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+# #146 — Final event-loop hardening pass (beta7, ALPHA-ONLY)
+
+**Goal / acceptance bar:** a server that *cannot* be frozen or driven into a restart
+loop by any single misbehaving device, a bloated table, or a SNAT'd request flood.
+**Core invariant:** no synchronous operation may block the event loop for more than
+~50ms, ever, regardless of table size or request rate. The system self-recovers to
+healthy *without a process restart*.
+
+Branch `fix/146-hardening` off the beta6 tip (keeps the crash-isolation from beta6;
+beta7 = beta6 + this). **Do not bump/tag/release/deploy** — Dan bumps + pulls to alpha.
+
+---
+
+## (b) Confirmed failure model (verified against current code)
+
+Two interlocked mechanisms, not one:
+
+1. **TRIGGER** — a device flapping on a multi-second cadence (connect → ~5 content
+   acks → disconnect → reconnect every ~3–5s). Each cycle is expensive (register +
+   `buildPlaylistPayload` + acks) *and* writes one `device_status_log` row/cycle,
+   bloating the table over the retention window. The existing burst throttle
+   (`reconnectBaseMax=5` / `reconnectWindowMs=10s`, deviceSocket.js:425) does **not**
+   catch it: ~2–3 connects/10s passes clean. → **Item B**.
+2. **AMPLIFIER** — `pruneStatusLog()` (db/database.js:763) is a **whole-table
+   `ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY device_id …)` sort**. On the bloated table
+   (1,116,544 rows in the incident) it blocks the loop **40–48s synchronously**
+   (confirmed by `mean=NaNms p99=0ms` lag samples beside `[status-log] pruned` lines).
+   It runs on the heartbeat interval **and at startup** → a bloated table freezes boot
+   → healthcheck fails → restart. → **Item A**.
+3. **INTERLOCK** — the reconnect throttle is in-memory and resets every restart, then
+   re-enters a 30s warmup where throttling is relaxed. The prune-induced restart loop
+   wipes the throttle's history every cycle, so the flapper is never caught. **Ending
+   the restart loop (Item A) is what lets the flap limiter (Item B) gain traction.**
+
+---
+
+## (a) Blast-radius audit — every synchronous, potentially-unbounded op
+
+Legend: **EXPOSED** = can block >50ms under load/growth; **MITIGATED** = already bounded.
+
+### Maintenance sweeps
+| Path | Shape | Worst-case block | Reachable in outage? | Class | Fix |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| `pruneStatusLog` (db/database.js:763) | whole-table `ROW_NUMBER` sort | **40–48s @ 1.1M rows** (O(N log N)) | YES (interval + startup) | **EXPOSED — the amplifier** | A |
+| `pruneLag` (loop-lag.js:92) | indexed range `DELETE … sampled_at < ?` | O(deleted); one statement can delete all-old if stalled | YES (interval + startup) | **EXPOSED** | E |
+| event_loop_lag INSERT (loop-lag.js:71) | sync INSERT per sample | small, but per-tick on the loop; worsens under DB contention | YES | **EXPOSED (freq)** | E |
+| `pruneTelemetry(id)` (database.js:773) | per-device `NOT IN (SELECT … LIMIT 6000)`, idx_telemetry_device | one device's excess in one DELETE; **runs per-heartbeat** (deviceSocket.js:626) | partial | **EXPOSED (freq)** | A (helper + throttle) |
+| play_logs 90d prune (heartbeat.js:64) | indexed range DELETE | O(>90d rows) one statement | YES (interval) | **EXPOSED** | A |
+| `pruneProvisioningDevices` (heartbeat.js:94) | DELETE devices + FK cascade | provision-flood → big cascade delete | YES (interval) | **EXPOSED** | A |
+| `pruneScreenshots(id)` (database.js:785) | per-device keep-newest-1 | ~rows-per-device | partial | MITIGATED | — |
+| team/workspace invite prunes (heartbeat.js:73,78) | expiry DELETE, small tables | negligible | YES | MITIGATED (route for uniformity) | A(opt) |
+
+### Hot paths
+| Path | Worst-case | Class | Fix |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| `device:register` (deviceSocket.js:282) — token validate, blocked SELECT, evict, DB writes, `buildPlaylistPayload` | full cost per flap; burst throttle misses 3–5s flappers | **EXPOSED** | B |
+| content-ack (deviceSocket.js:647) | limiter sheds the loop cost, **but `state` Map has no eviction** (unbounded device keys) | **EXPOSED (unbounded map)** | E |
+| `/api/update/check` (server.js:585) | `resolveApkPath` `existsSync`×2 **unconditional** (even on rate-backoff no-offer); `console.log` per check | **EXPOSED** | C |
+| `/download/apk` (server.js:734) | `resolveApkPath` per req; **IP-keyed** log throttle (SNAT-collapsed → hid the flood); no concurrency/rate/band cap on 8.8MB `sendFile` | **EXPOSED** | C |
+
+### Unbounded in-memory structures (invariant: every Map bounded)
+`content-ack state`, `lastPlayLogAt`, `lastReclaimRejectLogAt`, writer `lastWritten`
+have **no eviction** — grow with distinct device_ids (a SNAT flood minting provisioning
+ids inflates them). `otaDownloadLoggedAt` is **IP-keyed** (wrong under SNAT). Bounded
+already: reconnect-throttle (#146 sweep), ota-breaker (#144 sweep), `pendingOfflines`,
+`evictedSockets`. → **Item E adds a shared bounded-map sweep; Item C replaces the IP map.**
+
+### Logging
+Band lines, per-request OTA lines, repetitive "Device reconnected" — synchronous
+`console.log` at storm rate blocks the loop. → **Item E** coalescing buffer.
