@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/driver-sql': minor
+'@objectstack/service-datasource': minor
+---
+
+fix(driver-sql): a SQLite database whose header SQLite cannot read fails `connect()` at once, naming the file, and a dangling symbolic link as the database's directory is refused on the boot that writes, as the read-only boot already refused it (#25019)
+
+Three more SQLite files a declared datasource cannot use, each now classified by the file's own driver at connect:
+
+- **A database whose header or schema SQLite cannot read** (a file truncated inside its 100-byte header, or short of the pages its schema names). The connection's first statement, `PRAGMA auto_vacuum`, answers `SQLITE_CORRUPT`; `SqlDriver.connect()` logged it as "Failed to set PRAGMA auto_vacuum=INCREMENTAL" and resolved over a file no statement could read. On a development boot, `resolveSqliteDriver` (`@objectstack/service-datasource`) then stepped down to wasm SQLite, whose open renamed the file to `<file>.corrupt-<timestamp>` and wrote an empty database in its place, under a warning that blamed the native addon. `connect()` now refuses it with a `SqliteDatabaseFileError` (`code: 'SQLITE_CORRUPT'`, `filename`, a message naming the file) in every mode, before anything is written, and `resolveSqliteDriver` re-throws it instead of stepping down. A database damaged deeper inside still connects: its first statement answers, and the damage surfaces on the read that reaches it, as before.
+- **A dangling symbolic link as the database's directory, on the boot that writes.** `connect()` took `mkdir`'s `EEXIST` on the link for a concurrent creator and resolved; the first statement then failed with a code-less "directory does not exist", and a development boot stepped down to wasm SQLite under the same false native-addon warning. `connect()` now refuses it with `SqliteDatabaseFileError` (`code: 'ENOENT'`), naming the file and the link, which is the error the read-only boot (`sqliteAbsentFile: 'empty-in-memory'`) gives for the same path.
+- **A dangling symbolic link as the database file itself, on the read-only boot.** When the directory its chain of links ends in does not exist, the read-only boot read the file absent and reported the datasource connected, while the boot that writes refuses the same path with `SQLITE_CANTOPEN`. The read-only boot now refuses it too (`code: 'ENOENT'`), naming the link's target. When that directory exists, both boots behave as before: the read-only boot opens an empty in-memory database, and the boot that writes creates the file through the link.
+
+A real database file, an absent file in a directory that exists or can be made, and a native addon that cannot load over a real database keep today's behaviour.
+
+Clause-②: no (narrowing)
+
+<!-- adr-0087: not-required (no-migration-prescription) No metadata moves: no spec key, authorable spelling, object definition or stored shape is added, removed, renamed or re-shaped, and no exported declaration is removed or narrowed (`SqliteDatabaseFileError` keeps its shape; only the set of codes and paths it is raised for grows), so there is nothing for `objectstack migrate meta` to rewrite. What changes is the answer `SqlDriver.connect()` and the read-only judgement give for three SQLite files a datasource cannot use: a rejection where each resolved. The remedy is the datasource's file or its path, never a rewrite of a package source or a stored row. The other categories are closed on facts: both packages publish (not unpublished); no ADR-0087 id is named or touched (not registered or already-registered); and nothing exported is removed or narrowed (not runtime-interface-only, type-surface-only or runtime-export-retired). -->
+
+**BREAKING** (`SqlDriver.connect()`'s accept set and the read-only boot's narrow): a connect that resolved over a SQLite database whose header SQLite cannot read, or over a path whose directory is a dangling symbolic link, now rejects; a read-only boot that read a dangling file link absent although its target's directory does not exist now rejects. It ships as `minor` under the launch-window convention for accept-set narrowings: during the launch window a breaking change does not take `major`, so the level does not say it breaks, and breaking-ness is carried by this banner and the disposition above.
+
+- **Before:** `connect()` resolved; in production the first query failed with `DATABASE_ERROR`, and on a development boot a damaged file was renamed to `<file>.corrupt-<timestamp>` and replaced with an empty database, and a dangling-link directory stepped down to wasm SQLite under a warning that blamed the native addon. The read-only boot reported a dangling file link connected.
+- **Now:** `connect()` rejects with `SqliteDatabaseFileError`, `code: 'SQLITE_CORRUPT'` for the damaged file and `code: 'ENOENT'` for the dangling-link directory, naming the file (and the link); the read-only boot rejects the dangling file link with `code: 'ENOENT'`, naming its target. The file is untouched.
+- **Fix:** restore the database from a backup, or move the damaged file aside yourself (an absent file is created empty on the next connect); point the dangling link at a directory that exists, or point the datasource at a real path.
@@ -0,0 +1,258 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * The last members of the SQLite file-failure family: a declared SQLite file
+ * the datasource cannot use is classified by its own driver at connect, naming
+ * the file, and nothing is written (#25019).
