Fix node:sqlite V8 crash on invalid UTF-8 in text columns (#272)

node:sqlite calls v8::String::NewFromUtf8 with kAbort on TEXT columns.
Cursor chat blobs often contain truncated multi-byte chars from streaming
boundaries, which triggers a V8 CHECK abort (not a JS exception).

Select all text-content columns as CAST(col AS BLOB) so node:sqlite
returns Uint8Array instead. Decode in JS with TextDecoder fatal:false
which replaces bad bytes with U+FFFD. Covers all three SQLite providers
(Cursor, Goose, OpenCode).

Removes the version blocklist (MIN_NODE_22_PATCH) and lowers engines
requirement from >=22.20 to >=22 since the BLOB cast approach works
on all Node 22.x versions.

Closes #264
Closes #250

Author: iamtoruk

package.json

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
     "developer-tools"
   ],
   "engines": {
-    "node": ">=22.20"
+    "node": ">=22"
   },
   "author": "AgentSeal <hello@agentseal.org>",
   "license": "MIT",

src/providers/cursor.ts

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { homedir } from 'os'
 
 import { calculateCost } from '../models.js'
 import { readCachedResults, writeCachedResults } from '../cursor-cache.js'
-import { isSqliteAvailable, getSqliteLoadError, openDatabase, type SqliteDatabase } from '../sqlite.js'
+import { isSqliteAvailable, getSqliteLoadError, openDatabase, blobToText, type SqliteDatabase } from '../sqlite.js'
 import type { Provider, SessionSource, SessionParser, ParsedProviderCall } from './types.js'
 
 const CURSOR_COST_MODEL = 'claude-sonnet-4-5'
@@ -33,16 +33,16 @@ type BubbleRow = {
   model: string | null
   created_at: string | null
   conversation_id: string | null
-  user_text: string | null
+  user_text: Uint8Array | string | null
   text_length: number | null
   bubble_type: number | null
-  code_blocks: string | null
+  code_blocks: Uint8Array | string | null
 }
 
 type AgentKvRow = {
   key: string
   role: string | null
-  content: string | null
+  content: Uint8Array | string | null
   request_id: string | null
   content_length: number
 }
@@ -291,10 +291,10 @@ const BUBBLE_QUERY_BASE = `
     json_extract(value, '$.modelInfo.modelName') as model,
     json_extract(value, '$.createdAt') as created_at,
     json_extract(value, '$.conversationId') as conversation_id,
-    substr(json_extract(value, '$.text'), 1, 500) as user_text,
+    CAST(substr(json_extract(value, '$.text'), 1, 500) AS BLOB) as user_text,
     length(json_extract(value, '$.text')) as text_length,
     json_extract(value, '$.type') as bubble_type,
-    json_extract(value, '$.codeBlocks') as code_blocks
+    CAST(json_extract(value, '$.codeBlocks') AS BLOB) as code_blocks
   FROM cursorDiskKV
   WHERE key LIKE 'bubbleId:%'
 `
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ const AGENTKV_QUERY = `
   SELECT
     key,
     json_extract(value, '$.role') as role,
-    json_extract(value, '$.content') as content,
+    CAST(json_extract(value, '$.content') AS BLOB) as content,
     json_extract(value, '$.providerOptions.cursor.requestId') as request_id,
     length(value) as content_length
   FROM cursorDiskKV
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ const USER_MESSAGES_QUERY = `
   SELECT
     json_extract(value, '$.conversationId') as conversation_id,
     json_extract(value, '$.createdAt') as created_at,
-    substr(json_extract(value, '$.text'), 1, 500) as text
+    CAST(substr(json_extract(value, '$.text'), 1, 500) AS BLOB) as text
   FROM cursorDiskKV
   WHERE key LIKE 'bubbleId:%'
     AND json_extract(value, '$.type') = 1
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ function validateSchema(db: SqliteDatabase): boolean {
   }
 }
 
-type UserMsgRow = { conversation_id: string; created_at: string; text: string }
+type UserMsgRow = { conversation_id: string; created_at: string; text: Uint8Array | string }
 
