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hive-c0re: remove the approvals subsystem

Browse source 
Nothing submits an approval since scheduled prompts left hive-c0re, so the
queue only acted on rows written before that.

- hive-c0re: the approvals store and its migrations, approve/deny/
  resolve actions, the ResolveApproval tail node (and meta_update's
  approval_id), POST /api/approve and /api/deny, the approval views on
  /api/state, the approval_resolved dashboard event, the orphan GC,
  destroy/purge failing pending rows, and the approval rows in
  get_loose_ends. DestroyBookkeeping loses the purge flag, which only
  worded the approval-failure note.
- The CancelLooseEnd request goes: its only hive-c0re arm was the
  approval one. cancel_loose_end handles reminder and todo in the harness.
- Wire types: hive_sh4re::approvals (ReminderStats moves to inbox),
  LooseEnd::Approval, CancelLooseEndKind, HelperEvent::ApprovalResolved,
  ToolGroup::Approvals, HostRequest::{Pending,Approve,Deny} and
  HostResponse.approvals. HOST_SOCK_VERSION goes to 2 for the removed
  field.
- hivectl loses the approvals verbs; docs/tools/hivectl-cli.md is
  regenerated.
- The system prompt drops approval_resolved.
- The approvals table stays in broker.sqlite, unread, the same way the
  operator_questions table was left when its store was removed.
- An `approvals` entry still in tool-groups.json is skipped with a warning
  by ToolGroup::parse_list, like any unknown group.
- docs/agent-lifecycle/approvals.md is renamed to config-changes.md so the
  code's doc pointers resolve; its content follows in the docs commit.
This commit is contained in:
atlas 2026-10-04 23:55:03 +02:00
commit 58ef299c3c
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# Approvals + helper events
The approval queue is where an agent asks the operator for something it
can't do itself. Nothing submits a new approval today: the one kind
left, a meta-input bump, only reads back from existing rows. Config
changes don't go through this queue: they're pull requests
on the agent's config repo, which an operator merges on the forge, and
that merge deploys them. The submitting agent — any agent with the
`approvals` tool group, which manages the config of its **direct
children** (the root agent for top-level agents; a sub-manager for its
own subtree) — is the policy gate in front of both; helper events are how
it stays informed about what happens after a decision lands.
## For operators
- **Config change** — an agent proposed a change to another agent's
config (or its own, via a sub-manager) as a pull request on
`agent-configs/<agent>`. Review it on the forge like any other PR, and
merge it there to deploy it. See [Config changes](#config-changes).
- **Meta/flake update** (`UpdateMetaInputs`) — an existing row reads
back and you can approve it. Approving runs the update and commits
the lock change; it doesn't rebuild anything by itself.
Don't want to approve something? **Deny it** (`DENY` on the dashboard
card, or `hivectl approvals deny <id>`) — nothing runs. Either way the
submitting agent is always notified that the operator denied their request; what's
optional is only the reason text, which you can add on the dashboard's
prompt (cancelling that prompt aborts the whole deny, not just the
reason) but not from the CLI. Denying is final: a denied approval
can't be re-approved later, the agent has to submit a fresh request.
Everything below this point is the implementation detail behind that
flow.
## Config changes
Config changes flow through a **forge pull request** on the agent's
`agent-configs/<name>` repo — the same surface agents use for code PRs.
No MCP tool exists for config changes: opening the PR IS the request.
1. The submitting agent (the child's parent, holding the `approvals`
tool group) **clones** `agent-configs/<name>`, edits it there (any
tracked path, but `agent.nix` is the contract entry point), commits
with its own git identity, and pushes a branch + opens a PR with
`hive-forge` — the same way it would change any other repo.
The bind-mounted `/agents/<name>/config/` is a **copy for reading** a
config, not the tree to edit: authoring in place there produces no PR.
(it's currently mounted read-write, which is a defect tracked
separately, not an authoring path.)
Branch protection (the agent isn't on the `main` push allowlist;
merge and approvals allowlist = `operators` team; see "Forge mirror"
below) makes the agent a write collaborator that **can't merge its own
config PR**.
