Rewrite TODO.md sentence by sentence (closes #135)

TODO.md is the project's own task list, judged by the same rules as
README.md: short sentences, lists as bullets, nothing a newcomer reads
twice. Every completed step is kept with its date and its issue or
branch, and every fact the old entries recorded is kept too, in short
sentences. The 2026-07-22 policy-compliance checklist is folded into
the step that did the work, and the accepted divergence from the
layout policy gets a section of its own. Workflow, Status and Next
Step keep their rules unchanged.

Model: fable-5-1

TODO.md

@@ -1,35 +1,47 @@
 # Workflow
 
-- take an issue from the `1.0.0` milestone on the tracker; work not yet on the
-  tracker gets filed as an issue first
-- branch from `next`
-- do the work, with tests, in small focused commits
-- record it at the top of Completed Steps (`TODO.md` changes in the same commit
-  as the work)
-- push the branch and open a PR against `next` whose title ends with
-  ` (closes #N)`
-- an independent review gates each merge to `next`; every finding is addressed
-  or explicitly rebutted on the PR
-- only the owner merges `next` to `main`
+- Take an issue from the `1.0.0` milestone on the tracker. Work that is not on
+  the tracker yet is filed as an issue first.
+- Branch from `next`.
+- Do the work, with tests, in small focused commits.
+- Record the step at the top of Completed Steps, in the same commit as the work.
+- Push the branch and open a PR against `next`. Its title ends with
+  ` (closes #N)`.
+- An independent review gates each merge to `next`. Every finding is addressed
+  or rebutted on the PR.
+- Only the owner merges `next` into `main`.
 
 # Status
 
-- pre-1.0
-- the Gitea tracker is authoritative for the pre-1.0 backlog: the open issues
-  under the `1.0.0` milestone are what remains before the tag, and this file
-  records history and process, not the queue
+- Pre-1.0.
+- The tracker is authoritative for the pre-1.0 backlog. The open issues under
+  the `1.0.0` milestone are what remains before the tag. This file records
+  history and process, not the queue.
 
 # Next Step
 
-- take the next issue from the `1.0.0` milestone on the tracker:
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/milestone/17 — the milestone is the source
-  of truth for what is left before 1.0.0. Individual issues are deliberately not
-  restated here; a copy in this file drifts out of date the moment the tracker
-  moves
+- Take the next issue from the `1.0.0` milestone:
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/milestone/17. The issues are not restated
+  here, because a copy drifts as soon as the tracker moves.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
-- a file or directory removed while the scan runs is not an error, in the walk
+Newest first. An entry ends with its date and its issue or branch, where those
+are known.
+
+- `TODO.md` rewritten from scratch by the same rules as `README.md`: short
+  sentences, lists as bullets, nothing a newcomer reads twice. Every completed
+  step is kept, with its date and its issue or branch. The policy-compliance
+  checklist of 2026-07-22 is folded into its step (2026-10-26,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/135)
+
+- `README.md` rewritten from scratch, sentence by sentence, as a newcomer reads
+  it. It leads with what the program is and how to use it. A reference section
+  covers the settings, the database, the output formats and the exit codes;
+  development and testing come last. Every statement was checked against the
+  code on `next` (2026-10-26, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/135)
+
+- A file or directory removed while the scan runs is not an error, in the walk
   or in the hash phase. The scan prints no line for it and does not count it as
   skipped. When the first of several hard links to a file is gone, the hash
   phase reads the next one instead. On a terminal every progress display starts
@@ -39,218 +51,236 @@
   terminal now loses its rate before its bar. The time remaining is labelled
   `remain`, not `eta` (2026-10-26, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/133)
 
-- the `head`, `tail` and `content` columns are BLOBs, each holding the raw 32
+- The `head`, `tail` and `content` columns are BLOBs, each holding the raw 32
   bytes of a SHA-256, half the size of the hex text they held. The hashes stay
   raw from the hash phase through the database to `report` and `trees`. Reading
   a record whose hash is not 32 bytes is an error (2026-10-26,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/134)
 
-- the hash phase gives every file the walk records three hashes: `head` and
-  `tail`, the SHA-256 of its first and last 64 KiB, and `content`, the SHA-256
-  of the whole file under 100 MiB and of 1 MiB at each gigabyte from 100 MiB up.
-  The 10 MiB and 50 MiB thresholds, the size census, the records stored without
-  hashes and the content phase are gone, so a scan has four phases and a rescan
-  reads only new and changed files. `info` no longer counts the records with
-  hashes, since every record has them (2026-10-25,
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/132)
+- Every file the walk records gets three hashes in the hash phase. `head` and
+  `tail` are the SHA-256 of its first and last 64 KiB. `content` is the SHA-256
+  of the whole file under 100 MiB, and of 1 MiB at each gigabyte from 100 MiB
+  up. Gone are:
+    - the 10 MiB and 50 MiB thresholds;
+    - the size census;
+    - the records without hashes;
+    - the content phase.
 
-- re-vendor `REPO_POLICIES.md` and the four scripts that pass `CACHEBUST` from
-  `sneak/prompts` `next` at `0653579`: in the `lint`, `test` and `builder`
-  stages of the `Dockerfile` the module download, and in `builder` the
-  system-package install, now come before `ARG CACHEBUST`, so Docker keeps them
-  until the base image, the install line, `go.mod` or `go.sum` changes, and
-  every step that lints, tests or compiles still comes after it;
-  `golangci-lint run` also keeps golangci-lint's cache. README says the same
+    A scan has four phases, and a rescan reads only new and changed files.
+    `info` no longer counts the records with `head` and `tail` hashes, nor those
+    with a content hash, since every record has all three (2026-10-25,
+    https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/132)
+
+- `REPO_POLICIES.md` and the four scripts that pass `CACHEBUST` re-vendored from
+  `sneak/prompts` `next` at `0653579`. Two steps now come before
+  `ARG CACHEBUST`: the module download in the `lint`, `test` and `builder`
+  stages of the `Dockerfile`, and the package install in `builder`. Docker keeps
+  them until the base image, the install line, `go.mod` or `go.sum` changes.
+  Every step that lints, tests or compiles still comes after it.
+  `golangci-lint run` also keeps the linter's own cache. README says the same
   (2026-10-18, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/109)
 
-- releases until 1.0 are `v0.0.N` tags on `main`'s tip, so
-  `go install sneak.berlin/go/sfdupes@latest` installs `main`'s tip once it has
-  passed the build; README "Install" says so, says what `@main` and `v0.0.1`
-  give, and how to check an installed binary. `go.mod` retracts `v0.0.1`, the
-  early build without a database. When the linker set no version,
-  `sfdupes --version` prints the main module's version that Go recorded in the
-  binary, the tag or the pseudo-version of a `go install` build, and `dev` only
-  when neither is known (2026-10-17,
+- Release rule set: until 1.0, each tip of `main` that passes the build gets the
+  next `v0.0.N` tag, so `go install sneak.berlin/go/sfdupes@latest` installs it.
+  `go.mod` retracts `v0.0.1`, the early build without a database. When the
+  linker set no version, `sfdupes --version` prints the version Go recorded in
+  the binary: the tag, or the pseudo-version of a `go install` build. It prints
+  `dev` only when neither is known. README "Install" documented the rule, what
+  `@main` and `v0.0.1` give, and how to check an installed binary (2026-10-17,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/116)
 
