retro: Session 7 — Phase 1 audit + gitea MCP credential overhaul

Jeff Smith 2026-04-07 14:20:26 -06:00
parent e53881e7df
commit d2b85be7b0
2 changed files with 113 additions and 0 deletions

112
Session7.md Normal file

@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
# Session 7
**Date:** 2026-04-07
**Focus:** Phase 1 audit + gitea MCP credential overhaul
**Duration estimate:** ~1 hour
## What was done
### Phase 1 audit (luminos)
- Audited the open Phase 1 milestone. Two issues already closed (cache schema work);
one open issue #1 ("Add confidence fields to file and dir cache schemas") looked stale.
- Verified `confidence` and `confidence_reason` are present in `luminos_lib/cache.py`
(validation at L129134, `low_confidence_entries()` at L191). Schema instrumentation
is complete.
- Closed #1 via REST `PATCH` (see MCP write notes below).
- Phase 1 milestone now: **3 closed / 1 open** — only #54 remains, and it is real
pending work (the agent prompt never instructs the model to set `confidence`, so the
schema field is dormant in practice).
### Gitea MCP credential overhaul
The session opened with the gitea MCP authenticating as `mcp-service`, which had read
access but not write access on `archeious/luminos`. Two failures triggered the rework:
1. `mcp__gitea__issue_write method=comment``unknown method: comment` (the MCP
doesn't expose comment creation under that verb).
2. `mcp__gitea__issue_write method=update` to close #1 → HTTP 403 (mcp-service has no
write permission on the repo).
Sequence of changes after user direction:
1. **Interim swap to `archeious` token** — replaced `GITEA_ACCESS_TOKEN` in the
user-scope MCP config (`~/.claude.json`) with `FORGEJO_API_TOKEN`. Verified by
restarting the session and calling `mcp__gitea__get_me`.
2. **User clarified intent**: all MCP writes should be done under the dedicated
`claude-code` Forgejo user, not personal `archeious`.
3. **Minted a `claude-code` token**`claude-code` user already existed on Forgejo
but had no usable password. Used the `archeious` admin token to PATCH the user
with a generated password (via `/api/v1/admin/users/claude-code`), then basic-auth'd
as `claude-code` to mint a token via `/api/v1/users/claude-code/tokens` with scopes
`write:repository`, `write:issue`, `write:user`.
4. **Granted repo permission** — added `claude-code` as a collaborator on
`archeious/luminos`. Initially with `write`, then bumped to `admin` because
write alone is insufficient to *delete* issues in Forgejo (only close).
5. **Stored credentials** in `~/secrets`:
- Removed obsolete `FORGEJO_MCP_TOKEN` (mcp-service)
- Added `CLAUDE_CODE_FORGEJO_TOKEN` and `CLAUDE_CODE_FORGEJO_PASSWORD`
6. **Updated user-scope MCP config** to launch the gitea MCP with the new token.
7. **Updated `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`** to reflect the new identity, the per-repo
collaborator caveat, and a note that `issue_write method=delete` is not exposed
by the MCP and requires REST fallback.
8. **End-to-end verification** (after two session restarts):
- `mcp__gitea__get_me``claude-code`
- MCP create: opened test issues #58, #59, #60, server recorded `user: claude-code`
- REST delete: 204 + GET 404 ✓ (used twice; the MCP cannot delete)
## Discoveries and observations
- **Forgejo issue deletion requires admin repo permission**, not write. `claude-code`
has admin on luminos to make verification pass, but on other repos it'll only need
`write` if you don't care about deletes.
- **The gitea MCP server has gaps in its tool surface.** Confirmed missing:
`issue_write method=delete`, `issue_write method=comment`. Both work via REST.
- **Forgejo token endpoints (`/users/{username}/tokens`) require basic auth, not
bearer tokens.** Sudo-as-admin doesn't help. The only way to mint a token for
another user as admin is to set their password first, then basic-auth as them.
- **`mcp-service` Forgejo user is now orphaned** — still exists but referenced
nowhere. Should be deleted from the Forgejo admin panel when convenient.
## Decisions made and why
- **Use `claude-code` instead of `archeious` for MCP writes** — keeps a clean audit
trail (commits/issues attributable to the bot identity) and limits blast radius if
the token is compromised. Personal admin token stays out of MCP config on disk.
- **Admin permission on luminos, not site-wide** — narrowest privilege that satisfies
"must be able to delete issues for verification."
- **Document the MCP delete gap rather than work around it** — patching the upstream
gitea MCP server to expose `delete` is out of scope; a one-line REST fallback is
cheaper and less brittle.
- **Closed #1 directly after auditing**, didn't open a follow-up. The schema work is
done; #54 already tracks the prompt-side gap.
## Raw thinking
- Phase 1 milestone is technically still "open" because of #54. Worth deciding
whether #54 should land as part of a Phase 1 cleanup branch or get folded into
Phase 3 (investigation planning) where the prompts are getting reworked anyway.
My gut: fold into Phase 3, since touching prompts twice for the same area is wasted
motion.
- The MCP delete gap is annoying but small. If we end up needing it often (cleanup
scripts, dedup, etc.) it might be worth opening an upstream issue against the
gitea MCP server. For now, REST fallback is fine.
- The `mcp-service` orphan is a smell. If we ever forget about it and it gets reused
for something, we'll have two bot identities doing similar things. Better to delete
it explicitly.
- The "MCP can't comment, can't delete" pattern suggests the gitea MCP was built for
the read+create happy path and writes beyond that are second-class. Worth keeping
in mind before betting heavily on MCP-only workflows.
- Did **no actual Luminos code work** this session — pure infra. Phase 3 is still the
next real shipping target.
## What's next
Phase 3 (investigation planning) is the next shipping target. Concretely:
1. **#54** — wire confidence-write into prompts. Cheap, unblocks the Phase 1
milestone. Could be folded into the Phase 3 prompt rework.
2. **#57** — refactor `_run_dir_loop` before Phase 3 dynamic turn allocation lands.
Prerequisite cleanup.
3. **#56** — dedupe `_TOOL_DISPATCH` / `_DIR_TOOLS` registration. Small, satisfying.
4. **#55** — unit test coverage for ai.py pure helpers. Foundation for Phase 3
confidence.
5. Then Phase 3 proper (#19#29 cluster).