2. An operator reviews the PR **on the forge** (native diff, threaded
comments, CI status) and merges it there. Merging needs membership of
the `operators` team in `agent-configs`. The team starts empty: add
each operator by hand in the forge UI.
3. swarm-controller gets the `agent-configs` org's `pull_request`
delivery. A `closed` event with `merged: true` and base branch `main`
names the commit in `merge_commit_sha`.
4. The controller looks up which hive's wanted state places the agent
and publishes a deploy request carrying that commit on that hive's
deploy subject. With no such hive, or more than one, it deploys
nothing and logs a warning naming them.
5. If the hive's `applied/main` already is that commit, it does nothing.
Otherwise it fetches the config repo's `main`, requires the commit to
descend from `applied/main`, fast-forwards `applied/main` to it, and
queues a rebuild. A failure before the rebuild (the fetch, or a commit
that doesn't descend) deploys nothing and posts the error as a comment
on the merged PR. An agent with no container on that hive yet ignores
the commit; its first deploy builds what it seeds.
This path runs **no eval-verify**. A merged config that doesn't
evaluate or build fails the rebuild, and `applied/main` stays at that
commit, so the agent's rebuilds keep failing until a fix merges. A
failed rebuild shows on the hive like any other and isn't commented on
the PR. A merge whose webhook delivery never reaches the controller
deploys nothing.
## Approval queue
### Withdrawing a pending approval
The submitting agent can call `cancel_loose_end(kind: "approval", id)` to
withdraw an approval the operator hasn't acted on yet.
The row transitions to `ApprovalStatus::Cancelled` (distinct from
`Denied`/`Failed`), the dashboard pulls the card out of the
pending pane, and `ApprovalResolved { status: "cancelled" }` fires
on the root agent + dashboard channels. Approvals that the operator
(or a lifecycle failure) has already approved, denied, or failed return an error — the resolution is
final once acted on.
The socket refuses the `approval` kind with a clear error for any
agent that lacks the `approvals` tool group: only an agent with that
group submits approvals (for its direct children), so an agent
without it has nothing of its own to withdraw.
Creating a brand-new agent isn't an approval: it's swarm-level
(`swarmctl agent create`, `POST /api/agents` on the swarm controller),
and no hive can originate an agent. The swarm controller's
`InitAgentConfigRepo` job seeds the agent's config repo with a default
`agent.nix` template, then asks the target hive to deploy it.
Changing what the template seeded isn't a special case: like every
later change, it's a PR on that config repo, made from a clone and
merged by an operator on the forge (see [Config changes](#config-changes)).
### Approval kinds (wire shapes)
`ApprovalKind` carries one variant, and it overloads `commit_ref` as
its payload carrier.
<!-- vale write-good.Passive = NO -->
- `UpdateMetaInputs` — `commit_ref` stores the JSON-encoded inputs
array (`"[]"` = all inputs, `"[\"nixpkgs\"]"` = just nixpkgs,
etc.). hive-c0re sets the `agent` field to the requesting root agent.
On approve hive-c0re runs `nix flake update [inputs...]` on the
meta flake and commits the resulting lock changes.
<!-- vale write-good.Passive = YES -->
### Reminder delivery: file-path semantics
A reminder may carry a `file_path` (the agent-visible path inside its
container, for example `/agents/<name>/state/foo.md`). On delivery hive-c0re:
1. **Translates** the container path to the host path
(`/var/lib/hyperhive/agents/<name>/state/foo.md`) so c0re can write
from outside the container.
2. **Validates** the path: rejects anything outside the agent's own state
subtree, containing `..` (path traversal), or with an empty relative
tail. On rejection hive-c0re skips the write and delivers the
original message inline with a warning — the reminder still fires.
3. **Defends against symlink escape**: after `create_dir_all`, hive-c0re
canonicalizes the parent dir and re-verifies it lives under the agent's host
state root. hive-c0re opens the final file with
`O_NOFOLLOW | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC` so an existing symlink at the
basename can't redirect the write to an arbitrary host path.
4. **Writes the body to disk** and delivers a short pointer message in its
place, keeping the agent's inbox / wake-prompt small while the agent
reads the bulky payload out of band.
`Broker::deliver_reminders_batch` handles atomicity of the inbox INSERT + `reminders.sent_at` UPDATE; the scheduler only computes the
body strings before calling it.
