docs: actually remove the Agent configuration section, not trim it

Missed mara'\''s reply on this PR before pushing two more commits on top
- she said remove, my first commit trimmed to two bullets, which is
still going into Matrix/GitHub as named subsystems. Deletes the
section outright; the two docs it pointed at (docs/tools/matrix.md,
docs/github.md) are still reachable from CLAUDE.md's reading path and
from docs/tools/README.md, just not named in the top-level README.

.prettierignore

@@ -16,6 +16,6 @@ docs/persistence.md
 docs/terminal-rendering.md
 docs/tools/forge.md
 docs/tools/matrix.md
-docs/turn-loop.md
+docs/turn-loop/README.md
 docs/web-ui/agent.md
 docs/web-ui/dashboard.md

CLAUDE.md

@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ read them à la carte.
 - **"How does the per-agent terminal classify + colour
   events?"** → [`docs/terminal-rendering.md`](docs/terminal-rendering.md).
 - **"How does claude get its prompt and what tools does it have?"** →
-  [`docs/turn-loop.md`](docs/turn-loop.md) (index: the loop, binary shape,
+  [`docs/turn-loop/`](docs/turn-loop/README.md) (index: the loop, binary shape,
   turn outcomes; sub-pages:
   [`claude-invocation`](docs/turn-loop/claude-invocation.md),
   [`config`](docs/turn-loop/config.md), [`mcp`](docs/turn-loop/mcp.md)).
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ The docs below own the details — this section just points at them.
 - **NixOS / nspawn quirks** (bind mounts, conf flags, etc.): →
   [`docs/gotchas.md`](docs/gotchas.md).
 - **Turn loop, sentinels (rate-limit, auth-failed), context
-  window:** → [`docs/turn-loop.md`](docs/turn-loop.md).
+  window:** → [`docs/turn-loop/`](docs/turn-loop/README.md).
 - **Two-step spawn, approval flow, flake.lock validation:** →
   [`docs/approvals.md`](docs/approvals.md).
 - **Pre-push lint hook** (catches tracker-tag and comment-block failures

README.md

@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ Depth lives in [`docs/`](docs/) — pick the one matching your task:
 | reading path                            | doc                                                                                                                                        |
 | --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
 | dashboard layout + endpoints            | [`docs/web-ui.md`](docs/web-ui.md) ([shape](docs/web-ui/shape.md) · [dashboard](docs/web-ui/dashboard.md) · [agent](docs/web-ui/agent.md)) |
-| claude turn loop + MCP tools            | [`docs/turn-loop.md`](docs/turn-loop.md)                                                                                                   |
+| claude turn loop + MCP tools            | [`docs/turn-loop/`](docs/turn-loop/README.md)                                                                                              |
 | config-edit + approval state machine    | [`docs/approvals.md`](docs/approvals.md)                                                                                                   |
 | what survives destroy / purge / restart | [`docs/persistence.md`](docs/persistence.md)                                                                                               |
 | naming, wire protocol, commit style     | [`docs/conventions.md`](docs/conventions.md)                                                                                               |
@@ -103,46 +103,6 @@ older/newer channel hits breakage hyperhive's CI doesn't catch.
 For the full list of host and agent NixOS options see the
 **[options reference](https://hyperhive.darkest.space/options/)**.
 
-## Agent configuration
-
-Per-agent config lives in each agent's `agent.nix` (proposed, operator-approved, deployed as git commits). Key options:
-
-### Multi-account Matrix support
-
-`hyperhive.matrixAccounts` declares _additional_ matrix accounts for an agent, beyond the hive-internal one. Each entry is keyed by account name and specifies:
-
-- `tokenFile` — path to the matrix bearer token (provisioned out-of-band)
-- `sessionDir` — path to the per-account matrix-sdk sqlite state (crypto keys + cache)
-- `homeserver` — optional homeserver URL (defaults to `hyperhive.matrix.url`)
-
-**Example:**
-
-```nix
-hyperhive.matrixAccounts = {
-  external-public = {
-    tokenFile = "/agents/myagent/state/matrix-token-external";
-    sessionDir = "/agents/myagent/state/matrix-sdk-state-external";
-    homeserver = "https://matrix.org";
-  };
-};
-```
-
-The hive-internal account is always named `main` (synthesized from `hyperhive.matrix.url` + agent state). This option only declares _extras_; the `main` name is reserved and cannot be used here. Requires `hyperhive.matrix.enable = true`.
-
-For more details see [`docs/matrix.md`](docs/matrix.md).
-
-### GitHub account
-
-Every agent gets a managed GitHub identity — a `gh` CLI wrapper and `git push` over HTTPS — on by default (`hyperhive.github.enable`), inert until a PAT is provisioned. There is nothing per-agent to declare: paste an operator-supplied personal access token into the agent's dashboard **credentials** tab (or `hivectl github set-token <agent> --token-stdin`) and it works. The `gh` wrapper + git credential helper read the token live (git auths as `x-access-token` + the PAT; github.com only), so a rotated PAT takes effect with no rebuild.
-
-Turn the integration off for the whole hive with the host option:
-
-```nix
-services.hyperhive.github.enable = false;
-```
-
-The PAT value is never in nix — only the enable flag. For more details see [`docs/github.md`](docs/github.md).
-
 ## Operator CLI
 
