fix(browse): honest probe budget, bounded daemon log, single refusal source, liveness + reinstall coverage

Five hardening items in the browse CLI and its tests:

- probeHealthWithBackoff's advertised ~8s budget could really run ~10s: the
  final 2s probe could start 1ms before the deadline, and every call site
  had JUST run a failed probe yet the loop re-probed immediately.
  Iterations now start with the sleep and each probe's timeout clamps to
  the remaining budget (isServerHealthy takes an injectable timeout).
- browse-daemon.log is append-mode across every respawn with no size cap,
  so a crash-respawn loop fills the disk. The path is now built in one
  place (daemonLogPath — the Unix fd path and the Windows launcher string
  had two spellings) and daemon start rotates a >10MB log to
  browse-daemon.log.1, single generation, matching the repo's 10MB
  rotation convention. Rotation is exported + injectable and behaviorally
  unit-tested.
- The two "healthy daemon already running" refusal blocks in connect had
  already drifted (one lost the tabs/cookies/logins explainer) — extracted
  refuseHeadedOverLiveDaemon as the single source.
- process-liveness: pinned the EPERM-means-alive contract (PID 1 on POSIX,
  PID 4 on Windows — signalable-or-EPERM, both alive). A probe that reads
  EPERM as dead is the false negative that leaked agents.
- runBoundedChromiumReinstall had zero coverage: now exercised end-to-end
  against a stub bunx on a prepended PATH — exit 0, install-exit-N with
  stderr tail, the detached group-kill timeout path (child of the child
  dies too), and spawn-error.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

browse/src/cli.ts

@@ -146,10 +146,10 @@ function readState(): ServerState | null {
  * HTTP health check — definitive proof the server is alive and responsive.
  * Used in all polling loops instead of isProcessAlive() (which is slow on Windows).
  */
-export async function isServerHealthy(port: number): Promise<boolean> {
+export async function isServerHealthy(port: number, timeoutMs = 2000): Promise<boolean> {
   try {
     const resp = await fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${port}/health`, {
-      signal: AbortSignal.timeout(2000),
+      signal: AbortSignal.timeout(timeoutMs),
     });
     if (!resp.ok) return false;
     const health = await resp.json() as any;
@@ -281,7 +281,13 @@ export const HEALTH_PROBE_TOTAL_BUDGET_MS = 8_000;
 /** Bounded /health probe. Returns true if the server answers within the
  * total budget — distinguishes a busy-but-alive daemon from a dead one
  * (#1781, #2219) so a slow server isn't killed and restarted into a
- * crash-loop. Each individual probe self-bounds at 2s (isServerHealthy). */
+ * crash-loop.
+ *
+ * P4 wall-time honesty: every call site reaches here right after a probe or
+ * command already failed, so iterations START with the sleep (an immediate
+ * re-probe would just re-fail), and each probe's timeout is clamped to the
+ * remaining budget — otherwise the last 2s probe could start 1ms before the
+ * deadline and the reported "~8s" budget would really be ~10s. */
 async function probeHealthWithBackoff(
   port: number,
   totalBudgetMs = HEALTH_PROBE_TOTAL_BUDGET_MS,
@@ -289,9 +295,11 @@ async function probeHealthWithBackoff(
 ): Promise<boolean> {
   const deadline = Date.now() + totalBudgetMs;
   for (;;) {
-    if (await isServerHealthy(port)) return true;
     if (Date.now() + intervalMs >= deadline) return false;
     await Bun.sleep(intervalMs);
+    const remainingMs = deadline - Date.now();
+    if (remainingMs <= 0) return false;
+    if (await isServerHealthy(port, Math.min(2000, remainingMs))) return true;
   }
 }
 
@@ -320,6 +328,18 @@ export function decideDaemonRestart(opts: {
   return 'restart-dead';
 }
 
