# 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assumptions got revised mid-flight rather than thought through fully: - `deploy/README.md` flipped from "Status: superseded, historical reference" to "deploy/files/ is canonical, only `deploy-test-server.sh` is historical."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.