fix(3044): a parent's mount of a child's config is read-only

The parent's copy is for reading a child's config; a change to it is a PR
on the child's repo, made from a clone and merged after review. A
writable mount is a second path to the same file that skips that review,
which makes the boundary a convention rather than a permission.

Confirmed with ruth before flipping: it clones from the forge and opens a
PR, including for a brand-new child's first config.

The prose was the larger half. docs/approvals.md did not merely describe
the old mount, it *instructed* agents to use it ("can therefore edit,
commit, and submit changes for any of its direct children directly inside
its container"), and the doc comment in host_config.rs asserted a
dependency that never existed: the InitConfig seed runs as hive-c0re
against the host path, and read_only on a bind constrains writers inside
the container only. That comment is what produced issue #3206, now closed
as invalid.

docs/approvals.md

@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ per container row.
 ## Two repos per agent
 
 ```
-/var/lib/hyperhive/agents/<name>/config/    proposed — submitting agent RW
+/var/lib/hyperhive/agents/<name>/config/    proposed — parent mount is RO
 └── <anything>                              # any files the submitting
                                             # agent wants in the commit.
                                             # agent.nix is the
@@ -490,12 +490,17 @@ approval card. See `docs/web-ui.md`.
 
 ### Submitting agent's view of config repos
 
-Every parent agent's container has its **direct children's** proposed
+Every parent agent's container has its **direct children's** config
-config repos bind-mounted read-write (topology-driven: `lifecycle.rs`
+repos bind-mounted **read-only** (topology-driven: `lifecycle.rs` calls
-calls `bind_child_agent_dirs` for each entry in
+`bind_child_agent_dirs` for each entry in
-`topology::children_of(agent_name)`). An agent with the `approvals`
+`topology::children_of(agent_name)`). It is a copy to *read* a child's
-tool group can therefore edit, commit, and submit changes for any of
+current config — not an editing surface.
-its direct children directly inside its container at `/agents/<child>/config/`.
+
+An agent with the `approvals` tool group submits a change the same way
+any other change is made: **clone the child's config repo from the
+forge into its own state dir, commit on a branch, open a PR**, and let
+the operator review and approve it. There is deliberately no second,
+mount-shaped path that reaches the same file without the review.
 
 Agents holding the `can_manage_top_level_agents` topology role
 (defined as `ROLE_CAN_MANAGE_TOP_LEVEL_AGENTS` in `hive-c0re/src/agent_config/topology.rs`)

docs/persistence.md

@@ -314,12 +314,12 @@ Under `/var/lib/hyperhive/agents/<name>/`:
 
 ### Parent access to child state
 
-A parent agent gets each direct child's `state` and `config` dirs
+A parent agent gets each direct child's `state` dir bind-mounted
-bind-mounted **read-write** (`bind_child_agent_dirs` in
+**read-write** and its `config` dir **read-only**
-`lifecycle/host_config.rs`). The RW on `state` is deliberate, not an
+(`bind_child_agent_dirs` in `lifecycle/host_config.rs`). The RW on
-oversight: a parent manages its children, which includes writing into a
+`state` is deliberate, not an oversight: a parent manages its children,
-child's state for recovery (e.g. seeding notes, clearing a stuck
+which includes writing into a child's state for recovery (e.g. seeding
-sentinel) as well as reading it.
+notes, clearing a stuck sentinel) as well as reading it.
 
 **`harness` is not mounted at all.** It holds the child's own runtime
 material — `bash-tasks/`, the turn-stats and event sqlite dbs — and
@@ -329,11 +329,18 @@ never an argument so much as the side-effect of one loop treating all
 three dirs alike. hive-c0re reads a child's harness dir **directly on the
 host** when it wants those stats, which needs no mount into the parent.
 
-`config` is still RW, and **nothing justifies that**: a config change is
+**`config` is read-only, including for the parent.** A config change is
-a PR on the child's config repo, made from a clone, so the bind-mounted
+a PR on the child's config repo, made from a clone and merged after
-`config` dir is a read-only *copy* for reading a child's config — not a
+review — so the bind-mounted `config` dir is a *copy to read*, never a
-tree anyone edits in place. Narrowing it is tracked separately, and
+tree anyone edits in place. Mounting it writable would leave a second
-depends on relocating where `InitConfig` seeds.
+path to the same file that skips the review entirely, which makes the
