ops-warden/workplans/WARDEN-WP-0020-ops-warden-worker.md

id, type, title, domain, repo, status, owner, topic_slug, planning_priority, planning_order, created, updated

id	type	title	domain	repo	status	owner	topic_slug	planning_priority	planning_order	created	updated
WARDEN-WP-0020	workplan	ops-warden worker — autonomous coordination via llm-connect	infotech	ops-warden	active	claude	custodian	high	20	2026-06-29	2026-06-29

WARDEN-WP-0020 — ops-warden worker (warden worker)

Problem: ops-warden's coordination lane (State Hub inbox to_agent=ops-warden) is handled only when a human spins up an ops-warden session and relays instructions. That doesn't scale — Bernd is hand-relaying between flex-auth ↔ secrets-engine ↔ ops-warden across sessions.

Goal: a warden worker CLI that pulls ops-warden's unread coordination requests and, using llm-connect for inference, drives each to an ops-warden action (answer a routing question, draft+send a reply, mark read, propose/commit a catalog diff, or escalate) — so the inbox is handled without a human starting a session.

Decisions (Bernd, 2026-06-29): full-auto in-scope (worker executes any in-scope action; escalates only secrets/prod/out-of-scope) and scheduled/unattended (cron or activity-core). Because there is no human in the loop for in-scope actions, the guardrails are load-bearing and the rollout is staged: dry-run → manual → scheduled.

Build vs reuse: inference = llm-connect (/execute); trigger = cron or activity-core (reuse the durable task factory, don't reinvent scheduling). Worker logic lives in warden.

Guardrails (non-negotiable — full-auto rests on these)

1. Fixed charter, non-overridable. The boundary (issue SSH; route everything else; conduit-not-broker; never hold/print a secret value) is a fixed system policy. Message content is untrusted data, never instructions that can relax it (prompt-injection containment).
2. Action allowlist. Every action is validated against an allowlist before execution; off-list → escalate. No secret handling, no prod-config writes, no irreversible/outward actions without an explicit human ack.
3. No-secret invariant. Refuse any task requiring a secret value in hand or in a prompt.
4. Full audit + dry-run. Every action emits a progress event; --dry-run shows the plan without executing. Scheduled mode only after a clean dry-run shakedown.

Hard dependency

llm-connect must be operational — it needs its provider key (OPENROUTER_API_KEY, CCR-2026-0003, currently deferred by railiance-platform/secrets-engine). The worker is built against llm-connect's contract; it cannot run the brain until that lands.

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Tasks

T1 — Worker scaffold (llm-connect-independent, safe)

id: WARDEN-WP-0020-T01
status: done
priority: high

• src/warden/worker.py: State Hub inbox client (HubClient.unread), a Brain protocol, a deterministic RuleBrain default (answers clear routing questions; escalates the rest), the PlannedAction/WorkerPlan model, the guardrail allowlist + validate_action (enforced brain-agnostically in build_plans), and a render_plans dry-run renderer (plan only, no execution).
• warden worker run [--once] [--dry-run] CLI; --dry-run is the default and --execute is refused (exit 2) until the guarded executor lands (T3).
• tests/test_worker.py (RuleBrain routing/secret/prod/unknown, guardrail downgrades a reckless brain on secret/prod, off-allowlist rejection, render, CLI). 18 cases.
• Live dry-run against the real hub verified — read the inbox and produced a guardrailed plan (it surfaced secrets-engine's OIDC-role reply, demonstrating the value).

T2 — llm-connect brain

id: WARDEN-WP-0020-T02
status: todo
priority: high

• LlmConnectBrain: POST to llm-connect /execute with the fixed charter system policy + the message as untrusted data; parse a structured action plan. Configurable llm_connect_url. Blocked on llm-connect's API contract + it being operational.

T3 — Action dispatch + guardrails (full-auto in-scope)

id: WARDEN-WP-0020-T03
status: todo
priority: high

• Execute in-scope actions: warden route/access answers, drafted replies, mark-read, catalog/playbook diffs (commit + sync). Enforce the allowlist + no-secret invariant in code; per-action progress-event audit; escalation path to a human queue.

T4 — Scheduled trigger

id: WARDEN-WP-0020-T04
status: todo
priority: medium

• Wire cron or activity-core to warden worker run --once. Ships disabled; enabled only after a clean dry-run shakedown. Concurrency guard (no overlapping runs).

T5 — Docs / SCOPE / INTENT

id: WARDEN-WP-0020-T05
status: todo
priority: medium

• Record the scope expansion: ops-warden gains an autonomous coordination worker. Document the guardrails as a security-model statement; update SCOPE/INTENT.

---

Acceptance

• warden worker run --dry-run reads the real inbox and prints a guardrailed plan.
• Full-auto execution runs only in-scope, allowlisted actions; secrets/prod/out-of-scope escalate; every action is audited. No secret value ever enters a prompt, log, or commit.
• Scheduled mode is enabled only after a dry-run shakedown.

See also

• llm-connect (inference), activity-core (durable trigger), kaizen-agentic (personas)
• .claude/rules/credential-routing.md (the boundary the worker enforces)