string{dir}, walkCancelWorkers, false, walkRules{})
 
 	assertWalkGuardAborted(t, st, err)
 	assertRecordsIntact(t, db, before)
@@ -268,7 +268,8 @@ func TestSyncScanCancelledBeforeLoadIndex(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(t.Context())
 	cancel()
 
-	st, err := syncScan(ctx, db, []string{dir}, walkCancelWorkers, false)
+	st, err := syncScan(ctx, db, []string{dir}, walkCancelWorkers, false,
+		walkRules{})
 	if !errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
 		t.Fatalf("syncScan on a cancelled context = %v, want %v",
 			err, context.Canceled)
@@ -301,7 +302,7 @@ func TestSyncScanCancelledMidHashKeepsHashedRecords(t *testing.T) {
 	db := openTestDB(t)
 
 	st, err := syncScan(newWalkClock(hashCancelAtDone), db,
-		[]string{dir}, walkCancelWorkers, false)
+		[]string{dir}, walkCancelWorkers, false, walkRules{})
 	if !errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
 		t.Fatalf("syncScan cancelled mid-hash = %v, want %v",
 			err, context.Canceled)
@@ -356,7 +357,8 @@ func TestRunScanInterrupted(t *testing.T) {
 	stderr := captureStderr(t)
 	dir := buildSmokeTree(t)
 
-	err := runScan(t.Context(), []string{dir}, walkCancelWorkers, false)
+	err := runScan(t.Context(), []string{dir}, walkCancelWorkers, false,
+		false)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -380,7 +382,7 @@ func TestRunScanInterrupted(t *testing.T) {
 		defer close(done)
 
 		err = runScan(cancelledContext(t), []string{dir}, walkCancelWorkers,
-			false)
+			false, false)
 	}()
 
 	awaitReturn(t, done, "runScan")
@@ -407,7 +409,8 @@ func TestRunScanInterrupted(t *testing.T) {
 			got, before)
 	}
 
-	err = runScan(t.Context(), []string{dir}, walkCancelWorkers, false)
+	err = runScan(t.Context(), []string{dir}, walkCancelWorkers, false,
+		false)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -433,7 +436,7 @@ func TestRunScanInterruptedMidHash(t *testing.T) {
 	dir := buildWalkCancelTree(t)
 
 	err := runScan(newWalkClock(hashCancelAtDone), []string{dir},
-		walkCancelWorkers, false)
+		walkCancelWorkers, false, false)
 	if !errors.Is(err, errInterrupted) {
 		t.Fatalf("runScan interrupted mid-hash = %v, want %v",
 			err, errInterrupted)
@@ -617,7 +620,8 @@ func TestWalkOneDirStopsWhenCancelled(t *testing.T) {
 	// Unbuffered and unread: on a cancelled scan every send gives up.
 	events := make(chan walkEvent)
 
-	subs := walkOneDir(cancelledContext(t), dirJob{path: dir}, false, events)
+	subs := walkOneDir(cancelledContext(t), dirJob{path: dir}, false,
+		walkRules{}, events)
 	if len(subs) != 0 {
 		t.Errorf("cancelled walkOneDir returned %+v to descend into, "+
 			"want none", subs)
@@ -637,7 +641,8 @@ func TestWalkWorkersDropQueuedDirs(t *testing.T) {
 
 	missing := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "missing")
 
-	jobs, _, events := startWalkWorkers(cancelledContext(t), 2, false)
+	jobs, _, events := startWalkWorkers(cancelledContext(t), 2, false,
+		walkRules{})
 
 	for range 64 {
 		jobs <- dirJob{path: missing}
@@ -668,7 +673,7 @@ func TestWalkWorkerAbandonsSubdirHandoff(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(t.Context())
 	defer cancel()
 
-	jobs, subdirs, events := startWalkWorkers(ctx, 1, false)
+	jobs, subdirs, events := startWalkWorkers(ctx, 1, false, walkRules{})
 
 	// Fill the hand-back channel to its capacity — one slot per worker
 	// — so the worker's own hand-back is certain to block.

exclude.go

@@ -0,0 +1,192 @@
+package main
+
+// This file holds two rules for the walk (README "Rules for the walk"):
+// the default excludes, the paths a scan's walk does not enter below an
+// operand unless scan is given --no-default-excludes, and the
+// filesystems that are not persistent, on which the scan never records
+// or reads anything.
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"io/fs"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"slices"
+	"strings"
+
+	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
+)
+
+// The systems that have default excludes, as runtime.GOOS names them.
+const (
+	goosLinux   = "linux"
+	goosDarwin  = "darwin"
+	goosWindows = "windows"
+)
+
+// The fields of a line of mountInfoPath that readMountInfo reads,
+// counted from 0 (see proc(5)): the device ID, as major:minor, is the
+// third field, and after the sixth come optional fields, then a field
+// holding "-", then the filesystem type.
+const (
+	deviceField         = 2
+	optionalFieldsStart = 6
+)
+
+// typesPerHelpLine is how many filesystem types the scan command's help
+// lists on each line.
+const typesPerHelpLine = 6
+
+// errMountInfoLine reports a line of mountInfoPath without the fields
+// readMountInfo reads.
+var errMountInfoLine = errors.New("unexpected line")
+
+// walkRules holds the two rules for the walk that a scan sets up as it
+// starts. excludes are the default excludes, or none with
+// --no-default-excludes. nonPersistent maps the device ID of every
+// mounted filesystem that is not persistent to its type; the scan
+// records and reads nothing on one of those, whatever the flags.
+type walkRules struct {
+	excludes      []string
+	nonPersistent map[uint64]string
+}
+
+// defaultExcludes returns the default excludes of the system goos
+// names, as runtime.GOOS does: a fixed list on Linux, macOS and
+// Windows, and none on any other system.
+func defaultExcludes(goos string) []string {
+	switch goos {
+	case goosLinux:
+		return []string{"/proc", "/sys", "/dev", "/run", "/tmp", "/var/tmp"}
+	case goosDarwin:
+		// A walk of / reaches everything in /System/Volumes/Data through
+		// the firmlinks, so walking it as well would record each of
+		// those files twice.
+		return []string{
+			"/dev", "/private/tmp", "/private/var/tmp", "/private/var/vm",
+			"/System/Volumes/VM", "/System/Volumes/Data",
+		}
+	case goosWindows:
+		// Relative to the root of the drive an operand lies on. The
+		// first three are the page, swap and hibernation files.
+		return []string{
+			"pagefile.sys", "swapfile.sys", "hiberfil.sys",
+			"System Volume Information", "$Recycle.Bin", `Windows\Temp`,
+			`Users\*\AppData\Local\Temp`,
+		}
+	default:
+		return nil
+	}
+}
+
+// isDefaultExclude reports whether path is one of excludes, in which a
+// * matches one path component.
+func isDefaultExclude(path string, excludes []string) bool {
+	for _, pattern := range excludes {
+		// The patterns are fixed, so none is malformed.
+		if ok, _ := filepath.Match(pattern, path); ok {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
+// nonPersistentFilesystemTypes returns the filesystem types that are
+// not persistent: filesystems that the kernel makes up or that are kept
+// in memory. devfs is the macOS filesystem of /dev; the others are
+// Linux names.
+func nonPersistentFilesystemTypes() []string {
+	return []string{
+		"proc", "sysfs", "devtmpfs", "devpts", "tmpfs", "ramfs",
+		"cgroup", "cgroup2", "debugfs", "tracefs", "securityfs", "pstore",
+		"bpf", "configfs", "fusectl", "mqueue", "hugetlbfs", "efivarfs",
+		"binfmt_misc", "autofs", "nsfs", "rpc_pipefs", "selinuxfs", "devfs",
+	}
+}
+
+// nonPersistentLine returns the line the scan prints for path when fi,
+// its lstat, puts it on a filesystem in rules.nonPersistent, and ""
+// when it is on any other.
+func (rules walkRules) nonPersistentLine(path string, fi fs.FileInfo) string {
+	dev, ok := deviceOfInfo(fi)
+	if !ok {
+		return ""
+	}
+
+	fsType, found := rules.nonPersistent[dev]
+	if !found {
+		return ""
+	}
+
+	return fmt.Sprintf("scan: skipped %s (%s, not a persistent filesystem)",
+		path, fsType)
+}
+
+// readMountInfo reads mountinfo, laid out as mountInfoPath is, and
+// returns the device ID of every mounted filesystem that is not
+// persistent, with its type. The device ID is the one each line gives,
+// not that of the file now at its mount point, so a mount that a later
+// mount hides never adds the device of another filesystem.
+func readMountInfo(mountinfo io.Reader) (map[uint64]string, error) {
+	types := nonPersistentFilesystemTypes()
+	devices := make(map[uint64]string)
+	lines := bufio.NewScanner(mountinfo)
+
+	for lines.Scan() {
+		fields := strings.Fields(lines.Text())
+
+		sep := slices.Index(fields, "-")
+		if sep < optionalFieldsStart || sep+1 >= len(fields) {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %q", errMountInfoLine, lines.Text())
+		}
+
+		var major, minor uint32
+
+		_, err := fmt.Sscanf(fields[deviceField], "%d:%d", &major, &minor)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %q", errMountInfoLine, lines.Text())
+		}
+
+		fsType := fields[sep+1]
+		if slices.Contains(types, fsType) {
+			devices[unix.Mkdev(major, minor)] = fsType
+		}
+	}
+
+	return devices, lines.Err()
+}
+
+// defaultExcludesHelp describes, for the scan command's help, the
+// default excludes of the system goos names and, where the scan lists
+// the mounted filesystems, the types it never records anything on.
+func defaultExcludesHelp(goos string) string {
+	var help strings.Builder
+
+	dirs := defaultExcludes(goos)
+	if len(dirs) == 0 {
+		help.WriteString("This system has no default excludes.\n")
+	} else {
+		help.WriteString("Below an operand, the walk does not enter these " +
+			"default excludes, unless\n--no-default-excludes is given:\n\n")
+
+		for _, dir := range dirs {
+			fmt.Fprintf(&help, "  %s\n", dir)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if goos == goosLinux || goos == goosDarwin {
+		help.WriteString("\nWith or without --no-default-excludes, the scan " +
+			"records nothing on a\nfilesystem that is not persistent, " +
+			"one of these types:\n\n")
+
+		types := nonPersistentFilesystemTypes()
+		for line := range slices.Chunk(types, typesPerHelpLine) {
+			fmt.Fprintf(&help, "  %s\n", strings.Join(line, ", "))
+		}
+	}
+
+	return help.String()
+}

