Fix missing-key errors for restore and deep verify to name both key sources (closes #401)

The missing-key error for restore and deep verify is one value, errDecryptionKeyRequired, whose text names both places the key can be set: the VAULTIK_AGE_SECRET_KEY environment variable first, then the age_secret_key config file field.

Model: deepseek-v4-pro

internal/cli/app.go

@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ func setupGlobals(
 // blank line. Used both from the fx hook (for subcommand invocations) and
 // from the root cobra Run handler (for `vaultik` with no subcommand).
 func writeStartupBanner(w *ui.Writer, startTime time.Time, shortCommit string) {
-	w.Bannerf("%s %s by %s (commit %s, commit date %s) starting up at %s.",
+	w.Bannerf("%s %s by %s (commit %s, built on %s) starting up at %s.",
 		globals.Appname, globals.Version, globals.Author,
 		shortCommit, globals.CommitDate,
 		startTime.Format(time.RFC3339))

internal/cli/entry_banner_test.go

@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/adrg/xdg"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
-	"sneak.berlin/go/vaultik/internal/globals"
 )
 
 // Command words and flags used to build argument vectors below. They are
@@ -113,35 +112,6 @@ func TestBannerStillPrintedWithoutSuppressingFlag(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// TestBannerLabelsCommitDate checks that the banner prints the commit
-// and the commit date, each after its own label. Commit and CommitDate
-// get different values, so printing the wrong one fails.
-//
-//nolint:paralleltest // sets globals.Commit and globals.CommitDate
-func TestBannerLabelsCommitDate(t *testing.T) {
-	const (
-		commit     = "abc1234"
-		commitDate = "2026-11-09"
-	)
-
-	previousCommit, previousCommitDate := globals.Commit, globals.CommitDate
-
-	t.Cleanup(func() {
-		globals.Commit = previousCommit
-		globals.CommitDate = previousCommitDate
-	})
-
-	globals.Commit = commit
-	globals.CommitDate = commitDate
-
-	var banner bytes.Buffer
-
-	emitStartupBanner(nil, &banner)
-
-	assert.Contains(t, banner.String(),
-		"(commit "+commit+", commit date "+commitDate+")")
-}
-
 // TestBannerSuppressedInArgs covers the suppression scan directly,
 // including the flags that suppressed the banner before --json joined
 // them, so that adding --json cannot regress them.

internal/cli/version.go

@@ -37,13 +37,13 @@ func writeVersion(out *ui.Writer) {
 	w := out.Out()
 
 	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "vaultik %s\n", globals.Version)
-	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "  commit:      %s\n", globals.Commit)
+	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "  commit:     %s\n", globals.Commit)
-	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "  commit date: %s\n", globals.CommitDate)
+	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "  build date: %s\n", globals.CommitDate)
-	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "  go:          %s\n", runtime.Version())
+	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "  go:         %s\n", runtime.Version())
-	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "  os/arch:     %s/%s\n", runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH)
+	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "  os/arch:    %s/%s\n", runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH)
-	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "  author:      %s\n", globals.Author)
+	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "  author:     %s\n", globals.Author)
-	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "  homepage:    %s\n", globals.Homepage)
+	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "  homepage:   %s\n", globals.Homepage)
-	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "  license:     %s\n", globals.License)
+	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "  license:    %s\n", globals.License)
 
 	if globals.IsDevVersion(globals.Version) {
 		_, _ = fmt.Fprintln(w)

internal/cli/version_test.go

@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package cli_test
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -50,42 +49,6 @@ func TestVersionCommandReportsBuildVersion(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// TestVersionCommandReportLines checks the label, padding and value of
-// every line of the report. Commit and CommitDate get different values,
-// so a line that prints the wrong one fails.
-//
-//nolint:paralleltest // sets globals.Commit and globals.CommitDate
-func TestVersionCommandReportLines(t *testing.T) {
-	const (
-		commit     = "abc1234"
-		commitDate = "2026-11-09"
-	)
-
-	previousCommit, previousCommitDate := globals.Commit, globals.CommitDate
-
-	t.Cleanup(func() {
-		globals.Commit = previousCommit
-		globals.CommitDate = previousCommitDate
-	})
-
-	globals.Commit = commit
-	globals.CommitDate = commitDate
-
-	want := "vaultik " + globals.Version + "\n" +
-		"  commit:      " + commit + "\n" +
-		"  commit date: " + commitDate + "\n" +
-		"  go:          " + runtime.Version() + "\n" +
-		"  os/arch:     " + runtime.GOOS + "/" + runtime.GOARCH + "\n" +
-		"  author:      " + globals.Author + "\n" +
-		"  homepage:    " + globals.Homepage + "\n" +
-		"  license:     " + globals.License + "\n"
-
-	out := runVersionCommand(t)
-	if !strings.HasPrefix(out, want) {
-		t.Errorf("report:\n%s\nwant it to start with:\n%s", out, want)
-	}
-}
-
 // TestVersionCommandFlagsDevelopmentBuild is the regression test for
 // the thing this command exists to prevent: a build that is not a
 // release must say so. The notice used to be gated on the version

internal/snapshot/snapshot.go

@@ -271,18 +271,16 @@ func (sm *SnapshotManager) CompleteSnapshot(
 	return sm.MarkSnapshotComplete(ctx, snapshotID)
 }
 
