"Snapshot-sized" ltx's created every few minutes after upgrading to v0.5.9

[danielcolquitt]

Bug Description

Since upgrading to Litestream v0.5.9, snapshot-size ltx files seem to be created every few minutes resulting in the meta folder on the source and ltx/0 on the replica to grow rapidly. These aren't accompanied by snapshot log entries (logs and file listings below).

Environment

Litestream version:

0.5.9

Operating system & version:

Ubuntu 22.04

Installation method:

Binary download

Storage backend:

SFTP

Steps to Reproduce

1. Stop litestream
2. Upgrade to v0.5.9
3. Restart litestream

Expected behavior:

Snapshots to be created on schedule.

Actual behavior:

Snapshots created every few minutes, but not recorded in log. Instead, snapshot-sized files appears in ltx/0 on the replica and in the meta file.

Configuration

litestream.yml

logging:
  level: info
  type: text
  stderr: false

# L1-only compaction
levels:
  - interval: 30m

# Keep a 7d recovery window
snapshot:
  interval: 6h
  retention: 720h

# No VFS => keep L0 retention short
l0-retention: 5m
l0-retention-check-interval: 30s

dbs:
  - path: [REDACTED]
    meta-path: [REDACTED]

    monitor-interval: 1s
    checkpoint-interval: 1m
    min-checkpoint-page-count: 1000
    busy-timeout: 30s

    # Disable emergency TRUNCATE checkpoints (important with long-lived connections)
    truncate-page-n: 0

    replica:
      url: [REDACTED]
      key-path: /home/litestream/id_litestream
      host-key: "[REDACTED]"
      sync-interval: 15s
      concurrent-writes: true
      auto-recover: true

