Stop the migration notifier from busy-looping the session

omarchy-update-user-notify.path used PathExistsGlob= on the packaged
migrations directory. That directive is level-triggered: systemd re-checks
it every time the triggered unit deactivates and fires again while the glob
still matches. Since applied migrations stay on disk forever (state lives in
~/.local/state/omarchy/migrations), the glob always matches, so the oneshot
notifier re-triggered itself in a tight loop (~26-66 starts/sec) — burning
about a core and flooding the journal for the whole session.

The loop existed since the unit was introduced, but the default start-rate
limit killed it after 5 iterations, taking the .path unit down with
'unit-start-limit-hit'. That symptom was reported as #6174 and fixed
yesterday by setting StartLimitIntervalSec=0 — which removed the only brake
and turned the capped hiccup into an unbounded busy-loop.

Fix the actual cause instead:

* Drop PathExistsGlob= from the .path unit, keeping the edge-triggered
  PathModified= watch for updates that land mid-session.
* Revert the StartLimitIntervalSec=0 override; with the level trigger gone
  there is no self-re-fire to trip the limit, and the default limit is a
  useful backstop again.
* Preserve the once-per-login pending check the glob used to provide by
  giving the service its own WantedBy=graphical-session.target, enabled at
  first-run alongside the other user units.
* Add a migration that daemon-reloads, revives a rate-limit-killed .path,
  restarts the watcher, and enables the login-time notifier on existing
  installs.

Verified with transient path/service units: the old config runs the service
200 times in 3 seconds; the new config runs it zero times while idle and
exactly once when a new migration file lands.

Thanks to @HANCORE-Linux for finding and diagnosing the problem.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

default/systemd/user/omarchy-update-user-notify.path

@@ -2,7 +2,11 @@
 Description=Watch for Omarchy migrations
 
 [Path]
-PathExistsGlob=/usr/share/omarchy/migrations/*.sh
+# Edge-triggered watch only. PathExistsGlob= is level-triggered: it re-fires
+# every time the triggered unit deactivates for as long as the glob matches,
+# and applied migrations stay on disk forever, so a glob here busy-loops the
+# oneshot service. The once-per-login check lives in the service's own
+# WantedBy=graphical-session.target instead.
 PathModified=/usr/share/omarchy/migrations
 Unit=omarchy-update-user-notify.service
 

default/systemd/user/omarchy-update-user-notify.service

@@ -1,14 +1,10 @@
 [Unit]
 Description=Notify about pending Omarchy migrations
 ConditionPathIsDirectory=/usr/share/omarchy/migrations
-# A single update can drop several migration files at once, so the .path
-# unit re-triggers this oneshot in a burst. Without this, the default
-# start-rate limit (5 starts / 10s) trips and the watching .path unit
-# itself dies with 'unit-start-limit-hit', silently stopping migration
-# notifications for the rest of the session. The notifier is idempotent,
-# so disable the start-rate limit.
-StartLimitIntervalSec=0
 
 [Service]
 Type=oneshot
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/omarchy-migrate-notify
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=graphical-session.target

docs/file-layout.md

@@ -196,9 +196,9 @@ appropriate helper or privilege prompt. Migrations must be idempotent;
 machine-wide repairs should no-op when another user already applied them.
 
 Each graphical user has `omarchy-update-user-notify.path` watching the packaged
-migration directory. When that directory changes, or when the path unit is
-started on login, `omarchy-update-user-notify.service` runs
-`omarchy-migrate-notify` as that user. The notifier checks
+migration directory for changes, and `omarchy-update-user-notify.service` is
+also started once per login via its own `WantedBy=graphical-session.target`.
+Either way the service runs `omarchy-migrate-notify` as that user. The notifier checks
 `omarchy-migrate --pending`. If this user has missing migration state, it shows a
 notification that opens a terminal for `omarchy-migrate`. The notifier never runs
 migrations in the background.
@@ -219,7 +219,8 @@ systemd instance:
   Voxtype post-update hook.
 - `install/user/first-run/enable-user-units.sh` — `systemctl --user enable`
   the shipped user units (`bt-agent`, `omarchy-sleep-lock`,
-  `omarchy-recover-internal-monitor`, `omarchy-update-user-notify.path`). Done here, not at finalize, because
+  `omarchy-recover-internal-monitor`, `omarchy-update-user-notify.path`,
+  `omarchy-update-user-notify.service`). Done here, not at finalize, because
   the user manager isn't reachable from the ISO chroot; `ConditionPath*`
   in the unit files keeps services inert when they don't apply.
 - `install/user/first-run/gnome-theme.sh`,

install/user/first-run/enable-user-units.sh

@@ -16,4 +16,5 @@ systemctl --user enable --now \
   bt-agent.service \
   omarchy-recover-internal-monitor.service \
   omarchy-sleep-lock.service \
-  omarchy-update-user-notify.path
+  omarchy-update-user-notify.path \
+  omarchy-update-user-notify.service

migrations/1784521870.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+echo "Stop the migration notifier from re-triggering itself in a loop"
+
+# The old omarchy-update-user-notify.path used level-triggered PathExistsGlob,
+# which busy-loops the notifier service (or, before r1123, killed the path
+# unit with unit-start-limit-hit). Reload the fixed units, revive and restart
+# the watcher, and enable the once-per-login notifier.
+systemctl --user daemon-reload >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+systemctl --user reset-failed omarchy-update-user-notify.path >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+systemctl --user restart omarchy-update-user-notify.path >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+systemctl --user enable omarchy-update-user-notify.service >/dev/null 2>&1 || true

test/shell.d/systemd-test.sh

@@ -27,3 +27,13 @@ grep -F 'ExecStart=%h/.local/share/omarchy/bin/omarchy-system-sleep-monitor' "$u
 grep -F 'ExecStart=/usr/bin/omarchy-system-sleep-monitor' "$upgrade_to_quattro" >/dev/null
 grep -F 'reset-failed omarchy-sleep-lock.service' "$upgrade_to_quattro" >/dev/null
 pass "Omarchy 4 upgrade repairs the legacy sleep lock unit path"
+
+notify_path="$ROOT/default/systemd/user/omarchy-update-user-notify.path"
+! grep -q 'PathExistsGlob' "$notify_path"
+grep -Fx 'PathModified=/usr/share/omarchy/migrations' "$notify_path" >/dev/null
+pass "migration watcher is edge-triggered so applied migrations on disk cannot re-trigger it"
+
+notify_service="$ROOT/default/systemd/user/omarchy-update-user-notify.service"
+! grep -q 'StartLimit' "$notify_service"
+grep -Fx 'WantedBy=graphical-session.target' "$notify_service" >/dev/null
+pass "migration notifier keeps its start-rate limit and still runs once per login"