live: heartbeat sync 2026-10-18T17:49:00-07:00 (Refs #11)

agent/managed-skills/deployment-checkout-trunk-sync/SKILL.md

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+---
+name: deployment-checkout-trunk-sync
+description: Use when the live deployment checkout (~/.omp main) must merge a moved origin/main while dirty tracked files block the merge and workspace policy blocks git checkout.
+---
+
+---
+name: deployment-checkout-trunk-sync
+description: Use when the live deployment checkout (~/.omp main) must merge a moved origin/main while dirty tracked files block the merge and workspace policy blocks git checkout.
+---
+
+# Sync a dirty live checkout to a deployment (checkout blocked)
+
+Situation: the checkout IS the deployment; months of machine/hand writes sit
+uncommitted; `origin/main` has moved; `git checkout`/discard is BLOCKED by
+workspace policy ("edit forward"; exemption only during active conflict).
+
+## Procedure
+1. `git fetch`; trial `git merge --no-commit --no-ff origin/main` to enumerate
+   exact blockers (dirty files the merge would overwrite + untracked collisions).
+   Untracked blockers: `cp -a` to `.AGENTTRASH/pre-merge-<date>/`, then `mv` aside.
+2. **Preservation commit:** `git add` ONLY the blocking paths (not the whole
+   tree) and commit them as-is: `chore: adopt pre-existing working-tree state
+   before trunk merge`. Nothing is discarded; the secret gate still runs.
+   Include EVERY dirty deployment-state path (dotfiles/live tiers too) — a
+   dirty file that is neither committed nor trashed is unprotected from step 3.
+3. `git merge --no-ff origin/main`. Conflicts are now resolvable — the policy
+   exemption is active during a merge.
+4. Resolution law:
+   - **live machine config** (`agent/config.yml`, `models.yml`, dotfiles live
+     state like noctalia `settings.toml`) → `--ours`: the running box is its
+     own authority; the remote copy is a snapshot.
+   - **prose/law/docs** (`AGENTS.md`, KB) → `--theirs` (upstream canonical;
+     local variants survive in the preservation commit).
+   - **append-mostly logs** → union: cut only the three marker lines
+     (`<<<<<<<`/`=======` range + `>>>>>>>`), keep both sides' entries.
+5. `git commit --no-edit`, push trunk, verify `main == origin/main`.
+6. Pre-merge byte-compare every dirty file vs `origin/main`
+   (`git show origin/main:$f | diff -q - $f`): SUPERSEDED (identical → discardable),
+   DIVERGED (resolve), untracked-in-upstream (collision).
+
+## Gotchas
+- **NEVER `git stash` to unblock a deployment sync, NEVER `git stash clear`/
+  `drop` afterward.** Observed 2026-10-18: a sync stashed the dirty tree, the
+  stash entry was later destroyed, and months of GUI-built bar layout
+  (noctalia settings.toml, never committed) vanished with it — recovered only
+  via dangling-object archaeology (below). Step 2's preservation commit exists
+  precisely so stashing is never needed.
+- **Stash-and-retry loops are a red flag**: three `WIP on main` stash commits
+  within ~60s of each other means the operator was fighting the dirty tree,
+  not resolving it.
+- **Recovery from destroyed stashes** (objects survive entry deletion until gc):
+  `git fsck --lost-found` → `git log -1 --format='%ci %s' <dangling>` to date
+  them → `git show <c>:<path>` to dump candidates; newest `WIP on` commit is
+  usually the last good state. Validate before deploying (e.g.
+  `noctalia config validate`), back up the clobbered file to `.AGENTTRASH/`,
+  then restore through the symlink target.
+- Never wrap `git checkout` in `2>/dev/null` here: the policy-block error was
+  swallowed and the loop silently no-op'd; the merge then failed identically.
+- `git add` a directory pathspec stages its untracked children (fine for
+  allowlist dirs; never for prose dirs).
+- The live-sync heartbeat (#11) commits machine tiers hourly, so this sync is
+  a rare operation post-deployment — mostly memories/dotfiles stragglers.
+  Remember the heartbeat can lag up to an hour behind GUI edits: the tree
+  between heartbeats is the ONLY copy of fresh GUI work.
+- **Frank's accepted risk posture (2026-10-18):** hourly sweep + the
+  preservation-commit law + fsck recovery is defense-in-depth ENOUGH. Do not
+  re-propose faster heartbeats or path/event triggers to shrink the
+  GUI-edit-to-commit window; he chose status quo after measuring (heartbeat
+  itself is 57 ms CPU — cost was never the objection; un-debounced
+  DirectoryNotEmpty triggering was, and path-unit proposals are vetoed).