deb: report a kept record honestly when no staged tree exists

Every --incremental run claimed "kept its staged tree" and set
kept_upper=true at teardown — even when the run died before staging
created tree-upper, leaving a manifest that lied about the record being
a fork candidate and a message contradicting the disk. The retention
now follows the disk through upper_retention(requested, has_upper()):
a keep with a staged tree keeps it as before, a plain run drops it, and
a keep with nothing staged keeps the record as metadata + log with
kept_upper=false and says so ("no staged tree was created — the run
ended before staging"). The interrupt path records the same honest
state — failed outcome, kept_upper only if a tree exists — and the
SIGINT hook's message no longer claims a tree that is not there.

src/deb/ephemeral.rs

@@ -34,9 +34,12 @@ fn sigint_cleanup_chroot(chroot_path: &Path) {
 
 /// Interrupt-time teardown of a build record: unmount everything under
 /// the record root, remove the per-run state (the chroot and the overlay
-/// scratch workdir) and — unless `keep_upper` is set — the staged tree
-/// and its host-tree snapshot. The manifest and the build log always
-/// stay: every build leaves a metadata record, the interrupt included.
+/// scratch workdir) and, for a plain run, the staged tree and its
+/// host-tree snapshot. An `--incremental` run keeps whatever staging
+/// created — the keep only claims a staged tree when one exists on
+/// disk; a run interrupted before staging keeps none. The manifest and
+/// the build log always stay: every build leaves a metadata record, the
+/// interrupt included.
 ///
 /// Unlike [`EphemeralContextGuard::drop`], this deliberately does NOT go
 /// through the context manager, the ephemeral context's driver (whose
@@ -57,12 +60,20 @@ fn sigint_cleanup_record(record_root: &Path, keep_upper: bool) {
     for dir in ["chroot", "tree-upper-work"] {
         remove_with_retries(&record_root.join(dir), is_root);
     }
-    if keep_upper {
+    if keep_upper && record_root.join("tree-upper").is_dir() {
         log::debug!(
             "Interrupted build record kept its staged tree at {} (fork it \
              with `pkh deb --incremental`)",
             record_root.display()
         );
+    } else if keep_upper {
+        // The run ended before staging created one: keep the message
+        // honest — there is no staged tree to fork.
+        log::debug!(
+            "Interrupted build record kept at {} (no staged tree was \
+             created — the run ended before staging)",
+            record_root.display()
+        );
     } else {
         for path in ["tree-upper", "host-files.list"] {
             remove_with_retries(&record_root.join(path), is_root);
@@ -1140,10 +1151,11 @@ impl Drop for EphemeralContextGuard {
         // drained, forgetting is a harmless no-op).
         if crate::interrupt::interrupted() {
             context::manager().set_current_ephemeral(self.previous_context.clone());
-            // The record keeps its metadata: mark the aborted build as
-            // failed before the hook tears the per-run state down.
+            // The record keeps its metadata: record the aborted build
+            // honestly before the hook tears the per-run state down —
+            // failed, and kept_upper only if a staged tree exists.
             if let Some(session) = &self.session {
-                session.set_outcome(session::OUTCOME_FAILED);
+                session.record_interrupted(self.keep_upper);
             }
             if let Some(hook) = self.cleanup_hook.take() {
                 std::mem::forget(hook);

src/deb/session.rs

@@ -202,6 +202,33 @@ pub struct Session {
     state: Arc<Mutex<SessionState>>,
 }
 
+/// What the end-of-run retention of a record's staged tree does,
+/// decided from the request and the disk: a keep requested for a run
+/// that ended before staging created a tree-upper has nothing to keep,
+/// and the record must not claim otherwise.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub(crate) enum UpperRetention {
+    /// Keep the staged tree: the record is a fork candidate.
+    Keep,
+    /// Drop the staged tree: a plain run.
+    Drop,
+    /// An `--incremental` run whose staging never happened: metadata
+    /// and log only, `kept_upper` stays false.
+    KeepNothing,
+}
+
+/// Decide the retention of a record's staged tree: an
+/// `--incremental` run keeps it — unless the run ended before staging
+/// created one, in which case there is nothing to keep — and a plain
+/// run drops it.
+pub(crate) fn upper_retention(requested: bool, upper_exists: bool) -> UpperRetention {
+    match (requested, upper_exists) {
+        (true, true) => UpperRetention::Keep,
+        (true, false) => UpperRetention::KeepNothing,
+        (false, _) => UpperRetention::Drop,
+    }
+}
+
 impl Session {
     /// The record root directory.
     pub fn root(&self) -> &Path {
@@ -318,17 +345,19 @@ impl Session {
     }
 
