mars-nwe/AI.md

AI working notes for mars-nwe

This file is the handoff and assistant-rule document. It should keep the next chat on the current track without forcing it to reconstruct old patch history. Keep it short enough to read before touching code.

Start of a new chat

1. Treat mars-nwe-master as the root/superproject. The other mars-* bundles are submodules or sibling component sources needed by the root build.
2. Read the root *.md files and doc/*.md before changing namespace, salvage, transport or dependency code. The most important active files are TODO.md, REDESIGN.md, ENDPOINTS.md, this file, and:
   • doc/NSS_NAMESPACE_AUDIT.md
   • doc/NSS_PUBLIC_CORE_AUDIT.md
   • doc/NWFS_SALVAGE_COMPRESSION_TOOLS.md
   • doc/HANDOFF_AUDIT.md
   • doc/TUI_TOOLBOX_PLAN.md
3. Do not assume an older bundle is current. Use the latest applied user state or the latest bundle/patch explicitly accepted by the user.
4. For a fresh build in a new chat, check whether prepare-local-deps.sh is present in the root and run/use it before trying to build; it stages the uploaded offline third-party tarballs and local-only headers needed by the current dependency layout.
5. Default language with the user is German; repository documentation remains English unless the existing file is German.

Documentation ownership

• TODO.md is the active backlog. The top implementation dashboard is allowed and should stay. Unfinished long-running tracks stay in TODO.md until real implementation/test work closes them.
• REDESIGN.md is the durable architecture/design record. Put stable plans, rationale and completed design decisions there, not patch chronology.
• AI.md is for working rules, current handoff state, rejected patches and next action guidance. Keep it concise; do not append duplicate historic handoff dumps forever.
• ENDPOINTS.md is the decimal/hex NCP audit table.
• doc/*.md files are focused topic audits/roadmaps. Keep namespace, NSS public-core and salvage/compression/tool details in their matching doc files.

When a TODO is finished, remove it from TODO.md in the same patch and record its stable outcome in REDESIGN.md or the focused doc/*.md file. Do not move unfinished work out of TODO.md merely because its architecture is documented.

Current accepted patch line

Latest commit in an up-to-date tree:

• nwnss: audit COMN main and SBS imports

Compare git log -1 --format="%s" with this subject. If the tree is older, check which COMN audit commits are missing and replay them before starting new work.

Current patch handoff block

Last completed work block: COMN subsystem audit chain

The full COMN import/audit chain is done through Beast/SBS. Audited subsystems in order: root headers → authsys → beast scheduling → admin volume and beast storage → WIO userspace boundary → CSA/file dispatch → IO and lookup → rename task and volume → xaction and helpers → file handle and fsmsg → management and name → residual COMN common → compression → namespace → main and SBS.

All COMN headers and source files are now imported into include/nwnss/ and src/nwnss/comn/ with provenance-preserving paths. Userspace boundary guards (MARS_NWE_NWNSS_USERSPACE) are in place for kernel/scheduler/block-IO paths. The Beast/AdminVolume/SBS connection structure dependencies that nameSpace.c needs are available.

Next step: begin actual namespace implementation in libnwnss — wire up public_core/comn/namespace/nameSpace.c against the imported COMN layer.

Directory/NDS work order

• Do not combine LDAPv2/LDAPv3 compatibility work with the FLAIM storage-engine swap. Keep TinyLDAP/nwdirectory on its existing flatfile/mmap/journal backend and add behaviour tests first.
• LDAP CTests should start nwdirectory on 127.0.0.1:<free-port> with a temporary flatfile workdir and test LDAPv2/LDAPv3 bind/search/unbind.
• Add libnwds and console-only nwsetup together after LDAPv2/schema flatfile behaviour is testable. Do not make the first setup path depend on the TUI.
• Later, add FLAIM storage as CMake-selected parallel backend source files that export the same function names as the flatfile files. Do not break upstreamable flatfile TinyLDAP code.

