stack/docs/reports/greenfield/fomo-lin.md

Greenfield install log — fomo-lin

Running log of a from-scratch Mosaic Stack install on Jason's test laptop fomo-lin (Debian 13, x86_64). Operator: scooby (agent). Started 2026-08-08. Channel per fred: findings → comms as they land; this file is the durable record. Branch: greenfield/fomo-lin.

Machine starting state (2026-08-08)

• Debian 13 (kernel 6.12.101+deb13), no Node/npm, no global git config, no ~/.ssh, no ~/.config/mosaic, no ~/.mosaic, sudo requires password (agent cannot escalate).
• Repos pre-cloned by Jason: jarvis-brain, mosaic-brain, stack, uconnect, uscllc-website (all https remotes to git.mosaicstack.dev, no credentials stored — private-repo fetch/push dead until a token was provisioned from credentials.json, usc_mos).
• tmux session scooby running Claude Code (bare harness — not mosaic claude).

Pre-install setup that had NO framework mechanism (manual work)

• Agent identity: MOSAIC_AGENT_NAME=scooby hand-added to ~/.bashrc + tmux env.
• Git identity + credential store: hand-configured.
• Comms receive path: hand-ported scooby-comms-watcher.sh from fred's watcher + hand-written systemd --user unit + loginctl enable-linger. Works (both peers verified round-trip within ~90s), but every step was artisanal — relevant input for harness-homes (W-F).

Install run (2026-08-08 ~19:09Z)

curl -fsSL https://mosaicstack.dev/install.sh | bash -s -- --yes --no-auto-launch → exit 0, framework v3 → ~/.config/mosaic/, CLI @mosaicstack/mosaic 0.0.49 → ~/.npm-global/. Prereq path: sudo apt install nodejs npm (Debian 13's node 20.19.2 meets the ≥20 floor). Public read on the stack repo means the installer itself needs no credentials — good.

Findings (outside fred's known-gaps list of 2026-08-08)

F1 — PATH advice is print-only

Installer warns ~/.npm-global/bin is not on your PATH and suggests the rc line, but shellProfileEdits: [] in the manifest — nothing is persisted. Every fresh machine ends with mosaic not resolvable in new shells until the user hand-edits rc. Either edit the rc (with consent/flag) or make the closing summary a copy-paste block.

F2 — Installer overwrites live ~/.claude/settings.json + ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md with backup: null

.install-manifest.json runtimeAssetCopies shows dest ~/.claude/settings.json, ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md, hooks-config.json, context7-integration.md, all backup: null, written while a Claude session was LIVE on this machine. On this box the pre-existing files were near-defaults so nothing of value was lost; on any configured machine this silently destroys user settings/memory. Wants: backup-before-overwrite (populate the manifest backup field it clearly already models) + merge-not-replace for settings.json.

F3 — Fresh install fails its own doctor: 10 warnings out of the box

Immediately after a clean, successful install, mosaic doctor reports: missing USER.md; AGENTS.md missing CRITICAL HARD GATES override block; runtime file drift on ~/.claude/settings.json; 7 missing mosaic-* skills. A green install that self-reports 10 warnings erodes trust in doctor as a signal. Whatever subset is "expected until mosaic init/wizard" should be suppressed or labeled as such.

F4 — Drift check points users at the gated template (wedge hazard)

The settings the installer writes to ~/.claude/settings.json are UNGATED (no mutator-gate, no receipt-observer) — which on today's main is CORRECT, it avoids the Stop-hook wedge. But ~/.config/mosaic/runtime/claude/settings.json (the file doctor diffs against) IS the gated template. So doctor's "runtime file drift" warning invites the obvious remediation — copy the template over — which would seed the receipt-observer wedge into a live seat. The drift baseline and the seeded file should be the same artifact, or doctor should know about the gated/ungated split.

F5 — Installed skill set is disjoint from repo skills/

Skill sync installed 101 skills (six mosaic-*: deploy, gitea, orchestrator, portainer, tools, woodpecker) but NONE of the eight in stack skills/ on main (board, forge, jarvis, macp, prd, prdy, setup-cicd, standards). Doctor then flags 7 of those 8 as missing (mosaic-jarvis escapes the check). Two sources of truth for "the Mosaic skills" — the installer's bundle and the repo dir — have diverged.

