Observed problem

bin/gstack-brain-cache crashes with a TypeError when its _meta.json is valid JSON but is missing the last_refresh map. cmdGet and cmdInvalidate both throw instead of degrading gracefully.

loadMeta already defends against a missing file and against corrupt (unparseable) JSON — both return a fresh, fully-formed meta. But when the file parses successfully yet lacks last_refresh, loadMeta returns it verbatim:

function loadMeta(...): CacheMeta {
  const path = metaPath(scope, projectSlug);
  if (!existsSync(path)) { return { ...fresh with last_refresh: {} }; }
  try {
    return JSON.parse(readFileSync(path, 'utf-8')) as CacheMeta;   // <- returned verbatim, not normalized
  } catch {
    return { ...fresh with last_refresh: {} };
  }
}

Downstream, refreshEntity guards its sibling map (meta.last_attempt = meta.last_attempt || {}) but three consumers dereference meta.last_refresh unguarded:

• isStale (reached via cmdGet's warm-path check): const last = meta.last_refresh[entityName];
• cmdInvalidate: delete meta.last_refresh[entityName];
• refreshEntity: meta.last_refresh[entityName] = Date.now();

The asymmetry is visible in the type itself: last_attempt? is optional (hence the || {} guard) while last_refresh is typed as required — so the guard was only applied to one of the two maps.

Current behavior on upstream main

With a _meta.json whose schema_version matches the current pack and whose endpoint_hash matches (so the schema/endpoint rebuild path is not taken), but with no last_refresh key:

• cmdGet('product', 'helsinki') -> TypeError: undefined is not an object (evaluating 'meta.last_refresh[entityName]')
• cmdInvalidate('product', 'helsinki') -> TypeError: undefined is not an object (evaluating 'delete meta.last_refresh[entityName]')

Reproduced against main with a 2-test bun test. Such a meta can arise from external tooling, a hand-edit, or any valid-but-partial persisted state — exactly the class of input the corrupt-JSON branch was added to survive.

Expected behavior

A valid-but-partial _meta.json should be treated like the corrupt-JSON case: normalized to a usable meta so cmdGet falls through to a normal cold-refresh/stale path and cmdInvalidate is a safe no-op. Neither should throw.

Duplicate searches performed

• open PRs: brain-cache, last_refresh -> none
• open issues: brain-cache, brain cache meta -> only freshClassify health probe uses gbrain sources list, misclassifying healthy thin-client brains as broken-config → brain-aware blocks suppressed #1792 (freshClassify health probe, unrelated file)
• merged PRs touching the file -> only the feature waves that introduced it (v1.52.1.0 feat: brain-aware planning — 5 skills read structured gbrain context before asking #1742 last touched it)

Candidate fix shape

Normalize once in loadMeta so all consumers receive a complete meta:

const parsed = JSON.parse(readFileSync(path, 'utf-8')) as CacheMeta;
parsed.last_refresh = parsed.last_refresh || {};
parsed.last_attempt = parsed.last_attempt || {};
return parsed;

Plus a regression test that seeds a _meta.json without last_refresh and asserts cmdGet/cmdInvalidate do not throw.