Merge pull request 'claude-code: claude in the operator's zsh starts the agent's session where the machine names an agent account (hq ADR 0266)' (#168) from feat/claude-is-the-agents-session into main

This commit was merged in pull request #168.
This commit is contained in:
2026-10-09 22:20:51 +00:00
3 changed files with 214 additions and 0 deletions
+7
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@@ -26,6 +26,13 @@ And, for where the agent runs as an account of its own (hq ADR 0266):
- `/usr/local/bin/claude-agent`, root's, `0755`: starts the agent as that account — `claude` itself when run
as it, otherwise `sudo -iu <account> claude` through the operator's own sudo, carrying the guard's
override only when it is set in the operator's shell.
- `/etc/claude-code/agent-account`, root's, `0644`: the name of that account, the machine fact
`agent-account`, for the shell to read — the controller fills no machine fact into shell code.
- **`claude` in the operator's interactive zsh is `claude-agent`** where the machine names an agent account:
zsh code in the login shell's `normal` slot (hq ADR 0204) reads that file and adds
`alias claude=claude-agent` only when it names an account other than the shell's own. Where agents run as
the operator's account the file names that account, and nothing is added. `claude-agent` still runs the
real `claude`: an alias is a word of an interactive zsh, and neither `exec`, `sudo` nor its `sh` sees it.
## What it writes
@@ -0,0 +1,193 @@
package main
// The agent's session from the operator's shell (novox/hq ADR 0266): where a machine names an account of the
// agents' own, `claude` typed in the operator's interactive zsh is `claude-agent`; where agents run as the
// operator's account, nothing is added. The manifest writes the account agents run as to a file, and the zsh
// code it contributes reads it: the controller never fills a machine fact into shell code.
import (
"encoding/json"
"os"
"os/exec"
"os/user"
"path/filepath"
"strings"
"testing"
)
const agentAccountFile = "/etc/claude-code/agent-account"
type manifestShell struct {
Resources []map[string]any `json:"resources"`
Shell []struct {
For string `json:"for"`
Slot string `json:"slot"`
Code string `json:"code"`
} `json:"shell"`
}
func readManifestShell(t *testing.T) manifestShell {
t.Helper()
raw, err := os.ReadFile("../../module.json")
if err != nil {
t.Fatal(err)
}
var m manifestShell
if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &m); err != nil {
t.Fatal(err)
}
return m
}
func resourceByID(t *testing.T, m manifestShell, id string) map[string]any {
t.Helper()
for _, r := range m.Resources {
if r["id"] == id {
return r
}
}
t.Fatalf("the manifest has no resource %q", id)
return nil
}
// zshCode is the one piece of zsh code the module contributes.
func zshCode(t *testing.T, m manifestShell) string {
t.Helper()
var code []string
for _, s := range m.Shell {
if s.For == "zsh" {
code = append(code, s.Code)
}
}
if len(code) != 1 {
t.Fatalf("the module contributes %d pieces of zsh code; one is expected", len(code))
}
return code[0]
}
// The file names the account agents run as, from the machine fact, which is the operator's where none is named.
func TestTheAccountAgentsRunAsIsWrittenForTheShell(t *testing.T) {
r := resourceByID(t, readManifestShell(t), "agent-account-name")
if r["type"] != "file" || r["path"] != agentAccountFile || r["mode"] != "0644" {
t.Fatalf("the account's file is %v", r)
}
if r["content"] != "${machine:agent-account}\n" {
t.Fatalf("the account's file holds %q", r["content"])
}
if _, has := r["owner"]; has {
t.Fatal("the account's file must be root's, as claude-agent is")
}
}
// The alias stands once, and only inside the guard that compares the account with the shell's own.
func TestTheAliasStandsOnlyBehindTheGuard(t *testing.T) {
code := zshCode(t, readManifestShell(t))
if n := strings.Count(code, "alias claude="); n != 1 {
t.Fatalf("the code names the alias %d times", n)
}
lines := strings.Split(code, "\n")
guard, alias, end := -1, -1, -1
for i, l := range lines {
l = strings.TrimSpace(l)
switch {
case l == "if [[ -n $agent && $agent != $USERNAME ]]; then":
guard = i
case l == "alias claude=claude-agent":
alias = i
case l == "fi" && guard >= 0 && alias > guard && end < 0:
end = i
}
}
if guard < 0 || alias < 0 || end < 0 || !(guard < alias && alias < end) {
t.Fatalf("the alias is not inside the guard:\n%s", code)
}
if strings.Contains(code, "${") {
t.Fatal("the code holds ${…}, which the controller does not fill in shell code and zsh reads as its own")
}
}
// Run in zsh, the code adds the alias only where the file names an account other than the shell's.