 `hivectl` is the operator-facing host CLI for ad-hoc administration that

docs/persistence.md

@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ Survives destroy/recreate, gone on `--purge`.
 Empty marker file. Its presence parks the agent's turn loop: the
 harness keeps serving its web UI and MCP daemons but drives no turns,
 and inbox messages queue unacked until it's removed (see
-[turn loop](turn-loop.md#the-loop)).
+[turn loop](turn-loop/README.md#the-loop)).
 
 Unusually, it's read and written from **both** sides of the harness
 bind-mount, and that's the whole design: the harness stats it

docs/tools/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# Tools
+
+`hivectl` is *your* tool — the operator's own host CLI. Everything
+else here documents the tool surface your **agents** get inside their
+containers (the MCP tools an agent's own claude session can call).
+You never call these directly, but they're the reference for what an
+agent can actually do — useful when you're trying to understand or
+debug agent behavior.
+
+## For the operator
+
+- **[hivectl](hivectl.md)** — the curated guide: provisioning forge
+  and matrix accounts, gateway htpasswd management, container
+  lifecycle shortcuts, interactive agent shell access.
+- **[hivectl-cli](hivectl-cli.md)** — the exhaustive, auto-generated
+  flag-by-flag reference, kept in lockstep with the binary by CI.
+
+## What your agents can do
+
+- **[bash](bash.md)** — background shell execution (`mcp__bash__*`),
+  available on every agent unconditionally.
+- **[forge](forge.md)** — the `hive-forge` Forgejo CLI every agent has
+  for issues, PRs, and comments. Not an MCP tool — a binary agents
+  shell out to instead of ad-hoc curl.
+- **[lifecycle](lifecycle.md)** — kill/start/restart/update for an
+  agent's own direct children, 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.
+- **[scheduling](scheduling.md)** — scheduled prompts (operator
+  approval required) and the diagnostics tools (`get_logs`,
+  `get_host_journal`).

docs/tools/matrix.md

@@ -67,6 +67,23 @@ room you haven't read yet.
 
 - `mark_read(room, event_id)` — advance the read receipt
 
+## Multiple accounts
+
+`hyperhive.matrixAccounts` (declared in `agent.nix`) gives an agent
+*additional* matrix identities beyond the hive-internal one — e.g. an
+external-facing account alongside the internal one. Each entry is
+keyed by account name and specifies `tokenFile` (bearer token,
+provisioned out-of-band; basename must start with `matrix-token`),
+`sessionDir` (per-account matrix-sdk sqlite state — crypto keys +
+cache), and an optional `homeserver` (defaults to
+`hyperhive.matrix.url`). The hive-internal account is always named
+`main`, synthesized from `hyperhive.matrix.url` + agent state — this
+option only declares extras, and `main` is a reserved key here.
+Requires `hyperhive.matrix.enable = true`.
+
+Every matrix tool above takes an optional `account` parameter (a name
+from this map) to act as that identity instead of the primary one.
+
 ## Architecture
 
 `hive-matrix-daemon` is a single long-running process (one per agent

docs/tools/scheduling.md

@@ -89,6 +89,6 @@ lifecycle events, or another container's boot log.
 ## See also
 
 - `remind` (no-approval self-wake path) — documented in
-  [`docs/turn-loop.md`](../turn-loop.md).
+  [`docs/turn-loop/`](../turn-loop/README.md).
 - [`docs/approvals.md`](../approvals.md) — approval flow for
   `request_schedule_prompt`.

