AI assistant for communities — React + Tauri v2 desktop app with a Rust core (JSON-RPC / CLI) embedded in-process.
Architecture docs: gitbooks/developing/architecture.md | Frontend | Tauri shell | Agent harness
| Path | Role |
|---|---|
app/ |
pnpm workspace openhuman-app: Vite + React (app/src/), Tauri desktop host (app/src-tauri/), Vitest tests |
src/ (root) |
Rust lib crate openhuman + openhuman-core CLI binary (src/main.rs) — src/core/ (transport), src/openhuman/* domains |
Cargo.toml (root) |
Core crate; cargo build --bin openhuman-core. Also slack-backfill and gmail-backfill-3d in src/bin/. |
docs/ |
Deep internals. Public contributor docs in gitbooks/developing/. |
Commands assume repo root. Root package.json is openhuman-repo (private, pnpm-enforced).
- Shipped product: desktop — Windows, macOS, Linux. No Android/iOS in the Tauri host.
- Core runs in-process as a tokio task (sidecar removed PR #1061). Lifecycle:
core_process::CoreProcessHandleinapp/src-tauri/src/core_process.rs. Frontend RPC →http://127.0.0.1:<port>/rpcwith per-launch hex bearer handed in-memory viarun_server_embedded_with_ready(rpc_token: Some(_)). Renderer reads bearer viacore_rpc_tokenTauri command.OPENHUMAN_CORE_TOKENstill honoured for CLI/docker/cloud. SetOPENHUMAN_CORE_REUSE_EXISTING=1for external core debugging.
Where logic lives:
- Rust core (
src/): business logic, execution, domains, RPC, persistence, CLI. Authoritative. - Tauri + React (
app/): UX, screens, navigation, bridging. Presents and orchestrates only.
Connects to desktop core via ConnectionProfile transport strategies in app/src/services/transport/: LanHttpTransport, TunnelTransport (E2E encrypted XChaCha20-Poly1305), CloudHttpTransport. Key paths: PTT plugin packages/tauri-plugin-ptt/, iOS screens app/src/pages/ios/, devices domain src/openhuman/devices/, tunnel crypto app/src/lib/tunnel/. Build: pnpm tauri:ios:dev (stock @tauri-apps/cli, not vendored CEF). Backend dep: tinyhumansai/backend#709.
pnpm dev # Vite dev server only
pnpm dev:app # Full Tauri desktop dev (CEF, loads env via scripts/load-dotenv.sh)
pnpm build # Production UI build
pnpm typecheck # tsc --noEmit (alias: compile)
pnpm lint # ESLint --cache
pnpm format # Prettier write + cargo fmt
pnpm format:check # Prettier check + cargo fmt --check
# Rust
cargo check --manifest-path Cargo.toml
cargo build --manifest-path Cargo.toml --bin openhuman-core
cargo check --manifest-path app/src-tauri/Cargo.toml # or: pnpm rust:check
# macOS Apple Silicon workaround (whisper-rs / llama.cpp)
GGML_NATIVE=OFF cargo check --manifest-path Cargo.tomlpnpm core:stage is a no-op (sidecar removed).
Build speed: both Cargo.toml files set [profile.dev.package."*"] debug = false — dependencies compile without DWARF in dev/test (faster builds + smaller target/); our own crates keep full debuginfo so panics/backtraces still resolve to file:line. release/ci profiles are unchanged. Keep this stanza in sync across the root and app/src-tauri/Cargo.toml if you touch profiles.
Two-lane CI model: CI Lite (ci-lite.yml, quick — pushes to main + PRs targeting main or release): quality checks per changed area plus unit tests only for the changed files — vitest related for app/src changes and domain-scoped cargo llvm-cov (libtest filter derived from src/<a>/<b>/…) for Rust — still gated at ≥ 80% diff coverage. Config-level changes (lockfile, Cargo.toml/lock, vitest config, src/lib.rs, …) fall back to the full suite (scripts/ci/vitest-changed-coverage.sh, scripts/ci/rust-coverage-changed.sh). CI Full (ci-full.yml, slow — PRs targeting the long-lived release branch + every push to it): complete unit suites, Rust mock-backend E2E, Playwright, and the full desktop E2E matrix on 3 OSes, aggregated by the CI Full Gate check (except the Playwright spec run — non-blocking signal while flaky, #3615). release advances when a maintainer dispatches promote-main-to-release.yml (pushes a merge commit from main into release — no standing PR) and when fix PRs opened directly against release merge (those run both lanes, with CI Full Gate blocking the merge; the post-merge push re-runs CI Full). Production releases are always cut from release; staging builds may be cut from main or release by selecting that workflow-dispatch ref. Release-source cuts back-merge release into main via scripts/release/merge-release-into-main.sh, and version-bump commits carry [skip ci]. Long build/test commands must run through scripts/ci-cancel-aware.sh, whose Actions-API watchdog stops cancelled builds inside container jobs (docker exec swallows runner signals).
