---
id: pg-fix-tx-wake
name: Fix tx enqueue/publish paths issuing no pg_notify wake (review 002 Finding 2 — F-1's root cause)
status: pending
depends_on: []
scope: narrow
risk: low
impact: component
level: implementation
tags: [wave-4-fixes, postgres-engine, tx, wake]
---

## Description

Fix the HIGH finding from the wave-4 general review
(`docs/reviews/002-wave-4-general-review.md` §Finding 2, live-proven):
none of the tx-side enqueue/publish paths run `pg_notify` in the
caller's transaction. Sites: `alkstore-postgres/src/tx.rs:290-329`
(`publish_tx`/`publish_with_key_tx`), `tx.rs:272-288` (`enqueue_tx`),
`tx.rs:545-562` (`outbox_enqueue_tx`). `notify_tx` proves `pg_notify`
inside a tx is native commit-atomic (delivers at the caller's commit)
— the exact mechanism these paths have available and don't use. A
*committed* `publish_tx`/`enqueue_tx` never wakes a registered
listener (deterministic silence, live-proven), while the auto-commit
`publish`/`Queue::enqueue` wake immediately.

**This is F-1's root cause, engine-side** — `tasks/review-wave-4.md`
F-1's "root cause unresolved" and the gate's "the tx INSERT's commit
*is* the NOTIFY carrier" conclusion were both wrong. Mechanism: the
subscriber bridge attach-read + drain race the commit; when both beat
the commit the bridge drains empty and parks on `wait_wake` — and no
wake ever comes from a tx-committed publish, so the 15 s deadline
exhausts (~2% under the 8-thread suite).

**Conformance angle**: engine-postgres.md's mapping names `pg_notify`
as the streams wake trigger; core-contract.md pins "events never
require polling to become visible" and the tx/no-ghosts rows pin
rollback dropping the event row *with its wake*. SQLite's watcher
fires on any committed write, so its tx path wakes — the asymmetry
would also have failed wave 5's cross-engine equivalence rows.

**Fix shape** (the review's):

- `publish_with_key_tx`: after the INSERT, one
  `SELECT pg_notify($1, '')` inside the caller's tx — the channel is
  the stream name (the mechanism-name-is-the-channel realization,
  already pinned in `stream.rs`'s docs). Empty payload: the wake
  carries `Wake { channel }` only, never payloads (ADR-008 §3). This
  is the **contract obligation** — the load-bearing fix.
- `enqueue_tx` and `outbox_enqueue_tx`: add the same wake (channel =
  queue name; the outbox's derived `__alkstore_outbox:{name}`) for
  **posture parity** with SQLite's watcher — a weaker obligation (the
  queues row's pinned re-poll safety net covers correctness; the wake
  is latency posture), but the asymmetry is free to close and the
  review recommends it.
- `run_once` is a pull op, consumer-driven — no wake needed there
  (do not add one).

**Record updates**: this fix retires F-1's engine arm. Update
`tasks/review-wave-4.md`'s F-1 note (engine arm retired by this fix;
the wave-5 suite-hardening candidates — parked-recv deadline, lag
diagnostics — remain valid as defense-in-depth but are no longer
load-bearing for this flake) and `docs/plans/implementation.md`'s
review-rounds line for the general review.

## Acceptance Criteria

- [ ] `publish_with_key_tx` issues the `pg_notify` wake commit-atomically
      (channel = stream name, empty payload) — pinned by test: a
      registered listener receives the wake at/after the caller's
      commit, deterministically
- [ ] The no-ghosts arm pinned: a *rolled-back* `publish_tx` produces
      no wake (the wake is commit-atomic, not statement-atomic)
- [ ] `enqueue_tx` and `outbox_enqueue_tx` issue their wakes (channel =
      queue name / derived backing queue) — pinned by test
- [ ] `tx_publishes_compose_with_the_handle` is deterministic: repeated
      solo runs (≥ 20) green with zero deadline misses
- [ ] Auto-commit `publish`/`enqueue` behavior unchanged (still wake;
      no double-wake regression pinned where the suite observes it)
- [ ] `tasks/review-wave-4.md` F-1 note + `docs/plans/implementation.md`
      review-rounds line updated to record the retirement
- [ ] `cargo test -p alkstore-postgres` (harness server), clippy
      `-D warnings`, fmt clean; gates green server-less

## References

- docs/reviews/002-wave-4-general-review.md §Finding 2 (the finding,
  the probe, the fix shape, the F-1 mechanism)
- docs/architecture/engine-postgres.md (pg_notify as the streams wake
  trigger)
- docs/architecture/core-contract.md (streams visibility; tx/no-ghosts
  rows)
- docs/architecture/decisions/008-contract-v1-pinning.md §3 (Wake
  carries channel only)
- tasks/review-wave-4.md (F-1's record — updated by this task)
- alkstore-postgres/src/tx.rs (`notify_tx` — the proven commit-atomic
  mechanics these paths adopt)

## Notes

> To be filled by implementation agent

## Summary

> To be filled on completion