fix(hub): make the streamed download path reliable, and clean up after an abort

On Firefox and Safari the service worker is the only unbounded way to write a
download to disk: neither has the File System Access API, and OPFS is not a
substitute — measured on Firefox 154, its quota is exactly 10% of the volume's
size (389,233,459 bytes of a 3,892,334,592-byte volume, refused to the byte),
which a film exceeds. So when this path declines, a large download has nowhere
left to go, which makes its reliability a correctness property.

Four ways it declined, all of them avoidable:

- it was registered inside the first click on Download, so that click paid
  install, activate and claim while somebody watched a button do nothing;
- `_swReady` cached a null for the life of the page. One slow first click left
  the tab unable to stream anything again, curable only by a reload nobody knew
  to do. Only a successful controller is remembered now;
- control was waited for with a 3 s cap. It is 15 s, and a page that is active
  but not controlled asks the worker to claim again (`mbdl-claim`) instead of
  declaring the path unavailable;
- a missed navigation gave up at once. It gets a second attempt with a fresh id
  and iframe, the failed one torn down completely first.

Also closes a MessagePort leaked per download, and gives the reason a name
(`lastStreamFailure`) so a refusal can say what happened. The timeouts became
parameters: the defaults are the production values, no caller passes any, and
the tests do not spend a minute waiting.

`openTarget` gets an unrelated but adjacent fix, in the same file: it creates
the destination with `getFileHandle({create: true})`, so an empty file exists
before the first byte, and `abort()` leaves the target untouched — every
cancelled download left a 0-byte file behind, and since `freeName` avoids
collisions, three cancels left film.mkv, film (2).mkv and film (3).mkv, all
empty. Its `abort()` now removes the entry. Safe here and only here, because
`freeName` guarantees the name was not taken: the `showSaveFilePicker` path
must not do the same, where the person may have picked an existing file whose
contents `abort()` correctly preserves. Verified by hand in Chrome.

test_streamed_download_reliability.py runs the real module under Node against a
stubbed browser — it fails if the null is cached again.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01HCGdheDLxGReuKHga3BtST

3 files changed, 183 insertions, 37 deletions

diff --git a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/app.js b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/app.js
index c2858f4..9d64292 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/app.js
+++ b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/app.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { t, getLocale, setLocale, initLocale, LOCALES } from './i18n.js';
 import { ZipStream, entriesUnder } from './zipstream.js';
 import { transfers, formatSpeed } from './transfers.js';
 import * as platform from './platform.js';
+import * as downloads from './downloads.js';
 import { Icon } from './icon.js';
 import { formatSize } from './file-utils.js';
 import {
@@ -941,6 +942,14 @@ const trayLabels = () => ({
 // falls back to English rather than rejecting, so this cannot strand the page.
 const mount = () => {
   render(html`<${App} />`, document.getElementById('app'));
+  // Get the download worker registered and this page under its control now,
+  // rather than inside the first click on Download. On Firefox and Safari it is
+  // the only unbounded way to write a file to disk, and it used to be
+  // registered lazily — so the first download of a session paid install,
+  // activate and claim while somebody watched, and a claim that missed its
+  // budget sent the file to a path that cannot hold a film. Fire-and-forget:
+  // nothing renders differently for it, and a failure is retried on demand.
+  downloads.primeServiceWorker();
   // After the catalogue, so the labels are in the right language. A no-op in a
   // browser and on macOS. A language change reloads the page, which comes back
   // through here, so nothing else has to watch for it.
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/downloads.js b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/downloads.js
index 90f88b0..f620e15 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/downloads.js
+++ b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/downloads.js
@@ -155,8 +155,28 @@ export async function openTarget(filename) {
   };
   const name = await freeName(filename, exists);
   const handle = await dir.getFileHandle(name, { create: true });
+  const writable = await handle.createWritable();
   return {
-    writable: await handle.createWritable(),
+    // `abort()` on a FileSystemWritableFileStream discards the swap file and
+    // leaves the target as it was — which here is the empty file
+    // `getFileHandle({create: true})` just made, before a single byte arrived.
+    // So every cancelled or failed download left a 0-byte file behind, and
+    // because `freeName` avoids collisions, three cancels left `film.mkv`,
+    // `film (2).mkv` and `film (3).mkv`, all empty, in the person's folder.
+    //
+    // Removing it is safe *here and only here*: `freeName` guarantees this name
+    // was not taken, so the file being deleted is one we created moments ago
+    // and nothing else. The `showSaveFilePicker` path in file-utils.js must not
+    // do the same — there the person may have picked an existing file, whose
+    // contents `abort()` correctly preserves.
+    writable: {
+      write: (bytes) => writable.write(bytes),
+      close: () => writable.close(),
+      abort: async (reason) => {
+        try { await writable.abort(reason); } catch { /* already gone */ }
+        try { await dir.removeEntry(name); } catch { /* already gone */ }
+      },
+    },
     name,
     // Reading it back is the only way a page can "open" a file it wrote: hand
     // the bytes to a tab and let the browser decide what to do with them. No
@@ -180,40 +200,114 @@ export const BLOB_LIMIT = 512 * 1024 * 1024;
 // ── Streaming to disk without the File System Access API ────────────────────
 
