remove the list_containers and request_update_meta_inputs MCP tools

Both agent-facing tools go away end to end, with no replacement. This is
an intentional capability removal: agents can no longer enumerate their
own subtree, and can no longer queue a meta-flake input bump.

The system prompt and docs/tools/lifecycle.md land in this same commit
on purpose. A tool named in the prompt but absent from the server makes
agents confidently call something that doesn't exist, and the failure
then surfaces far from its cause.

Removed:

- MCP registrations and bodies (hive-agent-mcp), plus the now-unused
  UpdateMetaInputsArgs.
- Wire variants Request::ListDescendants,
  Request::RequestUpdateMetaInputs and Response::Containers, plus
  ContainerInfo, whose only consumer was that response.
- hive-c0re's handle_list_descendants (its whole module) and
  handle_request_update_meta_inputs, the two dispatch arms, and the
  require_group(agent, "approvals", ...) gate on the meta-inputs verb.
- The stream_enrich emoji entry and argument formatter.
- docs/tools/lifecycle.md (both tools it documented are gone), its two
  referrers, the tool-group tables and the agent-hierarchy prose.

Tool groups are kept, deliberately. ToolGroup::Lifecycle listed exactly
one tool and now lists none — it is vestigial, but the variant stays so
existing meta/capabilities.json grants still parse; retiring it is a
separate decision. ToolGroup::Approvals also listed exactly one tool,
but the group is NOT dead: check_can_cancel_approval still gates
cancel_loose_end's approval-cancel arm on it server-side.

ApprovalKind::UpdateMetaInputs stays too. Nothing in production code
produces it any more, but pre-existing approval rows may still carry it,
and the operator's own path to a meta update is unaffected — the
dashboard's POST /api/meta-update inserts the meta_update job directly,
bypassing approvals entirely.

The two format_ack tests in hive-agent-mcp that named
request_update_meta_inputs were only using it as a label string while
exercising the generic OkWarn/Ok renderer, so they are retargeted to a
surviving tool rather than deleted.

Note hive-c0re's priv_client::list_containers is a different thing (the
host-side privileged container listing behind hive-priv) and is
untouched.

Closes #4591
This commit is contained in:
atlas 2026-09-20 19:36:09 +02:00 committed by mara
commit b88a5b2430
18 changed files with 74 additions and 356 deletions

View file

@ -40,8 +40,6 @@ debug agent behavior.
- **[forge-cli](forge-cli.md)** — the exhaustive, autogenerated
flag-by-flag reference for `hive-forge`, kept in lockstep with the
binary by CI the same way `hivectl-cli.md` is.
- **[lifecycle](lifecycle.md)** — listing the agents in a caller's own
subtree, plus the approval-gated config-change tools.
- **[matrix](matrix.md)** — the matrix MCP tool surface
(`mcp__matrix__*`) for agents with a matrix account, multiple
accounts per agent, and declaring extra MCP servers generally.

View file

@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
# Lifecycle and approvals tools
Two tool groups govern agent lifecycle management and config changes.
The server scopes both to the caller's **own subtree** (topology-enforced
per `topology.json`: a child, a child's child, every agent below them —
plus the caller itself). No privileged class exists to belong to; the
root agent reaches every agent purely because the check is transitive and
everything sits under it.
## `lifecycle` tool group
No operator approval required. The caller's own subtree.
### `list_containers()`
List the caller's whole **subtree** with running status — children,
their children, every agent below them. The calling agent is part of its
own subtree, so it appears in its own listing; a leaf agent gets a
one-row answer naming itself.
## `approvals` tool group
Meta-flake input bumps route through the operator approval queue.
Creating a new agent is **not** in this group — agents have no tool for
it. The swarm controller's `InitAgentConfigRepo` job scaffolds a new
agent's config repo (`POST /api/agents`, see
`swarm-controller/`), and the operator spawns the container from the
dashboard (`◆ R3QU3ST SP4WN` / `Spawn` approval, routed via
`HostRequest::RequestSpawn`).
Config changes on an existing agent go through a **forge PR** on the
agent's `agent-configs/<name>` repo (queues a `MergeConfigPr` approval
on open/update — no MCP tool involved), not a tool call. See
`docs/agent-lifecycle/approvals.md`.
### `request_update_meta_inputs(inputs?, description?)`
Queue an approval to run `nix flake update [inputs...]` on the meta
flake. Pass specific input names (for example `["bitburner-agent"]`) or omit
/ pass `[]` for all inputs. Returns immediately; the lock update runs
on operator approval.
**Doesn't** trigger container rebuilds — the operator rebuilds affected
agents after the approval resolves.
## Boundary summary
| Operation | Requires approval? | Scope |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------ | ---------------------------- |
| `list_containers` | No | Own subtree, caller included |
| `request_update_meta_inputs` | Yes (MetaUpdate) | Meta flake (global) |
## See also
- [`docs/agent-lifecycle/approvals.md`](../agent-lifecycle/approvals.md) — full approval flow, kinds,
helper events (`approval_resolved`), flake.lock
validation.