# Deploy directory architecture — open questions

**Resolved 2026-05-15 by [`docs/superpowers/plans/2026-05-15-deploy-dir-rethink.md`](../plans/2026-05-15-deploy-dir-rethink.md).**
Decision summary: `deploy/` is reference material; privileged scripts moved
to top-level `scripts/{libexec,sbin}/`; `deploy-test-server.sh` deleted;
dead static units (cake.service, nft-mark.service) deleted; reactor-emitted
units (server@, web, workshop-refresh.{service,timer}, slices) retained as
curated examples; ckn-bw `install_left4me_scripts` action repointed to the
new source paths. Body below preserved for archaeology.

---

**Status: open questions, not a settled design.** This is a thinking-aloud
handoff prompted by the script-consolidation change on 2026-05-15. Decisions
deferred; a future session should pick this up, talk through the options,
and commit to one shape.

## What happened on 2026-05-15 that prompted this

Two changes landed in quick succession:

1. `left4me-overlay` grew idmap bind-mount support so kernel-overlayfs copy-up
   from `l4d2-sandbox`-owned lowerdirs produces `left4me`-owned upperdir
   entries (commits `2f6a9cf` + `9053186`).
2. Consolidated all five privileged scripts (4 libexec helpers + 1 sbin
   admin CLI) so left4me owns the source of truth and ckn-bw `install`s
   them from `/opt/left4me/src/deploy/files/usr/local/{libexec,sbin}/`
   after `git_deploy` (left4me `f5e36ee`, ckn-bw `3ccaa91`).

During (2), several architectural assumptions got revised mid-flight rather
than thought through fully:

- `deploy/README.md` flipped from "Status: superseded, historical reference"
  to "deploy/files/ is canonical, only `deploy-test-server.sh` is historical."
- The scripts kept their existing deeply-nested paths under
  `deploy/files/usr/local/libexec/left4me/*` rather than moving to a
  cleaner top-level layout (an earlier draft of the plan proposed `bin/`,
  but the user pushed back on mixing the admin CLI with the helpers).
- The resulting state works but several things feel half-finished. This
  document enumerates them so they don't rot.

## Current state to look at before deciding anything

- `deploy/files/usr/local/libexec/left4me/{left4me-systemctl,journalctl,overlay,script-sandbox,apply-cake}`
- `deploy/files/usr/local/sbin/left4me`
- `deploy/files/usr/local/lib/systemd/system/{left4me-server@.service,left4me-web.service,...}` — **NOT** deployed; ckn-bw emits via reactor. Currently dead-but-kept-for-reference.
- `deploy/files/etc/{sudoers.d/left4me,sysctl.d/99-left4me.conf,left4me/sandbox-resolv.conf,left4me/cake.env}` — `sudoers.d/left4me` and `sysctl.d/99-left4me.conf` and `left4me/sandbox-resolv.conf` are shipped (verbatim, from ckn-bw's own copies — **still duplicated!**). `cake.env` is dead code.
- `deploy/templates/etc/left4me/{host.env,web.env.template}` — Mako-rendered by ckn-bw's `bundles/left4me/files/etc/left4me/{host.env.mako,web.env.mako}` (its own copies, **also duplicated**).
- `deploy/deploy-test-server.sh` — superseded one-shot bash installer.
- `deploy/tests/test_deploy_artifacts.py` — pytest assertions over the
  files above. Currently canonical / load-bearing.

The script consolidation only handled `usr/local/libexec/left4me/*` and
`usr/local/sbin/left4me`. The other duplicated items above were not in
scope.

## Open question 1: what does `deploy/` mean?

Four framings, not mutually exclusive but each implies different next moves:

- **A. "Files to install onto the target"** — single source of truth for
  every deployable artifact (scripts, configs, sudoers, sysctl, units,
  env templates). ckn-bw becomes pure orchestration: users, groups,
  dirs, apt, venv, install actions reading from deploy/.
- **B. "Deploy-mechanism artifacts only"** — installer scripts, runbook
  docs, env-template *examples*. Real project executables live elsewhere
  in the repo.
- **C. "Reference documentation of deploy decisions"** — historical-flavored.
  Real source-of-truth lives in ckn-bw. This was the framing before
  2026-05-15.
- **D. "Configuration for the deploy target"** — sudoers, sysctl,
  sandbox-resolv.conf, env. Executables live elsewhere.