+/** #2219 IRON RULE refusal for `connect`: a live daemon is never replaced
+ * without explicit consent. Single source for the refusal text (M7) — the
+ * two call sites (healthy fast-path, busy-but-alive after the bounded probe)
+ * previously duplicated it, and the tabs/cookies/logins explainer had
+ * already drifted out of one of them. */
+function refuseHeadedOverLiveDaemon(state: { pid: number; mode?: string }): never {
+  console.error(`[browse] A healthy daemon is already running (PID ${state.pid}, ${state.mode} mode).`);
+  console.error('[browse] Connecting headed would kill it and lose its tabs/cookies/logins.');
+  console.error("[browse] Run 'browse disconnect' first, or pass --force-restart to replace it.");
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
 /** The busy report (F10): what happened, what to do, what a force costs. */
 function reportDaemonBusyAndExit(pid: number): never {
   console.error(`[browse] Daemon busy — process ${pid} is alive but did not answer /health within ~${HEALTH_PROBE_TOTAL_BUDGET_MS / 1000}s.`);
@@ -378,9 +398,38 @@ function raiseHeadedWindowMacOS(): void {
 // F6 log hygiene: nothing that reaches the daemon's stdout/stderr may carry
 // an auth token or unsanitized page-derived strings —
 // browse/test/daemon-log-hygiene.test.ts pins this with needle tests.
+//
+// Single source for the log path (M4): the Unix fd-open path and the Windows
+// launcher string both build it, and a drifted spelling would silently split
+// the daemon's history across two files.
+function daemonLogPath(): string {
+  return path.join(config.stateDir, 'browse-daemon.log');
+}
+
+/** Append-mode growth bound: the log accumulates across every respawn (a
+ * crash-respawn loop would otherwise fill the disk), so on daemon start a
+ * log past 10MB (the repo's rotation convention — tunnel-denial-log.ts uses
+ * the same cap) is renamed to browse-daemon.log.1, single generation.
+ * Best-effort: a failed stat/rename must never block the launch.
+ * Path + cap injectable for unit coverage; exported for the same reason. */
+export const DAEMON_LOG_MAX_BYTES = 10 * 1024 * 1024;
+export function rotateDaemonLogIfOversized(
+  p: string = daemonLogPath(),
+  maxBytes: number = DAEMON_LOG_MAX_BYTES,
+): void {
+  try {
+    if (fs.statSync(p).size > maxBytes) {
+      fs.renameSync(p, `${p}.1`);
+    }
+  } catch {
+    // Missing log (first launch) or unwritable state dir — rotation is
+    // best-effort, the launch matters more.
+  }
+}
+
 function openDaemonLogSink(): number | 'ignore' {
   try {
-    return fs.openSync(path.join(config.stateDir, 'browse-daemon.log'), 'a');
+    return fs.openSync(daemonLogPath(), 'a');
   } catch {
     // stateDir not writable (permissions, disk full) — fall back to the
     // previous behavior rather than fail the whole launch over logging.
@@ -391,6 +440,9 @@ function openDaemonLogSink(): number | 'ignore' {
 async function startServer(extraEnv?: Record<string, string>): Promise<ServerState> {
   ensureStateDir(config);
 
+  // Bound the append-mode daemon log before the new daemon starts writing.
+  rotateDaemonLogIfOversized();
+
   // Clean up stale state file and error log
   safeUnlink(config.stateFile);
   safeUnlink(path.join(config.stateDir, 'browse-startup-error.log'));
@@ -421,7 +473,7 @@ async function startServer(extraEnv?: Record<string, string>): Promise<ServerSta
     // to be opened from inside the launcher string too; an fd opened here
     // in cli.ts wouldn't cross the spawn boundary. Falls back to 'ignore'
     // the same way openDaemonLogSink() does if the state dir isn't writable.
-    const daemonLogPathStr = JSON.stringify(path.join(config.stateDir, 'browse-daemon.log'));
+    const daemonLogPathStr = JSON.stringify(daemonLogPath());
     const launcherCode =
       `const{spawn}=require('child_process');` +
       `const fs=require('fs');` +
@@ -1277,16 +1329,11 @@ Refs:           After 'snapshot', use @e1, @e2... as selectors:
     // browser. A live daemon is only replaced with explicit consent.
     if (existingState && isProcessAlive(existingState.pid) && !globalFlags.forceRestart) {
       if (await isServerHealthy(existingState.port)) {
-        console.error(`[browse] A healthy daemon is already running (PID ${existingState.pid}, ${existingState.mode} mode).`);
+        refuseHeadedOverLiveDaemon(existingState);
-        console.error('[browse] Connecting headed would kill it and lose its tabs/cookies/logins.');
-        console.error("[browse] Run 'browse disconnect' first, or pass --force-restart to replace it.");
-        process.exit(1);
       }
       // Alive but unhealthy after the bounded probe → busy, not dead.
       if (await probeHealthWithBackoff(existingState.port)) {
-        console.error(`[browse] A healthy daemon is already running (PID ${existingState.pid}, ${existingState.mode} mode).`);
+        refuseHeadedOverLiveDaemon(existingState);
-        console.error("[browse] Run 'browse disconnect' first, or pass --force-restart to replace it.");
-        process.exit(1);
       }
       reportDaemonBusyAndExit(existingState.pid);
     }