func TestTheCodeAddsTheAliasOnlyForAnotherAccount(t *testing.T) {
zsh, err := exec.LookPath("zsh")
if err != nil {
t.Skip("no zsh here")
}
me, err := user.Current()
if err != nil {
t.Fatal(err)
}
code := zshCode(t, readManifestShell(t))
cases := []struct {
name string
content *string
alias bool
}{
{"an agent account of its own", ptr("agent-of-its-own\n"), true},
{"agents run as the operator's account", ptr(me.Username + "\n"), false},
{"an empty file", ptr(""), false},
{"no file", nil, false},
}
for _, c := range cases {
t.Run(c.name, func(t *testing.T) {
file := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "agent-account")
if c.content != nil {
if err := os.WriteFile(file, []byte(*c.content), 0o644); err != nil {
t.Fatal(err)
}
}
script := strings.ReplaceAll(code, agentAccountFile, file) + "alias claude || true\n"
out, err := exec.Command(zsh, "-f", "-c", script).CombinedOutput()
if err != nil {
t.Fatalf("%v: %s", err, out)
}
got := strings.TrimSpace(string(out))
if c.alias && got != "claude=claude-agent" {
t.Fatalf("no alias: %q", got)
}
if !c.alias && got != "" {
t.Fatalf("an alias, or output, where none belongs: %q", got)
}
})
}
}
// claude-agent runs the real claude, never itself: with the alias in force in the shell that types claude,
// claude-agent's own `exec claude` finds the program on PATH, since an alias is a word of an interactive zsh
// and neither exec, sudo nor claude-agent's sh sees it.
func TestClaudeAgentRunsTheRealClaudeUnderTheAlias(t *testing.T) {
zsh, err := exec.LookPath("zsh")
if err != nil {
t.Skip("no zsh here")
}
me, err := user.Current()
if err != nil {
t.Fatal(err)
}
start, _ := resourceByID(t, readManifestShell(t), "start")["content"].(string)
if !strings.Contains(start, "exec claude \"$@\"") {
t.Fatalf("claude-agent no longer runs claude itself:\n%s", start)
}
bin := t.TempDir()
// Rendered for an account that is the caller's own, the branch that runs claude without sudo.
// A line after the shebang says the call went through it.
agent := strings.ReplaceAll(start, "${machine:agent-account}", me.Username)
agent = strings.Replace(agent, "\n", "\necho through claude-agent\n", 1)
if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(bin, "claude-agent"), []byte(agent), 0o755); err != nil {
t.Fatal(err)
}
if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(bin, "claude"), []byte("#!/bin/sh\necho \"the real claude $*\"\n"), 0o755); err != nil {
t.Fatal(err)
}
// zsh reads a -c string whole before it runs any of it, so the typed line is read after the alias, by eval.
cmd := exec.Command(zsh, "-f", "-c", "alias claude=claude-agent\neval 'claude --resume'\n")
cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), "PATH="+bin+string(os.PathListSeparator)+os.Getenv("PATH"))
out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
if err != nil {
t.Fatalf("%v: %s", err, out)
}
if got := strings.TrimSpace(string(out)); got != "through claude-agent\nthe real claude --resume" {
t.Fatalf("claude under the alias ran %q", got)
}
}
func ptr(s string) *string { return &s }
+14
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@@ -91,6 +91,13 @@
"mode": "0755",
"content": "#!/bin/sh\n# The mesh's (module claude-code, novox/hq ADR 0266): start the agent as the account agents run as on this\n# machine. Written whole at every push: an edit here is overwritten.\nagent='${machine:agent-account}'\nif [ \"$(id -un)\" = \"$agent\" ]; then\n\texec claude \"$@\"\nfi\n# Another account, the operator's, becomes the agent's through its own sudo: the person is the authority. The\n# operator's override of the guard travels only when it is set in this shell, as it would reach claude.\nif [ -n \"$MESH_GUARD_OVERRIDE\" ]; then\n\texec sudo -iu \"$agent\" env MESH_GUARD_OVERRIDE=\"$MESH_GUARD_OVERRIDE\" claude \"$@\"\nfi\nexec sudo -iu \"$agent\" claude \"$@\"\n"
},
{
"id": "agent-account-name",
"type": "file",
"path": "/etc/claude-code/agent-account",
"mode": "0644",
"content": "${machine:agent-account}\n"
},
{
"id": "agent-account",
"type": "user",
@@ -130,6 +137,13 @@
"content": "{\n \"role\": \"\",\n \"mcp_servers\": {},\n \"managed_settings\": {},\n \"instructions\": {},\n \"output_styles\": {},\n \"skills\": {},\n \"commands\": {},\n \"agents\": {}\n}\n"
}
],
"shell": [
{
"for": "zsh",
"slot": "normal",
"code": "# The agent's session (module claude-code, novox/hq ADR 0266): where this machine names an account of the\n# agents' own, claude in an interactive zsh is claude-agent, which starts the session as that account. Where\n# agents run as the operator's account the file names that account, and nothing is added. claude-agent runs\n# the real claude: exec, sudo and its sh see no alias.\nif [[ -r /etc/claude-code/agent-account ]]; then\n\t() {\n\t\tlocal agent=$(</etc/claude-code/agent-account)\n\t\tif [[ -n $agent && $agent != $USERNAME ]]; then\n\t\t\talias claude=claude-agent\n\t\tfi\n\t}\nfi\n"
}
],
"build": {
"artifacts": [
{