archy/docs/rust-orchestrator-migration.md

Rust Orchestrator Migration — Design Doc

Status: DRAFT — pending user approval Author: OpenCode session, 2026-04-22 Supersedes planning in docs/bulletproof-containers.md v1.7.43 slot

Problem statement

Today, the archipelago backend has no production container orchestrator. Production containers (bitcoin-knots, lnd, electrumx, btcpay, filebrowser, and the three custom UIs archy-bitcoin-ui / archy-electrs-ui / archy-lnd-ui) are installed by bash scripts at first boot (scripts/first-boot-containers.sh) and optionally reconciled by another bash script (scripts/reconcile-containers.sh) that is not enabled by default. The existing DevContainerOrchestrator (core/archipelago/src/container/dev_orchestrator.rs) is hardcoded to append -dev suffixes and gated behind config.dev_mode, so it has never managed a production container.

This design migrates production container management into Rust, under a single orchestrator that owns install, start, stop, restart, upgrade, uninstall, health, and self-healing for every container. The three custom UI containers are the first-class test fixture: they exercise the "build image from local Dockerfile" path (which today doesn't exist in the manifest schema) and their lifecycle was the original failure class the user asked to fix.

Non-goals

• Backwards compatibility with first-boot-containers.sh: we delete it and its systemd unit after verifying Rust parity.
• Backwards compatibility with the existing package-install RPC’s podman shell-outs: those get rewritten to call the orchestrator.
• Registry signature verification: image_signature stays optional. Sigstore/cosign integration is out of scope.
• Network isolation improvements: existing SecurityPolicy fields stay as-is.
• Dev mode removal: DevContainerOrchestrator keeps existing behavior for local development; prod code path is separate.

Scope of this migration

In scope:

1. Extend ContainerConfig schema with a source: variant supporting {type: build, context, dockerfile, tag} alongside {type: pull, image, pull_policy}.
2. Extend ContainerRuntime trait + PodmanRuntime impl with build_image(...) and image_exists(...).
3. Introduce ProdContainerOrchestrator (new type) with identical public surface to DevContainerOrchestrator but no -dev suffix, no port offset, no data-path rewriting, no bitcoin_simulator gate. It is wired into RpcHandler::orchestrator in prod (currently None).
4. Add AdoptionScan at orchestrator startup: enumerate podman ps -a, match by container name against declared manifests, adopt into orchestrator state without recreating.
5. Add BootReconciler task spawned from main.rs (replacing the commented-out run_boot_reconciliation hook). Walks the manifest set on startup and periodically, ensures each is present-and-running, builds/pulls/creates anything missing, logs failures non-silently.
6. Ship three manifests in the repo: apps/bitcoin-ui/manifest.yml, apps/electrs-ui/manifest.yml, apps/lnd-ui/manifest.yml. They use the new source: build variant pointing at /opt/archipelago/docker/<name>/.
7. Delete scripts/first-boot-containers.sh, scripts/reconcile-containers.sh, scripts/container-specs.sh, image-recipe/configs/archipelago-first-boot-containers.service, image-recipe/configs/archipelago-reconcile.service. Remove enablement from ISO builder.

Out of scope this migration (tracked separately):

• Migrating btcpay / mempool / fedimint multi-container stacks to manifests (they currently live in core/archipelago/src/api/rpc/package/stacks.rs). They keep working via package-install RPC. Phase 2.
• Rewriting the 26 existing apps/*/manifest.yml files to use the new source: schema. They stay on image: for now; the schema is additive and backwards-compatible.
• Re-enabling signature verification; stays todo.

Data model changes

1. ContainerConfig gets a source enum

File: core/container/src/manifest.rs:58

Before:

pub struct ContainerConfig {
    pub image: String,
    pub image_signature: Option<String>,
    pub pull_policy: String,
}

After:

pub struct ContainerConfig {
    // Legacy shorthand (backwards compatible with all 26 existing manifests):
    // if `source` is absent, `image` + `pull_policy` are interpreted as
    // `source: { type: pull, image, pull_policy }`.
    #[serde(default)]
    pub image: String,
    #[serde(default)]
    pub image_signature: Option<String>,
    #[serde(default = "default_pull_policy")]
    pub pull_policy: String,

    // New: explicit source. If present, overrides the legacy shorthand.
    #[serde(default)]
    pub source: Option<ContainerSource>,
}

