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UpdatedJuly 17, 2026 at 17:42

Production deployment guide for Renfield. Build box .159, Harbor registry, private k8s cluster. Triggers on "deploy", "Deployment", "production", "Produktion", "satellite deploy", "kubectl apply", "rsync", "registry.treehouse".

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Production Deployment

CRITICAL SAFETY

Pi Zero 2 W SD cards are EXTREMELY fragile — SIGKILL during restart can brick the device. Always ask before restarting satellite services. See references/satellite-deploy.md.
Never force-push to main and never bypass branch protection; main merges go through a PR (see git-workflow skill).
CI is intentionally non-functional for this project — run tests on the .159 build box, not in CI.
ConfigMap-provided files are NOT in the image. mcp_servers.yaml, agent_roles.yaml, kg_scopes.yaml, mail_accounts.yaml live only in the renfield-mcp-config ConfigMap. If the build-box working copy ever grows these as untracked files or directories at src/backend/config/*, the resulting image breaks the pod's subPath mount with not a directory. Keep src/backend/.dockerignore carving these paths out, and clean them on .159 if you see root-owned leftovers from kubelet bind-mount artefacts.
voice-server is a separate image and a GPU deploy. Changes under voice-server/ need their own image build (see "Voice-server image" below) — the backend/frontend steps do NOT cover it. It runs on a GPU node; a NVIDIA driver/library mismatch there CrashLoops new pods. See that section.
Config source of truth = git, NOT kubectl patch. The renfield-env ConfigMap is defined in k8s/configmap.yaml (public). Sensitive per-instance values (mailbox JSON, weather location, twin endpoints/bindings) live in the renfield-env-private Secret, consumed via envFrom: secretRef on backend/document-worker/meeting-worker — real values gitignored (k8s/renfield-env-private.secret.yaml), only the redacted .example.yaml committed. To flip a feature flag: edit k8s/configmap.yaml, commit, kubectl apply -f k8s/configmap.yaml (three-way merge adds/updates keys; patch-added keys survive), then rollout restart backend + workers. Do NOT kubectl patch the live ConfigMap as the source of truth — that is how 42 flags silently drifted out of git (reconciled 2026-07-17). A drift audit: diff <(kubectl -n renfield get cm renfield-env -o json | jq -r '.data|keys[]'|sort) <(grep -oE '^ [A-Z_0-9]+:' k8s/configmap.yaml|tr -d ' :'|sort).

Topology at a glance

Role	Where	Notes
Build box	`192.168.1.159` (`renfield.local` mDNS often flaky — use the IP)	Docker Compose up for dev/test only. Used for `docker build` + `docker push`. Runs the full backend/test stack so pytest is executed here. Not production.
Container registry	`https://registry.treehouse.x-idra.de`	Harbor. Namespace paths used: `renfield/backend`, `renfield/frontend`, `renfield/voice-server`. `harbor-pull-secret` already exists in the `renfield` k8s namespace.
Production	Private k8s cluster (kubectl context `renfield-private`)	GPU-accelerated LLM, Traefik ingress, Longhorn storage, MetalLB LB at `192.168.1.230`. Canonical doc: `docs/KUBERNETES_DEPLOYMENT.md`.

Single-VM renfield.local deployment on /opt/renfield is legacy / build-box only. Anything calling itself a "prod rsync" is referring to the build box, not production.

Release tag (audit trail)

# From the laptop, after the release commits are merged to main:
git checkout main && git pull
git tag -a vX.Y.Z -m "Release vX.Y.Z\n\n<release notes>"
git push origin vX.Y.Z
gh release create vX.Y.Z --title "vX.Y.Z — <one-line summary>" --notes "<body>"

make release exists but is interactive and only does the tag step. Manual git tag + gh release create lets you script the whole sequence.

The release.yml workflow on tag-push does not actually build images (CI is non-functional for this project). Tag is for the audit trail and the git history; the real build happens on .159.