Rejected or superseded patches that must not be reused as-is:

• 0380
• 0398
• 0403

Current immediate direction

The COMN import/audit chain is complete. Documentation boundaries are already clean. The next concrete step is namespace implementation:

• Wire up public_core/comn/namespace/nameSpace.c against the imported COMN layer in libnwnss.
• Keep src/namspace.c as NCP glue; do not expand old namedos/nameos2.
• Resolve missing nameSpace.c dependencies bottom-up from the NSS sources before adding wrappers.

Before namespace code changes, keep the legacy logging audit in mind: old MARS accepts numeric debug thresholds from 0 to 99, but the actual source mostly uses 1..5. The future nwlog facade should give those normal levels clear semantic names instead of preserving the old overloaded buckets: 1=error, 2=warn, 3=info, 4=debug and 5=trace. debug is local diagnostic detail; trace is packet/message/handoff path following across process or provider boundaries. New config should expose the cumulative numeric masks 0, 1, 12, 123, 1234 and 12345 as synonyms for off, error, warn, info, debug and trace, and use one global [logging] level plus optional [logging.process.<name>] level overrides; the old numeric 100..106 process entries stay accepted for compatibility. Useful legacy 6..99 traces should map to nwlog_detail() later. nwlog_detail() is not part of the normal 1..5 threshold ladder: normal builds return 0, while MAINTAINER_BUILD builds may emit detail whenever such a call site is reached. No INI option may enable it in a normal build. nwlog is the facade/backend plan. Do not add zlog calls or reintroduce a zlog build dependency; zlog is Apache-2.0 and is not compatible with the repository's GPL-2.0-only core policy. See include/nwlog.h and doc/LOG_LEVEL_AUDIT.md.

Before namespace code changes, keep the terminal-tooling decision in mind when touching FLAIM tests or admin tools: do not add new direct curses.h users. Future interactive tools should go through the planned nwtui/nwi18n stack and the multi-call nwtoolbox applet model documented in doc/TUI_TOOLBOX_PLAN.md. Configuration parsing/editing is separate: use the planned shared libnwcore nw_ini_* reader/writer from doc/NWCORE_INI_PLAN.md so server code and tools share one policy. Production daemons must not depend on the TUI stack.

Before namespace code changes, use the handoff audit rules in doc/HANDOFF_AUDIT.md. New namespace/NWFS work must not add new magic return(-1) / return(-2) paths. Use the provider names in include/ncp_endpoint.h for audits and future endpoint tables, but do not wire the enum into runtime dispatch until the current nwconn to nwbind handoff sites are annotated.

Then continue the NSS namespace track inside libnwnss:

1. libnwnss is the single userspace library for imported NSS functions and semantics. Do not create a separate namespace/AdminVol NSS library. The library should grow from the existing imported runtime into the real NSS components needed by Mars NWE: namespace, trustee/effective-rights helpers, XATTR/EA/metadata helpers and later AdminVol semantics.
2. Work bottom-up from the original NSS Linux sources. Use the files in nss.tar.bz2 and nss-common.tar.bz2; inspect NSS Makefiles/Kbuild-style source lists as well as includes. If a compile or link error reports an unresolved NSS symbol, search for and import the matching real NSS .c and header before considering anything else.
3. Do not write semantic wrappers or local replacement models for NSS namespace, XATTR, trustee or AdminVol logic. The only acceptable wrappers/adaptations are narrow userspace ports for kernel/OS boundaries such as spinlocks, allocation, wait/schedule hooks, WIO/console output and similar platform plumbing.
4. For namespace, target the real public_core/comn/namespace code and its real dependencies under public_core/comn/common, public_core/nss/lib, shared/sdk/include, shared/sdk/internal, shared/sdk/public and shared/sdk/comnSA. Keep the src/nwnss layout aligned with the original public_core tree, and keep the include/nwnss layout aligned with the original shared/sdk tree.
5. AdminVol is a later target because nameSpace.c reaches AdminVol and AdminVol reaches Beast/common code. Before AdminVol cleanup, import the XATTR/EA/ metadata side so the current modified nwfs XATTR chaos can be untangled against real NSS structures and functions.
6. libnwnss must become a userspace library, not an NSS disk implementation. Do not import block-device, VFS or NSS-disk-layout I/O blindly. If the first real disk-I/O dependency appears, stop and ask the user before designing the boundary. The expected path is that NSS functions create/interpret NetWare- compatible metadata and libnwfs persists it to host XATTRs, sidecar state or Mars volume state.
7. _ADMIN is expected to become virtual/in-memory semantics in libnwnss and later a userspace nwadminvol process served via IPC from nwconn/nwfs, with the volume-numbering rule SYS = 0, _ADMIN = 1, further volumes from 2.
8. Keep src/namspace.c as NCP glue over the future namespace engine. Do not expand old MARS namedos/nameos2 as the long-term solution; they are replacement targets.

