ngit-grasp/docs/how-to/production-sync-testing.md

How-To: Test Sync Against Production Data

Quick Start Prompt: Check work/active-issues/ for existing issues. If issues exist, pick the most important, fix it, test with cargo test, run clippy and fmt, commit, and report back with a brief 1-2 sentence summary of each issue you identified. If no issues exist, run a 30-second production sync test, analyze logs, create individual issue files in work/active-issues/ (one per issue with minimal description), then report summary listing each issue in 1-2 sentences.

Problem: Debug and improve sync behavior using real-world data from production relays
Difficulty: Intermediate
Time: 30 minutes per iteration

Two-Mode Workflow

This guide operates in two modes:

Mode 1: Fix Existing Issues

When: There are files in work/active-issues/ (excluding README.md)

1. Check for active issues: ls work/active-issues/
2. Pick the most important issue to fix
3. Implement the fix
4. Run cargo test to verify tests pass
5. Run cargo clippy to check for warnings
6. Run cargo fmt to format code
7. Commit changes with descriptive message
8. Report back - DO NOT do another issue or run more tests

Mode 2: Discover New Issues

When: No active issues in work/active-issues/

1. Run 30-second production sync test (logs saved to tmp/run-{timestamp}/)
2. Analyze logs for errors, warnings, unexpected patterns
3. Document each issue as a separate markdown file in work/active-issues/
4. Keep issue files minimal - just enough to identify the issue
5. Report brief summary listing each issue in 1-2 sentences
6. DO NOT create separate detailed analysis files
7. DO NOT do thorough investigation or root cause analysis

Overview

This guide helps you run ngit-grasp's sync system against production relays to discover unexpected errors, inefficiencies, and edge cases that don't appear in controlled tests.

Why production testing matters:

• Real data has inconsistencies, malformed events, and edge cases
• Production relays may behave differently (rate limiting, timeouts, partial NIP-77 support)
• Volume and patterns reveal performance bottlenecks
• Sync discovery leads to cascading subscriptions we can't predict in tests

Prerequisites

• ngit-grasp compiles successfully (cargo build)
• Familiarity with GRASP-02 Proactive Sync
• Understanding of log levels and tracing

Test Setup

1. Choose a Test Identity

Pick a domain with manageable sync volume. Smaller domains mean fewer repos to sync, making logs tractable.

Recommended starting point:

--domain ngit.danconwaydev.com

This domain has few repo announcements listing it, so sync stays manageable.

2. Choose a Bootstrap Relay

The bootstrap relay provides the initial set of announcements to discover repos:

--sync-bootstrap-relay-url wss://git.shakespeare.diy

3. Run with Time Limit

Start with short runs (30 seconds) to capture manageable log volumes. Each run creates its own subdirectory in tmp/ to keep data and logs isolated:

# Create run directory with timestamp
RUN_DIR="tmp/run-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
mkdir -p "$RUN_DIR"

# Run for 30 seconds with sanitized output
timeout 30s cargo run -- \
    --sync-bootstrap-relay-url wss://git.shakespeare.diy \
    --domain ngit.danconwaydev.com \
    --git-data-path "$RUN_DIR/git-data" \
    --relay-data-path "$RUN_DIR/relay-data" \
    2>&1 | ./scripts/sanitize-logs.sh | tee "$RUN_DIR/sync.log"

Note: The timeout command returns exit code 124, which is expected.

Directory structure after run:

tmp/
└── run-20260109-143022/
    ├── git-data/       # Git repository data
    ├── relay-data/     # Relay database
    └── sync.log        # Sanitized log output

Log Sanitization

Raw logs include full events and hundreds of event IDs per line, making them unwieldy for analysis. The sanitizer truncates long lines:

./scripts/sanitize-logs.sh < raw.log > sanitized.log

# Or pipe directly
cargo run -- [args] 2>&1 | ./scripts/sanitize-logs.sh

Options:

• --head-chars N - First N characters to show (default: 200)
• --tail-chars N - Last N characters to show (default: 100)

Example output:

2024-01-09T10:00:00Z DEBUG sync: Processing events ids=[abc123, def456, ghi789, jkl012...<1847 chars>...xyz999, end123]

What to Look For

Phase 1: Connection & Bootstrap (0-5 seconds)

Expected behavior:

• Connection to bootstrap relay succeeds
• Layer 1 (announcement) subscription starts
• First batch of 30617/30618 events received

Red flags:

• Connection timeout or failure
• NIP-77 negentropy errors (should fall back gracefully)
• Immediate rate limiting

Phase 2: Discovery Cascade (5-15 seconds)

Expected behavior:

• Self-subscriber batches fire as announcements are processed
• New relays discovered from announcement relays tags
• Layer 2 (repo tags) subscriptions created

Red flags:

• Excessive relay discovery (>10 relays rapidly)
• Filter consolidation warnings (>70 filters)
• Missing self-subscriber batch logs

Phase 3: Steady State (15+ seconds)

Expected behavior:

• Historic sync batches completing (EOSE received)
• Periodic health checks running
• Events being saved to database

Red flags:

• Pending batches never confirming
• Repeated connection/disconnect cycles
• Memory growth (check with top in another terminal)

Debugging Checklist

When analyzing logs, look for these patterns:

Errors to Investigate

Pattern	Possible Cause	Action
error (any)	Unexpected failure	Investigate immediately
connection failed	Network/relay issue	Check relay URL, try different relay
rate limit	Too many requests	Check consolidation, increase backoff
negentropy + error	NIP-77 incompatibility	Should fall back - verify it does
timeout	Slow relay or large sync	Increase timeouts or reduce scope

Warnings to Monitor

Pattern	Meaning	Action
consolidating filters	Filter count high	Expected, but frequent = problem
backing off	Health tracker retry	Normal, but watch for excessive
batch failed	Historic sync incomplete	Check which batches, why

Debug Patterns to Verify

Pattern	What it shows
fresh_start	Full sync initiated
quick_reconnect	Incremental sync (<15min gap)
historic sync complete	Sync finished successfully
sync_live	Live subscriptions active
PendingBatch	Items awaiting EOSE confirmation

Mode 1: Fix Existing Issues (Detailed)

When work/active-issues/ contains issue files:

Step 1: Check for Active Issues

ls work/active-issues/

If any .md files exist (excluding README.md), you're in Mode 1.

Step 2: Pick Most Important Issue

Review issue files and select based on:

• Severity (errors > warnings > log quality)
• Impact (functionality > performance > UX)
• Complexity (quick fixes first to clear backlog)

Step 3: Implement the Fix

Make the necessary code changes based on the issue description.

Step 4: Test, Lint, Format

# Run tests
cargo test

# Check for warnings
cargo clippy

# Format code
cargo fmt

Step 5: Commit

git add .
git commit -m "fix: [brief description of what was fixed]"

Step 6: Report Back

STOP HERE. Report what was fixed. Do NOT:

• Fix another issue
• Run production sync test
• Do additional investigation

The workflow will cycle back through Mode 1 if more issues remain.

Mode 2: Discover New Issues (Detailed)

When work/active-issues/ is empty (or only contains README.md):

Step 1: Run Production Sync Test

# Create run directory with timestamp
RUN_DIR="tmp/run-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
mkdir -p "$RUN_DIR"

# Run 30-second test
timeout 30s cargo run -- \
    --sync-bootstrap-relay-url wss://git.shakespeare.diy \
    --domain ngit.danconwaydev.com \
    --git-data-path "$RUN_DIR/git-data" \
    --relay-data-path "$RUN_DIR/relay-data" \
    2>&1 | ./scripts/sanitize-logs.sh | tee "$RUN_DIR/sync.log"

Each run is isolated in its own timestamped directory under tmp/, keeping data and logs organized.

Step 2: Analyze Logs

Scan for errors and unexpected patterns:

# Find the most recent run
LATEST_RUN=$(ls -1t tmp/run-*/sync.log | head -n1)

# Analyze for issues
grep -i error "$LATEST_RUN"
grep -i warn "$LATEST_RUN"
grep -i panic "$LATEST_RUN"

Step 3: Document Issues

Create one markdown file per issue in work/active-issues/:

# Example: Minimal issue documentation
cat > work/active-issues/bootstrap-disconnect.md <<'EOF'
# Bootstrap relay disconnects when empty

Bootstrap relay wss://git.shakespeare.diy disconnects after sync finds 0 events. Should persist since user-specified.