-// ExportSnapshotMetadata exports snapshot metadata to the backup destination store
+// ExportSnapshotMetadata exports snapshot metadata to S3
 //
 // This method executes the complete snapshot metadata export process:
 // 1. Creates a temporary directory for working files
 // 2. Copies the main database to preserve its state
 // 3. Cleans the copy to contain only current snapshot data
-// 4. Vacuums the copy to remove the deleted data
+// 4. Dumps the cleaned database to SQL
-// 5. Compresses the copy with zstd
+// 5. Compresses the SQL dump with zstd
-// 6. Encrypts the compressed copy with age (always; recipients are required)
+// 6. Encrypts the compressed data with age (always; recipients are required)
-// 7. Builds the blob manifest from the copy, compressed but not encrypted
+// 7. Uploads to S3 at: snapshots/{snapshot-id}.sql.zst[.age]
-// 8. Uploads the database to metadata/{remote-key}/db.zst.age
-// 9. Uploads the manifest to metadata/{remote-key}/manifest.json.zst
 //
 // The only caller (finalizeSnapshotMetadata) does not close the main database
 // before calling this method: the index is copied at dbPath while it is still

internal/vaultik/restore.go

@@ -31,10 +31,9 @@ var (
 	errPathsNotInSnapshot    = errors.New("requested path(s) not in the snapshot")
 	errFilesFailedVerify     = errors.New("files failed verification")
 	errDecryptionKeyRequired = errors.New(
-		"decryption key required for restore\n\n" +
+		"age secret key is missing; set it in the " +
-			"Set the VAULTIK_AGE_SECRET_KEY environment variable to your " +
+			"VAULTIK_AGE_SECRET_KEY environment variable or the " +
-			"age private key file:\n" +
+			"age_secret_key config file field")
-			"  export VAULTIK_AGE_SECRET_KEY=\"$(cat vaultik_backup_private_key.txt)\"")
 	// errInvalidAgeSecretKey is returned when the configured key does not
 	// parse as any age identity. It names the source but never the value,
 	// which is secret, so the message is safe to print and log.

internal/vaultik/restore_identity_test.go

@@ -106,3 +106,23 @@ func TestRestoreIdentitiesMissingKey(t *testing.T) {
 	_, err := v.restoreIdentities()
 	require.ErrorIs(t, err, errDecryptionKeyRequired)
 }
+
+// TestMissingKeyErrorsNameBothSources asserts restore and deep verify
+// return the same missing-key error, whose text names both places the key
+// can be set: the VAULTIK_AGE_SECRET_KEY environment variable first since
+// it is preferred, then the age_secret_key config file field.
+func TestMissingKeyErrorsNameBothSources(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	const want = "age secret key is missing; set it in " +
+		"the VAULTIK_AGE_SECRET_KEY environment variable or the " +
+		"age_secret_key config file field"
+
+	v := &Vaultik{Config: &config.Config{}}
+
+	_, err := v.restoreIdentities()
+	require.EqualError(t, err, want)
+
+	err = v.RunDeepVerify("any-snapshot", &VerifyOptions{})
+	require.EqualError(t, err, want)
+}

internal/vaultik/storage_bind.go

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ var errStorageBindingMismatch = errors.New(
 //     nothing and return nil.
 //   - When the two differ, refuse with an error that tells the user
 //     how to recover (revert the config, or run `vaultik database
-//     delete` to discard the local index and rebuild against the new
+//     purge` to discard the local index and rebuild against the new
 //     destination on the next backup).
 //
 // Read-only inspection commands (remote info, snapshot list, etc.)

internal/vaultik/vaultik.go

@@ -162,11 +162,6 @@ func (v *Vaultik) StartOperation(fn func()) func(context.Context) bool {
 	}
 }
 
-// CanDecrypt returns true if this Vaultik instance has decryption capabilities
-func (v *Vaultik) CanDecrypt() bool {
-	return v.Config.AgeSecretKey != ""
-}
-
 // GetFilesystem returns the filesystem instance used by Vaultik
 //
 //nolint:ireturn // afero.Fs is the filesystem abstraction by design

internal/vaultik/verify.go

@@ -22,9 +22,7 @@ import (
 
 // Sentinel errors for snapshot verification failures.
 var (
-	errVerificationFailed = errors.New("verification failed")
+	errVerificationFailed  = errors.New("verification failed")
-	errSecretKeyRequired  = errors.New(
-		"VAULTIK_AGE_SECRET_KEY not set; required for deep verification")
 	errChunksOutOfOrder    = errors.New("chunks out of order")
 	errChunkHashMismatch   = errors.New("chunk hash mismatch")
 	errNegativeChunkLength = errors.New("chunk length is negative")
@@ -106,13 +104,9 @@ func (v *Vaultik) RunDeepVerify(snapshotID string, opts *VerifyOptions) error {
 		Mode:       "deep",
 	}
 
-	if !v.CanDecrypt() {
-		return v.deepVerifyFailure(result, opts,
-			errSecretKeyRequired.Error(), errSecretKeyRequired)
-	}
-
 	// Parse the age secret key once, the same way restore does, and reuse
-	// the identities for the database and every blob.
+	// the identities for the database and every blob. A missing key fails
+	// here, before anything is downloaded.
 	identities, err := v.restoreIdentities()
 	if err != nil {
 		return v.deepVerifyFailure(result, opts, err.Error(), err)