fix(db): bind datetimes, not strings, when filtering timestamptz columns

Closes #1727 and #2257 — the same bug in two services written months apart.

AppLog.created_at is `timestamp with time zone`. asyncpg binds a Python str as
VARCHAR and Postgres has no `timestamptz >= text` operator, so both of these
raised when Postgres planned the query:

  notifications.check_due_tasks   AppLog.created_at >= today.isoformat()
  logging.get_logs                AppLog.created_at >= <raw request.args str>

#1727 was the worse of the two because a per-user `except Exception` swallowed
it: reminder emails silently never sent, and the only outward trace was an
hourly traceback in the Postgres log. It has been open since 2026-07-19 with the
diagnosis written and the fix never applied. #2257 has no swallowing handler, so
it merely breaks the admin log viewer's date filters outright.

notifications: `utc_day_start(day)` returns midnight UTC as an AWARE datetime.
Deliberately not the bare `date` the original diagnosis suggested — comparing
timestamptz to date does work via an implicit cast, but Postgres resolves that
cast in the SESSION's TimeZone, so the dedup window would drift with a server
setting nobody remembers is load-bearing.

logging: `parse_filter_datetime()` converts the query-string value to an aware
UTC datetime; unparseable input returns None so the filter is skipped rather
than 500ing the viewer. It also fixes a bug the naive fix would have introduced
— `date_to=2026-07-30` parses to midnight, so `<=` would exclude the entire day
the user asked for. Date-only upper bounds now run to 23:59:59.999999, while a
value carrying an explicit time is left as given.

The guard is the point. This class is invisible to ordinary testing: the failure
happens when Postgres plans the query, not when Python builds it, so no unit
test that doesn't execute SQL can see it. tests/test_timestamp_filters.py fails
CI on two shapes —

  1. a local bound to .isoformat() compared against a *_at column   (#1727)
  2. a str-ANNOTATED PARAMETER compared against a *_at column       (#2257)

Shape 2 is the one that matters. Nothing in logging.py looks date-ish, so a
guard built only from #1727's shape finds nothing there — which is exactly how
the second instance survived. Verified by replaying both checks against the
pre-fix files out of git: shape 1 catches `today_str`, shape 2 catches
`date_from`/`date_to`, and the current tree is clean.

Found by grepping for siblings after fixing #1727 — the third instance today of
"the second place nobody checked", after #2245.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01UaYUaouG9jjhATyuxCKrQs

src/scribe/services/logging.py

@@ -89,6 +89,38 @@ async def log_error(
         await session.commit()
 
 
+def parse_filter_datetime(value: str | None, *, end_of_day: bool = False) -> datetime | None:
+    """An ISO date/datetime from a query string as an AWARE UTC datetime.
+
+    The admin log filters arrive as raw `request.args` strings and used to be
+    compared straight against `AppLog.created_at`. asyncpg binds a str as
+    VARCHAR and Postgres has no `timestamptz >= text` operator, so supplying
+    either date filter raised — the same defect as #1727 in notifications, in a
+    second place (#2254).
+
+    Returns None for anything unparseable: a malformed filter should narrow
+    nothing rather than 500 the log viewer.
+
+    `end_of_day` matters for the upper bound. A bare "2026-07-30" parses to
+    midnight, so `created_at <= that` would exclude the whole of the day the
+    user asked for — the one day they most likely wanted. With this flag a
+    date-only value is pushed to the last microsecond of that day; a value that
+    already carries a time is left exactly as given.
+    """
+    raw = (value or "").strip()
+    if not raw:
+        return None
+    try:
+        parsed = datetime.fromisoformat(raw)
+    except ValueError:
+        return None
+    if end_of_day and len(raw) == 10:   # date-only, no time component
+        parsed = parsed.replace(hour=23, minute=59, second=59, microsecond=999999)
+    if parsed.tzinfo is None:
+        parsed = parsed.replace(tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+    return parsed
+
+
 async def get_logs(
     category: str | None = None,
     user_id: int | None = None,
@@ -118,12 +150,14 @@ async def get_logs(
             )
             query = query.where(search_filter)
             count_query = count_query.where(search_filter)
-        if date_from:
+        start = parse_filter_datetime(date_from)
-            query = query.where(AppLog.created_at >= date_from)
+        end = parse_filter_datetime(date_to, end_of_day=True)
-            count_query = count_query.where(AppLog.created_at >= date_from)
+        if start:
-        if date_to:
+            query = query.where(AppLog.created_at >= start)
-            query = query.where(AppLog.created_at <= date_to)
+            count_query = count_query.where(AppLog.created_at >= start)
-            count_query = count_query.where(AppLog.created_at <= date_to)
+        if end:
+            query = query.where(AppLog.created_at <= end)
+            count_query = count_query.where(AppLog.created_at <= end)
 
