Fix top Sentry crashes and patcher noise

- Patcher: only Sentry-report FCP launch termination on real failure
  signals (crash report, dylib never loaded, sub-5s exit) instead of
  every user-quit within 90s. Fixes APPLE-MACOS-M.
- Patcher: add PatchError.userPrereq for Xcode CLT prereqs and skip
  Sentry capture for those. Fixes APPLE-MACOS-A.
- Patcher: belt-and-suspenders FileManager.createDirectory before
  framework Info.plist write so a silent shell mkdir failure surfaces
  a clear error instead of NSCocoaError 4. Fixes APPLE-MACOS-18.
- Patcher: deploy whisper-transcriber alongside parakeet in both
  patch and repatch paths (Swift app + CLI). Whisper engine option
  in social captions panel actually works now.
- Transcript/Captions: guard NSTask.terminationStatus access with
  isRunning + @try/@catch; was throwing NSException when
  waitUntilExit returned with the task still in inconsistent state
  (e.g. arm64 binary on x86 host). Fixes APPLE-MACOS-17, -1D.
- PlayheadOverlay: skip display-link tick when paused (rate=0) or on
  stale (>5s) observation; cached view was UAF'd during teardown.
  Fixes APPLE-MACOS-P.
- Server: validate request params is a dict — was crashing on
  clients sending params:[] with __NSArray0 objectForKeyedSubscript:.
  Fixes APPLE-MACOS-X.
- Server: callMethodWithArgs now branches on the selector signature
  for "string" args, passing UTF8 char* when the selector wants `*`
  instead of &NSString* (was crashing in _platform_strlen).
  Fixes APPLE-MACOS-K.

Author: elliotttate

Sources/SpliceKitCaptionPanel.m

@@ -2493,11 +2493,25 @@ - (void)performCaptionTranscription {
     @synchronized (stderrAccum) {
         stderrData = [stderrAccum copy];
     }
-    SpliceKitTranscriptDiag_logProcessExit(task.terminationStatus, stdoutData, stderrData, taskElapsed);
+    // -[NSTask terminationStatus] throws if task is still running. Defensively
+    // ensure exit before reading. See APPLE-MACOS-1D / APPLE-MACOS-17.
+    int exitCode = -1;
+    @try {
+        if (task.isRunning) {
+            SpliceKit_log(@"[Captions] WARNING: task still running after waitUntilExit; terminating");
+            [task terminate];
+            [task waitUntilExit];
+        }
+        exitCode = task.terminationStatus;
+    } @catch (NSException *e) {
+        SpliceKit_log(@"[Captions] ERROR: failed to read terminationStatus: %@", e.reason);
+        exitCode = -1;
+    }
+    SpliceKitTranscriptDiag_logProcessExit(exitCode, stdoutData, stderrData, taskElapsed);
 
-    if (task.terminationStatus != 0) {
-        SpliceKit_log(@"[Captions] %@ failed (exit code %d)", engineLabel, task.terminationStatus);
-        [self transcriptionFailedWithError:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@ transcription failed (exit code %d). Check log for details.", engineLabel, task.terminationStatus]];
+    if (exitCode != 0) {
+        SpliceKit_log(@"[Captions] %@ failed (exit code %d)", engineLabel, exitCode);
+        [self transcriptionFailedWithError:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@ transcription failed (exit code %d). Check log for details.", engineLabel, exitCode]];
         return;
     }
 

Sources/SpliceKitServer.m

@@ -917,7 +917,19 @@ static BOOL SpliceKit_rejectScalarForObjectArgument(const char *sigType,
 
