The first live run on the local ax cluster and ax's source (docs/runner.md,
docs/sandbox.md, internal/controller/reconciler.go, internal/server/server.go)
showed a lifecycle the task-3/4 code did not model:
- `ax apply` creates a Task Suspended (Ready=False, TaskSuspended); it runs only
after `ax resume task`. The first resume of a new image can fail with
DeadlineExceeded while Agent Substrate builds the golden snapshot, and ax's
server then stores phase Failed; a later resume succeeds.
- ax has no Completed phase and never reads a command's exit back.
- The runner is PID 1 and must keep serving after the command exits; stop and
suspend deliver SIGTERM, to be forwarded to the command's process group.
Our runner imported the task in-process and exited, which stopped the
container ("Container guest is stopped") and made every resume time out.
- ax's controller probes /readyz?check=workspace; the query string made our
handler answer 404.
Runner (Req 4.1-4.4): spec.command runs as a child
`python -m openultrasast.plane.tasks.<name>` in its own process group, cwd the
first workspace, AX_METADATA_URL set; ax's metadata paths are served. After the
child exits the runner reads summary.json (a crash without one becomes failed
with the exit code and stderr tail), delivers the output directory, writes
/workspace/.ousast-state/<task>.done.json and serves until SIGTERM (forwarded
to the group, SIGKILL after OUSAST_TERM_GRACE, exit 0). A boot with the marker
never reruns the command; a failed delivery is retried alone. Workspaces are
prepared on the first boot only. AX_RUNNER_EXIT_AFTER_COMMAND=1 is the
unit-test escape.
Reconciler (Req 2.2, 2.3, 3.1-3.3): `ax resume task` after apply, retrying
DeadlineExceeded/Unavailable with backoff up to OUSAST_RESUME_TIMEOUT (900 s);
completion is the artifact delivery; Failed after a resume went through, a
vanished task, or no delivery within OUSAST_TASK_TIMEOUT (7200 s) fail the
task with ax's condition message; `ax delete task` follows. Ax gains resume()
and phase() returns the condition message. doctor moves to plane/doctor.py
(tasks.md task 0 allows the sibling) to keep reconciler.py under 500 lines.
Tests: the fake ax follows the real lifecycle (Suspended, a failing first
resume that leaves Failed, Running forever, delivery only after a resume went
through), plus Failed-with-message, vanish, resume-timeout and task-timeout
scenarios; runner tests cover the child's cwd/group/metadata URL, stay-up and
SIGTERM in a real subprocess, SIGKILL of a SIGTERM-ignoring group, and the
marker. The opt-in live test now checks resume, Running, suspend and a second
resume instead of a Completed phase. design.md and tasks.md state the
lifecycle; the module audit manifest counts plane.doctor.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01EmM1j46qgKMh3zqD1QMwEo
13 KiB
Design Document
Overview
A thin service plane under src/openultrasast/plane/: manifest schemas in ax's shape plus a Run kind, an
ax-backed reconciler that submits a Run's tasks to ax on this host's kind cluster in dependency order with
persisted status and resume, a runner that honours ax's contract and delivers artifacts, and task entrypoints.
ax (with Agent Substrate) is the only executor; there is no local subprocess path. The pipeline's logic lives only in the task entrypoints; the
reconciler and runner know nothing about prompts, models or scoring (Requirement 3.4). The first increment moves
repo-facts and verify (plus a model-free agree step) and measures them on the 46-candidate set
(Requirement 6); the other concerns stay as scripts until that measurement is recorded.
Architecture
plane/ manifests (YAML), checked in
models/deepseek-flash.yaml Model
workspaces/<case>-<pin>.yaml Workspace, generated from population-v2.toml by `ousast plane workspaces`
tasks/repo-facts.yaml Task
tasks/verify.yaml Task
runs/validation-46.yaml Run: DAG, artifacts, budgets
src/openultrasast/plane/
manifests.py load + validate Task / Workspace / Model / Run (PyYAML, declared dependency)
reconciler.py Run execution, status, resume (<= 500 lines, test-enforced)
runner.py ax runner contract: AX_TASK_YAML / AX_WORKSPACES_YAML -> entrypoint
doctor.py `ousast plane doctor`: the four checks of Requirement 3.5
budget.py spend and call metering from provider usage fields
tasks/repo_facts.py source-only facts artifact
tasks/verify.py one hunt per file with facts in the prompt; per-unit resume
tasks/agree.py pass agreement, no model
~/ousast-results/plane/<run>/ state.json + one directory per task with summary.json and artifacts
Locally the reconciler runs a task as a subprocess of the same interpreter with the ax environment set; in a
container the same module is PID 1 (ax-task-runner), built as a target of the root Dockerfile that extends
openultrasast:dev. Nothing in a task depends on which of the two started it.
