Pin @uswriting/exiftool and patch exit-0 stderr guard on install.

Postinstall removes upstream guards that mark parseMetadata failed when stderr is non-empty after success; Docker dev image copies patches before npm ci.

frontend/Dockerfile.dev

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ FROM node:22-alpine
 WORKDIR /frontend
 
 COPY package*.json .
+COPY patches ./patches
 
 RUN npm ci
 

frontend/package-lock.json

@@ -7,8 +7,10 @@
         "": {
             "name": "frontend",
             "version": "0.0.0",
+            "hasInstallScript": true,
             "dependencies": {
                 "@tailwindcss/vite": "^4.3.3",
+                "@uswriting/exiftool": "1.0.9",
                 "axios": "^1.20.0",
                 "pinia": "^4.0.3",
                 "tailwindcss": "^4.3.3",
@@ -24,6 +26,12 @@
                 "vue-tsc": "^3.2.6"
             }
         },
+        "node_modules/@6over3/zeroperl-ts": {
+            "version": "1.0.10",
+            "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@6over3/zeroperl-ts/-/zeroperl-ts-1.0.10.tgz",
+            "integrity": "sha512-d7fBgN1UaP9BR6kZMyNsjIrxPd0QLqqx29VSprhK66m1csm/7E/anr+rEfp3gJDSne5FfDpM6aKtDGHyXG/vYQ==",
+            "license": "Apache-2.0"
+        },
         "node_modules/@babel/helper-string-parser": {
             "version": "7.29.7",
             "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@babel/helper-string-parser/-/helper-string-parser-7.29.7.tgz",
@@ -886,6 +894,15 @@
                 "undici-types": "~6.21.0"
             }
         },
+        "node_modules/@uswriting/exiftool": {
+            "version": "1.0.9",
+            "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@uswriting/exiftool/-/exiftool-1.0.9.tgz",
+            "integrity": "sha512-tziE5oH/Wf4gJ/g/ZVGBxCjnoHz27SxXRZ4KoFa4c0qN/6uBfvBFEQ272dq7LxbzhXkvGqHdmDyNJe/WUZCV5A==",
+            "license": "Apache-2.0",
+            "dependencies": {
+                "@6over3/zeroperl-ts": "1.0.10"
+            }
+        },
         "node_modules/@vitejs/plugin-vue": {
             "version": "6.0.9",
             "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@vitejs/plugin-vue/-/plugin-vue-6.0.9.tgz",
@@ -2156,6 +2173,23 @@
             "peerDependencies": {
                 "typescript": ">=5.0.0"
             }
+        },
+        "node_modules/yaml": {
+            "version": "2.9.1",
+            "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/yaml/-/yaml-2.9.1.tgz",
+            "integrity": "sha512-3NxN8+78OdzbT7C/WjGsyfPAtJaN3FNDsWxv7Y7mcDsT/oOmgW8BpyQQFFBnvZE3j9Y2Sdz1ULFLezL7Eb2yFw==",
+            "license": "ISC",
+            "optional": true,
+            "peer": true,
+            "bin": {
+                "yaml": "bin.mjs"
+            },
+            "engines": {
+                "node": ">= 14.6"
+            },
+            "funding": {
+                "url": "https://github.com/sponsors/eemeli"
+            }
         }
     }
 }

frontend/package.json

@@ -6,10 +6,12 @@
     "scripts": {
         "dev": "vite --host 0.0.0.0",
         "build": "vue-tsc -b && vite build",
-        "preview": "vite preview"
+        "preview": "vite preview",
+        "postinstall": "node patches/patch-exiftool-stderr.mjs"
     },
     "dependencies": {
         "@tailwindcss/vite": "^4.3.3",
+        "@uswriting/exiftool": "1.0.9",
         "axios": "^1.20.0",
         "pinia": "^4.0.3",
         "tailwindcss": "^4.3.3",

frontend/patches/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Dependency patches
+
+## `@uswriting/exiftool@1.0.9` — stderr vs warnings
+
+We do **not** use a `patch-package` diff here: the published `dist/*.js` files are one minified line each, so unified diffs are huge and hard to review.
+
+Instead, `patches/patch-exiftool-stderr.mjs` runs on `postinstall` and removes two **documented** guard strings:
+
+| Guard | Role |
+| ----- | ---- |
+| `READ_STDERR_GUARD` | After exit 0 on **read**, fail if stderr is non-empty |
+| `WRITE_STDERR_GUARD` | After exit 0 on **write**, fail if stderr is non-empty |
+
+See the script for exact literals and upstream context.
+
+When upgrading `@uswriting/exiftool`, run `npm install` and confirm the script still finds both guards (or update the script for the new bundle).

frontend/patches/patch-exiftool-stderr.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/**
+ * Patch @uswriting/exiftool@1.0.9 after install.
+ *
+ * Problem: parseMetadata / writeMetadata fail when ExifTool prints warnings to stderr
+ * even if exit code is 0 (no stdout / no strip bytes returned).
+ *
+ * Fix: remove the two stderr early-return checks in the published bundle.
+ * Upload safety still relies on post-strip re-read + isCleanAfterStrip (app code).
+ *
+ * Upstream: https://github.com/6over3/exiftool (issue: warnings incorrectly treated as errors)
+ *
+ * Re-verify when bumping @uswriting/exiftool: search dist for these exact snippets.
+ */
+import fs from 'node:fs';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+
+const READ_STDERR_GUARD =
+    'if(o&&o.trim())return{success:!1,data:void 0,error:o,exitCode:0};';
+
+const WRITE_STDERR_GUARD =
+    'if(d&&d.trim())return{success:!1,data:void 0,error:d,exitCode:0};';
+
+const packageRoot = path.resolve(
+    path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)),
+    '../node_modules/@uswriting/exiftool/dist'
+);
+
+const targets = ['esm/index.js', 'cjs/index.cjs'];
+
+const patchFile = (relativePath) => {
+    const filePath = path.join(packageRoot, relativePath);
+
+    if (!fs.existsSync(filePath)) {
+        throw new Error(`patch-exiftool-stderr: missing ${filePath} (is @uswriting/exiftool installed?)`);
+    }
+
+    const original = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8');
+    const alreadyPatched =
+        !original.includes(READ_STDERR_GUARD) && !original.includes(WRITE_STDERR_GUARD);
+
+    if (alreadyPatched) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    if (!original.includes(READ_STDERR_GUARD) || !original.includes(WRITE_STDERR_GUARD)) {
+        throw new Error(
+            `patch-exiftool-stderr: ${relativePath} does not match @uswriting/exiftool@1.0.9; update or remove this script`
+        );
+    }
+
+    const patched = original
+        .replaceAll(READ_STDERR_GUARD, '')
+        .replaceAll(WRITE_STDERR_GUARD, '');
+
+    fs.writeFileSync(filePath, patched);
+};
+
+for (const relativePath of targets) {
+    patchFile(relativePath);
+}