Build + push workflow (rsync-to-staging — preferred)

Script: bin/deploy-production.sh automates the mechanical backbone of this skill — rsync contexts → build+push backend/frontend → (optional --migrate) alembic job → set image + rollout status → smoke test → prune. It has --dry-run, --skip-backend/--skip-frontend, and takes the tags as args (backend date-tag, frontend semver). It deliberately does NOT touch satellites (SD-card brick risk), voice-server/dlna/samsung images, or invent tags. Example: bin/deploy-production.sh --backend-tag 2026-06-25-satsec --frontend-tag v2.15.29 --migrate. The steps below remain the source of truth and the fallback when something needs hand-holding (Harbor 504, a forked alembic chain, a pinned-tag quirk).

Images live in Harbor and are pulled by the cluster via imagePullPolicy: Always on the :latest tag (or pinned tags like :vX.Y.Z).

Both Dockerfiles expect their own directory as the build context — not the repo root. COPY requirements.txt constraints.txt ./ and COPY wakeword-models /app/wakeword-models resolve against context root, and those files live at src/backend/*, not at the repo root. The wakeword models live at data/wakeword-models/ in the repo and must be rsynced INTO the backend build context as wakeword-models/.

Why staging-dir, not /opt/renfield? The /opt/renfield checkout on .159 is often on a feature/WIP branch with uncommitted changes. Building from there bakes the WIP into the image, OR (worse) clobbers the WIP if you do git checkout. The rsync-to-staging flow below isolates the build from the checkout.

Step 1 — From the laptop, rsync the build contexts

# Prep a fresh staging dir on .159 (use the version tag in the path so concurrent
# releases don't trample each other and cleanup is unambiguous)
ssh evdb@192.168.1.159 "rm -rf /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z; mkdir -p /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/backend /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/frontend"

# Rsync src/backend (build context for the backend image)
rsync -avz --delete \
  --exclude='__pycache__' --exclude='.pytest_cache' --exclude='*.pyc' \
  --exclude='.coverage' --exclude='htmlcov' \
  --exclude='.env' --exclude='.env.local' --exclude='secrets/' \
  --exclude='Users/' \
  src/backend/ evdb@192.168.1.159:/tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/backend/

# Rsync src/frontend (build context for the frontend image)
rsync -avz --delete \
  --exclude='node_modules' --exclude='dist' --exclude='.vite' \
  --exclude='.cache' --exclude='.env' --exclude='.env.local' \
  src/frontend/ evdb@192.168.1.159:/tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/frontend/

# Rsync wakeword models INTO the backend build context (Dockerfile COPYs ./wakeword-models)
rsync -avz \
  data/wakeword-models/ evdb@192.168.1.159:/tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/backend/wakeword-models/

# Rsync the satellite source INTO the backend build context (Dockerfile COPYs ./satellite).
# Bundled so the OTA update service can build /api/satellites/update-package AND so
# get_latest_version reads __version__ from it (the advertised version can't drift from
# the shipped package). Without this the OTA UI 503s — see references/satellite-deploy.md.
# Exclude provisioning/ (gitignored ansible inventory with real household IPs — must not
# be baked into the image) and tests/ — only renfield_satellite/ + requirements.txt +
# setup.py are packaged by build_update_package anyway.
rsync -avz --delete \
  --exclude='__pycache__' --exclude='*.pyc' --exclude='.pytest_cache' \
  --exclude='provisioning' --exclude='tests' \
  src/satellite/ evdb@192.168.1.159:/tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/backend/satellite/

Optional pre-step — sign the OTA release (security H6)

If signed OTA is in use (the fleet has release_pubkeys pinned), sign the release BEFORE rsyncing the satellite source, on the operator workstation (the private Ed25519 key must NEVER touch .159 or the backend):

# Re-sign whenever the satellite source changed since the last release.
python bin/sign_satellite_release.py --sign --key ~/.renfield/ota_release_key
python bin/sign_satellite_release.py --verify --pubkey <hex>   # manifest == source + sig OK
git add src/satellite/RELEASE_MANIFEST.json src/satellite/RELEASE_MANIFEST.json.sig

The committed RELEASE_MANIFEST.json + .sig ride along in the src/satellite/ rsync above and get baked into the backend image; the backend forwards them, the satellite verifies before install. Skip this step while signed OTA is dark (no manifest committed → backend forwards None → satellites use checksum-only). First-time setup: --gen-key, then add the printed public-key hex to group_vars satellite_release_pubkeys and re-provision the fleet (--tags config).