                 if ([type isEqualToString:@"string"]) {
                     NSString *val = [arg[@"value"] description];
-                    [inv setArgument:&val atIndex:argIdx];
+                    // setArgument: blindly memcpy's sigof(arg) bytes from the
+                    // source pointer, so the layout of `val` must match the
+                    // selector's expected ObjC type encoding. If the selector
+                    // wants a C-string (`*` / `r*`) and we pass &NSString*, the
+                    // callee later strlen()s the NSString's isa as if it were
+                    // a char* and crashes deep inside _platform_strlen.
+                    // See APPLE-MACOS-K.
+                    if (sigType[0] == '*' || (sigType[0] == 'r' && sigType[1] == '*')) {
+                        const char *cstr = [val UTF8String] ?: "";
+                        [inv setArgument:&cstr atIndex:argIdx];
+                    } else {
+                        [inv setArgument:&val atIndex:argIdx];
+                    }
                 } else if ([type isEqualToString:@"int"]) {
                     if (SpliceKit_rejectScalarForObjectArgument(sigType, selectorName, argIdx, type, &result)) return;
                     long long val = [arg[@"value"] longLongValue];
@@ -27604,9 +27616,13 @@ static void SpliceKit_breakpointHit(NSString *key, id self_obj, SEL _cmd,
 
 NSDictionary *SpliceKit_handleRequest(NSDictionary *request) {
     NSString *method = request[@"method"];
-    NSDictionary *params = request[@"params"] ?: @{};
+    id rawParams = request[@"params"];
+    // Clients sometimes send `"params": []` instead of `{}`. Without this guard,
+    // every later `params[@"key"]` crashes with "unrecognized selector sent to
+    // __NSArray0". See APPLE-MACOS-X. Coerce non-dict params to empty dict.
+    NSDictionary *params = [rawParams isKindOfClass:[NSDictionary class]] ? (NSDictionary *)rawParams : @{};
 
-    if (!method) {
+    if (![method isKindOfClass:[NSString class]]) {
         return @{@"error": @{@"code": @(-32600), @"message": @"Invalid Request: method required"}};
     }
 

Sources/SpliceKitTimelinePlayheadOverlay.m

@@ -285,8 +285,20 @@ - (void)tick:(CADisplayLink *)link {
     // If nothing has been observed yet, we have no reference — skip this tick.
     if (base.timescale <= 0 || baseWall <= 0.0) return;
 
-    // Extrapolate forward: t_now = base + (now - baseWall) * rate
+    // Skip when paused: tick only needs to extrapolate during active playback,
+    // and if we've gone idle the cached view may be mid-teardown. APPLE-MACOS-P
+    // shows EXC_BAD_ACCESS deep inside locationRangeForTime: when this fires
+    // against a view whose internals were freed.
+    if (rate == 0.0) return;
+
+    // Stale observation: if we haven't seen a setPlayheadTime in a while, the
+    // cached view may have been replaced (sequence change, dual-timeline
+    // toggle). Bail out and wait for a fresh observation rather than calling
+    // into a possibly-dead view.
     CFTimeInterval elapsed = CACurrentMediaTime() - baseWall;
+    if (elapsed > 5.0) return;
+
+    // Extrapolate forward: t_now = base + (now - baseWall) * rate
     double extraSecs = elapsed * rate;
     PO_CMTime extrapolated = base;
     int64_t addValue = (int64_t)llround(extraSecs * (double)base.timescale);

Sources/SpliceKitTranscriptPanel.m

@@ -2925,6 +2925,24 @@ - (void)performParakeetTranscription {
     // Clean up manifest
     [[NSFileManager defaultManager] removeItemAtPath:manifestPath error:nil];
 
+    // -[NSTask terminationStatus] throws NSInvalidArgumentException if the task
+    // is still running. waitUntilExit normally guarantees termination, but in
+    // edge cases (e.g. arm64-only binary launched on x86, signal interruption,
+    // pipe failures) the task can be in an inconsistent state. Read it once,
+    // defensively, and treat a throw as a non-zero exit. See APPLE-MACOS-17.
+    int exitCode = -1;
+    @try {
+        if (task.isRunning) {
+            SpliceKit_log(@"[Transcript] WARNING: task still running after waitUntilExit; terminating");
+            [task terminate];
+            [task waitUntilExit];
+        }
+        exitCode = task.terminationStatus;
+    } @catch (NSException *e) {
+        SpliceKit_log(@"[Transcript] ERROR: failed to read terminationStatus: %@", e.reason);
+        exitCode = -1;
+    }
+
     // Diagnostic: process exit details
     {
         NSTimeInterval processElapsed = -[processStartTime timeIntervalSinceNow];
@@ -2933,13 +2951,13 @@ - (void)performParakeetTranscription {
         @synchronized (stdoutAccum) {
             stdoutDiagData = [stdoutAccum copy];
         }
-        SpliceKitTranscriptDiag_logProcessExit(task.terminationStatus,
+        SpliceKitTranscriptDiag_logProcessExit(exitCode,
                                                 stdoutDiagData, stderrDiagData, processElapsed);
         SpliceKitTranscriptDiag_inspectRawOutput(stdoutDiagData);
     }
 
