sqlite: the listen bridge takes the stream bridge's std-thread shape (review 004 item 8) — one dedicated named thread per subscription doing blocking_send, not a spawn_blocking task (past ~500 listeners the blocking-pool ceiling queued the whole engine's seams); spawn failure unsubscribes and fails closed with Error::Database, matching the stream bridge's posture; notify.rs + engine-sqlite.md docs aligned; task -> completed

alkstore-sqlite/src/notify.rs

@@ -9,9 +9,12 @@
 //!   never produces [`Error::PayloadTooLarge`](alkstore::Error) (ADR-016
 //!   §5); the payload crosses the notify table as the serde_json
 //!   serialization's UTF-8 text, the byte form ADR-020 §4 pins.
-//! - `listen` — the watcher-fanout bridge: one `spawn_blocking` thread
+//! - `listen` — the watcher-fanout bridge: one dedicated `std::thread`
-//!   per subscription (`engine-sqlite.md`'s mapping row) looping
+//!   per subscription (the stream bridge's aligned shape — review 004
-//!   `recv()` on the substrate's sync feed (1-slot — bursts coalesce)
+//!   item 8; not a tokio `spawn_blocking` per subscription, which
+//!   would queue the engine's seams behind parked bridges at tokio's
+//!   blocking-pool ceiling) looping `recv()` on the substrate's sync
+//!   feed (1-slot — bursts coalesce)
 //!   and `blocking_send`-ing [`Wake`] values into a tokio channel the
 //!   [`WakeReceiver`] owns. Wakes are coalesced hints (overtrigger on
 //!   purpose, ADR-006): the watcher fires on *any* commit, so a wake
@@ -88,6 +91,10 @@ pub(crate) fn notify(
 /// against a store whose watcher has *died* (the db file was replaced)
 /// fails closed the same way — a new subscription never enrolls onto a
 /// dead feed to park forever (review 004 item 2's new-subscriber arm).
+/// The bridge runs on a dedicated `std::thread` (the stream bridge's
+/// shape — review 004 item 8); a thread-spawn failure unsubscribes and
+/// fails closed with [`Error::Database`](alkstore::Error) (the stream
+/// bridge's posture).
 pub(crate) fn listen(
     watcher: Arc<SharedUpdateWatcher>,
     closed: Arc<AtomicBool>,
@@ -102,13 +109,21 @@ pub(crate) fn listen(
     let (id, rx) = watcher.subscribe().map_err(database_error)?;
     let (wake_tx, wake_rx) = tokio::sync::mpsc::channel(WAKE_CHANNEL_CAPACITY);
     let channel = channel.to_string();
-    let _bridge = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
+    let spawned = std::thread::Builder::new()
-        while let Ok(()) = rx.recv() {
+        .name(format!("alkstore-listen-bridge-{channel}"))
-            if wake_tx.blocking_send(Wake::new(channel.clone())).is_err() {
+        .spawn(move || {
-                break;
+            while let Ok(()) = rx.recv() {
+                if wake_tx.blocking_send(Wake::new(channel.clone())).is_err() {
+                    break;
+                }
             }
-        }
+        });
-    });
+    if let Err(e) = spawned {
+        watcher.unsubscribe(id);
+        return Err(Error::database(std::io::Error::other(format!(
+            "failed to spawn listen bridge thread: {e}"
+        ))));
+    }
     Ok(Box::new(SqliteWakeReceiver {
         wake_rx,
         watcher,

docs/architecture/engine-sqlite.md

@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ per-contract obligations live in the core spec and are not restated here.
 