#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
#[serde(tag = "type", rename_all = "lowercase")]
pub enum ContainerSource {
    /// Pull an image from a registry.
    Pull {
        image: String,
        #[serde(default)]
        image_signature: Option<String>,
        #[serde(default = "default_pull_policy")]
        pull_policy: String,
    },
    /// Build an image from a local Dockerfile.
    Build {
        /// Filesystem path to build context, absolute or relative to manifest dir.
        context: String,
        /// Dockerfile path relative to context. Defaults to "Dockerfile".
        #[serde(default = "default_dockerfile")]
        dockerfile: String,
        /// Tag to assign to the built image, e.g. "localhost/bitcoin-ui:local".
        tag: String,
        /// `--build-arg` key=value pairs.
        #[serde(default)]
        build_args: HashMap<String, String>,
        /// If true, rebuild on every reconcile. If false, only build when tag is missing.
        #[serde(default)]
        always_rebuild: bool,
    },
}

Validation in AppManifest::validate:

• If source is absent AND image is empty → error (unchanged rule just rephrased).
• If source is present, legacy image field is ignored with a warning.
• Build::context must resolve to an existing directory that contains dockerfile.

Tests to add:

• Parse a legacy manifest → works, produces ContainerSource::Pull at resolution time.
• Parse a source: { type: build, ... } manifest → works.
• Parse a manifest with both legacy image: and source: → warning logged, source: wins.
• Parse a manifest with neither → rejected.

2. ContainerRuntime trait gets build_image + image_exists

File: core/container/src/runtime.rs:10

#[async_trait]
pub trait ContainerRuntime: Send + Sync {
    // existing methods unchanged...
    async fn pull_image(&self, image: &str, signature: Option<&str>) -> Result<()>;
    async fn create_container(...) -> Result<()>;
    // ...

    // NEW:
    /// Build an image from a local Dockerfile. Returns Ok(()) if the image now
    /// exists under the given tag (whether newly built or already present and
    /// `force=false`). Returns Err if the build failed.
    async fn build_image(
        &self,
        context: &Path,
        dockerfile: &str,
        tag: &str,
        build_args: &HashMap<String, String>,
        force: bool,
    ) -> Result<()>;

    /// Check if an image exists in the local image store.
    async fn image_exists(&self, tag: &str) -> Result<bool>;
}

PodmanRuntime::build_image shells out:

podman build --tag <tag> \
    --file <context>/<dockerfile> \
    --build-arg KEY=VALUE ... \
    <context>

Force-rebuild semantics: if force=false, skip when image_exists(tag) == true. If force=true, always build (podman's own layer cache handles the fast path).

Tests:

• build_image happy path on a minimal Dockerfile (using a throwaway context in tmpdir).
• build_image failure path (nonsense Dockerfile) → Err.
• image_exists returns false for nonexistent tag.
• image_exists returns true after build_image.

3. Manifest resolution: ContainerSource::resolve(manifest_dir) -> ResolvedSource

New method that turns the raw manifest into something the orchestrator can act on:

pub enum ResolvedSource {
    Pull { image: String, signature: Option<String>, pull_policy: PullPolicy },
    Build { context: PathBuf, dockerfile: String, tag: String, build_args: HashMap<String,String>, always_rebuild: bool },
}

impl ContainerConfig {
    pub fn resolve(&self, manifest_dir: &Path) -> Result<ResolvedSource> {
        match &self.source {
            Some(ContainerSource::Pull { image, image_signature, pull_policy }) => Ok(ResolvedSource::Pull { ... }),
            Some(ContainerSource::Build { context, dockerfile, tag, build_args, always_rebuild }) => {
                let abs_context = if Path::new(context).is_absolute() {
                    PathBuf::from(context)
                } else {
                    manifest_dir.join(context)
                };
                Ok(ResolvedSource::Build { context: abs_context, ... })
            }
            None => {
                // Legacy shorthand
                if self.image.is_empty() {
                    return Err(...);
                }
                Ok(ResolvedSource::Pull { image: self.image.clone(), ... })
            }
        }
    }
}

Runtime architecture

ProdContainerOrchestrator

New file: core/archipelago/src/container/prod_orchestrator.rs

pub struct ProdContainerOrchestrator {
    runtime: Arc<dyn ContainerRuntimeTrait>,
    manifests_dir: PathBuf,   // e.g. /opt/archipelago/apps
    data_dir: PathBuf,        // e.g. /var/lib/archipelago
    state: Arc<RwLock<OrchestratorState>>,
    config: Config,
}

struct OrchestratorState {
    /// app_id → known manifest (loaded from disk at startup, refreshed on reconcile)
    manifests: HashMap<String, AppManifest>,
    /// app_id → current known state (from adoption scan or our own ops)
    containers: HashMap<String, ContainerState>,
    /// app_id → last install/health/build timestamp
    last_reconciled: HashMap<String, Instant>,
}

