From 83326ecf53e437afab31239595ed1e470e6b92e8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: npeter83 <npeter83+claude@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2026 19:24:51 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] fix(downloads): clamp notification title to column limit so
 download_gc can't wedge
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A downloaded FB/IG reel's "title" is the whole caption (up to ~1900 chars). It flowed
untrimmed into Notification.title (String(255)); at the batched download_gc commit that
raised psycopg StringDataRightTruncation in pass 1, aborting the whole run so expiry
deletion, LRU eviction and orphan reap never executed (13/110 prod assets already exceed
the limit). Clamp the title to 255 (with an ellipsis) centrally in create_notification —
defending all six callers — since the full title already reaches the client via `data`
and the column is only an English fallback. Add a regression test.
---
 backend/app/notifications.py        |  9 +++++
 backend/tests/test_notifications.py | 55 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 64 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 backend/tests/test_notifications.py

diff --git a/backend/app/notifications.py b/backend/app/notifications.py
index 1e7b6cec..10f0ad6b 100644
--- a/backend/app/notifications.py
+++ b/backend/app/notifications.py
@@ -14,6 +14,13 @@ from app.models import Notification
 # rows are never pruned (the user hasn't seen them yet).
 READ_SOFT_CAP = 200
 
+# Hard limit of the Notification.title column (String(255)). Titles are only an English
+# fallback — the client renders the translated message from `data` — so clamping an
+# over-long one (e.g. a FB/IG reel whose "title" is the whole caption, hundreds of chars)
+# is harmless to the UI and prevents a StringDataRightTruncation that would abort the
+# caller's whole transaction (the batched download_gc run in particular).
+TITLE_MAX_LEN = 255
+
 
 def create_notification(
     db: Session,
@@ -27,6 +34,8 @@ def create_notification(
 ) -> Notification:
     """Insert one notification for a user. Callers that batch many inserts in a single
     transaction can pass commit=False and commit once themselves."""
+    if title is not None and len(title) > TITLE_MAX_LEN:
+        title = title[: TITLE_MAX_LEN - 1] + "…"  # clamp to the column limit, add an ellipsis
     notif = Notification(
         user_id=user_id, type=type, title=title, body=body, data=data
     )
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_notifications.py b/backend/tests/test_notifications.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6780eb2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/tests/test_notifications.py
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+"""create_notification title-clamp regression.
+
+A downloaded FB/IG reel's "title" is the whole caption (hundreds to ~1900 chars). Before the
+clamp that string went straight into Notification.title (String(255)) and, at the batched
+download_gc commit, raised psycopg StringDataRightTruncation — aborting the entire GC run so
+no expiry deletion / LRU eviction / orphan reap ever ran. The clamp trims the title to the
+column limit centrally, defending all callers regardless of DB backend."""
+from app.models import Notification
+from app.notifications import TITLE_MAX_LEN, create_notification
+
+
+class _CaptureDB:
+    """Captures the added row without a real DB, so the clamp is verified on every lane
+    (the truncation only reproduces on Postgres; the clamp logic is backend-agnostic)."""
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.added: list[Notification] = []
+
+    def add(self, obj):
+        self.added.append(obj)
+
+    def commit(self):
+        pass
+
+    def refresh(self, _obj):
+        pass
+
+
+def test_title_clamped_to_column_limit():
+    long_title = "x" * 2000  # e.g. a reel caption
+    notif = create_notification(
+        _CaptureDB(), user_id=1, type="download_expiring", title=long_title
+    )
+    assert len(notif.title) == TITLE_MAX_LEN
+    assert notif.title.endswith("…")
+    # The untruncated title still reaches the client via `data`, which is never clamped.
+    notif2 = create_notification(
+        _CaptureDB(),
+        user_id=1,
+        type="download_expiring",
+        title=long_title,
+        data={"kind": "download_expiring", "title": long_title},
+    )
+    assert notif2.data["title"] == long_title
+
+
+def test_short_title_is_untouched():
+    notif = create_notification(_CaptureDB(), user_id=1, type="t", title="short")
+    assert notif.title == "short"
+
+
+def test_title_at_exactly_the_limit_is_untouched():
+    exact = "y" * TITLE_MAX_LEN
+    notif = create_notification(_CaptureDB(), user_id=1, type="t", title=exact)
+    assert notif.title == exact