16 KiB
hive-gateway
Single nginx in front of every hyperhive web surface. Container hive-gateway, shared host netns, system-config (not meta-flake managed). Configured via services.hyperhive.gateway.* + per-subsystem opt-in flags in services.hyperhive.{forge,matrix,...}.
Vhost map
| URL | vhost | upstream | source |
|---|---|---|---|
<hive>/ |
_ (catch-all) |
hive-c0re dashboard (7000) |
always |
<hive>/agent/<name>/ |
_ |
per-agent harness (UDS or TCP) | agents.conf (runtime-generated) |
<hive>/.well-known/matrix/{client,server} |
_ |
inline JSON (no upstream) | matrix.enable && domain != null |
<hive>/matrix/ (deprecated) |
_ |
301 → matrix.<hive>/ |
matrix.gui.enable |
forge.<hive>/ |
forge.<hive> |
forgejo (3000) |
forge.behindGateway |
matrix.<hive>/_matrix/* |
matrix.<hive> |
tuwunel (8008) |
matrix.gatewayHost != null |
matrix.<hive>/ |
matrix.<hive> |
fluffychat-web static | matrix.gui.enable |
matrix.<hive>/config.json |
matrix.<hive> |
inline JSON (FluffyChat boot config) | matrix.gui.enable && domain != null |
Per-agent UIs stay sub-path because they're hyperhive-internal and base-path-aware. External standard apps (forge / matrix) get sub-domains because their defaults work cleanly at sub-domain root + per-origin cookies / storage isolation matters.
Discovery flow (matrix)
Operator points client at <hive>. Sequence:
- Client fetches
https://<hive>/.well-known/matrix/client→{"m.homeserver":{"base_url":"https://matrix.<hive>"}}(no port suffix when gateway listens on 443). WithselfSignedTls = falsethe scheme drops to http and the port suffix reflects the bareportinstead. - Client connects to
matrix.<hive>/_matrix/client/.... - Gateway routes
/_matrix/*→ tuwunel at127.0.0.1:8008.
matrix-dart-sdk (FluffyChat etc.) hardcodes https for the well-known fetch regardless of input scheme, so the discovery endpoint MUST be https — see "Self-signed TLS" below for the cert generation that backs the default-on path.
Federation peers fetch .well-known/matrix/server → {"m.server":"matrix.<hive>"} and connect to matrix.<hive>:8448 per spec default. Gateway only listens on configured port (+ httpsPort when TLS on); cross-hive federation needs either an SRV record (_matrix._tcp.matrix.<hive> → port 80 / 443) OR matrix.openFirewall = true so peers reach tuwunel's federation port directly. Hyperhive is mostly closed/internal, so this rarely bites.
SPA fallback (Accept-header pattern)
The <hive> catch-all and the matrix.<hive> vhost both serve a flutter SPA (per-agent UI, fluffychat). Two requirements collide:
- hard-refresh on a sub-route must serve
index.html(SPA's client-side router takes over after JS bootstrap) - missing assets must surface as 404, not as HTML with wrong content-type
Solution: an nginx http-context map $http_accept $matrix_spa_target { ... } keyed on the request's Accept header. Browser navigations (Accept: text/html,...) get index.html; asset fetches (Accept: image/*, */*, etc.) get a sentinel nonexistent path → try_files falls through to =404. No extension allowlist, no if block, no regex heuristics.
Local dev (localHostsEntry)
services.hyperhive.gateway.localHostsEntry = true adds entries to the host's /etc/hosts:
<hive-domain>→127.0.0.1forge.<hive>→127.0.0.1(when forge.behindGateway)matrix.<hive>→127.0.0.1(when matrix.gatewayHost set)
lib.unique de-dupes if any sub-domain happens to equal another entry. Operators with real DNS leave it off.
Sub-domain shape (rationale)
Operator decision: sub-domain over sub-path for forge + matrix, sub-path for per-agent UIs.
