MOPAC/DESIGN.md

MOPAC harness — design spec v0 (2026-08-28)

A Go headless agent harness for the RCEO/TSG org. Replaces bash/screen/file-hack inner loop. All patterns established 2026-08-28 STAY; only the substrate changes. References: ../reference/{crush,maki}; siblings to port: ../siblings/{KNEL-AIMiddleware, KNELSecretsManager}.

What it is NOT

• Not a TUI. Inner loop = pull Redmine -> run turn -> write Discourse/Redmine back -> chain next turn. Humans observe via files/Redmine/Discourse, not by attaching to the loop.
• Not a daemon. Bounded turns chaining (drip), same as dispatch-turn.sh today.

Core loop (from DESIGN-24x7-execution.md, carried over)

1. INTAKE: poll released scope (Redmine query) + local inbox files.
2. GATE: semaphore (LLM slots, class-aware: llm-heavy|compute-long|hybrid), budget from LiteLLM usage API (http://192.168.3.78:4001) — virtual key per stack, hard caps enforced at proxy.
3. EXECUTE: bounded turn, fresh small context, tools below.
4. WRITEBACK: REPORT file + Redmine issue note (SoR). Discourse for docs.
5. CHAIN: completion triggers next conductor iteration. P1 first, grinders chunked, compute-long tasks run in non-LLM slots.
6. ESCALATE: anything outside standing-release scope -> TASK file -> founder gate. Never auto-executes.

Tools (port from crush/KNEL, Go)

• bash exec, file edit (tree-sitter-aware parses; see maki's approach), redmine-cli, discourse-cli, tea (gitea), docker, bitwarden (replace KNELSecretsManager with Go bwraper around bw CLI; secrets never in logs).
• MCP client (crush's mcp plumbing is the reference; wrappers exist in siblings/KNEL-AIMiddleware — port config format for compat).
• LSP: port lsp-* wrappers or embed go.lsp devkit.
• Permission model: per-tool allow/deny, tree-sitter bash parsing (maki reference) — subshells/pipes handled; org preset: no sudo/ssh/network exfil; writes confined to declared roots.

Providers

• OpenAI-compatible only, pointed at LiteLLM (base_url + virtual key). OAuth flows (crush-style) OUT of scope for v1 — proxy key is enough.
• Retry/backoff on stream truncation (z.ai "Message content shorter than read bytes" seen 2x today) with turn resume.

Cross-host (5 onstage + 3 offstage)

• Each host runs harness instances; coordination via _crossfeed files (v1) and/or LiteLLM keys as the global budget broker. Event receiver (T1) later.

Build order (go slow, grinder TASKs, quota-aware)

1. Reference studies: crush oauth/mcp/session code; maki permission parsing + token-reduction (index/tool_search). Deliverable: PORTING-NOTES.md each.
2. harness skeleton: config, loop, redmine-pull, file writeback, exec tool.
3. Permission layer + bitwarden wrapper.
4. LiteLLM integration + semaphore/budget gates.
5. MCP/LSP ports.
6. Pilot: one RCEO stack on trivial released scope; compare vs drip loop.

Constraints

• Quota: grinder turns only, no idle polling loops, compact aggressively.
• Never log secret values; keys from bitwarden at runtime.
• Everything it does lands in git (tooling repos) or Redmine (work records).

Parity target (Charles, 2026-08-28 ~18:45)

Harness aims for crush FEATURE PARITY on the agent core: tool calling, subagents (weak/medium/strong tiers), MCP client, sessions/resume, skills. v1 skeleton (tonight) = the headless subset; parity items land in ordered phases after the pilot. TUI explicitly stays out of scope.

Org model + interaction layer (Charles, 2026-08-28 evening)

• VERTICALS are first-class config: each vertical/stack = identity + LiteLLM virtual key + budget + scope query + allowed tools. The harness natively models the whole org (5 onstage + 3 offstage), not one loop.
• INTERACTION LAYER = Redmine (work/SoR), Discourse (docs/specs), Gitea (code, PRs). Humans and other agents talk to a stack ONLY through these + git.
• _crossfeed files/doorbells/screens = internal implementation detail of the legacy bash stack; harness keeps file state locally but never requires a human to touch it. Chaining is in-process, not screen-stuffing.

