# Skald (project-family) — codebase guide

Rust async web app (Tokio + Axum). Runs as a local chat server with LLM tool-calling and a sub-agent system.

> **Never `git commit` unless explicitly asked.** Staging, building, running and testing are fine on your own initiative; creating a commit is not. Do the work, leave it in the working tree, and let the user commit — or ask them to — even when a commit looks like the obvious next step.

## What this repository is

A **dedicated fork** of Skald, turning a single-user personal agent into a **multi-user assistant for a small trusted group** — positioned at families, but see the neutrality rule below.

The design lives in **`blueprint/project-family.md`**. Read it before any architectural work; its sections are referenced by number (§0.1 neutrality, §5.1 database layout, §11 `UserManager`, §12 auth schema, §16 LLM privacy tiers, §17 sequencing). The `blueprint/` directory is **gitignored and not under version control** — treat it as the source of truth, and never assume a section says what you remember.

Load-bearing decisions from that document:

- **Not upstreamable.** Nothing here needs to preserve Skald's schema or be portable back to it.
- **Greenfield.** No users in production ⇒ **no migrations, no backwards compatibility**. Tables get restructured, renamed and moved freely; the schema collapses into a single clean baseline v1.
- **Dual memory**: a private per-user pool plus a shared pool. A user's private space is encrypted so that nobody else — the admin included — can read it *through normal use of the system*. Never claim "mathematically impossible": the honest promise is transparency plus verifiability (§3).
- **Threat model** (§2): the adversary is the **tempted admin**, who owns the box but does not recompile the binary or dump RAM. Do not design against a forensic attacker.
- **Roles are data, not enums** (§0.1): a `roles` table binds permission-group, run-context and data-handling attributes. "Children" is a seeded preset row, never a hardcoded type.

### The core is domain-neutral — this is a hard rule

"Family" is **positioning, not architecture**. Schema, engine, API, identifiers **and comments** must never contain `family`, `household`, `parent`, `child` or `minor`. A pivot to teams, small orgs or care settings must not require renaming anything.

| Domain concept | Technical primitive |
| ---- | ---- |
| the group | **implicit — it is the instance**. No group entity. Future multi-group ⇒ `tenant` / `workspace`, never `family` |
| shared memory | `memory/shared` |
| parent / admin | role `admin` |
| child / minor | a **data-driven role** defined by the admin |
| "the parent reads the child's data" | a generic **supervision edge** between users |

Domain words are allowed only in seed data, preset labels, UI copy and positioning.

### Current state

`UserManager` (§11) is now **consumed**. Login exists (`crates/skald-core/src/auth/`: `SessionStore` + the `guard.rs` deny-by-default middleware; first admin created by `skald-setup`), and the per-user owner-bound runtime is `UserContext` (`crates/skald-core/src/skald/user_context.rs`) — resolved by `Skald::user_context` / the frontend's `require_context`, keyed off `UserManager::pool_of`. The frontend owner call-sites (WS, sessions, inbox, approval-pending, projects, uploads, run-context, **cron**) route through the per-user pool; dev/stats read `llm_requests` — a *registry* table — from `system.db`, which is correct. The "owner-without-a-user" question resolved to **there isn't one**: every owner content belongs to a logged-in user (the admin included). The global owner-bound bundles (`Conversation`/`Tasks`: the "ownerless" `ChatSessionManager`, `ChatHub`, cron `TaskManager`, `TicManager`) are still constructed but **inert** — their loops never spawn and nothing consumes their accessors; removing them is pending follow-on work (kept for now because `RunContextManager` shares the `Conversation` bundle and *is* used, being registry-backed). See blueprint §19.

Direction of travel, decided but not yet executed: strip the **power-user surface** (self-rewriting, arbitrary shell, dev-agent suite, ticket system) and move to a **binary-first** layout — the app is built once and run from a compiled binary, not executed from its own source tree.

