Agent skill
sync-system-bus
Deploy the system-bus-worker to the joelclaw Kubernetes cluster from local machine. Use when syncing changes in packages/system-bus to k8s, especially because the GitHub Actions deploy job targets a non-existent self-hosted runner and cannot complete deploys automatically.
Install this agent skill to your Project
npx add-skill https://github.com/joelhooks/joelclaw/tree/main/skills/sync-system-bus
SKILL.md
Sync System Bus Worker
Deploy system-bus-worker to the local joelclaw k8s cluster (Talos v1.12.4 / k8s v1.35.0).
Important: .github/workflows/system-bus-worker-deploy.yml has a deploy job on self-hosted. That runner does not exist, so deploys must be completed locally.
Quick Deploy
The publish script handles everything — build, auth, push, k8s apply, rollout, verification:
cd ~/Code/joelhooks/joelclaw
k8s/publish-system-bus-worker.sh
Optional: pass a tag (defaults to timestamp):
k8s/publish-system-bus-worker.sh a6de1e0
GHCR Auth Order
publish-system-bus-worker.sh now authenticates in this order:
GHCR_TOKENenv var (if provided)secrets lease ghcr_pat(agent-secrets)gh auth tokenfallback
If your gh auth token lacks read:packages/write:packages, push will 403. Use ghcr_pat.
What the Script Does
- Builds ARM64 Docker image (required — Talos/Colima node is aarch64)
- Authenticates to GHCR (prefers
agent-secretsleaseghcr_pat; falls back togh auth token) with temp Docker config - Pushes
ghcr.io/joelhooks/system-bus-worker:${TAG}and:latest - Updates the image ref in
k8s/system-bus-worker.yaml kubectl applythe manifest- Waits for rollout (
--timeout=180s) - Probes the new pod's health endpoint
Post-Deploy Verification
joelclaw refresh # Re-register functions with Inngest
joelclaw functions | grep "<new-function>" # Verify new function appears
joelclaw status # Full health check
joelclaw runs --count 3 # Confirm runs are flowing
Restart Safety (ADR-0156)
The worker is stateless between Inngest steps. Each step is a separate HTTP call; Inngest stores step output server-side. This means k8s rolling restarts are safe — Inngest retries the in-flight step against the new pod.
Critical rule: NEVER set retries: 0 on Inngest functions. With retries: 0, a worker restart during step execution kills the run permanently. With retries ≥ 1, Inngest retries and hits the new pod.
Current story-pipeline has retries: 2 specifically to survive the ~1s restart window during deploys.
What happens during deploy
Step executing on old pod → old pod terminates → step fails (SDK unreachable)
→ Inngest retries after backoff → new pod handles retry → step completes
All previously completed steps are memoized. Only the in-flight step reruns.
Long-running steps (codex implement: 5-10 min)
If a deploy kills a codex step mid-execution, the step reruns from scratch on the new pod (5-10 min wasted but not fatal). For time-critical deploys during active loops, check joelclaw loop status first and deploy between stories.
Manual Steps (if script fails)
Build
cd ~/Code/joelhooks/joelclaw
TAG=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
IMAGE="ghcr.io/joelhooks/system-bus-worker:${TAG}"
docker build --platform linux/arm64 -t "$IMAGE" -t ghcr.io/joelhooks/system-bus-worker:latest -f packages/system-bus/Dockerfile .
