mapper: gate broadcast sends until a connection's initial map is delivered

AddNode registers the connection before sending the initial map, so a
batched delta could land first and become the stream's first frame;
Tailscale clients then kill the poll with "initial MapResponse lacked
Node" and a retry loop under steady change traffic leaves the netmap
empty. Skip connections awaiting their initial map and retry the
change next tick — the in-flight map may predate it, so it cannot be
dropped. Retries are prepended to keep patch order.

hscontrol/mapper/batcher.go

@@ -280,6 +280,11 @@ func (b *Batcher) AddNode(
 		created: now,
 		stop:    stop,
 	}
+	// Block broadcast sends to this connection until its initial map
+	// is delivered below, so a delta cannot become the stream's first
+	// frame — clients reject streams whose first frame lacks the self
+	// node.
+	newEntry.pendingInitial.Store(true)
 	// Initialize last used timestamp
 	newEntry.lastUsed.Store(now.Unix())
 
@@ -329,6 +334,11 @@ func (b *Batcher) AddNode(
 		nodeConn.workMu.Lock()
 		nodeConn.updateSentPeers(initialMap)
 		nodeConn.workMu.Unlock()
+
+		// Open the connection for broadcast sends now that the initial
+		// map is the stream's first frame; send() requeued any changes
+		// that arrived in the meantime.
+		newEntry.pendingInitial.Store(false)
 	case <-time.After(5 * time.Second): //nolint:mnd
 		nlog.Error().Err(ErrInitialMapSendTimeout).Msg("initial map send timeout")
 		nlog.Debug().Caller().Dur("timeout.duration", 5*time.Second). //nolint:mnd
@@ -532,9 +542,24 @@ func (b *Batcher) worker(workerID int) {
 			// finish — preventing out-of-order delivery and races
 			// on lastSentPeers (Clear+Store vs Range).
 			if nc, exists := b.nodes.Load(w.nodeID); exists && nc != nil {
+				// Changes that found only connections still awaiting
+				// their initial map are retried next tick: the
+				// in-flight initial map may have been generated from
+				// a snapshot older than the change, so dropping them
+				// would lose updates. Collected and prepended as a
+				// group to keep their order ahead of newer pending
+				// changes — order matters for stateful patches like
+				// online/offline.
+				var retry []change.Change
+
 				nc.workMu.Lock()
 				for _, ch := range w.changes {
 					err := nc.change(ch)
+					if errors.Is(err, errNoReadyConnections) {
+						retry = append(retry, ch)
+						continue
+					}
+
 					if err != nil {
 						b.workErrors.Add(1)
 						wlog.Error().Err(err).
@@ -545,6 +570,10 @@ func (b *Batcher) worker(workerID int) {
 				}
 				nc.workMu.Unlock()
 
+				if len(retry) > 0 {
+					nc.prependPending(retry...)
+				}
+
 				// Bundle delivered; allow the next tick's bundle to queue.
 				nc.inFlight.Store(false)
 			}

hscontrol/mapper/initialmap_phantom_test.go

@@ -1,11 +1,76 @@
 package mapper
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
+	"github.com/juanfont/headscale/hscontrol/types/change"
 	"tailscale.com/tailcfg"
 )
 
+// TestUnreadyConnectionDefersBroadcastsUntilInitialMap pins the ordering fix
+// for the "initial MapResponse lacked Node" client failure: a connection
+// registered by [Batcher.AddNode] but still waiting for its initial map must
+// not receive broadcast deltas — a delta as the stream's first frame makes the
+// Tailscale client tear down the poll. The change is requeued, not dropped,
+// because the in-flight initial map may have been generated from a snapshot
+// older than the change.
+func TestUnreadyConnectionDefersBroadcastsUntilInitialMap(t *testing.T) {
+	testData, cleanup := setupBatcherWithTestData(t, NewBatcherAndMapper, 1, 2, normalBufferSize)
+	defer cleanup()
+
+	batcher := testData.Batcher.Batcher
+	peerNode := &testData.Nodes[0]
+	targetNode := &testData.Nodes[1]
+
+	// Register the target's connection by hand in the state AddNode leaves it
+	// in between registering the channel and delivering the initial map.
+	nc := newMultiChannelNodeConn(targetNode.n.ID, batcher.mapper)
+	entry := &connectionEntry{
+		id:      "test-unready",
+		c:       targetNode.ch,
+		version: tailcfg.CapabilityVersion(100),
+		created: time.Now(),
+	}
+	entry.pendingInitial.Store(true)
+	nc.addConnection(entry)
+	batcher.nodes.Store(targetNode.n.ID, nc)
+
+	// A broadcast lands while the initial map is still in flight: nothing may
+	// reach the channel, and the caller must be told to retry
+	// (the worker prepends such changes back onto pending).
+	retryChange := change.NodeAdded(peerNode.n.ID)
+
+	err := nc.change(retryChange)
+	if !errors.Is(err, errNoReadyConnections) {
+		t.Fatalf("change on unready connection: want errNoReadyConnections, got %v", err)
+	}
+
+	select {
+	case resp := <-targetNode.ch:
+		t.Fatalf("unready connection received a frame before its initial map: %+v", resp)
+	default:
+	}
+
+	// Once the initial map is delivered, the retried change goes out.
+	entry.pendingInitial.Store(false)
+
+	err = nc.change(retryChange)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("change on ready connection: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	select {
+	case resp := <-targetNode.ch:
+		if len(resp.PeersChanged) == 0 {
+			t.Fatalf("expected PeersChanged delta after readiness, got %+v", resp)
+		}
+	default:
+		t.Fatal("ready connection did not receive the retried change")
+	}
+}
+
 // TestSyncInitialMapNoPhantomPeersOnTimeout ensures the synchronous initial-map
 // path does not record peers as sent until the map is actually delivered. When
 // the AddNode channel send times out, the client received nothing, so

