Frank
689228e60d
Second half of the purge (the first covered the persona, AGENTS.md, README.md, and the distillation of the per-host pages). Every remaining identifier is gone: hostname, both LAN addresses, and the Wi-Fi SSID. 34 count-checked substitutions across 22 files — indexes, tool/research pages, the inventory census, the changelog, one generated HTML report, and five managed skills. Facts kept, names dropped: a history entry keeps its four-page listing as a nameless summary, the syslog excerpts keep every timestamp and line, and the census keeps the .zcompdump rows (the zsh version stamps are the useful part, the hostname was not). Deliberately unchanged: install.sh's --host case list and the packages/<hostname>.pkgs filename, where the hostname is the lookup key. Left out of scope by Frank's call: agent/memories/** — past-session records the learn pipeline rewrites. kb-lint: 0 violations. Residual grep for the hostname, its two IPs, and the SSID across omp-docs/ and agent/managed-skills/: no hits.
29 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
29 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
---
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name: noctalia-config-remote-edit
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description: "Edit live Noctalia v5 shell config on a fleet host over SSH: which config layer is live, why noctalia msg fails from ssh context, and the systemd-run --pipe workaround that works."
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---
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# Noctalia config edit over SSH (v5 native, both fleet hosts)
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## Current architecture (since 2026-09-10 unification)
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Both the workstation and blankpad run the bare `noctalia` v5 binary as the desktop shell (launch: niri `spawn-at-startup "noctalia"`). The old Quickshell-hosted v4 architecture (`qs -c noctalia-shell`, JSON config) is retired on both hosts. Live config layer = TOML only:
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- Hand-edit declarative layer: `~/.config/noctalia/<name>.toml` (e.g. `config.toml`).
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- Runtime state file `~/.local/state/noctalia/settings.toml` loads LAST and overrides declarative values for the same keys — never hand-edit it; UI/IPC writes land there.
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## Why msg fails remotely, and the workaround that works
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`noctalia msg <command>` resolves the running instance via the D-Bus session bus. sshd-spawned non-login shells lack `DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS`, so plain ssh exec prints `error: noctalia is not running` even when the shell IS running. Do not conclude "shell dead" from this error.
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Working remote procedure (runs in systemd user-manager context where the bus address exists):
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```
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systemd-run --user --pipe --wait noctalia msg <command> [args]
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```
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Verified: `msg status` returns live JSON state; unknown panel ids return an error listing all valid panel ids (clipboard, control-center, launcher, polkit, session, setup-wizard, test, tray-drawer, wallpaper).
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## Verified v5 msg verb grammar (keybinds-safe)
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`panel-toggle <id>`, `session lock|suspend|lock-and-suspend|logout|reboot|shutdown`, `volume-up [step]`, `volume-down`, `volume-mute`, `mic-mute`, `media next|previous|playPause` (graceful no-op with rc 0 when no active player), `brightness-up [target] [step]`, `brightness-down`, `settings-open [context]`, `settings-toggle [context]`, `config-reload`, `wallpaper-get [connector]`, `wallpaper-set <path>`, `wallpaper-next`.
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## Wallpaper directory semantics
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Empty/unset `[wallpaper] directory` resolves to XDG Pictures (`$HOME/Pictures`) via user-dirs.dirs; an explicit directory key overrides. Fleet default pattern: point `directory` at the repo-tracked wallpapers dir so git-tracked wallpapers serve the shell without copying files. After writing config.toml over ssh, the file watcher hot-reloads automatically; `config-reload` via systemd-run --pipe forces it immediately. Note: the *current* wallpaper stays the built-in default asset until the next rotation or an explicit `wallpaper-next`; `wallpaper-get` then reports a path inside the configured directory = confirmation the config took effect.
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## Lock chain (unified)
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swayidle-lock.service ExecStart on both hosts: `/usr/bin/swayidle -w timeout 300 '/usr/bin/noctalia msg session lock' before-sleep '...' after-resume '...'`. `msg` resolves via session bus, so no WAYLAND_DISPLAY pinning is needed in unit context (niri's own /proc/PID/environ lacks WAYLAND_DISPLAY but spawn-at-startup children still receive a working display connection empirically — verified by qs-hosted autostart working from boot pre-unification).
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