browse/test/daemon-log-hygiene.test.ts

@@ -40,10 +40,50 @@ describe('#2461 daemon log wiring', () => {
 
   test('log sink is append-mode (accumulates across respawns)', () => {
     const cli = SRC('cli.ts');
-    expect(cli).toMatch(/openSync\(path\.join\(config\.stateDir, 'browse-daemon\.log'\), 'a'\)/);
+    // Both spawn paths open through the single daemonLogPath() source (M4),
+    // which itself must build from the state dir.
+    expect(cli).toMatch(/openSync\(daemonLogPath\(\), 'a'\)/);
+    expect(cli).toMatch(/path\.join\(config\.stateDir, 'browse-daemon\.log'\)/);
     expect(cli).toMatch(/openSync\(\$\{daemonLogPathStr\},'a'\)/);
   });
 
+  test('append-mode log is growth-bounded: rotated at 10MB before daemon start', () => {
+    const cli = SRC('cli.ts');
+    expect(cli).toMatch(/DAEMON_LOG_MAX_BYTES = 10 \* 1024 \* 1024/);
+    expect(cli).toMatch(/rotateDaemonLogIfOversized\(\);/);
+    // Single generation: rename to .1, matching the repo's 10MB conventions.
+    expect(cli).toMatch(/renameSync\(p, `\$\{p\}\.1`\)/);
+  });
+
+  test('rotation behavior: oversized rotates to a single .1 generation, small/missing are no-ops', () => {
+    const os = require('os');
+    const { rotateDaemonLogIfOversized } = require('../src/cli');
+    const tmp = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'gstack-daemon-log-'));
+    try {
+      const p = path.join(tmp, 'browse-daemon.log');
+      // Missing log: no throw (first launch).
+      rotateDaemonLogIfOversized(p, 1024);
+      // Under the cap: untouched, no generation created.
+      fs.writeFileSync(p, 'x'.repeat(10));
+      rotateDaemonLogIfOversized(p, 1024);
+      expect(fs.existsSync(p)).toBe(true);
+      expect(fs.existsSync(`${p}.1`)).toBe(false);
+      // Over the cap: rotated out of the way so the daemon starts fresh.
+      fs.writeFileSync(p, 'y'.repeat(2048));
+      rotateDaemonLogIfOversized(p, 1024);
+      expect(fs.existsSync(p)).toBe(false);
+      expect(fs.readFileSync(`${p}.1`, 'utf-8')).toContain('y');
+      // Single generation: the next rotation REPLACES .1 (bounded at ~2x cap
+      // total, never a .2).
+      fs.writeFileSync(p, 'z'.repeat(2048));
+      rotateDaemonLogIfOversized(p, 1024);
+      expect(fs.readFileSync(`${p}.1`, 'utf-8')).toContain('z');
+      expect(fs.existsSync(`${p}.2`)).toBe(false);
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(tmp, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
   test('bun-polyfill routes Windows spawns through cross-spawn (ENOENT + cmd.exe injection fix)', () => {
     const polyfill = SRC('bun-polyfill.cjs');
     expect(polyfill).toContain("require('cross-spawn')");

