lumbridge-code/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md

Architecture

Recommended shape

Lumbridge should be two cooperating Rust processes:

native desktop UI
      | local authenticated IPC
Lumbridge session runtime
      |-- local PTYs and process trees
      |-- SSH/Tailscale transport to remote Lumbridge runtimes
      |-- ACP clients and adapters
      |-- repositories and worktrees
      |-- usage/event ledger
      `-- secret-store handles

Separating the UI from the session runtime lets terminals survive renderer restarts, permits a future headless/SSH mode, and gives persistence one owner. The first development build may run both in one process, but boundaries and IPC messages should be real from the beginning.

Planned crates

• lumbridge-core: IDs, commands, events, errors, capability and usage types.
• lumbridge-runtime: session ownership, supervision, recovery, IPC server.
• lumbridge-pty: portable PTY and process-tree adapters.
• lumbridge-terminal: VT parsing, scrollback, selection, search, render model.
• lumbridge-acp: ACP client, capability negotiation, transcript normalization.
• lumbridge-harness: manifests, launch profiles, hooks, PTY fallback adapters.
• lumbridge-provider: BYOK providers and provider-neutral usage records.
• lumbridge-storage: SQLite migrations, event log, snapshots, retention.
• lumbridge-remote: OpenSSH/Tailscale command construction, framed stdio, handshake, reconnect, heartbeat, and remote-runtime discovery.
• lumbridge-secrets: Keychain/libsecret adapters and redaction.
• lumbridge-git: repositories, worktrees, diffs, status, conflict state.
• lumbridge-buzz: credential-free Buzz event/broker preparation and pane-share safety gates; platform adapters own signing and transport.
• lumbridge-ui: native desktop state and rendering.
• lumbridge: installable application entry point.

The scaffold currently contains lumbridge-core, lumbridge-storage, lumbridge-buzz, lumbridge-pty, lumbridge-runtime, and the entry point. Larger runtime crates are added after their architecture spikes pass.

Terminal path

The runtime owns PTYs, child process groups, resize signals, input ordering, and raw output. The first lumbridge-pty boundary now uses portable-pty behind a single-owner session, a fixed credential-free child environment, validated sizes, an 8 KiB bounded output queue, resize/input/wait operations, and Unix process-group cleanup. It deliberately does not emulate a terminal or persist scrollback. The terminal engine turns output into immutable render snapshots and bounded deltas for the UI. Scrollback is chunked and persisted separately from the live screen to prevent large agent transcripts from blocking input.

The first lumbridge-runtime actor now owns one PtySession on a dedicated thread. Bounded command and event queues serialize input, resize, close, and shutdown against ordered raw-byte output. The GPUI slice consumes one actor session while five surfaces retain deterministic comparison output. This actor still runs in-process; moving the same framework-neutral contract behind local authenticated IPC is the next durability step. See decision 0004.

We should evaluate, not blindly copy, WezTerm, Zellij, RMUX, tmux, and cmux. The first spike must compare a reusable terminal crate with a small first-party layer. Correctness cases include alternate screen, bracketed paste, OSC 8 links, Kitty keyboard/graphics negotiation, Unicode width, IME, mouse modes, shell integration, and simultaneous automation plus human input.

UI decision gate

Do not lock the project to a webview or to Zed's application implementation details. The measured spike compares:

1. GPUI for a Zed-like native model and excellent text-heavy interaction.
2. Floem for an independent native Rust model with existing editor primitives.

The winner must render six busy panes smoothly, keep input latency low, support IME/accessibility, package on macOS and both Linux targets, and avoid a license or upstream-stability trap. Current Zed GPUI is the provisional winner because its AccessKit semantics compile while the pinned Floem revision has no semantic accessibility integration. This remains behind a narrow adapter until platform assistive-technology, IME, packaging, licensing, and release measurements pass.

