The owner needs exact new-user simulation as a one-command launch
(repeatable first-run BYOK testing). Option A, owner-approved:
env-hiding switch + launcher script.
Fix 1 — LH_IGNORE_ENV_KEYS=1 in the keys seam: when set, every env key
is invisible app-wide; only auth.json counts. The mechanism is boot-time
DELETION, not seam-local filtering: pi-ai resolves provider keys from
process.env NATIVELY at every request (verified — auth/context.js's
defaultProviderAuthContext reads live env, no boot snapshot), so
deleting the managed vars from process.env in initAuthEnv is the ONE
mechanism that hides keys from every consumer — model engines included,
plus the three direct process.env readers (visual-maker, pdf-reader,
openRouterApiKey). realEnv stays EMPTY under the switch (nothing counts
as env), and the fill-gap still reflects auth.json keys so a fresh user
can add keys mid-session and engines see them with no restart.
keyValue reads file-only under the switch as belt-and-suspenders (a
post-boot env reintroduction stays invisible to the seam). Unset
switch = today's behavior, byte-for-byte (server-keys.test.ts pins it).
Fix 2 — scripts/dev-fresh.sh (npm run dev:fresh): fresh throwaway
LH_DATA_DIR (.fresh-data/, wiped each launch, --keep preserves), and —
the subtle bit — LH_AUTH_FILE redirected INTO the fresh dir: dev's
AUTH_FILE default is the repo-root auth.json, which may symlink the
real keys; the fresh instance must never see it. Sets the switch,
dedicated port (default 3005, --port overrideable, standing assignments
3000-3004 refused), prints URL + data dir, safe to rerun. .fresh-data/
gitignored.
Test: tests/fresh-env-keys.test.ts (own process — the switch is
boot-time): the engine-path deletion asserted directly, the env/file
collision resolved to the file, status rows report file sources only,
mid-session saveKey/deleteKey round-trip, idempotent re-init, and the
unset-switch env-wins read seam live-checked.
Live-verified on 3005 via the launcher: zero federated models, all
providers keyPresent false, no present keys, no auth.json/settings.json
in the fresh dir; then mid-session ZAI save → 7 zai models federate
instantly, source 'file' — while .env.local's real keys stayed
invisible throughout.
Gates: typecheck, lint, 863/863, build.
The auth/keys wave (2026-09-19): the server now owns the flat auth.json
map directly (LH_AUTH_FILE from main.cjs; repo-root auth.json in dev,
gitignored). The store reflects itself into the child's env at boot with
fill-gap precedence — real env (incl. .env.local in dev) always wins —
so every consumer keeps its plain process.env reads and saved keys take
effect immediately, no restart; main.cjs's spawn-time injection retired
(an env copy would shadow every settings-page change).
Curated 4-key catalog (OpenRouter, Deepgram, Google search pair) with
shape-only validation (no live pings — owner decision), 400s on bad
pastes, last-4+length masking (plaintext never leaves the store),
unknown file vars preserved + surfaced. Routes: GET /api/keys,
PUT/DELETE /api/keys/:id. Tests: catalog/store/composition, with the
env-sanitizing prologue (a dev shell may export real keys; tests use
throwaway values only).
The web app becomes a desktop app without changing shape: the Electron
shell spawns the Next standalone server on a loopback port and points a
sandboxed window at it. All app logic stays in the Next server.
Bands:
1. LH_DATA_DIR seam (config.ts): PATHS.data/chats/graph derive from
process.env.LH_DATA_DIR (else repo data/, unchanged in dev). New
PATHS.modelCache routes the transformers.js embedding-model cache
(~300MB) to <data>/models when the seam is set — the default cache
inside node_modules is read-only in a packaged bundle. All existing
fs writes flow through PATHS; teacherPrompt stays ROOT-anchored
(read-only asset, ships inside the bundle by design).
tests/data-dir-seam.test.ts covers set/unset via child process.
2. Standalone build (next.config.ts + scripts/build-server.mjs):
output 'standalone'; outputFileTracingExcludes data/**/* keeps the
repo's real session data out of the bundle (verified: an unexcluded
scratch build traced 34 files / 716K of real chats + ledgers).
Two empirically-verified tracer gaps required outputFileTracingIncludes:
pi-ai's provider catalog (JSON import attributes — 39 files, 500s on
/api/models without them) and onnxruntime-node's sibling dylib
(libonnxruntime.dlopen via @rpath). build-server.mjs copies public/
and .next/static per docs, refuses a leaked data/ dir, and asserts
the runtime-read prompt .md assets are traced.