Public surface mirrors DevContainerOrchestrator but container name = archy-<app_id> for UI apps, <app_id> for backends, matching existing .116 naming:

impl ProdContainerOrchestrator {
    pub async fn new(config: Config) -> Result<Self> { ... }
    pub async fn load_manifests(&self) -> Result<()> { /* walks manifests_dir */ }
    pub async fn adopt_existing(&self) -> Result<AdoptionReport> { /* scans podman ps -a */ }
    pub async fn reconcile_all(&self) -> Result<ReconcileReport> { /* ensures every manifest has a running container */ }
    pub async fn install(&self, app_id: &str) -> Result<()> { /* build-or-pull + create + start */ }
    pub async fn start(&self, app_id: &str) -> Result<()> { ... }
    pub async fn stop(&self, app_id: &str) -> Result<()> { ... }
    pub async fn restart(&self, app_id: &str) -> Result<()> { ... }
    pub async fn remove(&self, app_id: &str, preserve_data: bool) -> Result<()> { ... }
    pub async fn upgrade(&self, app_id: &str) -> Result<()> { /* re-read manifest, rebuild/pull, recreate */ }
    pub async fn status(&self, app_id: &str) -> Result<ContainerStatus> { ... }
    pub async fn list(&self) -> Result<Vec<ContainerStatus>> { ... }
    pub async fn logs(&self, app_id: &str, lines: u32) -> Result<Vec<String>> { ... }
    pub async fn health(&self, app_id: &str) -> Result<String> { ... }
}

Container naming rule (matches .116 existing fixture so adoption works):

• If the manifest has extensions["container_name"] → use that verbatim.
• Else if the app_id starts with bitcoin-ui / electrs-ui / lnd-ui → archy-<app_id>.
• Else → <app_id>.

This is codified and tested; no ad-hoc naming in the codebase.

AdoptionScan

On orchestrator startup, before any reconcile:

async fn adopt_existing(&self) -> Result<AdoptionReport> {
    let all = self.runtime.list_containers().await?;  // podman ps -a
    let mut report = AdoptionReport::default();
    for c in all {
        // For each manifest we have loaded, check if the expected container name matches
        for (app_id, manifest) in self.state.read().await.manifests.iter() {
            let expected_name = compute_container_name(manifest);
            if c.name == expected_name {
                // This container is ours. Record its state.
                self.state.write().await.containers.insert(app_id.clone(), c.state.clone());
                report.adopted.push(app_id.clone());
            }
        }
    }
    Ok(report)
}

No recreate. No touching data volumes. Just "we now know this container belongs to app X and its current state is Y".

BootReconciler

New file: core/archipelago/src/container/boot_reconciler.rs

pub struct BootReconciler {
    orchestrator: Arc<ProdContainerOrchestrator>,
    interval: Duration,  // e.g. 5 minutes
    shutdown: CancellationToken,
}

impl BootReconciler {
    pub async fn run_forever(self) {
        // Initial reconcile immediately (after adoption).
        let _ = self.orchestrator.reconcile_all().await;
        loop {
            tokio::select! {
                _ = tokio::time::sleep(self.interval) => {
                    let _ = self.orchestrator.reconcile_all().await;
                }
                _ = self.shutdown.cancelled() => break,
            }
        }
    }
}

reconcile_all:

async fn reconcile_all(&self) -> Result<ReconcileReport> {
    let manifests: Vec<_> = self.state.read().await.manifests.values().cloned().collect();
    let mut report = ReconcileReport::default();
    for manifest in manifests {
        let app_id = &manifest.app.id;
        match self.ensure_running(&manifest).await {
            Ok(action) => report.record(app_id, action),
            Err(e) => {
                tracing::error!(app_id, error = %e, "Reconcile failed for app");
                report.failures.push((app_id.clone(), e.to_string()));
            }
        }
    }
    if !report.failures.is_empty() {
        // Surface via WebSocket so the UI can show a banner.
        self.notify_failures(&report).await;
    }
    Ok(report)
}

