Use one duration parser and fix the --older-than months example (closes #123)

Two parseDuration functions existed with different grammars; only the one in internal/vaultik/helpers.go was reachable from a flag. The unused copy in internal/cli/duration.go is deleted, so no flag accepts anything it did not before.

The README gave 6m as the six-months example for snapshot purge --older-than, but m is minutes: that command removed every snapshot older than six minutes. The example is now 6mo, and the help for --older-than and --keep-newer-than states that m is minutes and mo is months.

The parser now rejects negative durations, which it used to accept or silently make positive.

model: claude-opus-4-8 (implementation, review); claude-fable-5-1 (merge)

Co-authored-by: clawbot <clawbot@noreply.example.org>

README.md

@@ -251,7 +251,8 @@ local index alone, and still exits zero.
 per-snapshot-name (`--keep-latest` keeps the latest of each name, not the
 latest globally).
 * `--keep-latest`: Keep only the most recent snapshot of each name
-* `--older-than <duration>`: Remove snapshots older than duration (e.g. `30d`, `6m`, `1y`)
+* `--older-than <duration>`: Remove snapshots older than duration (e.g. `30d`,
+  `4w`, `6mo`, `1y`; `m` is minutes, `mo` is months)
 * `--snapshot <name>`: Restrict to specific snapshot names (repeat for multiple)
 * `--force`: Skip confirmation prompt
 

TODO.md

@@ -60,6 +60,24 @@ release" is exactly the contradiction
   keeps that exact compiler from auto-switching. Bumping Go now touches
   `go.mod`, the checksum, and the `Dockerfile` `golang` digest together.
 
+- 2026-09-21: Collapsed the two duration parsers into one and fixed the
+  `--older-than` months example
+  ([issue #123](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/vaultik/issues/123)). Two
+  functions named `parseDuration` existed with different grammars;
+  `snapshot purge --older-than` and `--keep-newer-than` both already went
+  through the one in `internal/vaultik`, while the richer copy in
+  `internal/cli/duration.go` was reachable only from its own test. Kept
+  the live-path parser and deleted the unused one, so no flag's accepted
+  grammar changes. The trap the issue was filed over: `README.md`
+  documented `6m` as the months example for `--older-than`, but `m` is
+  minutes, so the documented command deleted every snapshot older than
+  six minutes on a destructive flag. Corrected the doc to `6mo` and put
+  both flags' help text on one example list that states `m` is minutes
+  and `mo` is months. The surviving parser now rejects negatives, which
+  it previously accepted (`-5h`) or silently made positive (`-5d`).
+  Table-driven tests cover every unit, `6m` as six minutes, `6mo` as 180
+  days, and rejection of a bare number, an unknown unit, and a negative.
+
 - 2026-08-10: Moved every lint run into its own container, as a build
   step ([issue #113](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/vaultik/issues/113)).
   New root `Dockerfile.lint`, built by `script/lint`, runs