-    if (task.terminationStatus != 0) {
-        SpliceKit_log(@"[Transcript] ─── Parakeet failed (exit code %d) ───", task.terminationStatus);
+    if (exitCode != 0) {
+        SpliceKit_log(@"[Transcript] ─── Parakeet failed (exit code %d) ───", exitCode);
 
         // Collect all stderr output for diagnostics
         NSData *stderrRemaining = [stderrPipe.fileHandleForReading readDataToEndOfFile];
@@ -2992,9 +3010,9 @@ - (void)performParakeetTranscription {
             userError = @"Permission denied reading media file. Check that FCP has Full Disk Access in System Settings > Privacy.";
         } else if ([allLower containsString:@"corrupt"] || [allLower containsString:@"invalid data"]) {
             userError = @"Media file appears to be corrupted or in an unsupported format.";
-        } else if (task.terminationStatus == 9) {
+        } else if (exitCode == 9) {
             userError = @"Parakeet was killed (likely out of memory). Close other apps and try again with fewer clips.";
-        } else if (task.terminationStatus == 6) {
+        } else if (exitCode == 6) {
             userError = @"Parakeet crashed (SIGABRT). This may be a compatibility issue. Try switching to Apple Speech engine.";
         } else {
             // Generic fallback with the actual output
@@ -3010,7 +3028,7 @@ - (void)performParakeetTranscription {
                 userError = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Parakeet transcription failed: %@", lastLine];
             } else {
                 userError = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Parakeet transcription failed (exit code %d). "
-                    @"Try switching to \"Apple Speech\" engine.", task.terminationStatus];
+                    @"Try switching to \"Apple Speech\" engine.", exitCode];
             }
         }
 

patcher/SpliceKit/Models/PatcherModel.swift

@@ -37,8 +37,19 @@ enum WizardPanel: Int {
 
 enum PatchError: LocalizedError {
     case msg(String)
+    /// User-prerequisite failure (e.g. Xcode CLT not installed, license not accepted).
+    /// Surfaces to the user normally but does NOT report to Sentry — these are
+    /// expected setup steps, not SpliceKit bugs.
+    case userPrereq(String)
     var errorDescription: String? {
-        switch self { case .msg(let s): return s }
+        switch self {
+        case .msg(let s): return s
+        case .userPrereq(let s): return s
+        }
+    }
+    var isUserPrereq: Bool {
+        if case .userPrereq = self { return true }
+        return false
     }
 }
 
@@ -325,7 +336,7 @@ class PatcherModel: ObservableObject {
         guard !selectedPath.isEmpty else {
             await logAsync("Xcode Command Line Tools not found. Installing...")
             shell("xcode-select --install 2>/dev/null")
-            throw PatchError.msg("""
+            throw PatchError.userPrereq("""
             Xcode Command Line Tools are required.
 
             An installer window should have appeared. Please complete the installation, then click Retry.
@@ -336,15 +347,15 @@ class PatcherModel: ObservableObject {
         guard otoolCheck.status == 0 else {
             let output = otoolCheck.output.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines)
             if output.localizedCaseInsensitiveContains("license") {
-                throw PatchError.msg("""
+                throw PatchError.userPrereq("""
                 Xcode Command Line Tools are installed, but the Xcode license has not been accepted.
 
                 Please run this once in Terminal, then retry:
                 sudo xcodebuild -license
                 """)
             }
             shell("xcode-select --install 2>/dev/null")
-            throw PatchError.msg("""
+            throw PatchError.userPrereq("""
             Xcode Command Line Tools are installed, but required developer tools are not available.
 