Step 2 — On .159, build + push

ssh evdb@192.168.1.159

# Login to Harbor (skip if your session is already authenticated)
docker login registry.treehouse.x-idra.de

# Backend (CPU image, ~3.5 GB — torch pinned to +cpu wheels via constraints.txt)
# Build time (since the Dockerfile reorder — requirements.txt is COPY'd AFTER the
# heavy torch/ML/audio layers):
#   - Python source only: ~2-4 min (all deps layers cached)
#   - requirements.txt change (incl. MCP-server github pin bump): ~3-5 min —
#     rebuilds only Layers 4-5 (pypi + github); torch/ML/audio stay cached.
#   - constraints.txt change OR Dockerfile deps-section edit: 10-20 min (full
#     deps rebuild, the only case that re-pulls torch).
cd /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/backend
docker build \
  -t registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/backend:latest \
  -t registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/backend:vX.Y.Z \
  -f Dockerfile .
docker push registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/backend:latest
docker push registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/backend:vX.Y.Z

# Frontend (Nginx serving React build, ~144 MB; ~2-3 min build + push)
cd /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/frontend
docker build \
  --build-arg VITE_FEATURE_VOICE_STREAM=true \
  -t registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/frontend:latest \
  -t registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/frontend:vX.Y.Z \
  -f Dockerfile .
docker push registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/frontend:latest
docker push registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/frontend:vX.Y.Z

--build-arg VITE_FEATURE_VOICE_STREAM=true enables the streaming voice pipeline (Phase B, useVoiceStream hook → voice-server /ws/voice). Without it the bundle is tree-shaken and falls back to the legacy record-then-POST /api/voice/stt flow; the user has to wait until they stop talking before any transcription happens. The flag was added by default in the Reva build (bin/build-frontend.sh) on 2026-05-13 and mirrored here for Renfield in the same rollout.

No --build-arg VITE_API_URL required. Since v2.4.4 the frontend defaults to relative URLs in production builds (axios baseURL="" → same-origin). As long as Traefik routes /api/* and /ws on the same host as the frontend (which the renfield-private ingress does), the bundle works out of the box. Pass --build-arg VITE_API_URL=https://other.host only for cross-origin deployments. See src/frontend/src/utils/env.ts.

Step 3 — Cleanup + image retention (run EVERY deploy)

# Remove the staging dir once the cluster has rolled (or even before — the images are in Harbor)
ssh evdb@192.168.1.159 "rm -rf /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z"

Image retention — DO THIS EVERY DEPLOY or the box fills up. Each deploy builds a new tagged backend image (~3.9 GB) and nothing removes the old tag, so they pile up fast (diagnosed 2026-06-05: ~25 backend tags = 47 GB images + 16 GB build cache + 4 GB stale volumes had the 97 GB box at 90%). Rollback pulls from Harbor, not the local .159 daemon, so local tags are pure convenience + layer cache — prune aggressively. Keep the few newest tags (so the ~2.5 GB shared deps layer survives for fast next builds) and drop the rest:

ssh evdb@192.168.1.159 '
  # docker images lists newest-first by default -> keep the 3 newest tags per repo,
  # remove the rest (untags; the shared deps layer survives via the kept tags).
  for repo in backend frontend; do
    docker images "registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/$repo" --format "{{.Repository}}:{{.Tag}}" \
    | awk "NR>3" | xargs -r -n1 docker rmi 2>/dev/null || true
  done
  docker image prune -f                         # dangling layers
  docker builder prune -f --keep-storage 10GB   # cap build cache (keeps recent -> fast rebuilds)
  df -h / | tail -1'

