Fix disable_permalinks feature to properly skip permalink generation

Fixed issue where entities created with disable_permalinks=True were still getting
permalinks auto-generated from file paths.

Solution:
- Use empty string "" as sentinel value in schema._permalink to indicate permalinks are disabled
- Updated permalink property to return None when it sees the empty string sentinel
- Fixed type annotations to allow Optional[Permalink] return type
- Fixed create_or_update_entity to handle None permalinks properly

Tests:
- All disable_permalinks unit tests now pass
- Rewrote integration tests to use current DB API (engine_session_factory)
- Added comprehensive integration test coverage for disable_permalinks feature

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
Signed-off-by: phernandez <paul@basicmachines.co>

Author: phernandez

src/basic_memory/cli/commands/cloud/api_client.py

@@ -90,7 +90,10 @@ async def make_api_request(
                     # Handle both FastAPI HTTPException format (nested under "detail")
                     # and direct format
                     detail_obj = error_detail.get("detail", error_detail)
-                    if isinstance(detail_obj, dict) and detail_obj.get("error") == "subscription_required":
+                    if (
+                        isinstance(detail_obj, dict)
+                        and detail_obj.get("error") == "subscription_required"
+                    ):
                         message = detail_obj.get("message", "Active subscription required")
                         subscribe_url = detail_obj.get(
                             "subscribe_url", "https://basicmemory.com/subscribe"

src/basic_memory/schemas/base.py

@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ class Entity(BaseModel):
     """
 
     # private field to override permalink
+    # Use empty string "" as sentinel to indicate permalinks are explicitly disabled
     _permalink: Optional[str] = None
 
     title: str
@@ -247,8 +248,11 @@ def file_path(self):
             return os.path.join(self.folder, safe_title) if self.folder else safe_title
 
     @property
-    def permalink(self) -> Permalink:
+    def permalink(self) -> Optional[Permalink]:
         """Get a url friendly path}."""
+        # Empty string is a sentinel value indicating permalinks are disabled
+        if self._permalink == "":
+            return None
         return self._permalink or generate_permalink(self.file_path)
 
     @model_validator(mode="after")

src/basic_memory/services/entity_service.py

@@ -147,9 +147,9 @@ async def create_or_update_entity(self, schema: EntitySchema) -> Tuple[EntityMod
         )
 
         # Try to find existing entity using smart resolution
-        existing = await self.link_resolver.resolve_link(
-            schema.file_path
-        ) or await self.link_resolver.resolve_link(schema.permalink)
+        existing = await self.link_resolver.resolve_link(schema.file_path)
+        if not existing and schema.permalink:
+            existing = await self.link_resolver.resolve_link(schema.permalink)
 
         if existing:
             logger.debug(f"Found existing entity: {existing.file_path}")
@@ -197,12 +197,14 @@ async def create_entity(self, schema: EntitySchema) -> EntityModel:
                 )
 
         # Get unique permalink (prioritizing content frontmatter) unless disabled
-        if self.app_config and not self.app_config.disable_permalinks:
+        if self.app_config and self.app_config.disable_permalinks:
+            # Use empty string as sentinel to indicate permalinks are disabled
+            # The permalink property will return None when it sees empty string
+            schema._permalink = ""
+        else:
+            # Generate and set permalink
             permalink = await self.resolve_permalink(file_path, content_markdown)
             schema._permalink = permalink
-        else:
-            # If permalinks are disabled, set to None
-            schema._permalink = None
 
         post = await schema_to_markdown(schema)
 
@@ -754,9 +756,8 @@ async def move_entity(
             updates = {"file_path": destination_path}
 
             # 7. Update permalink if configured or if entity has null permalink (unless disabled)
-            if (
-                not app_config.disable_permalinks
-                and (app_config.update_permalinks_on_move or old_permalink is None)
+            if not app_config.disable_permalinks and (
+                app_config.update_permalinks_on_move or old_permalink is None
             ):
                 # Generate new permalink from destination path
                 new_permalink = await self.resolve_permalink(destination_path)

src/basic_memory/sync/watch_service.py

@@ -121,7 +121,9 @@ async def _watch_projects_cycle(self, projects: Sequence[Project], stop_event: a
                         ignore_patterns = self._get_ignore_patterns(project_path)
 
                         if should_ignore_path(file_path, project_path, ignore_patterns):
-                            logger.trace(f"Ignoring watched file change: {file_path.relative_to(project_path)}")
+                            logger.trace(
+                                f"Ignoring watched file change: {file_path.relative_to(project_path)}"
+                            )
                             continue
 
                         project_changes[project].append((change, path))