Components and Interfaces
Manifests (manifests.py)
Task,Workspace,Model:apiVersion: ax.io/v1alpha1, fields exactly as ax documents; unknown fields are rejected with the path named.Model.spec.provideraccepts ax'sgoogleandanthropic, anddeepseekonly whenmetadata.annotations["openultrasast.io/provider-extension"] == "true"(Requirement 1.4): the deviation is declared, not hidden in another field.- Field names are ax's verbatim (
ax.proto; its API server decodes withprotojson, so an unknown field failsax apply):metadataisnameandatespace(notnamespace), and a Workspacegitentry isname,repo,branch,dir,depth(nocommit; acommitthere is rejected with a pointer to the annotation).metadata.annotationsis this project's only extension, and nothing under it reaches ax: the reconciler strips it and carries it to the task as env. The Model binding (openultrasast.io/model) becomesOUSAST_MODELandOUSAST_MODEL_PARAMS. Commit pins (openultrasast.io/git-commits: "<git name>=<40-hex sha>,..."on a Workspace) becomeOUSAST_GIT_PINS={"<workspace>/<git name>": "<sha>"}, which the runner checks out after fetching the way ax'sinternal/workspace/setup.godoes, with the samediranddepthrules. Run:apiVersion: openultrasast.io/v1alpha1.spec.tasks[]:name,task(a Task manifest name),dependsOn[],inputs{name: "<task>/<artifact>"},outputs[],budget{usd, calls},serialize(a label for tasks that must not overlap; engine-bearing tasks carryengine). The reconciler passes budgets and artifact paths to a task asenventries (OUSAST_BUDGET_USD,OUSAST_BUDGET_CALLS,OUSAST_INPUT_<NAME>,OUSAST_OUTPUT_DIR), which is ax's own mechanism for task configuration, so a Run never adds a field to a Task.
Runner (runner.py)
Reads AX_TASK_YAML and AX_WORKSPACES_YAML, materialises each workspace's git entries at the pinned commit
into the bound path (locally a git archive from the case cache, as evaluate.export does today), writes
spec.files, then runs spec.command as ax's runner contract requires (ax docs/runner.md,
docs/sandbox.md): a child process python -m openultrasast.plane.tasks.<name> <args> in its own process group,
with the first workspace as working directory and AX_METADATA_URL pointing at the runner's own server. It serves
/healthz, /readyz (503 until workspaces are ready; ax probes /readyz?check=workspace) and ax's two metadata
paths on port 80 (Requirement 4.2). Workspaces are prepared on the first boot only; /workspace survives suspend
and resume. After the child exits the runner reads summary.json (a crash without one becomes failed with the
exit code and stderr tail), delivers the output directory (Requirement 4.4), writes the completion marker
/workspace/.ousast-state/<task>.done.json (exit, status, delivered) and then keeps running as PID 1 until
SIGTERM: an exiting runner stops the container, which the first live run showed as every resume timing out. A
boot that finds the marker does not rerun the command (a resumed actor must not repeat billed work); a marker
with a failed delivery retries the delivery only. SIGTERM (ax's stop and suspend) is forwarded to the command's
process group, followed by SIGKILL after OUSAST_TERM_GRACE (10 s), and the runner exits 0.
AX_RUNNER_EXIT_AFTER_COMMAND=1 is a unit-test escape that exits with the task's code after delivery.
Reconciler (reconciler.py, ax-backed)
ousast plane run <Run.yaml>, ousast plane status <run> and ousast plane doctor. State: state.json with
per-task status in pending | running | suspended | done | failed | unfinished, timestamps, spend. Execution:
topological order; for each ready task the reconciler renders the Task manifest with the run's env
(OUSAST_BUDGET_*, OUSAST_INPUT_*, OUSAST_OUTPUT_DIR, OUSAST_ARTIFACT_URL), applies it and its
Workspaces through the ax CLI (ax apply, ax resume, ax get, ax delete; the CLI path is injectable so
tests use a fake). ax creates a Task Suspended; it runs only after ax resume task, and the first resume of a
new image can fail with DeadlineExceeded while Agent Substrate builds its golden snapshot (ax then reports
Failed), so the reconciler retries a DeadlineExceeded/Unavailable resume with backoff for up to
OUSAST_RESUME_TIMEOUT (900 s). ax has no Completed phase and never reports that a command exited: completion is
the artifact delivery. Failed after a resume went through, or the task disappearing, before delivery fails the
task with ax's condition message; no delivery within OUSAST_TASK_TIMEOUT (7200 s) fails it too; ax delete task
follows either way. Artifacts: the reconciler serves a small HTTP receiver on the host (reachable from kind pods
via the docker bridge); the runner posts the output directory there after its command exits. Tasks sharing a
serialize label never overlap; everything else may run in parallel up to --workers. A task's outcome is
read from its delivered summary.json: done only when the task says every unit finished; unfinished on a
budget stop; failed on an account or authentication error, a crash, or a missing delivery. status prints
the token attribution table (Requirement 7.3) from the delivered summaries and writes attribution.json. On rerun, done tasks are skipped and
the others re-executed; per-unit resume is the task's own duty (Requirement 2.2). No prompts, scoring or model
calls anywhere in this module; a test counts its lines.