exclude_darwin.go

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+//go:build darwin
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"slices"
+
+	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
+)
+
+// nonPersistentFilesystems returns the device ID of every mounted
+// filesystem that is not persistent, with its type, from the system's
+// list of mounted filesystems. The device ID is read with lstat on the
+// mount point. Where one filesystem is mounted over another on the same
+// mount point, the later one in the list counts. A mount point that
+// lstat cannot reach is left out.
+func nonPersistentFilesystems() (map[uint64]string, error) {
+	// The first call counts the filesystems, the second lists them.
+	n, err := unix.Getfsstat(nil, unix.MNT_NOWAIT)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	list := make([]unix.Statfs_t, n)
+
+	n, err = unix.Getfsstat(list, unix.MNT_NOWAIT)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	mounts := make(map[string]string, n)
+
+	for _, st := range list[:n] {
+		mounts[unix.ByteSliceToString(st.Mntonname[:])] =
+			unix.ByteSliceToString(st.Fstypename[:])
+	}
+
+	types := nonPersistentFilesystemTypes()
+	devices := make(map[uint64]string)
+
+	for mountPoint, fsType := range mounts {
+		if !slices.Contains(types, fsType) {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if dev, ok := deviceOfPath(mountPoint); ok {
+			devices[dev] = fsType
+		}
+	}
+
+	return devices, nil
+}

exclude_other.go

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+//go:build !darwin
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"runtime"
+)
+
+// mountInfoPath is the file in which Linux lists the mounts the reading
+// process sees.
+const mountInfoPath = "/proc/self/mountinfo"
+
+// nonPersistentFilesystems returns the device ID of every mounted
+// filesystem that is not persistent, with its type: on Linux read from
+// mountInfoPath (see readMountInfo), and on any other system none.
+func nonPersistentFilesystems() (map[uint64]string, error) {
+	if runtime.GOOS != goosLinux {
+		return map[uint64]string{}, nil
+	}
+
+	f, err := os.Open(mountInfoPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	defer func() { _ = f.Close() }()
+
+	devices, err := readMountInfo(f)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("read %s: %w", mountInfoPath, err)
+	}
+
+	return devices, nil
+}