-- `scan` creates the database's directory where the database path leads: the
-  path with its last element cut off as text, never cleaned, so a `..` after a
-  symlinked directory is followed through the symlink, as when the file is
-  opened. With `SFDUPES_DATABASE=/srv/link/../new/db.sqlite` and `/srv/link` a
-  symlink to `/data/x`, it creates `/data/new` and the database in it, where it
-  used to create `/srv/new` and then fail (2026-10-17,
+- `scan` creates the database's directory where the database path leads. The
+  directory is the path with its last element cut off as text, never cleaned. A
+  `..` after a symlinked directory therefore goes through the symlink, as it
+  does when the file is opened. With
+  `SFDUPES_DATABASE=/srv/link/../new/db.sqlite` and `/srv/link` a symlink to
+  `/data/x`, it now creates `/data/new` and the database in it. It used to
+  create `/srv/new` and then fail (2026-10-17,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/119)
 
-- `scan` never records its own database: once the database and its `.lock` file
+- `scan` never records its own database. Once the database and its `.lock` file
   are open, it notes the device and inode of the database file, its `-wal` and
-  `-shm` files and its `.lock` file, and the walk passes over a file with one of
-  them wherever the operands reach it, through a symlinked directory included,
-  printing no line and counting nothing. A record an earlier scan left for one
-  of them is deleted (2026-10-17, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/115)
+  `-shm` files and the `.lock` file. The walk passes over a file with one of
+  them wherever it reaches it, through a symlinked directory included, printing
+  no line and counting nothing. A record an earlier scan left for one of them is
+  deleted (2026-10-17, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/115)
 
-- `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
+- `scan` never records or reads anything on a filesystem that is not persistent:
+  `tmpfs`, `proc`, `sysfs` and the other kernel or memory-backed types. It
+  matches them by device ID. As the scan starts, it lists the mounted
+  filesystems of those types, from `/proc/self/mountinfo` on Linux and from the
+  mount list on macOS. No flag turns that off. Below an operand, the 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 those are
+  `/proc`, `/sys`, `/dev`, `/run`, `/tmp` and `/var/tmp`. On macOS they are
+  `/dev`, `/private/tmp`, `/private/var/tmp`, `/private/var/vm`,
+  `/System/Volumes/VM` and `/System/Volumes/Data`. A Windows list exists in the
+  code but is not used. 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
-  steady rate of over 1,000 files a second; the ETA still comes from the phase's
-  average. Once no item has completed for 10 seconds, the word `stalled` and
-  where the phase waits take the rate's place, as `stalled disk/db`: `disk`,
-  `db`, `out` for stdout or `cpu`, or two of them for a phase that may wait on
-  either, each phase giving its word where it is defined. A line too wide for
-  the terminal loses its bar first, then its rate or those words, so the phase,
-  progress, elapsed time and ETA stay whole. On an 80-column terminal, at counts
-  like those of README's example, the content phase's checks and reads lose
-  those words at most times in minutes, and every other phase keeps them
-  whenever the elapsed time and the ETA are both in minutes. The content phase's
-  last partial batch is now written under a display of its own (2026-10-16,
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/125)
+- 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. It falls to 0
+  while nothing completes, and a burst after a wait no longer reads as a steady
+  rate of over 1,000 files a second. The time remaining still comes from the
+  phase's average. Once no item has completed for 10 seconds, the word `stalled`
+  and where the phase waits take the rate's place, as `stalled disk/db`. The
+  places are `disk`, `db`, `out` for stdout and `cpu`, or two of them for a
+  phase that may wait on either. Each phase gives its word where it is defined.
+  A line too wide for the terminal loses its bar first, then its rate or those
+  words, so the phase, progress, elapsed time and ETA stay whole. On an
+  80-column terminal, at counts like those of README's example, the content
+  phase's checks and reads lose those words at most times in minutes. Every
+  other phase keeps them whenever the elapsed time and the ETA are both in
+  minutes. The content phase's last partial batch is written under a display of
+  its own (2026-10-16, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/125)
 
-- new subcommand `info` prints the database's details on stdout, one per line as
-  a name, a tab and the value: its path and where it came from, the sizes of the
-  database file and of its `-wal` file when there is one, when the database file
-  was last changed, the schema version, the number of records, how many have
-  head and tail hashes and how many a content hash, and the sizes of all records
-  added up. It opens the database as `report` does, and shows two phases on
-  stderr, `[1/2] open` and `[2/2] count`; the schema version and the counts come
-  from one read-only transaction, the counts from one query (2026-10-16,
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/117)
+- New subcommand `info` prints the database's details on stdout, one per line as
+  a name, a tab and the value:
+    - the path and where it came from;
+    - the sizes of the database file and of its `-wal` file, when there is one;
+    - when the database file was last changed;
+    - the schema version;
+    - the number of records, how many have `head` and `tail` hashes, and how
+      many have a content hash;
+    - the sizes of all records added up.
+
+    It opens the database as `report` does and shows two phases on stderr,
+    `[1/2] open` and `[2/2] count`. The schema version and the counts come from
+    one read-only transaction, the counts from one query (2026-10-16,
+    https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/117)
 
 - `report` shows its work on stderr in two phases, `[1/2] open` and
-  `[2/2] read`, with the progress display `scan` and `trees` use, from the
-  moment it starts until the summary line: `open` says it is opening the
-  database, also while it waits on a busy one; `read` counts the records, then
-  reads them against that count in signature order, which SQLite takes from the
-  `files_signature` index without sorting, so the first record comes at once.
-  `report` forms the duplicate groups itself, holding only those of the size it
-  is reading, and writes them ordered by first path before it reads the next
-  size. stdout and the summary line are unchanged, and SQLite no longer needs a
-  temporary file to sort in (2026-10-16,
+  `[2/2] read`, with the progress display `scan` and `trees` use. The display
+  runs from the moment `report` starts until the summary line. `open` says it is
+  opening the database, also while it waits on a busy one. `read` counts the
+  records, then reads them against that count in signature order. SQLite takes
+  that order from the `files_signature` index without sorting, so the first
+  record comes at once. `report` forms the duplicate groups itself, holding only
+  those of the size it is reading, and writes them ordered by first path before
+  it reads the next size. stdout and the summary line are unchanged, and SQLite
+  no longer needs a temporary file to sort in (2026-10-16,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/114)
 
