---
id: pg-decide-stamp-arithmetic-side
name: Decide which side guards pg's server-side stamp arithmetic (review 004 item 5, decision)
status: completed
depends_on: []
scope: narrow
risk: low
impact: component
level: implementation
tags: [review-004-fixes, postgres-engine, decision, contract]
---

## Description

The decision that must precede the BIGINT-overflow fix, per
`docs/reviews/004-pre-release-general-review.md` §"Findings recorded,
not fixed" item 5: pg's claim, heartbeat, retry-reschedule, and
retention-sweep statements compute server-side sums over
consumer-supplied i64 values (`queue.rs:386/912/1000/714`,
`lock.rs:91`) — one row stamped with `visibility_timeout_s = i64::MAX`
(or retention `i64::MIN`) makes every claim/heartbeat UPDATE fail with
"bigint out of range", and the failure is *sticky* per row. The
client-side resolution is saturated (`resolution.rs`); the row-stamp
arithmetic is not.

Decide which side owns the guard:

- **(a) Clamp/validate at the enqueue seam** — consumer i64s bounded
  at entry, matching `resolution.rs`'s client-side saturation posture
  and the sibling engines' stamp arithmetic (sqlite/mem saturate per
  review 004 inline fix 6 — the engine-uniformity argument).
- **(b) `LEAST`/`GREATEST`-guard the server expressions** — defense at
  the arithmetic site; no entry-point change, but the stored stamps
  are silently clamped server-side.

**Contract-adjacent — this is why it's its own task.** The choice
changes which failures are reachable through the public surface, which
touches ADR-023 §2's totality wording. Check the window state first:
as of the decomposition (2026-10-11) no publish tag exists, so the
class-1 window is presumed open — verify, and if open, land the
decision with a dated ADR-023 §2-style annotation (the failure-set
change is class-1-legal pre-publish, the review-004 inline fix 5
precedent). If the window has closed, raise with the user before
pinning anything.

The decision must name the guard form precisely: the clamp domain,
which sites it applies to (enqueue vs the stamp sites), and what the
observable behavior of an extreme-stamped row becomes.

## Acceptance Criteria

- [x] The decision of record: which side owns the guard, with the
      ADR-023 §2 totality argument and the sibling-engine uniformity
      check written down
- [x] The window state verified and recorded; a dated annotation
      landed if class-1, or user sign-off if post-publish
- [x] The guard form is precise (clamp domain, sites, the
      extreme-stamped row's observable semantics) — enough for
      `pg-fix-bigint-stamp-overflow` to implement without re-deciding
- [x] The decision recorded where the family keeps such records (ADR
      annotation / task Notes + contract text if the wording needs it)

## References

- docs/reviews/004-pre-release-general-review.md §"Findings recorded,
  not fixed" item 5 (the finding, the which-side question, the
  contract-adjacency)
- docs/architecture/decisions/023-fourth-review-round.md §2 (the
  totality wording the choice touches)
- alkstore-postgres/src/resolution.rs (the client-side saturation
  posture), queue.rs / lock.rs (the stamp sites)

## Notes

**The site set is six, not four** — the lock arithmetic is two
expressions, and the review's `lock.rs:91` line ref was the try_lock
insert only: `lock.rs:92` (insert) and `lock.rs:217` (renew) both sum
`$3::bigint + $4::bigint` over the per-call `ttl`; and the retention
sweep's subtraction is `queue.rs:715` (the `:714` ref was the
`IS NOT NULL` line above it). The guard form must cover the *renew*
arm too.

**Per-call vs stamped arguments split the option-(a) story.** Four of
the six arguments are per-call (`heartbeat(extend)`, the
`retry(err, Some(d))` override, `try_lock`/`renew(ttl)` ×2) — there
is no enqueue to clamp at. The other two ride enqueue/stamped
sources (`visibility_timeout_s`, `dead_letter_retention_s` —
`QueueOpts`, stamped verbatim per the review-002 disposition, which
recorded *unvalidated* stamping as the posture, not a defect). So
option (a) as written decomposes into two different entry rules —
one of which (validating QueueOpts) contradicts the recorded
review-002 posture, and the other (validating per-call boundary
args) contradicts ADR-023 §2's totality wording itself ("no
clamping, no rejection" — `heartbeat(i64::MAX)` is a value, not a
violation). Option (b) needs neither posture change: it realizes
what the pinned totality already computes.

**The pinned arithmetic's form, not its totality, is what was
wrong.** ADR-023 §2's 2026-10-11 annotation cites "saturating_add /
plain SQL integer add" as the three engines' code of record and
calls it total — correct for the *non-positive* values that
annotation classified, but pg's plain bigint add was never total in
the overflow domain (Postgres errors; SQLite's overflow→REAL
approximates; Rust saturates). The decision therefore needs **no
contract-text change** — the table pins the dispositions already;
the annotation *corrects the form* on pg.

## Summary

Decision of record: **(b), the server expression owns the guard**;
clamp domain = the arithmetic *result*, saturated to the i64 domain;
no input clamped, validated, or rejected at any seam. Guard form:
every server-side stamp expression computes its sum in `numeric` and
clamps before the bigint cast —
`LEAST(GREATEST(<sum>, -9223372036854775808), 9223372036854775807)::bigint`
— the SQL realization of the same saturating arithmetic the pinned
code of record runs. Sites of record: pg `queue.rs:386/912/1000/715`
(claim, heartbeat, retry-reschedule, retention sweep) and
`lock.rs:92/217` (try_lock insert, renew); enqueue itself stays
Rust-resolved (`resolution.rs`'s `saturating_add` — never a SQL-side
sum). Extreme-stamped-row observables (all three engines uniform):
`visibility_timeout_s = i64::MAX` → claim deadline `i64::MAX`
(effectively never lapsing); `dead_letter_retention_s = i64::MIN` →
swept-before `i64::MAX` (sweeps everything, matching mem's
`saturating_sub`); negative-extreme `extend`/delay → a past
deadline voided by the uniform validity predicate on the next op;
`ttl = i64::MAX` → `i64::MAX` expiry. "bigint out of range" leaves
pg's reachable surface; the sticky-poison class dies; the duration
row's opaque rejection stays `ttl <= 0` only.

Recorded as the dated 2026-10-11 annotation in
`docs/architecture/decisions/023-fourth-review-round.md` §2
(amending the boundary-row annotation's arithmetic parenthetical in
place — ADR-017 §2 class 1). **Window state verified open** at
decision time (2026-10-11): no git tags exist, no `cargo publish`
has occurred, and ADR-017 §2's termination of record pins the class
permanently at the first core-crate publish — so the annotation
landed pre-publish, legal.

The guard form was validated against the live Postgres 16 harness
server before pinning: clamping legs green (overflow both edges
clamps; `1700000000 + i64::MIN` rides exact, matching Rust
`saturating_add`; `now − i64::MIN` clamps to `i64::MAX`), so
`pg-fix-bigint-stamp-overflow` can implement the form verbatim
without re-deciding. No code changed (a decision task); no crate
touched, so no build/test gates re-run — the doc-only diff carries
no rustdoc surface.