writeonce/docs/stories/databasev2/07-single-file-db.md
shoney.arickathil 746dc2b42b docs(databasev2): third track — the database beyond RAM, with per-table storage modes
- docs/stories/databasev2/, numbered from 1. Six PENDING database iterations
  moved from the language track and renumbered, keeping the old id in
  `was_language_iteration:` so a search for "iteration 32" still finds it:
  32 -> 3 WAL checkpoint, 23 -> 4 io_uring commit, 33 -> 7 single-file store,
  27 -> 8 query grammar, 20 -> 9 cross-program, 21 -> 10 keypair auth.
  Done work (9, 9b, 22) stays as v1 history; language 18 left whole
- the problem, read off the engine not guessed: rows are malloc'd slabs with
  addresses stable forever, NO eviction/spill/paging anywhere in database/src,
  the WAL never checkpoints so boot replays all history, and durability is one
  process-global WO_DATA so no table can say it matters more than another.
  An allocation failure IS a clean catchable WO_T_OOM — but swap thrash
  arrives first and carries no error signal at all, which is the real hazard
- four new iterations:
  1 measure the ceiling FIRST (curve not cliff; the three exits; kill -9 at
    exhaustion) — every later default should follow from a number
  2 `@table(mode: ram | durable | cold)` — the grammar ask. Small surface
    (Ast.table_cfg gains a key, the parser already rejects unknown args), big
    semantics: `durable` defaults so nothing changes silently, and the
    compiler refuses a durable row holding a `ref` into a ram table
  5 bounded tables + refuse/evict/back-pressure, shedding BEFORE the OS acts
  6 cold tiering — mostly forks, incl. whether the language surfaces the
    fault cost and whether @unique on cold is refused outright. A paged
    B-tree stays rejected: if tiering needs one, reject tiering
- 39 links repointed, link TEXT renumbered to track-local ids; arc gains one
  pointer row replacing the six moved; board + board-views cover three tracks
- linkcheck 0 broken / 0 anchors; no code blocks in any story

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-26 20:52:48 +02:00

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3.5 KiB
Markdown

---
track: databasev2
iteration: "7"
was_language_iteration: "33"
status: refine
---
# databasev2 7 — `WO_DATA=<path>.db`: the persistent store as one file
> **Moved 2026-08-26** from the language track, where this was iteration 33.
> Part of [Story — the database beyond RAM](../language-runtime-database/00-story.md). Content unchanged by
> the move; its dependencies are restated in that track index.
> Format: `product/story-iteration-template`. Part of
> [Story — one language, one runtime, one database, one binary](../language-runtime-database/00-story.md).
>
> **Inserted 2026-08-22** (developer ask: "can the persistent db be in
> file.db form?"). The truth is already almost there: `WO_DATA=<dir>`
> holds exactly ONE file (`shard-0.wal`) — the entire persistent state,
> since RAM is authoritative and no data pages exist. This iteration
> makes the surface say so: point `WO_DATA` at a file and THAT file is
> the store. Small, driver-only, independent of the concurrency chain.
## Goals
- **`WO_DATA=<path>` accepts a file path.** A path that is not an
existing directory is treated as THE wal file (`app.db`,
`store.wo.db` — the name is the operator's). The directory form stays
and keeps meaning `<dir>/shard-0.wal` — every existing deployment and
gate is byte-identical.
- **One file remains the whole truth at any core count** — stage 3 made
the WAL owner-shard-only (shard 0 is the sole writer), so nothing
multi-shard ever adds a second file.
- **The contract says it out loud**: `04-db-binding.md` documents the
file form, and documents honestly that the file is an append-only log
that grows until iteration 32 lands.
## Acceptance Criteria
- **Given** `WO_DATA=/tmp/app.db` (no such directory), **when** a
program seeds, restarts, and verifies, **then** replay is byte-true
and `/tmp/app.db` is the only artifact on disk.
- **Given** `WO_DATA=<dir>` (existing directory), **when** the same
program runs, **then** behavior is byte-identical to today —
`<dir>/shard-0.wal`, every standing gate unchanged.
- **Given** the db-bench durability legs pointed at the file form,
**when** the restart proof and kill -9 battery run, **then** every
guarantee holds identically (the file IS the same WAL, only named by
the operator).
## Out Of Scope
- A paged database file (SQLite's shape) — RAM is authoritative; the
disk story is the WAL, full stop.
- Checkpoint/compaction — [iteration 32](03-wal-checkpoint.md)'s; its
rename-swap (write snapshot+tail to a NEW file, fsync, `rename()`
over the old) is exactly what keeps the single-file promise crash-safe
when it lands. 33 before or after 32 works; landing 33 first means
32's spec inherits the file form as a stated constraint.
- Multiple stores per process, attach-by-file — held iteration 20's
territory.
## Info
- The whole change is `runtime/src/main.c`'s hardcoded
`snprintf("%s/shard-0.wal", dir)` growing a stat-based fork
(directory → today's path; otherwise → the path itself), plus a gate
check and the binding-doc note. No engine, no WAL format, no
compiler.
- Fork for the (tiny) spec: what does a NONEXISTENT path mean? Leaning:
a path whose parent exists and that does not end in `/` is a file to
create; a trailing `/` or existing directory keeps the directory
form. Refusing ambiguity loudly (WO exit 2) beats guessing.
## Proposed Solution
Small enough for a bounded slice: brainstorm the one fork in chat,
implement driver + db-bench file-form leg + docs in one pass, gates
green. No plan document needed unless it grows.