## Workspace layout

The application core is the `skald-core` crate; the binaries are **shells** around it.

| Crate | Role |
| ---- | ---- |
| `crates/skald-core/` | Storage, identity, crypto, LLM stack, tools, MCP, sessions. Knows nothing about what runs it: no Tauri, no HTTP server, and **no concrete plugin crate** — `PluginManager` only ever sees `Arc<dyn Plugin>` from `core-api` |
| `skald` (root, `src/`) | The server shell: `main.rs`, the Axum `frontend/`, the Tauri `desktop/`, `config.rs`. Constructs the plugin list and hands it to `Skald::new` |
| `crates/skald-setup/` | Guided first-run setup — a terminal shell over `skald-core`. Creates the first admin via `UserManager::register_user` (asking whether to encrypt, default yes). A separate binary so the server never links TTY-prompt deps, and so a future GUI installer is a third shell over the same `UserManager`. `run.sh` runs it before the server loop; it prompts only when `users` is empty **and** stdin is a terminal, otherwise a no-op. `--check` reports readiness by exit code (0 done, 1 needed) |
| `crates/core-api/` | The contracts both sides share: `Plugin`, `Tool`, event buses, provider types |

Two rules keep the boundary real, and both are enforced by the compiler:

- **The core never names a plugin.** A plugin contributes tools through `Plugin::tools(self: Arc<Self>)` — the sibling of `http_router()` — so nothing in the core has to downcast to a concrete type. Naming one would drag every plugin in the tree into the core, including a C build via `plugin-transcribe-whisper-local`.
- **The core never learns about the process shell.** The `restart` tool defaults to the supervisor protocol (`exit(-1)`); a shell with different needs installs `tools::restart::set_restart_handler` at startup. The Tauri shell installs teardown-and-respawn there. This is why `skald-core` has no `desktop` feature.

`skald_core::boot` emits curated startup lines on the `boot` tracing target; each shell decides how to render them (`src/boot_format.rs` here). The core says what happened, never how it looks.

