Loadout patch sources that fail to resolve are dropped silently — symlinked sources warn nowhere, missing sources warn below the default log level

[norrietaylor]

Fixed with: #1088

Loadout and [session] patch sources that fail to resolve are dropped silently — the session comes up without the file and nothing tells the user.

Two paths, one symptom. Both make docs/guide/agents.md's credential-passthrough story fail open.

1. A literal source that is a symlink is dropped with no message at all

docs/reference/loadouts.md:198-200 scopes symlink handling to glob enumeration:

By default the walker does not follow symlinks while enumerating glob matches; see follow_symlinks and the client config.

A literal (non-glob) source that happens to be a symlink is also dropped, and nothing in the doc predicts it:

$ ln -s /private/tmp/qamin/src.txt /tmp/qamin/link.txt

# loadout: patches = [ { dest = "FROMLINK.txt", source = "/private/tmp/qamin/link.txt" } ]
$ RUST_LOG=warn min … session activate -n symsrc --loadout symsrc --sync none --no-prompt .
Applying loadouts: symsrc
019fae8f-ea40-7fb1-89f4-2f6fc8ce8a44

# inside that session — no file, and no warning was emitted at any log level:
root@symsrc:/workbench# ls -la ~
total 4
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Jul 29 15:48 .
drwxr-xr-x 11 root root  280 Jul 29 15:48 ..

Adding follow_symlinks = true to the same loadout makes it land, which pins the cause:

root@symfollow:/workbench# ls -la ~
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 9 Jul 29 15:48 FROMLINK.txt

Control — the same source as a regular file lands correctly under all three dest shapes, so nothing else about the patch is at fault:

root@desttest:/workbench# find / -name 'REL.txt' -o -name 'TILDE.txt' -o -name 'NESTED.txt'
/home/TILDE.txt
/home/REL.txt
/home/sub/NESTED.txt

2. A missing source does warn, but below the default log level

docs/reference/loadouts.md:187-189:

A source path that does not exist on the host is dropped with a warning at activation rather than failing it

The warning exists but the user does not see it:

$ min … session activate -n missingsrc --loadout missingsrc --sync none --no-prompt .
Applying loadouts: missingsrc
019fae8f-ea49-7383-b7ae-8e4634bdf6b3
                                    <- nothing

$ RUST_LOG=warn min … session activate -n missing2 --loadout missingsrc --sync none --no-prompt .
Applying loadouts: missingsrc
WARN sessions::core::enumerate: patch source not found on host filesystem; dropping
  source_pattern=/private/tmp/qamin/does-not-exist.txt
  walk_root=/private/tmp/qamin/does-not-exist.txt
  missing_path=Some("/private/tmp/qamin/does-not-exist.txt")
019fae90-281f-77b2-a209-2f54d303df46

Applying loadouts: reaches stderr on the same run, so the channel is not the problem — the crate's default filter is.

Why this matters more than the individual cases

docs/guide/agents.md:45-49 and docs/guide/dev-shell.md:58-62 both teach exactly the shape that fails:

patches = [
    { source = "~/.gitconfig", dest = "~/.gitconfig" },
    { source = "~/.ssh",       dest = "~/.ssh" },
]

On this machine ~/.gitconfig is a symlink into a dotfiles repo — the single most common way people keep dotfiles, and loadouts.md:277 explicitly courts that audience ("Turn on when your dotfile tree is a symlink farm (stow, chezmoi)"). The agent starts, has no credentials, and the user gets no signal at the moment it matters.

Suggested fix

1. Surface every dropped patch source on stderr at activation, alongside Applying loadouts: — both the missing-file case and the symlink case. Failing open is a reasonable default; failing open silently is not.
2. Emit a warning for the symlink drop, which currently produces none at any level.
3. Document that follow_symlinks gates literal symlink sources too, not just glob enumeration — or make literal sources follow by default, since a user naming one file explicitly has already expressed the intent a glob walk cannot infer.

Item 1 is the one that matters; 2 and 3 fall out of it.

Not duplicates

gominimal/minimal#196 (leading ~ expansion) and #384 ($VAR expansion) are both closed and concern expanding source patterns, not what happens when an expanded path fails to resolve.

Environment

• min 0.5.0-rc3.dev.35.gdcdeec68, macOS arm64 (Apple Silicon)
• Checkout gominimal/minimal main @ c1d466c; installed binary from dcdeec68 (1 commit apart, scripts/-only)
• All runs against an isolated --minimal-dir/--config-dir. Found during a documentation QA sweep; related epic gominimal/inbox#271.

[gominimal-aw-bot]

Routing triage — #1069

Kind: bug · Route: patch → gominimal/minimal · Confidence: 0.87

Two silent failure modes in the loadout patch-source enumeration path of the min CLI, both owned by gominimal/minimal.