 const SW_PATH = '/sw.js';
-let _swReady = null;
+
+// On Firefox and Safari this worker is not a nicety, it is the only unbounded
+// way to write a download to disk: the File System Access API does not exist
+// there, and OPFS is capped at 10% of the volume's size (measured on Firefox
+// 154: 389,233,459 bytes on a 3,892,334,592-byte volume, refused to the byte),
+// which a film can exceed. Everything below exists to make sure this path is
+// available when it is needed, because there is nothing underneath it.
+//
+// How long to wait for this page to become *controlled*. Generous on purpose:
+// the cost of waiting is a spinner, and the cost of giving up is a download
+// this browser then cannot do at all.
+const SW_CONTROL_BUDGET_MS = 15000;
+// How long to wait for the worker to confirm it answered the iframe.
+const SW_SERVED_BUDGET_MS = 15000;
+// A transient miss gets a second go with a fresh id and a fresh iframe.
+const SW_ATTEMPTS = 2;
+
+// Holds a *successful* controller, or an in-flight attempt. Never a failure —
+// see serviceWorker(). The previous version cached the rejected/null result
+// for the life of the page, so one slow first click (a cold worker, a busy
+// phone) left the tab unable to stream anything ever again, with no way back
+// but a reload nobody knew to do.
+let _swPromise = null;
+let _lastFailure = '';
+
+/** Why the streamed path last declined, for a message worth reading. */
+export function lastStreamFailure() { return _lastFailure; }
 
 export const STREAMS_VIA_SW = typeof window !== 'undefined'
   && 'serviceWorker' in navigator
   && typeof TransformStream === 'function'
   && window.isSecureContext;
 