+
+---
+
+## Identity fallback chain (applies to Items B & D — HARD CONSTRAINT)
+
+SNAT: the whole fleet egresses as one IP (10.10.10.1). **Never key on IP.** Resolve
+identity as: `device_id` → `fingerprint` (map via `device_fingerprints`→device_id when
+it resolves, else the raw fingerprint string) → `device_token` → a **single bounded
+GLOBAL anon bucket**. `fingerprint` is present in the `device:register` payload
+(deviceSocket.js:289). An unidentifiable client is still bucketed (global anon) so an
+anonymous flood is capped, never unthrottled. Mirrors `lib/ota-breaker`'s
+device_id-or-version fallback. Extracted as `lib/device-identity.js`.
+
+---
+
+## (c) Sequenced implementation plan — isolated commits
+
+- **A. Non-blocking maintenance.** New `lib/chunked-prune.js` (`chunkedPrune`: bounded
+  `LIMIT` batch DELETE + `setImmediate` yield between batches, optional band-gate,
+  re-entrancy guard). Rewrite `pruneStatusLog` → per-device indexed prune (keep newest
+  `statusLogMaxRowsPerDevice` per device via idx_device_status_log_device_ts; delete
+  older + past retention), chunked, async, band-gated on the interval / un-gated at
+  startup. Route play_logs, provisioning-cascade, telemetry, event_loop_lag prune
+  through the helper. `STATUS_LOG_PRUNE_BATCH=2000`. Callers fire-and-forget, no
+  stacking. **Tests:** correctness, ≥300k non-blocking in batches, band-gate, re-entrancy.
+- **B. Flap-rate limiter.** New `lib/flap-limiter.js` — per-identity long-window connect
+  frequency (`CONNECT_RATE_WINDOW_MS=300000`, `CONNECT_RATE_MAX=20`), keyed via the
+  fallback chain, bounded (sweep + global anon bucket). Checked at the register gate
+  before heavy work; over-limit → backoff notice + disconnect. Optional auto-quarantine
+  via Item D block after N refusals. **Tests:** 4s-flapper refused, normal never,
+  two device_ids independent, fingerprint-bucketed, anon-bucketed, never IP.
+- **C. OTA under SNAT.** Early-return before any FS on no-offer verdict; cache APK
+  resolution (path/size/mtime at boot + interval refresh); `/download/apk` global
+  concurrency + global rate + band shed (503 Retry-After); replace IP log-throttle with
+  a bounded aggregate per-window counter. **Tests:** rate-backoff ⇒ 0 fs calls; download
+  sheds 429/503 past global cap + under critical; nothing keys on IP.
+- **D. Operator block.** Move blocked check behind the identity fallback chain (catch a
+  device_id-less reconnect of a blocked device via fingerprint→device_id); dashboard
+  block/unblock toggle (DB write + UI + next-register effect, no restart); in-code outage
+  procedure. **Tests:** blocked rejected cheaply at handshake; device_id-less+mapped-
+  fingerprint still rejected; unblock next-register.
+- **E. Log/write self-protection.** `lib/log-coalescer.js` (dedup+count, interval flush,
+  bounded); buffer+batch event_loop_lag inserts; route its prune through `chunkedPrune`;
+  add a shared bounded-map sweep for the un-evicted per-device Maps. **Tests:** N identical
+  lines ⇒ 1 summarized, buffer bounded.
+- **STORM HARNESS:** flapper + pre-bloated status_log + OTA flood from one SNAT IP +
+  a sweep, all at once; assert loop-lag never enters a multi-second freeze and the
+  server stays responsive (no NaN-sample block).
+
+## Before/after worst-case blocking (targets)
+| Hot path | Before | After (target) |
+|---|---|---|
+| pruneStatusLog @1.1M | 40–48s | <50ms/batch, many batches |
+| play_logs / provisioning / lag prune | O(all-old) one stmt | <50ms/batch |
+| /api/update/check (no-offer) | existsSync×2 + log | 0 FS, coalesced log |
+| /download/apk flood | unbounded sendFile + hidden | global-capped, 503 shed, visible |
+| event_loop_lag telemetry | sync INSERT/sample | batched flush |
+| device:register (flapper) | full build every ~4s | refused at gate, cheap |