CI build topology: full-suite E2E is build-once-then-fanout on all three OSes — build-{linux,macos,windows}-full compile/bundle the app once and upload it as a per-run workflow artifact, and the shard jobs (e2e-*-full) needs: that job and download it instead of each shard rebuilding on a cold cache (.github/workflows/e2e-reusable.yml). Linux desktop packaging (build-desktop.yml) does a single cargo tauri build: libcef.so is resolved from the restored CEF cache (or a targeted cargo build -p cef-dll-sys prewarm on a cold cache) rather than a throwaway --no-bundle full build. The root core crate and the Tauri shell are still separate Cargo worlds (two Cargo.lock, two target/); converging them into one workspace is tracked as follow-up in #3877.
Tests: pnpm test (Vitest) · pnpm test:coverage · pnpm test:rust (scripts/test-rust-with-mock.sh).
Quality: ESLint + Prettier + Husky. Pre-push hook runs pnpm rust:check.
Summary-sized stdout; full output teed to target/debug-logs/. Add --verbose to stream raw.
pnpm debug unit # full Vitest suite
pnpm debug unit src/components/Foo.test.tsx # one file
pnpm debug unit -t "renders empty state" # filter by name
pnpm debug e2e test/e2e/specs/smoke.spec.ts # WDIO E2E
pnpm debug rust # cargo tests
pnpm debug rust json_rpc_e2e # targeted
pnpm debug logs # list recent
pnpm debug logs last # print most recentPRs need ≥ 80% coverage on changed lines via diff-cover over Vitest + cargo-llvm-cov lcov. Enforced by the coverage jobs (frontend-coverage/rust-core-coverage/rust-tauri-coverage/coverage-gate) in .github/workflows/ci-lite.yml.
.env.example— Rust core, Tauri shell, backend URL, logging. Load:source scripts/load-dotenv.sh.app/.env.example—VITE_*vars. Copy toapp/.env.local.- Frontend config centralized in
app/src/utils/config.ts— never readimport.meta.envdirectly elsewhere. - Rust config: TOML
Configstruct (src/openhuman/config/schema/types.rs) with env overrides (load.rs).
The [autonomy] block (src/openhuman/config/schema/autonomy.rs) drives SecurityPolicy (src/openhuman/security/policy.rs). Tiers: readonly / supervised / full × workspace_only × trusted_roots × allow_tool_install. Edit via config.update_autonomy_settings RPC or Settings → Agent access.
Two path roots (src/openhuman/config/schema/types.rs):
action_dir— agent's read/write root. Acting tools resolve relative paths here. Default:~/OpenHuman/projects(OPENHUMAN_ACTION_DIR).workspace_dir— internal state (~/.openhuman/users/<id>/workspace). Agent tools cannot write here — enforced byis_workspace_internal_pathfail-closed regardless of tier/trusted_roots.
Command permission model: classify_command → CommandClass (Read/Write/Network/Install/Destructive); unrecognized = Write. gate_decision(class, tier) → Allow/Prompt/Block. System/credential dirs unconditionally blocked (is_always_forbidden).
Approval gate ON by default (opt out: OPENHUMAN_APPROVAL_GATE=0). Parks interactive chat turns only; background/cron allowed through. Frontend surfaces via ApprovalRequestCard. 10-min TTL → Deny.
Sandbox backends (opt-in per agent via sandbox_mode = "sandboxed"): Docker (remote/cron), Local OS jail (Landlock/Seatbelt/AppContainer, desktop), Noop fallback. In-Rust path hardening applies regardless.
- Co-locate as
*.test.ts(x)underapp/src/**. Config:app/test/vitest.config.ts. - Run:
pnpm testorpnpm test:coverage. Prefer behavior over implementation. No real network, no time flakes.
- Core:
scripts/mock-api-core.mjs· Server:scripts/mock-api-server.mjs· E2E:app/test/e2e/mock-server.ts. - Admin:
GET /__admin/health,POST /__admin/reset,POST /__admin/behavior,GET /__admin/requests. - Manual:
pnpm mock:api.
Full guide: gitbooks/developing/e2e-testing.md.
- Linux (CI):
tauri-driver(WebDriver :4444). macOS (local): Appium Mac2 (XCUITest :4723). - Specs:
app/test/e2e/specs/*.spec.ts. Useelement-helpers.tshelpers, never rawXCUIElementType*. e2e-run-spec.shcreates/cleans tempOPENHUMAN_WORKSPACEby default.
pnpm test:rust
bash scripts/test-rust-with-mock.sh --test json_rpc_e2eProvider chain (App.tsx): Sentry.ErrorBoundary → Redux Provider → PersistGate → BootCheckGate → CoreStateProvider → SocketProvider → ChatRuntimeProvider → HashRouter → CommandProvider → ServiceBlockingGate → AppShell.
No UserProvider/AIProvider/SkillProvider — auth lives in CoreStateProvider via fetchCoreAppSnapshot() RPC.
State (store/): Redux Toolkit slices — accounts, agentProfile, announcement, backendMeet, channelConnections, chatRuntime, companion, connectivity, coreMode, deepLinkAuth, layout, locale, mascot, notification, persona, providerSurface, ptt, socket, theme, thread, userErrors (authoritative list: store/index.ts; persistence via userScopedStorage). Prefer Redux over ad-hoc localStorage.
