model persisted to /state; stop auto-allowing claude-code unfree

model persistence: /model <name> now writes to /state/hyperhive-model
(in-container), Bus::new reads it on init. operator override survives
harness restart and container rebuild; gone on --purge like every
other piece of agent state. path overridable via HYPERHIVE_MODEL_FILE
for tests. failure to persist is a warn, not fatal — runtime override
still applies, just won't survive a restart.

unfree opt-in: drop the auto-allowUnfreePredicate from
harness-base.nix and the claude-unstable overlay. operator now has to
set nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree (or a predicate listing claude-code)
in their own host config. silent unfree bypass was sketchy; this is
honest. readme + gotchas updated to spell out the snippet.

todo: drops model-persistence + container-crash + journald (all
shipped); adds per-agent send allow-list (constrain who an agent can
message).

README.md

@@ -91,6 +91,17 @@ hive-c0re will then:
 - auto-create the manager container (`hm1nd`) if missing,
 - auto-rebuild any managed container whose hyperhive rev is stale.
 
+`claude-code` is unfree; hyperhive does not auto-allow it for you.
+Add to your host config:
+
+```nix
+nixpkgs.config.allowUnfreePredicate =
+  pkg: builtins.elem (nixpkgs.lib.getName pkg) [ "claude-code" ];
+```
+
+(or `nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree = true`, your call). Each per-agent
+container inherits this through the same nixpkgs evaluation.
+
 ## Build / deploy
 
 ```sh

TODO.md

@@ -3,6 +3,17 @@
 Pick anything from here when relevant. Cross-cutting design notes live in
 [CLAUDE.md](CLAUDE.md); high-level project intro in [README.md](README.md).
 
+## Permissions / policy
+
+- **Per-agent send allow-list.** Today any agent can `send` to any
+  other recipient (peer, manager, operator). Add a per-agent
+  policy that constrains the `to` field — declared in `agent.nix`,
+  e.g. `hyperhive.allowedRecipients = [ "manager" "alice" ]`.
+  Broker rejects with an `Err { message }` when the policy denies.
+  Default: unrestricted (back-compat). The manager can still
+  always send anywhere. Useful for sandboxing untrusted sub-agents
+  so they can only talk to the manager, not other sub-agents.
+
 ## Security
 
 - **Unprivileged containers (userns mapping).** Today the nspawn container
@@ -31,15 +42,6 @@ Pick anything from here when relevant. Cross-cutting design notes live in
   derived from the same config so the operator stays in control of
   what's exposed.
 
-## Per-agent settings
-
-- **Model override persistence.** `/model <name>` already switches
-  the model at runtime via `Bus::set_model`; the chip on the agent
-  page reflects the current value. Override is in-memory only and
-  resets on harness restart — by design for now, but consider
-  optional persistence (`/state/model` file?) so an operator-set
-  model survives a rebuild.
-
 ## UI / UX
 
 - **Terminal: `/model` slash command.** Operator-typeable model

docs/gotchas.md

@@ -53,11 +53,15 @@ socket without needing a clean reinstall.
 
 ## `claude-code` is unfree
 
-`harness-base.nix` allow-list's it specifically. The flake pins it to
+The flake pins it to **nixpkgs-unstable** via
-**nixpkgs-unstable** via `overlays.claude-unstable` (stable lags too
+`overlays.claude-unstable` (stable lags too far). The overlay
-far). The overlay imports unstable with its own
+imports unstable inheriting the user's `nixpkgs.config`, so the
-`allowUnfreePredicate` so the access inside the overlay doesn't
+operator must opt in by setting `allowUnfree = true` (or an
-itself trip.
+`allowUnfreePredicate` that whitelists `claude-code`) on their host
+config. hyperhive deliberately does NOT auto-allow — silent unfree
+bypass would be sketchy, and the error message is clear enough that
+the operator can fix it once and forget about it. Same on the
+per-agent containers (they inherit through the same nixpkgs).
 