## Key modules

| Path | Role |
| ---- | ---- |
| `src/main.rs` | Thin entry point: tracing → `Skald::new` → `WebFrontend::start` → shutdown. Branches on the `desktop` feature: under `--features desktop` enters `desktop::run()` (Tauri event loop) instead of blocking on a tokio runtime. Exposes `run_backend()` / `shutdown_backend()` shared by both entry points |
| `src/desktop/mod.rs` | Tauri shell — **only compiled under `--features desktop`**. Builds the system-tray icon + menu (`Open` / `Quit`), creates the main `WebviewWindow` (URL = `http://127.0.0.1:{config.port}`), spawns the backend on Tauri's shared tokio runtime, handles graceful shutdown. Holds the `OnceLock<AppHandle>`, and installs the core's restart handler. See [docs/desktop.md](docs/desktop.md) |
| `crates/skald-core/src/skald/` | `Skald` — headless application core. `mod.rs` (struct + staged `new()` / `shutdown()`), `runtime.rs` (cross-cutting `Runtime` context), `bundles.rs` (8 domain bundles + `build()`), `wiring.rs` (`wire()` + `spawn_background()`), `supervisor.rs` (`TaskSupervisor`), `accessors.rs` (per-manager accessor facade — the API surface the frontend uses) |
| `crates/skald-core/src/session/handler/` | Core LLM loop — `mod.rs`, `llm_loop.rs` (`run_agent_turn`), `agent_dispatch.rs`, `dispatcher.rs`, `approval.rs`, `resume.rs`, `messages.rs`, `config.rs`, `interface_tools.rs` |
| `crates/skald-core/src/session/manager.rs` | Creates/retrieves `ChatSessionHandler` per session |
| `crates/skald-core/src/chat_hub/` | `ChatHub`: broadcast events to all connected WS clients |
| `crates/skald-core/src/chat_event_bus.rs` | Global async bus for cross-session events |
| `crates/skald-core/src/agents.rs` | Discovers agents from `agents/*/`, loads meta + system prompt |
| `crates/skald-core/src/tools/` | Built-in tools: `exec` (**runs inside the caller's per-user Docker container** via `docker exec` — see `container/`), `restart`, `list_agents`, `fs/*` (route `user-memory/`/`shared-memory/` to `memory_docs`, and every other **physical** path through `ctx.fs` to the caller's per-user host workspace — see DB tables + container), `notify`, `ast_outline`, `image_generate`, MCP tools, plugin tools, cron tools |
| `crates/skald-core/src/container/` | `ContainerManager` (§6): per-user Docker containers (the execution sandbox). Docker is a **hard requirement** — `check_docker()` fails `Skald::new` (→ shell exits) if the daemon is unreachable. Builds our own `skald-runtime` image (python+node) once from the embedded `Dockerfile`, then `reconcile_all()` at boot ensures one running container `skald-{userid}` per active user. `build_user_fs()` assembles a user's `UserFs` (home `{WD}/homes/{userid}` → `/root`, plus each `shared/{name}` they belong to). Shells the `docker` CLI (no client crate) |
| `crates/skald-core/src/tool_catalog.rs` | `ToolCatalog`: unified tool listing façade (wraps ToolRegistry + McpManager) |
| `crates/skald-core/src/events.rs` | `ServerEvent` enum streamed over WebSocket to the frontend |
| `crates/skald-core/src/db/` | sqlx SQLite — see below |
| `crates/skald-core/src/users/` | `UserManager` (§11): user directory CRUD on `system.db`, credential check, and the map `userid → SqlitePool` of **unlocked** databases. The pool *is* the unlock token — its connect options carry the DEK as SQLCipher's raw key, so an open pool means the key is in RAM (§9) and dropping it re-locks. Knows nothing about cookies: whatever maps an HTTP session to a user id sits above it |
| `crates/skald-core/src/crypto/` | Envelope encryption (§4/§5.1). A random 256-bit DEK encrypts `{userid}.db`; `users.database_password` holds it sealed with AES-256-GCM under `Argon2id(password, salt)`. **The AEAD tag is the password verifier** — one derivation both authenticates and yields the key, and no second hash sits in the admin-readable DB. Cleartext users store the Argon2id output directly, compared constant-time. Argon2 runs in `spawn_blocking` behind a 2-permit semaphore (256 MiB per derivation) |
| `src/config.rs` | Loads `config.yml`; LLM clients, strength/use_cases, data root. Also hosts `bootstrap_data_dir()` — under the `desktop` feature, relocates the process cwd to a per-user data dir when running inside a `.app` bundle (no-op in dev mode and headless mode) |
| `crates/skald-core/src/mcp/` | MCP runtimes + the `McpProvider` seam (§7): the shared host **global** runtime and the per-user **container** runtimes, unioned per session as `UserMcpView`. See the MCP connectors section |
| `crates/skald-core/src/plugin/` | Plugin system: discovery, enable/disable, tool registration |
| `crates/skald-core/src/cron/` | Scheduled job runner |
| `crates/skald-core/src/compactor.rs` | Context compaction (summarises history when token budget exceeded) |
| `crates/skald-core/src/approval/` | Approval rules engine |
| `crates/skald-core/src/clarification/` | `ClarificationManager`: background-session question/answer |
| `crates/skald-core/src/elicitation/` | `ElicitationManager` + bridge: MCP server-initiated input (`elicitation/create`), surfaced in the Inbox; secrets never logged/persisted |
| `crates/skald-core/src/inbox.rs` | `Inbox`: unified façade for pending approvals + clarifications + elicitations (wraps ApprovalManager, ClarificationManager, ElicitationManager) |
| `crates/skald-core/src/llm/` | LLM client abstraction (OpenAI-compat, Anthropic, Ollama…) |
| `crates/skald-core/src/transcribe/` | Transcription providers |
| `crates/skald-core/src/image_generate/` | Image generation providers |
| `crates/skald-core/src/memory/` | Agent memory tools |
| `src/frontend/mod.rs` | `WebFrontend`: wires router_factory, starts plugins, runs Axum |
| `src/frontend/server.rs` | Axum router, static file serving |
| `src/frontend/api/` | HTTP + WebSocket handlers — `State<Arc<Skald>>` |
| `web/components/` | Lit web components (see below) |

## DB tables (sqlx SQLite)

`database/system.db` — the path is a constant (`core::db::SYSTEM_DB_PATH`), **not** configurable. `init_system_pool` creates the directory; SQLite only creates the file. Per-user files are `database/{userid}.db`, created by `UserManager::register_user` and encrypted with SQLCipher.