### Destroy semantics
`HostRequest::Destroy { name, purge }` is the lifecycle tear-down,
not an approval. Stops + removes the nspawn container, drops the
systemd drop-in, fails any pending approvals. Persistent state
(proposed/applied repos, claude credentials, `/state/` notes) is
**kept by default** — recreating the agent with the same name
reuses prior config + login. With `purge = true` the agent's
`/var/lib/hyperhive/{agents,applied}/<name>/` trees are also
wiped (config history + creds + notes gone forever). The
root/bootstrap container is destroyable like any other — hive-c0re
recreates it on the next startup if it's absent, so destroying it's
transient.
## Meta flake
The hive-c0re-owned repo at `/var/lib/hyperhive/meta/`
declares one flake input per agent (`agent-<n>.url =
"git+http://<forge>/agent-configs/<n>.git"`) and one
`nixosConfigurations.<n>` output per agent. Each output wraps
`inputs.agent-<n>.nixosModules.default` with the identity +
`HIVE_PORT` / `HIVE_LABEL` / `HIVE_DASHBOARD_PORT` injection module.
Containers run against `--flake /var/lib/hyperhive/meta#<n>`.
The declared input url is the agent's **forge config repo** (the
same `agent-configs/<n>` config PRs merge into), so the meta flake
references a reviewable, reproducible source rather than a local
checkout. hive-c0re authenticates that `git+http` fetch via a git
credential helper that reads the live forge-core token — no token in
the url or the lock. The rebuild paths, however, do **not** re-lock
from the forge: they `--override-input agent-<n>
git+file:///var/lib/hyperhive/applied/<n>`, locking the exact config
`applied/<n>/main` was fast-forwarded to. That keeps a rebuild
reproducible and independent of forge reachability — rebuilds fire on
crash-restart and meta bumps, not just config merges — while the
declared url stays the forge. `sync_agents` re-renders + re-locks the
persistent input; a plain `nix flake lock` leaves an existing applied
override in place (it only re-locks when the declared url itself
changes), so the forge-declared / applied-deployed split is stable.
Lock updates are single-phase and commit when the lock changed:
`meta::lock_update_for_rebuild(name)` relocks one agent's input for a
relocking rebuild (the manual `↻ R3BU1LD` button, and the rebuild a
merged config commit queues), and `meta::lock_update_hyperhive()` is the
autoupdate flake-rev bump (one shot before per-agent rebuilds).
`meta::sync_agents(hive: &HiveEnv, agents: &[AgentSpec])` — `hive`
carries `hyperhive_flake`, `dashboard_port`, and the rest of the
per-hive config — is the idempotent reconciler called by `spawn`,
`destroy`, `rebuild`, and the startup migration. Renders `flake.nix`
from the agent list; if it differs from disk, runs
`nix flake lock` + commits as `regenerate meta flake` (or
`seed meta from N agent(s)` on the first call).
The root agent has `/meta` RO-bound inside its container:
`git -C /meta log --oneline` is the swarm-wide deploy log,
`cat /meta/flake.lock | jq '.nodes["agent-<n>"].locked'`
resolves which sha the flake pins each agent at right now.
Dashboard surfaces the same info as a `deployed:<sha12>` chip
per container row.
## Two repos per agent
```
/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
# convention entry
# point; flake.nix is
# tracked boilerplate
# (submitting agent doesn't
# edit it).
/var/lib/hyperhive/applied/<name>/ applied — core-only
├── .git/ # tag-rich history
├── flake.nix # tracked, fixed
│ # boilerplate exporting
│ # nixosModules.default
├── agent.nix # working tree of main
└── <other committed files> # also tracked
/var/lib/hyperhive/meta/ swarm-wide flake — core
├── .git/ # one commit per lock
│ # change
├── flake.nix # generated from agent set
└── flake.lock # pins each agent's sha
```
Why two physical repos: the submitting agent's `/agents/<n>/config/` is
RW — a buggy or hostile agent can `git clean -fdx` its own
proposed tree. The applied repo is never bind-mounted (except
the read-only `.git` exposure described below) so a destructive
move inside the container can't reach it.