If the box has already crept high (>80%), the one-shot deep reclaim is safe here (nothing prod-critical runs on .159): docker image prune -a -f + docker builder prune -a -f + docker volume prune -a -f (the last needs -a — plain volume prune skips named volumes). Reclaimed ~45 GB on 2026-06-05. Full rationale: memory/reference_build_box_disk_wget_exit3.md.

Always build + push a pinned tag (:vX.Y.Z) alongside :latest — gives you an immutable rollback target (kubectl set image deploy/backend backend=.../backend:vX.Y.Z).

Why the image stays ~3.5 GB: src/backend/constraints.txt pins torch/torchaudio/torchvision to the +cpu wheels so transitive deps (docling, easyocr, transformers) can't drag in the 2.7 GB CUDA runtime + 641 MB triton. Don't lift that constraint unless you've thought through the Harbor push timeout.

Voice-server image (build ONLY when `voice-server/` changed)

voice-server/ is a third image in the monorepo — the backend/frontend steps above do not cover it. Build it only when something under voice-server/ changed. It has its own v0.1.x versioning, independent of the repo's vX.Y.Z (bump the patch digit: v0.1.5 → v0.1.6).

# Rsync the voice-server build context — its own directory IS the context
ssh evdb@192.168.1.159 "mkdir -p /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/voice-server"
rsync -avz --delete \
  --exclude='__pycache__' --exclude='*.pyc' --exclude='.pytest_cache' --exclude='.env' \
  voice-server/ evdb@192.168.1.159:/tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/voice-server/

# Build + push on .159. Dockerfile is FROM nvidia/cuda:...-runtime but builds
# fine on the CPU build box (no GPU needed to BUILD). Layers usually cache, so
# only the changed app layer pushes — fast.
ssh evdb@192.168.1.159
R=registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/voice-server
cd /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/voice-server
docker build -t $R:v0.1.N -t $R:latest -f Dockerfile .
docker push $R:v0.1.N
docker push $R:latest

Run its tests against the freshly built image — CI doesn't, and the .159 backend container can't import the voice-server deps:

docker run --rm -v /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/voice-server:/work -w /work \
  $R:v0.1.N sh -c 'python3 -m pip install -q pytest pytest-asyncio && python3 -m pytest tests/ -q'

GPU-node driver drift (verified painful, v2.8.0 deploy 2026-05-22). The voice-server Deployment runs on the k8s-gpu-3 GPU node. If apt upgraded that node's NVIDIA driver libraries without a reboot, a new voice-server pod CrashLoops with failed to initialize NVML: Driver/library version mismatch — the old pod keeps running, only new pods fail, so it stays latent until the next voice-server rollout. Fix is a node reboot, not an image rollback (a fresh pod on the old image crashes identically). A live modprobe -r nvidia* reload fails — nvidia_uvm stays held even when lsof /dev/nvidia* is empty. Procedure: kubectl cordon k8s-gpu-3 → delete the frontend pod so it reschedules off the node (keeps the UI up) → ssh ... sudo reboot → wait for Ready → kubectl uncordon → kubectl rollout restart deploy/voice-server. Confirm dkms status has the nvidia module built for the kernel the node will boot into first (a pending kernel update can switch it).

Samsung-mcp image (build ONLY when `../renfield-mcp-samsung/` changed)

Like dlna-mcp, samsung-mcp is a SEPARATE small image built from the Dockerfile in the renfield-mcp-samsung repo (sibling of the renfield repo) — NOT the backend image. The backend reaches it over streamable-http only (never imports the package), so a Samsung change needs no backend rebuild. It runs on hostNetwork (SSDP discovery + Wake-on-LAN broadcast + websocket/UPnP to the TV) with a small RWO PVC (samsung-mcp-state) at /state holding the one-time pairing token. Own v0.1.x versioning, independent of the repo's vX.Y.Z.

