Stream blobs to disk and restore files in blob-locality order

Three coordinated changes drop restore wall-clock by orders of
magnitude on real-world snapshots and bring memory use back under
control:

  * Streaming download into the disk cache. New
    blobDiskCache.PutFromReader takes an io.Reader and io.Copy's it
    straight into the cache file. The old downloadBlob path did
    io.ReadAll on the decrypted plaintext stream — for a 50 GB blob
    that meant 50 GB in RAM before the cache write. The whole chain
    (Storage.Get → age.Decrypt → zstd.NewReader → io.Copy) is now
    fully streaming; peak RAM per blob is bounded by ~64 KB of
    internal age/zstd buffers plus the io.Copy buffer.

  * Chunk extraction via ReadAt. After a blob is on disk, restore
    reads chunks via blobDiskCache.ReadAt(hash, offset, length) so
    only the chunk's bytes ever touch RAM. The previous code path
    called blobCache.Get for every cache-hit chunk, which read the
    entire blob (e.g. 10 GB) from disk into a []byte just to slice
    out a few KB — single-handedly ~900 ms per cache hit on the
    user's photo snapshot.

  * Locality-aware restore ordering. New restorePlan indexes
    file→blob_set and blob→file_set at restore start, then drives
    the loop so that every file whose full blob set is on disk is
    drained before any new blob downloads. After the drain queue
    empties, the planner picks the pending file with the smallest
    uncached-blob count, downloads those blobs, and drains again.
    A sweep is forced right before each download so the just-
    completed blob is evicted before the next one is Put, keeping
    peak disk-cache occupancy at 1 for path-order-adversarial
    snapshots.

The restore hot path also moves onto a restoreSession struct so
restoreFile/restoreRegularFile/etc. take only the per-call file
argument instead of threading 9+ parameters through every signature.
The new BlobRepository.GetAll method lets the session build a single
blob-id → blob-hash map at start instead of doing one DB query per
chunk.

TestRestoreLocalityAndReadAt passes: peak_len ≤ 1, get_calls = 0,
readat_calls > 0, every blob fetched exactly once.

internal/database/blobs.go

@@ -130,6 +130,51 @@ func (r *BlobRepository) GetByID(ctx context.Context, id string) (*Blob, error)
 	return &blob, nil
 }
 
+// GetAll returns every blob row keyed by blob ID. Useful at restore
+// start to translate the per-chunk blob_id references in chunkToBlobMap
+// into blob hashes without doing one GetByID query per chunk.
+func (r *BlobRepository) GetAll(ctx context.Context) (map[string]*Blob, error) {
+	query := `
+		SELECT id, blob_hash, created_ts, finished_ts, uncompressed_size, compressed_size, uploaded_ts
+		FROM blobs
+	`
+
+	rows, err := r.db.conn.QueryContext(ctx, query)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("querying blobs: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer CloseRows(rows)
+
+	out := make(map[string]*Blob)
+	for rows.Next() {
+		var blob Blob
+		var createdTSUnix int64
+		var finishedTSUnix, uploadedTSUnix sql.NullInt64
+		if err := rows.Scan(
+			&blob.ID,
+			&blob.Hash,
+			&createdTSUnix,
+			&finishedTSUnix,
+			&blob.UncompressedSize,
+			&blob.CompressedSize,
+			&uploadedTSUnix,
+		); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("scanning blob: %w", err)
+		}
+		blob.CreatedTS = time.Unix(createdTSUnix, 0).UTC()
+		if finishedTSUnix.Valid {
+			ts := time.Unix(finishedTSUnix.Int64, 0).UTC()
+			blob.FinishedTS = &ts
+		}
+		if uploadedTSUnix.Valid {
+			ts := time.Unix(uploadedTSUnix.Int64, 0).UTC()
+			blob.UploadedTS = &ts
+		}
+		out[blob.ID.String()] = &blob
+	}
+	return out, rows.Err()
+}
+
 // UpdateFinished updates a blob when it's finalized
 func (r *BlobRepository) UpdateFinished(ctx context.Context, tx *sql.Tx, id string, hash string, uncompressedSize, compressedSize int64) error {
 	query := `

