Asked "why do we need Pangolin if you proposed rsync/ssh?", and the runbook did
not actually answer it -- it stated both were needed without saying why neither
substitutes. New section 1.3:
- Pangolin/HTTPS carries the MCP tool surface (search, add_drawer,
diary_write, kg_*) -- every live tool call, from any MCP client.
- SSH/rsync carries transcript *files* only, because mempalace_mine expands
its source path server-side, so the server can only mine its own disk.
HTTPS alone is a palace you can query but cannot feed; SSH alone is files with
no query API. The rsync is not a transport preference, it is a workaround for
where `mine` resolves paths.
Records honestly that `ssh -L 8765:172.17.0.1:8765 synlig` *would* replace the
tunnel for MCP, and why we don't: synlig dials out (reaching for a dial-out
tunnel is itself the evidence inbound was unavailable), MCP clients want a
durable URL rather than a per-session forward, and the forward must be up on
every device before every session.
And the design's weak point, stated instead of glossed: the rsync runs
client -> synlig, so mining needs synlig's SSH reachable *from the client*. Were
that true everywhere, no tunnel would be needed for MCP either. Honest
expectation after Phase 1 is therefore: query/write from anywhere, mine only
from devices that can reach synlig's SSH. Section 4 now carries the upstream ask
that would close the gap -- have the feeder send content over MCP (add_drawer /
diary_write, which it already calls) instead of asking the server to mine a path
it must first rsync there.
New section 3.7, a live trap for the imminent client flip:
MEMPALACE_REMOTE_URL on its own does not degrade to local feeding, it *stops*
feeding. auto mode switches to remote as soon as the URL is set (:286) and
remote mode then exits 1 without MEMPALACE_PI_SSH_TARGET (:298-300), before
anything is staged or filed -- so a cron feeder just starts failing, and the
loudest symptom is silence. Two safe orders given: set all three variables in
one edit, or set URL+token and pin --mode local until the SSH target exists.
newt is installed on synlig and connected to Pangolin (done 2026-08-12), marked
here and in the synlig runbook's item 2; the blocker is now item 3, the one
sudo. Added the follow-up that "connected to Pangolin" only proves newt reached
nyvaken -- reaching the *palace* is a separate claim that fails independently,
so probe 172.17.0.1:8765/healthz from inside newt's namespace.
All seven code citations verified against the source at commit time.
Joakim Persson
00a95d1a2f