exclude_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,583 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"errors"
+	"maps"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
+	"slices"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
+)
+
+func TestDefaultExcludes(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// README "Rules for the walk": each system's list.
+	cases := map[string][]string{
+		goosLinux: {"/proc", "/sys", "/dev", "/run", "/tmp", "/var/tmp"},
+		goosDarwin: {
+			"/dev", "/private/tmp", "/private/var/tmp", "/private/var/vm",
+			"/System/Volumes/VM", "/System/Volumes/Data",
+		},
+		goosWindows: {
+			"pagefile.sys", "swapfile.sys", "hiberfil.sys",
+			"System Volume Information", "$Recycle.Bin", `Windows\Temp`,
+			`Users\*\AppData\Local\Temp`,
+		},
+		"freebsd": nil,
+	}
+
+	for goos, want := range cases {
+		if got := defaultExcludes(goos); !slices.Equal(got, want) {
+			t.Errorf("defaultExcludes(%q) = %q, want %q", goos, got, want)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIsDefaultExclude(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// A * matches one path component, no more and no fewer.
+	excludes := []string{"/scratch", "/home/*/cache"}
+
+	cases := map[string]bool{
+		"/scratch":        true,
+		"/scratch/x":      false,
+		"/home/u/cache":   true,
+		"/home/u/v/cache": false,
+		"/home/cache":     false,
+	}
+
+	for path, want := range cases {
+		if got := isDefaultExclude(path, excludes); got != want {
+			t.Errorf("isDefaultExclude(%q) = %v, want %v", path, got, want)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestReadMountInfo(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// The second-to-last line has no optional fields. The tmpfs on
+	// /data/a/b is hidden by the root filesystem's /srv, mounted over
+	// /data/a after it: the tmpfs still gives its own device, and the
+	// root filesystem's device is not listed.
+	mountinfo := strings.Join([]string{
+		"22 1 8:1 / / rw,relatime shared:1 - ext4 /dev/sda1 rw",
+		"23 22 0:21 / /proc rw,nosuid shared:12 - proc none rw",
+		"24 22 0:22 / /sys rw,nosuid shared:7 - sysfs none rw",
+		"25 22 0:23 / /data/a/b rw shared:2 - tmpfs none rw",
+		"26 22 8:1 /srv /data/a rw - ext4 /dev/sda1 rw",
+		"27 22 0:25 / /srv/auto rw shared:4 - autofs systemd-1 rw",
+	}, "\n")
+
+	got, err := readMountInfo(strings.NewReader(mountinfo))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	want := map[uint64]string{
+		unix.Mkdev(0, 21): "proc", unix.Mkdev(0, 22): "sysfs",
+		unix.Mkdev(0, 23): "tmpfs", unix.Mkdev(0, 25): "autofs",
+	}
+	if !maps.Equal(got, want) {
+		t.Errorf("readMountInfo = %v, want %v", got, want)
+	}
+
+	for _, line := range []string{
+		"22 1 8:1 / / rw,relatime\n",
+		"22 1 sda / / rw,relatime shared:1 - ext4 /dev/sda1 rw\n",
+	} {
+		_, err = readMountInfo(strings.NewReader(line))
+		if !errors.Is(err, errMountInfoLine) {
+			t.Errorf("readMountInfo(%q) = %v, want %v", line, err,
+				errMountInfoLine)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestNonPersistentFilesystems(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	if runtime.GOOS != goosLinux {
+		t.Skip("the test knows a mount only on Linux: /proc")
+	}
+
+	nonPersistent, err := nonPersistentFilesystems()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	dev, ok := deviceOfPath("/proc")
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatal("no device for /proc")
+	}
+
+	if got := nonPersistent[dev]; got != "proc" {
+		t.Errorf("filesystem of /proc = %q, want %q", got, "proc")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDefaultExcludesHelp(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	for _, goos := range []string{goosLinux, goosDarwin, goosWindows} {
+		help := defaultExcludesHelp(goos)
+
+		for _, dir := range defaultExcludes(goos) {
+			if !strings.Contains(help, "\n  "+dir+"\n") {
+				t.Errorf("help for %s does not list %s:\n%s", goos, dir, help)
+			}
+		}
+
+		// Only Linux and macOS list their mounted filesystems.
+		for _, fsType := range nonPersistentFilesystemTypes() {
+			listed := strings.Contains(help, " "+fsType+",") ||
+				strings.Contains(help, " "+fsType+"\n")
+			if listed != (goos != goosWindows) {
+				t.Errorf("help for %s lists %s: %v", goos, fsType, listed)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	want := "This system has no default excludes.\n"
+	if got := defaultExcludesHelp("freebsd"); got != want {
+		t.Errorf("help for freebsd = %q, want %q", got, want)
+	}
+
+	// scan's help shows those of the system it runs on.
+	var stdout, stderr bytes.Buffer
+
+	run([]string{cmdScan, "-h"}, &stdout, &stderr)
+
+	help := strings.TrimSpace(defaultExcludesHelp(runtime.GOOS))
+	if !strings.Contains(stderr.String(), help) {
+		t.Errorf("scan --help = %q, want it to hold %q", stderr.String(), help)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestScanDoesNotEnterDefaultExclude checks that the walk does not
+// enter a default exclude below an operand. It says so on a line of its
+// own and does not count it as skipped. The records below it count as
+// outside the operands: the record of a file gone from it is kept, and
+// its size joins the size census, while a file added to it is not
+// recorded.
+//
+//nolint:paralleltest // captureStderr replaces the process-wide os.Stderr
+func TestScanDoesNotEnterDefaultExclude(t *testing.T) {
+	stderr := captureStderr(t)
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	db := openTestDB(t)
+	excluded := filepath.Join(dir, "tmp")
+
+	// A scan with no default excludes records the file in excluded.
+	gone := writeFile(t, excluded, "gone", pattern(1, 100))
+	syncTree(t, db, dir)
+
+	err := os.Remove(gone)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	unseen := writeFile(t, excluded, "new", pattern(2, 10))
+
+	// The same size as gone, so it is hashed only if the census holds the
+	// size of gone's record.
+	added := writeFile(t, dir, "added", pattern(3, 100))
+
+	st, err := syncScan(t.Context(), db, []string{dir}, 1, false,
+		walkRules{excludes: []string{excluded}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if st.skipped != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("skipped = %d, want 0", st.skipped)
+	}
+
+	recs := dbRecords(t, db)
+	recordByPath(t, recs, gone)
+
+	if recordByPath(t, recs, added).head == "" {
+		t.Errorf("%s not hashed: the census lacks the size of %s",
+			added, gone)
+	}
+
+	if slices.Contains(recordPaths(recs), unseen) {
+		t.Errorf("%s recorded: the walk entered %s", unseen, excluded)
+	}
+
+	line := "\nscan: skipped " + excluded + " (default exclude)\n"
+	if !strings.Contains(stderr(), line) {
+		t.Errorf("stderr = %q, want %q", stderr(), line)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestScanWalksOperandInDefaultExclude checks that an operand at or
+// inside a default exclude is walked, also when it lies under another
+// operand, whose walk does not enter the default exclude.
+func TestScanWalksOperandInDefaultExclude(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	excluded := filepath.Join(dir, "tmp")
+	f := writeFile(t, excluded, "sub/f", pattern(1, 10))
+	sub := filepath.Dir(f)
+
+	cases := map[string][]string{
+		"at it":                      {excluded},
+		"inside it":                  {sub},
+		"inside it under an operand": {dir, sub},
+	}
+
+	for name, roots := range cases {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+
+			db := openTestDB(t)
+
+			st, err := syncScan(t.Context(), db, roots, 1, false,
+				walkRules{excludes: []string{excluded}})
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+
+			if st.added != 1 {
+				t.Errorf("added = %d, want %s recorded once", st.added, f)
+			}
+
+			recordByPath(t, dbRecords(t, db), f)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// TestScanNamesNoDefaultExcludeThatIsAnOperand checks that a default
+// exclude given as an operand under another operand, which the walk of
+// that other operand does not enter, gets no line saying it was
+// skipped: it is walked as an operand of its own.
+//
+//nolint:paralleltest // captureStderr replaces the process-wide os.Stderr
+func TestScanNamesNoDefaultExcludeThatIsAnOperand(t *testing.T) {
+	stderr := captureStderr(t)
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	db := openTestDB(t)
+	excluded := filepath.Join(dir, "tmp")
+	f := writeFile(t, excluded, "f", pattern(1, 10))
+
+	st, err := syncScan(t.Context(), db, []string{dir, excluded}, 1, false,
+		walkRules{excludes: []string{excluded}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if st.added != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("added = %d, want %s recorded once", st.added, f)
+	}
+
+	recordByPath(t, dbRecords(t, db), f)
+
+	if strings.Contains(stderr(), "scan: skipped") {
+		t.Errorf("stderr = %q, want no line for %s", stderr(), excluded)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestRunScanTempDirOperand scans a tree in the tests' temporary
+// directory, which on Linux lies inside the default exclude /tmp unless
+// TMPDIR names another place, with the system's own default excludes:
+// the scan walks the whole tree and reports no default exclude.
+func TestRunScanTempDirOperand(t *testing.T) {
+	path := testDBPath(t)
+	t.Setenv(databaseEnv, path)
+