3. Electron shell (electron/main.cjs, no preload):
- single-instance lock (two instances would fight over the data dir);
- free port via listen(0); spawn via process.execPath +
ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 with PORT/HOSTNAME=127.0.0.1/LH_DATA_DIR;
- BYOK: userData/auth.json, flat {VAR: value} JSON, mode 0600,
merged into the child env only when absent from the real env
(auth UI is the settings milestone; file is hand-editable);
- poll until the server answers (no ready event), then open a
contextIsolation+sandbox window; deny-by-default permission
handler (media allowed only from the loopback origin — mic/STT
groundwork); will-navigate pinned to origin, window.open denied
with external links to the system browser; macOS Edit-menu roles;
- quit path SIGTERM→3s→SIGKILL + exit/SIGHUP nets; child stdout
mirrored to userData/logs/main.log;
- dev mode via LH_DEV_URL: no spawn, points at next dev (HMR).
4. Packaging (electron-builder.yml + build/entitlements.mac.plist):
files = electron shell only; the whole .next payload ships via
extraResources from .next (filter standalone/**/*) — NOT from
.next/standalone directly: electron-builder hard-excludes a copy's
root node_modules and the default pattern is a literal match, so
node_modules/ and .next/ were silently dropped and the server died
with 'Cannot find module next'. Asar holds no native code.
Unsigned (identity: null) until a Developer ID cert exists; hardened
runtime + audio-input entitlements laid now for the STT milestone.
desktop:dev / desktop:dist scripts (electron 44, electron-builder 26).
Live smoke of the packaged .app: server up on a random loopback port,
all API routes 200, a real GLM chat turn answered end-to-end via
auth.json BYOK, chat persisted under userData/data, second instance
exited via the lock, no orphaned server child after quit.
Gates: typecheck, eslint, 500/500 tests (+2 data-dir-seam), build.
The same extractor→auditor→merger pipeline now runs over raw personal
notes in arbitrary formats (vision §1, DECIDED 2026-09-13):
- NotesSource records (data/graph/sources.json, deterministic id from
path hash → idempotent re-imports) play the chatId role in mappings,
checkpoints, and observation events; usage lands on the source record
(appendSourceUsage, idempotent per startedAt, kept across upserts).
- mergeFindings is chat-store-free: callers pass MergeSource
{messages, foldedAt} — sessions pass the chat record, notes pass
messages:null (no quiz-event rebuild; a deterministic rebuild needs
structured quiz tool parts).
- Second extractor prompt (NOTES_EXTRACTOR_INSTRUCTIONS) for general-
purpose extraction; understanding judges the AUTHOR's grasp. Auditor
wording input-agnostic. extract/audit share one generic runSubmitAgent.
- graphSnapshot.fileSources (srcId→filePath); notes sources render as
static path entries in the detail card (FileTextIcon, never a link).
- One shared pipeline instance (exported from chat-handler): same
single-flight registry, live status chips (label = file path), usage
accounting, and true abort for both front doors.
- Transport: POST /api/graph/import (multipart, 3-wide worker pool) +
Import notes… button in the graph view; scripts/import-notes.ts for
batch runs (concurrency 4).
- real-data-extraction/ gitignored (raw import sources never committed).
355/355 tests; typecheck, lint, build green.
MODELS in config.ts is now THE single tuning table: model id + OpenRouter
reasoning effort for teacher/researcher/demoBuilder/visualMaker/extractor/
auditor. .env.local is secrets-only (LH_* model vars removed; all sub-agents
previously had NO reasoning setting -> provider-default unbounded thinking,
the extraction token burn). One factory (src/agent/models.ts modelFor) wires
all six call sites; test injection unchanged. EXTRACTION.everyNQuizAnswers
moved to a config literal too. Plus the §5 one-line-per-seam logging in the
extraction pipeline: pipeline start, extractor/auditor start + per-step,
audit kept, merged — previously silent until completion, which made live
runs look like they never fired.
The teaching agent no longer runs on pi. Stack:
- ToolLoopAgent (ai@7) + OpenRouter (OPENROUTER_API_KEY), model via LH_MODEL,
default anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5 with reasoning tokens
- quiz/ask_user_question = client-side tools (no server execute): the call
lands as a typed tool part in input-available state; the card grades via
src/core/question-core.ts; addToolOutput sends the verdict; the teacher's
reaction continues the same assistant message
- resume-mid-quiz is free: the pending tool part persists in the transcript
- persistence: one JSON per chat (data/chats/), full UIMessage transcripts,
saved onFinish (also on abort)
- UI: AI Elements (owned copy-paste components, pruned to the five in use)
+ button-based QuizCard/AnsweredCard (ask answers never graded)
- pi fully removed: TUI, extensions, Fastify+WS server, bridge, custom
protocol all deleted (recoverable from git history)
- tests: question-core units carry over; chat-flow integration drives
handleChatRequest with MockLanguageModelV4 (48 tests, zero tokens);
render smoke tests guard the cards (renderToStaticMarkup)
Carried over unchanged: teacher system prompt, question-core, schema/
ledger/derive/extract pipeline, data model.
amosblomqvist