defer storage path validation off plugin init

[TurboTheTurtle]

Summary

• add an async storage path validator for runtime initialization
• stop synchronously validating/creating dbPath during plugin registration
• preserve the existing warn-and-continue behavior when storage path preparation fails

Closes #795.

Validation

• node --test test/storage-path-normalization.test.mjs
• node test/plugin-manifest-regression.mjs
• npm run test:storage-and-schema
• node scripts/verify-ci-test-manifest.mjs
• npx tsc --noEmit
• git diff --check

If maintainers squash/rework this PR, please preserve author attribution or include:

Co-authored-by: Andy Ye <35905412+TurboTheTurtle@users.noreply.github.com>

[rwmjhb]

PR #810 Review: defer storage path validation off plugin init

Verdict: APPROVE | 6 rounds completed | Value: 64% | Size: MEDIUM | Author: TurboTheTurtle

Value Assessment

Problem: Plugin registration currently performs synchronous filesystem validation and directory creation for dbPath, which can block the event loop during every plugin startup. The PR defers that storage path preparation into async store initialization while keeping warning behavior when preparation fails.

Dimension	Assessment
Value Score	64%
Value Verdict	review
Issue Linked	true
Project Aligned	true
Duplicate	false
AI Slop Score	0/6
User Impact	high
Urgency	medium

Open Questions:

• Issue #795 has no maintainer labels, assignment, or comments in the provided context, so maintainer acknowledgement is unknown.
• The base is marked stale; confirm main has not already changed plugin init or storage path validation in a conflicting way.
• Confirm whether exporting validateStoragePathAsync is intended as public API or should remain internal.

Summary

Plugin registration currently performs synchronous filesystem validation and directory creation for dbPath, which can block the event loop during every plugin startup. The PR defers that storage path preparation into async store initialization while keeping warning behavior when preparation fails.

Evaluation Signals

Signal	Value
Blockers	0
Warnings	1
PR Size	MEDIUM
Verdict Floor	approve
Risk Level	high
Value Model	codex
Primary Model	codex
Adversarial Model	claude

Nice to Have

• F2: Canonicalized dbPath no longer reaches plugin-level auxiliary paths
• F3: Async validator symlink check uses the unnormalized input path
• EF1: Static analysis reports added any types
• MR1: New async validator's error branches are entirely untested
• MR2: lstat failures other than ENOENT are silently swallowed, skipping symlink resolution

Recommended Action

Ready to merge.

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Reviewed at 2026-05-22T14:38:50Z | 6 rounds | Value: codex | Primary: codex | Adversarial: claude