docs/turn-loop/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,171 @@
+# Turn loop + MCP
+
+How the harness wakes up, what it asks claude to do, and what tools
+claude has access to in return.
+
+## The loop
+
+Each agent harness (`hive-agent` — one serve-loop binary for all
+agents) runs:
+
+0. Check the pause marker (`<harness>/paused`). While it exists the
+   loop does nothing but re-stat it every 5 s — no broker poll, no
+   claude process. Because step 1 is never reached, messages stay
+   queued and unacked, so a resume drains the backlog instead of
+   losing it; reminders and todo wakes buffer in their channels. Set
+   it with `hivectl agent <name> pause` or the dashboard toggle; see
+   [persistence](../persistence.md#-harnesspaused-per-agent).
+1. Long-poll `Recv` on its socket. The host-side broker
+   (`broker.rs::recv_blocking_batch`) returns immediately if there's
+   a pending message, otherwise waits up to 30 s for a broker `Sent`
+   event for this recipient.
+2. Pop one message. Peek the remaining inbox depth with `Status`.
+3. Emit `LiveEvent::TurnStart { from, body, unread }` onto the SSE
+   bus.
+4. Spawn claude (one process per turn) and pipe the wake prompt
+   over stdin.
+5. Stream stdout (JSON lines) into the bus as
+   `LiveEvent::Stream(value)`. Pump stderr as `Note`.
+6. Wait for claude to exit and classify the turn's outcome from the
+   stream + exit — success, compaction, rate-limit, auth-failure, or
+   hard failure. The outcome drives the post-turn action (see
+   [Turn outcomes](#turn-outcomes)); compaction is handled inside the
+   session (see
+   [Compaction](claude-invocation.md#compaction)). Rate-limit
+   and auth-failure detection is described [below](#failure-detection-and-login).
+7. Emit `LiveEvent::TurnEnd { ok, note }`. Sleep `poll_ms` to avoid
+   tight loops on transient failures.
+
+### Failure detection and login
+
+- **Rate limit** — a `429` / `rate_limit` marker on stderr, or a parsed
+  `{"type":"error"}` rate-limit event on stdout (conversation-text
+  mentions don't count), sets the `rate_limited` sentinel, parks for
+  `HIVE_RATE_LIMIT_SLEEP_SECS` (default 300), then retries. The UI shows
+  a `⊘ rate limited` badge while parked.
+- **Auth failure (401)** — `drive_turn` retries once (transient
+  token-refresh races clear on retry); a second `AuthFailed` writes
+  `{state_dir}/hyperhive-needs-login`, requeues the message, and parks in
+  `wait_for_login` — the same path as a cold boot with no session. The
+  operator re-auths via the per-agent web UI; the queued message then
+  drives the next turn.
+- **Login detection** — both boot (`login::has_session`, Online vs
+  NeedsLogin) and `wait_for_login`'s resume check key off the credential
+  files in `login::CRED_FILE_NAMES` (the set `/logout` deletes).
+  `wait_for_login` resumes only when that set changes (a new file or a
+  newer mtime), so stale credentials on disk at the 401 don't trigger an
+  instant false-resume, and leftover session-history files don't read as a
+  live session after a logout + container recreate.
+
+## Harness binary shape
+
+Two sibling binaries out of the one `hive-ag3nt` crate, all
+role-agnostic. (The earlier split into `hive-ag3nt` + `hive-m1nd`
+was collapsed because the privilege boundary lives server-side at
+the broker socket (`/run/hive/mcp.sock`): `ManagerRequest` calls are
+refused by the standard agent socket regardless of who sends them.)
+
+- `hive-agent` — long-running harness loop (the inbox poll +
+  claude-pump + ack/requeue cycle described above).
+- `hive-agent-mcp` — MCP server for the built-in `hyperhive` surface.
+  Run with `--http <addr>` as a persistent streamable-HTTP daemon (the
+  `hive-mcp-http` systemd unit, on `hyperhive.mcp.httpPort`, default
+  8790); claude connects to its URL via `--mcp-config`. HTTP is the sole
+  transport — no per-turn stdio child (eliminates the re-registration
+  race).
+
+### `Surface` trait + zero-sized type tags
+
+`AgentRequest` / `AgentResponse` (= `ManagerRequest` / `ManagerResponse` —
+type aliases) are the wire types. There is one role: agent.
+`bin/hive-agent.rs` factors the turn loop through a `Surface` trait
+with one zero-sized impl (`AgentSurface`) wrapping:
+
+- One async method per wire op: `ack_turn`, `requeue_inflight`,
+  `inbox_unread`, `post_turn_counts`, `send_to_parent`, `recv_next`.
+
+`main()` calls `serve_main::<AgentSurface>` for all roles. The turn
+loop (`serve_loop` / `handle_turn`) has no per-role branches.
+
+### Boot wiring
+
+`serve_main` reads `HIVE_PORT` (default `DEFAULT_WEB_PORT`) +
+`HIVE_LABEL` (default `"hive"` for standalone runs; the meta