Logs

Log output

Feb 24 09:04:42 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:04:42.547Z level=INFO msg=litestream version=0.5.9 level=info
Feb 24 09:04:42 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:04:42.549Z level=INFO msg="initialized db" path=/opt/stalwart/data/data-store/data-store.sqlite3
Feb 24 09:04:42 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:04:42.549Z level=INFO msg="starting compaction monitor" level=9 interval=6h0m0s
[REDACTED]
Feb 24 09:04:42 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:04:42.549Z level=INFO msg="starting compaction monitor" level=1 interval=30m0s
Feb 24 09:04:42 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:04:42.549Z level=INFO msg="starting L0 retention monitor" interval=30s retention=5m0s
Feb 24 09:05:12 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:05:12.977Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 09:08:42 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:08:42.982Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 09:10:12 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:10:12.990Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 09:15:12 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:15:12.976Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 09:31:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:31:13.042Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 09:35:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:35:43.150Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=2 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 09:36:12 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:36:12.978Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 09:41:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:41:13.153Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=2 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 09:44:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:44:43.177Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=3 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 09:45:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:45:43.091Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=2 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 09:46:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:46:13.169Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=5 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 09:46:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:46:43.319Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=6 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 09:47:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T09:47:13.173Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=5 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 10:00:12 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T10:00:12.978Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 10:05:12 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T10:05:12.982Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 10:11:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T10:11:43.086Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 10:16:42 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T10:16:42.983Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 10:20:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T10:20:43.044Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 10:25:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T10:25:43.119Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=2 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 10:28:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T10:28:13.834Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=2 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 10:33:12 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T10:33:12.981Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 10:46:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T10:46:13.056Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 10:50:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T10:50:43.133Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=2 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 10:55:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T10:55:13.892Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=3 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 10:55:42 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T10:55:42.985Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:00:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:00:13.097Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=2 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:01:57 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:01:57.631Z level=INFO msg="snapshot complete" txid=0000000000000057 size=124066266
Feb 24 11:05:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:05:13.132Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=2 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:08:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:08:13.141Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=3 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:08:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:08:43.176Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=5 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:09:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:09:43.110Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=2 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:10:12 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:10:12.978Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:14:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:14:13.847Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=3 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:19:12 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:19:12.987Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:20:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:20:43.092Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:25:46 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:25:46.171Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=3 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:28:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:28:13.127Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=2 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:30:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:30:43.766Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:31:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:31:13.065Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:35:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:35:43.168Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=2 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:39:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:39:13.099Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=2 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:47:42 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:47:42.986Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:52:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:52:43.194Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=3 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:55:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:55:13.147Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=2 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:57:42 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:57:42.983Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 11:59:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T11:59:43.037Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ad
Feb 24 12:00:03 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T12:00:03.353Z level=INFO msg="compaction complete" level=1 txid.min=00000000000000ae txid.max=00000000000000ae size=32701
Feb 24 12:04:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T12:04:43.196Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=3 max_l1_txid=00000000000000ae
Feb 24 12:30:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T12:30:13.647Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=12 max_l1_txid=00000000000000bb
Feb 24 12:32:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T12:32:43.060Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=1 max_l1_txid=00000000000000bb
Feb 24 14:27:28 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T14:27:28.094Z level=INFO msg="compaction complete" level=1 txid.min=00000000000000af txid.max=00000000000000bb size=124044176
Feb 24 14:57:46 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T14:57:46.025Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=55 max_l1_txid=00000000000000fa
Feb 24 15:01:43 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T15:01:43.143Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=2 max_l1_txid=00000000000000fa
Feb 24 15:02:13 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T15:02:13.216Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=6 max_l1_txid=00000000000000fa
Feb 24 15:54:19 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T15:54:19.082Z level=INFO msg="snapshot complete" txid=00000000000000d4 size=124020281
Feb 24 16:25:05 bb8 systemd[1]: Stopping litestream.service - Litestream...
Feb 24 16:25:05 bb8 litestream[562517]: time=2026-02-24T16:25:05.337Z level=INFO msg="signal received, litestream shutting down" signal=terminated
Feb 24 16:26:35 bb8 systemd[1]: litestream.service: State 'stop-sigterm' timed out. Killing.
Feb 24 16:26:35 bb8 systemd[1]: litestream.service: Killing process 562517 (litestream) with signal SIGKILL.
Feb 24 16:26:35 bb8 systemd[1]: litestream.service: Failed to kill control group /system.slice/litestream.service, ignoring: Invalid argument
Feb 24 16:26:35 bb8 systemd[1]: litestream.service: Main process exited, code=killed, status=9/KILL
Feb 24 16:26:35 bb8 systemd[1]: litestream.service: Failed with result 'timeout'.
Feb 24 16:26:35 bb8 systemd[1]: Stopped litestream.service - Litestream.
Feb 24 16:26:35 bb8 systemd[1]: litestream.service: Consumed 10min 22.049s CPU time.
Feb 24 16:30:44 bb8 systemd[1]: Started litestream.service - Litestream.
Feb 24 16:30:44 bb8 litestream[571693]: time=2026-02-24T16:30:44.953Z level=INFO msg=litestream version=0.5.9 level=info
Feb 24 16:30:44 bb8 litestream[571693]: time=2026-02-24T16:30:44.953Z level=INFO msg="initialized db" path=/opt/stalwart/data/data-store/data-store.sqlite3
[REDACTED]
Feb 24 16:30:44 bb8 litestream[571693]: time=2026-02-24T16:30:44.953Z level=INFO msg="starting L0 retention monitor" interval=30s retention=5m0s
Feb 24 16:30:44 bb8 litestream[571693]: time=2026-02-24T16:30:44.953Z level=INFO msg="starting compaction monitor" level=1 interval=30m0s
Feb 24 16:30:44 bb8 litestream[571693]: time=2026-02-24T16:30:44.953Z level=INFO msg="starting compaction monitor" level=9 interval=6h0m0s
Feb 24 16:30:46 bb8 litestream[571693]: time=2026-02-24T16:30:46.610Z level=INFO msg="detected database behind replica" db=data-store.sqlite3 db_txid=0000000000000000 replica_txid=000000000000010e
Feb 24 16:30:46 bb8 litestream[571693]: time=2026-02-24T16:30:46.804Z level=INFO msg="fetched latest L0 file from replica" db=data-store.sqlite3 min_txid=000000000000010e max_txid=000000000000010e
Feb 24 16:31:16 bb8 litestream[571693]: time=2026-02-24T16:31:16.309Z level=INFO msg="l0 retention enforced" db=data-store.sqlite3 deleted_count=20 max_l1_txid=000000000000010e
Feb 24 18:05:21 bb8 systemd[1]: Stopping litestream.service - Litestream...
Feb 24 18:05:21 bb8 litestream[571693]: time=2026-02-24T18:05:21.377Z level=INFO msg="signal received, litestream shutting down" signal=terminated
Feb 24 18:06:51 bb8 systemd[1]: litestream.service: State 'stop-sigterm' timed out. Killing.
Feb 24 18:06:51 bb8 systemd[1]: litestream.service: Killing process 571693 (litestream) with signal SIGKILL.
Feb 24 18:06:51 bb8 systemd[1]: litestream.service: Failed to kill control group /system.slice/litestream.service, ignoring: Invalid argument
Feb 24 18:06:51 bb8 systemd[1]: litestream.service: Main process exited, code=killed, status=9/KILL
Feb 24 18:06:51 bb8 systemd[1]: litestream.service: Failed with result 'timeout'.
Feb 24 18:06:51 bb8 systemd[1]: Stopped litestream.service - Litestream.
Feb 24 18:06:51 bb8 systemd[1]: litestream.service: Consumed 3min 2.009s CPU time.