The schema is split into two buckets (§5.1), and the split is the point:

- **`create_registry_tables`** — instance-wide, readable without any user key: `users`, `roles`, `llm_providers`, `llm_models`, `transcribe_models`, `tts_models`, `image_generate_models`, `plugins`, `approval_rules`, `tool_permission_groups`, `config`, `known_tools`, `llm_requests`, `mcp_catalog`, `mcp_global_servers` + `mcp_global_access`, `role_capabilities`, `shared_folders` + `shared_folder_members`. The MCP four back the Connectors model (§7/§14/§15 — see its own section). The last two (accessor `db/shared_folders.rs`) are the **membership** of the on-disk shared folders (§6): a junction table so a member can be read-only (`can_write`) and so the container mount topology + the `shared/{X}` fs routing both query it. FK `shared_folder_members.user_id → users(id)` is registry→registry (same file), which is allowed — unlike an owner→registry key.
- **`create_owner_tables`** — one owner's content, **identical schema in every file that has it**: `chat_sessions`, `chat_sessions_stack`, `chat_history`, `chat_llm_tools`, `chat_summaries`, `session_scratchpad`, `session_mcp_grants`, `stack_mcp_grants`, `scheduled_jobs`, `job_runs`, `mcp_user_servers`, `mcp_events`, `sources`, `secrets`, `projects`, `project_tickets`, `llm_request_payloads`, `memory_docs` (+ FTS5 `memory_docs_fts`). `mcp_user_servers` (a user's activated per-user connectors) carries `catalog_name` as a **bare `TEXT` snapshot** of `mcp_catalog.name`, never a FK — an owner→registry key would fail every INSERT. Because `memory_docs` is an owner table, one definition backs **private** memory in each `{userid}.db` and **shared** memory in `system.db` (the household owner) — see the memory namespace note below.

**No foreign key in the owner bucket may point at a registry table.** SQLite cannot enforce a key across files, not even through `ATTACH`, and sqlx turns on `PRAGMA foreign_keys`: the `CREATE TABLE` succeeds and every `INSERT` fails. `db::tests::owner_tables_stand_alone_with_foreign_keys_on` enforces this by running the owner schema against a database holding nothing else, then inserting a row into each table. Two keys crossed and were fixed: `chat_history.model_db_id` (dropped — write-only, and `llm_requests.model_name` already records the model) and `project_tickets.job_id` (fixed by moving `projects`/`project_tickets` into the owner bucket).

**Memory namespace (blueprint §5).** `memory_docs` (accessor `db/memory_docs.rs` — `get`/`upsert`/`list`/`search`(FTS)/`delete`) backs a virtual note store surfaced through the fs-tools, **not** the disk. Two sibling roots (not the blueprint's nested `memory/{userid}` + `memory/shared`): `user-memory/…` routes to the caller's own pool (`ToolContext::pool`), `shared-memory/…` to the system pool (a singleton captured in `fs::register_all`). `tools/fs/classify_memory()` decides on the raw first path component (a `..` in the tail clamps inside the store, never escapes to disk); `read_file`/`write_file`/`list_files`/`edit_file`/`insert_at_line`/`replace_lines`/`search_file` override `run_with` to route memory paths (each extracting a pure transform shared with its on-disk `execute`) and leave every other path on disk. Approval (seeded in `seed_fs_path_rules`): `user-memory/*` is `@fs_any allow` (private, frictionless); `shared-memory/*` is `@fs_read allow` + `@fs_write require` — reads free, **writes need approval** so the agent can't silently push one person's data into shared memory. `grep_files` stays disk-only (regex-across-tree ≠ FTS); ranked full-text recall over notes is a separate tool, `memory_search` (`tools/fs/memory_search.rs`), over the `memory_docs` FTS index — allowed by a path-less rule (it takes `query`, not `path`).

**Memory injection into the prompt**: `MessageBuilder::load_inject_memory` routes each `meta.inject_memory` entry — `user-memory/…` → owner pool, `shared-memory/…` → the shared (`system.db`) pool, both via `memory_docs::get`; anything else (`data/…`, `$WD/…`) is a disk read. The shared pool is threaded `ChatSessionManager` → handler → `MessageBuilder`. `main` and `project-coordinator` inject `user-memory/index.md` + `shared-memory/index.md`.

`system.db` still gets **both** bucket functions — but no longer because the migration is unstarted. It gets the owner schema because it *is* the owner of **shared** memory (`memory_docs`) plus, for now, the globally-scoped `secrets` and the `mcp_events` lifecycle log (`SecretsStore` and the global `McpManager` are built on the system pool and shared by reference into every `UserContext`; the global runtime's *config* now lives in the registry table `mcp_global_servers`, and per-user connector config in each user's owner `mcp_user_servers`). Every *other* owner table is created there but never written to anymore — the global owner-bound managers that would write them (chat/jobs/etc.) are inert (see "Current state"). Fully dropping `create_owner_tables` from `system.db` is blocked on the §4 scope decision for secrets (plus the residual global `mcp_events` log), not on call-site migration.