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	if !underAnyRoot(dir, defaultExcludes(runtime.GOOS)) {
+		t.Skip(dir + " is not inside a default exclude")
+	}
+
+	f := writeFile(t, dir, "sub/f", pattern(1, 10))
+
+	stderr := scanOK(t, dir)
+	if strings.Contains(stderr, "scan: skipped") {
+		t.Errorf("stderr = %q, want no line saying a path was skipped",
+			stderr)
+	}
+
+	assertRecorded(t, path, f, true)
+}
+
+// TestRunScanNoDefaultExcludes scans /var through the command. Its
+// /var/tmp, on a persistent filesystem, is a default exclude on Linux:
+// without --no-default-excludes the walk does not enter it and says so,
+// and with that flag the walk records a file the test puts there.
+func TestRunScanNoDefaultExcludes(t *testing.T) {
+	if runtime.GOOS != goosLinux {
+		t.Skip("only Linux has /var/tmp among its default excludes")
+	}
+
+	nonPersistent, err := nonPersistentFilesystems()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	rules := walkRules{nonPersistent: nonPersistent}
+
+	for _, dir := range []string{"/var", "/var/tmp"} {
+		fi, lstatErr := os.Lstat(dir)
+		if lstatErr != nil || !fi.IsDir() ||
+			rules.nonPersistentLine(dir, fi) != "" {
+			t.Skip(dir + " is not a directory on a persistent filesystem here")
+		}
+	}
+
+	//nolint:usetesting // the directory must be inside /var/tmp
+	tmp, err := os.MkdirTemp("/var/tmp", "sfdupes-test-")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Skip("cannot write to /var/tmp here: " + err.Error())
+	}
+
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = os.RemoveAll(tmp) })
+
+	f := writeFile(t, tmp, "f", pattern(1, 10))
+
+	path := testDBPath(t)
+	t.Setenv(databaseEnv, path)
+
+	line := "scan: skipped /var/tmp (default exclude)\n"
+
+	if stderr := scanOK(t, "/var"); !strings.Contains(stderr, line) {
+		t.Errorf("scan /var: stderr = %q, want %q", stderr, line)
+	}
+
+	assertRecorded(t, path, f, false)
+
+	stderr := scanOK(t, "--no-default-excludes", "/var")
+	if strings.Contains(stderr, line) {
+		t.Errorf("scan --no-default-excludes /var: stderr = %q, want no %q",
+			stderr, line)
+	}
+
+	assertRecorded(t, path, f, true)
+}
+
+// TestRunScanSkipsNonPersistentOperand scans, through the command, a
+// directory on a filesystem that is not persistent, with and without
+// --no-default-excludes: either way it is skipped, with a line saying
+// so, and nothing in it is recorded.
+func TestRunScanSkipsNonPersistentOperand(t *testing.T) {
+	shm, fsType, _ := shmTempDir(t)
+	writeFile(t, shm, "f", pattern(1, 10))
+
+	t.Setenv(databaseEnv, testDBPath(t))
+
+	line := "scan: skipped " + shm + " (" + fsType +
+		", not a persistent filesystem)\n"
+	summary := "scan: 0 files seen"
+
+	for _, flags := range [][]string{nil, {"--no-default-excludes"}} {
+		stderr := scanOK(t, append(flags, shm)...)
+		if !strings.Contains(stderr, line) ||
+			!strings.Contains(stderr, summary) {
+			t.Errorf("scan %q: stderr = %q, want %q and %q", flags, stderr,
+				line, summary)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// TestScanKeepsRecordsOnNonPersistent scans a directory on a filesystem
+// that is not persistent beside one on the tests' temporary directory.
+// The records an earlier scan left in it count as outside the operands:
+// the record of a file gone from it is kept, and its size joins the size
+// census, while a file added to it is not recorded, and its size does
+// not join the census.
+//
+//nolint:paralleltest // captureStderr replaces the process-wide os.Stderr
+func TestScanKeepsRecordsOnNonPersistent(t *testing.T) {
+	shm, fsType, rules := shmTempDir(t)
+	stderr := captureStderr(t)
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	db := openTestDB(t)
+
+	// A scan that, without the list of filesystems, records gone.
+	gone := writeFile(t, shm, "gone", pattern(1, 100))
+	syncTree(t, db, shm)
+
+	err := os.Remove(gone)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	unseen := writeFile(t, shm, "new", pattern(2, 10))
+
+	// added has the size of gone, and lonely that of unseen: each is
+	// hashed only if the census holds that size.
+	added := writeFile(t, dir, "added", pattern(3, 100))
+	lonely := writeFile(t, dir, "lonely", pattern(4, 10))
+
+	st, err := syncScan(t.Context(), db, []string{shm, dir}, 1, false, rules)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if st.skipped != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("skipped = %d, want 0", st.skipped)
+	}
+
+	recs := dbRecords(t, db)
+	recordByPath(t, recs, gone)
+
+	if recordByPath(t, recs, added).head == "" {
+		t.Errorf("%s not hashed: the census lacks the size of %s",
+			added, gone)
+	}
+
+	if recordByPath(t, recs, lonely).head != "" {
+		t.Errorf("%s hashed: the census holds the size of %s", lonely, unseen)
+	}
+
+	if slices.Contains(recordPaths(recs), unseen) {
+		t.Errorf("%s recorded", unseen)
+	}
+
+	line := "scan: skipped " + shm + " (" + fsType +
+		", not a persistent filesystem)\n"
+	if !strings.Contains(stderr(), line) {
+		t.Errorf("stderr = %q, want %q", stderr(), line)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestScanContentSkipsNonPersistent checks that the content phase does
+// not read a file on a filesystem that is not persistent, though an
+// earlier scan left a record for it: it is treated as a changed file,
+// so its record is left as it is and its identical copy in another
+// tree, having no other match, is not read either.
+func TestScanContentSkipsNonPersistent(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	shm, _, rules := shmTempDir(t)
+	db := openTestDB(t)
+
+	// A scan that, without the list of filesystems, records a with a
+	// head and tail but no content hash.
+	a := sparseFileWithoutMatch(t, shm, "a", headTailMin)
+
+	syncTree(t, db, shm)
+
+	before := recordByPath(t, dbRecords(t, db), a)
+	if before.head == "" || before.content != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("after scanning %s: %+v, want head and tail only", shm, before)
+	}
+
+	b := sparseFile(t, t.TempDir(), "b", headTailMin)
+
+	st, err := syncScan(t.Context(), db, []string{filepath.Dir(b)}, 1, false,
+		rules)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if st.skipped != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("skipped = %d, want 0", st.skipped)
+	}
+
+	recs := dbRecords(t, db)
+	if r := recordByPath(t, recs, a); r != before {
+		t.Errorf("record = %+v, want it left as %+v", r, before)
+	}
+
+	if r := recordByPath(t, recs, b); r.content != "" {
+		t.Errorf("%s: content = %q, want none: its only match is on %s",
+			b, r.content, shm)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestWalkLeavesOutNonPersistent starts the walk itself in a directory
+// on a filesystem that is not persistent, which a scan never does: it
+// drops such an operand first. Below a directory on a persistent
+// filesystem, one on another takes a mount, which a test cannot make.
+// The walk enters no directory and records no file there, and names
+// each.
+func TestWalkLeavesOutNonPersistent(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	shm, fsType, rules := shmTempDir(t)
+	f := writeFile(t, shm, "f", pattern(1, 10))
+	sub := filepath.Dir(writeFile(t, shm, "sub/g", pattern(1, 10)))
+
+	var leftOut []string
+
+	for ev := range startWalk(t.Context(), []string{shm}, false, rules, 1) {
+		if ev.rec.path != "" {
+			t.Errorf("walk recorded %s", ev.rec.path)
+		}
+
+		if ev.leftOut == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		leftOut = append(leftOut, ev.leftOut)
+
+		want := "scan: skipped " + ev.leftOut + " (" + fsType +
+			", not a persistent filesystem)"
+		if ev.warn != want {
+			t.Errorf("line = %q, want %q", ev.warn, want)
+		}
+	}
+
+	slices.Sort(leftOut)
+
+	if want := []string{f, sub}; !slices.Equal(leftOut, want) {
+		t.Errorf("walk left out %q, want %q", leftOut, want)
+	}
+}
+
+// shmTempDir returns a new directory in /dev/shm, removed when the test
+// ends, the type of its filesystem, and the rules holding the real
+// filesystems that are not persistent. It skips the test where /dev/shm
+// is on a persistent filesystem, or cannot be written to.
+func shmTempDir(t *testing.T) (string, string, walkRules) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	nonPersistent, err := nonPersistentFilesystems()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	dev, ok := deviceOfPath("/dev/shm")
+
+	fsType, found := nonPersistent[dev]
+	if !ok || !found {
+		t.Skip("/dev/shm is not a memory-backed filesystem here")
+	}
+
+	//nolint:usetesting // the directory must be inside /dev/shm
+	dir, err := os.MkdirTemp("/dev/shm", "sfdupes-test-")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Skip("cannot write to /dev/shm here: " + err.Error())
+	}
+
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = os.RemoveAll(dir) })
+
+	return dir, fsType, walkRules{nonPersistent: nonPersistent}
+}
+
+// assertRecorded checks that the database at dbPath holds a record for
+// path when want is set, and none when it is not.
+func assertRecorded(t *testing.T, dbPath, path string, want bool) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	db, err := openDB(dbPath, reportParams)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() { _ = db.Close() }()
+
+	if got := slices.Contains(recordPaths(dbRecords(t, db)), path); got != want {
+		t.Errorf("%s recorded: %v, want %v", path, got, want)
+	}
+}