# Rsync the samsung build context (its own repo dir IS the context)
ssh evdb@192.168.1.159 "mkdir -p /tmp/renfield-samsung-build"
rsync -avz --delete \
  --exclude='__pycache__' --exclude='*.pyc' --exclude='.pytest_cache' \
  --exclude='.venv' --exclude='token.json' --exclude='.git' \
  ../renfield-mcp-samsung/ evdb@192.168.1.159:/tmp/renfield-samsung-build/

# Build + push on .159 (pure-python / manylinux wheels — no toolchain needed)
ssh evdb@192.168.1.159
R=registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/samsung-mcp
cd /tmp/renfield-samsung-build
docker build -t $R:v0.1.N -t $R:latest -f Dockerfile .
docker push $R:v0.1.N
docker push $R:latest

# First-ever deploy: apply the manifest (kustomization already includes it):
kubectl -n renfield apply -f k8s/samsung-mcp.yaml
# Thereafter, pinned-tag rollout (set image, like dlna-mcp/voice-server):
kubectl -n renfield set image deploy/samsung-mcp \
  samsung-mcp=registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/samsung-mcp:v0.1.N
kubectl -n renfield rollout status deploy/samsung-mcp --timeout=600s

One-time TV pairing (after first deploy). Websocket keys/apps/power-off need a one-time "Allow Renfield?" approval on the TV (WoL power-on + DLNA media/volume do NOT). Enable on the TV: Settings → General → External Device Manager → Device Connect Manager → Access Notification On, then trigger any websocket tool (e.g. tv_key) while the TV is on the Smart Hub home screen and approve the popup. The token persists to the samsung-mcp-state PVC and survives restarts. Set SAMSUNG_MCP_ENABLED=true (+ optional SAMSUNG_TV_HOST to pin a TV) for the backend to register the server.

Harbor 504 / "Client Closed Request" on the 2.66 GB pip-install layer

When requirements.txt changes (so the deps layer cache misses), Docker tries to upload a single 2.66 GB layer to Harbor. The ingress proxy in front of Harbor has been observed timing out on this with received unexpected HTTP status: 504 Gateway Timeout or unknown: Client Closed Request. The error reproduces on the same layer ID across multiple retries (verified during the v2.3.0 deploy 2026-05-01 — 4 attempts, same ed85... layer, same error).

Mitigations to try, in order:

Wait + retry. Harbor's proxy might be load-shedding. A few minutes can clear it.
Push the layer first, then the manifest. docker push --quiet cuts logging overhead. If Docker is wasting time on output buffering during the layer upload, the timeout window shrinks.
Split the requirements install — and stage the heavy packages OUTSIDE /opt/venv so the split survives the multi-stage COPY. Splitting the pip install into multiple RUN steps in the builder stage is not enough by itself: the runtime stage's COPY --from=builder /opt/venv /opt/venv collapses every site-packages file from every prior RUN into one giant layer at push time. The fix (landed in PR #512, v2.3.0) is to (a) split pip install into 5 RUN steps, AND (b) mv the heavy packages (torch, transformers, easyocr, docling*, speechbrain, cv2, ctranslate2, librosa) into /opt/staging/{torch,ml,audio}/ after the installs, then COPY --from=builder /opt/staging/torch/. /opt/venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/ (one COPY per staging dir) before the catch-all COPY --from=builder /opt/venv /opt/venv. Result: 722 MB / 205 MB / 63 MB / 1.66 GB instead of one 2.65 GB layer — each pushed independently.
Investigate the Harbor proxy config. The ingress in front of registry.treehouse.x-idra.de likely has client_max_body_size and read/write timeouts set conservatively. Bumping proxy_read_timeout, proxy_send_timeout, client_body_timeout, and proxy_request_buffering off on the Harbor proxy fixes this for all Renfield builds. (Requires admin access to the Harbor host.)

