skills: correct the credential-incident-response §5 premise about chroma metadata
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§5 said embedding_metadata.string_value holds "metadata fields only". False,
measured directly: chroma also stores a copy of the document text there, under
key chroma:document. Confirmed with a disposable sentinel drawer (pi@tor-ms22,
2026-08-30): one row in fts_content AND one row in embedding_metadata for the
same drawer.

This was a real mistake in shipped guidance, not a nitpick: this section's own
scanning advice was written to guard against explaining a zero with a
mechanism nobody verified from source, and the section itself did exactly
that -- I downgraded a census to "a floor" on the strength of a metadata-blind
claim I never checked against chroma's actual storage layout. The practical
scan order is unchanged (fts_content is still the direct target, raw bytes are
still the backstop); only the stated REASON for a metadata zero changes: it
needs a different explanation now (key filter, query shape, escaping), not
"structurally absent".

§6's row-gone/bytes-gone claim is upgraded from asserted to measured, same
sentinel: delete_by_source took both fts_content and embedding_metadata 1->0,
raw bytes stayed 4->4 (freed pages persist until VACUUM). Also records the
method that unblocked the measurement: not a better instrument, a disposable
sentinel drawer instead of risking real fleet data.

No image behaviour changes.
This commit is contained in:
2026-09-01 22:36:45 +02:00
parent 05843ecfae
commit c8622ece9d
2 changed files with 47 additions and 12 deletions
@@ -116,14 +116,24 @@ shared palace as incident response. High blast radius, low actual benefit.
## 5. Finding a secret in a Chroma palace — three targets, in this order
1. `embedding_fulltext_search_content.c0` — **where document text actually is**
2. `embedding_metadata.string_value` — metadata fields only
1. `embedding_fulltext_search_content.c0` — document text
2. `embedding_metadata.string_value` — metadata fields, **and a second copy of
the document text** under key `chroma:document`
3. raw byte scan of every `*.sqlite3` — backstop, covers FTS pages and free space
Scanning only (2) is the classic false clean: hundreds of thousands of rows,
zero hits, and the secret sitting in (1) the whole time. Semantic search proves
nothing about absence — it returns top-k. For completeness, enumerate by filing
window (`list_drawers(since=T, before=T+1m)`), since one mine shares a minute.
**Correction, measured on chroma 1.5.9 with a sentinel drawer:** one row in (1)
AND one row in (2) for the same drawer, so **(2) is not structurally
content-blind** — an earlier version of this section said it held "metadata
fields only", and that was wrong. Scan (1) and (3) regardless: (1) is the direct
target. But if a `string_value` query returns zero for a value you know is in a
drawer, the cause is a key filter, a query shape or escaping — *not* structural
absence, and the difference matters because the false explanation is what makes
the zero feel safe. See §6: do not explain a zero with a mechanism you have not
read from source.
Semantic search proves nothing about absence — it returns top-k. For
completeness, enumerate by filing window (`list_drawers(since=T, before=T+1m)`),
since one mine shares a minute.
Value-agnostic sweeps (uuid / 40-hex / `NAME=VALUE`) drown in false positives at
fleet scale — 608 candidates, mostly session UUIDs and git SHAs. Name-anchoring
@@ -199,10 +209,16 @@ extractor and making it look as strong as the union — a self-test artifact tha
has already fooled an agent here. And never gate on `$?` when the tool has a
lock-skip or no-op path that also exits 0; judge the reported line.
**Row-gone is not bytes-gone.** A correct sqlite `DELETE` leaves the payload in
freelist pages until `VACUUM`, so deletion effectiveness is *two* numbers: rows
removed, and a raw byte scan of the `.sqlite3`. One aggregate figure reported as
"erased" has only measured "unretrievable".
**Row-gone is not bytes-gone.** Measured, same sentinel drawer: after
`delete_by_source` the row count went 1 -> 0 in *both* the FTS content table and
`embedding_metadata`, while the raw byte count stayed 4 -> 4 — sqlite does not
zero freed pages, so the payload sits in free space until `VACUUM`. Deletion
effectiveness is therefore *two* numbers, and each direction has a trap: one
aggregate figure reported as "erased" has only measured "unretrievable", while a
raw byte scan used as the acceptance gate reads a CORRECT, complete deletion as a
failure. (Note how this was measured: the blocker was never a better instrument,
it was the subject — file your own disposable sentinel and delete that, instead
of testing deletion on real data.)
## 7. Choosing scopes: derive them from measured consumers