The container's `--flake` ref is `/var/lib/hyperhive/meta#<name>`
(see "Meta flake" above). The agent's own `applied/<n>/flake.nix`
is a fixed boilerplate that exports `nixosModules.default =
import ./agent.nix`; the meta flake imports that module and
wraps it with identity + `HIVE_PORT` / `HIVE_LABEL` /
`HIVE_DASHBOARD_PORT`.
### Tag state machine
hive-c0re plants `deployed/0` on the seed commit at first spawn. A
merged config commit that deploys plants no tag: the merged PR on the
forge and meta's lock commits record it. A config PR nobody merges
carries no extra state on the forge side: the PR stays open, and
the submitter pushes again (or closes it) to retry.
### Dispatch via the job queue
Long-running approval work — `UpdateMetaInputs` — runs as a DAG on the
global job queue (`docs/scheduler/coordinator.md::Job queue`), submitted
by the approval handler rather than run inline:
| `ApprovalKind` | DAG submitted | source |
|---|---|---|
| `UpdateMetaInputs` | `meta_update` (`MetaLock` + rebuild fan-out) | `approval` |
The DAG carries the originating `approval_id`. **Every** queued kind
resolves through `actions::resolve_approval_dag` when its DAG settles
terminal: the DAG's own terminal state is the authoritative outcome.
That hook fires the matching `HelperEvent::*` via `finish_approval`.
Two visible consequences:
- **Operator dashboard**: after selecting APPR0VE the work-in-progress
shows up on the *rebuild queue* card (`GET /api/jobq/graph`, refetched
on every `rebuild_queue_changed` tick), not on the approvals panel
(which already moved the row to "approved"). A long meta-update
cascade renders as a parent DAG with one child rebuild per affected
agent — see `docs/web-ui/dashboard.md` for the layout.
- **Cancellation**: the dashboard's *× cancel* button on a still-queued
DAG calls `POST /api/rebuild-queue/{id}/cancel`, which flips it to
`Cancelled` before any node runs (and fails the approval row instead
of leaving it dangling). Returns `{"cancelled": true}` on success,
`{"cancelled": false}` once any node started — terminal states can't
be retroactively rewritten.
The `approval` source + `approval_id` mean a tail-end build failure
surfaces back as a failed approval row, not just a silent queue
entry. `manual` (dashboard ↻ R3BU1LD) and `auto_update` (boot
reconcile) DAGs use the same queue but skip the approval plumbing.
### Forge mirror
The bundled `hive-forge` container runs on the swarm's forge host
(`deploy.forgejo.enable`, see [`../swarm/services.md`](../swarm/services.md)),
and hive-c0re mirrors every agent's applied repo into a
private `agent-configs` Forgejo org. `forge::push_config(<name>)` pushes
every tag, then `applied/main`, to `agent-configs/<name>` on every
startup sweep and every rebuild. Forge `main` is branch-protected, so
the forge routinely refuses a push of an established `main`, which
hive-c0re expects. Pushes are best-effort — a missing or stopped forge never
blocks a deploy.
Each agent is a **write collaborator on its own** `agent-configs/<name>`
repo — so it can push a branch and open a config PR — but not a member
of any other agent's, so it can't reach another agent's config through
the forge. Branch protection keeps the agent off the `main` push
allowlist and allowlists merging to the `operators` team only, so an
agent can't fast-forward its own config or self-merge its PR (see
[Config changes](#config-changes) above). hive-c0re passes the tokenised
push URL inline to `git push`, never writing it into
`applied/<n>/.git/config`; that repo is RO-bind-mounted into the root
agent, and a stored token would leak core's admin credential to an
agent.
The dashboard deep-links into this org — a `config repo` link
per container row. See `docs/web-ui/dashboard.md`.
### Submitting agent's view of config repos
An agent holding `ManageRootAgent` has every other agent's config repo
bind-mounted **read-only** (`hive-c0re/src/lifecycle/host_config.rs`
calls `bind_child_agent_dirs` for each entry in
`topology::all_agents()`). it's a copy to *read* another agent's
current config — not an editing surface. An agent without the
capability sees no other agent's config at all.
