PROTO_trust-record-service-unreachable-exhausted-tails

[flyingrobots]

Migrated from Method backlog

GitHub Issues are now the live work tracker. Repository docs remain Method evidence.

Field	Value
Source backlog	docs/method/backlog/bad-code/OWN_trust-record-service-unreachable-exhausted-tails.md
Archived source	docs/archive/backlog/github-issue-migration-2026-06-01/docs/method/backlog/bad-code/OWN_trust-record-service-unreachable-exhausted-tails.md
Original lane	bad-code
Original id	OWN_trust-record-service-unreachable-exhausted-tails
Original legend	OWN
Original feature	merge-strands-worldlines
Original release home	v19.0.0

Original backlog card

PROTO_trust-record-service-unreachable-exhausted-tails

What stinks

src/domain/trust/TrustRecordService.js still ends both bounded retry loops with fallback throws:

• appendRecordWithRetry() line 280
• _persistRecord() line 407

Both sit after loops that already either return, throw on exhaustion, or throw on real CAS conflict.

Why it matters

• Coverage time gets wasted chasing branches that the current control flow cannot honestly reach.
• The extra throws suggest uncertainty about the function contracts even though the loops are already total.
• Dead tails make it harder to tell whether a retry policy is deliberate or just defensive residue.

Suggested direction

• Delete the unreachable tail throws, or
• replace them with explicit assertions documenting why the code should be impossible to reach.

Evidence

• After the cycle 0010 trust coverage tranche, TrustRecordService.js was reduced to exactly these two remaining uncovered lines while all reachable retry, CAS conflict, signature, read, and verification paths were covered.