+ *
+ *   - A SQLite database whose header or schema SQLite cannot read (a file
+ *     truncated inside its 100-byte header, or short of the pages its schema
+ *     names). The connection's first statement, `PRAGMA auto_vacuum`, answers
+ *     `SQLITE_CORRUPT`, which `connect()` logged and swallowed: it resolved
+ *     over a file no statement could read, and on a development boot the
+ *     step-down then moved the file aside. `SQLITE_CANTOPEN` (#23696) and
+ *     `SQLITE_NOTADB` (#24960) were already refused this way.
+ *   - A dangling symbolic link as the file's directory, on the boot that
+ *     writes. `makeDatabaseDirectory` took `mkdir`'s `EEXIST` on the link for
+ *     a concurrent creator, `connect()` resolved, and the first statement
+ *     failed with a code-less "directory does not exist". The read-only boot
+ *     already refused the same path (#24961), so the two boots disagreed.
+ *   - A dangling symbolic link as the file itself, on the read-only boot: it
+ *     read the file absent although the directory the link points into does
+ *     not exist, where the boot that writes refuses it with `SQLITE_CANTOPEN`.
+ *
+ * Every refusal is the driver's own, so the first one is pinned under both
+ * `NODE_ENV` values.
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach, vi } from 'vitest';
+import {
+  existsSync, lstatSync, mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, openSync, readdirSync, readFileSync, rmSync, symlinkSync,
+  truncateSync, writeSync, closeSync,
+} from 'node:fs';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { SqlDriver, resolveSqliteAbsentFileTarget } from './index.js';
+import { SqliteDatabaseFileError } from './sqlite-database-file.js';
+
+const DANGLING_WORDS = (link: string) => `'${link}' is a symbolic link to a path that does not exist`;
+
+const drivers: SqlDriver[] = [];
+function make(filename: string): SqlDriver {
+  const d = new SqlDriver({ client: 'better-sqlite3', connection: { filename }, useNullAsDefault: true } as any);
+  drivers.push(d);
+  return d;
+}
+
+/** `connect()`'s rejection, or a failure saying it resolved. */
+async function refusalOf(driver: SqlDriver): Promise<any> {
+  try {
+    await driver.connect();
+  } catch (error) {
+    return error;
+  }
+  throw new Error('connect() resolved for a file the datasource cannot use');
+}
+
+/** What `fn` threw; a failure naming its answer when it threw nothing. */
+function thrownBy(fn: () => unknown): any {
+  let answer: unknown;
+  try {
+    answer = fn();
+  } catch (error) {
+    return error;
+  }
+  throw new Error(`answered ${JSON.stringify(answer)} for a file that cannot be created`);
+}
+
+function expectFileRefusal(error: any, filename: string, code: string): void {
+  expect(error).toBeInstanceOf(SqliteDatabaseFileError);
+  expect(error.code).toBe(code);
+  expect(error.filename).toBe(filename);
+  expect(error.message).toContain(filename);
+}
+
+/** Every path under `root`, each with its kind, so a link, a file or a directory that appears is seen. */
+function tree(root: string): string[] {
+  return readdirSync(root, { recursive: true }).map(String).sort()
+    .map((name) => `${name}:${lstatSync(join(root, name)).isSymbolicLink() ? 'link' : lstatSync(join(root, name)).isDirectory() ? 'dir' : 'file'}`);
+}
+
+/** A real SQLite database, written by this driver, holding one row in `t`. */
+async function seedDatabase(filename: string): Promise<void> {
+  const seed = new SqlDriver({ client: 'better-sqlite3', connection: { filename }, useNullAsDefault: true } as any);
+  await seed.connect();
+  await seed.execute('CREATE TABLE t (a INTEGER)');
+  await seed.execute('INSERT INTO t (a) VALUES (7)');
+  await seed.disconnect();
+}
+
+/**
+ * The refused file holds the bytes it was found with, and nothing is left
+ * beside it. The header still says WAL (this driver's journal mode), so SQLite
+ * keeps its `-shm` and an empty `-wal` while the refused connection is open:
+ * no `.corrupt-*` sibling then, and nothing at all once it is closed.