When you hit this in the future: don't keep retrying blindly past 3 attempts — the layer ID failing is fixed, so the proxy/Harbor side is the issue. Stop the push, document which release tag couldn't ship, and surface to the operator.

Cluster rollout

kubectl config use-context renfield-private

# Backend image powers `backend` + `document-worker` (NOT dlna-mcp anymore —
# see below). Roll both on a backend change. frontend is its own image.
kubectl -n renfield rollout restart deploy/backend deploy/document-worker deploy/frontend

# dlna-mcp is now a SEPARATE small image (registry/renfield/dlna-mcp, built from
# the Dockerfile in the renfield-mcp-dlna repo — like voice-server). It does NOT
# run the backend image. Roll it ONLY when the dlna image changed:
#   build+push registry/renfield/dlna-mcp:v0.1.N on .159, then:
#   kubectl -n renfield set image deploy/dlna-mcp dlna-mcp=registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/dlna-mcp:v0.1.N
# (The backend reaches dlna-mcp over HTTP only — it never imports the package —
# so a dlna change does NOT need a backend rebuild, and vice versa.)

# Or pin an explicit tag (force-pulls even if :latest is cached on the node)
kubectl -n renfield set image deploy/backend \
  backend=registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/backend:vX.Y.Z

# Wait for each rollout
kubectl -n renfield rollout status deploy/backend --timeout=600s
kubectl -n renfield rollout status deploy/dlna-mcp --timeout=600s
kubectl -n renfield rollout status deploy/document-worker --timeout=600s
kubectl -n renfield rollout status deploy/frontend --timeout=600s

# voice-server is a SEPARATE, fifth deploy — roll it ONLY when its image
# changed (see "Voice-server image"). It runs a pinned tag, so set image:
kubectl -n renfield set image deploy/voice-server \
  voice-server=registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/voice-server:v0.1.N
kubectl -n renfield rollout status deploy/voice-server --timeout=600s

Pinned deploys — rollout restart is a no-op for them. In the live cluster frontend and voice-server often run pinned tags (:vX.Y.Z / :v0.1.N) even though the committed k8s/*.yaml manifests say :latest. For a pinned deploy, rollout restart re-pulls the same tag — it does NOT pick up new code. Always kubectl set image for those two. Check live state first: kubectl -n renfield get deploy -o custom-columns=D:.metadata.name,IMG:.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image.

Image-pull timing. First pull of a 3.5 GB backend image takes 2-5 minutes per node. Subsequent rollouts on the same node hit the local cache and start in seconds. The pod sits in PodInitializing while the image transfers — that's not a stall.

Verify all pods picked up the new image

# Image digests should match what `docker push` returned for :vX.Y.Z
kubectl -n renfield get pods -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{.metadata.name}{"\t"}{.status.containerStatuses[*].imageID}{"\n"}{end}' | grep -E "backend|frontend"

If a pod shows a stale digest, it's a imagePullPolicy issue. Force the pull with the explicit tag:

kubectl -n renfield set image deploy/<name> <container>=registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/backend:vX.Y.Z
kubectl -n renfield rollout status deploy/<name>

Smoke test

kubectl -n renfield exec deploy/backend -c backend -- curl -sS http://localhost:8000/health
# Expect: {"status":"ok"}

Migrations

Before authoring a new migration, query the live DB for the current single head. File naming and visual chain inspection don't catch silent collisions — Renfield's versions/ directory has 50+ files with overlapping naming schemes:

kubectl -n renfield exec deploy/backend -c backend -- alembic heads
kubectl -n renfield exec deploy/backend -c backend -- alembic current

Both should return the same single revision in a healthy chain. Use that string verbatim as down_revision in the new migration file. If heads returns multiple revisions the chain is already forked — stop and fix it before adding more. (Verified painful 2026-05-02: a chain collision blocked the v2.4.2 deploy with Multiple head revisions are present until a fix-forward PR re-pointed the migration.)