`users` (`crates/skald-core/src/db/users.rs`) holds the directory plus auth material. It lives in the system DB, which the box owner can read, so it must never store anything that derives a user's key. `Credentials` is an enum mirroring the table's `CHECK`: an encrypted user carries a **wrapped DEK** (whose AEAD tag *is* the password verifier — hence no `password_hash`); a cleartext user carries an ordinary verifier, or none. `User` is deliberately not `Serialize` and its `Debug` redacts key material — use `User::summary()` for anything leaving the process. `role_id` references `roles(id)` (the `roles` table is now seeded before `users` in `create_registry_tables`).

## Filesystem & containers (blueprint §6)

Each user has one **permanent Docker container** (`skald-{userid}`, our own `skald-runtime` image with python+node), created on user creation and started at boot (`ContainerManager`, `crates/skald-core/src/container/`). Docker is **required**: a missing daemon fails `Skald::new` and the process exits.

The agent sees **one namespace**, routed on the first path component. The choke point is `UserFs` (`core-api/src/user_fs.rs`, a pure value type carried in `ToolContext.fs`), plus `resolve_host_path()` in `tools/fs/mod.rs`:

| Agent path | Backing | Routed by |
| ---- | ---- | ---- |
| `user-memory/…` | SQLite `ctx.pool` (`{userid}.db`) | `classify_memory` → `memory_docs` |
| `shared-memory/…` | SQLite `system.db` | `classify_memory` → `memory_docs` |
| `shared/{X}/…` | host `{WD}/shared/{X}` (if a member) | `UserFs::host_base_and_tail` |
| `~/…`, relative | host `{WD}/homes/{userid}` | `UserFs::host_base_and_tail` |

Two views, **one storage**: the fs-tools run **host-side** in the Skald process on `{WD}/homes/{userid}` + `{WD}/shared/{X}`; `execute_cmd` runs **inside the container** (`docker exec -w <container-path> skald-{userid} sh -c …`, via `ExecuteCmd::run_with`) on the same paths bind-mounted (`homes/{userid}`→`/root`, `shared/{X}`→`/root/shared/{X}`, read-only when `can_write=0`). A file written in the container appears to the host fs-tools and vice versa.

**Containment** (`resolve_host_path`): every physical fs-tool op canonicalizes the resolved path (following symlinks) and prefix-checks it against its mount base, **fail-closed**. Since the same tree is writable from inside the container, a symlink planted there that points outside the home/shared root is caught here — the host-side tool never escapes the user's workspace. `grep_files` stays disk-only (regex ≠ FTS; memory → `memory_search`) but resolves its root the same way. `execute_cmd`'s `workdir` is an agent path mapped to its container path via `UserFs::to_container`.

The threading: `UserContext.fs` (built by `container::build_user_fs` at login, snapshotting shared memberships) → `ChatSessionManager` → `ChatSessionHandler.fs` → `ToolContext.fs`. `execute_cmd` cancellation caveat: dropping the `docker exec` client on /stop may not kill the in-container process (a robust stop tracking the PID + `docker exec … kill` is a follow-up). **Per-user MCP connectors now run inside this container** (§7) — the container infra enabled it; see the MCP connectors section.

## MCP connectors (blueprint §7/§14/§15)

MCP servers are surfaced to users as **"Connectors"** (UI naming; `mcp`/schema stays neutral, §0.1). The old single owner table `mcp_servers`, the agent-facing `register_mcp`/`delete_mcp` tools, and the `mcp` kinds of `list_items`/`toggle_item` are **gone**. Connectors are now admin-curated and user-activated through the Connectors UI/API — never written by the agent, which closes the §14 RCE vector (prompt-injection → agent writes+registers a local script → arbitrary code on the box).