Toolchain policy (Charles, 2026-08-28 evening) — HARD RULE

100% Go for the harness ecosystem: core, CLIs, tools, MCP replacements. No Python/Rust/Node in the toolchain (CMMC L3/TS, SCI/ITAR supply-chain posture). Exceptions only when unavoidable (e.g. Playwright-class browser automation) and each requires explicit founder sign-off, isolated + vendored.

• Deps: minimal, vendored, reproducible builds, go vet + staticcheck clean.
• Existing Go assets to REUSE, not rewrite: tea (gitea), LiteLLM (service, not ours). Bitwarden: Go wrapper replaces Node bw CLI dependency.

Tooling architecture (open question -> PMO recommendation)

Recommendation: SEPARATE Go executables (MOPAC/tools/: redmine-cli, discourse-cli, bitwarden-go, ...) driven by the harness via exec with a JSON in/out contract + thin in-process adapter for hot paths. Why: (1) auditable per-binary supply chain; (2) CLIs stay usable standalone by humans/legacy stacks — interaction layer must not require the harness; (3) Unix plumbing/porcelain split, same model as git; (4) in-process plugin interface can come later without redesign. MCP servers we run get replaced by these Go CLIs behind a minimal MCP adapter, killing the docker/python MCP fleet.

MVP demo bar (Charles, 2026-08-28 ~19:00)

Fire up the harness (screen or docker) and run a turn whose prompt is "tell me about yourself" routed through LiteLLM; the GLM 5.3 self- description comes back and lands as the REPORT. That is the MVP. The 0800 checklist (compile, dry-run, real single-turn, LSP wired, studies) builds toward it; the demo itself is this one exchange.

Model selection layer (Charles, 2026-08-28 ~19:00)

Claude-Code-style model picking for the harness and its subagents: the harness chooses the right model per body of work (overall + per-task). GLM fleet is wide; use it deliberately.

• Inventory on proxy today (12): glm-4.5{,-air,v}, 4.6{,v}, 4.7{,-flash}, 5, 5-turbo, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3. No glm-5.3-flash configured yet; flash-class today = glm-4.7-flash. Adding 5.3-flash later = one LiteLLM model_list entry, zero code change (see aliases).
• v0 (tonight, skeleton): static TASK CLASS -> MODEL TIER map in harness.toml. Classes: study/read -> flash tier; code/architecture -> flagship (glm-5.2/5.3); review/summarize/writeback -> mid (5-turbo/5.1); vision when needed (4.6v/4.5v). Config-only, no heuristic code.
• Aliases are the contract: harness requests mopac-study, mopac-code, mopac-review ... LiteLLM resolves alias -> concrete model. Swapping models (e.g. 4.7-flash -> 5.3-flash when live) = proxy config edit only.
• v1 (post-pilot): auto-selection — cheap flash model classifies each incoming TASK (Redmine issue text) and picks tier + model before the main turn spends anything; subagent spawns inherit class-based routing with per-tier budget caps (LiteLLM vkeys already enforce spend).
• Telemetry: every REPORT logs model used + tokens + cost via LiteLLM spend APIs, so routing decisions are auditable and tunable.

Key proxy: placeholders only, material never leaves the vault (Charles, 2026-08-28 evening)

• PROBLEM with existing gateways: they HOLD real keys in a webui/api and serve placeholders. We invert that: key material lives ONLY in Bitwarden (Secrets Manager) + HashiCorp Vault. A Go proxy (MOPAC/tools/keyproxy or bitwarden-go evolution) resolves placeholder -> real at the wire, holds material in memory only (fetch-on-demand, short TTL, never persisted, never in any admin UI; there is no admin surface — config only).
• FRONTEND: consumers (harness, CLIs, containers) receive placeholder keys (mpk_... opaque refs). If one leaks, it's a placeholder: revoke/re-map in vault, zero upstream exposure. Defense in depth.
• BACKEND connectors: Bitwarden Secrets Manager REST (machine accounts; AVOID the official SDK — source-available license conflicts with AGPL; plain REST via stdlib keeps AGPLv3 clean) + HashiCorp Vault KV v2 + AppRole (official Go api pkg is MPL-2.0, AGPL-compatible, vendor it). License: AGPLv3; MIT fallback only if a conflict still arises.
• ADOPT crush's exposure-minimization protocol everywhere (per docs/PORTING-NOTES-crush.md + house practice): keys via os.environ/VAR indirection in configs (never literals), 0600 on secret files, redaction of key material in all logs/output, canonical-source regeneration (crush.json -> providers.json pattern), never exec env files inside scripting languages, session scrubbing.
• Also feeds: study-secrets TASK (KNELSecretsManager notes) in flight. LiteLLM stays a sanctioned service exception (its z.ai key can later be injected at container start from the vault; not tonight).

