fix(persistence): the idle flush trigger debounces under load — deferred to the floor, never dropped, never a flush-per-gap amplifier

An internal report from cross-engine write-path instrumentation: with
individual writes slower than the idle window (a contended disk), every
inter-write gap looked idle and fired a background full flush — 15 extra
flushes during 100 contended adds, amplifying the very pressure that
slowed the writes. The law now: an idle fire landing within the spacing
floor of the last flush DEFERS to the floor boundary instead of flushing;
the floor is min(interval, 10× the CONFIGURED idle window) — scaled to
caller intent (a tiny idle window keeps fast idle-driven durability;
default 2s/30s config gets a 20s floor), derived from the configured
idle, never from a deferred re-arm delay (which would compound into
runaway deferral). Deferred is never dropped: a lone write on a
then-quiet store still persists at the floor without any further write
arriving.

Pins: the contended-shape pin (six slow-spaced writes fire ≤2 idle
flushes, not one per gap; then still persist) + the original quiet-store
idle pin unchanged. Unit 2055/2055.

src/brainy.ts

@@ -2342,10 +2342,42 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
     }
 
     if (this._persistIdleTimer) clearTimeout(this._persistIdleTimer)
+    this.armIdleFlushTimer(idleMs, intervalMs)
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @description Arm the idle-flush timer — DEBOUNCED UNDER LOAD. The idle
+   * trigger exists to make a QUIET system durable fast; it must never add
+   * flush pressure to a BUSY one. When individual writes are slower than
+   * the idle window (a contended disk), every inter-write gap looks like
+   * "idle" and would fire a full flush per write — a measured 15-flush
+   * amplifier during 100 contended adds on a production-shaped box. The
+   * law: an idle fire landing within `intervalMs` of the last flush DEFERS
+   * (re-arms for the remaining interval) rather than flushing — deferred,
+   * never dropped, so a lone write on a then-quiet system still persists at
+   * the interval boundary without any further write arriving; a genuinely
+   * quiet system (last flush long past) flushes on idle exactly as before.
+   */
+  private armIdleFlushTimer(idleMs: number, intervalMs: number, delayMs = idleMs): void {
+    // The idle-fire spacing floor: 10× the CONFIGURED idle window, capped by
+    // the interval — always derived from idleMs, never from a deferred
+    // re-arm delay (recomputing from the delay compounds into runaway
+    // deferral). Scales with intent — a caller configuring a tiny idle
+    // window gets fast idle-driven durability (small floor); default config
+    // (2s idle / 30s interval) gets a 20s floor, capping the contended-disk
+    // shape at ~1 idle flush per 20s instead of one per inter-write gap.
+    const floorMs = Math.min(intervalMs, idleMs * 10)
     const timer = setTimeout(() => {
       this._persistIdleTimer = null
-      if (this._persistDirtyWrites > 0) this.kickBackgroundFlush('idle')
+      if (this._persistDirtyWrites === 0) return
-    }, idleMs)
+      const sinceFlush = Date.now() - this._persistLastFlushAt
+      if (sinceFlush >= floorMs) {
+        this.kickBackgroundFlush('idle')
+      } else {
+        // Deferred, never dropped: land exactly at the floor boundary.
+        this.armIdleFlushTimer(idleMs, intervalMs, Math.max(idleMs, floorMs - sinceFlush))
+      }
+    }, delayMs)
     // Never hold the process open for a cadence timer.
     ;(timer as { unref?: () => void }).unref?.()
     this._persistIdleTimer = timer

tests/unit/brainy/persistence-policy.test.ts

@@ -61,6 +61,30 @@ describe('persistence policy — the engine owns its flush cadence', () => {
     await vi.waitFor(() => expect(flushSpy).toHaveBeenCalled(), { timeout: 5000 })
   })
 
+  it('idle debounce under load: slow writes never fire a flush per inter-write gap', async () => {
+    // The contended-disk amplifier: writes slower than the idle window make
+    // every gap look idle — without the spacing floor this fired a full
+    // flush per write (measured 15 background flushes in 100 contended adds
+    // on a production-shaped box). The floor (min(interval, 10×idle)) caps
+    // idle fires; deferred, never dropped.
+    const brain = await mk({ flushEveryWrites: 10_000, flushIntervalMs: 600_000, flushOnIdleMs: 50 })
+    const flushSpy = vi.spyOn(brain, 'flush')
+
+    // Six writes spaced wider than the idle window (50ms) with the whole
+    // span inside ~one floor window (500ms): the old behavior fires ~an
+    // idle flush per gap (≈6); the debounced behavior fires at most two
+    // (one immediate boot-window fire + one at the floor boundary).
+    for (let i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
+      await brain.add({ data: `slow ${i}`, type: NounType.Document, metadata: {} })
+      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 70))
+    }
+    expect(flushSpy.mock.calls.length, 'no flush-per-gap amplifier').toBeLessThanOrEqual(2)
+
+    // Deferred, never dropped: the dirty writes still persist once the
+    // floor elapses on the now-quiet store.
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(flushSpy).toHaveBeenCalled(), { timeout: 5000 })
+  })
+
   it("'manual' policy: the engine NEVER flushes on its own", async () => {
     const brain = await mk({ policy: 'manual', flushEveryWrites: 2, flushOnIdleMs: 30 })
     const flushSpy = vi.spyOn(brain, 'flush')