Services (services/): apiClient, socketService, coreRpcClient, coreCommandClient, chatService, analytics, notificationService, webviewAccountService, daemonHealthService, plus domain api/* clients. Always use coreRpcClient (which invokes the relay_http_rpc Tauri command) for core RPC.
Analytics: use Button analyticsId="stable-content-free-id" for shared button interactions, AnalyticsPageTracker once inside the router, and trackAnalyticsEvent from components/analytics for successful domain outcomes (messages, automation runs, connections, etc.). Native controls and links may use data-analytics-id directly. Use privacy-safe dimensions only; never send user-authored text, entity IDs, filenames, credentials, or error messages. services/analytics.ts is the consent/provider implementation, not the feature-code API.
Routing (AppRoutes.tsx, HashRouter): / (Welcome), /auth, /onboarding/*, /chat/:threadId?, /human, /brain (+ /brain/tinyplace-orchestration), /orchestration, /connections, /flows (+ /flows/:id, /flows/draft), /agent-world/*, /invites, /notifications, /rewards, /settings/*, /feedback. Back-compat redirects: /home→/chat, /skills→/connections, /channels→/connections?tab=messaging, /intelligence & /activity→/settings/notifications, /routines & /workflows→/settings/automations, /webhooks→/settings/integrations#webhooks. No /login, /mnemonic, /agents, /conversations.
AI config: bundled prompts in src/openhuman/agent/prompts/ ship via tauri.conf.json resources and are read core-side (app/src/lib/ai/ holds agent-context helpers, not prompt loaders).
Thin desktop host. Key modules: core_process, core_rpc, cdp, cef_preflight, cef_profile, dictation_hotkeys, file_logging, mascot_native_window, screen_capture, window_state, per-provider scanners (discord_scanner, slack_scanner, telegram_scanner, whatsapp_scanner, wechat_scanner, gmessages_scanner, imessage_scanner, meet_scanner), meet_audio/meet_call/meet_video, fake_camera, webview_accounts, webview_apis.
IPC commands (authoritative list: generate_handler! in app/src-tauri/src/lib.rs): core_rpc::relay_http_rpc, core_rpc_url, core_rpc_token, start_core_process/restart_core_process, update commands (check_app_update, apply_core_update, …), window commands (activate_main_window, mascot_window_*, notch_window_*), webview_accounts::*, workspace_paths::*, artifact_commands::*, hotkeys (dictation/PTT/companion), meet_call::*, native_notifications::*, mcp_commands::*, loopback_oauth::*.
Embedded provider webviews must not grow new JS injection. No new .js under webview_accounts/, no new build_init_script/RUNTIME_JS blocks, no CDP Page.addScriptToEvaluateOnNewDocument. New behavior lives in CEF handlers, CDP from scanner modules, or Rust-side IPC hooks. Legacy injection (gmail, linkedin, google-meet) is grandfathered but should shrink. Audit new Tauri plugins for js_init_script calls.
~130 domain directories — authoritative list: ls -d src/openhuman/*/. Major families: agent (agent, agent_experience, agent_meetings, agent_memory, agent_orchestration, agent_registry, agent_tool_policy, agentbox, orchestration), memory (memory, memory_archivist, memory_conversations, memory_diff, memory_goals, memory_queue, memory_search, memory_sources, memory_store, memory_sync, memory_tools, memory_tree, tinycortex), skills/flows (skills, skill_registry, skill_runtime, flows, tinyflows, tinyagents, rhai_workflows), inference/AI (inference, model_council, council_registry, embeddings, routing), MCP (mcp_audit, mcp_client, mcp_registry, mcp_server), runtimes (runtime_node, runtime_python, runtime_python_server, javascript, sandbox, cwd_jail), channels/webviews (channels, webview_accounts, webview_apis, webview_notifications, whatsapp_data), meet (meet, meet_agent), web3 (wallet, web3, x402, tokenjuice), plus platform domains (about_app, approval, config, cron, credentials, keyring, security, threads, tools, update, voice, …).
Skills runtime: the QuickJS per-skill VM engine is gone. src/openhuman/skills/ holds skill metadata/tool descriptors; execution of installed SKILL.md workflows lives in src/openhuman/skill_runtime/ (starts/cancels runs, hosts the skill_executor agent, reuses runtime_node/runtime_python).