             Please complete or repair the Command Line Tools installation, then click Retry.
@@ -360,7 +371,7 @@ class PatcherModel: ObservableObject {
             let clangCheck = shellResult("xcrun clang --version 2>&1")
             guard clangCheck.status == 0 else {
                 if clangCheck.output.localizedCaseInsensitiveContains("license") {
-                    throw PatchError.msg("""
+                    throw PatchError.userPrereq("""
                     Xcode Command Line Tools are installed, but the Xcode license has not been accepted.
 
                     Please run this once in Terminal, then retry:
@@ -604,9 +615,15 @@ class PatcherModel: ObservableObject {
                 await MainActor.run {
                     self.errorMessage = error.localizedDescription
                     self.appendLog("ERROR: \(error.localizedDescription)")
-                    PatcherSentry.capture(error: error,
-                                          context: "patch.run",
-                                          extras: ["current_step": self.currentStep?.rawValue ?? "unknown"])
+                    if (error as? PatchError)?.isUserPrereq == true {
+                        // User prerequisite (e.g. Xcode CLT) — surfaced to the user
+                        // but not a SpliceKit bug, so don't pollute Sentry.
+                        self.appendLog("Skipping Sentry report: user-prerequisite failure.")
+                    } else {
+                        PatcherSentry.capture(error: error,
+                                              context: "patch.run",
+                                              extras: ["current_step": self.currentStep?.rawValue ?? "unknown"])
+                    }
                 }
             }
             await MainActor.run {
@@ -877,14 +894,24 @@ class PatcherModel: ObservableObject {
         // Step 4: Create macOS framework bundle (Versions/A + symlinks)
         await setStepAsync(.installFramework)
         let fwDir = moddedApp + "/Contents/Frameworks/SpliceKit.framework"
+        let resourcesDir = fwDir + "/Versions/A/Resources"
         shell("""
             rm -rf '\(fwDir)'
-            mkdir -p '\(fwDir)/Versions/A/Resources'
+            mkdir -p '\(resourcesDir)'
             cp '\(buildDir)/SpliceKit' '\(fwDir)/Versions/A/SpliceKit'
             cd '\(fwDir)/Versions' && ln -sfn A Current
             cd '\(fwDir)' && ln -sfn Versions/Current/SpliceKit SpliceKit
             cd '\(fwDir)' && ln -sfn Versions/Current/Resources Resources
             """)
+        // Belt-and-suspenders: shell mkdir occasionally fails silently (sandbox,
+        // permissions, weird path), and the plist.write below then fails with
+        // NSCocoaErrorDomain Code 4 (no such file or directory) — see APPLE-MACOS-18.
+        // Re-create with FileManager so we get a clear, throwable error if it
+        // genuinely can't be created.
+        if !FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: resourcesDir) {
+            try FileManager.default.createDirectory(atPath: resourcesDir,
+                                                     withIntermediateDirectories: true)
+        }
         let currentVersion = currentSpliceKitVersion()
         let patcherVersion = currentVersion.isEmpty ? "0.0.0" : currentVersion
         let plist = """
@@ -899,9 +926,9 @@ class PatcherModel: ObservableObject {
             <key>CFBundleExecutable</key><string>SpliceKit</string>
             </dict></plist>
             """
-        try plist.write(toFile: fwDir + "/Versions/A/Resources/Info.plist", atomically: true, encoding: .utf8)
+        try plist.write(toFile: resourcesDir + "/Info.plist", atomically: true, encoding: .utf8)
         if let sentryConfig = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "SpliceKitSentryConfig", withExtension: "plist") {
-            shell("cp '\(sentryConfig.path)' '\(fwDir)/Versions/A/Resources/SpliceKitSentryConfig.plist'")
+            shell("cp '\(sentryConfig.path)' '\(resourcesDir)/SpliceKitSentryConfig.plist'")
         }
 