- forgejo's default
ROOT_URL = http://<host>/works without anyX-Forwarded-Prefixgymnastics — sub-domain hosting is the canonical Forgejo deploy shape. - matrix-spec deployments universally use
matrix.<server_name>for the actual API listener — federation already expects this. - per-agent UIs are hyperhive-internal and base-path-aware specifically for
/agent/<name>/. Sub-domain per agent would multiply DNS + TLS-per-subdomain cost without per-app config wins. - cookie / storage isolation: a future forge XSS can't reach the dashboard session because they're different origins.
services.hyperhive.{forge.domain,matrix.gatewayHost} take the full hostname (forge.darkest.space, git.example.com) rather than a label that gets concatenated with hive-domain — operators want control over the full shape, not a forced <label>.<hive-domain> pattern.
Tuning knobs
Per-vhost timeouts + body-size limits live in the location blocks:
- forge
/(forgejo):client_max_body_size 1G(LFS),proxy_read_timeout 1h(multi-GB clones),proxyWebsockets = true(live-update endpoints). - matrix
/_matrix/(tuwunel):client_max_body_size 50M(media uploads),proxy_read_timeout 1h(long-poll/sync), CORS*(federation + cross-origin clients),proxyWebsockets = true. - per-agent
/agent/<name>/:proxy_read_timeout 1d(long-lived SSE / WebSocket dashboards),proxyWebsockets = true,X-Forwarded-Prefixset so the harness can build absolute URLs when relative isn't enough.
SSH for forge stays direct on cfg.sshPort — separate listener protocol, not HTTP-over-nginx.
Per-agent unix-socket upstream
Sub-agent /agent/<name>/ upstreams flip from TCP loopback to a
unix-domain socket as each agent opts in. The mechanism:
- Agent side (
hyperhive.web.useUnixSocket = trueinagent.nix). SetsHIVE_WEB_SOCKET=/run/hive-agent/<name>/web.sockon the harness service env;web_ui::servebinds aUnixListenerat that path instead of TCP. - Host side.
hive-c0rebind-mounts the per-agent subdir (/run/hive-agent/<name>/) into the agent's container. Dir bind, not file bind — file bind-mounts don't survive the harness'sunlink + bind(2)cycle on socket replace. Per-agent subdir keeps each agent's container blind to siblings' sockets. - Marker gate. After successful
bind_unix, the harness drops<dir>/hyperhive-socket-boundnext to the socket. c0re'sagent_sockets::writefilters its JSON map by marker presence — only agents whose harness has actually bound the socket appear there. Without this filter, the gateway wouldproxy_passto a non-existent socket for every sub-agent that hasn't opted in yet. (Legacy name.boundalso accepted during the transition window.) - Gateway side.
gateway_nginx::writegenerates/var/lib/hyperhive/gateway/agents.conf— a plain nginx include file with onelocation /agent/<name>/block per agent. UDS upstream (http://unix:/run/hive-agent/<name>/web.sock:/) whenhyperhive-socket-boundmarker present; TCP loopback otherwise. The gateway container bind-mounts/var/lib/hyperhive/gateway/at/run/hive-state/; nginx includes/run/hive-state/agents.conf. After each write, c0re triggersnginx -s reloadinside the gateway container from the HOST viasystemd-run --machine=hive-gateway nginx -s reload. This is intentionally host-side:IN_MOVED_TOfrom an atomic rename does not propagate across the nspawn mount-namespace boundary, so a path unit inside the container would never fire (#889).
c0re regenerates agents.conf (and triggers a reload) on two
triggers: every topology change (new/removed agents) and every 10s
marker poll tick (agent_sockets::spawn_poll). write() is
idempotent — skips the rename+reload when content is unchanged.
Transition: agents that haven't flipped useUnixSocket = true get a
TCP loopback upstream in agents.conf (deterministic port from
agent_web_port(name)). A future cleanup will drop the TCP fallback
once every agent's flipped.