Rules:
- New functionality → dedicated subdirectory (
openhuman/<domain>/mod.rs+ siblings). No new root-level*.rsfiles. - Tool ownership: domain tools live in that domain's
tools.rs, re-exported viasrc/openhuman/tools/mod.rs. Only cross-cutting families stay intools/impl/. - Memory source identity: per-item IDs are dedupe keys only; set
metadata.path_scopeto stable collection scope. - Controller-only exposure: use the registry, not branches in
cli.rs/jsonrpc.rs.
| File | When | Role |
|---|---|---|
mod.rs |
always | Export-focused only: mod/pub mod + pub use + controller schema pair. No business logic. |
types.rs |
domain has types | Serde domain types. |
store.rs |
domain persists | Persistence layer. |
ops.rs |
domain has logic | Business logic + handlers returning RpcOutcome<T>. |
schemas.rs |
RPC-facing | Controller schemas + handle_* fns delegating to ops.rs. |
tools.rs |
domain owns agent tools | Tool implementations. |
bus.rs |
domain has event subscribers | EventHandler impls. |
| tests | new/changed behavior | Inline #[cfg(test)] mod tests or sibling *_tests.rs. |
mod.rs: addmod schemas;, re-exportall_controller_schemas/all_registered_controllers.schemas.rs: define schemas, handlers delegating toops.rs.- Wire into
src/core/all.rs. Remove fromsrc/core/dispatch.rs.
Modules: all, auth, cli, dispatch, event_bus/, jsonrpc, logging, observability, types, etc. No business logic here.
Two independent runtime axes on CoreBuilder (src/core/runtime/builder.rs):
ServiceSetselects which background services / transports run (rpc_http,socketio,cron,channels,heartbeat, …). Presets:desktop()/headless_api()/none().DomainSetselects which domain families exist at runtime, one flag perDomainGroup(src/core/all.rs). Presets:full()(default — byte-identical to before #4796),harness()(agent + memory + threads + config + security only),none(). Every controller is tagged with itsDomainGroupat the single registration site insrc/core/all.rs; the live surface (controllers//schema/dispatch, agent tools, stores, subscribers) is filtered by the ambientCoreContext::domains(). A gated domain's controllers become unknown-method, its agent tools absent, its stores/subscribers uninitialized.examples/embed_headless.rsusesDomainSet::harness(). Per-gate Cargo[features](children #4797–#4804) narrow the compile-time surface further;DomainSetis the runtime axis they compose with.
Per-domain Cargo features drop whole domains at compile time (smaller binary, fewer deps), composing with the runtime DomainSet axis above. Each gate is default-ON, so the desktop build is byte-identical; slim builds opt out explicitly.
Adding a default-ON gate? You must forward it to the desktop shell.
app/src-tauri/Cargo.tomldeclaresopenhuman_corewithdefault-features = false(set in #1061, before gates existed), so the shipped app does not inherit the core'sdefaultlist. A gate you add todefaultbut not to the shell'sfeatureslist is compiled out of the shipped desktop app — with no build error and no failing test. This is not hypothetical:voiceshipped missing from v0.58.19 to v0.61.x (56 users, ~93k Sentry events, #4901), andtokenjuice-treesitterwas never forwarded once since #4123 and failed soft, silently degrading AST compression (#4918).scripts/ci/check-feature-forwarding.mjs(the Feature Forwarding Gate lane) now fails CI on drift and covers new gates automatically. If a gate genuinely must not ship, add it toINTENTIONALLY_NOT_FORWARDEDin that script with a reason — an explicit exclusion is the only way "deliberate" stays distinguishable from "forgotten".
Slim-profile convention (no full meta-feature): build slim variants with cargo build --no-default-features --features "<explicit list of gates you want>". This mirrors the existing standalone-feature style (sandbox-landlock, browser-native, …). Example — everything except voice:
# check / build without the voice + audio_toolkit domains
GGML_NATIVE=OFF cargo check --manifest-path Cargo.toml \
--no-default-features --features tokenjuice-treesitter| Feature | Default | Gates | Drops deps |
|---|---|---|---|
voice |
ON | openhuman::voice + openhuman::audio_toolkit domains — STT/TTS providers, dictation server, always-on listening, podcast audio + email |
hound, lettre |
web3 |
ON | openhuman::wallet + openhuman::web3 + openhuman::x402 domains — crypto wallet (multi-chain sign/broadcast), swaps/bridges/dapp calls, x402 machine payments |
bitcoin, curve25519-dalek |
media |
ON | openhuman::media_generation (the media_generate_* agent tools) + openhuman::image scaffold |
none (surface-only) |
meet |
ON | openhuman::meet (join-URL validation) + openhuman::meet_agent (live STT/LLM/TTS loop) + openhuman::agent_meetings (backend-delegated Meet bot over Socket.IO) |
none — see note |
skills |
ON | openhuman::skills + openhuman::skill_runtime + openhuman::skill_registry domains — SKILL.md discovery/parse/install, workflow execution + run logs, remote catalogs, the skill_setup / skill_executor builtin agents, and the 16 skill agent tools |
none (see below) |
flows |
ON | openhuman::flows (saved automation graphs — create/run/schedule, the workflow_builder + flow_discovery agents), openhuman::tinyflows (engine seam), openhuman::rhai_workflows (.ragsh language-workflow tool) |
tinyflows, jaq-core, jaq-std, jaq-json, rhai |
mcp |
ON | openhuman::mcp_server (the openhuman mcp stdio/HTTP server), openhuman::mcp_registry (dynamic Smithery installs — mcp_clients RPC namespace, SQLite, boot spawn, supervisor, OAuth), openhuman::mcp_audit (write-audit log), and the static config-declared server set in openhuman::mcp_client. ~19 agent tools, ~20k LOC |
none (see scope note) |
Facade pattern (pathfinder for the other gates). pub mod voice; is always compiled as a facade: the real submodules are #[cfg(feature = "voice")], and a #[cfg(not(feature = "voice"))] mod stub; (src/openhuman/voice/stub.rs) re-exposes the same public surface that always-on / other-gated callers use (server, dictation_listener, streaming, reply_speech, cloud_transcribe, cli, create_stt_provider, effective_stt_provider, publish_ptt_transcript_committed) with no-op / None / disabled-error bodies. Callers therefore do not need per-call #[cfg]. When voice is off: the voice/audio controllers are unregistered (unknown-method over /rpc, absent from /schema), the audio_generate_podcast agent tools are absent, and openhuman voice returns a "voice disabled" error. Stub signatures must match the real ones exactly — the disabled build (--no-default-features --features tokenjuice-treesitter) is the only thing that catches drift, so run it before pushing any change to the voice surface.