+flake sets it unconditionally for any container-deployed agent;
+see `docs/conventions.md::Hive identity` for the env stack),
+opens turn-stats sqlite, prepares the on-boot files (see
+[claude-invocation](claude-invocation.md#on-boot-files)),
+installs claude plugins, spawns `web_ui::serve` + `vacuum::run`,
+and either drops into `serve_loop` directly (`Online`) or parks on
+the login flow first (`NeedsLogin`). (The forge notification poller
+used to be spawned here too; it is its own process now —
+`hive-forge-notify`, see [`forge.md`](../forge.md).)
+
+`spawn_todo_socket` opens the todos store and, alongside
+`todo_server::run` (the socket the out-of-process producers dial),
+spawns `disk_watch::run` — an *in-process* todo producer, so it shares
+the store + wake `Notify` directly rather than dialling its own socket.
+It raises a keyed `disk` todo when the filesystem backing the agent's
+state gets tight, naming the agent's own biggest directories; the
+summary is bucketed and carries no raw byte counts, so an unchanged
+situation re-upserts as `changed == false` and never re-wakes.
+
+Plugin install failures are not fatal: each entry comes back as a
+human-readable failure string that gets routed via
+`Surface::send_to_parent` to the agent's topology parent (the
+broker resolves `<parent>` per `topology::parent_of`; root agents
+and the manager fall through to operator).
+
+### Turn outcomes
+
+`turn::TurnOutcome` (`Result<bool, TurnError>` — `Ok(compacted)` on success,
+else a `TurnError`) drives the post-claude branch:
+
+| Outcome | Action |
+| --- | --- |
+| `Ok(_)` (`false` normal / `true` compacted) | `ack_turn` |
+| `Err(PromptTooLong)` | `drive_turn` archived the session (the lib already compacted + retried and it still overflowed); requeue inflight so the message redelivers into a fresh session that fits — no status park |
+| `Err(RateLimited)` | sleep `HIVE_RATE_LIMIT_SLEEP_SECS` (default 300), requeue inflight, status back to `online` |
+| `Err(AuthFailed)` | emit `needs_login_idle` sentinel, requeue inflight, park in `wait_for_login` |
+| `Err(SessionNotFound)` | resume + create self-heal both missed ("shouldn't happen"); requeue inflight so the next turn creates fresh — no status park, message not dropped |
+| `Err(ApiStall)` | idle watchdog killed claude after `HIVE_TURN_IDLE_SECS` (default 600) of output silence; sleep `HIVE_STALL_SLEEP_SECS` (default 60), requeue inflight, status back to `online` |
+| `Err(Failed(err))` | route `[system] \`<qualified-label>\` claude turn failed:\n<err>` to `<parent>` via `send_to_parent` |
+
+`ApiStall` catches an Anthropic API stall — a multi-retry connection storm where
+the stream goes silent for minutes. The idle watchdog lives in `hive-claude`'s
+driver (`Config::idle_timeout`, enforced around `child.wait()`): the timer
+resets on every stdout line, so a large but still-streaming turn is never cut —
+only complete output silence for the window trips it. The harness sets the
+window from `HIVE_TURN_IDLE_SECS` (`0` disables) and maps the driver's
+`Error::IdleTimeout` onto `TurnError::ApiStall`.
+
+After the outcome handler, the stats sink records a row. `handle_turn`
+reports the result to `serve_loop` via `TurnControl { auth_failed }` —
+on auth failure the loop parks in `wait_for_login`; otherwise it loops
+straight back to the idle wait (step 1). There is no same-turn
+self-continue mechanism: every multi-step continuation rides an
+external wake instead — a new inbox message, a `remind`, or an
+in-container todo wake (bash-task completion, forge notification,
+matrix activity). Ending the turn and letting one of
+those drive the next one is strictly better than parking in-process:
+it checkpoints the session and observes wakes that only reach the
+harness between turns.
+
+## Sub-pages
+
+The rest lives alongside this page, in three topic files:
+
+- **[claude-invocation.md](claude-invocation.md)** — how the harness
+  spawns `claude --print` each turn, the two-pronged compaction (reactive +
+  proactive), and the on-boot files it materialises (`--mcp-config`,
+  `--system-prompt-file`).
+- **[config.md](config.md)** — the optional per-agent knobs the meta
+  flake wires in (reference docs, icon, passwordless sudo, dashboard links,
+  custom static files, connectivity overrides, claude plugins, cargo message
+  filtering).
+- **[mcp.md](mcp.md)** — the MCP tool surface claude sees: core tools,
+  privileged tool groups, self-wake, authoritative state, the tool envelope,
+  and the built-in tool whitelist.
+
+Per-subsystem impl detail lives in each module's `//!` doc-comment; these pages
+describe present-state behaviour + wiring, not line-level mechanics.

