esh-pfi-infrastructure/persistent-memory.md

# Persistent memory — eshpfi-management

_Last updated: 2026-05-17_

## Repo purpose

Reference workspace for PFI infrastructure: server inventory, canonical
Docker Compose stacks, ops playbooks, and conventions. Authoritative
copies of compose files live on the servers under
`/opt/docker/compose/<stack>/`; this repo mirrors them for version
control, editing, planning, and CI-driven deploys.

## Tools and conventions

Sister repos (separate gitea repos, deployed by playbooks here):

| Repo | Role | CI status |
|---|---|---|
| `vh/task-board` | MCP + web dashboard for assistant task state (port 7878) | push-to-main → CI deploys (2026-04-29) |
| `vh/vor` | Inquisitor UI sidecar (port 7879) | push-to-main → CI deploys (2026-04-29) |
| `vh/nevermore` | Twice-daily LLM-curated briefing (port 8181, replaces news-digest) | push-to-main → CI deploys (2026-04-30) |
| `vh/asset-engine` | Internal control plane over inference services (port 8200, LAN-direct) | push-to-main → CI deploys (2026-05-12) |
| `vh/althing` | Inter-agent message bus (chamber UI port 7881, forseti + agent-runner daemons, valkey IPC) | push-to-main → CI deploys (2026-05-14) |
| `vh/mead-hall` | Bifrost tool-provider sidecar (port 5173 on dev VM 10.100.10.50) | push-to-main → CI deploys (2026-05-16) |
| `vh/skaldsong` | TBD — first CI workflow shipped 2026-05-17 | push-to-main → CI deploys (2026-05-17) |
| `vh/worldtree` | Conversation API (corviduo-dev, port 8080) — Heimdall auth, Bifrost integration | push-to-main → CI deploys |

- **Two-layer backups** — Backrest orchestrates restic for file+DB (5
  fleet repos, daily 01:00 PDT); PBS-ANA primary + PBS-NH3 DR mirror for
  VM images. ana-nas is the SPOF for postgres + PBS-ANA datastore +
  cross-site restic targets — see `docs/runbooks/disaster-recovery.md`
  for the blast-radius matrix.

- **`pull-hf-repo.yaml`** is the canonical "get a HuggingFace
  model/dataset onto ana-ml2's shared cache at
  `/tank/aimodels/huggingface/`" playbook. Supports `--var repo_type=model|dataset|space`. Replaces ad-hoc `huggingface_hub.snapshot_download` patterns.

- **Worldtree admin auth** — infra-ops holds a permanent admin-tier
  Heimdall key issued 2026-05-17 (`key_id 61419c92`), stored at
  `ana-docker:/opt/docker/conf/.secrets/worldtree-infra-ops-admin`
  mode 600. Used for `POST /admin/keys`, admin diagnostic reads
  (`/admin/sessions/<id>/{bifrost,tools}`, etc.), and any other
  Worldtree admin work. Replaces the docker-as-root + bootstrap-admin
  pattern that was in use 2026-05-12 through 2026-05-16.

- **docker-as-root pattern** (for ops that have no admin API, e.g.
  `SqliteUserStore.set_bifrost_credentials`): on hosts where the SSH
  user is in the `docker` group but lacks passwordless sudo, run
  `docker run --rm -v <target-dir>:/wt -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock docker:cli sh -c "..."` to edit deploy-owned files
  without sudo. Documented with security warning in
  `servers/corviduo-dev/README.md`. docker-group membership is
  effectively root via bind-mount; treat as a sudo-equivalent grant.

## Current state / in-flight

_As of 2026-05-17:_

- **mead-hall Bifrost integration stalled mid-Worldtree.** Bifrost
  consumer registration done from infra side (HS256, `set_bifrost_credentials` via docker-as-root + admin key, secret-drop pattern), `BIFROST_CLIENT_ALLOWED_HOSTS` env wired through to corviduo-dev's container. But the actual tracer dispatch shows
  `session_not_bifrost_bound` per `/admin/sessions/<id>/bifrost` — the
  handshake doesn't register bfclient into `_bifrost_clients[]`.
  worldtree-dev investigating; not infra-side work.

- **althing-chamber stack at 4 services.** chamber (port 7881) +
  forseti (moderator daemon) + agent-runner (Phase 2 worldtree-driver
  dispatcher) + valkey (Phase 3.1 pub/sub bridge for cross-process
  streaming). Phase 3.1 verified end-to-end via event histogram on
  2026-05-17. Forseti is the canonical dev for this stack (galdrabok
  is on a different project).

