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LINT.DEBT.STALE_ENTRY — the ledger holds a debt this run no longer owes

  • Category: safety
  • Level: 0
  • Stability: stable
  • Suites: lint

The debt ledger carries an open entry that this run did not find. The most likely explanation is the good one: somebody finished the second half, and the file has not caught up.

Why it is not just removed​

sqlens:lint writes nothing unless asked. Run sqlens:lint --debt=record and the entry goes.

Why it is worth saying at all​

An account that silently overstates what is owed stops being read. The count in the report is the number people act on, and a stale entry makes it wrong in the direction that costs attention rather than safety — which is the direction that gets a tool switched off.

When it is NOT the good explanation​

A run sees what it was given. A narrowed --level, a --category scope, or a rule that stopped matching will all make a genuinely open debt look settled. If the entry surprises you, check that this run really could have found it before recording its removal.