Applying migrations during deploy:

kubectl -n renfield apply -f k8s/alembic-upgrade-job.yaml
kubectl -n renfield wait --for=condition=Complete job/alembic-upgrade --timeout=300s
kubectl -n renfield logs job/alembic-upgrade
kubectl -n renfield delete job alembic-upgrade

The job uses the same backend image; if you just pushed a new image, run migrations before the deployment restart so the new code doesn't hit an old schema. The Job's backoffLimit: 2 means 3 attempts max — failures are usually a chain conflict (see check above) or a missed env var, not a transient retry-able problem.

Standing up a NEW instance (auth-on / separate namespace)

The household runs AUTH_ENABLED=false, so its deploy path never exercises the auth-on boot guards. A new isolated instance (a business/multi-user clone in its own namespace, RENFIELD_ENV=production + AUTH_ENABLED=true) hits three traps the household hides — all learned standing up renfield-xidra (2026-07-11):

SECRET_KEY in every backend-image workload. The v2.20.0 boot guard (fail_closed_on_insecure_jwt_key) validates SECRET_KEY at Settings() init — which fires for any process that imports the config, not just the API: the document-worker and the alembic-upgrade Job included. k8s/backend.yaml injects it; k8s/document-worker.yaml and k8s/alembic-upgrade-job.yaml now do too (optional: true — inject-if-present, so auth-off installs are unaffected). If you add a new backend-image Job/CronJob, inject secret-key from renfield-secrets or it crashes with "SECRET_KEY is insecure: still the placeholder default".
A fresh DB self-bootstraps — do NOT run the alembic-upgrade Job on an empty DB. init_db() (backend startup) runs Base.metadata.create_all + stamps alembic HEAD; the 41-migration history is skipped. Running alembic upgrade head from empty instead fails on room_output_devices (FK → rooms, which no migration creates — it's create_all-only). Just deploy the backend; it builds the schema itself. The migration Job is for existing DBs applying new migrations only (see its header).
AUTH_ENABLED + WS_AUTH_ENABLED flip together, strong key first. assert_auth_config_consistency rejects a partial combo; provision a secret-key ≥32 random chars before arming RENFIELD_ENV=production.

(Cross-namespace: the shared GPU/model tier — ollama/searxng — must be FQDN-qualified in the ConfigMap AND in the wait-for-deps init container, which wgets a bare ollama:11434 that would resolve to the wrong namespace.)

Federation identity (persisted key) — required before any instance pairs

The federation Ed25519 identity key defaults to /app/secrets/federation_identity_key, which is ephemeral container storage — it regenerates on every restart, so the pubkey changes and any peer pairing breaks on the next deploy. k8s/backend.yaml mounts an optional federation-identity Secret there (subPath, RO). Provision it once per namespace before pairing, via the committed script (NOT a hand kubectl create secret --from-file, which appends a newline → 33 bytes → boot failure):

bin/provision_federation_identity.py -n renfield          # generate + create the Secret (create-if-absent)
bin/provision_federation_identity.py -n renfield --verify # confirm 32 bytes + print pubkey
kubectl -n renfield rollout restart deploy/backend        # load the persisted key

Then set FEDERATION_REQUIRE_PERSISTENT_IDENTITY=true on any instance that pairs, so a missing/mis-provisioned key fails boot loudly (enforce_persistent_identity) instead of silently breaking pairings a deploy later. Rotation (--force) is destructive — it re-pairs everyone for that instance (same class as SECRET_KEY↔IRKs). The xidra private manifest needs the same mount. Design: docs/design/federation-identity-mapping.md §8.