Agent port map (agent-ports.json)
/var/lib/hyperhive/agent-ports.json is a flat JSON object keyed by
logical agent name → TCP web port:
{
"iris": 8178,
"atlas": 8304,
"argus": 8267,
"damocles": 8549
}
Written alongside agents.conf on every topology change. Ports come from
lifecycle::agent_web_port(name) — a pure FNV-1a hash of the name,
reproducible from the name alone. The manager is excluded: the gateway
routes / directly to c0re's dashboard upstream, not through a
per-agent /agent/<name>/ prefix.
The file doubles as a human-readable audit artifact — cat agent-ports.json
shows every registered sub-agent and its deterministic port assignment. TCP
loopback upstreams in agents.conf reference these ports for agents that
haven't opted into unix-socket mode yet.
Both agent-ports.json and agents.conf use atomic <path>.tmp +
rename() writes so a crashing c0re process never leaves a partial or
unparseable file behind.
Dashboard link shape (gateway vs direct)
When the gateway is in front, the SW4RM tab builds per-agent links
as same-origin /agent/<name>/… URLs instead of the legacy direct
http://<host>:<container.port>/ TCP shape. The signal comes from
StateSnapshot.gateway_enabled, sourced from the
HIVE_GATEWAY_ENABLED env the c0re NixOS module sets when
services.hyperhive.gateway.enable = true. Three render sites
flip together: the primary agent-name link, the favicon fetch
(<url>/icon), and the nav-strip container-kind links from
/api/agent/<name>/links. forge-kind nav-strip links still
resolve against http://<host>:3000 (separate sub-domain transition
tracked by forge.behindGateway); external-kind links are
already absolute. See docs/web-ui/dashboard.md::Container row for the
frontend-side derivation.
Self-signed TLS (selfSignedTls)
On by default. The gateway generates a self-signed RSA-4096 cert at first boot (10-year validity) and listens on httpsPort (default 443) on every vhost beside the plain-http port (default 80).
Why on by default: matrix-dart-sdk (FluffyChat's SDK) hardcodes https://<host>/.well-known/matrix/client for homeserver discovery and refuses to fall back to plain http. Without TLS the browser client cannot bootstrap. For headless agent traffic and operator dashboard reach plain http is fine, so the http listen stays in parallel — operators can keep using http://<hive>/ from the dashboard if they don't care about the cert prompt.
Cert shape: subject CN = bare hive domain; subjectAltName covers <hive> + wildcard *.<hive> so all current and future sub-domain vhosts (matrix, forge, ...) validate under the same cert. Stored at /var/lib/hive-gateway/tls/{cert,key}.pem inside the gateway container (ephemeral = false, so persisted across container restart).
Regeneration: the generator unit (hive-gateway-self-signed-cert.service) is gated by ConditionPathExists=!cert.pem, so it's a one-shot. To rotate (e.g. cert leak, expiry approaching), delete cert.pem inside the gateway container and restart nginx.service — the generator runs as a Before= dependency. No automatic rotation; the cert is purely a workaround for the well-known fetch.
Production: operators fronting hyperhive with a real reverse proxy (caddy + ACME, traefik + Let's Encrypt, etc.) set selfSignedTls = false. The proxy handles termination upstream, the gateway listens on port only.
Cert prompts: browsers warn once per host on first visit. With the wildcard SAN, https://<hive>/, https://matrix.<hive>/, and https://forge.<hive>/ are covered by the same cert, but the browser still prompts per origin (per-host security state). FluffyChat needs the user to accept both matrix.<hive> (the SPA itself) and <hive> (the well-known fetch endpoint).
.well-known/matrix/{client,server} scheme: switches to https when selfSignedTls is on, so matrix-dart-sdk doesn't downgrade and tuwunel federation peers get a TLS-fronted base_url. The legacy /matrix/* 301 redirect also flips to https.