**Two runtimes, one view (§7).** A session's MCP tools are the **union** of:

- **Global runtime** — shared, stateless connectors (web-search, Tavily…) that run on the **host**, connected at boot from `mcp_global_servers` by `McpManager::initialize`. Filtered per user by `mcp_global_access`.
- **Per-user runtime** — the connectors a user has activated, run **inside their container**, started at first login from that user's owner `mcp_user_servers` and living until restart (§9; the `docker exec -i` children die via `kill_on_drop` when the `UserContext` drops).

`McpProvider` (`mcp/provider.rs`) is the trait the session code talks to, so `all_tool_defs` / `render_mcp_list` / `ActivateTools` never learn which runtime owns a server. `McpManager` implements it directly (used for the inert ownerless bundle, §19); `UserMcpView` implements it as `global ∪ user`, where `accessible_global` is a snapshot of `mcp_global_access` captured when the `UserContext` is built (like fs membership). Both runtimes share `McpManager::connect_all(specs, boot)`; `McpServerSpec` + `global_row_spec`/`user_row_spec` turn a DB row into a connectable spec (a per-user `local_script` spec targets the user's container).

**Authorization is a capability on the role, not `if role==admin`** (§0.1/§14 — `db/role_capabilities.rs`): `mcp.register_remote` + `mcp.register_local_from_catalog` are self-service (seeded on every new role by `roles::create` via `seed_defaults`); `mcp.register_local_script` + `mcp.manage_catalog` are admin-only. `admin` holds every capability by construction (short-circuit in `has()`). API handlers gate through `require_cap`.

**Tables** (see DB section) — registry: `mcp_catalog` (admin-vetted templates; holds only the *schema* of what an activation must supply, never live creds), `mcp_global_servers` + `mcp_global_access`, `role_capabilities`. Owner: `mcp_user_servers` (per-user activations; `api_key` encrypted at rest, `catalog_name` a bare `TEXT` snapshot).

**Endpoints** (`src/frontend/api/mcp.rs`, mounted in `api/mod.rs`) — admin: `/mcp/catalog` (GET/POST/DELETE), `/mcp/global` (list/enable/delete + `/{id}/access` GET/PUT). User: `/mcp/available`, `/mcp/activate`, `/mcp/activated` (+ DELETE `/{id}` to deactivate). `connectors.js` (`<connectors-page>`) renders the user view (activate/deactivate + granted globals) always, and the admin view (catalog + global + per-server access grants) when `role_id === 'admin'`.

**Deferred:** interactive per-user auth (the §15 OAuth-callback / QR / SSH elicitation flow) — only `none`/`api_key` auth kinds are wired. No boot seed of catalog presets yet; the admin populates the catalog from the UI.

## Sub-agent system

- Synchronous sub-agents (`execute_task` mode=sync / `execute_subtask`) are **not** plain `Tool`s — they are intercepted in `run_agent_turn` before registry dispatch.
- `dispatch_sub_agent` (in `agent_dispatch.rs`) creates a child `chat_sessions_stack` row and runs `run_agent_turn` **recursively in the same task**, holding the same `processing` lock and sharing the same cancellation token. The child's result string becomes the parent tool call's result (completion lives in one place — the `run_agent_turn` tool-result match); then it terminates the child frame. There is no task-spawn / `WaitingChild` / resume cascade for the sync path.
- Max recursion depth: `MAX_AGENT_DEPTH = 5`.
- **Parallel batches:** when a single assistant response emits **≥2** sync sub-agent calls and *nothing else*, `run_agent_turn` fans them out concurrently via `handle_sub_agent_batch` (bounded by `max_parallel_subagents`, default `4`). Ordering is preserved by allocating every `chat_llm_tools` row up front in call order (the LLM reconstructs results by row id), then recording outcomes back in call order; only the middle dispatch is concurrent. Any other shape (a lone call, or a mix with regular tools) keeps the strictly sequential `handle_tool_call` loop — the two paths share the same lower-level seams. Siblings share the session's scratchpad blackboard (session-keyed): concurrent writes to the *same* key are last-writer-wins by design.
- **Restart recovery of a parallel batch** is intentionally lossy (single-user app): `resume_turn` first calls `reap_interrupted_parallel_batches`, which detects a batch by ≥2 active `chat_sessions_stack` frames at the same depth (impossible for a linear stack), fails their spawning tool calls and terminates the frames, then lets the normal linear cascade resume the parent. A lone interrupted sub-agent is untouched and still recovers via the cascade.
- Client resolution order: `args.client` → `meta.json client` → AUTO selection by scope/strength.
- **The parent's resolved client is NOT inherited.** Passing a concrete model name to `resolve()` bypasses strength/scope checks; sub-agents always auto-select unless overridden explicitly.
- `list_agents` is a plain tool; returns JSON excluding `main`.
- `resume_turn` (+ its cascade) is kept only for: app-restart recovery of an active child stack, async task result injection (`inject_async_result`), and the WS resume message — not for the normal sync dispatch.