Push
gh auth token | docker login ghcr.io -u $(gh api user -q .login) --password-stdin
docker push "$IMAGE"
docker push ghcr.io/joelhooks/system-bus-worker:latest
Deploy
kubectl -n joelclaw set image deployment/system-bus-worker system-bus-worker="$IMAGE"
kubectl -n joelclaw rollout status deployment/system-bus-worker --timeout=180s
Verify
joelclaw refresh
joelclaw status
Log
slog write --action deploy --tool system-bus-worker --detail "deployed ${IMAGE}" --reason "sync worker changes"
Talon Rebuild (Adding Secrets / Changing Worker Supervision)
Talon is a Rust binary that supervises the worker process. It leases secrets from agent-secrets and injects them as env vars. When adding new webhook secrets or changing supervision behavior:
# 1. Add secret to agent-secrets
secrets add my_new_secret --value "the-secret-value"
# 2. Update Talon source — add mapping to SECRET_MAPPINGS array
# File: ~/Code/joelhooks/joelclaw/infra/talon/src/worker.rs
# ("my_new_secret", "MY_NEW_SECRET_ENV_VAR"),
# 3. Recompile (fast — ~3s incremental)
export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"
cd ~/Code/joelhooks/joelclaw/infra/talon
cargo build --release
# 4. Install + re-sign (macOS kills unsigned binaries)
cp target/release/talon ~/.local/bin/talon
codesign -fs - ~/.local/bin/talon
# 5. Restart via launchd
launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u)/com.joel.talon
sleep 1
launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.joel.talon.plist
sleep 12
# 6. Verify
curl -s http://localhost:3111/ | jq '.status'
curl -X PUT http://localhost:3111/api/inngest # Force function sync
Current SECRET_MAPPINGS (worker.rs)
| Secret Name | Env Var |
|---|---|
claude_oauth_token |
CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN |
todoist_client_secret |
TODOIST_CLIENT_SECRET |
todoist_api_token |
TODOIST_API_TOKEN |
front_rules_webhook_secret |
FRONT_WEBHOOK_SECRET |
front_api_token |
FRONT_API_TOKEN |
vercel_webhook_secret |
VERCEL_WEBHOOK_SECRET |
joelclaw_webhook_secret |
JOELCLAW_WEBHOOK_SECRET |
revalidation_secret |
REVALIDATION_SECRET |
Talon Key Paths
| What | Path |
|---|---|
| Binary | ~/.local/bin/talon |
| Source | ~/Code/joelhooks/joelclaw/infra/talon/src/ |
| LaunchAgent plist | ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.joel.talon.plist |
| Logs | ~/.local/log/talon.log / talon.err |
| ADR | ~/Vault/docs/decisions/0159-talon-worker-manager.md |
Gotcha: codesign -fs - is required
After cargo build, the binary has adhoc linker-signed signature. macOS launchd may SIGKILL:9 it. Re-signing with codesign -fs - fixes this.
Common Gotchas
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
exec format error in pod |
Built for amd64, not arm64 | Rebuild with --platform linux/arm64 |
GHCR push fails with 403 Forbidden on blob HEAD |
gh auth token missing package scopes |
Use ghcr_pat via agent-secrets or export GHCR_TOKEN with package scope |
docker-credential-desktop error |
Docker config has credsStore | Script uses temp config dir — if manual, remove "credsStore": "desktop" |
| Function missing after deploy | Not in index file | Add to both index.host.ts AND index.cluster.ts |
| Function still missing | Stale Inngest registration | joelclaw refresh then check again |
| "Unable to reach SDK URL" | Worker pod not ready | Wait for rollout, then joelclaw refresh |
| Runs stuck after deploy | retries: 0 on the function |
Set retries: 2 minimum (ADR-0156) |
| Stale app registrations | Multiple apps registered | Delete old registrations in Inngest dashboard (:8289) |
Key Paths
| What | Path |
|---|---|
| Publish script | k8s/publish-system-bus-worker.sh |
| Dockerfile | packages/system-bus/Dockerfile |
| k8s manifest | k8s/system-bus-worker.yaml |
| Host function index | packages/system-bus/src/inngest/functions/index.host.ts |
| Cluster function index | packages/system-bus/src/inngest/functions/index.cluster.ts |
| Worker entry | packages/system-bus/src/serve.ts |
| GH Actions workflow | .github/workflows/system-bus-worker-deploy.yml |
| ADR-0156 | ~/Vault/docs/decisions/0156-graceful-worker-restart.md |
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