browse/test/process-liveness-windows.test.ts

@@ -54,6 +54,15 @@ describe('process liveness probe (Windows terminal-agent leak)', () => {
     expect(isProcessAlive(2147483646)).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  test('2b. EPERM means ALIVE: an unsignalable-but-existing PID is not dead (T2)', () => {
+    // signal-0 to a process we lack permission over throws EPERM — the
+    // process EXISTS, we just can't signal it. Treating EPERM as "dead" is
+    // the false negative that leaked agents. PID 1 (launchd/init) on POSIX
+    // and PID 4 (System) on Windows always exist and are either signalable
+    // or EPERM — both must read as alive.
+    expect(isProcessAlive(process.platform === 'win32' ? 4 : 1)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   test('3. isProcessAlive spawns NO subprocess on ANY platform (signal-0, #1952)', () => {
     // The heart of the bug: a liveness probe that forks is slow enough to
     // time out, and a timed-out probe silently answers "dead". Signal 0

browse/test/xprotect-heal.test.ts

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import {
   launchWithXProtectHeal,
   resetXProtectHealForTests,
   buildXProtectGuidance,
+  runBoundedChromiumReinstall,
 } from '../src/xprotect-heal';
 
 const REPO_ROOT = path.resolve(import.meta.dir, '..', '..');
@@ -391,3 +392,66 @@ describe('buildXProtectGuidance', () => {
     expect(out).toContain('#2554');
   });
 });
+
+// ─── runBoundedChromiumReinstall (T3) — previously zero coverage ──────────
+//
+// Exercised end-to-end against a STUB `bunx` on a prepended PATH: real spawn,
+// real process group, real timer — only the binary is fake. Shell stubs
+// don't exist on Windows, and the group-kill path is POSIX (`kill(-pid)`),
+// so the suite is Unix-only like the shape it tests.
+describe.skipIf(process.platform === 'win32')('runBoundedChromiumReinstall', () => {
+  let stubDir: string;
+  let savedPath: string | undefined;
+
+  function installStubBunx(script: string): void {
+    const stub = path.join(stubDir, 'bunx');
+    fs.writeFileSync(stub, `#!/bin/sh\n${script}\n`, { mode: 0o755 });
+  }
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    stubDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'xprotect-stub-'));
+    savedPath = process.env.PATH;
+    process.env.PATH = `${stubDir}${path.delimiter}${process.env.PATH ?? ''}`;
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    process.env.PATH = savedPath;
+    fs.rmSync(stubDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  it('resolves ok on exit 0', async () => {
+    installStubBunx('exit 0');
+    const result = await runBoundedChromiumReinstall(stubDir, 10_000);
+    expect(result).toEqual({ ok: true, exitCode: 0 });
+  });
+
+  it('reports install-exit-N with the stderr tail on a nonzero exit', async () => {
+    installStubBunx('echo "download failed: mirror unreachable" >&2\nexit 7');
+    const result = await runBoundedChromiumReinstall(stubDir, 10_000);
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(7);
+    expect(result.reason).toStartWith('install-exit-7');
+    expect(result.reason).toContain('download failed: mirror unreachable');
+  });
+
+  it('group-kills a hung install at timeoutMs and reports timeout', async () => {
+    // The stub spawns its own child (like bunx → playwright CLI → download
+    // workers) and sleeps well past the bound; the detached process group
+    // must take BOTH down, and the result must arrive at ~timeoutMs, not
+    // after the sleep.
+    installStubBunx('sleep 30 &\nsleep 30');
+    const started = Date.now();
+    const result = await runBoundedChromiumReinstall(stubDir, 500);
+    const elapsed = Date.now() - started;
+    expect(result).toEqual({ ok: false, reason: 'timeout' });
+    expect(elapsed).toBeLessThan(5_000); // resolved at the bound, not the sleep
+  });
+
+  it('reports spawn-error when the binary cannot be executed', async () => {
+    // No stub installed and PATH reduced to the empty stub dir only.
+    process.env.PATH = stubDir;
+    const result = await runBoundedChromiumReinstall(stubDir, 10_000);
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.reason).toStartWith('spawn-error:');
+  });
+});