## Cancellation (stop)

- Each turn has a `CancellationToken` (`tokio_util`). `handle_message` mints a fresh one per user message and stores it in `current_cancel`; `resume_turn` mints one per resume. A **clone is threaded by value** through the whole (recursive) call tree — never re-read from the field mid-turn — so a `/stop` is **sticky** across sub-agent recursion.
- `cancel()` cancels the stored token. It is checked at each round boundary and before each tool call, wrapped around the in-flight LLM call (`tokio::select!`, aborting the request), and wrapped around `execute_cmd` (drops the future → `kill_on_drop` kills the shell process). Parent and child share the token, so a cancelled child stops the parent by construction.

## Approval gate

The rule engine `ApprovalManager::check` returns `Allow`/`Deny`/`Require` per tool call (default rules seeded on first boot; the catch-all `* require @999999` gates anything not explicitly allowed — e.g. `execute_cmd`, `restart`, `execute_task`, writes outside whitelisted paths). A `Require` registers a `oneshot` in the in-memory `pending` map keyed by `request_id` and emits an approval event over WS.

Resolution is **source-agnostic**: the WS + Inbox paths resolve by `request_id`; the inline chat card resolves by the durable `tool_call_id` via `POST /api/tools/:tool_call_id/resolve` (`resolve_tool` in `src/frontend/api/sessions.rs`), which derives the owning session from the tool call's own stack row — never a hardcoded source. Live pending cards fire the `oneshot`; post-restart they execute directly on the owning session. See `docs/approval/`.

**Tool visibility in the Security-groups UI** (`GET /api/approval/tools`): tools injected outside the `ToolRegistry` (interface/plugin/provider tools) would otherwise be un-configurable. `ToolCatalog::list_all()` covers registry tools + a static `synthetic_tools()` list of core interface tools; everything else is captured by `crates/skald-core/src/tool_discovery.rs` (`ToolDiscovery`), which taps `all_tool_defs()` in `llm_loop.rs` each round and upserts every offered tool into the `known_tools` table (in-memory seen-set guard → background DB write). `list_tools` merges `known_tools` (deduped, `category: "dynamic"`) so any tool offered at least once becomes gate-able. Drift-proof by construction; core never hardcodes plugin tool names.

## Restart

`restart` **no longer rebuilds anything** — neither mode compiles.

- **Headless** (default): no handler installed, so `restart` calls `libc::_exit(-1)` (= exit code 255); `run.sh` re-executes the same binary *by path*.
- **Desktop** (`--features desktop`): the Tauri shell installs a handler via `tools::restart::set_restart_handler` — cleanup + respawn of the bundled binary + `exit(0)`. The core does not know Tauri exists.

Use it to pick up `config.yml` / database changes, which are only read at startup. To load new **code**: `./build.sh`, then restart — the supervisor picks up the new binary on the next loop, since `build.sh` installs it with an atomic rename.

> `run.bat` is still stale (`cargo run`) and must be fixed.

## Build & run

```sh
./build.sh      # release build → bin/skald and bin/skald-setup (atomic install)
./build.sh -d   # debug profile; extra args are forwarded to the server build
./run.sh        # first-run setup, then the supervisor loop — never compiles
```

`build.sh` builds and installs **both** binaries; forwarded args (e.g. `--features desktop`) go to the server only.

`run.sh` resolves the server binary as `$SKALD_BIN` → `bin/skald` → `target/release/skald`, and warns when sources are newer than it. Before the loop it runs `skald-setup` (found next to the server, or `$SKALD_SETUP_BIN`); a non-zero exit there — a failed or cancelled wizard — stops `run.sh` before the server starts. Server exit `0` stops the loop, `255` re-executes, anything else propagates.