main.go

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 //
 // Usage:
 //
-//	sfdupes scan [--workers N] [-x] PATH...
+//	sfdupes scan [--workers N] [-x] [--no-default-excludes] PATH...
 //	sfdupes report > dupes.tsv
 //	sfdupes trees > dupetrees.tsv
 //	sfdupes info
@@ -182,17 +182,23 @@ func newRootCommand(stdout, stderr io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 	return root
 }
 
-// newScanCommand builds the scan subcommand, with its --workers and -x
-// flags.
+// newScanCommand builds the scan subcommand, with its --workers, -x and
+// --no-default-excludes flags. Its help lists the default excludes of
+// the system it runs on, and the filesystem types it never records
+// anything on.
 func newScanCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	var (
-		scanWorkers int
-		scanOneFS   bool
+		scanWorkers           int
+		scanOneFS             bool
+		scanNoDefaultExcludes bool
 	)
 
+	short := "Walk trees and synchronize the scan database"
+
 	scanCmd := &cobra.Command{
-		Use:   cmdScan + " [--workers N] [-x] PATH...",
-		Short: "Walk trees and synchronize the scan database",
+		Use:   cmdScan + " [--workers N] [-x] [--no-default-excludes] PATH...",
+		Short: short,
+		Long:  short + ".\n\n" + defaultExcludesHelp(runtime.GOOS),
 		Args:  cobra.MinimumNArgs(1),
 		PreRunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
 			return checkScanWorkers(cmd, scanWorkers)
@@ -201,13 +207,16 @@ func newScanCommand() *cobra.Command {
 			ctx, stop := interruptContext(ctx)
 			defer stop()
 
-			return runScan(ctx, args, scanWorkers, scanOneFS)
+			return runScan(ctx, args, scanWorkers, scanOneFS,
+				scanNoDefaultExcludes)
 		}),
 	}
 	scanCmd.Flags().IntVar(&scanWorkers, "workers", runtime.NumCPU(),
 		"concurrent workers for the walk, hash, and content phases")
 	scanCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&scanOneFS, "one-file-system", "x", false,
 		"do not cross filesystem boundaries")
+	scanCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&scanNoDefaultExcludes, "no-default-excludes",
+		false, "enter the default excludes, the paths listed above")
 
 	return scanCmd
 }

main_test.go

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/fs"
 	"os"
@@ -18,6 +19,36 @@ import (
 // error prints and a runtime failure must not.
 const usageMarker = "Usage:"
 
+// TestMain stops the tests at once, saying why, when their temporary
+// directory is not on a persistent filesystem: scan records nothing
+// there (README "Rules for the walk"), so most scan tests would fail
+// without saying why.
+func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
+	nonPersistent, err := nonPersistentFilesystems()
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "list the mounted filesystems: %v\n", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	dir := os.TempDir()
+
+	fi, err := os.Stat(dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	dev, ok := deviceOfInfo(fi)
+	if fsType, found := nonPersistent[dev]; ok && found {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s is on %s, not a persistent filesystem, "+
+			"and scan records nothing there: set TMPDIR to a directory on a "+
+			"persistent filesystem\n", dir, fsType)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	os.Exit(m.Run())
+}
+
 // walSuffixes are the SQLite sidecar files a WAL-mode database keeps
 // while it is open. A clean close checkpoints the WAL and removes
 // both; finding either afterwards means the database was never closed.
@@ -535,7 +566,7 @@ func TestRunNamesDefaultDatabase(t *testing.T) {
 	}{
 		cmdScan: {
 			run: func() error {
-				return runScan(t.Context(), []string{missing}, 1, false)
+				return runScan(t.Context(), []string{missing}, 1, false, false)
 			},
 			want: scanWant,
 		},

scan.go

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/signal"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
 	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
@@ -114,9 +115,12 @@ func scanPhase(name string) string {
 // SIGTERM that interruptContext catches, the scan keeps what it has
 // hashed (see syncScan), prints how many files its walk reached, and
 // returns errInterrupted. workers must be at least 1; the scan command
-// rejects anything less.
+// rejects anything less. Before the lock is taken, the scan lists the
+// filesystems that are not persistent, on which the walk records
+// nothing; unless noDefaultExcludes is set, the walk does not enter the
+// default excludes either.
 func runScan(ctx context.Context, roots []string, workers int,
-	oneFS bool,
+	oneFS, noDefaultExcludes bool,
 ) error {
 	dbPath, source, err := databasePath()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -139,6 +143,16 @@ func runScan(ctx context.Context, roots []string, workers int,
 		return err
 	}
 
+	nonPersistent, err := nonPersistentFilesystems()
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("list the mounted filesystems: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	rules := walkRules{nonPersistent: nonPersistent}
+	if !noDefaultExcludes {
+		rules.excludes = defaultExcludes(runtime.GOOS)
+	}
+
 	lock, err := lockScanDatabase(dbPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -159,7 +173,7 @@ func runScan(ctx context.Context, roots []string, workers int,
 
 	defer closeScanDatabase(ctx, db, dbPath)
 
-	st, err := syncScan(ctx, db, roots, workers, oneFS)
+	st, err := syncScan(ctx, db, roots, workers, oneFS, rules)
 	if errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
 		return interrupted(st.walked)
 	}
@@ -231,14 +245,12 @@ func resolveRoots(roots []string) ([]string, error) {
 }
 
 // pruneRoots drops operands already covered by another operand:
-// duplicates and any operand lying under another one. With -x, an
-// operand under another one is kept when the walk of the deepest kept
-// operand above it cannot reach it: when device puts any directory from
-// it (from its directory, for a regular file) up to but not including
-// that operand on a different filesystem than that operand. Every
-// remaining file is then reachable through exactly one root, so walked
-// paths are unique without keeping a scan-wide set of every path seen.
-func pruneRoots(roots []string, oneFS bool,
+// duplicates and any operand lying under another one. An operand under
+// another one is kept, though, when the walk of the deepest kept operand
+// above it does not reach it (see walkReaches). Every remaining file is
+// then reachable through exactly one root, so walked paths are unique
+// without keeping a scan-wide set of every path seen.
+func pruneRoots(roots []string, oneFS bool, rules walkRules,
 	device func(path string) (uint64, bool),
 ) []string {
 	// Shorter-first ordering guarantees an ancestor is kept before any
@@ -262,40 +274,57 @@ func pruneRoots(roots []string, oneFS bool,
 			continue
 		}
 