docs/turn-loop/claude-invocation.md

@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ window with two triggers baked into its `run`:
   *still* overflows, `run` surfaces `Error::PromptTooLong`; `drive_turn`
   then archives the session (session lifecycle stays hive-side) and the
   serve loop requeues the message so it redelivers into a fresh session
-  (see [Turn outcomes](../turn-loop.md#turn-outcomes) — the wake prompt itself is tiny, so
+  (see [Turn outcomes](README.md#turn-outcomes) — the wake prompt itself is tiny, so
   the overflow was the accumulated context the archive clears).
 - **Proactive** — a turn finishes cleanly but the last inference's context
   size crossed the policy watermark. While the session is still healthy it

hive-agent/Cargo.toml

@@ -41,4 +41,4 @@ tempfile = "3"
 # The sibling MCP server is its own bin crate now (`hive-agent-mcp`).
 # Privilege boundary is enforced server-side at the socket (tool
 # groups / manager surface).
-# See `docs/turn-loop.md::Harness binary shape`.
+# See `docs/turn-loop/README.md::Harness binary shape`.

hive-agent/README.md

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ understand or change: what happens between "a message lands in the
 inbox" and "claude produces a reply", how login/auth is bootstrapped,
 how the per-agent web UI is served, or how turn/event stats get
 recorded. Architecture detail lives in
-[`docs/turn-loop.md`](../docs/turn-loop.md); this README is just the
+[`docs/turn-loop/`](../docs/turn-loop/README.md); this README is just the
 map of the module tree.
 
 ## Shape
@@ -48,4 +48,4 @@ map of the module tree.
 
 Sibling: **`hive-agent-mcp`** (the MCP server this loop points claude
 at every turn). Both are described together in
-[`docs/turn-loop.md::Harness binary shape`](../docs/turn-loop.md).
+[`docs/turn-loop/::Harness binary shape`](../docs/turn-loop/README.md).

hive-agent/src/login.rs

@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ impl LoginState {
 /// infinite-401 loop a bare-existence check would produce when stale
 /// credentials are already on disk. Mtime-snapshot resumption rationale
 /// and `DirSnapshot` two-axis design: see
-/// [`docs/turn-loop.md::The loop`](../../docs/turn-loop.md).
+/// [`docs/turn-loop/::The loop`](../../docs/turn-loop/README.md).
 ///
 /// # Panics
 ///

hive-agent/src/main.rs

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 //! generic and testable. Sibling: `hive-agent-mcp` (the MCP server this
 //! loop points claude at).
 //! Architecture lives in
-//! [`docs/turn-loop.md::Harness binary shape`](../../../docs/turn-loop.md).
+//! [`docs/turn-loop/::Harness binary shape`](../../../docs/turn-loop/README.md).
 //!
 //! Single bin crate: the module tree below (formerly this crate's `lib.rs`,
 //! before lib + bin were collapsed into one) plus the serve loop.
@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@ fn spawn_todo_socket(
 /// Boot — wires up the web UI, login state, stats, plugins, forge
 /// notifier, and either drops into `serve_loop` directly (`Online`) or
 /// parks on the login flow first (`NeedsLogin`). See
-/// `docs/turn-loop.md::Boot wiring`.
+/// `docs/turn-loop/README.md::Boot wiring`.
 async fn serve_main<S: Surface>(socket: &Path, poll_ms: u64) -> Result<()> {
     let port = std::env::var("HIVE_PORT")
         .ok()