internal/cli/duration.go

@@ -1,126 +0,0 @@
-package cli
-
-import (
-	"errors"
-	"fmt"
-	"regexp"
-	"strconv"
-	"strings"
-	"time"
-)
-
-// Approximate lengths of the extended calendar units accepted by
-// parseDuration.
-const (
-	durationDay   = 24 * time.Hour
-	durationWeek  = 7 * durationDay
-	durationMonth = 30 * durationDay
-	durationYear  = 365 * durationDay
-)
-
-var (
-	errNegativeDuration = errors.New("negative durations are not supported")
-	errInvalidDuration  = errors.New("invalid duration format")
-	errUnknownTimeUnit  = errors.New("unknown time unit")
-)
-
-// parseDuration parses duration strings. Supports standard Go duration format
-// (e.g., "3h30m", "1h45m30s") as well as extended units:
-// - d: days (e.g., "30d", "7d")
-// - w: weeks (e.g., "2w", "4w")
-// - mo: months (30 days) (e.g., "6mo", "1mo")
-// - y: years (365 days) (e.g., "1y", "2y")
-//
-// Can combine units: "1y6mo", "2w3d", "1d12h30m"
-func parseDuration(s string) (time.Duration, error) {
-	// First try standard Go duration parsing
-	d, err := time.ParseDuration(s)
-	if err == nil {
-		return d, nil
-	}
-
-	// Extended duration parsing
-	// Check for negative values
-	if strings.HasPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(s), "-") {
-		return 0, errNegativeDuration
-	}
-
-	// Pattern matches: number + unit, repeated
-	re := regexp.MustCompile(`(\d+(?:\.\d+)?)\s*([a-zA-Z]+)`)
-	matches := re.FindAllStringSubmatch(s, -1)
-
-	if len(matches) == 0 {
-		return 0, fmt.Errorf("%w: %q", errInvalidDuration, s)
-	}
-
-	var total time.Duration
-
-	for _, match := range matches {
-		valueStr := match[1]
-		unit := strings.ToLower(match[2])
-
-		value, err := strconv.ParseFloat(valueStr, 64)
-		if err != nil {
-			return 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid number %q: %w", valueStr, err)
-		}
-
-		d, err := durationForUnit(value, unit)
-		if err != nil {
-			return 0, err
-		}
-
-		total += d
-	}
-
-	return total, nil
-}
-
-// durationForUnit converts a value with a (case-normalized) unit suffix
-// into a time.Duration, accepting Go's standard units plus the extended
-// calendar units.
-func durationForUnit(value float64, unit string) (time.Duration, error) {
-	switch unit {
-	// Standard time units
-	case "ns", "nanosecond", "nanoseconds":
-		return time.Duration(value), nil
-	case "us", "µs", "microsecond", "microseconds":
-		return time.Duration(value * float64(time.Microsecond)), nil
-	case "ms", "millisecond", "milliseconds":
-		return time.Duration(value * float64(time.Millisecond)), nil
-	case "s", "sec", "second", "seconds":
-		return time.Duration(value * float64(time.Second)), nil
-	case "m", "min", "minute", "minutes":
-		return time.Duration(value * float64(time.Minute)), nil
-	case "h", "hr", "hour", "hours":
-		return time.Duration(value * float64(time.Hour)), nil
-	// Extended units
-	case "d", "day", "days":
-		return time.Duration(value * float64(durationDay)), nil
-	case "w", "week", "weeks":
-		return time.Duration(value * float64(durationWeek)), nil
-	case "mo", "month", "months":
-		// Using 30 days as approximation
-		return time.Duration(value * float64(durationMonth)), nil
-	case "y", "year", "years":
-		// Using 365 days as approximation
-		return time.Duration(value * float64(durationYear)), nil
-	default:
-		// Try parsing as standard Go duration unit
-		testStr := "1" + unit
-
-		_, err := time.ParseDuration(testStr)
-		if err != nil {
-			return 0, fmt.Errorf("%w: %q", errUnknownTimeUnit, unit)
-		}
-
-		// It's a valid Go duration unit, parse the full value
-		fullStr := fmt.Sprintf("%g%s", value, unit)
-
-		d, err := time.ParseDuration(fullStr)
-		if err != nil {
-			return 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid duration %q: %w", fullStr, err)
-		}
-
-		return d, nil
-	}
-}