async fn ensure_running(&self, manifest: &AppManifest) -> Result<ReconcileAction> {
    let name = compute_container_name(manifest);
    match self.runtime.get_container_status(&name).await {
        Ok(status) if matches!(status.state, ContainerState::Running) => Ok(ReconcileAction::NoOp),
        Ok(status) if matches!(status.state, ContainerState::Exited | ContainerState::Stopped) => {
            self.runtime.start_container(&name).await?;
            Ok(ReconcileAction::Started)
        }
        Ok(_) => Ok(ReconcileAction::NoOp),  // Created / Paused — leave alone
        Err(_) => {
            // Container doesn't exist. Install it.
            self.install_fresh(manifest).await?;
            Ok(ReconcileAction::Installed)
        }
    }
}

async fn install_fresh(&self, manifest: &AppManifest) -> Result<()> {
    let manifest_dir = ...;  // directory of manifest.yml
    let resolved = manifest.app.container.resolve(manifest_dir)?;
    match resolved {
        ResolvedSource::Pull { image, signature, .. } => {
            self.runtime.pull_image(&image, signature.as_deref()).await?;
        }
        ResolvedSource::Build { context, dockerfile, tag, build_args, always_rebuild } => {
            if always_rebuild || !self.runtime.image_exists(&tag).await? {
                self.runtime.build_image(&context, &dockerfile, &tag, &build_args, always_rebuild).await?;
            }
        }
    }
    self.runtime.create_container(manifest, &compute_container_name(manifest), 0).await?;
    self.runtime.start_container(&compute_container_name(manifest)).await?;
    Ok(())
}

Wire-up in main.rs

File: core/archipelago/src/main.rs

Replace the commented-out run_boot_reconciliation block (main.rs:107-111) with:

// Load manifests + adopt existing + start reconciler loop.
let orchestrator = Arc::new(ProdContainerOrchestrator::new(config.clone()).await?);
orchestrator.load_manifests().await?;
let adoption = orchestrator.adopt_existing().await?;
tracing::info!(adopted = adoption.adopted.len(), "Container adoption complete");
let reconciler = BootReconciler::new(orchestrator.clone(), Duration::from_secs(300), shutdown_token.clone());
tokio::spawn(reconciler.run_forever());

RpcHandler gets the orchestrator regardless of dev_mode:

// core/archipelago/src/api/rpc/mod.rs:83
let orchestrator: Option<Arc<dyn ContainerOrchestrator>> = if config.dev_mode {
    Some(Arc::new(DevContainerOrchestrator::new(config.clone()).await?))
} else {
    Some(Arc::new(prod_orch.clone()))
};

Where ContainerOrchestrator becomes a trait implemented by both DevContainerOrchestrator and ProdContainerOrchestrator.

First-boot replacement

There is no separate first-boot code. The reconciler handles it: when the archipelago service starts on a fresh node, adopt_existing finds nothing, reconcile_all sees no running container for any manifest, and installs each one in dependency order (bitcoin-core first, then everything else). On subsequent boots, adoption finds existing containers and reconcile mostly no-ops.

Removes completely:

• /var/lib/archipelago/.first-boot-containers-done marker (no longer needed)
• /var/lib/archipelago/.unbundled handling in first-boot script (becomes a config flag in archipelago.conf if we still need it)
• scripts/first-boot-containers.sh (1392 lines)
• scripts/reconcile-containers.sh
• scripts/container-specs.sh
• image-recipe/configs/archipelago-first-boot-containers.service
• image-recipe/configs/archipelago-reconcile.service
• Related enable/disable in ISO builder

The three UI manifests

Example: apps/bitcoin-ui/manifest.yml

app:
  id: bitcoin-ui
  name: Bitcoin Knots UI
  version: 1.0.0
  description: Custom Archipelago UI for Bitcoin Knots
  container:
    source:
      type: build
      context: /opt/archipelago/docker/bitcoin-ui
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
      tag: localhost/bitcoin-ui:local
      build_args:
        BITCOIN_RPC_AUTH: ${BITCOIN_RPC_AUTH}  # injected from host-ip.env or secrets
      always_rebuild: false
  dependencies:
    - app_id: bitcoin-core
  resources:
    memory_limit: 128Mi
  security:
    network_policy: host
    readonly_root: false
  ports: []  # host networking
  volumes: []
  environment: []
  health_check:
    type: http
    endpoint: http://127.0.0.1:8334
    path: /
    interval: 30s
  extensions:
    container_name: archy-bitcoin-ui

The extensions.container_name is how we match the existing running container on .116 for adoption. Same pattern for electrs-ui (container_name: archy-electrs-ui, port probe 50002) and lnd-ui (container_name: archy-lnd-ui, port probe 8081).