     /// Retain the record at the end of its build: the outcome is
-    /// recorded on success (failures already carry theirs), and the
-    /// upperdir is kept exactly for `--incremental` runs — a plain
-    /// run's upperdir is dropped, leaving a metadata-only record
-    /// (manifest + log). The chroot was already removed by the caller's
-    /// teardown. The interrupt path is handled by the SIGINT cleanup
-    /// hook, which follows the same policy.
+    /// recorded on success (failures already carry theirs), and the staged
+    /// tree follows [`upper_retention`] — kept exactly for `--incremental`
+    /// runs that actually staged one; a plain run's tree is dropped and a
+    /// run that ended before staging keeps nothing, both leaving a
+    /// metadata-only record (manifest + log). The chroot was already
+    /// removed by the caller's teardown. The interrupt path is handled by
+    /// the SIGINT cleanup hook, which follows the same policy.
     pub(crate) fn retain_upper(&self, keep_upper: bool, succeeded: bool) {
         if succeeded {
             self.set_outcome(OUTCOME_SUCCESS);
         }
-        if keep_upper {
+        match upper_retention(keep_upper, self.has_upper()) {
+            UpperRetention::Keep => {
                 self.with_manifest(|manifest| {
                     manifest.kept_upper = true;
                 });
@@ -338,7 +367,15 @@ impl Session {
                     self.manifest().id
                 );
                 self.enforce_upper_cap();
-        } else {
+            }
+            UpperRetention::KeepNothing => {
+                log::info!(
+                    "Build record {} kept (no staged tree was created — the \
+                 run ended before staging)",
+                    self.manifest().id
+                );
+            }
+            UpperRetention::Drop => {
                 log::debug!(
                     "Dropping the staged tree of build record {} (plain run)",
                     self.manifest().id
@@ -346,6 +383,7 @@ impl Session {
                 self.wipe_upper();
             }
         }
+    }
 
     /// Drop the record's persisted upperdir state: the tree-upper, its
     /// host-tree snapshot and the scratch workdir.
@@ -418,6 +456,21 @@ impl Session {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Record an interrupted build: the outcome is failed, and
+    /// `kept_upper` follows the disk — an `--incremental` run keeps
+    /// whatever staging created, and a run interrupted before staging
+    /// keeps no claim of a staged tree. The per-run state itself is the
+    /// SIGINT hook's to remove (unmounting and rm are not safe here, on
+    /// the interrupted thread).
+    pub(crate) fn record_interrupted(&self, keep_upper: bool) {
+        self.set_outcome(OUTCOME_FAILED);
+        if upper_retention(keep_upper, self.has_upper()) == UpperRetention::Keep {
+            self.with_manifest(|manifest| {
+                manifest.kept_upper = true;
+            });
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Take the advisory lock marking a live build on this record.
     ///
     /// Fails with [`SessionBusy`] when another build holds it. The lock is
@@ -2515,6 +2568,62 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    /// The retention decision follows the disk, not the request: an
+    /// `--incremental` run that ended before staging created a staged
+    /// tree has nothing to keep, and neither the manifest nor the
+    /// end-of-run message may claim otherwise.
+    #[test]
+    fn upper_retention_reflects_the_disk_not_the_request() {
+        use UpperRetention::{Drop, Keep, KeepNothing};
+
+        assert_eq!(upper_retention(true, true), Keep);
+        assert_eq!(upper_retention(true, false), KeepNothing);
+        assert_eq!(upper_retention(false, true), Drop);
+        assert_eq!(upper_retention(false, false), Drop);
+    }
+
+    /// Driving the keep path on an incremental record whose staged tree
+    /// was never created: the record is kept as metadata + log, the
+    /// manifest does not claim a staged tree, and the interrupt path
+    /// records the same honest state.
+    #[test]
+    fn keep_without_a_staged_tree_claims_none() {
+        let (root, tarball) = sessions_fixture();
+        let identity = test_identity();
+        let host_tree = root.path().join("tree");
+
+        // A run that ended before staging: no tree-upper, no snapshot.
+        let record = new_record_in(root.path(), &host_tree, &identity, "1.0").unwrap();
+        assert!(!record.has_upper());
+
+        record.retain_upper(true, false);
+
+        assert!(record.root().join("manifest.json").is_file(), "metadata");
+        assert!(record.log_file().is_file(), "the log is always kept");
+        assert!(
+            !record.manifest().kept_upper,
+            "no staged tree was created: the manifest must not claim one"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(record.manifest().last_outcome, OUTCOME_RUNNING);
+        drop(record);
+
+        // The interrupt path records the same honest state.
+        let record = new_record_in(root.path(), &host_tree, &identity, "1.0").unwrap();
+        record.record_interrupted(true);
+        assert_eq!(record.manifest().last_outcome, OUTCOME_FAILED);
+        assert!(
+            !record.manifest().kept_upper,
+            "an interrupted pre-staging run keeps no claim of a staged tree"
+        );
+        drop(record);
+
+        // And an interrupted run that DID stage claims exactly that.
+        let record = record_with_upper(root.path(), &tarball, &host_tree, &identity, "1.0", None);
+        record.record_interrupted(true);
+        assert!(record.manifest().kept_upper);
+        assert!(record.has_upper(), "the tree stays on disk");
+    }
+
     /// The per-run chroot and overlay workdir are removed at the end of
     /// the run — nothing in a record root survives except the manifest,
     /// the log and the retained staged tree.