 | Contract piece | Engine realization |
 |---|---|
-| notify / listen | honker's notify functions inside the caller's tx; `listen()` bridges the watcher's fanout into a tokio receiver (one `spawn_blocking` thread per subscription doing `blocking_send`) |
+| notify / listen | honker's notify functions inside the caller's tx; `listen()` bridges the watcher's fanout into a tokio receiver (one dedicated `std::thread` per subscription doing `blocking_send` — the stream bridge's aligned shape, review 004 item 8; the same thread is not a `spawn_blocking` task, so parked bridges never consume the blocking pool the engine's seams share) |
 | streams | the forked substrate's stream machinery (inherited near-verbatim — the `__alkstore_stream` table's field set is already the contract's shape (its `topic` column carries the contract's `stream` field — the one name delta, ADR-012 §3's fidelity posture), the offset-ASC read path, keyed publish's nullable key column, monotone offset saves ([ADR-015](decisions/015-streams-depth.md)); explicit offset saves through the tx seam; `trim_to` is a `DELETE FROM … WHERE offset <= ?` inside the writer-slot lease) |
 | queues | owned queue machinery (forked substrate re-derived on [ADR-010](decisions/010-queue-semantics-depth.md) — stamps, no-stranded-rows sweep, dead-visible `get_job`); ADR-003's ride posture superseded on ownership by [ADR-011](decisions/011-sqlite-substrate-fork.md) |
 | named locks | the substrate's lock machinery (`lock_renew` carries the renew semantics the guarantee row pins; re-acquire does not refresh TTL — inherited deliberately, [ADR-012](decisions/012-forked-substrate-design.md) §4) |

tasks/sqlite-fix-listener-bridge-alignment.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 id: sqlite-fix-listener-bridge-alignment
 name: Align the sqlite listen bridge to the stream bridge's std-thread shape (review 004 item 8)
-status: pending
+status: completed
 depends_on: [sqlite-fix-watcher-death-subscribe]
 scope: narrow
 risk: low
@@ -53,6 +53,46 @@ stream bridge does.
 
 > To be filled by implementation agent
 
+Decisions of record the description didn't pin:
+
+- The two bridges' shapes are now exactly aligned: a named
+  `std::thread::Builder` thread (`alkstore-listen-bridge-{channel}`,
+  mirroring the stream bridge's `alkstore-stream-bridge-{stream}`), the
+  same loop body, and the stream bridge's spawn-failure posture — a
+  failed spawn unsubscribes the just-enrolled substrate feed and fails
+  closed with `Error::Database` (the stream bridge's W-2 no-panic-
+  across-the-seam shape). The spawn-failure arm is new here
+  (`spawn_blocking` was infallible at spawn); it matches the stream
+  bridge rather than being named as a residual difference.
+- Docs updated, not code-adjacent only: `notify.rs`'s module docs
+  (the bridge bullet + the `listen` entry-point doc now pin the
+  std-thread shape and the spawn-failure arm), and `engine-sqlite.md`'s
+  notify/listen mapping row (rewritten to the dedicated-thread shape
+  with the alignment reason). No PROVENANCE row: the register covers
+  `src/substrate/` only, and this change is engine-level (`notify.rs`).
+- No new test: the shape is not contract-observable at the receiver
+  surface (close semantics, wake delivery, no-replay all unchanged);
+  the existing pins cover the observable posture, including the
+  dead-watcher sign from the dependency task
+  (`listen_after_watcher_death_fails_closed` — green unchanged).
+
 ## Summary
 
 > To be filled on completion
+
+`listen()`'s watcher-fanout bridge now runs on a dedicated named
+`std::thread` instead of a tokio `spawn_blocking` task per
+subscription — the stream bridge's shape, eliminating the blocking-pool
+ceiling queueing (review 004 item 8); parked listen bridges no longer
+consume the shared blocking pool the engine's seams run on. Spawn
+failure fails closed (`Database` + unsubscribe), matching the stream
+bridge. Doc alignment: `notify.rs` module + entry-point docs,
+`engine-sqlite.md`'s mapping row.
+
+Verified: `cargo build`, `cargo test` (workspace, all green),
+`cargo test -p alkstore-sqlite` (201 + 25 tests, green — close
+semantics / wake delivery / no-replay pins and the dead-watcher-sign
+tests unchanged and passing), fuzz gate
+(`cargo test --manifest-path fuzz/shared/Cargo.toml`), clippy
+`-D warnings` clean, `cargo fmt --check` clean, rustdoc `-D warnings`
+doc gate clean.