Budget (budget.py)
Wraps a chat client: sums the provider's usage fields per call (prompt_tokens, prompt_cache_hit_tokens,
completion_tokens), prices them from the Model's parameters, raises BudgetExhausted at the ceiling and
AccountError on 401/402 or an "insufficient balance" body. A model without prices makes the meter report
unpriced and refuse to run under a usd budget (Requirement 2.4).
Task contract (all tasks)
Inputs from OUSAST_INPUT_* paths and the bound workspace only; outputs under OUSAST_OUTPUT_DIR; progress in a
units.jsonl appended per finished unit and read back on start; summary.json written last with
status, units_done, units_total, usd, calls, usage. A task never writes summary.json with
status: done unless units_done == units_total.
repo-facts (tasks/repo_facts.py)
Source only, no model. For every product file (the enumerate_source_files + product filter of
model_sinks.py): the functions it defines (the per-language declaration patterns of sink_candidates.py),
and for each function name in the candidate list (input candidates.json) the call sites in other product
files: path, line, the enclosing function, capped at 40 per name. Output facts.json, keyed by file,
sorted, deterministic for a workspace (Requirement 5.2).
verify (tasks/verify.py)
The hunt of verify_batched.py (system prompt, one hunt per file, up to 6 candidates, 6 steps, candidate-
anchored sites) moved into the package, with two changes: the prompt lists each candidate's known call sites
from facts.json ("Known callers: a.py:12 in handler(), ..."), and each hunt records its tool turns and usage
in units.jsonl. pass is an env value from the Run, so two passes are two task instances with distinct output
directories. Candidates and triage come from the existing independent-v2-modelsinks and batched-check
artifacts for the increment; the classify and triage tasks are later specs.
agree (tasks/agree.py)
Reads the pass outputs, emits agreed.json and disputed.json by the same rule as verify_batched.agreement,
plus the per-candidate cost, turns and the declared-site match (evaluate.matches_v2) for the measurement.
Data Models
facts.json:{ "<path>": { "functions": ["name", ...], "callers": { "<fn>": [ {"path", "line", "in"} ] } } }units.jsonl(verify): one row per file hunt:{"path", "candidates", "flagged": [...], "turns", "usage", "usd"}; rows with"error"are re-asked on resume.summary.json:{"status", "units_done", "units_total", "usd", "calls", "usage", "reason"?}state.json(run):{"run", "started", "tasks": {"<name>": {"status", "started", "finished", "usd"}}}
Error Handling
- Manifest errors stop before any task starts, naming the manifest, field and rule.
AccountErrorinside a task: the task writessummary.jsonwithstatus: failedand the provider's message, exits 2; the reconciler marks the runfailedand starts nothing further (Requirement 2.3).BudgetExhausted:status: unfinished, exit 3; dependants are not started; a rerun with a larger budget continues fromunits.jsonl.- A crash:
failed, traceback insummary.json;units.jsonlis still valid for resume. - Two runs of the same Run name never share a directory: the reconciler refuses to start a second run while one
is
running(a lock file with the PID), which also keeps engine tasks to one at a time on this host.
Testing Strategy
tests/test_plane_manifests.py: valid ax manifests load; an unknown field, a bad provider without the annotation, and a Run with a cycle are rejected with the field named.tests/test_plane_reconciler.py: a fakeaxCLI with ax's real lifecycle (apply ->Suspended, a first resume failing DeadlineExceeded, thenRunningforever, and a scriptedsummary.jsondelivery only after a resume went through) drives a DAG: order,serializenon-overlap, skip-on-rerun,unfinishedandfailedpropagation, resume retry and timeout,Failedwith a condition message, a vanished task, the task timeout without delivery, the lock, the attribution table; a test asserts the module is under 500 lines.tests/test_plane_ax_live.py(markerax, skipped unlessousast plane doctorpasses) applies one trivial Task on the real cluster.tests/test_plane_runner.py: the env contract on a fixture workspace;/readyz503 then 200; the command as a child in its own group in the first workspace; the runner serving on after the command; SIGTERM reaching the command's group; the completion marker preventing a rerun and retrying a failed delivery alone.tests/test_plane_repo_facts.py: a three-file tree; callers found across files, none from tests or vendor; identical output on a second run.tests/test_plane_verify.py: a scripted client; the prompt carries the callers;units.jsonlresume asks only the unfinished file; a scripted 402 yieldsfailed.- Measurement (Requirement 6):
plane/runs/validation-46.yamlexecuted twice (passes a and b); the result compared withverifier-batched-check-2026-09-29.jsonand recorded inbenchmarks/independent/, with the transcript measure of the increment's development session next to it.