- **Worldtree admin workflow shift** (2026-05-17, per vh): infra-ops
  uses its own permanent admin-tier key for admin operations rather
  than reaching into bootstrap admin via docker-as-root. Admin ops
  with HTTP endpoints go over HTTPS; ops without (like
  `set_bifrost_credentials`) still use docker-as-root but with my own
  auth, not borrowed.

- **Open hygiene debt** — these keys/tokens were disclosed across the
  althing bus and/or in CC transcripts during this session and warrant
  rotation at convenience:
  - Gitea runner registration token (`a1135753...`) — rotate via Gitea
    admin UI's runner-token reset.
  - mead-hall's Worldtree bearer (`wt_live_80e1570620ef2aba998dc63954cce3a6`) — tracer issuance 2026-05-16.
  - Worldtree provider keys `Z_AI_API_KEY` + `ZAI_API_KEY` — from the
    2026-05-12 corviduo-dev outage.
  - chamber config.yaml's `forseti.api_key` + `agent_runner.api_key`
    (Worldtree user-tier keys) — exposed when grepping config to add
    `streaming_enabled` 2026-05-17.

- **Still open from prior session** (2026-05-08, unchanged): rotate
  `MINIFLUX_PASSWORD` (leaked twice); clean up legacy `news-digest`
  detritus on ana-docker (`/opt/docker/compose/news-digest/`,
  `/opt/docker/data/news-digest/`, image `local/news-digest:v5`);
  watch nh3-nas `/volume1` (was 65%; recheck retention or expand
  before ~80%); the `docker push 60s client-side ceiling` mystery
  remains uninstrumented.

## Recent decisions

- `[2026-05-17]` Phase 3.1 cross-process streaming uses Valkey 8
  alpine as a sibling compose service in `stacks/althing-chamber/`,
  redis-protocol pub/sub for high-volume `msg_delta` / `msg_thinking` /
  `msg_start` / `msg_complete` event kinds. DB bridge keeps
  `msg_curated` + `floor_grant` (structured / canonical). Two-channel
  architecture, no overlap. chamber + agent-runner `depends_on:
  valkey: service_healthy`.

- `[2026-05-17]` Worldtree admin workflow shift (per vh): infra-ops
  gets its own permanent admin-tier key (`61419c92`, stored at
  `ana-docker:/opt/docker/conf/.secrets/worldtree-infra-ops-admin`).
  Future admin ops route through this key, not the bootstrap admin
  via docker-as-root.

- `[2026-05-17]` Worldtree env-var addition checklist: anytime
  introducing `os.environ.get("FOO")` in worldtree code, update BOTH
  `.env.example` AND `compose.yaml`'s `&worldtree-env` anchor in the
  same PR. Same Z_AI_API_KEY-shape footgun bit
  `BIFROST_CLIENT_ALLOWED_HOSTS` (#170) until worldtree-dev added the
  passthrough line in `08f02b2`.

- `[2026-05-16]` althing-chamber Phase 2: added `althing-agent-runner`
  as third compose service (worldtree-driver agent dispatcher).
  All three althing services use the same image; `command:` selects
  entrypoint. Safe to enable preemptively (sleeps when no
  driver=worldtree handles declared).

- `[2026-05-14]` althing-chamber stack scaffolded: chamber + forseti.
  Internal LAN-only at port 7881 (chamber default 7878 collides with
  task-board). Two-service compose, shared SQLite bind-mount, build-on-host pattern via vh/althing's gitea-workflow. Forseti is the
  canonical dev for this stack (galdrabok is on a different project).

- `[2026-05-13]` `vllm-qwen3` → `vllm` stack rename. Added
  `vllm-reward` service (Skywork-Reward-V2-Llama-3.1-8B-AWQ classifier).
  Three vLLM services share GPU 1 (embed 0.20, rerank 0.20, reward 0.30
  utilization; 30% headroom). All use `--runner pooling`; classification
  drives via model's `architectures: [LlamaForSequenceClassification]`
  in config.json, NOT `--task classify` (deprecated in vLLM 0.19.1).

- `[2026-05-13]` `pull-hf-repo.yaml` is the canonical HF-fetch
  playbook on ana-ml2. Supports `--var repo_type=model|dataset|space`.
  Replaces ad-hoc `huggingface_hub.snapshot_download` calls.

