From 25c22222abe7a681491bdb4d7316250fdcf32973 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: morluto <76467478+morluto@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2026 04:52:19 +0800
Subject: [PATCH] fix(reference): retain unverified symlink target provenance

Keep the observed target path and failed directory in the unreadable-link diagnostic without promoting either to proven graph identity. Verify the retained path through the importer boundary.

Refs: #4013, #4053
---
 src/reference/ReferenceSourceReader.ts                          | 2 +-
 .../filesystem/referenceSourceUnreadableDirectories.test.ts     | 1 +
 2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/reference/ReferenceSourceReader.ts b/src/reference/ReferenceSourceReader.ts
index 6420e3f347..88553bee2b 100644
--- a/src/reference/ReferenceSourceReader.ts
+++ b/src/reference/ReferenceSourceReader.ts
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ export const reconcileUnobservedSymlinkTargets = (
       kind: "symlink",
       path: entry.path,
       code: ancestor.code,
-      message: `Symbolic link target is inside a directory that could not be enumerated: ${ancestor.message}`,
+      message: `Symbolic link target ${JSON.stringify(entry.target)} was not inventoried because directory ${JSON.stringify(ancestor.path)} could not be enumerated: ${ancestor.message}`,
     };
   }
 };
diff --git a/tests/boundary/filesystem/referenceSourceUnreadableDirectories.test.ts b/tests/boundary/filesystem/referenceSourceUnreadableDirectories.test.ts
index ae54e16ce0..cc5b689e49 100644
--- a/tests/boundary/filesystem/referenceSourceUnreadableDirectories.test.ts
+++ b/tests/boundary/filesystem/referenceSourceUnreadableDirectories.test.ts
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ describe("reference source native unreadable directories", () => {
             kind: "symlink",
             target: null,
             target_state: "unreadable",
+            limitations: [expect.stringContaining('"hidden/target.txt"')],
           }),
         );
       } finally {