 - `trees` shows its work on stderr in four phases, `[1/4] open`, `[2/4] read`,
-  `[3/4] group` and `[4/4] write`, each with the progress display `scan` uses,
-  from the moment it starts until the summary line: `open` says it is opening
-  the database, also while it waits on a busy one; `read` counts the records,
-  then reads them against that count; `group` counts the directories it groups,
-  and `write` the groups it writes. A display's rate names what its phase
-  counts: files, records, directories or groups. stdout and the summary line are
-  unchanged. When stdout and stderr are the same file, as one terminal is, none
-  of stdout's lines shares a line with the display; when they are not, the
-  display keeps being drawn while stdout waits on a slow reader (2026-10-16,
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/113)
+  `[3/4] group` and `[4/4] write`, each with the progress display `scan` uses.
+  The display runs from the moment `trees` starts until the summary line. `open`
+  says it is opening the database, also while it waits on a busy one. `read`
+  counts the records, then reads them against that count. `group` counts the
+  directories it groups, and `write` the groups it writes. A display's rate
+  names what its phase counts: files, records, directories or groups. stdout and
+  the summary line are unchanged. When stdout and stderr are the same file, as
+  one terminal is, no line of stdout shares a line with the display. When they
+  are not, the display keeps being drawn while stdout waits on a slow reader
+  (2026-10-16, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/113)
 
-- each `scan` phase's progress display names the phase and its place among the
-  five, as `[2/5] walk`, from the moment it starts, with its progress, elapsed
-  time and ETA: `load` counts the records first, the walk's total is estimated
-  from the records under the operands, and the content phase counts the records
-  it checks from SQLite's grouping alone, then says it is searching the database
-  until the first one is returned. On a terminal a phase with an exact total
-  draws its line followed by the library's bar, and any other a spinner followed
-  by the line; every display is drawn again several times a second. No line
-  reaches the terminal's last column, however narrow, also after the terminal is
-  made narrower during a phase: a line too wide leaves out its rate, then its
-  bar, keeping the phase, progress, elapsed time and ETA whole, and is cut short
-  only when those alone do not fit, as below about 70 columns late in a large
-  scan. In plain mode the line is printed every 5 seconds whether or not an item
-  completed (2026-10-16, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/112)
+- Each `scan` phase's progress display names the phase and its place among the
+  five, as `[2/5] walk`. It runs from the moment the phase starts and shows its
+  progress, elapsed time and ETA. `load` counts the records first. The walk's
+  total is estimated from the records under the operands. The content phase
+  counts the records it checks from SQLite's grouping alone, then says it is
+  searching the database until the first one is returned. On a terminal a phase
+  with an exact total draws its line followed by the library's bar. Any other
+  phase draws a spinner followed by the line. Every display is drawn again
+  several times a second. No line reaches the terminal's last column, however
+  narrow, also after the terminal is made narrower during a phase. A line too
+  wide leaves out its rate, then its bar, keeping the phase, progress, elapsed
+  time and ETA whole. It is cut short only when those alone do not fit, as below
+  about 70 columns late in a large scan. In plain mode the line is printed every
+  5 seconds whether or not an item completed (2026-10-16,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/112)
 
 - `scan`, `report` and `trees` first print a line on stderr naming the database
   they use, as an absolute path, and whether that path is the default or comes
-  from `SFDUPES_DATABASE`; `scan` says when the database is new. README
+  from `SFDUPES_DATABASE`. `scan` says when the database is new. README
   "Database" says when `scan` writes each file (2026-10-16,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/111)
 
-- re-vendor the canonical files and model scripts from `sneak/prompts` `next` at
-  `e3f79c4`: golangci-lint v2.14.0; lint and test are phases of the `Dockerfile`
-  that write no image, and `make test` runs the suite under the race detector,
-  so `Dockerfile.lint`, `script/verify-lint-image-pin` and `make test-race` are
-  gone; every `docker build` in `script/` passes a new `CACHEBUST` value, which
-  every stage of the `Dockerfile` declares first, so every `RUN` step runs on
-  every build, while the steps that compile keep Go's build cache and the tests
-  run with `-count=1`; prettier runs on the host, from the node and yarn
-  `script/bootstrap` installs, so the `prettier` and `markdown` stages are gone
-  and the build stage installs `git` and `make` itself; a new push cancels the
-  workflow's older run on the same branch, and a run stops after 20 minutes;
-  `.claude/settings.json` is deleted (2026-10-15,
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/95). Since
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/109 the module download in `lint`,
-  `test` and the build stage, and the install of `git` and `make` in the build
-  stage, come before `ARG CACHEBUST`, and Docker keeps them between builds;
-  every step that lints, tests or compiles still runs on every build
+- The canonical files and model scripts re-vendored from `sneak/prompts` `next`
+  at `e3f79c4`:
+    - `golangci-lint` v2.14.0;
+    - lint and test are phases of the `Dockerfile` that write no image, and
+      `make test` runs the suite under the race detector. `Dockerfile.lint`,
+      `script/verify-lint-image-pin` and `make test-race` are gone;
+    - every `docker build` in `script/` passes a new `CACHEBUST` value, which
+      every stage of the `Dockerfile` declares first, so every `RUN` step runs
+      on every build. The steps that compile keep Go's build cache, and the
+      tests run with `-count=1`;
+    - `prettier` runs on the host, from the `node` and `yarn` that
+      `script/bootstrap` installs, so the `prettier` and `markdown` stages are
+      gone and the build stage installs `git` and `make` itself;
+    - a new push cancels the workflow's older run on the same branch, and a run
+      stops after 20 minutes;
+    - `.claude/settings.json` is deleted.
 
-- with `-x`, an operand under another operand is walked on its own instead of
-  being dropped when a directory from it (from its directory, for a regular
-  file) up to but not including that operand is on a different filesystem than
-  that operand, whose walk then cannot reach it, and the records of files gone
-  from below it are deleted (2026-10-14,
+    Since https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/109 two steps come before
+    `ARG CACHEBUST`: the module download in `lint`, `test` and the build stage,
+    and the install of `git` and `make` in the build stage. Docker keeps them
+    between builds, and every step that lints, tests or compiles still runs on
+    every build (2026-10-15, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/95)
+
+- With `-x`, an operand under another operand is no longer dropped when the
+  outer operand's walk cannot reach it. That is the case when a directory from
+  the inner operand up to, but not including, the outer one is on a different
+  filesystem than the outer one. The inner operand is then walked on its own.
+  For a regular-file operand the directories checked start at its directory. The
+  records of files gone from below it are deleted (2026-10-14,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/106)
 
-- with `-x`, `scan` keeps the records below a directory on another filesystem
+- With `-x`, `scan` keeps the records below a directory on another filesystem
   under its operand, and counts their sizes in the size census, instead of
   deleting them (2026-10-14, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/99)
 