internal/vaultik/blobcache.go

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package vaultik
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"sync"
@@ -132,6 +133,66 @@ func (c *blobDiskCache) Put(key string, data []byte) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// PutFromReader streams r into the cache file for key, returning the
+// total number of bytes written. Unlike Put, the data never has to
+// reside fully in memory at any point — io.Copy uses an internal
+// 32 KiB buffer. Used by restore to land a freshly decrypted blob on
+// disk without buffering its entire plaintext (which may be tens of GB)
+// in RAM.
+func (c *blobDiskCache) PutFromReader(key string, r io.Reader) (int64, error) {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	// Remove any prior entry first; we'll re-link after the file is
+	// written successfully.
+	if e, ok := c.items[key]; ok {
+		c.unlink(e)
+		c.curBytes -= e.size
+		_ = os.Remove(c.path(key))
+		delete(c.items, key)
+	}
+	c.mu.Unlock()
+
+	f, err := os.OpenFile(c.path(key), os.O_CREATE|os.O_TRUNC|os.O_WRONLY, 0o600)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("creating cache file: %w", err)
+	}
+	written, copyErr := io.Copy(f, r)
+	closeErr := f.Close()
+	if copyErr != nil {
+		_ = os.Remove(c.path(key))
+		return written, fmt.Errorf("streaming to cache file: %w", copyErr)
+	}
+	if closeErr != nil {
+		_ = os.Remove(c.path(key))
+		return written, fmt.Errorf("closing cache file: %w", closeErr)
+	}
+
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+
+	// If the entry would exceed maxBytes outright, drop it on the
+	// floor — but the restore path passes math.MaxInt64 as maxBytes
+	// so this branch is effectively unreachable there.
+	if written > c.maxBytes {
+		_ = os.Remove(c.path(key))
+		return written, nil
+	}
+
+	e := &blobDiskCacheEntry{key: key, size: written}
+	c.pushFront(e)
+	c.items[key] = e
+	c.curBytes += written
+
+	for c.curBytes > c.maxBytes && c.tail != nil {
+		c.evictLRU()
+	}
+
+	if n := len(c.items); n > c.peakLen {
+		c.peakLen = n
+	}
+
+	return written, nil
+}
+
 // Get reads a cached blob from disk. Returns data and true on hit.
 func (c *blobDiskCache) Get(key string) ([]byte, bool) {
 	c.mu.Lock()

internal/vaultik/restore.go

@@ -159,7 +159,12 @@ func (v *Vaultik) prepareRestoreIdentity() (age.Identity, error) {
 	return identity, nil
 }
 
-// restoreAllFiles iterates over files and restores each one, tracking progress and failures
+// restoreAllFiles processes files in blob-locality order: drain every
+// file whose blob set is on disk, download the missing blobs for the
+// pending file with the smallest uncached count, repeat. This keeps
+// peak cache occupancy near 1 even on snapshots whose path order
+// interleaves blobs, and lets the sweeper free each blob the moment
+// its file set is exhausted.
 func (v *Vaultik) restoreAllFiles(
 	files []*database.File,
 	repos *database.Repositories,
@@ -192,6 +197,32 @@ func (v *Vaultik) restoreAllFiles(
 	// are all already restored.
 	sweeper := newRestoreSweeper(v.ctx, repos, blobCache, v.Config.BlobSizeLimit.Int64()/100)
 
+	// Pre-fetch every blob row once so chunk extraction can map a
+	// blob_id to its hash without a DB round-trip per chunk.
+	blobsByID, err := repos.Blobs.GetAll(v.ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("fetching blob index: %w", err)
+	}
+	blobIDToHash := make(map[string]string, len(blobsByID))
+	blobByHash := make(map[string]*database.Blob, len(blobsByID))
+	for id, blob := range blobsByID {
+		hash := blob.Hash.String()
+		blobIDToHash[id] = hash
+		blobByHash[hash] = blob
+	}
+
+	plan, err := newRestorePlan(v.ctx, repos, files, chunkToBlobMap, blobIDToHash)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("building restore plan: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	// Index files by ID so the loop can look them up by the IDs the
+	// plan hands back.
+	filesByID := make(map[types.FileID]*database.File, len(files))
+	for _, f := range files {
+		filesByID[f.ID] = f
+	}
+
 	// Calculate total bytes expected for percentage / ETA arithmetic.
 	var totalBytesExpected int64
 	for _, file := range files {
@@ -203,17 +234,65 @@ func (v *Vaultik) restoreAllFiles(
 		v.UI.Size(totalBytesExpected),
 		v.UI.Path(opts.TargetDir))
 