 /// Per-conversation user-message buffer. We pop messages in arrival order via
 /// the `pos` cursor — a previous implementation called Array.shift() which is
@@ -363,11 +363,12 @@ function buildUserMessageMap(db: SqliteDatabase, timeFloor: string): Map<string,
     const rows = db.query<UserMsgRow>(USER_MESSAGES_QUERY, [timeFloor])
     for (const row of rows) {
       if (!row.conversation_id || !row.text) continue
+      const text = blobToText(row.text)
       const existing = map.get(row.conversation_id)
       if (existing) {
-        existing.messages.push(row.text)
+        existing.messages.push(text)
       } else {
-        map.set(row.conversation_id, { messages: [row.text], pos: 0 })
+        map.set(row.conversation_id, { messages: [text], pos: 0 })
       }
     }
   } catch {}
@@ -488,10 +489,10 @@ function parseBubbles(db: SqliteDatabase, seenKeys: Set<string>): { calls: Parse
 
       const timestamp = createdAt || new Date().toISOString()
       const userQuestion = takeUserMessage(userMessages, conversationId)
-      const assistantText = row.user_text ?? ''
+      const assistantText = blobToText(row.user_text)
       const userText = (userQuestion + ' ' + assistantText).trim()
 
-      const languages = extractLanguages(row.code_blocks)
+      const languages = extractLanguages(blobToText(row.code_blocks))
       const hasCode = languages.length > 0
 
       const cursorTools: string[] = hasCode ? ['cursor:edit', ...languages.map(l => `lang:${l}`)] : []
@@ -572,20 +573,21 @@ function parseAgentKv(db: SqliteDatabase, seenKeys: Set<string>, dbPath: string)
 
   for (const row of rows) {
     if (!row.role || !row.content) continue
+    const contentText = blobToText(row.content)
 
     let content: AgentKvContent[]
     let plainTextLength = 0
     try {
-      const parsed = JSON.parse(row.content)
+      const parsed = JSON.parse(contentText)
       if (Array.isArray(parsed)) {
         content = parsed
       } else {
         content = []
-        plainTextLength = row.content.length
+        plainTextLength = contentText.length
       }
     } catch {
       content = []
-      plainTextLength = row.content.length
+      plainTextLength = contentText.length
     }
 
     const requestId = row.request_id ?? currentRequestId
@@ -601,7 +603,7 @@ function parseAgentKv(db: SqliteDatabase, seenKeys: Set<string>, dbPath: string)
       const existing = sessions.get(requestId) ?? { inputChars: 0, outputChars: 0, model: null, userText: '' }
       existing.inputChars += textLength
       if (!existing.userText) {
-        const text = content[0]?.text ?? row.content
+        const text = content[0]?.text ?? contentText
         const queryMatch = text.match(/<user_query>([\s\S]*?)<\/user_query>/)
         existing.userText = queryMatch ? queryMatch[1].trim().slice(0, 500) : text.slice(0, 500)
       }

src/providers/goose.ts

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { homedir, platform } from 'os'
 
 import { calculateCost, getShortModelName } from '../models.js'
 import { extractBashCommands } from '../bash-utils.js'
-import { isSqliteAvailable, getSqliteLoadError, openDatabase, type SqliteDatabase } from '../sqlite.js'
+import { isSqliteAvailable, getSqliteLoadError, openDatabase, blobToText, type SqliteDatabase } from '../sqlite.js'
 import type { Provider, SessionSource, SessionParser, ParsedProviderCall } from './types.js'
 
 type SessionRow = {
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ type SessionRow = {
   accumulated_input_tokens: number | null
   accumulated_output_tokens: number | null
   provider_name: string | null
-  model_config_json: string | null
+  model_config_json: Uint8Array | string | null
 }
 
 type ModelConfig = {
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ type ModelConfig = {
 type MessageRow = {
   message_id: string
   role: string
-  content_json: string
+  content_json: Uint8Array | string
   created_timestamp: number
 }
 
@@ -86,15 +86,15 @@ function extractToolsFromMessages(db: SqliteDatabase, sessionId: string): { tool
   const seen = new Set<string>()
 
   try {
-    const rows = db.query<{ content_json: string }>(
-      "SELECT content_json FROM messages WHERE session_id = ? AND role = 'assistant' AND content_json LIKE '%toolRequest%'",
+    const rows = db.query<{ content_json: Uint8Array | string }>(
+      "SELECT CAST(content_json AS BLOB) AS content_json FROM messages WHERE session_id = ? AND role = 'assistant' AND content_json LIKE '%toolRequest%'",
       [sessionId],
     )
 
     for (const row of rows) {
       let items: ContentItem[]
       try {
-        items = JSON.parse(row.content_json) as ContentItem[]
+        items = JSON.parse(blobToText(row.content_json)) as ContentItem[]
       } catch {
         continue
       }
@@ -124,12 +124,12 @@ function extractToolsFromMessages(db: SqliteDatabase, sessionId: string): { tool
 
