Debugging tbh-meter

Artifact locations

Stable build: ~/tbh-meter/ · RC build: ~/tbh-meter-rc/ (variant-aware via app/src/main/settings.ts resolveOutputDir(); user can override with reader --output).

File	What it is
meter.log	Timestamped reader event log. Machine-readable phase markers: [[STATUS]] searching|resolving|scanning|ready. Human lines: [ok] attached, [ok] resolved, resolving classes/instances, managers reused, game is not open. Truncates at ~10MB.
reader-diag.log	Infra / decision-spine log (separate from meter.log, always on; shared/utils.diag). One timestamped line per key decision: [attach], [resolve] (path FAST/SCAN + sanity-fail/calib-miss + counts), [manager-pick] (MSM/LM cands+picked), [save-pick] (PSD/CSD + gold/heroes), [party-pick] (candidates / carriers vs ghosts / picked + ghost samples), [gold], [run-close] (per-run gold_ok/xp_ok/party_degraded/heroes), [reattach] (fp change = game update), [fatal]. First place to look for resolution / instance-pick / party-off problems — the data meter.log lacked in past debugs.
updater.log	Auto-update flight recorder (auto-update.ts): one line per status TRANSITION (checking, available x.y.z, downloading x.y.z, downloaded x.y.z, up-to-date, error: …), plus boot-gate stale pointer: …; converging when the REST cross-check catches a stale "up to date", and boot-gate updated|proceed anchoring each launch's gate conclusion. Rotates to .old at 64KB. Empty/absent on dev/macOS/RC (updater dormant).
raw/<id>.json	One RAW record per finished run, written by the reader (id = the run's end-timestamp in ms; raw_schema_version = RAW_SCHEMA_VERSION in meter_windows.py). Pure observation — no dps/partial/session fields (the app derives those).
logs/<id>.json	The structured record the UI reads: converter/ (convert.ts) turns each raw/<id>.json into one (derives dps, partial, totals; carries gold_source/xp_source — live vs save fallback). Cleared by "clear run history" (RunsSource.clearFile(); logs-archive.ts is only the raw/legacy clear helpers — no age-based cleanup exists).
live.json	Current-run RAW snapshot, rewritten ~1×/s (Redesign 2 — replaced the old cooked meter_live.txt). Read by live-source.ts (cooks the overlay) and reader-process.ts engagement detection.
resolve_cache.json	Build-fingerprint-keyed calibration cache (fmt must equal CACHE_FMT in meter_windows.py). Delete it to force a recalibration.
runs.jsonl	LEGACY, frozen at schema v11 — the reader stopped writing it in Redesign 2; the converter uses it only as the one-time migration source (≤11 = legado). Absent on fresh installs.

Reader lifecycle & failure classification

Decision logic is pure and testable: app/src/main/reader-policy.ts; supervisor: reader-process.ts.

• spawn-failed (spawn error, EPERM/ENOENT/EACCES): exe locked/quarantined/missing → almost always antivirus. Reported immediately.
• crashed (signal, or exit code ≠ 0): AV kill, OOM, game crash. Starts exponential backoff: 2^(streak-1) * 5s, capped 60s.
• clean (code 0): normal "game not open" exit; re-poll after 5s.
• blocked: 5 consecutive failures (READER_BLOCKED_THRESHOLD). The overlay shows the blocked + Retry message and the supervisor waits for the user to hit retry (retryReader() IPC).
• Surviving 30s (READER_HEALTHY_RUN_MS) resets the failure streak.
• Reader is only spawned when win32 && app.isPackaged && readerExePath() — on macOS dev the file-watching sources still work against existing artifacts.

Calibration / resolution flow

1. Fast path: fixed RVA → IL2CPP TypeInfoTable → TypeDefIndex (reader/il2cpp/typeinfo.py), gated by build fingerprint, validated by name round-trip.
2. Seed-calib: bundled reader/config/calib_seed.json (~8s first launch). Rejected if its fmt ≠ current CACHE_FMT → falls through to cold scan (this bit an RC build once, #199). Re-capture on every fmt bump: scripts/seed_calib_capture.py; CI --selftest fails on stale fmt.
3. Cold scan (reader/il2cpp/resolver.py): ~100s, dominated by the ~62s gold value-scan. Happens on uncalibrated/post-patch builds; self-calibrates into resolve_cache.json (survives game restarts).

Game patched → build fingerprint changes → cache misses → seed tried → likely cold scan once. This is expected, not a bug.

Reader CLI (run standalone)

tbh-reader.exe --output DIR   # artifact dir (default ~/tbh-meter)
               --hz N         # poll rate, default 10
               --debug        # per-tick lines to stdout (meter.log stays event-level)
               --selftest     # validate bundled resources + calib_seed fmt; exit 0/1 (used in CI)

Clear orphans on Windows: taskkill /f /im tbh-reader.exe.

Playbooks

"Meter shows nothing" → check live.json exists/updates → check last [[STATUS]] in meter.log (searching = game not found, resolving/scanning = wait, ready = reader fine, look at the app side) → if app side, check reader status IPC and the activity ring.

"Calibration takes forever" → one cold scan ~100s post-patch is normal. Repeating every launch = cache not persisting: check resolve_cache.json exists and its fmt matches CACHE_FMT.

"Reader keeps dying" → exit codes in app log / activity ring; spawn-failed or repeated crashed = AV → add exclusion, restore exe from quarantine, then retryReader().

"Run missing from the list" → was raw/<endTs>.json written at all (reader side)? → does the converted logs/<id>.json exist (converter side)? → in the logs record check quality (skipped/degraded are hidden by the default display filter — toggle "show ignored"), partial, and totalDamage.

"Gold/XP look wrong" → check gold_source/xp_source: save fallback means the live manager wasn't resolved when the run started (e.g. attached mid-menu); usually fixes itself next run.

"Runs invalid / no team (party off)" → reader-diag.log [party-pick] line: carriers=0 picked=0x.. party_read=0 + a ghost … (hk, 0, 0.0) = pick_live_sm grabbed a non-carrier StageManager (heroKey valid, lvl=0) over the live one → read_live_party reads {} → heroes:err → degraded (no team). meter.log fingerprint: StageManager ok — 0 heroes deployed (pick≠read). Fixed structurally in #413 (pick delegates to read_live_party); see reader/docs/invariants/party-live-resolution.md. carriers≥1 but party_read=0 = the pre-fix freeze on a ghost; carriers=0 in combat = the carrier wasn't captured by the scan (rarer). Methodology (the lesson that found it): don't assume "it's the seed/calibration" — pull the player's CURRENT reader-diag.log/meter.log and let it REFUTE the prior theory (fast-path armed + party still off = NOT calibration, so the #408 reseed couldn't fix it). Then reproduce with a real-code MockReader test (TDD red→green) BEFORE asserting a fix — never theorize. A bug that "works on the dev machine" but not a player's is usually instance-ordering / state-dependent (see instance-selection), not the seed.

"App didn't auto-update on launch" → read updater.log around the boot: up-to-date then boot-gate proceed = both the public pointer AND the REST cross-check said "current" (or REST had no signal — 403/CGNAT/offline); a boot-gate stale pointer … converging line = the cross-check caught a stale answer and the gate re-checked until convergence (meter-3-ship's "Verify players can see it" step should make this rare); error: lines = check/download failed (transient network or AV — boot retries once, focus retries after 30s); boot-gate proceed right after checking = check slower than the 8s gate (update still downloads in background, installs on quit). Mid-session pickup is the 3min interval + focus/resume triggers.