BITCOIN_RPC_AUTH injection: today first-boot-containers.sh seds this value into nginx.conf (destructively). In the new world, it's a --build-arg — the Dockerfile gets ARG BITCOIN_RPC_AUTH and templates nginx.conf from a template file. Fixes the "sed destroys the source" bug from the mapping.

Migration path (.116 and .228 specifically)

.116 (all 3 UIs currently running, adopted from bash install)

1. Ship the new archipelago binary with the prod orchestrator.
2. On archipelago restart, adopt_existing scans podman ps -a, sees archy-bitcoin-ui, archy-electrs-ui, archy-lnd-ui already running.
3. Matches them against the new manifests by extensions.container_name.
4. Records state. Reconciler sees them Running → NoOp.
5. Manual test: podman stop archy-bitcoin-ui → within 5 minutes, reconciler starts it again. podman rm -f archy-bitcoin-ui → reconciler rebuilds from /opt/archipelago/docker/bitcoin-ui/Dockerfile and re-creates.

.228 (no bitcoin-ui, no lnd-ui, has electrs-ui from bash first-boot)

1. Ship same binary.
2. Adoption finds only archy-electrs-ui.
3. Reconciler sees bitcoin-ui and lnd-ui missing → triggers install_fresh for each.
4. For bitcoin-ui: image_exists("localhost/bitcoin-ui:local") → false. build_image(/opt/archipelago/docker/bitcoin-ui, Dockerfile, localhost/bitcoin-ui:local, {BITCOIN_RPC_AUTH: ...}, force=false). Then create + start.
5. Same for lnd-ui.
6. Manual test: HTTP probe ports 8334 and 8081 return 200 within ~5 minutes of service restart.

Test plan

Unit tests (Rust, in-process):

• manifest::tests::legacy_image_parses_as_pull_source
• manifest::tests::explicit_pull_source_parses
• manifest::tests::explicit_build_source_parses
• manifest::tests::source_build_requires_tag
• runtime::tests::build_image_happy_path (uses a minimal Dockerfile in tempfile::TempDir)
• runtime::tests::build_image_failure
• runtime::tests::image_exists_roundtrip
• prod_orchestrator::tests::install_fresh_pull
• prod_orchestrator::tests::install_fresh_build
• prod_orchestrator::tests::adopt_existing_matches_by_name
• prod_orchestrator::tests::reconcile_starts_exited_container (with a mock runtime)
• prod_orchestrator::tests::reconcile_installs_missing_container
• prod_orchestrator::tests::compute_container_name_ui_apps_prefixed
• prod_orchestrator::tests::compute_container_name_backend_apps_bare

Integration tests (require real podman, run on archy node):

• Fresh-install path: wipe containers + images, start archipelago, verify all 3 UIs up within 60s.
• Adoption path: containers pre-running, start archipelago, verify no recreate (compare container IDs before/after).
• Reconcile-start path: podman stop archy-bitcoin-ui, wait, verify restart.
• Reconcile-recreate path: podman rm -f archy-bitcoin-ui, wait, verify rebuild+recreate.
• Rebuild-on-Dockerfile-change path: edit Dockerfile, call upgrade RPC, verify image rebuilt and container recreated.

Chaos matrix (bash + Playwright, the original goal):

• For each UI (bitcoin-ui, electrs-ui, lnd-ui) × each event (stop, start, restart, remove+reconcile, SIGKILL, archipelago-service-restart, host-reboot) × each node (.116, .228): assert HTTP 200 + page-title marker returns within 60s of event.

Risks + mitigations

Risk	Mitigation
Adoption mismatches and re-creates a container we already had, losing its data	Adoption matches by exact name; install_fresh only runs when get_container_status returns Err (container doesn't exist), not when it returns Stopped/Exited. Unit tested.
Build loop: reconciler rebuilds on every tick	always_rebuild: false + image_exists check. Only rebuilds when image tag is missing OR upgrade RPC is called.
Reconciler runs while user is mid-install via the UI	Orchestrator state has per-app mutex; reconcile waits. Install path takes the same mutex.
Auto-rollback (v1.7.41) fires during testing	reconcile_all is spawned AFTER server is healthy and responding; if it fails, archipelago the service still passes verification. Individual container failures are logged, not fatal.
Dependency ordering: bitcoin-ui needs BITCOIN_RPC_AUTH which is generated at first boot	Reconciler handles dependency order by reading manifest.app.dependencies and installing in topological order. If the dep doesn't exist yet, skip and retry next tick.
Moving /opt/archipelago/docker/<name> content breaks the build context	That path is stable per the ISO builder at image-recipe/build-auto-installer-iso.sh:1671-1685. Manifests reference it absolutely.
Dropping bash scripts breaks existing ISOs in the field	Target release cycle is disposable alpha nodes. For existing alpha nodes (.116, .228) we hot-swap the binary and let the reconciler take over, then the next reboot doesn't need the systemd units; we mask them manually.
User wants to downgrade to v1.7.42	Auto-rollback mechanism already handles that; binary swap is reversible. The removed bash scripts are still in git history.