 function getFirstUserMessage(db: SqliteDatabase, sessionId: string): string {
   try {
-    const rows = db.query<{ content_json: string }>(
-      "SELECT content_json FROM messages WHERE session_id = ? AND role = 'user' ORDER BY created_timestamp ASC LIMIT 1",
+    const rows = db.query<{ content_json: Uint8Array | string }>(
+      "SELECT CAST(content_json AS BLOB) AS content_json FROM messages WHERE session_id = ? AND role = 'user' ORDER BY created_timestamp ASC LIMIT 1",
       [sessionId],
     )
     if (rows.length === 0) return ''
-    const items = JSON.parse(rows[0]!.content_json) as ContentItem[]
+    const items = JSON.parse(blobToText(rows[0]!.content_json)) as ContentItem[]
     const text = items.find(i => i.type === 'text') as { text?: string } | undefined
     return (text?.text ?? '').slice(0, 500)
   } catch {
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ function createParser(source: SessionSource, seenKeys: Set<string>): SessionPars
         if (!validateSchema(db)) return
 
         const rows = db.query<SessionRow>(
-          'SELECT id, name, working_dir, created_at, updated_at, accumulated_input_tokens, accumulated_output_tokens, provider_name, model_config_json FROM sessions WHERE id = ?',
+          'SELECT id, name, working_dir, created_at, updated_at, accumulated_input_tokens, accumulated_output_tokens, provider_name, CAST(model_config_json AS BLOB) AS model_config_json FROM sessions WHERE id = ?',
           [sessionId],
         )
         if (rows.length === 0) return
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ function createParser(source: SessionSource, seenKeys: Set<string>): SessionPars
         if (seenKeys.has(dedupKey)) return
         seenKeys.add(dedupKey)
 
-        const config = parseModelConfig(session.model_config_json)
+        const config = parseModelConfig(blobToText(session.model_config_json))
         const model = config.model_name ?? 'unknown'
         const costUSD = calculateCost(model, inputTokens, outputTokens, 0, 0, 0)
 
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ async function discoverFromDb(dbPath: string): Promise<SessionSource[]> {
 
   try {
     const rows = db.query<SessionRow>(
-      'SELECT id, name, working_dir, created_at, updated_at, accumulated_input_tokens, accumulated_output_tokens, provider_name, model_config_json FROM sessions ORDER BY updated_at DESC',
+      'SELECT id, name, working_dir, created_at, updated_at, accumulated_input_tokens, accumulated_output_tokens, provider_name, CAST(model_config_json AS BLOB) AS model_config_json FROM sessions ORDER BY updated_at DESC',
     )
 
     return rows

src/providers/opencode.ts

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { homedir } from 'os'
 
 import { calculateCost, getShortModelName } from '../models.js'
 import { extractBashCommands } from '../bash-utils.js'
-import { isSqliteAvailable, getSqliteLoadError, openDatabase, type SqliteDatabase } from '../sqlite.js'
+import { isSqliteAvailable, getSqliteLoadError, openDatabase, blobToText, type SqliteDatabase } from '../sqlite.js'
 import type {
   Provider,
   SessionSource,
@@ -15,18 +15,18 @@ import type {
 type MessageRow = {
   id: string
   time_created: number
-  data: string
+  data: Uint8Array | string
 }
 
 type PartRow = {
   message_id: string
-  data: string
+  data: Uint8Array | string
 }
 
 type SessionRow = {
   id: string
-  directory: string
-  title: string
+  directory: Uint8Array | string
+  title: Uint8Array | string
   time_created: number
 }
 
@@ -169,19 +169,19 @@ function createParser(
         }
 
         const messages = db.query<MessageRow>(
-          'SELECT id, time_created, data FROM message WHERE session_id = ? ORDER BY time_created ASC',
+          'SELECT id, time_created, CAST(data AS BLOB) AS data FROM message WHERE session_id = ? ORDER BY time_created ASC',
           [sessionId],
         )
 
         const parts = db.query<PartRow>(
-          'SELECT message_id, data FROM part WHERE session_id = ? ORDER BY message_id, id',
+          'SELECT message_id, CAST(data AS BLOB) AS data FROM part WHERE session_id = ? ORDER BY message_id, id',
           [sessionId],
         )
 