+	session := &restoreSession{
+		v:              v,
+		ctx:            v.ctx,
+		repos:          repos,
+		opts:           opts,
+		identity:       identity,
+		chunkToBlobMap: chunkToBlobMap,
+		blobByHash:     blobByHash,
+		blobIDToHash:   blobIDToHash,
+		blobCache:      blobCache,
+		sweeper:        sweeper,
+		result:         result,
+	}
+
 	// Periodic progress output, matching the snapshot create cadence.
 	startTime := time.Now()
 	lastStatusTime := startTime
 	const statusInterval = 15 * time.Second
 
-	for i, file := range files {
+	processed := 0
+	for plan.hasPending() {
 		if v.ctx.Err() != nil {
 			return nil, v.ctx.Err()
 		}
 
-		if err := v.restoreFile(v.ctx, repos, file, opts.TargetDir, identity, chunkToBlobMap, blobCache, sweeper, result); err != nil {
+		fileID, ready := plan.popReady()
+		if !ready {
+			// No file is fully cache-served. First free any blobs
+			// whose file sets are exhausted — without this, the
+			// blob whose last file we just finished would still be
+			// cached when we Put the next one, briefly pushing
+			// peak occupancy from 1 to 2.
+			sweeper.sweep()
+
+			// Pick the pending file with the smallest uncached
+			// blob set and download its blobs. After each blob
+			// lands, the plan moves any pending file whose set
+			// just emptied onto the ready queue.
+			next := plan.pickNextDownload()
+			if next.IsZero() {
+				break
+			}
+			for _, hash := range plan.blobsNeeded(next) {
+				blob, ok := blobByHash[hash]
+				if !ok {
+					return nil, fmt.Errorf("blob hash %s missing from blob index", hash[:16])
+				}
+				if err := session.downloadBlobToCache(hash, blob.CompressedSize); err != nil {
+					return nil, fmt.Errorf("downloading blob %s: %w", hash[:16], err)
+				}
+				result.BlobsDownloaded++
+				result.BytesDownloaded += blob.CompressedSize
+				plan.markBlobCached(hash)
+			}
+			continue
+		}
+
+		file := filesByID[fileID]
+		if err := session.restoreFile(file); err != nil {
 			log.Error("Failed to restore file", "path", file.Path, "error", err)
 			if !opts.SkipErrors {
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("restoring %s: %w (pass --skip-errors to continue past restore failures)", file.Path, err)
@@ -221,22 +300,26 @@ func (v *Vaultik) restoreAllFiles(
 			v.UI.Error("Failed to restore %s: %v. Skipping (--skip-errors).", v.UI.Path(file.Path.String()), err)
 			result.FilesFailed++
 			result.FailedFiles = append(result.FailedFiles, file.Path.String())
+			plan.finishFile(fileID)
 			continue
 		}
 
-		// Record the file as restored so the sweeper can free blobs once
-		// all referencing files are done.
-		sweeper.fileRestored(file.ID.String())
+		// Record the file as restored so the sweeper can free blobs
+		// once all referencing files are done, and drop it from the
+		// plan's indexes so future picks ignore it.
+		sweeper.fileRestored(fileID.String())
+		plan.finishFile(fileID)
+		processed++
 
 		if time.Since(lastStatusTime) >= statusInterval {
-			v.printRestoreProgress(i+1, len(files), result.BytesRestored, totalBytesExpected, startTime)
+			v.printRestoreProgress(processed, len(files), result.BytesRestored, totalBytesExpected, startTime)
 			lastStatusTime = time.Now()
 		}
 
 		// Structured progress log for --verbose / JSON consumers.
-		if (i+1)%100 == 0 || i+1 == len(files) {
+		if processed%100 == 0 || processed == len(files) {
 			log.Info("Restore progress",
-				"files", fmt.Sprintf("%d/%d", i+1, len(files)),
+				"files", fmt.Sprintf("%d/%d", processed, len(files)),
 				"bytes", humanize.Bytes(uint64(result.BytesRestored)),
 			)
 		}
@@ -432,183 +515,128 @@ func (v *Vaultik) buildChunkToBlobMap(ctx context.Context, repos *database.Repos
 	return result, rows.Err()
 }
 
