diff --git a/diigo-cache/scripts/compare-export.ts b/diigo-cache/scripts/compare-export.ts
index 43bf797..9715ac0 100644
--- a/diigo-cache/scripts/compare-export.ts
+++ b/diigo-cache/scripts/compare-export.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  *
  *     node scripts/compare-export.ts <cache.sqlite> <export.xml> <out-dir>
  */
-import * as nodeFs from "node:fs";
+import * as nodeFs from "node:fs/promises";
 import { basename, join } from "node:path";
 import { DatabaseSync } from "node:sqlite";
 import { itemDescription, toRss } from "../src/rss.ts";
@@ -95,11 +95,11 @@ export function cacheItems(db: { prepare(sql: string): { all(): unknown[] } }) {
 }
 
 /** write access to files directly inside one directory: attenuates fs */
-export function outDir(fs: Pick<typeof nodeFs, "writeFileSync">, dir: string) {
+export function outDir(fs: Pick<typeof nodeFs, "writeFile">, dir: string) {
 	return {
-		write(name: string, text: string): void {
+		async write(name: string, text: string): Promise<void> {
 			if (basename(name) !== name) throw new Error(`not a plain file name: ${name}`);
-			fs.writeFileSync(join(dir, name), text);
+			await fs.writeFile(join(dir, name), text);
 		},
 	};
 }
@@ -116,10 +116,11 @@ export function outDir(fs: Pick<typeof nodeFs, "writeFileSync">, dir: string) {
  * {@link outDir} — before anything else uses them. Ends by reporting an
  * exit code (2: usage) through `exit`.
  */
-export function main(
+export async function main(
 	argv = process.argv.slice(2),
 	{
 		fs = nodeFs,
+		// node:sqlite has only a synchronous API; one read of a local file
 		connect = (path: string) => new DatabaseSync(path, { readOnly: true }),
 		now = () => new Date(),
 		stdout = process.stdout,
@@ -128,14 +129,14 @@ export function main(
 			process.exitCode = code;
 		},
 	}: {
-		fs?: Pick<typeof nodeFs, "readFileSync" | "writeFileSync">;
+		fs?: Pick<typeof nodeFs, "readFile" | "writeFile">;
 		connect?: (path: string) => { prepare(sql: string): { all(): unknown[] } };
 		now?: () => Date;
 		stdout?: { write(text: string): unknown };
 		stderr?: { write(text: string): unknown };
 		exit?: (code: number) => void;
 	} = {},
-): void {
+): Promise<void> {
 	const [dbPath, exportPath, outPath] = argv;
 	if (!dbPath || !exportPath || !outPath) {
 		stderr.write("usage: node scripts/compare-export.ts <cache.sqlite> <export.xml> <out-dir>\n");
@@ -143,13 +144,13 @@ export function main(
 	}
 	const cache = cacheItems(connect(dbPath));
 	const out = outDir(fs, outPath);
-	const exportXml = fs.readFileSync(exportPath, "utf8");
+	const exportXml = await fs.readFile(exportPath, "utf8");
 
 	const ours = cache.all();
-	out.write("from-cache.rss", toRss(ours, { title: "from the cache", pubDate: now().toUTCString() }));
+	await out.write("from-cache.rss", toRss(ours, { title: "from the cache", pubDate: now().toUTCString() }));
 	const theirs = parseExport(exportXml);
 	const { complete, report } = compare(ours, theirs);
-	out.write("report.json", JSON.stringify(report, null, 1));
+	await out.write("report.json", JSON.stringify(report, null, 1));
 	const counts = {
 		export: theirs.length,
 		cache: ours.length,
@@ -161,4 +162,4 @@ export function main(
 }
 
 // run only as a program, not when imported (e.g. by a test)
-if (import.meta.main) main();
+if (import.meta.main) await main();