fix: index followed file symlinks in zlob walker (#912)

[gustav-fff]

Closes #912

Root cause

zlob keeps kind = Symlink and lstat metadata for followed links (zlob-1.6.5/zig-src/walker/worker.zig:422, only is_dir is resolved for descent). crates/fff-core/src/walk/zlob.rs:55 keeps only entry.is_file(), so with follow_symlinks = true every symlink to a file is dropped. Ripgrep walker resolves the target type, so non-zlob builds work. Release builds use zlob.

Fix

For Symlink entries when follow_symlinks is on, std::fs::metadata the target; index it if it is a regular file, with target size/mtime. Broken links and dir links are skipped here (dir links are already descended by zlob, parents are synthesized at file_picker.rs:2288). Regular-file hot path unchanged; extra stat only for symlinks and only with follow_symlinks.

Steps to reproduce

On pre-fix main:

cargo build --release -p fff-nvim --no-default-features --features zlob
cat > /tmp/repro912.lua <<'LUA'
vim.opt.rtp:prepend(arg[1])
local tmp = vim.fn.tempname()
vim.fn.mkdir(tmp .. '/.dotfiles/sesh', 'p')
vim.fn.mkdir(tmp .. '/config/sesh', 'p')
vim.fn.writefile({ 'a = 1' }, tmp .. '/.dotfiles/sesh/sesh.toml')
vim.fn.writefile({ 'b = 1' }, tmp .. '/.dotfiles/sesh/configs.toml')
vim.fn.writefile({ 'c = 1' }, tmp .. '/config/sesh/projects.toml')
vim.uv.fs_symlink('../../.dotfiles/sesh/sesh.toml', tmp .. '/config/sesh/sesh.toml')
vim.uv.fs_symlink('../../.dotfiles/sesh/configs.toml', tmp .. '/config/sesh/configs.toml')
local rust = require('fff.rust')
rust.init_file_picker(tmp .. '/config/sesh', { follow_symlinks = true })
rust.wait_for_initial_scan(10000)
local res = rust.fuzzy_search_files('', 1, nil, 100, nil, 0, 100)
local names = {}
for _, item in ipairs(res.items) do table.insert(names, item.relative_path) end
table.sort(names)
print('indexed: ' .. table.concat(names, ', '))
rust.cleanup_file_picker()
vim.fn.delete(tmp, 'rf')
LUA
(cd /tmp && nvim -l /tmp/repro912.lua "$OLDPWD")

expected: indexed: configs.toml, projects.toml, sesh.toml
actual:   indexed: projects.toml

Same with default (ripgrep) build gives the expected output.

How verified

• New test walk::tests::follows_file_symlinks_outside_root (file link outside root, dir link, broken link, follow on/off). Pre-fix zlob: left: ["linked/inner.toml", "projects.toml"], fails. Post-fix: passes on zlob and ripgrep backends.
• Repro script above after fix: indexed: configs.toml, projects.toml, sesh.toml.
• make test-rust: 528 passed, 0 failed. make lint-rust clean, cargo fmt --check clean.

Automated triage via Gustav. Honk-Honk 🪿

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features
  • File traversal now includes symlinks to files when symlink following is enabled, including links to files outside the traversal root.
  • Linked files use their target’s size and modification time for indexing.
• Bug Fixes
  • Broken symlinks and links to non-file targets are skipped.

[greptile-apps]

Your trial has ended. Reactivate Greptile to resume code reviews.

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

• Configuration used: Repository UI
• Review profile: CHILL
• Plan: Advanced
• Run ID: 6b1208f9-5173-41aa-91c3-a086f9a16bed

---

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 65119f9 and b4e99a5.

---

📒 Files selected for processing (2)

• crates/fff-core/src/walk/mod.rs
• crates/fff-core/src/walk/zlob.rs

---

Included review availability: This review used your included allowance. Your plan provides up to 10 included reviews per hour; 9 remain after this review.

---

---

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The zlob walker now indexes file symlinks when symlink following is enabled. A Unix-only test covers linked files, directory links, broken links, and behavior when following is disabled.

Changes

Symlink traversal

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Followed symlink indexing crates/fff-core/src/walk/zlob.rs	The walker reads target metadata for followed file symlinks and uses their relative-path basename for binary-extension detection. It skips links with unreadable or non-file targets.
Symlink traversal test crates/fff-core/src/walk/mod.rs	A Unix-only test checks that followed file and directory symlinks are indexed, broken links are excluded, and disabling symlink following excludes linked entries.

Priority: ➖ Normal

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Change: Bug fix · Severity of issue fixed: Medium

Suggested reviewers: dmtrkovalenko

---

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to b4e99

Symlinks that resolve to files are now indexed when symlink following is enabled. No merge-blocking risk was identified.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check		Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check		The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: indexing followed file symlinks in the zlob walker.
Linked Issues check		Issue #912 requires file symlinks to appear when follow_symlinks is enabled in the zlob build. crates/fff-core/src/walk/zlob.rs now stats followed symlink targets, indexes regular-file targets, an…
Out of Scope Changes check		The changes stay within #912. The zlob fix changes only followed-symlink file collection. The added test verifies the reported behavior and does not introduce unrelated product changes.
Docstring Coverage		Docstring coverage is 100.00% which is sufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 3 functions across 2 files.

---

---

✨ Finishing Touches 💡 1

📝 Generate docstrings

• Commit to this branch
• Create a new PR

---

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Commit to this branch
• Create a new PR

---

---

🛠️ Fix failing CI checks 💡

• Commit to this branch
• Create a new PR

• Autofix · Keep fixing CodeRabbit findings and required CI, and resolving merge conflicts

---

Thanks for using CodeRabbit! It's free for OSS, and your support helps us grow. If you like it, consider giving us a shout-out.

❤️ Share

• X
• Mastodon
• Reddit
• LinkedIn

---

_{Comment @coderabbitai help to get the list of available commands.}