Change hook timeout enforcement strategy (#1739)

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# Summary

<!--e.g. This PR fixes ABC or adds the ability to do XYZ...-->

# Related issues

<!-- e.g. #123 or Roadmap goal #
https://github.com/pirate/ArchiveBox/wiki/Roadmap -->

# Changes these areas

- [ ] Bugfixes
- [ ] Feature behavior
- [ ] Command line interface
- [ ] Configuration options
- [ ] Internal architecture
- [ ] Snapshot data layout on disk


<!-- This is an auto-generated description by cubic. -->
---
## Summary by cubic
Switch background hook cleanup to a graceful termination flow using
plugin-specific timeouts, only SIGKILLing if needed. This improves
reliability and records accurate exit codes and stderr for better result
reporting.

- **Refactors**
- Added graceful_terminate_background_hooks(): send SIGTERM to all
hooks, wait per plugin timeout, SIGKILL remaining, reap with waitpid,
write .returncode files.
- Snapshot.cleanup() now uses merged config (get_config) to apply
plugin-specific timeouts and terminate hooks gracefully.
- update_from_output() reads .returncode and .stderr.log, infers status
when no JSONL (handles signals like -9/-15), includes stderr on
failures, and cleans up .returncode files.

<sup>Written for commit 524e8e98c3.
Summary will update on new commits.</sup>

<!-- End of auto-generated description by cubic. -->

archivebox/core/models.py

@@ -1407,17 +1407,22 @@ class Snapshot(ModelWithOutputDir, ModelWithConfig, ModelWithNotes, ModelWithHea
         Clean up background ArchiveResult hooks.
 
         Called by the state machine when entering the 'sealed' state.
-        Kills any background hooks and finalizes their ArchiveResults.
+        Gracefully terminates background hooks using plugin-specific timeouts:
+            1. Send SIGTERM to all background hook processes
+            2. Wait up to each hook's plugin-specific timeout
+            3. Send SIGKILL to any hooks still running after timeout
         """
-        from archivebox.hooks import kill_process
+        from archivebox.hooks import graceful_terminate_background_hooks
+        from archivebox.config.configset import get_config
 
-        # Kill any background ArchiveResult hooks
         if not self.OUTPUT_DIR.exists():
             return
 
-        # Find all .pid files in this snapshot's output directory
+        # Get merged config for plugin-specific timeout lookup
-        for pid_file in self.OUTPUT_DIR.glob('**/*.pid'):
+        config = get_config(crawl=self.crawl, snapshot=self)
-            kill_process(pid_file, validate=True)
+
+        # Gracefully terminate all background hooks with plugin-specific timeouts
+        graceful_terminate_background_hooks(self.OUTPUT_DIR, config)
 
         # Update all STARTED ArchiveResults from filesystem
         results = self.archiveresult_set.filter(status=ArchiveResult.StatusChoices.STARTED)
@@ -2706,7 +2711,20 @@ class ArchiveResult(ModelWithOutputDir, ModelWithConfig, ModelWithNotes, ModelWi
 
         # Read and parse JSONL output from hook-specific stdout log
         stdout_file = plugin_dir / f'{hook_basename}.stdout.log'
+        stderr_file = plugin_dir / f'{hook_basename}.stderr.log'
+        returncode_file = plugin_dir / f'{hook_basename}.returncode'
+
         stdout = stdout_file.read_text() if stdout_file.exists() else ''
+        stderr = stderr_file.read_text() if stderr_file.exists() else ''
+
+        # Read returncode from file (written by graceful_terminate_background_hooks)
+        returncode = None
+        if returncode_file.exists():
+            try:
+                rc_text = returncode_file.read_text().strip()
+                returncode = int(rc_text) if rc_text else None
+            except (ValueError, OSError):
+                pass
 