Evidence

• Repo/crate pin: The tracing output names sessions::core::enumerate as the origin of the existing missing-source warn — this crate is in gominimal/minimal. The follow_symlinks per-loadout feature (PR feat(sessions): per-loadout follow symlinks setting #713, merged 2026-07-10) and the original loadout feature (PR feat(sessions): loadouts, config, and debug commands #686) confirm the session/loadout machinery is actively maintained there (informed by Distillery entries for those PRs in the minimal project).
• Similar issues: gominimal/minimal#196 (tilde expansion, closed) and gominimal/minimal#384 ($VAR expansion, closed) are confirmed by the author as not-duplicates — they address pattern expansion, not post-resolution drop behavior. No duplicate or prior-routed version of this exact bug was found in gominimal/minimal or the inbox.
• Routing precedents: Routing-outcome entries confirm similar minimal-CLI session bugs route to gominimal/minimal as patch (informed by routing-outcome inbox-route/I_kwDOSUhdos8AAAABJPspiw and peers); no corrections away from this target were recorded.
• Manifest: gominimal/minimal is route: allow and is the sole owner of the min CLI, session activation, and loadout logic. No competing candidate.

Patch scope

Fix expected in crates/sessions/src/core/enumerate.rs (where the existing missing-source WARN lives and where a new symlink-drop warn needs to be added) and possibly crates/sessions/src/loadout.rs (where the Applying loadouts: stderr progress is emitted, if the fix mirrors the warn there). Two changes: (1) elevate or mirror the missing-source warn to the default log level, (2) add a warn for the symlink-drop case that is currently silent at all levels.

[inbox-route:decision]

{"schema":"inbox-route/v1","issue":417,"issue_node_id":"I_kwDOSUhdos8AAAABKsifNA","dry_run":false,"kind":"bug","route":"patch","confidence":0.87,"targets":[{"repo":"gominimal/minimal","reason":"sessions::core::enumerate crate name in the log output pins the location; the min CLI, session activation, and loadout logic all live in this repo"}],"labels":["kind:bug","priority:should-have"],"patch":{"target_ref":"main","brief":"The sessions::core::enumerate module drops two patch-source cases silently: a literal symlink source is discarded without any message at any log level, and a missing source emits a tracing WARN only when RUST_LOG=warn is set. Evidence suggests both cases share the same enumerate-and-skip loop in that module. The fix involves surfacing the missing-source warn at the default log level (or mirroring it alongside the existing Applying loadouts: stderr progress), and adding a parallel warn for the symlink-drop case in the same location.","files":["crates/sessions/src/core/enumerate.rs","crates/sessions/src/loadout.rs"]},"work_issue":{"title":"bug: loadout patch source drops are silent — symlink sources emit no warning, missing sources warn below default log level","body":"## Summary\n\nTwo patch source drop behaviors in the session loadout activation path are silent by default. A literal source that is a symlink is discarded without any message at any log level. A missing source emits a tracing `WARN` from `sessions::core::enumerate` but only when `RUST_LOG=warn` is set — the default level hides it.\n\n## Details\n\n- `sessions::core::enumerate` already has a warn for missing sources; it needs to be surfaced at the default log level, or mirrored alongside the existing `Applying loadouts:` stderr progress\n- Symlink sources produce no warning at any level; they need a new warn at the same or higher severity\n- A regular file with the same dest shapes lands correctly, isolating the issue to the symlink/missing detection branches in the enumerate loop\n- The credential-passthrough pattern taught in the docs (`~/.gitconfig`, `~/.ssh`) fails silently for users with dotfile symlink farms — a common case\n\n## Suggested next step\n\nIn the `sessions::core::enumerate` module: (1) elevate or mirror the missing-source warn so it reaches the user at the default log level, and (2) add a parallel warn for the symlink-drop case. Optionally update `docs/reference/loadouts.md` to document that `follow_symlinks` gates literal symlink sources as well as glob enumeration."},"related":[{"repo":"gominimal/minimal","number":196,"relation":"related"},{"repo":"gominimal/minimal","number":384,"relation":"related"}],"rationale":"The crate name sessions::core::enumerate in the RUST_LOG=warn output pins the bug to gominimal/minimal — the only portfolio repo that owns the min CLI and session/loadout logic. PR #713 (per-loadout follow_symlinks setting, merged 2026-07-10) and PR #686 (loadout feature ship) confirm this codebase is actively developed there. No duplicate or prior-routed issue was found in gominimal/minimal or the inbox. The fix is localized to a single module (elevate an existing warn, add a new one for symlinks) — plausibly within 2 files and well under max_patch_files. Confidence 0.87 because the crate name directly pins the location and the repo is unambiguous with no competing candidate. Routing precedents in the inbox project confirm similar minimal-CLI session bugs route to gominimal/minimal as patch (informed by routing-outcome inbox-route/I_kwDOSUhdos8AAAABJPspiw and peers)."}

Generated by inbox-route for issue #1069 · ◷

[gominimal-aw-bot]

[inbox-route:ledger]
Routed from gominimal/inbox#417 by inbox-route (https://github.com/gominimal/inbox/actions/runs/30482696037)
Routing-Key: inbox-route/I_kwDOSUhdos8AAAABKsifNA
Route: patch
Patch-Dispatched: https://github.com/gominimal/inbox/actions/runs/30482696037

[gominimal-aw-bot]

[inbox-patch:handoff]
inbox-patch did not produce a verified fix PR for this issue — the agent run failed (agent result: failure).

Run: https://github.com/gominimal/inbox/actions/runs/30484128373

Manual retry:

gh workflow run inbox-patch.yml -R gominimal/inbox -f "target-repo=gominimal/minimal" -f "target-ref=main" -f "issue=1069" -f "language=rust" -f "distillery-project=minimal" -f "decision-url=https://github.com/gominimal/inbox/issues/417#issuecomment-5122483713"