Scope note: the voice gate does not drop whisper-rs / llama / cpal. Those live in the inference domain (src/openhuman/inference/local/service/whisper_engine.rs; cpal is shared with accessibility) and await a separate future inference gate. The issue-level DoD line claiming whisper is dropped is superseded by this scope correction.
web3 gate — first gate that sheds real crypto deps. Same facade pattern: pub mod wallet; / pub mod web3; / pub mod x402; stay always-compiled, real submodules are #[cfg(feature = "web3")], and each domain's stub.rs re-exposes the always-on caller surface with disabled-error / empty bodies. When off, the wallet/web3/x402 controllers are unregistered, the web3 swap/bridge/dapp agent tools are absent (via all_web3_agent_tools() → empty), and the exclusive bitcoin (BTC P2WPKH PSBT) + curve25519-dalek (Solana off-curve ATA) deps are dropped. tinyplace on-chain payments + Polymarket writes degrade to graceful "wallet disabled" errors (the tinyplace comms path and the core itself are unaffected — tinyplace::signer still works via ed25519). The stubs cover WALLET_NOT_CONFIGURED_MESSAGE, status, secret_material, WalletChain, prepare_transfer/execute_prepared (+ param/result types), solana_cluster/SolanaCluster/tinyplace_solana_rpc_endpoints, tinyplace_signer_seed, wallet::rpc::{redact_rpc_url, with_tinyplace_solana_endpoints}, and the all_*_registered_controllers/all_*_controller_schemas/all_web3_agent_tools entry points. Two caller families still need per-call #[cfg(feature = "web3")] because they name concrete gated types rather than a stubbable aggregator: the six Wallet*Tool + X402RequestTool registrations in tools/ops.rs, the wallet::tools::* glob in tools/mod.rs, and the x402 402-retry path in tools/impl/network/http_request.rs (with the feature off a 402 returns to the caller unpaid). Does NOT drop ethers-core / ethers-signers / coins-bip39 / bs58 / ed25519-dalek / ripemd — those are shared with the Polymarket tools (tools/impl/network/polymarket*, clob_auth) + tinyplace + orchestration and stay always-on. Run the disabled build (--no-default-features --features tokenjuice-treesitter) before pushing any change to the wallet/web3/x402 surface — it is the only drift catcher.
Leaf-gate variant (media, #4804). Unlike voice, the media gate needs no stub facade: media_generation has a single caller (the build_media_tools call in src/openhuman/tools/ops.rs, itself #[cfg(feature = "media")]) and openhuman::image is unwired scaffold (#2997), so both modules are simply #[cfg(feature = "media")] pub mod …. It is a surface-only gate: media generation is backend-proxied (reqwest, shared) and the image crate is shared with channel upload, so no exclusive deps are shed — the issue's "sheds media processing dependencies" / "controllers unregistered" DoD lines are superseded (Media is agent-tools-only; no controller/store/subscriber is tagged Media). When a gated domain is a true leaf, prefer this over the facade+stub.
meet gate (#4800) — uses all three module patterns, one per domain, chosen by the rule "does always-compiled code reach a non-registration symbol in here?":
meet→ leaf-gate.#[cfg(feature = "meet")] pub mod meet;outright. Its only outside reference is the registration site insrc/core/all.rs, so no facade is needed (same shape asaudio_toolkit).meet_agent→ facade + carve-out, no stub file. Every submodule is gated exceptwav(below). Nothing outside the Meet domain calls the gated submodules.agent_meetings→ facade + stub. Three always-compiled call sites reach in — the heartbeat planner (calendar::handle_calendar_meeting_candidate) and two subscriber registrations (core::jsonrpc,channels::runtime::startup) — sosrc/openhuman/agent_meetings/stub.rssupplies no-op equivalents and those callers need no#[cfg].
No deps to shed (do not re-litigate). Unlike voice, this gate drops zero dependencies — the Meet domains have no exclusive crates. meet_agent::wav is a hand-rolled 79-line RIFF writer with no use statements, written precisely so Meet never needed hound (which voice already owns and sheds). The dependency shed was pre-paid; this gate's value is compile-time surface and binary size, not the dep tree.