-- the hash and content phases open each file without blocking and check that it
-  is still a regular file, so one replaced by a FIFO or device node after it was
+- The hash and content phases open each file without blocking and check that it
+  is still a regular file. A file replaced by a FIFO or device node after it was
   statted is warned about and skipped instead of hanging the scan (2026-10-14,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/100)
 
-- the scan lock file is named from the database's path with symlinks resolved,
-  after `scan` creates the database file if it is missing, so a scan through a
-  symlink to the database fails while another scan holds the lock (2026-10-14,
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/101)
+- The scan lock file is named from the database's path with symlinks resolved,
+  after `scan` creates the database file if it is missing. A scan through a
+  symlink to the database therefore fails while another scan holds the lock
+  (2026-10-14, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/101)
 
-- on a terminal, a warning for the last file of a phase no longer erases the
-  phase's finished bar: the bar is drawn again below the warning (2026-10-14,
+- On a terminal, a warning for the last file of a phase no longer erases the
+  phase's finished bar. The bar is drawn again below the warning (2026-10-14,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/102)
 
-- `scan` records mtime to the nanosecond, as whole seconds in `mtime` plus
-  `mtime_nsec`, and compares it at that resolution, so a same-size rewrite
-  within the same second is re-hashed (2026-10-07,
+- `scan` records the mtime to the nanosecond, as whole seconds in `mtime` plus
+  `mtime_nsec`, and compares it at that resolution. A same-size rewrite within
+  the same second is hashed again (2026-10-07,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/12)
 
-- cut the narration from `TODO.md` Completed Steps and from the comments in
+- The narration was cut from `TODO.md` Completed Steps and from the comments in
   `script/`, `Dockerfile` and `Dockerfile.lint` (gone since
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/95); §Workflow now branches from and
-  merges to `next` (2026-10-04, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/49)
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/95). The Workflow section now
+  branches from and merges to `next` (2026-10-04,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/49)
 
 - `make test-race` ran the test suite under the race detector in a cgo-enabled
-  container, outside `make check` (2026-10-04,
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/18). Since
+  container, outside `make check`. Since
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/95 `make test` itself runs the suite
   under the race detector, in the `Dockerfile`'s Debian-based `test` phase, and
-  `make test-race` is gone
+  `make test-race` is gone (2026-10-04,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/18)
 
-- a bare `docker build .` failed, naming `script/cibuild` and `script/docker`,
-  rather than serve the gates from cache (2026-10-04,
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/39). Since
+- A bare `docker build .` failed, naming `script/cibuild` and `script/docker`,
+  rather than serve the gates from cache. Since
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/95 a bare build succeeds, as
-  `REPO_POLICIES.md` requires, and may serve the gates from cache; the builds in
-  `script/` pass a new `CACHEBUST` value, so theirs always run
+  `REPO_POLICIES.md` requires, and may serve the gates from cache. The builds in
+  `script/` pass a new `CACHEBUST` value, so theirs always run (2026-10-04,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/39)
 
-- `make fmt` and `make fmt-check` run prettier over all Markdown, and CI checks
-  it; all Markdown reformatted (2026-10-04,
+- `make fmt` and `make fmt-check` run `prettier` over all Markdown, and CI
+  checks it. All Markdown was reformatted (2026-10-04,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/19)
 
 - `script/lint` writes no image, so a run no longer leaves an untagged one
   behind (2026-10-04, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/48)
 
-- tests cover a missing database, `scan` keeping stdout empty, its skip warning,
+- Tests cover a missing database, `scan` keeping stdout empty, its skip warning,
   the `report` and `trees` summary lines, and every subcommand going through
   `runE` (2026-10-04, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/16)
 
@@ -258,296 +288,307 @@
   `gomodguard_v2`, so lint no longer prints a deprecation warning (2026-10-04,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/26)
 
-- a test fails when either `hashWorker` cancellation check in `scan.go` is
+- A test fails when either `hashWorker` cancellation check in `scan.go` is
   removed (2026-10-04, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/83)
 
-- a database path holding `?`, `#` or `%` opens exactly the file it names
+- A database path holding `?`, `#` or `%` opens exactly the file it names
   (2026-10-04, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/55)
 
 - `scan` rejects `--workers` below 1 as a usage error instead of running
   single-threaded (2026-10-04, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/10)
 
-- a test fails when either walk cancellation check in `scan.go` is removed
+- A test fails when either walk cancellation check in `scan.go` is removed
   (2026-10-04, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/81)
 
-- test that `scan` refuses a database with another schema version (2026-10-04,
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/64)
+- A test checks that `scan` refuses a database with another schema version
+  (2026-10-04, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/64)
 
-- correct four inaccurate comments in `cancel_test.go` and rename
-  `walkCancelInFlightDirs` to `walkCancelInFlightFiles` (2026-10-04,
+- Four inaccurate comments in `cancel_test.go` corrected, and
+  `walkCancelInFlightDirs` renamed to `walkCancelInFlightFiles` (2026-10-04,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/33)
 
-- test the `-x` filesystem-boundary rules in `subdirJob` (2026-10-04,
+- The `-x` filesystem-boundary rules in `subdirJob` are tested (2026-10-04,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/17)
 
-- `scan` creates the schema in one transaction; a version-0 database with a
+- `scan` creates the schema in one transaction. A version-0 database with a
   `files` table is refused with a clear schema-version error (2026-10-04,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/11)
 
 - README documents install, Docker, a daily cron scan and how to read and check
   the reports (2026-10-04, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/54)
 
-- the `Dockerfile` build stage kept the Go module cache out of `builder`'s home
-  and copied the sources with `--chown`, so no `chown -R` walked them
-  (2026-10-04, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/43). Since
+- The `Dockerfile` build stage kept the Go module cache out of `builder`'s home
+  and copied the sources with `--chown`, so no `chown -R` walked them. Since
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/95 there is no `builder` user and
   nothing changes owner: the build stage only compiles, as root, and the tests
-  run as `nobody` in the `test` phase
+  run as `nobody` in the `test` phase (2026-10-04,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/43)
 
-- `--version` prints `sfdupes VERSION` to stdout; README documents it and
+- `--version` prints `sfdupes VERSION` to stdout. README documents it and
   `--help` (2026-10-04, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/15)
 
-- `scan` stops cleanly on `SIGINT` or `SIGTERM`: commits what it has hashed,
-  deletes nothing more, exits 1 (2026-10-04,
+- `scan` stops cleanly on `SIGINT` or `SIGTERM`: it commits what it has hashed,
+  deletes nothing more, and exits 1 (2026-10-04,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/5)
 
-- `report` and `trees` stream the records instead of holding them all in memory;
-  the schema gains the `files_signature` index (2026-10-04,
+- `report` and `trees` stream the records instead of holding them all in memory.
+  The schema gains the `files_signature` index (2026-10-04,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/14)
 