+ */
+async function expectLeftAsItWas(driver: SqlDriver, filename: string, before: Buffer): Promise<void> {
+  expect(readdirSync(dir).filter((name) => name.includes('.corrupt-'))).toEqual([]);
+  await driver.disconnect();
+  expect(readFileSync(filename).equals(before)).toBe(true);
+  expect(readdirSync(dir)).toEqual(['archive.db']);
+}
+
+let dir: string;
+beforeEach(() => { dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'os-25019-')); });
+afterEach(async () => {
+  vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+  await Promise.all(drivers.splice(0).map((d) => d.disconnect().catch(() => {})));
+  rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+});
+
+describe('SqlDriver.connect — a declared SQLite file whose header or schema SQLite cannot read (#25019)', () => {
+  for (const nodeEnv of ['development', 'production'] as const) {
+    it(`refuses a database truncated inside its header with SQLITE_CORRUPT, naming it, and leaves its bytes untouched (NODE_ENV=${nodeEnv})`, async () => {
+      const filename = join(dir, 'archive.db');
+      await seedDatabase(filename);
+      truncateSync(filename, 50);
+      const before = readFileSync(filename);
+      vi.stubEnv('NODE_ENV', nodeEnv);
+
+      const driver = make(filename);
+      const error = await refusalOf(driver);
+
+      expectFileRefusal(error, filename, 'SQLITE_CORRUPT');
+      expect(error.message).toContain((error.cause as Error).message);
+      await expectLeftAsItWas(driver, filename, before);
+    });
+  }
+
+  it('refuses a database cut short of the pages its schema names, the same way', async () => {
+    const filename = join(dir, 'archive.db');
+    await seedDatabase(filename);
+    truncateSync(filename, 4096);
+    const before = readFileSync(filename);
+
+    const driver = make(filename);
+    expectFileRefusal(await refusalOf(driver), filename, 'SQLITE_CORRUPT');
+    await expectLeftAsItWas(driver, filename, before);
+  });
+
+  it('CONTROL: a database damaged deeper inside still connects, and the read that reaches the damage fails', async () => {
+    // The refusal is the FIRST statement's verdict, never an integrity check:
+    // here the header and schema read, and one table's page does not.
+    const filename = join(dir, 'archive.db');
+    await seedDatabase(filename);
+    const probe = make(filename);
+    await probe.connect();
+    const [{ rootpage }] = (await probe.execute("SELECT rootpage FROM sqlite_master WHERE name = 't'")) as Array<{ rootpage: number }>;
+    const [{ page_size: pageSize }] = (await probe.execute('PRAGMA page_size')) as Array<{ page_size: number }>;
+    await probe.disconnect();
+    const fd = openSync(filename, 'r+');
+    writeSync(fd, Buffer.alloc(pageSize, 0xab), 0, pageSize, (rootpage - 1) * pageSize);
+    closeSync(fd);
+
+    const driver = make(filename);
+    await driver.connect();
+    const failure = await driver.execute('SELECT a FROM t').then(
+      () => { throw new Error('a read of the damaged page answered'); },
+      (error: any) => error,
+    );
+    expect(failure?.cause?.code).toBe('SQLITE_CORRUPT');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('SqlDriver.connect — a dangling symbolic link as the directory, on the boot that writes (#25019)', () => {
+  it('refuses it with the read-only boot\'s code, naming the file and the link, and creates nothing through it', async () => {
+    const link = join(dir, 'link');
+    symlinkSync(join(dir, 'nowhere'), link);
+    const filename = join(link, 'archive.db');
+    const before = tree(dir);
+
+    const writing = await refusalOf(make(filename));
+    expectFileRefusal(writing, filename, 'ENOENT');
+    expect(writing.message).toContain(DANGLING_WORDS(link));
+
+    // The read-only boot over the same path answers with the same error class,
+    // code, file and words (#24961).
+    const readOnly = thrownBy(() => resolveSqliteAbsentFileTarget(filename, 'empty-in-memory'));
+    expectFileRefusal(readOnly, filename, 'ENOENT');
+    expect(readOnly.message).toContain(DANGLING_WORDS(link));
+
+    expect(lstatSync(link).isSymbolicLink()).toBe(true);
+    expect(existsSync(join(dir, 'nowhere'))).toBe(false);
+    expect(tree(dir)).toEqual(before);
+  });
+
+  it('refuses a deeper path under the link the same way, naming the link', async () => {
+    const link = join(dir, 'link');
+    symlinkSync(join(dir, 'nowhere'), link);
+    const filename = join(link, 'sub', 'archive.db');
+    const before = tree(dir);
+
+    const writing = await refusalOf(make(filename));
+    expectFileRefusal(writing, filename, 'ENOENT');
+    expect(writing.message).toContain(DANGLING_WORDS(link));
+    expect(tree(dir)).toEqual(before);
+  });
+
+  it('CONTROL: a directory that is a link to an existing directory connects, and the file is created in it', async () => {
+    mkdirSync(join(dir, 'real'));
+    symlinkSync(join(dir, 'real'), join(dir, 'link'));
+    const driver = make(join(dir, 'link', 'archive.db'));
+    await driver.connect();
+    expect(await driver.execute('SELECT 1 AS one')).toEqual([{ one: 1 }]);
+    expect(readdirSync(join(dir, 'real'))).toContain('archive.db');
+  });
+
+  it('CONTROL: an absent file under directories that can be made connects, and both are created', async () => {
+    const filename = join(dir, 'new', 'deeper', 'archive.db');
+    const driver = make(filename);
+    await driver.connect();
+    expect(await driver.execute('SELECT 1 AS one')).toEqual([{ one: 1 }]);
+    expect(existsSync(filename)).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('a dangling symbolic link as the database file itself (#25019)', () => {
+  it('the read-only boot refuses it when the directory the chain of links ends in does not exist, as the writing boot does', async () => {
+    const target = join(dir, 'missing', 'target.db');
+    const direct = join(dir, 'archive.db');
+    symlinkSync(target, direct);
+    // The same end, reached through a second link.
