From 9f3c2b885a0dd8e9c3cc9a2d03fd38d4d9910945 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: danusha2345 <danusha2345@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2026 10:36:19 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] fix(lock): keep a live writer lock regardless of file age
 (#1959)

---
 CHANGELOG.md               |  1 +
 __tests__/security.test.ts | 17 +++++++++++++++++
 src/utils.ts               | 13 ++++---------
 3 files changed, 22 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 75535a0bbd..6617953280 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@ and adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
 #### MCP / indexing
 
+- A long index run no longer loses its write lock after two minutes: while the process holding it is alive, another process waits instead of writing the same rows at once. (#1959)
 - Daemon startup and cleanup now preserve live legacy PID-only locks while still reclaiming dead or identity-disproved records, preventing two writers from serving the same project.
 - Incremental sync now keeps edge rebinding crash-safe: replacing a resolved edge with its recovery reference commits atomically, so an interruption cannot permanently remove the relationship.
 - Status now detects committed but unindexed changes and restored edits without scanning every source file; thanks @inth3shadows. (#1829)
diff --git a/__tests__/security.test.ts b/__tests__/security.test.ts
index 9aa3c9597c..30e845c182 100644
--- a/__tests__/security.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/security.test.ts
@@ -66,6 +66,23 @@ describe('FileLock', () => {
     lock1.release();
   });
 
+  it('keeps a live holder protected after its lock file is older than two minutes (#1959)', () => {
+    const holder = new FileLock(lockPath);
+    const contender = new FileLock(lockPath);
+    holder.acquire();
+    const old = new Date(Date.now() - 3 * 60_000);
+    fs.utimesSync(lockPath, old, old);
+
+    try {
+      expect(() => contender.acquire()).toThrow(/locked by another process/);
+      expect(fs.readFileSync(lockPath, 'utf8')).toBe(String(process.pid));
+    } finally {
+      holder.release();
+      contender.release();
+    }
+    expect(fs.existsSync(lockPath)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
   it('should detect and remove stale locks from dead processes', () => {
     // Write a lock file with a PID that doesn't exist
     // PID 99999999 is extremely unlikely to be a real process
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index dc860a3f49..cdc46e831f 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -241,9 +241,6 @@ export class FileLock {
   private lockPath: string;
   private held = false;
 
-  /** Locks older than this are considered stale regardless of PID status */
-  private static readonly STALE_TIMEOUT_MS = 2 * 60 * 1000; // 2 minutes
-
   constructor(lockPath: string) {
     this.lockPath = lockPath;
   }
@@ -257,18 +254,16 @@ export class FileLock {
       try {
         const content = fs.readFileSync(this.lockPath, 'utf-8').trim();
         const pid = parseInt(content, 10);
-        const stat = fs.statSync(this.lockPath);
-        const lockAge = Date.now() - stat.mtimeMs;
-
-        // Treat locks older than the timeout as stale, regardless of PID
-        if (lockAge < FileLock.STALE_TIMEOUT_MS && !isNaN(pid) && this.isProcessAlive(pid)) {
+        // A long sync can hold the lock for hours. Its age says nothing about
+        // whether the writer is still alive; only a dead PID is stale.
+        if (!isNaN(pid) && this.isProcessAlive(pid)) {
           throw new Error(
             `CodeGraph database is locked by another process (PID ${pid}). ` +
             `If this is stale, run 'codegraph unlock' or delete ${this.lockPath}`
           );
         }
 
-        // Stale lock (dead process or timed out) - remove it
+        // Stale lock (dead process or malformed PID) - remove it
         fs.unlinkSync(this.lockPath);
       } catch (err) {
         if (err instanceof Error && err.message.includes('locked by another')) {