An agent with the `approvals` tool group submits a change the same way
it makes any other change: **clone the target agent'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. By design, no second, mount-shaped
path reaches the same file without the review.
Agents holding the `manage_root_agent` capability (granted per agent in
`capabilities.json`; see `hive-sh4re/src/permissions.rs`) get additional
host-side bind mounts via `set_nspawn_flags`:
- `/var/lib/hyperhive/agents/` → `/agents/` (RW) — **every** agent's
proposed repo, not just direct children. The capability means "may
manage any agent", so the mounted set is every agent.
- `/var/lib/hyperhive/applied/` → `/applied/` (RO) — every agent's
authoritative applied repo, including `.git`.
- `/var/lib/hyperhive/meta/` → `/meta/` (RO) — the swarm-wide
deploy flake.
An agent without the capability only has its direct children's config
dirs.
⚠️ nspawn bakes bind flags at container start, so granting or
revoking this capability doesn't change any mount until that agent's
container is rebuilt/restarted.
The root agent gets the capability by default, seeded on its autodeploy
path (`workers::auto_update::ensure_root_agent`) so the recovery mounts
are there from its first container. That seed only fires while
`capabilities.json` doesn't exist yet: any grant or revoke through
the dashboard creates the file, so a revoked root-agent grant stays
revoked and isn't re-applied on the next hive-c0re restart.
Each proposed repo (`/agents/<n>/config/`) is pre-configured
with `applied` as a git remote pointing at
`/applied/<n>/.git`. Useful incantations from inside an agent with
the full `/applied` mount:
```sh
git -C /agents/<n>/config fetch applied
git -C /agents/<n>/config log applied/main --oneline
git -C /agents/<n>/config show applied/refs/tags/deployed/0 # the seed commit
git -C /agents/<n>/config show applied/refs/tags/denied/<id> # body = operator note
git -C /agents/<n>/config rebase applied/main # base in-flight work on what's deployed
git -C /meta log --oneline # swarm-wide deploy history
cat /meta/flake.lock | jq '.nodes | with_entries(select(.key | startswith("agent-")))'
```
The RO binds block push at the kernel level — git plumbing inside the
container can't corrupt either authoritative repo.
## Startup migrations (older hosts)
hive-c0re runs a couple of idempotent migrations on every startup so a
host set up before the tag-driven-deploy + meta-flake scheme (both
described above) converges to it automatically. Each phase is a no-op
once already applied:
- **Tags**: hive-c0re tags agents from before the tag-driven scheme
`deployed/0` on `main` once. Non-destructive — it doesn't touch live
containers, state dirs, or claude creds.
- **Meta flake**: rewrites each `applied/<n>/flake.nix` to the
module-only boilerplate, wires the `applied` remote in each proposed
repo, and bootstraps the meta repo from the current agent list. Set
`HIVE_SKIP_META_MIGRATION=1` on the service to defer this phase.
No state loss in either migration: claude creds, `/state/` notes, the
events DB, and both proposed + applied history all survive. The root
agent keeps its session; sub-agents stay logged in.
## The root/bootstrap container is hive-c0re-managed
The root agent container runs through the **same lifecycle as
sub-agents**. On `hive-c0re serve` startup, if `ruth` is missing,
hive-c0re creates it. The root agent's flake lives at
`/var/lib/hyperhive/applied/ruth/`; its proposed config at
`/var/lib/hyperhive/agents/ruth/config/`. The root agent can edit its own
`agent.nix` (visible inside the container at `/agents/ruth/config/`)
and open a config PR on `agent-configs/ruth` for operator approval,
same as any other agent.
Differences from sub-agents:
- `flake.nix` extends `hyperhive.nixosConfigurations.ruth`
(vs `agent-base`).
- Web UI port via `lifecycle::agent_web_port("ruth")` — same
FNV-1a hash as every other agent (8100..8999 range).
- `set_nspawn_flags` adds two extra binds: `/var/lib/hyperhive/agents`
→ `/agents` (RW) so the root agent can edit per-agent proposed repos,
and `/var/lib/hyperhive/applied` → `/applied` (RO) so the root agent
can `git fetch` deployed/failed/denied tags from any agent's
authoritative applied repo (see "Root-agent view of applied" below).