Replica ltx/0 file listing (replica rolled back to early state at 1530):

drwxr-xr-x 5 litestream litestream 4.0K Feb  6 10:51 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 16:30 000000000000010f-000000000000010f.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 16:30 0000000000000111-0000000000000111.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  44K Feb 24 16:30 0000000000000110-0000000000000110.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 16:30 0000000000000112-0000000000000112.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 16:33 0000000000000114-0000000000000114.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 5.6K Feb 24 16:33 0000000000000113-0000000000000113.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  67K Feb 24 16:33 0000000000000115-0000000000000115.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 16:38 0000000000000117-0000000000000117.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 16:38 0000000000000116-0000000000000116.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:00 0000000000000119-0000000000000119.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  19K Feb 24 17:00 0000000000000118-0000000000000118.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:04 000000000000011b-000000000000011b.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  47K Feb 24 17:04 000000000000011a-000000000000011a.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:09 000000000000011d-000000000000011d.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:09 000000000000011c-000000000000011c.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:11 000000000000011f-000000000000011f.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  16K Feb 24 17:11 000000000000011e-000000000000011e.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  62K Feb 24 17:11 0000000000000120-0000000000000120.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:16 0000000000000122-0000000000000122.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:16 0000000000000121-0000000000000121.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:21 0000000000000124-0000000000000124.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  58K Feb 24 17:21 0000000000000123-0000000000000123.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:26 0000000000000126-0000000000000126.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:26 0000000000000125-0000000000000125.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:27 0000000000000128-0000000000000128.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  45K Feb 24 17:27 0000000000000127-0000000000000127.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 6.1K Feb 24 17:27 0000000000000129-0000000000000129.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:32 000000000000012b-000000000000012b.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:32 000000000000012a-000000000000012a.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:33 000000000000012d-000000000000012d.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  48K Feb 24 17:33 000000000000012c-000000000000012c.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:33 000000000000012e-000000000000012e.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:38 0000000000000130-0000000000000130.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:38 000000000000012f-000000000000012f.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:40 0000000000000132-0000000000000132.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  54K Feb 24 17:40 0000000000000131-0000000000000131.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:40 0000000000000133-0000000000000133.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:45 0000000000000135-0000000000000135.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:45 0000000000000134-0000000000000134.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:48 0000000000000137-0000000000000137.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  53K Feb 24 17:48 0000000000000136-0000000000000136.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:53 0000000000000139-0000000000000139.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:53 0000000000000138-0000000000000138.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 18:00 000000000000013b-000000000000013b.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 3.9K Feb 24 18:00 000000000000013a-000000000000013a.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 18:02 000000000000013d-000000000000013d.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  12K Feb 24 18:02 000000000000013c-000000000000013c.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  29K Feb 24 18:02 000000000000013e-000000000000013e.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  12K Feb 24 18:02 000000000000013f-000000000000013f.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream 9.9K Feb 24 18:02 0000000000000140-0000000000000140.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  12K Feb 24 18:02 0000000000000141-0000000000000141.ltx
-rw-r--r-- 1 litestream litestream  16K Feb 24 18:02 0000000000000142-0000000000000142.ltx
drwxr-xr-x 2 litestream litestream 4.0K Feb 24 18:03 .

Meta folder listing on source:

drwxrwx---+ 3 litestream litestream 4.0K Feb 24 16:30 ..
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 16:30 000000000000010f-000000000000010f.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  44K Feb 24 16:30 0000000000000110-0000000000000110.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 16:30 0000000000000111-0000000000000111.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 16:30 0000000000000112-0000000000000112.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 5.6K Feb 24 16:33 0000000000000113-0000000000000113.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 16:33 0000000000000114-0000000000000114.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  67K Feb 24 16:33 0000000000000115-0000000000000115.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 16:38 0000000000000116-0000000000000116.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 16:38 0000000000000117-0000000000000117.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  19K Feb 24 17:00 0000000000000118-0000000000000118.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:00 0000000000000119-0000000000000119.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  47K Feb 24 17:04 000000000000011a-000000000000011a.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:04 000000000000011b-000000000000011b.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:09 000000000000011c-000000000000011c.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:09 000000000000011d-000000000000011d.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  16K Feb 24 17:11 000000000000011e-000000000000011e.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:11 000000000000011f-000000000000011f.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  62K Feb 24 17:11 0000000000000120-0000000000000120.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:16 0000000000000121-0000000000000121.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:16 0000000000000122-0000000000000122.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  58K Feb 24 17:21 0000000000000123-0000000000000123.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:21 0000000000000124-0000000000000124.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:26 0000000000000125-0000000000000125.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:26 0000000000000126-0000000000000126.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  45K Feb 24 17:27 0000000000000127-0000000000000127.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:27 0000000000000128-0000000000000128.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 6.1K Feb 24 17:27 0000000000000129-0000000000000129.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:32 000000000000012a-000000000000012a.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:32 000000000000012b-000000000000012b.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  48K Feb 24 17:33 000000000000012c-000000000000012c.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:33 000000000000012d-000000000000012d.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:33 000000000000012e-000000000000012e.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:38 000000000000012f-000000000000012f.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:38 0000000000000130-0000000000000130.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  54K Feb 24 17:40 0000000000000131-0000000000000131.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:40 0000000000000132-0000000000000132.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:40 0000000000000133-0000000000000133.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:45 0000000000000134-0000000000000134.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:45 0000000000000135-0000000000000135.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  53K Feb 24 17:48 0000000000000136-0000000000000136.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:48 0000000000000137-0000000000000137.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 1.6K Feb 24 17:53 0000000000000138-0000000000000138.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 17:53 0000000000000139-0000000000000139.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 3.9K Feb 24 18:00 000000000000013a-000000000000013a.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 18:00 000000000000013b-000000000000013b.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  12K Feb 24 18:02 000000000000013c-000000000000013c.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 119M Feb 24 18:02 000000000000013d-000000000000013d.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  29K Feb 24 18:02 000000000000013e-000000000000013e.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  12K Feb 24 18:02 000000000000013f-000000000000013f.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream 9.9K Feb 24 18:02 0000000000000140-0000000000000140.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  12K Feb 24 18:02 0000000000000141-0000000000000141.ltx
-rw-rw-r--+ 1 litestream litestream  16K Feb 24 18:02 0000000000000142-0000000000000142.ltx
drwxrwx---+ 2 litestream litestream 4.0K Feb 24 18:02 .

Additional Context

Rolling back to 0.5.8 as this is a production system

[masewo]

Same happened to me for:

Operating system & version:
Debian 13

Installation method:
Docker

Storage backend:
S3

[corylanou]

Manual Reproduction Results

Tested with a reproduction script that creates a ~5MB database, starts litestream with checkpoint-interval: 10s, performs small writes (single row inserts), and measures whether post-checkpoint LTX files are snapshot-sized (the bug) or small incremental files (the fix).

Before Fix (main branch)

Database size:          4.9MB
Baseline L0 LTX files:  1
Total L0 LTX files:     5
New L0 LTX files:       4

--- New LTX files (after baseline) ---
  incremental  4.0K  0000000000000002-0000000000000002.ltx
  SNAPSHOT     4.8M  0000000000000003-0000000000000003.ltx
  incremental  4.1K  0000000000000004-0000000000000004.ltx
  SNAPSHOT     4.8M  0000000000000005-0000000000000005.ltx

New snapshot-sized files:  2
New incremental files:     2
Total new data:            9937.76KB

*** BUG PRESENT: 2 unnecessary snapshot-sized LTX files after small writes ***

Both checkpoints forced full snapshots:

msg=sync txid=0000000000000003 offset=32 chkpt=true snap=true reason="WAL restarted during checkpoint"
msg=sync txid=0000000000000005 offset=32 chkpt=true snap=true reason="WAL restarted during checkpoint"

After Fix (PR #1169)

Database size:          4.9MB
Baseline L0 LTX files:  1
Total L0 LTX files:     5
New L0 LTX files:       4

--- New LTX files (after baseline) ---
  incremental  4.0K  0000000000000002-0000000000000002.ltx
  incremental  210B  0000000000000003-0000000000000003.ltx
  incremental  4.1K  0000000000000004-0000000000000004.ltx
  incremental  211B  0000000000000005-0000000000000005.ltx

New snapshot-sized files:  0
New incremental files:     4
Total new data:            8.43KB

*** OK: All post-checkpoint LTX files are small incremental files ***

Both checkpoints correctly skip snapshots:

msg=sync txid=0000000000000003 offset=32 chkpt=true reason="WAL restarted but all frames already synced"
msg=sync txid=0000000000000005 offset=32 chkpt=true reason="WAL restarted but all frames already synced"

Summary

Metric	Before (main)	After (PR #1169)
Snapshot-sized LTX files	2	0
Incremental LTX files	2	4
Total new data	9,938 KB	8.4 KB
Data reduction	—	99.9%

The fix correctly identifies that all WAL frames were already synced before the checkpoint, so it skips the unnecessary full snapshot. For the reporter's ~119MB database, this would eliminate the ~119MB LTX files created every checkpoint cycle (~5 min).