+    symlinkSync(target, join(dir, 'hop.db'));
+    const chained = join(dir, 'chained.db');
+    symlinkSync(join(dir, 'hop.db'), chained);
+    const before = tree(dir);
+
+    for (const filename of [direct, chained]) {
+      const readOnly = thrownBy(() => resolveSqliteAbsentFileTarget(filename, 'empty-in-memory'));
+      expectFileRefusal(readOnly, filename, 'ENOENT');
+      expect(readOnly.message).toContain(target);
+
+      // The writing boot refuses the same path with SQLite's own answer.
+      expectFileRefusal(await refusalOf(make(filename)), filename, 'SQLITE_CANTOPEN');
+    }
+    expect(tree(dir)).toEqual(before);
+  });
+
+  it('CONTROL: when that directory exists, the read-only boot reads it absent and writes nothing, and the writing boot creates the file through the link', async () => {
+    symlinkSync(join(dir, 'target.db'), join(dir, 'archive.db'));
+    // A relative target is read from the link's own directory.
+    symlinkSync('relative-target.db', join(dir, 'relative.db'));
+    const before = tree(dir);
+
+    for (const name of ['archive.db', 'relative.db']) {
+      expect(resolveSqliteAbsentFileTarget(join(dir, name), 'empty-in-memory'))
+        .toEqual({ filename: ':memory:', openedEmptyInMemory: true });
+    }
+    expect(tree(dir)).toEqual(before);
+
+    for (const name of ['archive.db', 'relative.db']) {
+      const driver = make(join(dir, name));
+      await driver.connect();
+      expect(await driver.execute('SELECT 1 AS one')).toEqual([{ one: 1 }]);
+    }
+    expect(existsSync(join(dir, 'target.db'))).toBe(true);
+    expect(existsSync(join(dir, 'relative-target.db'))).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
@@ -7061,7 +7061,7 @@ export class SqlDriver implements IDataDriver {
    * not merely that space hygiene is unavailable.
    * @throws {SqliteDatabaseFileError} when that first statement's answer is a
    * verdict on the file itself ({@link SQLITE_FILE_REFUSALS}): it cannot be
-   * opened, or it is not a SQLite database.
+   * opened, it is not a SQLite database, or its header or schema is damaged.
    */
   private async applyAutoVacuumIncremental(): Promise<boolean> {
     try {
@@ -7097,7 +7097,17 @@ export class SqlDriver implements IDataDriver {
       //     used to answer it with wasm SQLite, whose open moved the
       //     operator's file aside and wrote an empty database in its place.
       //     The refusal is issued before anything is written: the file is left
-      //     exactly as it was found.
+      //     exactly as it was found;
+      //   • SQLITE_CORRUPT (#25019) — the file is a SQLite database SQLite
+      //     cannot read: its header or its schema is damaged (a file truncated
+      //     inside its 100-byte header, or short of the pages its schema
+      //     names). At the FIRST statement this is a verdict on the whole
+      //     file, measured: `SELECT 1` answers the same code. A database
+      //     damaged deeper inside answers this read and connects; its damage
+      //     surfaces on the read that reaches it, as before. A development
+      //     boot used to take the same step-down to wasm SQLite as for
+      //     SQLITE_NOTADB, and the same rename; it is refused the same way,
+      //     before anything is written.
       const refusal = code === undefined ? undefined : SqlDriver.SQLITE_FILE_REFUSALS.get(code);
       if (refusal !== undefined) {
         const declared = (this.config as any).connection;
@@ -7132,6 +7142,7 @@ export class SqlDriver implements IDataDriver {
   private static readonly SQLITE_FILE_REFUSALS: ReadonlyMap<string, string> = new Map([
     ['SQLITE_CANTOPEN', 'cannot be opened or created'],
     ['SQLITE_NOTADB', 'is not a SQLite database, and was left as it is'],
+    ['SQLITE_CORRUPT', 'is damaged (SQLite cannot read its header or its schema), and was left as it is'],
   ]);
 
   /** What `PRAGMA auto_vacuum` answers for INCREMENTAL (0 is NONE, 1 is FULL). */