-		// Without -x, and always for a duplicate, r is dropped.
-		if !oneFS || above == r {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		aboveDev, aboveOK := device(above)
-		if !aboveOK {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		// The walk of above enters a directory only when it is on
-		// above's filesystem, and then reaches every regular file in it
-		// whatever device the file reports, so for a regular-file
-		// operand the directories checked start at its directory.
-		dir := r
-
-		fi, err := os.Lstat(r)
-		if err == nil && fi.Mode().IsRegular() {
-			dir = filepath.Dir(r)
-		}
-
-		for ; dir != above; dir = filepath.Dir(dir) {
-			dev, ok := device(dir)
-			if ok && dev != aboveDev {
-				kept = append(kept, r)
-
-				break
-			}
+		// A duplicate is dropped, and so is an operand the walk of above
+		// reaches.
+		if above != r && !walkReaches(above, r, oneFS, rules, device) {
+			kept = append(kept, r)
 		}
 	}
 
 	return kept
 }
 
+// walkReaches reports whether the walk of operand above reaches r, an
+// operand under it. That walk does not enter a default exclude in
+// rules, nor a directory that device puts on a filesystem in rules that
+// is not persistent, nor, with -x, one that device puts on a different
+// filesystem than above, when device knows above's. It reaches every
+// regular file in a directory it enters, so for a regular-file operand
+// the directories checked start at its directory; they end below above.
+func walkReaches(above, r string, oneFS bool, rules walkRules,
+	device func(path string) (uint64, bool),
+) bool {
+	aboveDev, aboveDevOK := device(above)
+
+	dir := r
+
+	fi, err := os.Lstat(r)
+	if err == nil && fi.Mode().IsRegular() {
+		dir = filepath.Dir(r)
+	}
+
+	for ; dir != above; dir = filepath.Dir(dir) {
+		if isDefaultExclude(dir, rules.excludes) {
+			return false
+		}
+
+		dev, ok := device(dir)
+		if !ok {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if _, found := rules.nonPersistent[dev]; found {
+			return false
+		}
+
+		if oneFS && aboveDevOK && dev != aboveDev {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+
+	return true
+}
+
 // deviceOfPath returns the filesystem device ID of the file at path,
 // when lstat succeeds and the platform exposes one.
 func deviceOfPath(path string) (uint64, bool) {
@@ -337,11 +366,11 @@ type scanState struct {
 // the hashed records still waiting in the batch, starts no other write
 // or deletion, and returns the cancellation.
 func syncScan(ctx context.Context, db *sql.DB, roots []string,
-	workers int, oneFS bool,
+	workers int, oneFS bool, rules walkRules,
 ) (scanStats, error) {
 	s := &scanState{db: db}
 
-	err := s.runPhases(ctx, roots, workers, oneFS)
+	err := s.runPhases(ctx, roots, workers, oneFS, rules)
 	if err == nil || ctx.Err() == nil {
 		return s.st, err
 	}
@@ -365,15 +394,18 @@ func syncScan(ctx context.Context, db *sql.DB, roots []string,
 // and content (fill in the content hash of every record of headTailMin
 // or more whose size, head, and tail match another record's). Records
 // outside the roots are never touched, except that the content phase
-// fills in their content hash. Operands the walk cannot start from are
-// dropped first, so the records beneath them are treated as if those
-// operands had not been given.
+// fills in their content hash. Operands the walk cannot start from, or
+// that are not on a persistent filesystem, are dropped first, so the
+// records beneath them are treated as if those operands had not been
+// given. Below an operand, the walk follows rules.
 func (s *scanState) runPhases(ctx context.Context, roots []string,
-	workers int, oneFS bool,
+	workers int, oneFS bool, rules walkRules,
 ) error {
-	// Types are checked before pruning so that an operand under a
-	// dropped one is still scanned, not dropped as lying under it.
-	roots = pruneRoots(s.walkableRoots(roots), oneFS, deviceOfPath)
+	// Types and filesystems are checked before pruning so that an
+	// operand under a dropped one is still scanned, not dropped as lying
+	// under it.
+	roots = pruneRoots(s.walkableRoots(roots, rules), oneFS, rules,
+		deviceOfPath)
 
 	err := s.loadIndex(ctx, roots)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -381,7 +413,7 @@ func (s *scanState) runPhases(ctx context.Context, roots []string,
 	}
 
 	changed, unhashed := s.walkPhase(
-		startWalk(ctx, roots, oneFS, workers), roots)
+		startWalk(ctx, roots, oneFS, rules, workers), roots)
 
 	// A cancelled walk stops early, so its size census covers only part
 	// of the roots, and every file it never reached would look vanished
@@ -403,7 +435,7 @@ func (s *scanState) runPhases(ctx context.Context, roots []string,
 		return err
 	}
 
-	return s.contentPhase(ctx, workers)
+	return s.contentPhase(ctx, workers, rules)
 }
 
 // walkableRoots returns the operands the walk can start from: regular
@@ -411,9 +443,11 @@ func (s *scanState) runPhases(ctx context.Context, roots []string,
 // about, counted as skipped, and dropped. A dropped operand is no
 // longer a root, so the records stored beneath it are treated as if it
 // had not been given: those under no other root count as outside the
-// roots and are not deleted as unverified. An operand that fails lstat
-// here is kept, and the walk warns about it.
-func (s *scanState) walkableRoots(roots []string) []string {
+// roots and are not deleted as unverified. An operand on a filesystem
+// in rules that is not persistent is dropped the same way, with a line
+// saying so that is not a warning, and is not counted as skipped. An
+// operand that fails lstat here is kept, and the walk warns about it.
+func (s *scanState) walkableRoots(roots []string, rules walkRules) []string {
 	kept := make([]string, 0, len(roots))
 
 	for _, root := range roots {
@@ -427,6 +461,13 @@ func (s *scanState) walkableRoots(roots []string) []string {
 
 				continue
 			}
+
+			line := rules.nonPersistentLine(root, fi)
+			if line != "" {
+				fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, escapePath(line))
+
+				continue
+			}
 		}
 
 		kept = append(kept, root)
@@ -481,10 +522,12 @@ func (s *scanState) loadIndex(ctx context.Context, roots []string) error {
 // (the content phase may still fill in its content hash). It returns
 // the new-or-changed files and the unchanged files whose records lack
 // hashes; both remain candidates until the census decides whether
-// their sizes are shared. A record below a directory -x did not enter
-// counts as outside the roots: it is not deleted, and its size joins
-// the census. That does not hold below a root at or inside that
-// directory, since that root's own walk verifies the records below it.
+// their sizes are shared. A record at or below a path the walk left
+// out, because -x stopped at it, it is a default exclude, or it is not
+// on a persistent filesystem, counts as outside the roots: it is not
+// deleted, and its size joins the census. That does not hold below a
+// root at or inside that path, since that root's own walk verifies the
+// records below it; nor is a line printed for such a root.
 func (s *scanState) walkPhase(
 	events <-chan walkEvent, roots []string,
 ) ([]fileRec, []fileRec) {
@@ -502,12 +545,25 @@ func (s *scanState) walkPhase(
 
 	var (
 		changed, unhashed []fileRec
-		otherFSDirs       []string
+		leftOut           []string
 	)
 
 	for ev := range events {
 		if ev.otherFSDir != "" {
-			otherFSDirs = append(otherFSDirs, ev.otherFSDir)
+			leftOut = append(leftOut, ev.otherFSDir)
+
+			continue
+		}
+
+		// The line saying so is printed as a warning is, but what the
+		// walk leaves out is not counted as skipped. A default exclude
+		// that is itself a root is walked as one, so it gets no line.
+		if ev.leftOut != "" {
+			leftOut = append(leftOut, ev.leftOut)
+
+			if !slices.Contains(roots, ev.leftOut) {
+				prog.warnf("%s", ev.warn)
+			}
 
 			continue
 		}
@@ -542,12 +598,13 @@ func (s *scanState) walkPhase(
 	prog.finish()
 
 	for path, old := range s.existing {
-		// Kept only when a directory -x did not enter lies below the
-		// deepest root above the record. A root at or below that
-		// directory was walked on its own and did not find the file.
-		// Both contain the record, so the longer path is the deeper.
-		otherFSDir := deepestRoot(path, otherFSDirs)
-		if len(otherFSDir) > len(deepestRoot(path, roots)) {
+		// Kept only when a path the walk left out lies below the deepest
+		// root above the record, or is the record's own. A root at or
+		// below that path was walked on its own and did not find the
+		// file. Both contain the record, so the longer path is the
+		// deeper.
+		left := deepestRoot(path, leftOut)
+		if len(left) > len(deepestRoot(path, roots)) {
 			delete(s.existing, path)
 