-// restoreFile restores a single file
-func (v *Vaultik) restoreFile(
-	ctx context.Context,
-	repos *database.Repositories,
-	file *database.File,
-	targetDir string,
-	identity age.Identity,
-	chunkToBlobMap map[string]*database.BlobChunk,
-	blobCache *blobDiskCache,
-	sweeper *restoreSweeper,
-	result *RestoreResult,
-) error {
-	// Calculate target path - use full original path under target directory
-	targetPath := filepath.Join(targetDir, file.Path.String())
+// restoreSession holds every piece of per-restore state shared by the
+// restore-time methods. Each restore builds one of these from the
+// snapshot's metadata and then drives the file loop through methods on
+// it. Keeping this state on the struct rather than threading it
+// through every function signature keeps the inner-loop call sites
+// readable: restoreFile(file) instead of a ten-argument helper.
+type restoreSession struct {
+	v              *Vaultik
+	ctx            context.Context
+	repos          *database.Repositories
+	opts           *RestoreOptions
+	identity       age.Identity
+	chunkToBlobMap map[string]*database.BlobChunk
+	blobByHash     map[string]*database.Blob
+	blobIDToHash   map[string]string
+	blobCache      *blobDiskCache
+	sweeper        *restoreSweeper
+	result         *RestoreResult
+}
 
-	// Create parent directories
+// restoreFile dispatches to the right per-kind restorer.
+func (s *restoreSession) restoreFile(file *database.File) error {
+	targetPath := filepath.Join(s.opts.TargetDir, file.Path.String())
 	parentDir := filepath.Dir(targetPath)
-	if err := v.Fs.MkdirAll(parentDir, 0755); err != nil {
+	if err := s.v.Fs.MkdirAll(parentDir, 0755); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("creating parent directory: %w", err)
 	}
-
-	// Handle symlinks
 	if file.IsSymlink() {
-		return v.restoreSymlink(file, targetPath, result)
+		return s.restoreSymlink(file, targetPath)
 	}
-
-	// Handle directories
 	if file.Mode&uint32(os.ModeDir) != 0 {
-		return v.restoreDirectory(file, targetPath, result)
+		return s.restoreDirectory(file, targetPath)
+	}
+	return s.restoreRegularFile(file, targetPath)
 }
 
-	// Handle regular files
-	return v.restoreRegularFile(ctx, repos, file, targetPath, identity, chunkToBlobMap, blobCache, sweeper, result)
-}
-
-// restoreSymlink restores a symbolic link
-func (v *Vaultik) restoreSymlink(file *database.File, targetPath string, result *RestoreResult) error {
-	// Remove existing file if it exists
-	_ = v.Fs.Remove(targetPath)
-
-	// Create symlink
-	// Note: afero.MemMapFs doesn't support symlinks, so we use os for real filesystems
-	if osFs, ok := v.Fs.(*afero.OsFs); ok {
-		_ = osFs // silence unused variable warning
+// restoreSymlink restores a symbolic link.
+func (s *restoreSession) restoreSymlink(file *database.File, targetPath string) error {
+	_ = s.v.Fs.Remove(targetPath)
+	// afero.MemMapFs doesn't support symlinks, so route real-FS
+	// symlinks through os.
+	if _, ok := s.v.Fs.(*afero.OsFs); ok {
 		if err := os.Symlink(file.LinkTarget.String(), targetPath); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("creating symlink: %w", err)
 		}
 	} else {
 		log.Debug("Symlink creation not supported on this filesystem", "path", file.Path, "target", file.LinkTarget)
 	}
-
-	result.FilesRestored++
+	s.result.FilesRestored++
 	log.Debug("Restored symlink", "path", file.Path, "target", file.LinkTarget)
 	return nil
 }
 
-// restoreDirectory restores a directory with proper permissions
-func (v *Vaultik) restoreDirectory(file *database.File, targetPath string, result *RestoreResult) error {
-	// Create directory
-	if err := v.Fs.MkdirAll(targetPath, os.FileMode(file.Mode)); err != nil {
+// restoreDirectory restores a directory with its permissions, mtime,
+// and (on real filesystems, with sufficient privileges) ownership.
+func (s *restoreSession) restoreDirectory(file *database.File, targetPath string) error {
+	if err := s.v.Fs.MkdirAll(targetPath, os.FileMode(file.Mode)); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("creating directory: %w", err)
 	}
-
-	// Set permissions
-	if err := v.Fs.Chmod(targetPath, os.FileMode(file.Mode)); err != nil {
+	if err := s.v.Fs.Chmod(targetPath, os.FileMode(file.Mode)); err != nil {
 		log.Debug("Failed to set directory permissions", "path", targetPath, "error", err)
 	}
-
-	// Set ownership (requires root)
-	if osFs, ok := v.Fs.(*afero.OsFs); ok {
-		_ = osFs
+	if _, ok := s.v.Fs.(*afero.OsFs); ok {
 		if err := os.Chown(targetPath, int(file.UID), int(file.GID)); err != nil {
 			log.Debug("Failed to set directory ownership", "path", targetPath, "error", err)
 		}
 	}
-
-	// Set mtime
-	if err := v.Fs.Chtimes(targetPath, file.MTime, file.MTime); err != nil {
+	if err := s.v.Fs.Chtimes(targetPath, file.MTime, file.MTime); err != nil {
 		log.Debug("Failed to set directory mtime", "path", targetPath, "error", err)
 	}
-
-	result.FilesRestored++
+	s.result.FilesRestored++
 	return nil
 }
 