⚠ The wav carve-out is load-bearing. meet_agent::wav::pack_pcm16le_mono_wav is called by desktop_companion::pipeline::stt, which is DomainGroup::Platform and compiled in every build. pub mod wav; must stay ungated so that call site keeps its real implementation — it costs nothing, since wav.rs is dependency-free. If someone gates it, the --no-default-features build fails loudly at desktop_companion; that failure is correct. Do not "fix" it by stubbing pack_pcm16le_mono_wav — that trades a compile error for green CI while silently corrupting desktop-companion STT (the STT backend would receive a malformed WAV). Revert the cfg instead.
Both-ways tests. src/core/all_tests.rs pins the gate in both directions (meet_controllers_registered_when_feature_on / meet_controllers_absent_when_feature_off). The negative half is the one that proves the gate removes anything. Note CI's smoke lane runs cargo check only and never compiles test code, so a disabled-build test break is invisible to it — run cargo test --lib --no-default-features --features tokenjuice-treesitter core::all::tests locally after touching any gated surface.
skills gate — the type carve-out (read before adding the next gate). The three skill domains follow the same facade+stub shape as voice, with one important refinement: skills is not a leaf — it is partly load-bearing infrastructure. src/openhuman/tools/traits.rs re-exports the crate's unified ToolResult / ToolContent out of skills::types, and ~236 files consume them (mcp_client, runtime_node, every Tool impl). Workflow / WorkflowFrontmatter / WorkflowScope from skills::ops_types likewise appear in always-on agent-harness and prompt signatures. Gating skills wholesale would take down the entire tool trait system, MCP, and the Node runtime.
So skills::types and skills::ops_types stay compiled in both directions — they are inert serde/std-only definitions with zero coupling to their gated siblings — and only behaviour is gated. src/openhuman/skills/stub.rs therefore mirrors functions only and re-exports the real types (pub use super::ops_types::{Workflow, …}), so there is zero type duplication — strictly less drift surface than the voice stub, which had to re-declare SttResult + the SttProvider trait because those live inside its gated tree.
Generalizable rule for the remaining gates: put a domain's inert types in a dep-free submodule and leave it ungated; stub only the behaviour. Reach for a stub type only when the type genuinely cannot be carved out.
Two places the carve-out doesn't reach, and why they are #[cfg] at the call site instead of stubbed:
agent_registry/agents/loader.rs— theskill_setup/skill_executorBuiltinAgententries.include_str!embeds the agent TOML from disk regardless of module gating, so the entry itself must disappear.agent/task_dispatcher/executor.rs— the workflow-resolution branch.registry::get_workflowreturnsOption<WorkflowDefinition>, which flattens inAgentDefinitionand is destructured at the call site; stubbing it would mean re-declaring that struct (exactly what the carve-out avoids). With the domain compiled out no handle can resolve to a skill, so falling through to the builtin-agent branch is correct, not degraded.
Dep note: skills = [] — the empty list is intentional, do not "fix" it. Unlike voice (hound/lettre), these domains have no exclusive dependencies: every crate they touch is shared with always-on domains, and runtime_node / runtime_python are used by Agent / Flows / Memory too. This gate's value is tool-surface + prompt-bloat + startup cost, not binary size.
When skills are off: the skills / skill_runtime / skill_registry controllers are unregistered (unknown-method over /rpc, absent from /schema), the 16 skill agent tools (incl. run_workflow / await_workflow) are absent from the tool list rather than degraded to an error, the skill_setup / skill_executor builtin agents are gone, and the boot-time remote catalog refresh is skipped. Composes with the runtime DomainSet::skills flag (#4796) — that axis needed no change here; #4798 is compile-time only.
Leaf-gate pattern (flows). Where voice needs a stub facade, flows needs none — and deliberately so. Every symbol reached from outside the gate is a registration site (controller push in src/core/all.rs, the FlowTriggerSubscriber in src/core/jsonrpc.rs, boot reconcile in src/core/runtime/services.rs, agent-tool vec! elements in src/openhuman/tools/ops.rs, BuiltinAgent entries in agent_registry/agents/loader.rs). Registration sites want absence: a stub that registered a controller returning Err("flows disabled") would make flows.* a known method that fails at runtime — the opposite of the intended "unknown method / omitted tool". So the three modules are #[cfg(feature = "flows")] at their pub mod declaration and each call site carries its own #[cfg]. Nothing inside flows/, tinyflows/, or rhai_workflows/ is modified. There is no openhuman flows CLI subcommand, so no CLI stub is needed either. When flows is off: the flows.* controllers are unregistered (unknown-method over /rpc, absent from /schema), all 25 flow agent tools + rhai_workflows are absent, and the workflow_builder / flow_discovery built-in agents are not advertised.