NCP notation rule

Always write NCP groups/selectors with both decimal and wire/code hex when recording protocol details. Examples:

• decimal 87 == wire/code 0x57
• decimal 90/12 == wire/code 0x5a/0x0c
• decimal 123/70 == wire/code 0x7b/0x46

Use ENDPOINTS.md, the NDK Core Protocols PDF, WebSDK docs and SDK includes as references. NetWare 3.x/default compatibility has priority over broad 4.x/NDS work.

Patch workflow

• Make small, reviewable patches with one clear subject.
• Inspect current sources before editing; no speculative patching.
• Run at least git diff --check before exporting a patch.
• Also run syntax/build/test checks that match the touched files when feasible.
• Export only the .patch file by default when producing repository changes. Do not create or link a bundle unless the user explicitly asks for one.
• Every repository patch must update this AI.md with the new final commit subject in the current patch marker before exporting the patch. If the user later uploads a bundle from their repository, the marker makes that bundle self-identifying even when old chat downloads have expired or are unavailable.
• Every repository patch must also replace the single Current patch handoff block in this file with a short description of what the patch was meant to do. Replace the old block; do not append a new one for every patch.
• Always include a copy/paste git am <patch-name>.patch command in the user response next to the patch download link. This is part of the handoff contract, not an optional nicety.
• Generate patch mail headers with Mario Fetka <mario.fetka@disconnected-by-peer.at> as the author identity, not an AI/OpenAI identity.
• Do not claim a build/test passed unless it actually ran in the current work tree.

Source/layout rules

• Keep imported NSS sources in libnwnss, not libnwcore. libnwcore is Mars-core only and must not link against libnwnss merely because NSS runtime code exists. NSS tests should be named nwnss.*; core tests should only cover real Mars core helpers such as INI/logging.
• Preserve original NSS API names and original filenames wherever possible. Import real NSS files from their provenance paths and keep the new layout recognizable: public_core/library/... -> src/nwnss/library/..., public_core/nss/... -> src/nwnss/nss/..., public_core/comn/... -> src/nwnss/comn/...; shared/sdk/include/... -> include/nwnss/include/..., shared/sdk/internal/... -> include/nwnss/internal/..., shared/sdk/public/... -> include/nwnss/public/..., and shared/sdk/comnSA/... -> include/nwnss/comnSA/....
• GPL-2.0-only source imports are allowed when the imported source permits GPLv2 use and the original provenance/license headers are preserved. For Linux kernel reference material, record that mars-nwe selects GPL-2.0-only.
• Clean NSS staging incrementally. Staging/reference copies under nwfs should not remain just because they are confusing; keep only active Mars adaptation code there. When a file is needed, import the real NSS source/header into libnwnss in the provenance-preserving layout.
• Do not import broad NSS/OES subsystems blindly, but also do not replace missing NSS symbols with local semantic wrappers. Use unresolved symbols and original Makefile object lists to find the next real bottom-up dependency. Only kernel, VFS, memory-tracking and platform hooks may get small userspace glue.
• libnwfs is for the Mars/NWFS bridge and persistence layer: namespace glue, file IDs, metadata, streams, EA, salvage, compression, host-side reconcile and _ADMIN virtual-volume filesystem access. It should use libnwnss functions once those semantics are imported, then persist to host XATTRs, sidecar state or Mars volume state.
• libnwbind is for bindery identity/storage; libnwnds is for later eDirectory/NDS work.