         // Install BRAW plugin bundles into FCP.app/Contents/PlugIns/
@@ -1145,14 +1172,19 @@ class PatcherModel: ObservableObject {
         // Install framework (overwrite existing binary)
         await setStepAsync(.installFramework)
         let fwDir = moddedApp + "/Contents/Frameworks/SpliceKit.framework"
+        let resourcesDir = fwDir + "/Versions/A/Resources"
         shell("""
             rm -rf '\(fwDir)'
-            mkdir -p '\(fwDir)/Versions/A/Resources'
+            mkdir -p '\(resourcesDir)'
             cp '\(buildDir)/SpliceKit' '\(fwDir)/Versions/A/SpliceKit'
             cd '\(fwDir)/Versions' && ln -sfn A Current
             cd '\(fwDir)' && ln -sfn Versions/Current/SpliceKit SpliceKit
             cd '\(fwDir)' && ln -sfn Versions/Current/Resources Resources
             """)
+        if !FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: resourcesDir) {
+            try FileManager.default.createDirectory(atPath: resourcesDir,
+                                                     withIntermediateDirectories: true)
+        }
 
         let currentVersion = currentSpliceKitVersion()
         let patcherVersion = currentVersion.isEmpty ? "0.0.0" : currentVersion
@@ -1168,9 +1200,9 @@ class PatcherModel: ObservableObject {
             <key>CFBundleExecutable</key><string>SpliceKit</string>
             </dict></plist>
             """
-        try plist.write(toFile: fwDir + "/Versions/A/Resources/Info.plist", atomically: true, encoding: .utf8)
+        try plist.write(toFile: resourcesDir + "/Info.plist", atomically: true, encoding: .utf8)
         if let sentryConfig = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "SpliceKitSentryConfig", withExtension: "plist") {
-            shell("cp '\(sentryConfig.path)' '\(fwDir)/Versions/A/Resources/SpliceKitSentryConfig.plist'")
+            shell("cp '\(sentryConfig.path)' '\(resourcesDir)/SpliceKitSentryConfig.plist'")
         }
 
         // Refresh BRAW plugin bundles on upgrade. Same reasoning as fresh
@@ -1530,24 +1562,45 @@ class PatcherModel: ObservableObject {
         appendLog(String(format: "Final Cut Pro process %d terminated after %.1fs",
                          app.processIdentifier, runtime))
         if runtime < 90 {
-            for line in launchDiagnostics(
+            let diagnostics = launchDiagnostics(
                 launchTime: launchTime,
                 spliceKitLogDateBeforeLaunch: spliceKitLogDateBeforeLaunch
-            ) {
+            )
+            for line in diagnostics {
                 appendLog(line)
             }
-            PatcherSentry.captureMessage(
-                "Final Cut Pro terminated shortly after launch",
-                level: .error,
-                context: "patcher.launch_termination",
-                extras: [
-                    "runtime_seconds": runtime,
-                    "diagnostics": launchDiagnostics(
-                        launchTime: launchTime,
-                        spliceKitLogDateBeforeLaunch: spliceKitLogDateBeforeLaunch
-                    )
-                ]
-            )
+
+            // Only report to Sentry if there's an actual failure signal. A user
+            // quitting FCP within 90s after launching it from the patcher is
+            // normal and should not produce a crash event. Real signals:
+            //   1. A FCP crash report newer than launchTime exists.
+            //   2. The injected dylib never initialized (splicekit.log unchanged).
+            //   3. Runtime was extremely short (< 5s) — likely instant exit.
+            let hasCrashReport = latestCrashReportURL(after: launchTime) != nil
+            let dylibNeverLoaded = diagnostics.contains {
+                $0.contains("dylib likely never initialized")
+            }
+            let cleanShutdown = diagnostics.contains {
+                $0.contains("App terminating") || $0.contains("Server socket closed")
+            }
+            let abnormal = hasCrashReport || dylibNeverLoaded || (runtime < 5 && !cleanShutdown)
+
+            if abnormal {
+                PatcherSentry.captureMessage(
+                    "Final Cut Pro terminated shortly after launch",
+                    level: .error,
+                    context: "patcher.launch_termination",
+                    extras: [
+                        "runtime_seconds": runtime,
+                        "has_crash_report": hasCrashReport,
+                        "dylib_never_loaded": dylibNeverLoaded,
+                        "clean_shutdown": cleanShutdown,
+                        "diagnostics": diagnostics
+                    ]
+                )
+            } else {
+                appendLog("Skipping Sentry report: no crash report and dylib initialized cleanly (likely user-initiated quit).")
+            }
         }
         if launchedFCPRunningApp?.processIdentifier == app.processIdentifier {
             launchedFCPRunningApp = nil