Local-first and remote session path

SQLite is device-local. It stores workspace metadata, pane layouts, event and usage history, remote routing profiles, and small snapshots. It never stores SSH private keys, Tailscale credentials, provider API keys, or subscription tokens. Secrets remain in the OS credential store or in the user's existing SSH agent.

A remote pane is not a local PTY wrapped around a long-lived ssh process. Its durable owner is a per-user lumbridge-runtime on the destination:

MacBook Lumbridge UI/runtime
       |
       | ssh host lumbridge remote connect --stdio
       | or: tailscale ssh host lumbridge remote connect --stdio
       v
remote per-user Lumbridge runtime -- Unix socket -- PTYs, agents, worktrees
       |
       `-- remote SQLite + chunked scrollback on that machine

The SSH child carries a versioned framed protocol over stdio. Normal OpenSSH remains the default because it honors the user's config, agent, host keys, ProxyJump, and Tailscale addresses. tailscale ssh is an explicit transport for users who want Tailscale's SSH proxy and host-key path. Lumbridge does not configure a tailnet, weaken ACLs, copy SSH keys, or require a listening TCP port.

The remote runtime assigns a stable session ID before acknowledging a launch. On network loss the local pane becomes disconnected, the remote PTY continues, and reconnect resumes from the last acknowledged output sequence. A second authorized Lumbridge installation can attach to the same remote session after the remote runtime arbitrates input ownership. Collaborative simultaneous input is not part of the first release.

Harness integration

Each harness is described by a versioned manifest: executable discovery, launch arguments, environment allowlist, resume semantics, status/usage probes, ACP command when available, and hook installation rules.

ACP is preferred because it provides structured prompts, plans, tool calls, permissions, content blocks, and session lifecycle. A supervised PTY is always available because terminal fidelity and arbitrary CLI compatibility are product requirements. Harness-specific adapters translate both paths into the same event model without pretending a PTY has capabilities it cannot prove.

Usage model

Usage is an append-only observation stream, not a mutable percentage field. Observations include account profile, provider, harness, model, units, time window, reset time, provenance, confidence, and source timestamp. Projections are derived views that can be recomputed as forecasting improves.

Subscription balance is provider-specific and sometimes unavailable. BYOK calls usually expose token counts but cost still depends on cached tokens, reasoning, tool calls, and current pricing. Adapters normalize facts without erasing their source or uncertainty.

Buzz collaboration

Buzz channel messages, replies, agents, and attachments use the upstream Rust SDK's signed Nostr semantics. SQLite stores a public identity and opaque credential-store handle, never the private identity key. Pane images cross the network only after local capture, redaction preview, explicit destination, and confirmation. See BUZZ_INTEGRATION.md for the contract and test plan.

Persistence

SQLite in WAL mode stores metadata, commands/events, normalized usage, and small snapshots. Large scrollback chunks and binary attachments use content-addressed files. A write-ahead event is committed before an external mutation is reported as accepted. Startup replays incomplete operations and reconciles live children.

Default data roots are ~/Library/Application Support/ai.karti.lumbridge/ on macOS and ${XDG_DATA_HOME:-~/.local/share}/lumbridge/ on Linux. Backups and exports are explicit; Lumbridge does not synchronize the database through a hidden hosted account.

Security

• macOS secrets: Keychain; Linux secrets: Secret Service/libsecret, with an explicit encrypted-file fallback only if the user enables it.
• Never pass keys in process arguments. Prefer inherited file descriptors or a minimal child environment when a harness requires environment variables.
• IPC is local, authenticated, permission-restricted, and version-negotiated.
• Transcript and crash-report redaction happens before persistence or export.
• Repository trust, harness approval mode, and sandbox mode are visible per pane.
• Remote control and plugins are out of scope until a capability/permission model exists.

Platform adapters

Shared contracts cover PTY, process tree, notifications, secret store, paths, autostart, updater, and packaging. macOS uses forkpty/process groups and native Keychain. Ubuntu and Omarchy use Unix PTYs, cgroups/systemd scopes when available, and Secret Service. Omarchy is treated as Arch Linux, not as a separate kernel.