-// restoreRegularFile restores a regular file by reconstructing it from chunks
-func (v *Vaultik) restoreRegularFile(
-	ctx context.Context,
-	repos *database.Repositories,
-	file *database.File,
-	targetPath string,
-	identity age.Identity,
-	chunkToBlobMap map[string]*database.BlobChunk,
-	blobCache *blobDiskCache,
-	sweeper *restoreSweeper,
-	result *RestoreResult,
-) error {
+// restoreRegularFile reconstructs a regular file by reading chunks
+// directly out of cached blobs via ReadAt. The expectation when this
+// method runs is that every blob this file needs is already in the
+// disk cache — the planner guarantees that by only marking files
+// "ready" once their full blob set is on disk.
+func (s *restoreSession) restoreRegularFile(file *database.File, targetPath string) error {
 	fileStart := time.Now()
 
-	// Get file chunks in order
 	t0 := time.Now()
-	fileChunks, err := repos.FileChunks.GetByFileID(ctx, file.ID)
+	fileChunks, err := s.repos.FileChunks.GetByFileID(s.ctx, file.ID)
 	fileChunksQueryDur := time.Since(t0)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("getting file chunks: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	// Create output file
 	t0 = time.Now()
-	outFile, err := v.Fs.Create(targetPath)
+	outFile, err := s.v.Fs.Create(targetPath)
 	createDur := time.Since(t0)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("creating output file: %w", err)
 	}
 	defer func() { _ = outFile.Close() }()
 
-	// Per-file timing buckets so --debug shows exactly where seconds go.
 	var (
-		blobDBLookupDur time.Duration
-		cacheGetDur     time.Duration
-		downloadDur     time.Duration
-		cachePutDur     time.Duration
+		readAtDur    time.Duration
 		writeDur     time.Duration
 		sweeperDur   time.Duration
-		downloadCount   int
-		cacheHitCount   int
 		bytesWritten int64
 	)
 
 	for _, fc := range fileChunks {
-		// Find which blob contains this chunk
 		chunkHashStr := fc.ChunkHash.String()
-		blobChunk, ok := chunkToBlobMap[chunkHashStr]
+		blobChunk, ok := s.chunkToBlobMap[chunkHashStr]
 		if !ok {
 			return fmt.Errorf("chunk %s not found in any blob", chunkHashStr[:16])
 		}
-
-		// Get the blob's hash from the database (runs per chunk).
-		t0 = time.Now()
-		blob, err := repos.Blobs.GetByID(ctx, blobChunk.BlobID.String())
-		blobDBLookupDur += time.Since(t0)
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("getting blob %s: %w", blobChunk.BlobID, err)
-		}
-
-		// Download and decrypt blob if not cached
-		blobHashStr := blob.Hash.String()
-		t0 = time.Now()
-		blobData, ok := blobCache.Get(blobHashStr)
-		cacheGetDur += time.Since(t0)
+		blobHash, ok := s.blobIDToHash[blobChunk.BlobID.String()]
 		if !ok {
+			return fmt.Errorf("blob id %s missing from hash index", blobChunk.BlobID)
+		}
+
 		t0 = time.Now()
-			blobData, err = v.downloadBlob(ctx, blobHashStr, blob.CompressedSize, identity)
-			downloadDur += time.Since(t0)
+		chunkData, err := s.blobCache.ReadAt(blobHash, blobChunk.Offset, blobChunk.Length)
+		readAtDur += time.Since(t0)
 		if err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("downloading blob %s: %w", blobHashStr[:16], err)
-			}
-			t0 = time.Now()
-			if putErr := blobCache.Put(blobHashStr, blobData); putErr != nil {
-				log.Debug("Failed to cache blob on disk", "hash", blobHashStr[:16], "error", putErr)
-			}
-			cachePutDur += time.Since(t0)
-			downloadCount++
-			result.BlobsDownloaded++
-			result.BytesDownloaded += blob.CompressedSize
-		} else {
-			cacheHitCount++
+			return fmt.Errorf("reading chunk %s from cached blob %s: %w", fc.ChunkHash[:16], blobHash[:16], err)
 		}
 