- First-deploy spawn bypasses the approval queue (the root agent is
required infrastructure).
- `socket_server::start_manager` binds the root agent's socket,
pure transport with no dedicated helpers — it uses the same
per-agent runtime dir as any other agent (`/run/hyperhive/agents/ruth/`),
not a special manager-only path.
**Migration note** (for older hosts): drop any `containers.root =
{ ... }` block from your host NixOS config. hyperhive creates and
updates the root agent itself.
## Root-agent policy
The system prompt (`hive-agent/prompts/system.md`, rendered by
`hive-agent/src/prompt.rs`) is the **same for every agent**; what
varies is which MCP tools it surfaces (gated by tool groups and
capabilities in `agent.nix`). No `role:manager` block renders only
for the root agent. The root agent's approval-gating
behaviour comes from its CLAUDE.md / agent-specific instructions, not
the system prompt template.
## Helper events to the submitting agent
`Coordinator::notify_submitter(approval_id, &HelperEvent)` routes the
event to the agent that originally submitted the approval (looked up from
the `submitter` column on the `approvals` table). The harness delivers it
as a regular `system` inbox message so it drives a normal claude turn.
`finish_approval` fires an `ApprovalResolved` HelperEvent this way for
**every** approval kind's terminal state. A
"FYI, check when convenient" event doesn't need a message — hive-c0re publishes those as swarm
lifecycle notices instead (`swarm_notices::notify`). Legacy
approval rows that predate the submitter column fall back to the
root agent. Variants (`hive_sh4re::manager::HelperEvent`):
- `ApprovalResolved { id, agent, commit_ref, status, note }` —
fired by `actions::approve` + `actions::deny` whenever an
approval transitions to its terminal state.
- `ContainerCrash { agent, note }` — `crash_watch`: a previously-
running container went away with no operator-initiated transient
state (Stopping / Restarting / Destroying / Rebuilding) AND nothing
cleared that transient in the last 30s (`RECENT_TRANSIENT_GRACE`
tombstone, three `POLL_INTERVAL`s — closes the race where a
lifecycle op finishes between two crash-watch polls and the
container shows briefly as "stopped without transient" before
the next start). The root agent escalates to the operator, who
starts it again from the dashboard.
- `NeedsUpdate { agent }` — sub-agent's recorded flake rev is
stale. The operator rebuilds it from the dashboard.
The remaining lower-urgency lifecycle notices — `Rebuilt`, `Killed`,
`Destroyed`, `NeedsLogin`, `LoggedIn` — are "FYI, check
when convenient" events with no reason to drive an immediate turn, so
they go out via `swarm_notices::notify` (see above) instead
of a `HelperEvent`: `subsystem = "core"`, `key = "<event>:<agent>"`,
and a single free-text `summary` (`rebuilt_todo_summary` renders
`Rebuilt`'s `ok`/`note`/`sha`/`tag` fields into that string).
To add a new lifecycle notice: if it needs to drive an immediate turn
(something genuinely urgent, like `ContainerCrash`), add a
`HelperEvent` variant + call sites + update `prompts/system.md`'s
message-event list. If it's "FYI, check when convenient," call
`swarm_notices::notify` instead — no new wire type
needed.
## Autoupdate on startup
`hive-c0re serve` runs `auto_update::run` in a background task right
after opening the coordinator. It enumerates managed containers and
rebuilds any whose recorded hyperhive rev differs from the current
one — sub-agents and the root agent go through the same
`job_queue::templates::rebuild` DAG.
"Rev" = canonical filesystem path of
`services.hyperhive.c0re.hyperhiveFlake`. Marker
file: `/var/lib/hyperhive/applied/.<name>.hyperhive-rev`. If the
flake input has no canonical path (for example a `github:` URL),
autoupdate is a no-op — rebuild manually.
The dashboard surfaces pending updates per agent: a clickable
"needs update ↻" badge appears whenever the marker differs from
current rev. The badge POSTs `/api/rebuild/<name>`, which inserts the
same `job_queue::templates::rebuild` DAG so manual triggers and the
startup scan can't drift. When at least one container is stale, a
top-level `↻ UPD4TE 4LL` button appears that loops over every
stale container.