-- progress prints at once on a non-terminal, uses a real terminal test, and
+- Progress prints at once on a non-terminal, uses a real terminal test, and
   prints warnings through a spinner instead of racing its redraw (2026-10-03,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/13)
 
-- warn about and skip symlink, socket, FIFO, device and `.zfs` operands, keeping
-  the records beneath them (2026-10-03,
+- Symlink, socket, FIFO, device and `.zfs` operands are warned about and
+  skipped, and the records beneath them are kept (2026-10-03,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/9)
 
 - `scan` holds a lock on a lock file beside the database for its whole run, so a
   second `scan` fails at once with exit 1 (2026-10-03,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/53)
 
-- test stdout write failures in `report` and `trees`; README states that
-  `| head` ends sfdupes by `SIGPIPE` and `>&-` writes to `/dev/null`
+- Tests cover stdout write failures in `report` and `trees`. README states that
+  `| head` ends `sfdupes` by `SIGPIPE` and that `>&-` writes to `/dev/null`
   (2026-10-03, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/30)
 
 - `report` and `trees` open the database read-only, and `scan` leaves it out of
-  WAL mode, so reading needs only read access (2026-10-03, closes
+  WAL mode, so reading needs only read access (2026-10-03,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/8)
 
-- escape tabs, newlines, carriage returns and backslashes in report, trees and
-  warning paths; the root directory's path is `/` (2026-10-03,
+- Tabs, newlines, carriage returns and backslashes are escaped in report, trees
+  and warning paths. The root directory's path is `/` (2026-10-03,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/7)
 
-- stamp the git tag or short commit in a plain `docker build .` instead of `dev`
-  (2026-10-02, branch `next`, closes
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/67): `.dockerignore` sends `.git`
-  without `.git/config`; the build stage stamps the `VERSION` build argument,
-  else `git describe --tags --always`, and fails if the context carries `.git`
-  and the version is still empty, `dev` or `unknown`. CI checks out the full
-  history (`fetch-depth: 0`) so it stamps the same value as `make build`.
+- A plain `docker build .` stamps the git tag or short commit instead of `dev`.
+  `.dockerignore` sends `.git` without `.git/config`. The build stage stamps the
+  `VERSION` build argument, else `git describe --tags --always`. It fails if the
+  context carries `.git` and the version is still empty, `dev` or `unknown`. CI
+  checks out the full history (`fetch-depth: 0`), so it stamps the same value as
+  `make build` (2026-10-02, branch `next`,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/67)
 
-- replace the 1 KiB end-window sampling with the head/tail plus content-hash
-  ladder (2026-09-22, branch `next`, closes
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/61); README "Duplicate detection"
-  documents every rung. A file under 10 MiB is hashed in full, and its `head`,
-  `tail` and `content` all hold that hash. A larger file gets only its 64 KiB
-  `head` and `tail` in the hash phase; the content phase, after the update
-  phase, reads it for `content` (the whole file below 50 MiB, gigabyte-spaced 1
-  MiB samples at or above) only when its size, `head` and `tail` match another
-  record's from this scan or an earlier one, and never reads a file gone or
-  changed since its record was written. `report` and `trees` leave out any
-  record without a `content` hash. The `content` column is part of the version 1
-  schema.
+- The 1 KiB end-window sampling was replaced with the hashes chosen by file
+  size, and README "Duplicate detection" documented every size threshold. A file
+  under 10 MiB was hashed in full, and its `head`, `tail` and `content` all held
+  that hash. A larger file got only its 64 KiB `head` and `tail` in the hash
+  phase. The content phase, after the update phase, read it for `content` only
+  when its size, `head` and `tail` matched another record's, from this scan or
+  an earlier one. `content` was the whole file below 50 MiB, and gigabyte-spaced
+  1 MiB samples at or above. A file gone or changed since its record was written
+  was never read. `report` and `trees` left out any record without a `content`
+  hash. The `content` column is part of the version 1 schema. Superseded by
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/132 (2026-09-22, branch `next`,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/61)
 
-- remove the dead `files.dat` references from `Makefile`, `.gitignore` and
-  `.dockerignore` (2026-09-21, branch `next`, closes
+- The dead `files.dat` references removed from `Makefile`, `.gitignore` and
+  `.dockerignore` (2026-09-21, branch `next`,
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/22)
 
-- fix the lint-image pin comments and `FROM` form in `Dockerfile` and
-  `Dockerfile.lint` (2026-08-10, branch `next`, closes
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/25): both pins became the policy
+- The lint-image pin comments and `FROM` form in `Dockerfile` and
+  `Dockerfile.lint` fixed. Both pins became the policy
   `# image:vX.Y.Z, YYYY-MM-DD` comment over a bare `FROM image@sha256:...`,
   without the false `(Debian-based)` note or the tag. Since
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/95 the `Dockerfile`'s `lint` phase
-  holds the only golangci-lint pin, in that form, so `Dockerfile.lint` and
-  `script/verify-lint-image-pin`, which compared the two pins, are gone.
+  holds the only `golangci-lint` pin, in that form. `Dockerfile.lint` and
+  `script/verify-lint-image-pin`, which compared the two pins, are gone
+  (2026-08-10, branch `next`, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/25)
 
-- run all linting in Docker via `Dockerfile.lint` and `script/lint` (2026-08-10,
-  branch `next`, closes https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/46): per the
+- All linting ran in Docker, via `Dockerfile.lint` and `script/lint`. Per the
   owner ruling the linter is never installed on a host, and
   `golangci-lint config verify` runs before `golangci-lint run`.
   `script/bootstrap` stopped installing or pinning the linter, and
   `script/verify-linter-pin` was retired. Since
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/95 both commands run in the
   `Dockerfile`'s `lint` phase, which `script/lint` builds alone and the build
-  stage depends on through `COPY --from=lint /src/go.sum /dev/null`;
+  stage depends on through `COPY --from=lint /src/go.sum /dev/null`.
   `Dockerfile.lint` and `script/verify-lint-image-pin` are gone. Nothing inside
-  an image build may run docker, so the phase calls `golangci-lint` directly.
+  an image build may run `docker`, so the phase calls `golangci-lint` directly
+  (2026-08-10, branch `next`, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/46)
 