Scope note (flows deps): the gate sheds tinyflows + its jaq-core / jaq-std / jaq-json JSON-query stack, and rhai. It does not shed tinyagents — 26+ domains consume that crate. The issue-level DoD line reading "sheds the rhai scripting engine" is therefore true only at the feature level: rhai arrives via tinyagents/repl, which the root Cargo.toml no longer enables directly — the flows feature turns it on. Dropping flows drops repl, which drops rhai; tinyagents itself stays. Verify a claimed shed with cargo tree -i <crate> --no-default-features --features tokenjuice-treesitter (must return nothing) — compiling clean is not proof that a dep was dropped.
Testing gotcha (applies to every gate). The CI smoke lane runs cargo check only — it never runs cargo test --no-default-features, so CI stays green while the disabled-build test suite is broken. Tests that hard-assert a gated family (.expect("a flows.* method exists"), assert!(full_ns.contains("flows")), group_for_namespace("flows"), built-in-agent id lists) must be #[cfg]-gated in lockstep with the feature. Run GGML_NATIVE=OFF cargo test --lib --no-default-features --features tokenjuice-treesitter core:: locally before pushing any gate change.
Follows the voice facade+stub pattern for mcp_server / mcp_registry / mcp_audit (stub.rs in each), with two refinements worth copying:
- Type carve-out. Inert, dependency-free type modules stay ungated:
mcp_registry::types,mcp_audit::types,mcp_server::tools::types(McpToolSpec). They areserde/serde_json-only data consumed by always-compiled callers (the orchestrator prompt builder,tool_registry). Both builds therefore share the one real type definition — the stubs carry behaviour only, so struct fields can never drift between the enabled and disabled builds.ConnectedServerOverviewwas moved fromconnections.rsintotypes.rsfor exactly this reason and is re-exported fromconnectionsso existing paths still resolve. - Split facade (
mcp_client).mcp_clientis not gated wholesale, because the directory does not match the real dependency graph.mcp_client::sanitizeandmcp_client::client(McpHttpClient,redact_endpoint,McpUnauthorizedError) stay always compiled: they are mis-housed shared utilities. Thegitbooksdocs tool dialsMcpHttpClientdirectly (GitBook is modelled as a legacy MCP server), and the orchestrator prompt sanitizes skill descriptions throughsanitize::sanitize_for_llm— neither has anything to do with MCP, and stubbing them would silently break a docs tool and corrupt the orchestrator prompt in slim builds. Onlyregistry,stdio,spawn_env,setup_agentare gated. The gate follows the real dependency graph, not the directory name. (Relocatingsanitize+clientout ofmcp_clientis worthwhile follow-up.) A bonus of keepingclientcompiled: theMcpServerNeedsAuthclassifier coupling test incore::observabilitystays always-compiled — no#[cfg], no wording-drift leak.
Scope note — the mcp gate drops ZERO dependencies. There is no MCP SDK in this crate: the dependency declarations contain no MCP-specific SDK or transport dependency; test-mcp-stub is the only MCP-named bin target. The entire protocol stack is hand-rolled over tokio process stdio + reqwest + axum, all of which are load-bearing for non-MCP domains. The gate is worth having for the ~20k LOC / ~19 agent tools / RPC surface it removes, but the issue-level DoD line claiming it "sheds the MCP SDK / transport stack" is superseded by this correction. The mcp = [] feature list in Cargo.toml is intentionally empty — do not "fix" it by adding dep: entries.
Static vs dynamic — the naming is INVERTED from intuition. Both halves must be gated or the gate is only half-applied:
| Module | Despite the name, it is… | Backed by | Agent tools |
|---|---|---|---|
mcp_client |
the STATIC, config-declared server set ([[mcp_client.servers]] in TOML → McpServerRegistry::from_config) |
TOML config | mcp_list_servers, mcp_list_tools, mcp_call_tool |
mcp_registry |
the DYNAMIC, user-installed Smithery servers (live connection map, boot spawn, supervisor, OAuth) | SQLite mcp_clients.db |
11 × mcp_registry_* |
CLI when compiled out. src/core/cli.rs is deliberately untouched: the "mcp" | "mcp-server" arm resolves to the stub's run_stdio_from_cli, which returns a "mcp feature disabled at compile time … rebuild with --features mcp" error. Deleting the arm would let mcp fall through to generic namespace resolution and fail with unknown namespace: mcp — which reads like a user typo rather than a build fact, and would leave an MCP host (Claude Desktop / Cursor) hanging on stdout that never speaks JSON-RPC. Pinned by mcp_subcommand_reports_disabled_build_when_gate_off in src/core/cli_tests.rs.
Dangling mcp_agent in the orchestrator TOML is expected and safe. agent.toml is data and cannot be #[cfg]'d, so the orchestrator keeps listing mcp_agent in subagents even when the agent is compiled out. Both resolution sites already tolerate unknown ids — collect_orchestrator_tools warns and skips, validate_tier_hierarchy continues — so the core still boots. orchestrator_tolerates_unresolvable_subagent_id / orchestrator_tolerates_absent_mcp_agent in loader.rs pin that contract; do not "tighten" unknown-subagent handling into a hard error without re-checking them. src/core/legacy_aliases.rs's frontend-catalog drift tests ignore gated namespaces for the same data-vs-code reason.
src/core/all.rs needs no #[cfg] for this gate: the stub aggregators return empty vecs, so the registration sites keep compiling unchanged.