> In a **debug** build, Argon2id at 256 MiB is unoptimised and takes far longer than the ~1s of a release build — `skald-setup -d` will feel stuck at the password step. Use the release binary for anything interactive.

Tracing filter: `RUST_LOG=skald=debug,info`

### Desktop bundle (Tauri)

```sh
cargo run --features desktop          # dev: real window + tray, no bundle
cargo tauri build --features desktop  # release bundle: .app / .exe / .AppImage
```

Requires `cargo install tauri-cli --version "^2"`. The `desktop` feature is default-off.

## Adding an agent

Create `agents/<id>/meta.json` and `agents/<id>/AGENT.md`. The agent is discovered at runtime (no restart needed for prompt edits). Optionally set `"client": "<name>"` in meta.json to pin a specific LLM.

## Documentation

The `docs/` directory is **ignored** for now — do not read it, reference it, or update it. It is slated for removal.

## Config

Copy `default.config.yaml` → `config.yml`. Never commit `config.yml` (contains API keys).

## Python environment

All Python scripts (MCP servers, setup scripts) use a local virtualenv at `.venv/` in the project root.

`run.sh` creates it automatically on first launch (using `uv` if available, otherwise `python3 -m venv`) and installs `requirements.txt`. It then prepends `.venv/bin` to `PATH` before starting the app, so every child process — MCP server launches, `execute_cmd` shell calls — resolves `python3` to the venv automatically. No manual activation needed. **Python is optional**: if neither `uv` nor `python3` is found, the app starts normally and only Python-based MCP servers will be unavailable.

To add a Python dependency: add it to `requirements.txt`. It will be installed on the next `./run.sh` invocation if `.venv` does not yet exist — or run `uv pip install -r requirements.txt` manually.

## Frontend components (`web/components/`)

All extend `LightElement` from `web/lib/base.js` (Lit). `ChatSession` (`web/lib/chat-session.js`) is the shared base for WS-connected chat UIs.

| File | Element | Notes |
| ---- | ------- | ----- |
| `copilot.js` | `<app-copilot>` | Desktop copilot (`_wsSource='web'`); composer input with model pill, auto-resize textarea |
| `shared/chat-page.js` | `<chat-page>` | Mobile chat (`_wsSource='mobile'`) |
| `copilot-render.js` | (helpers) | `renderMsg`, `renderTool`, `renderDiff`, etc. — shared by copilot and chat-page |
| `sidebar.js` | `<app-sidebar>` | Nav sidebar; polls `/api/inbox` every 10 s for badge |
| `topbar.js` | `<app-topbar>` | Top nav bar |
| `home-page.js` | `<home-page>` | Landing / dashboard |
| `shared/file-viewer-base.js` | `FileViewerBase` (base) | Shared file-viewer engine (fetch, kind detection, markdown/PDF/SVG/LaTeX, watcher, `_renderBody`); driven by `_show`/`_hide`. Extended by desktop + mobile |
| `file-viewer-page.js` | `<file-viewer-page>` | Desktop file viewer: `FileViewerBase` + hash routing via `window.openFile(path)` → `#file_viewer?path=...` |
| `shared/file-viewer-mobile.js` | `<mobile-file-viewer-page>` | Mobile file viewer: `FileViewerBase` + prop-driven (`visible`/`path`), full-screen with back button |
| `agents.js` | `<agents-page>` | Agent discovery and config |
| `agent-inbox.js` | `<agent-inbox-page>` | Pending approvals + clarifications from background sessions |
| `approval-rules.js` | `<approval-rules-page>` | Approval rule management |
| `cron-jobs.js` | `<cron-jobs-page>` | Scheduled job management |
| `connectors.js` | `<connectors-page>` | MCP Connectors: user activate/deactivate + granted globals; admin catalog + global-server + per-server access management (§7/§14/§15) |
| `llm-providers.js` | `<llm-providers-page>` | LLM provider management |
| `models-hub.js` | `<models-hub-page>` | Models hub landing (LLM / Transcription / Image) |
| `models-llm.js` | `<models-llm-section>` | LLM model CRUD + drag-and-drop priority |
| `models-transcribe.js` | `<models-transcribe-section>` | Transcription model CRUD |
| `models-image.js` | `<models-image-section>` | Image generation model CRUD |
| `mobile-app.js` | `<mobile-app>` | Mobile app shell |