         const partsByMsg = new Map<string, PartData[]>()
         for (const part of parts) {
           try {
-            const parsed = JSON.parse(part.data) as PartData
+            const parsed = JSON.parse(blobToText(part.data)) as PartData
             const list = partsByMsg.get(part.message_id) ?? []
             list.push(parsed)
             partsByMsg.set(part.message_id, list)
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ function createParser(
         for (const msg of messages) {
           let data: MessageData
           try {
-            data = JSON.parse(msg.data) as MessageData
+            data = JSON.parse(blobToText(msg.data)) as MessageData
           } catch {
             continue
           }
@@ -294,14 +294,18 @@ async function discoverFromDb(dbPath: string): Promise<SessionSource[]> {
 
   try {
     const rows = db.query<SessionRow>(
-      'SELECT id, directory, title, time_created FROM session WHERE time_archived IS NULL AND parent_id IS NULL ORDER BY time_created DESC',
+      'SELECT id, CAST(directory AS BLOB) AS directory, CAST(title AS BLOB) AS title, time_created FROM session WHERE time_archived IS NULL AND parent_id IS NULL ORDER BY time_created DESC',
     )
 
-    return rows.map((row) => ({
-      path: `${dbPath}:${row.id}`,
-      project: row.directory ? sanitize(row.directory) : sanitize(row.title),
-      provider: 'opencode',
-    }))
+    return rows.map((row) => {
+      const dir = blobToText(row.directory)
+      const title = blobToText(row.title)
+      return {
+        path: `${dbPath}:${row.id}`,
+        project: dir ? sanitize(dir) : sanitize(title),
+        provider: 'opencode',
+      }
+    })
   } catch {
     return []
   } finally {

src/sqlite.ts

@@ -23,29 +23,18 @@ let DatabaseSync: DatabaseSyncCtor | null = null
 let loadAttempted = false
 let loadError: string | null = null
 
-/// Minimum Node 22.x patch version that contains the node:sqlite UTF-8 fix.
-/// Older 22.x lines crash with `Check failed: (location_) != nullptr` when a
-/// SQLite TEXT column returns bytes that V8's String::NewFromUtf8 rejects —
-/// commonly the case for Cursor's text blobs (truncated multi-byte chars at
-/// streaming boundaries) and OpenCode message text (rich tooling output).
-/// Track of issue: https://github.com/getagentseal/codeburn/issues/264
-/// Track of upstream: https://github.com/nodejs/node — fix landed in 22.x via
-/// later patches; stable on Node 24+.
-const MIN_NODE_22_PATCH = 20
-
-function checkBuggyNodeVersion(): string | null {
-  const match = /^v(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)/.exec(process.version)
-  if (!match) return null
-  const major = parseInt(match[1]!, 10)
-  const minor = parseInt(match[2]!, 10)
-  if (major === 22 && minor < MIN_NODE_22_PATCH) {
-    return (
-      `codeburn: Node ${process.version} ships an older node:sqlite that crashes on ` +
-      `non-UTF-8 bytes in Cursor/OpenCode session text. Upgrade to Node 22.${MIN_NODE_22_PATCH}+ ` +
-      `or 24+ to avoid the V8 fatal error. (https://nodejs.org)`
-    )
-  }
-  return null
+const textDecoder = new TextDecoder('utf-8', { fatal: false })
+
+/// Safely decode a BLOB column (Uint8Array) to a UTF-8 string. Node's
+/// node:sqlite crashes with a V8 CHECK abort when a TEXT column contains
+/// invalid UTF-8 (common in Cursor chat blobs with truncated multi-byte
+/// chars). By selecting those columns as `CAST(... AS BLOB)` in SQL, we
+/// get a Uint8Array here and decode it in JS where bad bytes become the
+/// U+FFFD replacement character instead of aborting the process.
+export function blobToText(value: Uint8Array | string | null | undefined): string {
+  if (value == null) return ''
+  if (typeof value === 'string') return value
+  return textDecoder.decode(value)
 }
 
 /// Lazily imports `node:sqlite`. On Node 22/23 it emits an ExperimentalWarning the first
@@ -56,15 +45,6 @@ function loadDriver(): boolean {
   if (loadAttempted) return DatabaseSync !== null
   loadAttempted = true
 
-  // Refuse to load on a Node version known to crash mid-query. Treating the
-  // SQLite providers as unavailable is much friendlier than letting the user
-  // hit a V8 CHECK abort that takes down the whole CLI.
-  const versionWarning = checkBuggyNodeVersion()
-  if (versionWarning !== null) {
-    loadError = versionWarning
-    return false
-  }
-
   const origEmit = process.emit.bind(process)
   let restored = false
   const restore = () => {