Typed pub/sub + native request/response. Both singletons — use module-level functions.
- Broadcast (
publish_global/subscribe_global): fire-and-forget, many subscribers. - Native request/response (
register_native_global/request_native_global): one-to-one typed dispatch, zero serialization, internal-only.
Core types: DomainEvent (events.rs), EventBus (bus.rs), NativeRegistry (native_request.rs), EventHandler/SubscriptionHandle (subscriber.rs).
Domains: agent, memory, channel, cron, skill, tool, webhook, system.
Each domain owns bus.rs with handlers. Convention: <Purpose>Subscriber, name() → "<domain>::<purpose>".
Adding events: add to DomainEvent, extend domain() match, create <domain>/bus.rs, register at startup, publish via publish_global.
Adding native handlers: define req/resp types (Send + 'static, not Serialize), register at startup keyed by "<domain>.<verb>", dispatch via request_native_global.
Visual: ocean primary #4A83DD, sage/amber/coral semantics, Inter + Cabinet Grotesk + JetBrains Mono. Tokens in app/tailwind.config.js.
Key rules:
- File size: prefer ≤ ~500 lines.
- No dynamic imports in production
app/src— staticimport/import typeonly. Guard heavy paths with try/catch. Exceptions: test files,.d.ts, config files. - i18n: all UI text through
useT()fromapp/src/lib/i18n/I18nContext. Add each key toen.tsand real translations to every locale file (ar,bn,de,es,fr,hi,id,it,ko,pl,pt,ru,zh-CN), preserving interpolation placeholders exactly. Translation values must not contain em dashes (U+2014); use natural, locale-appropriate punctuation and phrasing, never literal or machine-sounding copy. Runpnpm i18n:check,pnpm i18n:english:check, and the i18n coverage test before submitting changes. - Dual socket sync: keep
socketService/MCP transport aligned with core socket behavior. - Tauri guard: use
isTauri()or wrapinvoke(...)in try/catch — never checkwindow.__TAURI__directly. - Generated docs: some architecture docs contain generated blocks marked
<!-- BEGIN/END GENERATED: … -->sourced from code (today: the frontend provider chain ingitbooks/developing/architecture/frontend.md, from the@generated-source:provider-chainmarker inapp/src/App.tsx). Don't hand-edit between the markers — update the code source, then runpnpm docs:generate. CI (pnpm docs:check, the Docs Drift lane) fails on stale generated docs. Generator + tests:scripts/generate-architecture-docs.mjs.
- Default to verbose diagnostics on new/changed flows.
- Log entry/exit, branches, external calls, retries/timeouts, state transitions, errors.
- Stable grep-friendly prefixes (
[domain],[rpc]), correlation fields (request IDs, method names). - Rust:
log/tracingatdebug/trace. App: namespaceddebug. - Never log secrets or full PII.
- Changes lacking logging are incomplete.
Specify → prove in Rust → prove over RPC → surface in UI → test.
- Specify — ground in existing domains, controller patterns, JSON-RPC naming (
openhuman.<namespace>_<function>). - Implement in Rust — domain logic + unit tests.
- JSON-RPC E2E — extend
tests/json_rpc_e2e.rs/scripts/test-rust-with-mock.sh. - UI — React +
coreRpcClient(relay_http_rpc). Keep rules in core. - App unit tests — Vitest.
- App E2E — desktop specs.
Update src/openhuman/about_app/ when adding/removing/renaming user-facing features. Define E2E scenarios up front covering happy paths, failures, auth gates.
Contribute via your fork. Recommended remotes:
origin git@github.com:<your-username>/openhuman.git (push here)
upstream git@github.com:tinyhumansai/openhuman.git (fetch-only)
- Never write code on
main. Branch offupstream/mainfor all work. - Issues and PRs on upstream
tinyhumansai/openhuman. - Push to
origin(fork), neverupstream. PRs with--head <your-username>:<branch>. - Use issue/PR templates verbatim.
- On push blockers: fix your own hook failures; bypass with
--no-verifyonly for unrelated pre-existing breakage (call out in PR body).
- Vendored CEF-aware
tauri-cli: only the vendored CLI atapp/src-tauri/vendor/tauri-cef/crates/tauri-clibundles Chromium correctly. Stock@tauri-apps/cliproduces broken bundles. Reinstall:cargo install --locked --path app/src-tauri/vendor/tauri-cef/crates/tauri-cli. - macOS deep links: require built
.appbundle, not justtauri dev. - Windows deep links:
openhuman://registered viatauri-plugin-deep-link::register_all. Check inapp/src-tauri/src/deep_link_registration_check.rs. - Core standalone debugging:
./target/debug/openhuman-core serve(token at{workspace}/core.token). Public endpoints:GET /health,GET /schema,GET /events.
- Unix-style modules: small, single-responsibility, composed through clear boundaries.
- Tests before the next layer: untested code is incomplete.
- Docs with code: update AGENTS.md or architecture docs when rules or behavior change.