@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
| [Session 4](Session4) | 2026-04-06 | Phase 2 + 2.5 complete (#4#7, #42, #44), classifier rebuild, context budget fix, 8 PRs merged | | [Session 4](Session4) | 2026-04-06 | Phase 2 + 2.5 complete (#4#7, #42, #44), classifier rebuild, context budget fix, 8 PRs merged |
| [Session 5](Session5) | 2026-04-06 | Documentation deep dive: new Internals.md code tour, Architecture cache fix, Roadmap replaced with pointer, PLAN.md status snapshot (#53) | | [Session 5](Session5) | 2026-04-06 | Documentation deep dive: new Internals.md code tour, Architecture cache fix, Roadmap replaced with pointer, PLAN.md status snapshot (#53) |
| [Session 6](Session6) | 2026-04-07 | Extracted shared workflow/branching/protocols from project CLAUDE.md to global `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`; moved externalize.md and wrap-up.md to `~/.claude/protocols/` | | [Session 6](Session6) | 2026-04-07 | Extracted shared workflow/branching/protocols from project CLAUDE.md to global `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`; moved externalize.md and wrap-up.md to `~/.claude/protocols/` |
| [Session 7](Session7) | 2026-04-07 | Phase 1 audit (#1 closed, only #54 remains); gitea MCP credential overhaul — dedicated `claude-code` Forgejo user with admin on luminos, write+delete verified |
--- ---