gemini-cli/.gemini/skills/offload/NEXT_MISSION.md

Mission: GCE Container-First Refactor 🚀

Current State

• Architecture: Persistent GCE VM (gcli-offload-mattkorwel) with Fast-Path SSH (gcli-worker).
• Logic: Decoupled scripts in ~/.offload/scripts, using Git Worktrees for concurrency.
• Auth: Scoped GitHub PATs mirrored via setup.

The Goal (Container-OS Transition)

Shift from a "Manual VM" to an "Invisible VM" (Container-Optimized OS) that runs our Sandbox Docker image directly.

Planned Changes

1. Multi-Stage Dockerfile: ✅ VERIFIED
   • Optimize .gcp/Dockerfile.maintainer to include tsx, vitest, gh, and system dependencies (libsecret, build-essential).
   • Verified locally: Node v20, GH CLI, Git, TSX, and Vitest are functional with required headers.
2. Dedicated Pipeline:
   • Use .gcp/maintainer-worker.yml for isolated builds.
   • Tagging Strategy:
     • latest: Automatically updated on every merge to main.
     • branch-name: Created on-demand for PRs via /gcbrun comment.
3. Setup Script (setup.ts):
   • Refactor provision to use gcloud compute instances create-with-container.
   • Point to the new maintainer image in Artifact Registry.
4. Orchestrator (orchestrator.ts):
   • Update SSH logic to include the --container flag.

GCP Console Setup (Two Triggers)

Trigger 1: Production Maintainer Image (Automatic)

1. Event: Push to branch.
2. Branch: ^main$.
3. Configuration: Point to .gcp/maintainer-worker.yml.
4. Purpose: Keeps the stable "Golden Image" up to date for daily use.

Trigger 2: On-Demand Testing (Comment-Gated)

1. Event: Pull request.
2. Base Branch: ^main$.
3. Comment Control: Set to "Required" (e.g. /gcbrun).
4. Configuration: Point to .gcp/maintainer-worker.yml.
5. Purpose: Allows developers to test infrastructure changes before merging.

Phase 2: Refactoring setup.ts for Container-OS

This phase is currently ARCHIVED in favor of the Persistent Workstation model.

Implementation Logic (Snapshot)

The orchestrator should launch isolated containers using this pattern:

docker run --rm -it \
  --name offload-job-id \
  -v ~/dev/worktrees/job-id:/home/node/dev/worktree:rw \
  -v ~/dev/main:/home/node/dev/main:ro \
  -v ~/.gemini:/home/node/.gemini:ro \
  -w /home/node/dev/worktree \
  maintainer-image:latest \
  sh -c "tsx ~/.offload/scripts/entrypoint.ts ..."

How to Resume

1. Review the archived container-launch logic above.
2. Update setup.ts to use gcloud compute instances create-with-container.
3. Update orchestrator.ts to use docker run instead of standard ssh.