-- install the Docker build stage's prerequisites by running `script/bootstrap`
-  instead of `apk add --no-cache make` inline (2026-08-09, branch
-  `dockerfile-bootstrap`, closes https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/42),
-  with `script/verify-linter-pin` failing the build unless the linter copied
-  from the lint stage was the version `script/bootstrap` pinned. Builds then
-  took up to 5m14s cold, mostly in a `chown -R` of the module cache, filed as
+- The Docker build stage's prerequisites were installed by running
+  `script/bootstrap` instead of `apk add --no-cache make` inline.
+  `script/verify-linter-pin` failed the build unless the linter copied from the
+  lint stage was the version `script/bootstrap` pinned. Builds then took up to
+  5m14s cold, mostly in a `chown -R` of the module cache, filed as
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/43. Since
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/95 the build stage installs `git` and
   `make` with `apk add --no-cache` and only compiles; the `lint` and `test`
-  phases are the gates
-- bust the Docker layer cache for the gate steps, so `script/cibuild` and
-  `script/docker` cannot report a green they did not earn (2026-08-09, branch
-  `cibuild-cache-bust`, closes https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/32): the
-  `Dockerfile` copies the tree before its gates, so on an unchanged tree Docker
-  served them from cache and the build exited 0 having run nothing. The fix was
-  a `CHECK_EPOCH` build argument; since
+  phases are the gates (2026-08-09, branch `dockerfile-bootstrap`,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/42)
+
+- The Docker layer cache is busted for the gate steps, so `script/cibuild` and
+  `script/docker` cannot report a green they did not earn. The `Dockerfile`
+  copies the tree before its gates, so on an unchanged tree Docker served them
+  from cache and the build exited 0 having run nothing. The fix was a
+  `CHECK_EPOCH` build argument. Since
   https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/95 every `docker build` in `script/`
   passes a new `CACHEBUST` value instead, which every stage of the `Dockerfile`
   declares before every step that lints, tests or compiles. Run as root, the
   tests fail `TestScanHardlinkRunFailsTogether`, because root reads through the
   `chmod(0)` the test relies on, so the `test` phase runs them as `nobody`
-- check the installed golangci-lint version in `script/bootstrap` instead of
-  only its presence (2026-08-09, branch `bootstrap-version-check`, closes
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/24): the version lives only in
-  `GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION`, with the `go install` module ref derived from it, and
-  any installed version that is not the pin — older, newer, absent or
-  unparseable — is reinstalled. `go install` writes into `GOBIN` (or
-  `GOPATH/bin`) while `make lint` runs the first `golangci-lint` on `PATH`, so
-  bootstrap re-reads the effective version after installing and, on a mismatch,
-  prints both paths and both versions and exits non-zero; it does not reorder
-  `PATH` or delete anyone's binary. The `--version` call keeps its stderr and is
-  bounded by `timeout(1)` where that exists. `git`, `make` and `go` keep
-  presence-only checks. Verified by bootstrapping this host from v2.10.1 to
-  v2.12.2 and again to a no-op, and by stub runs of the script under `dash`
-  covering a thirteen-input version-parse matrix, a shadowed install that must
-  exit non-zero, an install destination not on `PATH`, `GOBIN` set, and a wedged
-  binary that must hit the timeout; `make check` and `make lint` are clean at
-  v2.12.2, so v2.10.1 was not hiding any findings on `main`
-- unwind the hash worker pool on the error path (2026-08-09, branch
-  `hash-pool-cleanup`, closes https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/6): the
-  pool is now an owned, context-aware `hashPool`: every blocking send in the
-  feeder and the workers selects on `ctx.Done()`, `jobs` is closed on every path
-  out, and `hashPhase` defers `pool.stop()`, which cancels and then drains
-  `results` until the last goroutine has exited — draining is what frees a
-  worker already parked on a send. `ctx` is threaded from `cmd.Context()`
-  through `runScan`, `syncScan`, both worker pools and the whole database layer,
-  as the first parameter everywhere. The walk pool gets the same treatment plus
-  a `ctx.Err()` guard after the walk: a cancelled walk yields a partial size
-  census, and every file it never reached looks vanished to the update phase.
-  That phase's own `BeginTx` also fails on the cancelled context before deleting
-  anything, but the guard is the barrier that still holds once an interrupted
-  scan may commit what it has. Tests drive `run(scan)` against a database whose
-  insert trigger aborts and assert that the scan fails instead of hanging and
-  that `runtime.NumGoroutine()` polls back to its pre-scan baseline; others
-  cancel a scan part-way through the walk, deterministically, by counting its
-  own consultations of `ctx.Done()`, and assert that it stops at the guard
-  holding a partial census and a still-populated record index, with every record
-  intact. Direct tests of `sendEvent`, the walk workers, `dispatchDirs`,
-  `feedHashJobs`, `hashWorker` and `hashPhase` cover the remaining cancellation
-  branches of both pools
-- guarantee the database is closed on every fatal exit path (2026-08-09, branch
-  `db-close-on-fatal`, closes https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/4):
-  `fatalf` and its `os.Exit(1)` are gone, so the deferred `db.Close()` — and
-  with it the SQLite WAL checkpoint — now actually runs when a subcommand fails;
-  `runScan`, `runReport`, `runTrees`, `loadRecords` and `resolveRoots` return
-  errors instead. The single exit point is `run` in `main.go`: it maps a
-  `fatalError` (anything a subcommand returned) to exit 1 and cobra's own
-  argument and flag errors to exit 2, which keeps a runtime failure from being
-  reported as a usage error or printing the usage text. New `main_test.go`
-  drives the CLI in-process and asserts the exit codes from README §Error
-  handling plus the stdout/stderr split, including that a fatal error raised
-  after the database is open leaves no `-wal`/`-shm` sidecar behind for `scan`,
-  `report` or `trees`
-- update golangci-lint to v2.12.2 with the canonical config (2026-08-09, branch
-  `golangci-v2.12.2`, merged as `38a01bd`, closes
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/3): bumped the pinned linter in the
-  `Dockerfile` lint stage and `script/bootstrap` from v2.12.1 to v2.12.2, and
-  replaced `.golangci.yml` with the canonical file — the linter settings (`lll`,
-  `funlen`, `cyclop`, `dupl` thresholds) now live under `linters.settings` per
-  the v2 schema, so they are actually applied; no new lint findings surfaced
-- convert Makefile targets to scripts-to-rule-them-all `script/` entrypoints
-  like the other managed repos (2026-07-26, commit `3abeacf`, closes
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/1): all 12 `script/` entrypoints
-  exist (`bootstrap`, `setup`, `projectname`, `test`, `lint`, `fmt`,
-  `fmt-check`, `check`, `docker`, `cibuild`, `precommit`, `install-precommit`)
-  and every Makefile target is now a thin shim over them
-- make the binary the default Make target (2026-07-24, branch
-  `make-default-target`): plain `make` now builds `sfdupes` (previously it ran
-  `check` plus `build`); `make build` remains as an alias
-- scan-wide phases, concurrent operands, batched updates (2026-07-24, branch
-  `scan-wide-phases`): all operands seed the shared walk pool and every pass
-  runs once over the whole scan, so totals and ETAs are scan-global; the
-  per-operand walk/hash/update cycles and their stderr announcements are gone;
-  the update pass commits in batched transactions — the filesystem is
-  authoritative and the database an eventually-consistent reflection, so
-  scan-level atomicity is not required
-- split the stat pass back out of the walk (2026-07-24, branch
-  `parallel-phases`): phases are strictly sequential again — walk, stat, hash,
-  update per operand — with parallelism only inside each phase; the walk
-  enumerates paths with per-directory workers and the stat pass lstats them with
-  per-file workers, restoring the exact total/ETA stat bar
-- announce each operand on stderr before its passes (2026-07-24, branch
-  `scan-operand-progress`): with per-operand walk/hash/update cycles, a
-  multi-operand run (e.g. `scan /srv/*`) showed pass totals that looked like the
-  whole run's
-- parallel walk (2026-07-24, branch `parallel-walk`): the walk pass was a single
-  goroutine and took hours at ~20M files on a busy pool (observed: 22M files in
-  4h on a ZFS server); it is now a per-directory worker-pool traversal that
-  records size/mtime during the walk (folding away the separate stat pass,
-  halving metadata I/O), and each `PATH` operand commits in its own transaction
-  so an interrupted scan keeps completed operands
+  (2026-08-09, branch `cibuild-cache-bust`,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/32)
 