internal/cli/duration_test.go

@@ -1,299 +0,0 @@
-package cli //nolint:testpackage // needs access to unexported parseDuration
-
-import (
-	"testing"
-	"time"
-
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
-)
-
-type parseDurationCase struct {
-	name     string
-	input    string
-	expected time.Duration
-	wantErr  bool
-}
-
-// runParseDurationCases executes a table of parseDuration cases as
-// parallel subtests.
-func runParseDurationCases(t *testing.T, tests []parseDurationCase) {
-	t.Helper()
-
-	for _, tt := range tests {
-		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			t.Parallel()
-
-			got, err := parseDuration(tt.input)
-
-			if tt.wantErr {
-				require.Error(t, err, "expected error for input %q", tt.input)
-
-				return
-			}
-
-			require.NoError(t, err, "unexpected error for input %q", tt.input)
-			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, got, "duration mismatch for input %q", tt.input)
-		})
-	}
-}
-
-func TestParseDurationStandard(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Parallel()
-
-	runParseDurationCases(t, []parseDurationCase{
-		{
-			name:     "standard seconds",
-			input:    "30s",
-			expected: 30 * time.Second,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "standard minutes",
-			input:    "45m",
-			expected: 45 * time.Minute,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "standard hours",
-			input:    "2h",
-			expected: 2 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "standard combined",
-			input:    "3h30m",
-			expected: 3*time.Hour + 30*time.Minute,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "standard complex",
-			input:    "1h45m30s",
-			expected: 1*time.Hour + 45*time.Minute + 30*time.Second,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "standard with milliseconds",
-			input:    "1s500ms",
-			expected: 1*time.Second + 500*time.Millisecond,
-		},
-	})
-}
-
-func TestParseDurationExtendedUnits(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Parallel()
-
-	runParseDurationCases(t, []parseDurationCase{
-		// Extended units - days
-		{
-			name:     "single day",
-			input:    "1d",
-			expected: 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "multiple days",
-			input:    "7d",
-			expected: 7 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "fractional days",
-			input:    "1.5d",
-			expected: 36 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "days spelled out",
-			input:    "3days",
-			expected: 3 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		// Extended units - weeks
-		{
-			name:     "single week",
-			input:    "1w",
-			expected: 7 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "multiple weeks",
-			input:    "4w",
-			expected: 4 * 7 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "weeks spelled out",
-			input:    "2weeks",
-			expected: 2 * 7 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		// Extended units - months
-		{
-			name:     "single month",
-			input:    "1mo",
-			expected: 30 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "multiple months",
-			input:    "6mo",
-			expected: 6 * 30 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "months spelled out",
-			input:    "3months",
-			expected: 3 * 30 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		// Extended units - years
-		{
-			name:     "single year",
-			input:    "1y",
-			expected: 365 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "multiple years",
-			input:    "2y",
-			expected: 2 * 365 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "years spelled out",
-			input:    "1year",
-			expected: 365 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-	})
-}
-
-func TestParseDurationCombinedAndErrors(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Parallel()
-
-	runParseDurationCases(t, []parseDurationCase{
-		// Combined extended units
-		{
-			name:     "weeks and days",
-			input:    "2w3d",
-			expected: 2*7*24*time.Hour + 3*24*time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "years and months",
-			input:    "1y6mo",
-			expected: 365*24*time.Hour + 6*30*24*time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "days and hours",
-			input:    "1d12h",
-			expected: 24*time.Hour + 12*time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			name:  "complex combination",
-			input: "1y2mo3w4d5h6m7s",
-			expected: 365*24*time.Hour + 2*30*24*time.Hour +
-				3*7*24*time.Hour + 4*24*time.Hour +
-				5*time.Hour + 6*time.Minute + 7*time.Second,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "with spaces",
-			input:    "1d 12h 30m",
-			expected: 24*time.Hour + 12*time.Hour + 30*time.Minute,
-		},
-		// Edge cases
-		{
-			name:     "zero duration",
-			input:    "0s",
-			expected: 0,
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "large duration",
-			input:    "10y",
-			expected: 10 * 365 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		// Error cases
-		{
-			name:    "empty string",
-			input:   "",
-			wantErr: true,
-		},
-		{
-			name:    "invalid format",
-			input:   "abc",
-			wantErr: true,
-		},
-		{
-			name:    "unknown unit",
-			input:   "5x",
-			wantErr: true,
-		},
-		{
-			name:    "invalid number",
-			input:   "xyzd",
-			wantErr: true,
-		},
-		{
-			name:    "negative not supported",
-			input:   "-5d",
-			wantErr: true,
-		},
-	})
-}
-
-func TestParseDurationSpecialCases(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Parallel()
-
-	// Test that standard Go durations work exactly as expected
-	standardDurations := []string{
-		"300ms",
-		"1.5h",
-		"2h45m",
-		"72h",
-		"1us",
-		"1µs",
-		"1ns",
-	}
-
-	for _, d := range standardDurations {
-		expected, err := time.ParseDuration(d)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-
-		got, err := parseDuration(d)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-		assert.Equal(t, expected, got, "standard duration %q should parse identically", d)
-	}
-}
-
-func TestParseDurationRealWorldExamples(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Parallel()
-
-	// Test real-world snapshot purge scenarios
-	tests := []struct {
-		description string
-		input       string
-		olderThan   time.Duration
-	}{
-		{
-			description: "keep snapshots from last 30 days",
-			input:       "30d",
-			olderThan:   30 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			description: "keep snapshots from last 6 months",
-			input:       "6mo",
-			olderThan:   6 * 30 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			description: "keep snapshots from last year",
-			input:       "1y",
-			olderThan:   365 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			description: "keep snapshots from last week and a half",
-			input:       "1w3d",
-			olderThan:   10 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-		{
-			description: "keep snapshots from last 90 days",
-			input:       "90d",
-			olderThan:   90 * 24 * time.Hour,
-		},
-	}
-
-	for _, tt := range tests {
-		t.Run(tt.description, func(t *testing.T) {
-			t.Parallel()
-
-			got, err := parseDuration(tt.input)
-			require.NoError(t, err)
-			assert.Equal(t, tt.olderThan, got)
-
-			// Verify the duration makes sense for snapshot purging
-			assert.Greater(t, got, time.Hour,
-				"snapshot purge duration should be at least an hour")
-		})
-	}
-}