-async function serviceWorker() {
-  if (!STREAMS_VIA_SW) return null;
-  if (!_swReady) {
-    _swReady = navigator.serviceWorker.register(SW_PATH, { scope: '/' })
-      .then(() => navigator.serviceWorker.ready)
-      .then(async (reg) => {
-        // `reg.active` is not enough. A worker can be active while this page is
-        // still uncontrolled, and an uncontrolled page's requests are never
-        // handed to its fetch handler — so the worker would take our stream and
-        // then never be asked for it. The iframe would 404, nothing would read
-        // the stream, and the first write() would block for good: a download
-        // stuck at one chunk.
-        if (navigator.serviceWorker.controller) return navigator.serviceWorker.controller;
-        // sw.js claims clients on activate, so control usually arrives within a
-        // tick of registration. Wait briefly rather than give up at once.
-        return await new Promise((resolve) => {
-          const done = () => resolve(navigator.serviceWorker.controller || null);
-          navigator.serviceWorker.addEventListener('controllerchange', done, { once: true });
-          setTimeout(done, 3000);
-        });
-      })
-      .catch(err => {
-        console.warn('[MeshBay] service worker unavailable:', err.message);
-        return null;
-      });
+/** Resolves with the controller, or null once `budgetMs` is spent. */
+function _awaitControl(budgetMs) {
+  if (navigator.serviceWorker.controller) {
+    return Promise.resolve(navigator.serviceWorker.controller);
+  }
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    let timer = 0;
+    const done = () => {
+      clearTimeout(timer);
+      navigator.serviceWorker.removeEventListener('controllerchange', done);
+      resolve(navigator.serviceWorker.controller || null);
+    };
+    navigator.serviceWorker.addEventListener('controllerchange', done);
+    timer = setTimeout(done, budgetMs);
+  });
+}
+
+async function _claimController(budgetMs) {
+  const reg = await navigator.serviceWorker.register(SW_PATH, { scope: '/' });
+  // `ready` resolves on an *active* registration; being active is not being in
+  // control. An uncontrolled page's requests never reach the fetch handler, so
+  // the worker would take our stream and never be asked for it — the download
+  // then freezes after exactly one chunk, which is how this was found.
+  await navigator.serviceWorker.ready;
+  const controller = await _awaitControl(budgetMs);
+  if (controller) return controller;
+  // Active but not controlling after the whole budget. `sw.js` calls
+  // `clients.claim()` on activate, so this is rare; when it happens the page
+  // was loaded before any worker existed and the claim was missed. Ask the
+  // active worker to claim again rather than declare the path unavailable.
+  if (reg.active) {
+    try { reg.active.postMessage({ type: 'mbdl-claim' }); } catch { /* gone */ }
+    return await _awaitControl(2000);
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Register the worker and get this page controlled, now.
+ *
+ * Called at application start, not at the first download. Registration used to
+ * happen inside the first click, so that click paid install, activate and claim
+ * while somebody watched a button do nothing — and if the claim did not land
+ * inside the budget, the download fell through to a path that cannot hold a
+ * film. By the time anyone clicks anything, this has long since finished.
+ *
+ * Fire-and-forget by design: nothing waits on it, and a failure here is not
+ * fatal because `serviceWorker()` will simply try again.
+ */
+export function primeServiceWorker() {
+  if (!STREAMS_VIA_SW) return;
+  serviceWorker().catch(() => {});
+}
+
+async function serviceWorker(controlMs = SW_CONTROL_BUDGET_MS) {
+  if (!STREAMS_VIA_SW) {
+    _lastFailure = 'no service worker support in this browser';
+    return null;
   }
-  return _swReady;
+  if (navigator.serviceWorker.controller) return navigator.serviceWorker.controller;
+  if (!_swPromise) {
+    _swPromise = _claimController(controlMs).catch((err) => {
+      _lastFailure = 'service worker registration failed: ' + err.message;
+      console.warn('[MeshBay]', _lastFailure);
+      return null;
+    });
+  }
+  const controller = await _swPromise;
+  if (!controller) {
+    // Not remembered. The next attempt starts from scratch, which is the whole
+    // point: these failures are transient far more often than they are final.
+    _swPromise = null;
+    if (!_lastFailure) _lastFailure = 'the page did not come under the worker’s control';
+  }
+  return controller;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -229,8 +323,29 @@ async function serviceWorker() {
  * Returns {writable, name} shaped like the File System Access one, or null if
  * this browser cannot do it either.
  */
-export async function openStreamedDownload(filename, size = 0) {
-  const worker = await serviceWorker();
+export async function openStreamedDownload(filename, size = 0, {
+  controlMs = SW_CONTROL_BUDGET_MS,
+  servedMs = SW_SERVED_BUDGET_MS,
+  attempts = SW_ATTEMPTS,
+} = {}) {
+  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= attempts; attempt++) {
+    const target = await _attemptStreamedDownload(
+      filename, size, attempt, controlMs, servedMs);
+    if (target) return target;
+    // A miss is usually the worker having been asleep or the navigation losing
+    // a race, not this browser being unable. Falling through on the first miss
+    // is what sent large downloads to the in-memory floor.
+    if (attempt < attempts) {
+      console.warn(`[MeshBay] streamed download attempt ${attempt} missed `
+                   + `(${_lastFailure}); retrying`);
+    }
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+async function _attemptStreamedDownload(filename, size, attempt,
+                                        controlMs, servedMs) {
+  const worker = await serviceWorker(controlMs);
   if (!worker) return null;
 