-		// Extract chunk from blob
-		if blobChunk.Offset+blobChunk.Length > int64(len(blobData)) {
-			return fmt.Errorf("chunk %s extends beyond blob data (offset=%d, length=%d, blob_size=%d)",
-				fc.ChunkHash[:16], blobChunk.Offset, blobChunk.Length, len(blobData))
-		}
-		chunkData := blobData[blobChunk.Offset : blobChunk.Offset+blobChunk.Length]
-
-		// Write chunk to output file
 		t0 = time.Now()
 		n, err := outFile.Write(chunkData)
 		writeDur += time.Since(t0)
@@ -617,11 +645,8 @@ func (v *Vaultik) restoreRegularFile(
 		}
 		bytesWritten += int64(n)
 
-		// Tell the sweeper about the bytes we just restored so it can
-		// run an eviction sweep once the accumulated total crosses its
-		// threshold (config.BlobSizeLimit/100).
 		t0 = time.Now()
-		sweeper.chunkRestored(int64(n))
+		s.sweeper.chunkRestored(int64(n))
 		sweeperDur += time.Since(t0)
 	}
 
@@ -629,89 +654,72 @@ func (v *Vaultik) restoreRegularFile(
 		"path", file.Path,
 		"chunks", len(fileChunks),
 		"bytes_written", bytesWritten,
-		"downloads", downloadCount,
-		"cache_hits", cacheHitCount,
 		"ms_total", time.Since(fileStart).Milliseconds(),
 		"ms_file_chunks_query", fileChunksQueryDur.Milliseconds(),
 		"ms_create", createDur.Milliseconds(),
-		"ms_blob_db_lookups", blobDBLookupDur.Milliseconds(),
-		"ms_cache_gets", cacheGetDur.Milliseconds(),
-		"ms_cache_puts", cachePutDur.Milliseconds(),
-		"ms_downloads", downloadDur.Milliseconds(),
+		"ms_readat", readAtDur.Milliseconds(),
 		"ms_writes", writeDur.Milliseconds(),
 		"ms_sweeper", sweeperDur.Milliseconds(),
 	)
 
-	// Close file before setting metadata
 	if err := outFile.Close(); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("closing output file: %w", err)
 	}
-
-	// Set permissions
-	if err := v.Fs.Chmod(targetPath, os.FileMode(file.Mode)); err != nil {
+	if err := s.v.Fs.Chmod(targetPath, os.FileMode(file.Mode)); err != nil {
 		log.Debug("Failed to set file permissions", "path", targetPath, "error", err)
 	}
-
-	// Set ownership (requires root)
-	if osFs, ok := v.Fs.(*afero.OsFs); ok {
-		_ = osFs
+	if _, ok := s.v.Fs.(*afero.OsFs); ok {
 		if err := os.Chown(targetPath, int(file.UID), int(file.GID)); err != nil {
 			log.Debug("Failed to set file ownership", "path", targetPath, "error", err)
 		}
 	}
-
-	// Set mtime
-	if err := v.Fs.Chtimes(targetPath, file.MTime, file.MTime); err != nil {
+	if err := s.v.Fs.Chtimes(targetPath, file.MTime, file.MTime); err != nil {
 		log.Debug("Failed to set file mtime", "path", targetPath, "error", err)
 	}
 
-	result.FilesRestored++
-	result.BytesRestored += bytesWritten
+	s.result.FilesRestored++
+	s.result.BytesRestored += bytesWritten
 
 	log.Debug("Restored file", "path", file.Path, "size", humanize.Bytes(uint64(bytesWritten)))
 	return nil
 }
 