         records = []
         for line in stdout.splitlines():
@@ -2741,9 +2759,30 @@ class ArchiveResult(ModelWithOutputDir, ModelWithConfig, ModelWithNotes, ModelWi
                 self._set_binary_from_cmd(hook_data['cmd'])
             # Note: cmd_version is derived from binary.version, not stored on Process
         else:
-            # No ArchiveResult record = failed
+            # No ArchiveResult JSONL record - determine status from returncode
-            self.status = self.StatusChoices.FAILED
+            if returncode is not None:
-            self.output_str = 'Hook did not output ArchiveResult record'
+                if returncode == 0:
+                    self.status = self.StatusChoices.SUCCEEDED
+                    self.output_str = 'Hook completed successfully (no JSONL output)'
+                elif returncode < 0:
+                    # Negative = killed by signal (e.g., -9 for SIGKILL, -15 for SIGTERM)
+                    sig_num = abs(returncode)
+                    sig_name = {9: 'SIGKILL', 15: 'SIGTERM'}.get(sig_num, f'signal {sig_num}')
+                    self.status = self.StatusChoices.FAILED
+                    self.output_str = f'Hook killed by {sig_name}'
+                    if stderr:
+                        self.output_str += f'\n\nstderr:\n{stderr[:2000]}'
+                else:
+                    self.status = self.StatusChoices.FAILED
+                    self.output_str = f'Hook failed with exit code {returncode}'
+                    if stderr:
+                        self.output_str += f'\n\nstderr:\n{stderr[:2000]}'
+            else:
+                # No returncode file and no JSONL = failed
+                self.status = self.StatusChoices.FAILED
+                self.output_str = 'Hook did not output ArchiveResult record'
+                if stderr:
+                    self.output_str += f'\n\nstderr:\n{stderr[:2000]}'
 
         # Walk filesystem and populate output_files, output_size, output_mimetypes
         # Exclude hook output files (hook-specific names like on_Snapshot__50_wget.stdout.log)
@@ -2753,6 +2792,7 @@ class ArchiveResult(ModelWithOutputDir, ModelWithConfig, ModelWithNotes, ModelWi
                 name.endswith('.stdout.log') or
                 name.endswith('.stderr.log') or
                 name.endswith('.pid') or
+                name.endswith('.returncode') or
                 (name.endswith('.sh') and name.startswith('on_'))
             )
 
@@ -2821,10 +2861,10 @@ class ArchiveResult(ModelWithOutputDir, ModelWithConfig, ModelWithNotes, ModelWi
         }
         process_hook_records(filtered_records, overrides=overrides)
 
-        # Cleanup PID files and empty logs (hook-specific names)
+        # Cleanup PID files, returncode files, and empty logs (hook-specific names)
         pid_file = plugin_dir / f'{hook_basename}.pid'
         pid_file.unlink(missing_ok=True)
-        stderr_file = plugin_dir / f'{hook_basename}.stderr.log'
+        returncode_file.unlink(missing_ok=True)
         if stdout_file.exists() and stdout_file.stat().st_size == 0:
             stdout_file.unlink()
         if stderr_file.exists() and stderr_file.stat().st_size == 0:

archivebox/hooks.py

@@ -1266,3 +1266,180 @@ def kill_process(pid_file: Path, sig: int = signal.SIGTERM, validate: bool = Tru
             pass
 