-- persistent scan database (2026-07-24, branch `persistent-database`): `scan`
-  now maintains a SQLite database (`modernc.org/sqlite`, pure Go, cgo stays
-  disabled) keyed by absolute path that survives between runs — a rescan hashes
-  only new or changed files (by mtime/size), deletes records for files vanished
-  from under the scanned operands, and leaves records outside them untouched, so
-  `scan` can be cronned daily; `report` and `trees` read the database (no
-  positional arguments) instead of a scan stream. Database at
-  `/var/lib/sfdupes/db.sqlite`, overridable via `SFDUPES_DATABASE`; WAL
+- `script/bootstrap` checked the installed `golangci-lint` version instead of
+  only its presence. The version lived only in `GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION`, with the
+  `go install` module ref derived from it. Any installed version that was not
+  the pin was reinstalled: older, newer, absent or unparseable. `go install`
+  writes into `GOBIN` (or `GOPATH/bin`) while `make lint` ran the first
+  `golangci-lint` on `PATH`, so bootstrap re-read the effective version after
+  installing. On a mismatch it printed both paths and both versions and exited
+  non-zero; it did not reorder `PATH` or delete anyone's binary. The `--version`
+  call kept its stderr and was bounded by `timeout(1)` where that exists. `git`,
+  `make` and `go` kept presence-only checks. `make check` and `make lint` were
+  clean at v2.12.2, so v2.10.1 had not been hiding findings on `main`.
+  Superseded by https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/46: the linter is no
+  longer installed on a host (2026-08-09, branch `bootstrap-version-check`,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/24)
+
+- The hash worker pool unwinds on the error path. The pool is an owned,
+  context-aware `hashPool`. Every blocking send in the feeder and the workers
+  selects on `ctx.Done()`, and `jobs` is closed on every path out. `hashPhase`
+  defers `pool.stop()`, which cancels and then drains `results` until the last
+  goroutine has exited; draining is what frees a worker parked on a send. `ctx`
+  is threaded from `cmd.Context()` through `runScan`, `syncScan`, both worker
+  pools and the whole database layer, as the first parameter everywhere. The
+  walk pool gets the same treatment, plus a `ctx.Err()` guard after the walk. A
+  cancelled walk yields a partial size census, and every file it never reached
+  looks vanished to the update phase. That phase's own `BeginTx` also fails on
+  the cancelled context before deleting anything, but the guard is the barrier
+  that still holds once an interrupted scan may commit what it has. Tests drive
+  `run(scan)` against a database whose insert trigger aborts, and assert that
+  the scan fails instead of hanging and that the goroutine count returns to its
+  pre-scan baseline. Other tests cancel a scan part-way through the walk and
+  assert that it stops at the guard with every record intact. Direct tests of
+  `sendEvent`, the walk workers, `dispatchDirs`, `feedHashJobs`, `hashWorker`
+  and `hashPhase` cover the remaining cancellation branches of both pools
+  (2026-08-09, branch `hash-pool-cleanup`,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/6)
+
+- The database is closed on every fatal exit path. `fatalf` and its `os.Exit(1)`
+  are gone, so the deferred `db.Close()`, and with it the SQLite WAL checkpoint,
+  runs when a subcommand fails. `runScan`, `runReport`, `runTrees`,
+  `loadRecords` and `resolveRoots` return errors instead. The single exit point
+  is `run` in `main.go`. It maps a `fatalError` to exit 1 and cobra's own
+  argument and flag errors to exit 2, so a runtime failure is never reported as
+  a usage error or printed with the usage text. `main_test.go` drives the CLI
+  in-process and asserts the exit codes from README "Error handling" and the
+  stdout/stderr split. That includes a fatal error after the database is open
+  leaving no `-wal` or `-shm` file behind, for `scan`, `report` or `trees`
+  (2026-08-09, branch `db-close-on-fatal`,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/4)
+
+- `golangci-lint` updated to v2.12.2 with the canonical config, merged as
+  `38a01bd`. The pinned linter in the `Dockerfile` lint stage and
+  `script/bootstrap` went from v2.12.1 to v2.12.2, and `.golangci.yml` was
+  replaced with the canonical file. The linter settings (`lll`, `funlen`,
+  `cyclop`, `dupl` thresholds) now live under `linters.settings`, per the v2
+  schema, so they are applied. No new lint findings surfaced (2026-08-09, branch
+  `golangci-v2.12.2`, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/3)
+
+- Makefile targets converted to scripts-to-rule-them-all `script/` entrypoints,
+  like the other managed repos. All 12 entrypoints exist:
+    - `bootstrap`, `setup` and `projectname`;
+    - `test`, `lint`, `fmt`, `fmt-check` and `check`;
+    - `docker`, `cibuild`, `precommit` and `install-precommit`.
+
+    Every Makefile target is a thin shim over them (2026-07-26, commit
+    `3abeacf`, https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/1)
+
+- The binary is the default Make target: plain `make` builds `sfdupes`, where it
+  used to run `check` plus `build`. `make build` remains as an alias
+  (2026-07-24, branch `make-default-target`)
+
+- Scan-wide phases, concurrent operands and batched updates. All operands seed
+  the shared walk pool, and every pass runs once over the whole scan, so totals
+  and ETAs are scan-global. The per-operand walk, hash and update cycles and
+  their stderr announcements are gone. The update pass commits in batched
+  transactions. The filesystem is authoritative and the database an
+  eventually-consistent reflection of it, so scan-level atomicity is not
+  required (2026-07-24, branch `scan-wide-phases`)
+
+- The stat pass split back out of the walk. Phases are strictly sequential
+  again, per operand, with parallelism only inside each phase:
+    - walk;
+    - stat;
+    - hash;
+    - update.
+
+    The walk enumerates paths with per-directory workers, and the stat pass
+    lstats them with per-file workers, restoring the exact total and ETA of the
+    stat bar (2026-07-24, branch `parallel-phases`)
+
+- Each operand is announced on stderr before its passes. With per-operand walk,
+  hash and update cycles, a multi-operand run such as `scan /srv/*` showed pass
+  totals that looked like the whole run's (2026-07-24, branch
+  `scan-operand-progress`)
+
+- Parallel walk. The walk pass was a single goroutine and took hours at about 20
+  million files on a busy pool: 22 million files in 4 hours on a ZFS server. It
+  is now a per-directory worker-pool traversal that records size and mtime
+  during the walk, folding away the separate stat pass and halving metadata I/O.
+  Each `PATH` operand commits in its own transaction, so an interrupted scan
+  keeps completed operands (2026-07-24, branch `parallel-walk`)
+
+- Persistent scan database. `scan` maintains a SQLite database
+  (`modernc.org/sqlite`, pure Go, cgo stays disabled), keyed by absolute path,
+  that survives between runs. A rescan hashes only new or changed files, by
+  mtime and size. It deletes the records of files vanished from under the
+  scanned operands and leaves records outside them untouched, so `scan` can be
+  cronned daily. `report` and `trees` read the database, with no positional
+  arguments, instead of a scan stream. The database is at
+  `/var/lib/sfdupes/db.sqlite`, overridable via `SFDUPES_DATABASE`. WAL
   journaling plus a single-transaction update keep a report run during a scan
-  safe
-- add the `origin` remote (`git@git.eeqj.de:sneak/sfdupes.git`), tag `v0.0.1`,
-  and push `main` plus tags (2026-07-23)
-- `scan` CLI rework (2026-07-23, branch `scan-required-paths`): required
-  `PATH...` operands via cobra flags replacing the `/srv` `-root` default; new
-  `-x`/`--one-file-system` flag (GNU convention) to stop at filesystem
-  boundaries, which are crossed by default
-- bring the repo into full policy compliance (2026-07-23, branch
-  `repo-policy-compliance`; checklist below)
-- `git init` with README-only first commit; code baseline committed on `main`
-  (2026-07-22)
-- implement `scan`, `report`, and `trees` subcommands (pre-git history)
+  safe (2026-07-24, branch `persistent-database`)
+
+- The `origin` remote (`git@git.eeqj.de:sneak/sfdupes.git`) added, `v0.0.1`
+  tagged, and `main` plus tags pushed (2026-07-23)
+
+- `scan` CLI rework. Required `PATH...` operands via cobra replace the `/srv`
+  `-root` default. The new `-x`/`--one-file-system` flag (GNU convention) stops
+  at filesystem boundaries, which are crossed by default (2026-07-23, branch
+  `scan-required-paths`)
+
+- The repo was brought into compliance with `REPO_POLICIES.md` (the version of
+  2026-07-06), the existing repo checklist and the Go styleguide. The audit of
+  2026-07-22 found these gaps, and the branch closed them:
+    - `.gitignore`, with OS, editor, Go and secrets patterns; the compiled
+      `sfdupes` binary and `files.dat` had been sitting untracked in the tree;
+    - `.editorconfig`;
+    - `LICENSE` and the README License section. MIT was assumed from house
+      convention, for the owner to confirm;
+    - `REPO_POLICIES.md` in the repo root;
+    - the canonical `.golangci.yml`, with the 150 findings it raised fixed;
+    - the `Makefile` targets `test`, `lint`, `fmt`, `fmt-check`, `docker` and
+      `hooks`, and a `check` target that no longer depends on `build`;
+    - a test suite, which the policy required with a 30-second timeout and the
+      conditional `-v` rerun. It covers parsing, grouping, digests, suppression,
+      hashing and the scan pipeline, at 64% coverage;
+    - a multistage `Dockerfile` with hash-pinned images, a fail-fast lint stage
+      and a build stage running `make check`, plus `.dockerignore`;
+    - `.gitea/workflows/check.yml`, running `docker build .` on push with the
+      checkout action pinned by commit SHA;
+    - the README sections the policy requires: a Description first line with the
+      name, purpose, category, license and author, then Getting Started,
+      Rationale, TODO, License and Author;
+    - the stale README non-goal "no git repository setup and no CI" removed;
+    - the pre-commit hook installed.
+
+    The code was already `gofmt`-clean, so no standalone formatting commit was
+    needed (2026-07-23, branch `repo-policy-compliance`)
+
+- `git init` with a README-only first commit; the code baseline committed on
+  `main` (2026-07-22)
+
+- `scan`, `report` and `trees` subcommands implemented (pre-git history)
 