- `[2026-05-13]` Selene-1-Mini-Llama-3.1-8B added to llama-swap as
  judge model. mradermacher `i1-Q6_K` imatrix quant (~6.5GB). AtlaAI
  reward/eval model — temp 0.01, ctx 32K, q8_0 KV cache. New JUDGE /
  EVAL MODELS section in `stacks/llama-swap/conf/config.yaml`.

- `[2026-05-13]` /tend-docs first pass deletions: `stacks/infinity/`
  removed (retired by vllm). Archived
  `docs/asset-engine/design-brief.md` → `docs/archive/asset-engine/`
  with archival header. Fixed `pfi-pve` VM list to full
  `qm list` enumeration. Dropped stale weak-password section from
  `pfi-postgres` (rotation done 2026-04-23).

- `[2026-05-12]` corviduo-dev (Worldtree-team dev VM, 10.250.50.152,
  CT 106 on pfi-pve) added to `servers/` inventory. Treat like SF
  client hosts: PFI hosts + provides emergency-ops backstop;
  Worldtree team owns OS config + deploys + backup decisions.

- `[2026-05-12]` Worldtree `:latest` tag drift bug — fixed by
  health-gated `:latest` advance in vh/worldtree's deploy workflow
  (architect commit `8ef3801`): only tag `:latest` AFTER the new
  container's `/health` probe passes. Build-on-host stacks here
  don't have this problem because the playbook always builds the
  SHA-tagged image from a `git reset --hard <ref>` checkout.

- `[2026-05-12]` asset-engine stack scaffolded LAN-direct at
  `http://10.250.50.70:8200`. Initially included Traefik labels for
  public hostname; user pulled them out (internal tool, no public
  TLS surface needed). Pattern: internal tools default LAN-direct;
  Traefik wiring only when external/TLS required.

- `[2026-05-12]` asset-engine catalog gains `lifecycle: { stack,
  vram_gb, gpu_device_id }` per irv-ml1 service for the
  orchestrator feature. SSH keypair scaffolded at
  `ana-docker:/opt/docker/conf/asset-engine/ssh/` for
  asset-engine container → irv-ml1 orchestration via dedicated
  ed25519 key.

## Tried and abandoned

- `[2026-05-17]` `--task classify` for Skywork in vLLM 0.19.1 —
  flag was deprecated. Use `--runner pooling`; the model's
  `architectures: [LlamaForSequenceClassification]` in config.json
  drives the classification head. Surfaced as `vllm: error:
  unrecognized arguments: --task classify` in container logs.

- `[2026-05-17]` Trusting that `.env` edit alone propagates a new env
  var into a worldtree container — `compose.yaml`'s `&worldtree-env`
  anchor must explicitly declare the passthrough or the value silently
  doesn't land. Same footgun bit `Z_AI_API_KEY` (2026-05-12) AND
  `BIFROST_CLIENT_ALLOWED_HOSTS` (2026-05-17). Cost ~10 min of "why is
  env empty?" diagnosis each time. Worldtree-side fix in
  `vh/worldtree@08f02b2`.

- `[2026-05-17]` `--force-recreate --pull never` from the docker:cli
  sandbox without explicit `-e WORLDTREE_IMAGE=<sha>` re-pins the
  container to `:latest`, even when a newer SHA-tagged image is on
  disk. Symptom: container "recreated" but actually reverted to a
  stale image. Pass `-e WORLDTREE_IMAGE=...:<sha>` to the docker run
  invocation. Worldtree-dev's `8ef3801` health-gated `:latest`
  advance is the long-term fix.

- `[2026-05-13]` Initial Voxtral default voice `alloy` (OpenAI-compat
  naming) — vLLM-Omni serving Voxtral does NOT translate aliases.
  Native presets are `<register>_<gender>` shape (`neutral_female`,
  `casual_male`, etc.). Always live-probe `/v1/audio/voices` for the
  exact wrapper-deployed preset names before setting a catalog
  default. Same caveat for Qwen3-TTS (wrapper exposes 15 voices: 9
  Qwen presets + 6 OpenAI aliases) and Kyutai-TTS (NillPointer
  wrapper has NO voice-listing endpoint at all; voices are
  filesystem paths under the `kyutai/tts-voices` HF repo).

- `[2026-05-12]` Defaulting asset-engine to Traefik-routed
  (`asset-engine.phasefinal.com` with `anaprod` cert resolver) on
  first scaffold — user pulled it back to LAN-direct. Internal
  tools default LAN-direct; only add Traefik when an external/TLS
  surface is actually needed.