Today we drifted into **A** for the scripts, **C** lingering for the
systemd units, partial-A-partial-C for /etc/ stuff, and we promoted the
templates section without changing its actual role. Inconsistent.

Pick one and lean in.

## Open question 2: should the scripts live in deploy/ at all?

Argument for keeping them where they are:
- Source path = deploy target. Self-documenting.
- Zero churn from the just-landed consolidation.

Argument for moving them out (top-level `libexec/`, `sbin/`, or `bin/`):
- `deploy/` has historically meant "deploy mechanism." Putting 381-line
  Python code (`left4me-overlay`) there mixes "deploy artifacts" with
  "core project logic." `left4me-overlay` is real software; it has
  tests, it gets edited like any other code.
- Nesting is deep: `deploy/files/usr/local/libexec/left4me/left4me-overlay`
  is 5 levels of dir before the actual file.
- Shorter paths make Python constants more readable (the test file uses
  `OVERLAY_HELPER = DEPLOY / "files/usr/local/libexec/left4me/left4me-overlay"`).

Counter to the move:
- The user pushed back on a flat `bin/` because it mixes admin CLI
  (`left4me`, sbin role) with internal helpers (`left4me-overlay` et al.,
  libexec role). A two-dir top-level layout (`libexec/` + `sbin/`) avoids
  that mix at the cost of two top-level dirs.

Open variants:
- Flat top-level `bin/` (mixed roles, simplest)
- Top-level `libexec/` + `sbin/` (role-separated, two top-level dirs)
- Top-level `scripts/` with `libexec/` and `sbin/` subdirs (one umbrella)
- Stay in `deploy/files/usr/local/{libexec,sbin}/` (current)

## Open question 3: what to do with `deploy-test-server.sh`

The script duplicates ckn-bw's install logic in bash form. ckn-bw is
authoritative now; the script is at best stale documentation, at worst
actively misleading (the user almost-but-didn't run it against an ovh.left4me
node during one of the recent debugging passes).

Options:
- **Delete entirely.** ckn-bw is the deploy. Script's content survives
  in git history if anyone wants to reference it.
- **Relocate to `docs/`** as a readable "what does deploy do?" walkthrough.
  Drop the executable bit, mark it explicitly as docs-only.
- **Keep as-is.** README already says superseded; one extra warning in
  the script header would suffice. Lowest churn, ongoing rot risk.

If we go with the consolidation direction (everything canonical in
left4me), keeping a `deploy-test-server.sh` that doesn't match the
canonical paths becomes a documentation bug. Maintaining it in sync
with ckn-bw's items.py is overhead nobody wants.

## Open question 4: bw responsibilities vs. file installs

Today's split:

- **bw owns:** users, groups, dirs, env files (Mako-templated with node
  metadata), sudoers + sysctl + sandbox-resolv.conf (verbatim, **its own
  copies**), systemd units (reactor-emitted from `metadata.py`), apt
  packages, venv creation, pip install, alembic, seed-overlays, the
  install action for privileged scripts.
- **left4me owns:** privileged scripts (via the install action reading
  from `/opt/left4me/src/deploy/files/usr/local/{libexec,sbin}/`).

The split is inconsistent. ckn-bw ships its own copies of:

- `bundles/left4me/files/etc/sudoers.d/left4me`
- `bundles/left4me/files/etc/sysctl.d/99-left4me.conf`
- `bundles/left4me/files/etc/left4me/sandbox-resolv.conf`
- `bundles/left4me/files/etc/left4me/{host.env.mako,web.env.mako}`

And **left4me also has copies** of the first three at
`deploy/files/etc/{sudoers.d/left4me,sysctl.d/99-left4me.conf,left4me/sandbox-resolv.conf}`.
Either ckn-bw's are the source of truth (in which case left4me's are
stale/historical), or left4me's are (in which case we should extend the
install-from-checkout pattern to these too).

Mako-templated env files genuinely need bw's metadata access — those
probably stay in ckn-bw as the authoritative renderer. But the
templates themselves could live in left4me with placeholders that bw
substitutes. We're not far from that today.

The clean version of "left4me canonical" would have:

- Verbatim files (sudoers, sysctl, sandbox-resolv.conf, scripts) all in
  `deploy/files/...` in left4me. ckn-bw's bundle files/ directory holds
  nothing but the Mako env templates (which need bw's metadata).
- Sudoers gets `test_with: visudo -cf {}` — currently a property of
  ckn-bw's files item. To preserve this when the file moves to install-
  via-action, the action itself would need to run `visudo -cf
  /opt/left4me/src/deploy/files/etc/sudoers.d/left4me` before the install
  step. Doable but adds complexity.