 
+def graceful_terminate_background_hooks(
+    output_dir: Path,
+    config: Dict[str, Any],
+    poll_interval: float = 0.5,
+) -> Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]]:
+    """
+    Gracefully terminate all background hooks in an output directory.
+
+    Termination strategy:
+        1. Send SIGTERM to all background hook processes (polite shutdown request)
+        2. For each hook, wait up to its plugin-specific timeout
+        3. Send SIGKILL to any hooks still running after their timeout expires
+        4. Reap each process with waitpid() to get exit code
+        5. Write returncode to .returncode file for update_from_output()
+
+    Args:
+        output_dir: Snapshot output directory containing plugin subdirs with .pid files
+        config: Merged config dict from get_config() for timeout lookup
+        poll_interval: Seconds between process liveness checks (default: 0.5s)
+
+    Returns:
+        Dict mapping hook names to result info:
+            {
+                'hook_name': {
+                    'status': 'sigterm' | 'sigkill' | 'already_dead' | 'invalid',
+                    'returncode': int or None,
+                    'pid': int or None,
+                }
+            }
+
+    Example:
+        from archivebox.config.configset import get_config
+        config = get_config(crawl=my_crawl, snapshot=my_snapshot)
+        results = graceful_terminate_background_hooks(snapshot.OUTPUT_DIR, config)
+        # {'on_Snapshot__20_chrome_tab.bg': {'status': 'sigterm', 'returncode': 0, 'pid': 12345}}
+    """
+    from archivebox.misc.process_utils import validate_pid_file
+
+    if not output_dir.exists():
+        return {}
+
+    results = {}
+
+    # Collect all pid files and their metadata
+    pid_files = list(output_dir.glob('**/*.pid'))
+    if not pid_files:
+        return {}
+
+    # Phase 1: Send SIGTERM to all background hook processes
+    active_hooks = []  # List of (pid_file, hook_name, plugin_name, timeout, pid)
+    for pid_file in pid_files:
+        hook_name = pid_file.stem  # e.g., "on_Snapshot__20_chrome_tab.bg"
+        cmd_file = pid_file.with_suffix('.sh')
+
+        # Validate and get PID
+        if not validate_pid_file(pid_file, cmd_file):
+            results[hook_name] = {'status': 'invalid', 'returncode': None, 'pid': None}
+            pid_file.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+            continue
+
+        try:
+            pid = int(pid_file.read_text().strip())
+        except (ValueError, OSError):
+            results[hook_name] = {'status': 'invalid', 'returncode': None, 'pid': None}
+            pid_file.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+            continue
+
+        # Check if process is still alive
+        if not process_is_alive(pid_file):
+            # Process already dead - try to reap it and get exit code
+            returncode = _reap_process(pid)
+            results[hook_name] = {'status': 'already_dead', 'returncode': returncode, 'pid': pid}
+            _write_returncode_file(pid_file, returncode)
+            pid_file.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+            continue
+
+        # Get plugin name from parent directory (e.g., "chrome_session")
+        plugin_name = pid_file.parent.name
+
+        # Get plugin-specific timeout
+        plugin_config = get_plugin_special_config(plugin_name, config)
+        timeout = plugin_config['timeout']
+
+        # Send SIGTERM
+        try:
+            os.kill(pid, signal.SIGTERM)
+        except (OSError, ProcessLookupError):
+            returncode = _reap_process(pid)
+            results[hook_name] = {'status': 'already_dead', 'returncode': returncode, 'pid': pid}
+            _write_returncode_file(pid_file, returncode)
+            pid_file.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+            continue
+
+        active_hooks.append((pid_file, hook_name, plugin_name, timeout, pid))
+
+    # Phase 2: Wait for each hook's timeout, then SIGKILL if still running
+    for pid_file, hook_name, plugin_name, timeout, pid in active_hooks:
+        deadline = time.time() + timeout
+        exited_cleanly = False
+
+        # Poll until deadline or process exits
+        while time.time() < deadline:
+            if not process_is_alive(pid_file):
+                exited_cleanly = True
+                break
+            time.sleep(poll_interval)
+
+        if exited_cleanly:
+            # Process exited from SIGTERM - reap it to get exit code
+            returncode = _reap_process(pid)
+            results[hook_name] = {'status': 'sigterm', 'returncode': returncode, 'pid': pid}
+        else:
+            # Timeout expired, send SIGKILL
+            try:
+                os.kill(pid, signal.SIGKILL)
+            except (OSError, ProcessLookupError):
+                pass  # Process died between check and kill
+
+            # Wait briefly for SIGKILL to take effect, then reap
+            time.sleep(0.1)
+            returncode = _reap_process(pid)
+
+            # returncode from SIGKILL is typically -9 (negative signal number)
+            results[hook_name] = {'status': 'sigkill', 'returncode': returncode, 'pid': pid}
+
+        # Write returncode file for update_from_output() to read
+        _write_returncode_file(pid_file, results[hook_name]['returncode'])
+        pid_file.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+
+    return results
+
+
+def _reap_process(pid: int) -> Optional[int]:
+    """
+    Reap a terminated process and return its exit code.
+
+    Uses os.waitpid() with WNOHANG to avoid blocking.
+    Returns None if process cannot be reaped (not a child, already reaped, etc).
+    """
+    try:
+        # WNOHANG: return immediately if process hasn't exited
+        # We call this after we know process is dead, so it should return immediately
+        wpid, status = os.waitpid(pid, os.WNOHANG)
+        if wpid == 0:
+            # Process still running (shouldn't happen since we checked)
+            return None
+        if os.WIFEXITED(status):
+            return os.WEXITSTATUS(status)
+        elif os.WIFSIGNALED(status):
+            # Killed by signal - return negative signal number (convention)
+            return -os.WTERMSIG(status)
+        return None
+    except ChildProcessError:
+        # Not our child process (was started by subprocess.Popen which already reaped it,
+        # or process was started by different parent). This is expected for hooks.
+        return None
+    except OSError:
+        return None
+
+
+def _write_returncode_file(pid_file: Path, returncode: Optional[int]) -> None:
+    """
+    Write returncode to a .returncode file next to the .pid file.
+
+    This allows update_from_output() to know the exit code even for background hooks.
+    """
+    returncode_file = pid_file.with_suffix('.returncode')
+    try:
+        if returncode is not None:
+            returncode_file.write_text(str(returncode))
+        else:
+            # Unknown exit code - write empty file to indicate process was terminated
+            returncode_file.write_text('')
+    except OSError:
+        pass  # Best effort
+
+