internal/cli/snapshot.go

@@ -141,7 +141,8 @@ specifying a path using --config or by setting VAULTIK_CONFIG to a path.`,
 			"orphaned blobs")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&opts.KeepNewerThan, "keep-newer-than", "",
 		"With --prune: keep snapshots newer than this duration "+
-			"(e.g. 4w, 30d, 6mo) instead of only the latest")
+			"(e.g. 30d, 4w, 6mo, 1y; m is minutes, mo is months) "+
+			"instead of only the latest")
 
 	return cmd
 }
@@ -204,7 +205,8 @@ restrict the operation to specific snapshot names.`,
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&opts.KeepLatest, "keep-latest", false,
 		"Keep only the latest snapshot of each name")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&opts.OlderThan, "older-than", "",
-		"Remove snapshots older than duration (e.g., 30d, 6m, 1y)")
+		"Remove snapshots older than duration "+
+			"(e.g. 30d, 4w, 6mo, 1y; m is minutes, mo is months)")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&opts.Force, "force", false, "Skip confirmation prompt")
 	cmd.Flags().StringArrayVar(&opts.Names, "snapshot", nil,
 		"Restrict to snapshots with these names (repeat for multiple)")

internal/vaultik/helpers.go

@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ var (
 		"invalid snapshot ID format: expected hostname_snapshotname_timestamp")
 	errInvalidDuration  = errors.New("invalid duration")
 	errUnknownTimeUnit  = errors.New("unknown time unit")
+	errNegativeDuration = errors.New("negative durations are not supported")
 )
 
 // Time-unit lengths used by parseDuration.
@@ -138,8 +139,13 @@ func parseSnapshotName(snapshotID string) string {
 
 // parseDuration parses a duration string with support for human-friendly units:
 // d/day/days, w/week/weeks, mo/month/months, y/year/years, plus standard Go
-// duration units (h, m, s).
+// duration units. Following Go, m is minutes and mo is months. A bare number,
+// an unknown unit, and a negative value are all rejected.
 func parseDuration(s string) (time.Duration, error) {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(s), "-") {
+		return 0, errNegativeDuration
+	}
+
 	d, err := time.ParseDuration(s)
 	if err == nil {
 		return d, nil

internal/vaultik/helpers_test.go

@@ -51,13 +51,32 @@ func TestParseDuration(t *testing.T) {
 		want  time.Duration
 		err   bool
 	}{
-		{"30d", 30 * 24 * time.Hour, false},
+		// Go units, including the m-is-minutes / mo-is-months distinction
-		{"4w", 4 * 7 * 24 * time.Hour, false},
+		// that this parser exists to keep straight.
-		{"6mo", 6 * 30 * 24 * time.Hour, false},
+		{"10ns", 10 * time.Nanosecond, false},
-		{"1y", 365 * 24 * time.Hour, false},
+		{"10us", 10 * time.Microsecond, false},
-		{"2w3d", 2*7*24*time.Hour + 3*24*time.Hour, false},
+		{"500ms", 500 * time.Millisecond, false},
-		{"1h", time.Hour, false},
 		{"30s", 30 * time.Second, false},
+		{"6m", 6 * time.Minute, false},
+		{"1h", time.Hour, false},
+		// Extended calendar units.
+		{"30d", 30 * 24 * time.Hour, false},
+		{"3days", 3 * 24 * time.Hour, false},
+		{"4w", 4 * 7 * 24 * time.Hour, false},
+		{"2weeks", 2 * 7 * 24 * time.Hour, false},
+		{"6mo", 180 * 24 * time.Hour, false},
+		{"1month", 30 * 24 * time.Hour, false},
+		{"1y", 365 * 24 * time.Hour, false},
+		{"2years", 2 * 365 * 24 * time.Hour, false},
+		// Combined units.
+		{"2w3d", 2*7*24*time.Hour + 3*24*time.Hour, false},
+		{"1y6mo", 365*24*time.Hour + 180*24*time.Hour, false},
+		// Rejected inputs.
+		{"6", 0, true},   // bare number, no unit
+		{"5x", 0, true},  // unknown unit
+		{"-5d", 0, true}, // negative, extended unit
+		{"-5h", 0, true}, // negative, Go unit
+		{"", 0, true},    // empty
 		{"garbage", 0, true},
 	}