Firewall posture (host-level)
hive-c0re.nix opens the per-agent web-port range
8100..8999 in the host firewall only when
services.hyperhive.gateway.enable = false. With the gateway on
(default), it's the sole external entry point and proxies to
127.0.0.1:<port> internally — leaving the per-agent ports
firewall-open would defeat the single-front-door story.
services.hyperhive.gateway.openFirewall = true opens port plus
httpsPort when selfSignedTls = true (default). Operators who
flip selfSignedTls = false to front the gateway with a real
TLS-terminating reverse proxy on the host get only port opened.
The manager hashes into the same port range as sub-agents (no "manager pinned at 8000" special case), so one range opening covers every container.
The dashboard port (cfg.dashboardPort, default 7000) is not
listed in either case — it binds 127.0.0.1 only, so a firewall
hole would be a no-op. Remote dashboard access flows through the
gateway. Operators who opt out of the gateway lose external
dashboard reach by design — the surface is privileged (approve /
deny / destroy) and must not be exposed without a real reverse
proxy in front.
HIVE_FORGE_URL: loopback for in-cluster, sub-domain for the operator
Agents poll HIVE_FORGE_URL for Forgejo notifications + run all
hive-forge calls against it. hive-c0re.nix pins this to
http://127.0.0.1:<forge.httpPort> for the in-cluster path: every
agent container shares the host's network namespace, so loopback
reaches the forge container directly with no DNS lookup needed.
The sub-domain default (forge.<hive-domain>) is for operator
browsers + cross-host clients, not in-cluster traffic. Using the
sub-domain URL inside agent containers would fail every hive-forge
invocation with "Name or service not known" — the agent's nspawn
doesn't have DNS for the external hostname.
hive-forge container shape
Private Forgejo wrapped in a nixos-container (hive-forge, not
h-* — keeps c0re's lifecycle scanner out of the picture; the
operator manages it via the standard nixos-container CLI). The
container also keeps hive-forge from fighting any services.forgejo
the operator already runs on the host — separate systemd namespace,
separate state dir, separate port unless the operator deliberately
collides.
Container shares the host network namespace
(privateNetwork = false) so agents reach the forge at
http://localhost:<httpPort> without extra plumbing — nixos-container
is here for state + systemd-unit isolation, not network isolation.
State lives at /var/lib/nixos-containers/hive-forge/var/lib/forgejo/
and survives container restart / host reboot. To wipe, destroy the
container.
Per-agent error pages
/agent/<name>/ requests hit two failure modes; both get static
HTML pages instead of nginx's default error chrome:
-
Agent not found (
/agent/<unknown>/...) — name isn't inagentPortsTable. nginx's prefix match falls back to the bare/agent/catch-all, whichreturn 404s anderror_page 404rewrites to/__hive_agent_not_found→ servesnot-found.htmlwith a link back to the dashboard. -
Agent unreachable (
502 / 503 / 504fromproxy_pass) — the per-agent harness isn't responding (container restarting, crash recovery, etc.).proxy_intercept_errors on+error_page 502 503 504 = /__hive_agent_unreachablerewrites tounreachable.html.
Both pages are built at deploy time via pkgs.runCommand (one nix
derivation hyperhive-agent-error-pages with not-found.html +
unreachable.html inside) and served via two internal nginx
locations with alias to the exact file. internal keeps the
files from being directly request-able by operators — only nginx's
own error-handling can reach them.
Page styling: minimal inline CSS matching the dashboard's catppuccin
palette (#1e1e2e bg, #cdd6f4 text, #cba6f7 heading). No
dependencies on the frontend dist — these pages render even when
hive-c0re itself is down.
Scope is intentionally narrow: only routes already special-cased in the nginx config get custom error pages. Other gateway routes (forge / matrix / fluffychat) get nginx defaults — extending the custom-error pattern there is a separate follow-up.