Implementation order

1. Schema first: extend ContainerConfig + ContainerSource + resolve() + validation + unit tests. ~100 LOC Rust + ~80 LOC tests.
2. Runtime: build_image + image_exists in trait, PodmanRuntime, DockerRuntime (can stub), AutoRuntime. ~150 LOC + tests with throwaway tempdir Dockerfile.
3. ProdContainerOrchestrator: new type with install/start/stop/restart/remove/status/list/logs/health/adopt_existing/reconcile_all/ensure_running/install_fresh. ~400 LOC + unit tests with mocked runtime.
4. ContainerOrchestrator trait: abstract over Dev and Prod so RpcHandler is polymorphic. ~50 LOC refactor.
5. BootReconciler: task spawner with loop + cancellation. ~80 LOC + unit tests.
6. main.rs wire-up: adopt + spawn reconciler. ~20 LOC.
7. 3 UI manifests + Dockerfile BITCOIN_RPC_AUTH refactor (use ARG + template file, not sed). ~60 lines of YAML + ~20 lines of Dockerfile.
8. Remove bash scripts + services: split into sub-steps because first-boot-containers.sh creates 25+ containers (only 3 ported in Step 7) AND does non-container setup (secret gen, UID-mapping chowns, Tor hostnames, WireGuard, firewall, nostr-relay dir):
   • 8a (cheap, safe): delete scripts/reconcile-containers.sh + scripts/container-specs.sh + image-recipe/configs/archipelago-reconcile.{service,timer} + their ISO-builder touchpoints. BootReconciler fully replaces these — no manifest porting required. Atomic commit, low risk.
   • 8b (large, deferred): port the remaining ~25 container creations from first-boot-containers.sh into apps/<id>/manifest.yml files. One manifest per commit, validated against current bash behavior (ports, volumes, env, deps, health checks, post-create wallet/db bootstrap). Probably 1-2 days of careful porting. Includes apps/filebrowser/manifest.yml.
   • 8c (final, one-way door): rename first-boot-containers.sh → first-boot-setup.sh, strip out all $DOCKER run/pull/exec calls, keep only secret generation + dir prep + Tor/WG/firewall/nostr setup. Rename archipelago-first-boot-containers.service → archipelago-first-boot-setup.service. Add ISO builder lines to copy apps/*/manifest.yml → /opt/archipelago/apps/. Full ISO build test on .116 required before commit.
9. Live test on .228: hot-swap binary, expect 3 UIs to come up within 60s of service restart.
10. Live test on .116: hot-swap binary, expect zero container recreation + adoption-confirmed log lines.
11. Chaos matrix on both nodes.

Each step is a separate commit. Steps 1–6 are independent-enough that they can each have their own test gate.

Estimated total

~1000 LOC Rust added, ~1500 lines bash deleted, ~50 LOC Rust deleted. 8–12 hours of focused work across multiple sessions. No release pressure per user decision.

Open questions for user

1. Container naming: I propose archy-<app_id> for UIs, <app_id> for backends (matches current .116 fixture). Alternative: unify on archy-<app_id> for everything and migrate existing backends by renaming at adoption. Which?
2. BITCOIN_RPC_AUTH injection: the build-arg approach rebuilds the UI image when the auth value changes. Fine during normal operation (rare). Alternative: mount the nginx.conf at runtime as a volume, never bake auth into the image. Which?
3. Reconciler interval: 5 minutes. Too slow for a dropped container (user sees a broken UI for up to 5 min). Alternative: 30 seconds + more expensive podman ps calls. Which?
4. Concurrent reconcile + user install: per-app mutex is the simple answer. Alternative: a single orchestrator-wide mutex (simpler, slower). Which?
5. Delete bash scripts in this migration, or keep them around as fallback? I recommend delete (single source of truth), but deleting first-boot-containers.sh is a one-way door in terms of field recovery.