hscontrol/mapper/node_conn.go

@@ -23,6 +23,16 @@ import (
 // after this error because the data was never delivered to any client.
 var errNoActiveConnections = errors.New("no active connections")
 
+// errNoReadyConnections is returned by [multiChannelNodeConn.send] when the
+// node's only connections are still waiting for their initial map
+// ([Batcher.AddNode] has registered them but not yet delivered the first full
+// response). Sending a delta now would make it the stream's first frame, which
+// Tailscale clients reject ("initial MapResponse lacked Node") — tearing down
+// the poll. Unlike [errNoActiveConnections], the change must be retried: the
+// in-flight initial map may have been generated from a snapshot older than
+// the change, so dropping it would lose the update.
+var errNoReadyConnections = errors.New("no connections ready for updates")
+
 // connectionEntry represents a single connection to a node.
 type connectionEntry struct {
 	id       string // unique connection ID
@@ -32,6 +42,13 @@ type connectionEntry struct {
 	stop     func()
 	lastUsed atomic.Int64 // Unix timestamp of last successful send
 	closed   atomic.Bool  // Indicates if this connection has been closed
+
+	// pendingInitial is set by [Batcher.AddNode] while this
+	// connection's initial map is still in flight, and cleared once it
+	// is delivered. Broadcast sends skip such connections so a delta
+	// can never become the stream's first frame ahead of the initial
+	// map. The zero value means the connection is ready.
+	pendingInitial atomic.Bool
 }
 
 // multiChannelNodeConn manages multiple concurrent connections for a single node.
@@ -225,6 +242,17 @@ func (mc *multiChannelNodeConn) appendPending(changes ...change.Change) {
 	mc.pendingMu.Unlock()
 }
 
+// prependPending puts changes at the head of the pending list, ahead of
+// anything queued since. Used to retry changes that could not be
+// delivered yet (initial map in flight): they were emitted before the
+// currently pending ones, and order matters for stateful patches like
+// online/offline.
+func (mc *multiChannelNodeConn) prependPending(changes ...change.Change) {
+	mc.pendingMu.Lock()
+	mc.pending = append(changes, mc.pending...)
+	mc.pendingMu.Unlock()
+}
+
 // drainPending atomically removes and returns all pending changes.
 // Returns nil if there are no pending changes.
 func (mc *multiChannelNodeConn) drainPending() []change.Change {
@@ -260,11 +288,27 @@ func (mc *multiChannelNodeConn) send(data *tailcfg.MapResponse) error {
 		return errNoActiveConnections
 	}
 
-	// Copy the slice so we can release the read lock before sending.
-	snapshot := make([]*connectionEntry, len(mc.connections))
-	copy(snapshot, mc.connections)
+	// Copy only connections whose initial map has been delivered.
+	// A connection still awaiting its initial map receives one
+	// (generated from the current snapshot) from [Batcher.AddNode];
+	// pushing this update at it now would deliver a delta as the
+	// stream's first frame.
+	snapshot := make([]*connectionEntry, 0, len(mc.connections))
+
+	for _, conn := range mc.connections {
+		if !conn.pendingInitial.Load() {
+			snapshot = append(snapshot, conn)
+		}
+	}
 	mc.mutex.RUnlock()
 
+	if len(snapshot) == 0 {
+		mc.log.Trace().
+			Msg("send: connections present but none ready, requeue")
+
+		return errNoReadyConnections
+	}
+
 	mc.log.Trace().
 		Int("total_connections", len(snapshot)).
 		Msg("send: broadcasting")