-// downloadBlob downloads and decrypts a blob, returning the plaintext.
-// Emits a debug log line splitting time spent in the network fetch (Get
-// + Stat round-trips) from the streaming decrypt/decompress/read phase
-// so --debug shows which side of the wire is the bottleneck.
-func (v *Vaultik) downloadBlob(ctx context.Context, blobHash string, expectedSize int64, identity age.Identity) ([]byte, error) {
+// downloadBlobToCache streams a blob from remote storage straight into
+// the disk cache, decrypting and decompressing on the fly. The
+// plaintext never lives fully in memory — io.Copy through
+// blobDiskCache.PutFromReader uses a 32 KiB buffer regardless of blob
+// size, which is what makes multi-GB blobs tractable on machines with
+// less RAM than the blob.
+func (s *restoreSession) downloadBlobToCache(blobHash string, expectedSize int64) error {
 	start := time.Now()
 
 	t0 := time.Now()
-	rc, err := v.FetchAndDecryptBlob(ctx, blobHash, expectedSize, identity)
+	rc, err := s.v.FetchAndDecryptBlob(s.ctx, blobHash, expectedSize, s.identity)
 	fetchSetupDur := time.Since(t0)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return err
 	}
 
 	t0 = time.Now()
-	data, err := io.ReadAll(rc)
-	readAllDur := time.Since(t0)
-	if err != nil {
-		_ = rc.Close()
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("reading blob data: %w", err)
+	written, copyErr := s.blobCache.PutFromReader(blobHash, rc)
+	streamDur := time.Since(t0)
+	closeErr := rc.Close()
+	if copyErr != nil {
+		return copyErr
+	}
+	if closeErr != nil {
+		return closeErr
 	}
 
-	// Close triggers hash verification
-	t0 = time.Now()
-	if err := rc.Close(); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	closeDur := time.Since(t0)
-
-	log.Debug("Downloaded and decrypted blob (timings)",
+	log.Debug("Streamed blob into disk cache",
 		"hash", blobHash[:16],
 		"compressed_bytes", expectedSize,
-		"plaintext_bytes", len(data),
+		"plaintext_bytes", written,
 		"ms_total", time.Since(start).Milliseconds(),
 		"ms_fetch_setup", fetchSetupDur.Milliseconds(),
-		"ms_read_decrypt_decompress", readAllDur.Milliseconds(),
-		"ms_close_verify", closeDur.Milliseconds(),
+		"ms_stream_decrypt_decompress", streamDur.Milliseconds(),
 	)
-
-	return data, nil
+	return nil
 }
 
 // verifyRestoredFiles verifies that all restored files match their expected chunk hashes