+boundary a convention rather than a permission.
+
+⚠️ Not to be confused with the seeding done when an `InitConfig`
+approval resolves: that writes the child's initial config repo as
+**hive-c0re, against the host path**, and `read_only` on a bind
+constrains writers *inside* a container only. The two are unrelated, and
+reading them as the same thing is what kept this mount writable.
 
 Per-child isolation still holds: a container only ever has its *own*
 dirs plus its direct children's bind-mounted, never a sibling's.

hive-c0re/src/lifecycle/host_config.rs

@@ -71,37 +71,46 @@ async fn systemd_daemon_reload() -> Result<()> {
 /// inside the container.
 pub const CONTAINER_MANAGER_APPLIED_MOUNT: &str = "/applied";
 
-/// Append bind flags for `child`'s state and config dirs into `binds`,
+/// Append bind flags for `child`'s state and config dirs into `binds`.
-/// read-write. See docs/persistence.md ("Parent access to child state")
+/// See docs/persistence.md ("Parent access to child state") for what a
-/// for what a parent may touch and why. Creates missing host-side
+/// parent may touch and why. Creates missing host-side directories so
-/// directories so nspawn doesn't refuse to start; missing dirs are
+/// nspawn doesn't refuse to start; missing dirs are non-fatal.
-/// non-fatal.
 ///
-/// **`harness` is deliberately absent.** It holds the child's own runtime
+/// **Three dirs, three different answers** — the uniformity of the
-/// material — `bash-tasks/`, turn-stats and event sqlite dbs — none of
+/// original loop is what hid that:
-/// which a parent has a stated reason to read, let alone write. It was
-/// mounted only because the loop treated all three dirs alike; the three
-/// have three different answers, and the uniformity is what hid that.
-/// hive-c0re still reads a child's harness dir directly on the host
-/// (`stats::hive_stats`), which needs no bind mount into the parent.
 ///
-/// `config` is RW here **pending** the sequenced change: the ruling is
+/// - `state` is **read-write**: a parent reads and writes a child's notes
-/// that it becomes read-only, but `request_init_config` still has the
+///   to recover it, which is the one case that needs to work while the
-/// manager seed a new child's config in place, so flipping the mount
+///   child is down.
-/// before relocating that step breaks agent creation hive-wide.
+/// - `config` is **read-only**, and read-only for the *parent* is the
+///   point: a config change is a PR against the child's repo on the
+///   forge, reviewed and merged, never an edit in place. A writable mount
+///   here is a second path to the same file that skips the review — the
+///   boundary would then be a convention rather than a permission.
+/// - `harness` is **absent entirely**. It holds the child's own runtime
+///   material — `bash-tasks/`, turn-stats and event sqlite dbs — none of
+///   which a parent has a stated reason to read, let alone write.
+///   hive-c0re still reads it directly on the host (`stats::hive_stats`),
+///   which needs no bind mount into the parent.
+///
+/// ⚠️ The seeding done at `InitConfig` approval is **not** affected by the
+/// `config` flag and must not be read as a reason to widen it: that runs
+/// as hive-c0re against the host path (see `actions.rs`, which seeds the
+/// repo and wires its forge remote inline), and `read_only` on a bind
+/// constrains writers *inside* the container only.
 fn bind_child_agent_dirs(child: &str, binds: &mut Vec<BindMount>) {
     let Ok(child) = hive_types::Ident::parse(child) else {
         tracing::warn!(%child, "skipping child bind: invalid agent name");
         return;
     };
     let child_root = crate::paths::agent_state_dir(&child);
-    for sub in ["state", "config"] {
+    for (sub, read_only) in [("state", false), ("config", true)] {
         let host = child_root.join(sub);
         let _ = std::fs::create_dir_all(&host);
         binds.push(BindMount {
             host_path: host.to_string_lossy().into_owned(),
             container_path: format!("/agents/{child}/{sub}"),
-            read_only: false,
+            read_only,
         });
     }
 }
@@ -252,9 +261,8 @@ async fn set_nspawn_flags(
     });
 
     // Topology-driven child mounts: every direct child of this agent gets
-    // its state, harness, and config dirs bind-mounted RW (parent reads +
+    // its state dir RW and its config dir RO. See `bind_child_agent_dirs`
-    // writes child state for recovery, and manages config). See
+    // for why each is what it is.
-    // `bind_child_agent_dirs`.
     let direct_children = crate::topology::children_of(agent_name);
     for child in &direct_children {
         bind_child_agent_dirs(child, &mut binds);