hq/03-DESIGN/01-to-be/00-work-breakdown.md

layer, status, code, updated, decisions

layer	status	code	updated	decisions
to-be	designed	hal	2026-08-23	02-DECISIONS/0015-mesh-brokers-nodes-host-agents-think.md

Work breakdown — the decomposition

How ADR 0015 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.

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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

1. tests written and failing first, then passing
2. typecheck clean in every package the change touches
3. the local mesh (Phase 0) comes up, and the behaviour is demonstrated in it
4. hq/ updated if the task changed or answered anything documented
5. 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.

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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.

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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 / flavor-selected / optional	a node installs a subset; artifacts stay flavor-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.

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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 — provider integration, flavored	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.

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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.

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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.

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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.