internal/vaultik/restore_plan.go

@@ -0,0 +1,185 @@
+package vaultik
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"math"
+	"os"
+
+	"sneak.berlin/go/vaultik/internal/database"
+	"sneak.berlin/go/vaultik/internal/types"
+)
+
+// restorePlan orders restore-time file processing by blob locality. The
+// goal is to keep the blob disk cache occupancy as small as possible:
+// download one blob, drain every file referencing only that blob, let
+// the sweeper free the blob, then move on. Files that span multiple
+// blobs are processed when their full blob set is on disk.
+//
+// The plan keeps two indexes:
+//
+//   - fileBlobs: for each pending file, the set of blob hashes it
+//     still needs that are NOT yet in the cache. Files with an empty
+//     set are "ready" — they can be restored from the current cache
+//     with no further downloads.
+//   - blobFiles: for each blob, the set of pending files referencing
+//     it. Used to short-circuit "when this blob lands, which files
+//     become ready" without a global scan.
+type restorePlan struct {
+	fileBlobs map[types.FileID]map[string]struct{}
+	blobFiles map[string]map[types.FileID]struct{}
+	ready     []types.FileID
+	cached    map[string]struct{}
+}
+
+// newRestorePlan builds the file→blob index for the given files. Files
+// whose chunks reference no blobs (symlinks, directories) start in the
+// ready queue immediately.
+func newRestorePlan(
+	ctx context.Context,
+	repos *database.Repositories,
+	files []*database.File,
+	chunkToBlobMap map[string]*database.BlobChunk,
+	blobIDToHash map[string]string,
+) (*restorePlan, error) {
+	p := &restorePlan{
+		fileBlobs: make(map[types.FileID]map[string]struct{}, len(files)),
+		blobFiles: make(map[string]map[types.FileID]struct{}),
+		ready:     make([]types.FileID, 0, len(files)),
+		cached:    make(map[string]struct{}),
+	}
+	for _, f := range files {
+		if f.IsSymlink() || f.Mode&uint32(os.ModeDir) != 0 {
+			// No chunks to fetch — restore can run immediately.
+			p.fileBlobs[f.ID] = nil
+			p.ready = append(p.ready, f.ID)
+			continue
+		}
+		fileChunks, err := repos.FileChunks.GetByFileID(ctx, f.ID)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("planning %s: %w", f.Path, err)
+		}
+		blobs := make(map[string]struct{})
+		for _, fc := range fileChunks {
+			bc, ok := chunkToBlobMap[fc.ChunkHash.String()]
+			if !ok {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("planning %s: chunk %s missing from blob map",
+					f.Path, fc.ChunkHash.String()[:16])
+			}
+			hash, ok := blobIDToHash[bc.BlobID.String()]
+			if !ok {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("planning %s: blob id %s missing from id-to-hash map",
+					f.Path, bc.BlobID)
+			}
+			blobs[hash] = struct{}{}
+		}
+		p.fileBlobs[f.ID] = blobs
+		for hash := range blobs {
+			set, ok := p.blobFiles[hash]
+			if !ok {
+				set = make(map[types.FileID]struct{})
+				p.blobFiles[hash] = set
+			}
+			set[f.ID] = struct{}{}
+		}
+		if len(blobs) == 0 {
+			p.ready = append(p.ready, f.ID)
+		}
+	}
+	return p, nil
+}
+
+// markBlobCached records that the named blob is now resident in the
+// disk cache and moves any pending file whose remaining-uncached-blobs
+// set just dropped to empty onto the ready queue.
+func (p *restorePlan) markBlobCached(blobHash string) {
+	if _, already := p.cached[blobHash]; already {
+		return
+	}
+	p.cached[blobHash] = struct{}{}
+	for fileID := range p.blobFiles[blobHash] {
+		blobs := p.fileBlobs[fileID]
+		delete(blobs, blobHash)
+		if len(blobs) == 0 {
+			p.ready = append(p.ready, fileID)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// popReady returns the next ready file, removing it from the queue. If
+// no file is ready, the second return value is false.
+func (p *restorePlan) popReady() (types.FileID, bool) {
+	if len(p.ready) == 0 {
+		return types.FileID{}, false
+	}
+	id := p.ready[0]
+	p.ready = p.ready[1:]
+	return id, true
+}
+
+// finishFile drops a restored file from both indexes so subsequent
+// planning calls don't reconsider it.
+func (p *restorePlan) finishFile(fileID types.FileID) {
+	for hash := range p.fileBlobs[fileID] {
+		if set, ok := p.blobFiles[hash]; ok {
+			delete(set, fileID)
+			if len(set) == 0 {
+				delete(p.blobFiles, hash)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	delete(p.fileBlobs, fileID)
+	// Also scrub the file from any blobFiles entries where it might
+	// still appear even after its uncached-blob set was emptied.
+	for hash, set := range p.blobFiles {
+		if _, ok := set[fileID]; ok {
+			delete(set, fileID)
+			if len(set) == 0 {
+				delete(p.blobFiles, hash)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// pickNextDownload returns the pending file whose remaining-uncached
+// blob set is smallest (with ties broken by FileID string compare so
+// the choice is deterministic across runs). This file's blobs are
+// downloaded next, after which it — together with any other pending
+// files whose blob sets become empty — moves to the ready queue.
+//
+// The zero FileID return means nothing is pending.
+func (p *restorePlan) pickNextDownload() types.FileID {
+	var best types.FileID
+	bestCount := math.MaxInt
+	var bestID string
+	for id, blobs := range p.fileBlobs {
+		n := len(blobs)
+		if n == 0 {
+			// Already-ready files should have been popped via
+			// popReady; ignore here just in case.
+			continue
+		}
+		idStr := id.String()
+		if n < bestCount || (n == bestCount && (best.IsZero() || idStr < bestID)) {
+			best = id
+			bestCount = n
+			bestID = idStr
+		}
+	}
+	return best
+}
+
+// blobsNeeded returns the uncached blob hashes for fileID in any order.
+func (p *restorePlan) blobsNeeded(fileID types.FileID) []string {
+	blobs := p.fileBlobs[fileID]
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(blobs))
+	for h := range blobs {
+		out = append(out, h)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// hasPending reports whether any unfinished files remain.
+func (p *restorePlan) hasPending() bool {
+	return len(p.fileBlobs) > 0
+}