novox/hq

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jschoubben f140303257 A module claims; it does not list its rivals. And flavor is retired.

Three decisions, all Jochen's, and the first is the one that unlocked it.

Exclusivity is not a property of a module. It is a property of a singular
resource the module takes over. Two shells compete for nothing and any number
may be installed; two display servers both want the seat. So a module declares
what it CLAIMS, and two modules claiming the same thing cannot both be assigned
within that claim's scope.

Not "xorg conflicts with wayland". Pairwise exclusion has a property that only
shows up later: adding a third display server means editing xorg and wayland to
know about it. Every new module requires changing modules nobody who wrote it
owns, and the edits grow as the square of the count. With a claim the third one
says what it claims and nothing else changes anywhere.

Claims have a scope -- node, site, mesh -- which is not new. The mesh already
enforces exactly one hub with a unique index. Scope is that idea said once
rather than hard-coded per case.

And some conflicts need no claim at all: two modules declaring the same file or
binding the same port are visible from what they declare. A claim is only
written for the abstract ones.

A requirement with several answers is refused, never guessed. One candidate is
assigned silently because there was no choice to make; none is refused naming
what is missing; several is refused naming them. That is what makes a solver
unnecessary -- counting candidates has no surprising behaviour, and a solver
can be added later without changing a single manifest.

Flavor is retired. It was carrying three unrelated meanings: variants of a
thing, a subset of a module a node installs, and whatever the current system
does, which earned two knowledge-base entries about going wrong. A word with
three meanings cannot be reasoned about. What it reached for is two ordinary
things -- different modules providing the same thing, and one module with a
setting.

2026-08-29 21:00:13 +02:00

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layer, status, code, updated, decisions

layer

status

code

updated

decisions

to-be

designed

hal

2026-08-23

02-DECISIONS/0001-mesh-brokers-nodes-host-agents-think.md

Work breakdown — the decomposition

How ADR 0001 gets built, in what order, and where a human must look.

Ordering is not preference. Each phase removes a constraint the next one needs gone.

Rules of engagement

These exist so the work can run largely unattended without accumulating the kind of damage this refactor is meant to remove.

Autonomous by default

An agent may, without asking:

read anything, measure anything, query any database read-only
create branches, write code and tests, open pull requests
run the test suite and typechecks
write and update hq/ documents

Always stop and ask

destroying or overwriting data — dropping a table, deleting a provision, rotating a live credential, removing a module from a node
merging anything — every merge is a human checkpoint, without exception
a decision the ADRs do not already answer — record the question in the relevant research effort rather than picking and moving on
any change to hq/00-META — it is stable by nature

Definition of done for every task

tests written and failing first, then passing
typecheck clean in every package the change touches
the local mesh (Phase 0) comes up, and the behaviour is demonstrated in it
hq/ updated if the task changed or answered anything documented
deployed, and delivery verified on every node — not "the pipeline was green"

Non-negotiables carried from the current system

Never edit mesh-managed files on disk. Use the owning tool.
Never write to production databases directly. Migrations for schema, application code for data.
Every schema change ships twice — consolidated schema and an incremental migration.
Expand, then contract. Add the new shape, migrate, verify, and only then remove the old one — never in a single step.
A green pipeline proves transport, not effect. Verify the effect.

Phase 0 — A mesh that runs locally (prerequisite)

Nothing else starts until this exists. Every fault this refactor addresses was found in production because there was nowhere else to find it.

#	task	done when
0.1	Container image for a node runtime	a node process starts in a container and registers
0.2	Compose topology: broker, registry DB, object store, n nodes	`up` yields a mesh that elects a provider node and settles
0.3	Seed a minimal mesh: nodes, one module, one provision	a module deploys end-to-end with no external service
0.4	Run the pipeline inside it	a push-equivalent produces a cascade and a deployed artifact
0.5	Fixtures for the failure modes already known	credential rotation reaching a running session; a provider deploy rotating a shared credential; a migration that ships nothing — each reproducible on demand

Checkpoint: a human confirms the local mesh reproduces at least one bug from 2026-08-22 before any decomposition begins.

Phase 1 — Make the model expressible

The decomposition is impossible while a feature is a singleton per module.

#	task	done when
1.1	Decision record — named features, per-node opt-in (next free number)	accepted
1.2	Manifest: declared `features:` with type + directory	a module declares two of one kind and both build
1.3	Selection: `always` / `optional`	a node installs a subset; artifacts stay selection-blind
1.4	`requires:` moves onto the feature	a schema feature's database is not provisioned where the feature is not installed
1.5	Assignment carries the opted-in feature set	opting a node in requires no rebuild

Checkpoint: one existing module converted to declared features, deployed, verified — before any others follow.

Phase 2 — Draw the boundary the domain already has

Cheapest first, and each one proves the extraction pattern before the expensive ones.

#	task	extracted from	risk
2.1	`hal/knowledge` — one store, review workflow ported	hippocampus + noxflow `knowledge_*`	low — additive
2.2	`hal/stream` — the record; notifications and messaging as views	axon, synapse, notifications, meetings, conversations	medium
2.3	`hal/agents` — identity, licence, runs, memory, thoughts	noxflow agents, `hal/thoughts`	high — touches credentials
2.4	`hal/work` — what remains of noxflow	noxflow tasks	medium
2.5	`hal/ai` — one module per provider, each providing a model provider	`hal/claude*`	medium

Each extraction is expand-then-contract: new context alongside, dual-write, verify, cut over, remove. Never a move commit.

Checkpoint: after 2.1, a human confirms the extraction pattern before 2.2 begins. After 2.3, a human confirms credentials still reach every agent on every node.

Phase 3 — Reclaim the kernel

Only possible once domains have modules to own their code.

#	task	done when
3.1	Move work-domain code out of `hal/sdk`	`workflow-engine.ts`, `task-commands.ts` live in `hal/work`
3.2	Move provider code out	`claude-credentials.ts` lives in `hal/ai`
3.3	Move delivery code out	feature handlers, artifact manager, build executor live in `hal/delivery`
3.4	Decide the residue	ADR: what `hal/sdk` keeps (open question 4)

Measure: hal/sdk line count, tracked per task. Today: 34,636 across 155 files.

Phase 4 — Separate what the mesh runs from the mesh

#	task	done when
4.1	Decide the destination (open question 3)	ADR accepted
4.2	Cross-repository dependency resolution proven	a catalogue module builds against a published `@hal/*`
4.3	Move the 91 catalogue modules	this repository contains only mesh contexts

Checkpoint: move one application first and run it for a week before the rest follow.

Sequencing constraints

0 before everything. Unverifiable refactors are how this list got long.
1 before 2. Extracting into contexts without per-node features recreates the module count inside the new names.
2 before 3. A domain can only own its shared code once the domain has a module.
2.3 after 2.1 and 2.2. Agents touch credentials; do it once the pattern is proven on cheaper contexts.
4 last. It is the only phase that is pure movement, so it is the only one safe to defer indefinitely.

What "done" looks like

Eight contexts. hal/sdk holding only what is genuinely cross-cutting. A mesh that stands up on a laptop. A module count that grows only when the domain does.

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