 # Future Steps
 
-- possible later features (explicitly out of scope per README): full-content
-  verification of candidates, removal-script helpers
+- Possible later features, out of scope per README: full-content verification of
+  candidates, and helper scripts for removal.
 
-# Repo Policy Compliance
+# Accepted Divergences
 
-Audited 2026-07-22 against `REPO_POLICIES.md` (2026-07-06), the existing repo
-checklist, and the Go styleguide. Code is already gofmt-clean, so no standalone
-formatting commit is needed.
-
-- [x] `.gitignore` missing — the compiled `sfdupes` binary and `files.dat` sit
-      untracked in the tree; needs OS/editor/Go artifacts plus secrets patterns
-- [x] `.editorconfig` missing
-- [x] `LICENSE` missing and README has no License section (MIT assumed from
-      house convention — user to confirm)
-- [x] `REPO_POLICIES.md` missing from repo root
-- [x] `.golangci.yml` missing (install canonical copy); code must then pass
-      `make lint` (150 findings fixed; `make lint` is clean)
-- [x] `Makefile` lacks required targets `test`, `lint`, `fmt`, `fmt-check`,
-      `docker`, `hooks`; `check` currently depends on `build`, which writes the
-      binary (`make check` must not modify files)
-- [x] no tests — `go test ./...` has nothing to run; policy requires real tests
-      with a 30-second timeout and the conditional `-v` rerun pattern (suite
-      covers parsing, grouping, digests, suppression, hashing, and the scan
-      pipeline; 64% coverage)
-- [x] `Dockerfile` missing — Go multistage with hash-pinned images: fail-fast
-      lint stage, build stage running `make check`
-- [x] `.dockerignore` missing
-- [x] `.gitea/workflows/check.yml` missing (`docker build .` on push, checkout
-      action pinned by commit SHA)
-- [x] README lacks required sections: Description first line
-      (name/purpose/category/license/author), Getting Started, Rationale, TODO,
-      License, Author
-- [x] README non-goal "no git repository setup and no CI" is stale now that the
-      repo is under git with CI
-- [x] pre-commit hook not installed (`make hooks` once the target exists)
-
-Accepted divergences (no action):
-
-- flat single-package layout with `.go` files in the repo root — fine for a
-  small single-binary tool per the Go styleguide; the tracker audit agrees
+- Flat single-package layout, with the `.go` files in the repo root. That is
+  fine for a small single-binary tool per the Go styleguide, and the tracker
+  audit agrees.