Tooling = standalone public FLOSS repos, loosely coupled (Charles, 2026-08-28 evening)

• Dedicated CLIs/services each get their OWN public Gitea repo under the UKRRS org (org for ALL LLM work; AGPLv3), composable by anyone: ukrrs/mopac-keyproxy (created, seeded), later mopac-redmine-cli, mopac-discourse-cli, mopac-bitwarden-go, ... ukrrs/MOPAC (transferred 2026-08-28) is the harness core. MOPAC references them; it does not contain them.
• LOOSE COUPLING RULES (FLOSS without support burden): config-driven — no org-specific hosts/paths/defaults baked into code; contracts are exec + JSON in/out (Unix plumbing); each tool standalone-usable by a human; TSYS-specific policy/policy repos (agent-stack) live OUTSIDE the tools. We build for our needs first; genericness comes from clean contracts, not from supporting foreign requirements.

ALL dev work in Docker (Charles, 2026-08-28 evening) — BIG RULE

• No dev toolchains on the host: compiling, vetting, testing, hacking all happen inside containers (e.g. digest-pinned golang:1.26 builder with the repo bind-mounted, go build/vet/test inside, artifacts out via the mount). Host runs containers + screens; nothing else.
• docker pull of anything needed is PRE-AUTHORIZED, no asking.
• Exception cleanup: the harness-skeleton turn installed go1.26.7 to host ~/.local before this rule landed — remove it (follow-up TASK) once that turn completes; all future builds go through the builder container.
• Rationale: reproducible, supply-chain-clean (CMMC posture), host stays pristine; same pattern as the LSP stack (digest-pinned containers).

Events are V1 scope: webhook receiver now (Charles, 2026-08-28 evening)

• NOT deferred. mopac events (Go HTTP receiver, in ukrrs/MOPAC) ships with the first build. The interaction layer (Redmine/Discourse/Gitea) must be able to PUNCH the harness: when Charles replies on Discourse, updates a Redmine ticket, or approves a Gitea PR, the harness knows and acts.
• Trigger -> action semantics (dedup + replay, at-least-once): Redmine issue update/note on an active stack's issue -> dispatch/redirect turn for that stack; Discourse post reply in a stack's category/topic -> context update + response turn; Gitea PR approved/merged -> next pipeline step (build/test/deploy per repo config).
• Signatures: Gitea HMAC-SHA256 secret header; Discourse webhook secret header; Redmine shared-secret header (verify, reject unsigned). Normalize to internal event record -> Redmine issue (SoR) -> conductor picks up.
• Runs containerized (dev-in-docker rule), port published on host LAN; Cloudron apps get the webhook URL configured per-app.

Hermes killed; OpenWebUI is the interactive front door (Charles, 2026-08-28 evening)

• Hermes was Node — removed (dashboard/gateway/searxng, 2026-08-28 ~19:10). No Node middleware anywhere in MOPAC's path.
• OWUI (Cloudron + SSO) becomes the ONLY interactive surface: MOPAC serves an OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions endpoint (Go stdlib HTTP, in this repo, e.g. mopac serve). OWUI adds it as a connection; each stack/ vertical registers as a "model". OWUI admin UI + Cloudron SSO = RBAC we do not build. Keys minted per OWUI connection (LiteLLM vkeys pattern).
• Event path unchanged: Redmine/Discourse/Gitea webhooks -> mopac events (Go T1 receiver). OWUI chat and webhooks are two doors into the same loop.

Budget + quota reality (Charles, 2026-08-28 evening)

• Until 2026-09-22: legacy z.ai coding plan = FLAT RATE. Real budget = plan quota, not USD. Smaller/flash models stretch quota ~3x. Routing policy: grind/study/summarize -> flash tier (glm-5.3-flash now live on proxy, 13 models); flagship (glm-5.3/5.2) only when the work needs it. Maximize usage of what we already pay for.
• After 2026-09-22: org-wide AI cap $200/mo across all 8 stacks: 2x $80 z.ai max plans + $40 OpenRouter. Design all budgets/vkeys to fit.