 			s.sizes = append(s.sizes, old.size)
@@ -821,9 +878,12 @@ func (s *scanState) updatePhase(ctx context.Context) error {
 // hash phase's worker pool and their records written back in batches. A
 // failed read is warned about and counted as skipped; the record keeps
 // its empty content, so it is never grouped, and a later scan tries
-// again.
-func (s *scanState) contentPhase(ctx context.Context, workers int) error {
-	toRead, recs, err := s.contentCandidates(ctx)
+// again. No file on a filesystem in rules that is not persistent is
+// read.
+func (s *scanState) contentPhase(ctx context.Context, workers int,
+	rules walkRules,
+) error {
+	toRead, recs, err := s.contentCandidates(ctx, rules)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -858,18 +918,19 @@ func (s *scanState) contentPhase(ctx context.Context, workers int) error {
 // contentCandidates returns the files the content phase reads, and
 // their records by path. Every record contentCandidatesSQL returns has
 // its file checked with lstat, whether or not it already has a content
-// hash: a file that is gone, is no longer a regular file, or has
-// changed by the walk's rule keeps its record as it is and does not
-// count as a match for the others, and any other lstat error is warned
-// about and counted as skipped, with the same result. If such a record
-// has no content hash, it stays out of duplicate groups; if it has one,
-// it is still reported until a scan covering its own tree updates or
-// removes it. The files of a group that pass and have no content hash
-// are read only if at least minGroupSize of the group's files pass, so
-// a group whose other members are all stale costs no reads. Only the
-// records to be read are kept.
+// hash: a file that is gone, is no longer a regular file, has changed
+// by the walk's rule, or is on a filesystem in rules that is not
+// persistent keeps its record as it is and does not count as a match
+// for the others, and any other lstat error is warned about and counted
+// as skipped, with the same result. If such a record has no content
+// hash, it stays out of duplicate groups; if it has one, it is still
+// reported until a scan covering its own tree updates or removes it.
+// The files of a group that pass and have no content hash are read only
+// if at least minGroupSize of the group's files pass, so a group whose
+// other members are all stale costs no reads. Only the records to be
+// read are kept.
 func (s *scanState) contentCandidates(
-	ctx context.Context,
+	ctx context.Context, rules walkRules,
 ) ([]fileRec, map[string]scanRec, error) {
 	// The search and the checks take real time on a large database;
 	// without a display the scan looks hung before the reads begin.
@@ -927,7 +988,7 @@ func (s *scanState) contentCandidates(
 			first = r
 		}
 
-		f, ok, err := unchangedFile(r)
+		f, ok, err := unchangedFile(r, rules)
 		if err != nil {
 			s.st.skipped++
 
@@ -961,9 +1022,10 @@ func (s *scanState) contentCandidates(
 
 // unchangedFile lstats the file r names and returns it for reading if
 // it is still the regular file r records: the same size, and an mtime
-// no newer than recorded (the walk's change rule). A file that is gone
-// or has changed reports false; any other lstat error is returned.
-func unchangedFile(r scanRec) (fileRec, bool, error) {
+// no newer than recorded (the walk's change rule). A file that is gone,
+// has changed, or is on a filesystem in rules that is not persistent
+// reports false; any other lstat error is returned.
+func unchangedFile(r scanRec, rules walkRules) (fileRec, bool, error) {
 	fi, err := os.Lstat(r.path)
 	if errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
 		return fileRec{}, false, nil
@@ -980,6 +1042,12 @@ func unchangedFile(r scanRec) (fileRec, bool, error) {
 
 	dev, ino := inodeOfInfo(fi)
 
+	// The scan reads nothing on a filesystem that is not persistent,
+	// whatever record an earlier scan left for the file.
+	if _, found := rules.nonPersistent[dev]; found {
+		return fileRec{}, false, nil
+	}
+
 	return fileRec{
 		path: r.path, size: r.size, mtime: r.mtime, dev: dev, ino: ino,
 	}, true, nil
@@ -1046,27 +1114,31 @@ type dirJob struct {
 }
 
 // walkEvent is one walk result delivered to the walk phase: a regular
-// file's statted record, a warning when fail is set, or, when
-// otherFSDir is set, a directory -x did not enter because it is on
-// another filesystem than its operand.
+// file's statted record, a warning when fail is set, or a path the walk
+// left out: when otherFSDir is set, a directory -x did not enter
+// because it is on another filesystem than its operand, and when
+// leftOut is set, a default exclude or a directory or file on a
+// filesystem that is not persistent, with warn holding the line that
+// says so.
 type walkEvent struct {
 	rec        fileRec
 	warn       string
 	fail       bool
 	otherFSDir string
+	leftOut    string
 }
 
 // startWalk seeds every root into the shared walk worker pool and
 // returns the event stream: one record per regular file, one warning
-// event per per-path error, and one event per directory -x did not
-// enter. The channel is closed when the walk completes, and also when
-// ctx is cancelled — every goroutine in the pool abandons its blocking
-// send in that case, so the consumer sees a truncated but properly
-// terminated stream instead of a stalled one.
+// event per per-path error, and one event per path -x or rules kept the
+// walk from entering or recording. The channel is closed when the walk
+// completes, and also when ctx is cancelled — every goroutine in the
+// pool abandons its blocking send in that case, so the consumer sees a
+// truncated but properly terminated stream instead of a stalled one.
 func startWalk(ctx context.Context, roots []string, oneFS bool,
-	workers int,
+	rules walkRules, workers int,
 ) <-chan walkEvent {
-	jobs, subdirs, events := startWalkWorkers(ctx, workers, oneFS)
+	jobs, subdirs, events := startWalkWorkers(ctx, workers, oneFS, rules)
 
 	go func() {
 		initial := make([]dirJob, 0, len(roots))
@@ -1177,7 +1249,7 @@ func seedRoot(ctx context.Context, root string,
 // workers drop the directories still queued rather than stop reading
 // jobs, so the range always runs out and the pool always tears down.
 func startWalkWorkers(ctx context.Context, workers int,
-	oneFS bool,
+	oneFS bool, rules walkRules,
 ) (chan dirJob, chan []dirJob, chan walkEvent) {
 	jobs := make(chan dirJob, workQueueDepth)
 	subdirs := make(chan []dirJob, workers)
@@ -1193,7 +1265,7 @@ func startWalkWorkers(ctx context.Context, workers int,
 				}
 
 				select {
-				case subdirs <- walkOneDir(ctx, job, oneFS, events):
+				case subdirs <- walkOneDir(ctx, job, oneFS, rules, events):
 				case <-ctx.Done():
 				}
 			}
@@ -1251,7 +1323,7 @@ func dispatchDirs(ctx context.Context, initial []dirJob,
 // entry and a warning event per unreadable one, and returns the
 // subdirectories to descend into.
 func walkOneDir(ctx context.Context, job dirJob, oneFS bool,
-	events chan<- walkEvent,
+	rules walkRules, events chan<- walkEvent,
 ) []dirJob {
 	entries, err := os.ReadDir(job.path)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -1275,7 +1347,8 @@ func walkOneDir(ctx context.Context, job dirJob, oneFS bool,
 		p := filepath.Join(job.path, e.Name())
 
 		if e.IsDir() {
-			if sub, ok := subdirJob(ctx, p, e, job, oneFS, events); ok {
+			sub, ok := subdirJob(ctx, p, e, job, oneFS, rules, events)
+			if ok {
 				subs = append(subs, sub)
 			}
 
@@ -1287,7 +1360,7 @@ func walkOneDir(ctx context.Context, job dirJob, oneFS bool,
 			continue
 		}
 
