The oversized preflight in buildBoundedTrackedDiff mapped every object the
cat-file batch could not size to infinity. `missing` is routine: for
tree-vs-worktree diffs git hashes the WORKING-TREE content of any path pulled
into rename/copy detection and prints that hash in --raw output without ever
writing the blob, and partial clones report it for unfetched blobs. Those
files were excluded by pathspec and replaced with a contents-free binary stub,
so a renamed-and-edited file rendered as a silently empty card and
/api/file-content refused it as binary.
Missing now means unknown, not oversized, and an unreadable new side is bounded
by the working-tree file's stat size instead. Every rendered diff stays bounded
git-side by core.bigFileThreshold (#1205), genuinely oversized files still stub
via real probe sizes plus the stat door, and a blob git truly cannot read now
fails loudly through assertGitSuccess instead of blanking a file.
Client side, a chunk with a binary marker and no hunks now renders an explicit
placeholder in both the all-files view and the single-file viewer, so an empty
card can never again pass for "no changes here".
AI-assisted.
Michael Ramos