Environment answers / status

• fomo-lin → sb-it-1-dt: comms-only today. Hostname does not resolve from here and the laptop has no ssh keys. ssh reach would need Jason (key provisioning + route/VPN).
• Gitea write to the stack repo: verified by the push of this very branch (token usc_mos).

Session 2 (2026-08-08 later) — mosaic init + first bare seat

mosaic init completed (SOUL.md / USER.md / TOOLS.md generated; TOOLS.md was backed up before overwrite — the contrast with F2 shows the codebase already knows how). Its runtime-adapter step correctly REFUSED to wire mutator-gate/receipt-observer hooks (activation half absent, #869) — loud, explained, fail-safe. Good.

First bare seat: launched — mosaic claude --model sonnet → Claude Code v2.1.226, runtime-contract injection verified from inside the seat. But it took findings F6–F10 to get there; on an untouched fresh main install, install → init → launch is broken at FOUR consecutive links.

F6 — SECURITY: mosaic-init eval-injects free-text answers

tools/_scripts/mosaic-init line 142: eval "$var_name=\"$value\"". Any answer containing " crashes init mid-flow (reproduced: exit 127, USER.md never written); an answer containing $( ) would EXECUTE arbitrary commands. Fix: printf -v. Same bug in the NON_INTERACTIVE default branch. Related: init exits 1 even on success when enforcement wiring is (correctly) refused — poisons any scripted chaining.

F7 — init silently drops the installer's mcpServers block → launcher refuses to run

init's "Updating runtime adapters" rewrote ~/.claude/settings.json and removed the mcpServers.sequential-thinking block the installer had written 11 min earlier. mosaic claude hard-requires that MCP → launch refused. The prescribed fix command (mosaic-ensure-sequential-thinking --runtime claude) works. So the happy path is install → init → BROKEN → hand-run a repair script. Merge-not-replace (F2) fixes this too.

F8 — no fleet roster on a fresh install; launcher dies with a raw stack trace

mosaic claude throws an uncaught Error: Fleet communications contract unavailable: no fleet roster at ~/.config/mosaic/fleet/roster.{yaml,json} (full Node stack trace to the user). Nothing in install or init creates a roster (wizard untested here — --no-auto-launch; if the wizard seeds one, the bare-flow gap still stands). Unblocked by hand-authoring a minimal site roster from fleet/examples/minimal.yaml.

F9 — FLAGSHIP: activation-probe timeout loses to CLI cold-start on modest hardware

activation_version_gate.py gives the mosaic __lease-capability probe PROBE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 2.0. On fomo-lin the CLI answers CORRECTLY in ~2.55–2.61s every run (Node startup cost). Timeout → fail-closed → every bare mosaic claude launch aborts (exit 65) with an error blaming "mosaic not on PATH … framework/CLI version skew" — neither true. Invisible on fast dev boxes; fatal on laptops. Suggest: raise/make configurable the timeout, warm-probe cache, and split the three failure causes into distinct messages. Local workaround (documented, removable): MOSAIC_LEASE_VERSION_PROBE_COMMAND pointed at a script emitting the verified payload instantly (~/.local/bin/mosaic-lease-probe-fast).

F10 — shipped lease-broker unit is never installed → registration denied

With F9 bypassed, launch dies with "Mosaic lease broker registration failed; runtime launch denied": the broker daemon isn't running, and although the framework SHIPS systemd/user/mosaic-lease-broker.service, nothing installs/enables it. systemctl --user link + enable --now of the shipped unit → READY instantly, launch proceeds. Installer/init/wizard should own this step.

Observations (not filed as findings)

• Launcher settings audit demands mutator-gate.py while init refuses to wire it — main's components disagree about the gated state (fold into #1113/F4).
• Seat context: runtime contract injected ✓; SOUL.md NOT injected (seat confirmed) — matches AGENTS.md read-on-demand load order, but README says the launcher "checks for SOUL.md". Question for lead, not a finding.
• --ref next install path verified available (flag exists, next archive HTTP 200) — not exercised; fomo-lin stays main-as-shipped per lead ruling.

Next

• Milestone comms sent at: install complete ✓ / first seat launched ✓.
• First gated-seat probe deliberately deferred until PR #1109 lands (known deny-only state).