The clean version of "split-by-purpose" would have:

- Verbatim files stay in ckn-bw (config bundles are bundles' jobs).
- Scripts in left4me, exactly as today.
- left4me's `deploy/files/etc/` becomes pure reference — and we should
  either keep it explicitly labeled as such, or delete it to avoid
  duplication drift.

Both are coherent. Today we have neither — half-and-half.

## Open question 5: dead-code cleanup

These files exist in `deploy/files/` but serve no live purpose:

- `usr/local/lib/systemd/system/{left4me-cake.service,left4me-nft-mark.service}` — units replaced by ckn-bw's reactor / nftables bundle.
- `usr/local/lib/systemd/system/{left4me-server@.service,left4me-web.service,left4me-workshop-refresh.{service,timer},l4d2-game.slice,l4d2-build.slice}` — also reactor-emitted, not installed from these files.
- `usr/local/libexec/left4me/left4me-apply-cake` — dead since CAKE moved to networkd. Currently ships via the new install glob (harmless extra file on `/usr/local/libexec/left4me/`).
- `usr/local/lib/left4me/nft/left4me-mark.nft` — central nftables bundle replaced this.
- `etc/left4me/cake.env` — replaced by node metadata.

Each one of these is a self-contained delete-when-someone-feels-like-it
job. Cumulatively they add up to enough noise that future readers will
get confused about what's load-bearing.

Probably worth a "deploy/ janitorial pass" PR that just deletes the
documented-as-obsolete files. Out of scope for whatever architectural
shift you commit to, but mention it as adjacent cleanup.

## Adjacent thing the script consolidation introduced

The `install_left4me_scripts` action in ckn-bw ships *everything* in
`deploy/files/usr/local/libexec/left4me/` to `/usr/local/libexec/left4me/`
via `install -t DEST .../left4me/*`. This is what makes the action
filename-agnostic. Side effect: `left4me-apply-cake` (dead code) gets
installed too. It does nothing on disk because no unit references it.
Three escape hatches:

- Delete the file from `deploy/files/...` (clean — kills dead code).
- Move the file out of the install path (e.g. to `docs/historical/`).
- Filter the glob (introduces a named exclusion; user explicitly didn't
  want filename-naming in the action).

If the broader "open question 5" cleanup happens, this resolves itself.

## Recommended structure for the followup session

When picking this up:

1. Read `deploy/README.md` (current shape) and this doc.
2. Pick a position on **open question 1**: what does `deploy/` mean?
   The answer constrains everything else.
3. Once 1 is settled, **open questions 2 and 4 fall out**: where do
   scripts live, where do config files live.
4. **Open question 3** (`deploy-test-server.sh` fate) is independent of
   the others and can be decided in isolation.
5. **Open question 5** (dead-code cleanup) is independent too;
   probably worth doing alongside whatever else lands.
6. End state should be: the rules for "what goes in deploy/" can be
   written in two sentences. Today they take a paragraph plus
   exceptions.

## Pointers

- Current `deploy/README.md` has the current canonical/historical split.
- ckn-bw's bundle: `git.sublimity.de/cronekorkn/ckn-bw`,
  `bundles/left4me/items.py`. The `install_left4me_scripts` action and
  the files dict are the relevant entry points.
- Plan that landed the recent change:
  `docs/superpowers/plans/2026-05-14-overlay-idmap.md` (idmap helper) and
  the ~/.claude/plans scratch file for the script consolidation.
- Recent commit history that touched this surface:
  - `f5e36ee` deploy: claim /usr/local/sbin/left4me admin CLI in deploy/files
  - `2f6a9cf` + `9053186` left4me-overlay idmap support
  - ckn-bw `3ccaa91` left4me: install privileged scripts from git_deploy artifact

## What I don't think is in scope here

- Rewriting the shell helpers in Python / packaging them as
  console_scripts. Considered and rejected in the script-consolidation
  plan because of the egg-info / TOCTOU privilege concern around
  left4me-uid-writable bin dirs.
- Switching to a kernel-overlayfs alternative.
- Splitting the gameserver uid from the web app uid. Separate planned
  change.