Log: "Disconnecting empty relay relay=wss://git.shakespeare.diy"
File: src/sync/mod.rs (check_disconnects function)
EOF

Keep each file brief:

• Descriptive title (one line)
• What happens (1-2 sentences max)
• Relevant log excerpt (one line)
• File/function location if obvious (one line)
• NO separate detailed analysis files
• NO root cause analysis
• NO proposed solutions (unless immediately obvious)

Step 4: Report Summary

Provide a brief closing message with 1-2 sentence summary of each issue identified:

• State what the issue is
• Where it occurs (file/component)
• Keep it concise

STOP HERE. Do NOT:

• Fix the issues immediately
• Create separate detailed analysis markdown files
• Do thorough investigations
• Write lengthy explanations

The workflow will cycle back through Mode 1 to fix issues one at a time.

Logging Improvements

If the logs aren't helpful enough, improve them. Common needs:

Add Context to Existing Logs

// Before
tracing::debug!("Processing events");

// After
tracing::debug!(
    relay = %relay_url,
    event_count = events.len(),
    "Processing events"
);

Add New Log Points

Key places that may need more logging:

• src/sync/mod.rs - SyncManager state transitions
• src/sync/relay_connection.rs - Connection lifecycle
• src/sync/self_subscriber.rs - Batch processing

Reduce Noise

If a log line appears too frequently:

// Change from debug! to trace!
tracing::trace!("Per-event detail that's too noisy");

Managing Active Issues

Issues are tracked in work/active-issues/ as individual markdown files.

Check for active issues:

ls work/active-issues/

After fixing an issue:

# Delete the resolved issue file
rm work/active-issues/issue-name.md

# Or archive if important for future reference
mv work/active-issues/issue-name.md docs/archive/2026-01-09-issue-name.md

Issue file format (minimal):

# Brief title

What happens (1-2 sentences).

Log evidence: "relevant log line"
File: src/path/to/file.rs (function_name if known)

Keep documentation minimal - just enough to identify and locate the issue.

---

Workflow Summary

Check work/active-issues/
    │
    ├─ Has issues? ──► Mode 1: Pick one issue
    │                          │
    │                          ├─ Fix code
    │                          ├─ cargo test
    │                          ├─ cargo clippy
    │                          ├─ cargo fmt
    │                          ├─ git commit
    │                          └─ Report & STOP
    │
    └─ No issues? ──► Mode 2: Run production sync
                               │
                               ├─ timeout 30s cargo run ...
                               ├─ Analyze logs
                               ├─ Document issues (minimal)
                               └─ Report summary & STOP

Key Rules:

• Only do ONE thing per cycle (fix one issue OR discover issues)
• Always stop after reporting
• Keep issue documentation minimal
• No root cause analysis during discovery

---

Quick Reference

Minimal Test Command

# Create run directory
RUN_DIR="tmp/run-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
mkdir -p "$RUN_DIR"

# Run test
timeout 30s cargo run -- \
    --sync-bootstrap-relay-url wss://git.shakespeare.diy \
    --domain ngit.danconwaydev.com \
    --git-data-path "$RUN_DIR/git-data" \
    --relay-data-path "$RUN_DIR/relay-data" \
    2>&1 | ./scripts/sanitize-logs.sh | tee "$RUN_DIR/sync.log"

With Metrics Endpoint

# Create run directory
RUN_DIR="tmp/run-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
mkdir -p "$RUN_DIR"

# Run with metrics
timeout 30s cargo run -- \
    --sync-bootstrap-relay-url wss://git.shakespeare.diy \
    --domain ngit.danconwaydev.com \
    --git-data-path "$RUN_DIR/git-data" \
    --relay-data-path "$RUN_DIR/relay-data" \
    --metrics-address 127.0.0.1:9090 \
    2>&1 | ./scripts/sanitize-logs.sh | tee "$RUN_DIR/sync.log"

Then in another terminal: curl http://127.0.0.1:9090/metrics

Cleanup Old Runs

# Remove runs older than 7 days
find tmp/run-* -type d -mtime +7 -exec rm -rf {} +

# Remove all test runs
rm -rf tmp/run-*

Different Log Level

The default is DEBUG. For more detail:

RUST_LOG=trace cargo run -- [args]

For less noise:

RUST_LOG=info cargo run -- [args]

---

Part of the ngit-grasp documentation using the Diátaxis framework.