-		emitFile(ctx, p, e, events)
+		emitFile(ctx, p, e, rules, events)
 	}
 
 	return subs
@@ -1297,9 +1370,11 @@ func walkOneDir(ctx context.Context, job dirJob, oneFS bool,
 // The lstat happens here in the walk worker, while the directory's
 // metadata is still hot; a path that fails to stat (or stops being a
 // regular file) between the directory read and the lstat is warned
-// about and skipped.
+// about and skipped. A file on a filesystem in rules that is not
+// persistent, as through a bind mount of one file, is not recorded: it
+// gets an event naming it instead.
 func emitFile(ctx context.Context, p string, e fs.DirEntry,
-	events chan<- walkEvent,
+	rules walkRules, events chan<- walkEvent,
 ) {
 	info, err := e.Info()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -1315,6 +1390,13 @@ func emitFile(ctx context.Context, p string, e fs.DirEntry,
 		return
 	}
 
+	line := rules.nonPersistentLine(p, info)
+	if line != "" {
+		sendEvent(ctx, events, walkEvent{leftOut: p, warn: line})
+
+		return
+	}
+
 	dev, ino := inodeOfInfo(info)
 
 	sendEvent(ctx, events, walkEvent{rec: fileRec{
@@ -1328,22 +1410,20 @@ func emitFile(ctx context.Context, p string, e fs.DirEntry,
 
 // subdirJob applies the descent rules to directory p: never enter
 // .zfs (ZFS snapshot pseudo-dirs would list every file once per
-// snapshot), and with -x never enter a directory on a different
-// filesystem than its operand, sending an event that names it so the
-// scan keeps the records below it, except those below an operand at or
+// snapshot), never enter a directory on a filesystem in rules that is
+// not persistent, nor a default exclude in rules, and with -x never
+// enter a directory on a different filesystem than its operand. For the
+// last three it sends an event that names the directory, so the scan
+// keeps the records below it, except those below an operand at or
 // inside it.
 func subdirJob(ctx context.Context, p string, e fs.DirEntry,
-	parent dirJob, oneFS bool, events chan<- walkEvent,
+	parent dirJob, oneFS bool, rules walkRules,
+	events chan<- walkEvent,
 ) (dirJob, bool) {
 	if e.Name() == ".zfs" {
 		return dirJob{}, false
 	}
 
-	job := dirJob{path: p, rootDev: parent.rootDev, rootDevOK: parent.rootDevOK}
-	if !oneFS || !parent.rootDevOK {
-		return job, true
-	}
-
 	info, err := e.Info()
 	if err != nil {
 		sendEvent(ctx, events, walkEvent{
@@ -1354,6 +1434,27 @@ func subdirJob(ctx context.Context, p string, e fs.DirEntry,
 		return dirJob{}, false
 	}
 
+	line := rules.nonPersistentLine(p, info)
+	if line != "" {
+		sendEvent(ctx, events, walkEvent{leftOut: p, warn: line})
+
+		return dirJob{}, false
+	}
+
+	if isDefaultExclude(p, rules.excludes) {
+		sendEvent(ctx, events, walkEvent{
+			leftOut: p,
+			warn:    fmt.Sprintf("scan: skipped %s (default exclude)", p),
+		})
+
+		return dirJob{}, false
+	}
+
+	job := dirJob{path: p, rootDev: parent.rootDev, rootDevOK: parent.rootDevOK}
+	if !oneFS || !parent.rootDevOK {
+		return job, true
+	}
+
 	if dev, ok := deviceOfInfo(info); ok && dev != parent.rootDev {
 		sendEvent(ctx, events, walkEvent{otherFSDir: p})
 

scan_test.go

@@ -782,7 +782,8 @@ func collectWalk(t *testing.T, roots []string, oneFS bool,
 		errs int
 	)
 
-	for ev := range startWalk(t.Context(), roots, oneFS, workers) {
+	for ev := range startWalk(t.Context(), roots, oneFS, walkRules{},
+		workers) {
 		if ev.fail {
 			errs++
 
@@ -1004,7 +1005,8 @@ func callSubdirJob(t *testing.T, p string, e fs.DirEntry,
 	t.Helper()
 
 	events := make(chan walkEvent, 1)
-	job, ok := subdirJob(t.Context(), p, e, parent, oneFS, events)
+	job, ok := subdirJob(t.Context(), p, e, parent, oneFS, walkRules{},
+		events)
 	close(events)
 
 	var evs []walkEvent
@@ -1152,7 +1154,7 @@ func syncOneFilesystem(t *testing.T, db *sql.DB, roots []string,
 		return dev, ok
 	}
 
-	roots = pruneRoots(roots, true, device)
+	roots = pruneRoots(roots, true, walkRules{}, device)
 
 	ctx := t.Context()
 	s := &scanState{db: db}
@@ -1162,7 +1164,7 @@ func syncOneFilesystem(t *testing.T, db *sql.DB, roots []string,
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	jobs, subdirs, events := startWalkWorkers(ctx, 2, true)
+	jobs, subdirs, events := startWalkWorkers(ctx, 2, true, walkRules{})
 
 	// seedRoot emits a regular-file operand itself and returns a job
 	// only for a directory operand.
@@ -1463,7 +1465,7 @@ const smokeTreeFiles = 15
 func syncTree(t *testing.T, db *sql.DB, roots ...string) scanStats {
 	t.Helper()
 
-	st, err := syncScan(t.Context(), db, roots, 4, false)
+	st, err := syncScan(t.Context(), db, roots, 4, false, walkRules{})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("syncScan: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -2412,7 +2414,7 @@ func TestPruneRoots(t *testing.T) {
 	// Duplicates and operands under other operands are dropped; /cc is
 	// not under /c (sibling with a shared prefix).
 	got := pruneRoots([]string{"/a/b", "/a", "/c", "/a", "/a/b/c", "/cc"},
-		false, device)
+		false, walkRules{}, device)
 
 	want := []string{"/a", "/c", "/cc"}
 	if !slices.Equal(got, want) {
@@ -2421,7 +2423,7 @@ func TestPruneRoots(t *testing.T) {
 
 	nested := []string{"/p/q/r", pqRoot, "/p", "/p", "/p/s", "/p/t"}
 
-	got = pruneRoots(nested, false, device)
+	got = pruneRoots(nested, false, walkRules{}, device)
 
 	want = []string{"/p"}
 	if !slices.Equal(got, want) {
@@ -2429,12 +2431,31 @@ func TestPruneRoots(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// With -x, /p/q, on another filesystem than /p, is kept as well.
-	got = pruneRoots(nested, true, device)
+	got = pruneRoots(nested, true, walkRules{}, device)
 
 	want = []string{"/p", pqRoot}
 	if !slices.Equal(got, want) {
 		t.Fatalf("pruneRoots with -x = %q, want %q", got, want)
 	}
+
+	// The walk of /p does not enter /p/q when it is a default exclude, so
+	// /p/q is kept, without -x too; /p/q/r lies under it and is dropped.
+	got = pruneRoots(nested, false, walkRules{excludes: []string{pqRoot}},
+		device)
+	if !slices.Equal(got, want) {
+		t.Fatalf("pruneRoots excluding %s = %q, want %q", pqRoot, got, want)
+	}
+
+	// Nor does it enter /p/q when the filesystem of /p/q is not
+	// persistent, so /p/q/r/m, of no known device, is kept.
+	got = pruneRoots([]string{"/p", "/p/q/r/m"}, false,
+		walkRules{nonPersistent: map[uint64]string{2: "tmpfs"}}, device)
+
+	want = []string{"/p", "/p/q/r/m"}
+	if !slices.Equal(got, want) {
+		t.Fatalf("pruneRoots with %s not persistent = %q, want %q",
+			pqRoot, got, want)
+	}
 }
 
 func TestReportsNeverTouchFilesystem(t *testing.T) {