   const id = `${Date.now().toString(36)}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2, 10)}`;
@@ -252,8 +367,11 @@ export async function openStreamedDownload(filename, size = 0) {
                        [readable, chan.port2]);
   } catch (err) {
     // Transferable streams are what makes the backpressure work; without them
-    // this would be a memory buffer wearing a stream's clothes.
-    console.warn('[MeshBay] streams cannot be transferred here:', err.message);
+    // this would be a memory buffer wearing a stream's clothes. This one is
+    // final rather than transient — a browser does not grow the capability
+    // between two attempts — so it is reported as such.
+    _lastFailure = 'this browser cannot transfer a stream to the worker: ' + err.message;
+    console.warn('[MeshBay]', _lastFailure);
     return null;
   }
 
@@ -264,19 +382,30 @@ export async function openStreamedDownload(filename, size = 0) {
 
   const answered = await Promise.race([
     serving,
-    new Promise((r) => setTimeout(() => r(false), 8000)),
+    new Promise((r) => setTimeout(() => r(false), servedMs)),
   ]);
   if (!answered) {
     // Some browsers refuse a download started from a hidden iframe, and an
-    // uncontrolled page never reaches the worker at all. Say so and let the
-    // caller fall back rather than hand back a sink nothing drains.
-    console.warn('[MeshBay] the service worker never served the download; '
-                 + 'falling back');
+    // uncontrolled page never reaches the worker at all. Tear this attempt
+    // down completely — the stream, the port and the frame — so a retry starts
+    // clean rather than leaving a half-open sink behind.
+    _lastFailure = `the worker did not answer the download within `
+      + `${servedMs / 1000}s (attempt ${attempt})`;
+    console.warn('[MeshBay]', _lastFailure);
     frame.remove();
+    try { chan.port1.close(); } catch { /* already gone */ }
     try { await writable.abort('not served'); } catch { /* already gone */ }
     return null;
   }
 
+  _lastFailure = '';
+  // The port has delivered the one message it exists for. Closing it matters:
+  // an open MessagePort is a live handle, and one was leaked per download for
+  // the life of the page. (It is also what hung the Node harness in
+  // test_streamed_download_reliability.py — there the leak is a process that
+  // never exits, which is the same defect wearing a louder symptom.)
+  try { chan.port1.close(); } catch { /* already gone */ }
+
   const writer = writable.getWriter();
   return {
     name: filename,
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/sw.js b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/sw.js
index 119687d..0dd87d8 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/sw.js
+++ b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/sw.js
@@ -24,6 +24,14 @@ self.addEventListener('activate', (event) => event.waitUntil(self.clients.claim(
 
 self.addEventListener('message', (event) => {
   const data = event.data || {};
+  // A page that loaded before any worker existed can miss the claim on
+  // activate. Rather than declare the streamed path unavailable — which on
+  // Firefox and Safari means the download cannot happen at all — the page asks
+  // for another claim and waits a moment longer.
+  if (data.type === 'mbdl-claim') {
+    event.waitUntil(self.clients.claim());
+    return;
+  }
   if (data.type !== 'mbdl' || !data.id || !data.readable) return;
   pending.set(data.id, {
     readable: data.readable,