Namespace rules

• Do not expand old MARS namedos/nameos2 as the long-term solution. They are replacement targets.
• Import/adapt the NSS namespace engine directly in libnwnss, then retire old MARS namespace logic after tests cover DOS/LONG behaviour. Missing namespace dependencies must be resolved from the original NSS sources, not by adding replacement wrappers.
• Stable namespace state belongs in netware.metadata: file ID, parent file ID, DOS name, LONG/OS2 name, MAC name, UNIX/backend name, casefold/hash fields and namespace flags.
• Existing Linux files created by Samba, rsync or local admin tools must be reconciled by libnwfs watcher/scanner work, not by a private side database.
• MAC namespace is a namespace/stream/metadata problem, not a transport problem. Resource forks and Finder info belong in streams/metadata later.

Salvage/recycle rules

• Keep .recycle as the Samba-compatible deleted-payload backend.
• Make netware.metadata on the recycled payload authoritative for deleted state.
• Treat .salvage JSON as legacy migration/debug data only; do not make it a second long-term authority.
• Samba vfs_recycle normally uses rename, so xattrs remain attached to the recycled inode. Manually copied files in .recycle without netware.metadata are not valid NetWare salvage objects unless an explicit admin repair tool marks them.
• If a compressed file is recycled, the .recycle payload should be a normal uncompressed Linux file; keep previous compression state in netware.metadata.

Compression and stream rules

• Compression belongs in libnwfs, not libnwcore.
• Future private stream/compression data belongs under .nwfs_streams/<stable-file-id>/....
• The stable file ID comes from MARS/NWFS/NSS-shaped metadata, not from Linux inode numbers and not from visible filenames.
• Do not encode compression state in visible names such as compressed_*.

Transport rules

• TCP/IP is a transport split under nwconn/nwserv, not a new daemon.
• Planned files: src/nwtransport.c, src/nwipx.c, later src/nwtcp.c.
• NCP providers stay transport-neutral: IPX/TCP -> nwtransport -> nwconn -> dispatcher -> providers.
• Use audited libowfat API names from the bundled mars-libowfat source: socket_tcp4(), socket_tcp6(), socket_bind4_reuse(), socket_bind6_reuse(), socket_listen(), nonblocking accept helpers and io_* readiness helpers.
• IPX config sections use frame tokens without dots: 8022, 8023, etherii, snap, tr8022, auto.
• [transport.ipx.local] is the internal network; explicit routes use [transport.ipx.route.<target>].
• If IPX is requested but socket(AF_IPX, ...) fails, report that AF_IPX is unavailable instead of silently falling back.
• A future L2 IPX backend is allowed, but it is an additional backend below nwtransport, not a replacement for the kernel path. Start with Ethernet_II IPX, SAP/RIP, and NCP socket 0x0451.
• Do not vendor a capability library for L2 IPX. Open the packet socket and report missing CAP_NET_RAW/CAP_NET_ADMIN; root, setcap, or systemd capabilities are deployment policy.
• Do not copy GPL-3.0-or-later code from the Rust nwserver reference. Use only the observed architecture: userland Ethernet/IPX packet handling, SAP/RIP, and NCP socket dispatch.
• SPX, if needed, is a later userland layer above IPX. Do not rely on kernel SPX and do not make namespace work wait for SPX.
• Linux 2.4.37.9 SPX is imported only as reference material in src/kernel/af_spx.c and include/kernel/spx.h; do not build it as-is.

Dependency/source bundle rules

• mars-nwe-master is the root repository.
• Uploaded mars-* bundles are submodules/sibling components needed in the configured locations.
• Offline point-release tarballs are staged by prepare-local-deps.sh. In a new chat or clean checkout, use this script as the first dependency/bootstrap step before CMake/build attempts:
  • yyjson-0.12.0 into third_party/yyjson
  • libsodium-1.0.20 into the nested libsodium snapshot path
  • gdbm-1.26 built locally under .local-deps/prefix
  • PAM and ncurses headers staged while linking to system libraries
• Do not vendor random system headers directly into endpoint/provider code.

Reference archives

The following archives were used for the NSS import/audit work and are available for further namespace implementation and NCP structure verification:

• nss-common.tar.bz2
• nss.tar.bz2
• ncp__enu.pdf
• websdk.tar.gz
• include.tar.gz