[lczyk]

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did some formal verification (fizzbee. my specs are here and here btw) of the cut path and found 7 minor bugs:

• fix: prefer ignores x-arch paths #330
• fix: validation miss for mutable: true, until: mutate #331
• fix: implicit parents hiding explicit paths #332 (this PR)
• fix: manifest attribution of until: mutate #333
• fix: hard links against content from another package #334
• fix: hard links whose target is not in the manifest #335
• fix: listed mode of copied paths #336

# slices/test-package.yaml
package: test-package
slices:
  myslice:
    contents:
      /dir/: {make: true, until: mutate}
      /dir/file: {until: mutate}

$ chisel cut --release ./ --arch amd64 --root $rootfs test-package_myslice
Extracting files from package "test-package"...
$ test -d $rootfs/dir && echo still there
still there

/dir/file is removed after mutate, /dir/ is not.

repro using chisel-proxy:

$ alias chisel-proxy='go run github.com/lczyk/chisel-proxy/cmd/chisel-proxy@v0.3.0'
$ mkdir -p test-package/dir
$ echo data > test-package/dir/file
$ chisel-proxy cut --arch amd64 ./test-package ./test-package.yaml \
    -- --root ./rootfs test-package_myslice
Extracting files from package "test-package"...
$ test -d ./rootfs/dir && echo still there
still there

the same happens for a generated directory with a generated child (/gen/: {make: true, until: mutate} + /gen/text: {text: data1, until: mutate}), but there it depends on map iteration order and the directory survives roughly half of the runs.

fix

addKnownPath registers the parents of a known path with empty data and never replaces them. extracting /dir/file registers /dir/ as an implicit parent, and when the explicit /dir/ entry is created afterwards its until: mutate is dropped.

implicit parents are now marked as such and an explicit entry replaces them. an explicit entry still wins over a later explicit one, as before.

[Copilot]

🟢 Approval recommended

The fix is covered by regression tests and has no unresolved review issues.

0 open findings

What changed in this PR

Fixes implicit parent paths so explicit metadata, including until: mutate, is preserved.

Changes:

• Tracks implicit parent paths.
• Lets explicit entries replace implicit parents.
• Adds regression tests.

File	Description
internal/​slicer/​slicer.go	Updates path registration logic.
internal/​slicer/​slicer_test.go	Adds regression coverage.

🧠 Review effort: Lite

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