Etherpad creates revisions attributed to a.etherpad-system but no corresponding globalAuthor record exists

[dvandemaele]

Describe the bug
Beginning with Etherpad 3.1.0, every pad open generates the following error in the logs:
"[ERROR] message - There is no author for authorId: a.etherpad-system. This is possibly related to https://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite/issues/2802"

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Start a fresh Etherpad instance 3.1.0 or greater with no added plugins.
2. Enable DEBUG logging.
3. Create a brand-new pad (for example TEST).
4. Observe logs.
5. The same error repeats each time you open the same new pad or an existing pad from before the upgrade to 3.1.0

Actual behavior
Etherpad creates revision 0 attributed to a.etherpad-system:
`SET - pad:TEST:revs:0

"meta":{
"author":"a.etherpad-system",
...
}`

Immediately afterwards, Etherpad attempts to load the author record:
GET - globalAuthor:a.etherpad-system - undefined

which eventually triggers:
`SET - pad:TEST:revs:0 - {
...
"meta":{
"author":"a.etherpad-system",
"timestamp":1783854326329,
...
}
}

GET - globalAuthor:a.etherpad-system - undefined`

Expected behavior
Option 1: When Etherpad creates content attributed to a.etherpad-system, it should also create a matching author record: globalAuthor:a.etherpad-system

Option 2: If a.etherpad-system is intended to be a special internal/system author, Etherpad should not log an error when no corresponding globalAuthor record exists.

Server (please complete the following information):

• Etherpad version: 3.1.0 or greater
• OS: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)
• Node.js version (node --version): v24.15.0
• npm version (npm --version): 11.12.1
• Is the server free of plugins: yes
• Are you using any abstraction IE docker? yes

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: MacOS Tahoe
• Browser [chrome, safari, firefox]
• Version [multiple versions since May 2026]

Additional context
Reproduces on both DirtyDB and MySQL/MariaDB.
Reproduces on completely new pads created after upgrade.
No third-party plugins involved.
Pads otherwise function normally.
This appears to be a logging/error-handling issue or missing system-author initialization rather than data corruption.

Debug evidence
Creation of revision 0:
SET - pad:TEST:revs:0 ... "author":"a.etherpad-system"

Immediate lookup failure:
GET - globalAuthor:a.etherpad-system - undefined

This suggests Etherpad is generating references to a.etherpad-system but never creating the associated globalAuthor entry.