         total = (await session.execute(count_query)).scalar() or 0
 

src/scribe/services/notifications.py

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import asyncio
 import json
 import logging
-from datetime import date, datetime, timezone
+from datetime import date, datetime, time, timezone
 
 from sqlalchemy import func, select, text
 
@@ -149,13 +149,25 @@ async def send_invitation_email(email: str, invite_url: str, invited_by_username
     await send_email(email, "Fabled Scribe - You're Invited!", _email_html("You're Invited!", body))
 
 
+def utc_day_start(day: date) -> datetime:
+    """Midnight UTC on `day`, as an AWARE datetime — the reminder dedup window.
+
+    Deliberately a `datetime` and not the bare `date` (#1727). Comparing a
+    `timestamptz` column against a `date` does work, via an implicit cast — but
+    Postgres resolves that cast in the SESSION's TimeZone, so the window would
+    move with a server setting nobody remembers is load-bearing. An aware UTC
+    datetime says what it means and compares the same way everywhere.
+    """
+    return datetime.combine(day, time.min, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+
+
 async def check_due_tasks() -> None:
     """Check for tasks due today and send reminder emails."""
     if not await is_smtp_configured():
         return
 
     today = date.today()
-    today_str = today.isoformat()
+    window_start = utc_day_start(today)
 
     async with async_session() as session:
         # Find tasks due today or overdue, not done
@@ -188,12 +200,18 @@ async def check_due_tasks() -> None:
                 if not email:
                     continue
 
-                # Dedup: check if we already sent a reminder today
+                # Dedup: check if we already sent a reminder today.
+                # `window_start` is an aware datetime, NOT `today.isoformat()`.
+                # asyncpg binds a str as VARCHAR and Postgres has no
+                # `timestamptz >= text` operator, so this raised on every run
+                # that got this far — swallowed by the per-user `except` below,
+                # which is why the only symptom was reminders silently never
+                # sending plus an hourly traceback in the DB log (#1727).
                 dedup_result = await session.execute(
                     select(func.count(AppLog.id)).where(
                         AppLog.action == "task_reminder",
                         AppLog.user_id == user_id,
-                        AppLog.created_at >= today_str,
+                        AppLog.created_at >= window_start,
                     )
                 )
                 if (dedup_result.scalar() or 0) > 0:

tests/test_timestamp_filters.py

@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+"""Timestamp filters must bind datetimes, never strings (#1727, #2254).
+
+`AppLog.created_at` is `timestamp with time zone`. asyncpg binds a Python `str`
+as VARCHAR, and Postgres has no `timestamptz >= text` operator — so comparing
+the column against `date.today().isoformat()` or a raw `request.args` string
+raises at query time, not at import time and not in any unit test that doesn't
+touch a database.
+
+That is what made this class of bug survive: it is invisible to every test that
+doesn't execute the SQL, and in the notifications case the exception was
+swallowed by a per-user `except Exception`, so the only outward symptom was
+reminder emails silently never sending.
+
+Found twice in the same afternoon, in two services written months apart, so the
+last test here guards the CLASS rather than the two instances.
+"""
+import ast
+import re
+from datetime import date, datetime, timezone
+from pathlib import Path
+
+SRC = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1] / "src" / "scribe"
+
+
+# --- #1727: the reminder dedup window ----------------------------------------
+
+def test_utc_day_start_is_an_aware_datetime_not_a_string():
+    from scribe.services.notifications import utc_day_start
+
+    start = utc_day_start(date(2026, 7, 30))
+    assert isinstance(start, datetime)
+    assert not isinstance(start, str)
+    # Aware, and pinned to UTC rather than whatever the DB session's TimeZone
+    # happens to be — a bare `date` would resolve midnight server-side.
+    assert start.tzinfo is not None
+    assert start.utcoffset() == timezone.utc.utcoffset(None)
+    assert (start.year, start.month, start.day) == (2026, 7, 30)
+    assert (start.hour, start.minute, start.second, start.microsecond) == (0, 0, 0, 0)
+
+
+# --- #2254: the admin log viewer's date filters ------------------------------
+
+def test_filter_datetime_parses_dates_and_datetimes_to_aware_utc():
+    from scribe.services.logging import parse_filter_datetime
+
+    d = parse_filter_datetime("2026-07-30")
+    assert isinstance(d, datetime) and d.tzinfo is not None
+    assert (d.hour, d.minute) == (0, 0)
+
+    # An explicit time is honoured, not overwritten.
+    dt = parse_filter_datetime("2026-07-30T14:35:00")
+    assert (dt.hour, dt.minute) == (14, 35)
+
+    # Already-aware input keeps its offset rather than being stamped UTC.
+    aware = parse_filter_datetime("2026-07-30T14:35:00+02:00")
+    assert aware.utcoffset().total_seconds() == 2 * 3600
+
+
+def test_filter_datetime_upper_bound_covers_the_whole_requested_day():
+    """`date_to=2026-07-30` must INCLUDE that day. Parsed as bare midnight it
+    would exclude every event on the one day the user asked for."""
+    from scribe.services.logging import parse_filter_datetime
+
+    end = parse_filter_datetime("2026-07-30", end_of_day=True)
+    assert (end.hour, end.minute, end.second) == (23, 59, 59)
+    assert end.microsecond == 999999
+
+    # But a value that already carries a time is left alone — the caller meant it.
+    exact = parse_filter_datetime("2026-07-30T09:00:00", end_of_day=True)
+    assert (exact.hour, exact.minute, exact.second) == (9, 0, 0)
+
+
+def test_filter_datetime_rejects_garbage_instead_of_raising():
+    """A malformed filter should narrow nothing, not 500 the log viewer."""
+    from scribe.services.logging import parse_filter_datetime
+
+    for junk in ("", "   ", None, "not-a-date", "2026-13-45", "yesterday"):
+        assert parse_filter_datetime(junk) is None
+
+
+# --- the class-level guard ---------------------------------------------------
+
+def _timestamp_comparison_offenders() -> list[str]:
+    """Every place a `*_at` column is compared against a known-string name.
+
+    TWO shapes, because the two real bugs had different ones and a guard built
+    from only the first would have missed the second:
+
+    1. a local bound to `.isoformat()`   — #1727, `today_str = today.isoformat()`
+    2. a parameter annotated `str`       — #2254, `date_from: str | None`, straight
+                                            off `request.args`, never touching
+                                            isoformat at all
+
+    Shape 2 is the nastier one: nothing in the file looks date-ish, so grepping
+    for isoformat finds nothing. It was caught by reading, not by tooling —
+    which is exactly why it belongs in tooling now.
+
+    Deliberately narrow on both. A blanket "no strings near SQL" rule would fire
+    on every to_dict() in the codebase and get muted, and a muted guard is worse
+    than none.
+    """
+    offenders: list[str] = []
+    files = sorted((SRC / "services").rglob("*.py")) + sorted((SRC / "routes").rglob("*.py"))
+
+    for path in files:
+        src = path.read_text()
+        rel = path.relative_to(SRC)
+
+        suspect_names: dict[str, str] = {}
+
+        # Shape 1 — locals bound to an isoformat() result.
+        for name in re.findall(r"^\s*(\w+)\s*=\s*[\w.()]+\.isoformat\(\)", src, re.M):
+            suspect_names[name] = "an isoformat() string"
+
+        # Shape 2 — parameters annotated as str (incl. `str | None`, Optional[str]).
+        try:
+            tree = ast.parse(src)
+        except SyntaxError:                     # pragma: no cover - not our concern here
+            tree = None
+        if tree is not None:
+            for node in ast.walk(tree):
+                if not isinstance(node, (ast.FunctionDef, ast.AsyncFunctionDef)):
+                    continue
+                args = node.args
+                for arg in [*args.posonlyargs, *args.args, *args.kwonlyargs]:
+                    if arg.annotation is None:
+                        continue
+                    ann = ast.unparse(arg.annotation)
+                    if re.fullmatch(r"(?:Optional\[)?str\]?(?:\s*\|\s*None)?", ann):
+                        suspect_names[arg.arg] = f"a str-annotated parameter ({ann})"
+
+        for name, why in suspect_names.items():
+            if re.search(rf"\w*_at\s*(?:>=|<=|>|<)\s*{re.escape(name)}\b", src):
+                offenders.append(f"{rel}: timestamp column compared against `{name}` — {why}")
+
+    return offenders
+
+
+def test_no_service_compares_a_timestamp_column_against_a_string():
+    offenders = _timestamp_comparison_offenders()
+    assert not offenders, (
+        "asyncpg binds a str as VARCHAR and Postgres has no `timestamptz >= text` "
+        "operator, so this raises at query time — invisible to any test that "
+        "doesn't execute the SQL:\n  " + "\n  ".join(offenders)
+    )