 ## Claude credentials are per-agent
 

flake.nix

@@ -67,9 +67,14 @@
         claude-unstable =
           final: prev:
           let
+            # Inherit the *user's* nixpkgs config so allowUnfree (or an
+            # `allowUnfreePredicate` they set on their flake) propagates
+            # into the unstable import. hyperhive does not silently
+            # bypass the unfree gate — if the operator hasn't opted in,
+            # this overlay's `claude-code` access fails honestly.
             unstable = import nixpkgs-unstable {
               inherit (prev.stdenv.hostPlatform) system;
-              config.allowUnfreePredicate = pkg: builtins.elem (prev.lib.getName pkg) [ "claude-code" ];
+              config = prev.config;
             };
           in
           {

hive-ag3nt/src/events.rs

@@ -24,6 +24,36 @@ const HISTORY_CAPACITY: usize = 2000;
 /// `HYPERHIVE_EVENTS_DB` env var (used in tests and one-shot tools).
 const DEFAULT_EVENTS_DB: &str = "/state/hyperhive-events.sqlite";
 
+/// Persisted model name file. Same lifecycle as the events db —
+/// survives destroy/recreate, gone on purge. Empty / missing file
+/// falls back to `DEFAULT_MODEL`.
+const DEFAULT_MODEL_FILE: &str = "/state/hyperhive-model";
+
+/// Path to the persisted model file. Overridable via
+/// `HYPERHIVE_MODEL_FILE` for dev / tests.
+fn model_file_path() -> PathBuf {
+    std::env::var_os("HYPERHIVE_MODEL_FILE")
+        .map_or_else(|| PathBuf::from(DEFAULT_MODEL_FILE), PathBuf::from)
+}
+
+fn load_model() -> Option<String> {
+    let s = std::fs::read_to_string(model_file_path()).ok()?;
+    let name = s.trim();
+    if name.is_empty() {
+        None
+    } else {
+        Some(name.to_owned())
+    }
+}
+
+fn persist_model(name: &str) -> std::io::Result<()> {
+    let path = model_file_path();
+    if let Some(parent) = path.parent() {
+        let _ = std::fs::create_dir_all(parent);
+    }
+    std::fs::write(path, format!("{name}\n"))
+}
+
 fn now_unix() -> i64 {
     std::time::SystemTime::now()
         .duration_since(std::time::UNIX_EPOCH)
@@ -177,11 +207,12 @@ impl Bus {
             }
         };
         let (tx, _) = broadcast::channel(CHANNEL_CAPACITY);
+        let initial_model = load_model().unwrap_or_else(|| DEFAULT_MODEL.to_owned());
         Self {
             tx: Arc::new(tx),
             store,
             state: Arc::new(Mutex::new((TurnState::Idle, now_unix()))),
-            model: Arc::new(Mutex::new(DEFAULT_MODEL.to_owned())),
+            model: Arc::new(Mutex::new(initial_model)),
         }
     }
 
@@ -193,9 +224,16 @@ impl Bus {
     }
 
     /// Switch the model for future turns. The current turn (if any)
-    /// keeps the model it was already running.
+    /// keeps the model it was already running. Persisted to
+    /// `/state/hyperhive-model` so the override survives harness
+    /// restart and container rebuild (gone on `--purge`, matching
+    /// every other piece of agent state).
     pub fn set_model(&self, name: impl Into<String>) {
-        *self.model.lock().unwrap() = name.into();
+        let value: String = name.into();
+        self.model.lock().unwrap().clone_from(&value);
+        if let Err(e) = persist_model(&value) {
+            tracing::warn!(error = ?e, "model: persist failed");
+        }
     }
 
     /// Update the harness's authoritative turn-loop state. Records

nix/templates/harness-base.nix

@@ -7,7 +7,12 @@
 
   boot.isNspawnContainer = true;
 
-  nixpkgs.config.allowUnfreePredicate = pkg: builtins.elem (pkgs.lib.getName pkg) [ "claude-code" ];
+  # `claude-code` is unfree. hyperhive intentionally does NOT auto-allow
+  # it — the operator opts in by setting
+  # `nixpkgs.config.allowUnfreePredicate` (or `allowUnfree = true`) in
+  # their own host config / agent.nix. Without that, the per-agent
+  # build fails on this package and the operator sees an honest "this
+  # is unfree, are you sure?" error.
 
   environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
     hyperhive