- `[2026-05-12]` Routing althing thread replies through `galdrabok`
  when the actual dev handle is `forseti` — bus rejected
  `to=forseti` initially because thread participants list was
  `[galdrabok, infra]`. Solved by starting a new thread with
  `forseti` as the direct recipient. Lesson: when the bus auto-resolves a sender handle that doesn't match the actual dev role,
  start a fresh thread rather than fighting the participant list.

- `[2026-05-08]` Filtering Traefik's UTC access log by Gitea-local-PDT
  timestamp substrings (`grep "2026/05/08 15:1[2-7]"`) returned zero
  matches and led to a wrong "no /v2/ traffic in 12 days" conclusion.
  **Gitea logs in PDT, Traefik logs in UTC** — same host, different
  timezones. Always normalize timezones (UTC) when correlating logs
  across services on the same box. Cost: ~30 min in the wrong
  direction.

- `[2026-05-08]` Validating a user-proposed Traefik/Gitea timeout bump
  for "Traefik is dropping connections on big docker pushes" without
  first verifying which component was actually in the failure path.
  Traefik turned out to be innocent (`499 / 60012ms` = client closed,
  Traefik never timed out), Gitea's `PER_WRITE_TIMEOUT` governs
  response writes (wrong direction), and the real ceiling was a ~60s
  client-side timer no compose change can reach. **Lesson: validate
  the diagnostic premise — which component is actually in the failure
  path? — before refining the proposed fix.**

- `[2026-05-08]` Bumping Gitea `PER_WRITE_TIMEOUT` /
  `PER_WRITE_PER_KB_TIMEOUT` to address `unexpected EOF` on
  `/v2/.../blobs/uploads/` PATCH — wrong direction. Both govern
  **response writes**, not request body reads. `unexpected EOF` from
  Go's HTTP server means the client closed mid-body-upload; not a
  knob Gitea exposes server-side.

- `[2026-04-30]` task-board workflow with
  `container: image: debian:bookworm-slim` — fails:
  `actions/checkout@v4` needs `node` at runtime, slim image lacks it.
  Switched to `node:20-bookworm-slim` (has node + apt) or runner-label
  default. (Pattern revisited 2026-05-17 for skaldsong-dev: container
  override needs `nodejs` apt-installed unless it IS the default.)

- `[2026-04-30]` Dropping the `container:` directive before runner
  re-registration with docker-schema labels — runner silently falls
  back to **host mode** (jobs run inside the alpine `act_runner`
  container itself, no apt). The `:host` suffix in startup logs
  (`labels updated to: [pfi-fleet:host ana-docker:host]`) is the
  giveaway. Fix: register with `pfi-fleet:docker://<image>` schema
  labels.

- `[2026-04-30]` Updating runner labels by editing `.env` and bouncing
  — doesn't take. The `.runner` registration cache pins labels at
  first registration; env-var updates are read each start but the
  stored token + UUID are tied to the original label set on the gitea
  side. Fix: stop runner, delete `.runner`, generate new admin
  registration token, redeploy.

- `[2026-04-30]` `git reset --hard origin/<sha>` in
  `deploy-task-board.yaml` (and the in-repo nevermore playbook before
  fix) — invalid syntax: `origin/` prefix only works for branch refs.
  SHAs need `git reset --hard <sha>` directly. Resolved with
  `git rev-parse --verify --quiet "origin/{{ ref }}^{commit}"` first,
  then bare `"{{ ref }}^{commit}"` fallback.

- `[2026-04-30]` Assuming `DEPLOY_SSH_KEY` was at user scope after
  task-board wiring — it was actually only repo-scope on
  `vh/task-board`. vor's first CI run failed with empty SSH key
  (`printf '%s\n' "" > ~/.ssh/id_ed25519`). Fix: copy secret to user
  scope at `gitea.phasefinal.com/user/settings/actions/secrets`.

- `[2026-04-30]` `grep -vE "^(#|$)"` to inspect `.env` for sanity —
  leaked the full `MINIFLUX_PASSWORD` line into the transcript. Then a
  follow-up redaction attempt with `sed -E "s/=(.{4}).*$/=\1<redacted>/"`
  still leaked the first 4 chars. Lesson: when probing secret-bearing
  files, use field-by-field SELECTIVE inspection
  (`grep -E "^(KEY1|KEY2)="`) rather than negative filters; for any
  password line, `grep -c` (existence) or `test -n "$(...)"`
  (non-empty), never `cat` or value-printing.