ConfigMap changes

When config/mcp_servers.yaml / config/agent_roles.yaml / config/kg_scopes.yaml / config/mail_accounts.*.yaml change in the repo, rewrite the renfield-mcp-config ConfigMap before the rolling restart — otherwise pods get stuck in ContainerCreating on a missing subPath:

kubectl -n renfield create configmap renfield-mcp-config \
  --from-file=config/mcp_servers.yaml \
  --from-file=config/agent_roles.yaml \
  --from-file=config/kg_scopes.yaml \
  --from-file=mail_accounts.yaml=config/mail_accounts.default.yaml \
  --dry-run=client -o yaml | kubectl apply -f -
kubectl -n renfield rollout restart deploy/backend

Smoke test

curl -sk https://renfield.local/health   # {"status":"ok"}
curl -sI http://renfield.local/          # 308 → https

Frontend PWA cache propagation (why a deploy may not reach the browser)

The frontend is a vite-plugin-pwa PWA (registerType: 'autoUpdate', Workbox sw.js/registerSW.js). The browser caches the service worker, and the SW precaches the app shell — so a freshly-deployed frontend can stay invisible until the SW re-fetches and detects a new build. The propagation rule lives in src/frontend/nginx.conf and is load-bearing:

Content-hashed bundles (index-<hash>.js, workbox-<hash>.js, css, fonts, .onnx, .wasm) → Cache-Control: public, immutable 1y is correct (a new deploy = a new filename, so the old immutable cache is simply never requested).
Stable-named files MUST be no-cache: sw.js, registerSW.js, index.html, manifest.webmanifest. If the generic \.(js|...)$ immutable block matches sw.js/registerSW.js, the browser caches the SW for a year, never re-fetches it, never detects the deploy, and serves the stale shell across reloads — the regression fixed in #786 (frontend v2.15.11, 2026-06-15): the command-palette/follow-up/provenance features were literally absent from the served index-<hash>.js bundle until a manual SW unregister.
The sw.js/registerSW.js no-cache location must be declared BEFORE the generic .js block — nginx picks the first matching regex location.
nginx add_header inheritance trap: once a location declares its own add_header, it stops inheriting the server-level headers. So any location that sets a Cache-Control header silently drops the security headers (X-Frame-Options/X-Content-Type-Options/X-XSS-Protection) for that response — re-declare them in every such location. Always nginx -t the config (run it in a nginx:1.28-alpine container) before building the image.
Baseline CSP ships Report-Only first (Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only). The policy lives in the same nginx.conf (map $host $csp, re-declared per location — same inheritance trap above). It is intentionally Report-Only so a wrong directive reports to the browser console instead of breaking the PWA. Do NOT flip the header name to enforcing Content-Security-Policy blind — gate the flip on a clean browser-verification pass with DevTools console open: exercise wakeword (the 'wasm-unsafe-eval' onnxruntime path), voice, chat-WS, TTS, and an SW update, and confirm zero CSP violation reports. The two fragile directives to watch: the inline theme-script sha256 hash (Vite's html-minify can alter the bytes at build → recompute from the built dist/index.html or fall back to 'unsafe-inline' on script-src) and 'wasm-unsafe-eval' (absent → wakeword WASM compile is reported/blocked). A THIRD fragile surface, learned painfully (2026-06-16): the wake-word AudioWorklet is loaded from a blob: URL (new Blob → createObjectURL → audioWorklet.addModule) and is governed by script-src, NOT worker-src — so script-src needs blob: or wake word dies with AbortError: Unable to load a worklet's module. This is a DISTINCT surface from the onnxruntime WASM ('wasm-unsafe-eval'); verifying "WASM loaded" does NOT cover it. Always trigger wake-word enable (the addModule), not just page load, when validating CSP — Chrome reports a worklet CSP rejection as an AbortError, not always a clean securitypolicyviolation event, so a violation-listener check can miss it.
A header-only change (CSP etc.) does NOT propagate to existing PWA clients on its own. The SW precaches index.html (globPatterns includes html) with its response headers (the CSP is captured at fetch time). A change touching only nginx.conf leaves every built file byte-identical → the workbox precache manifest and sw.js are unchanged → autoUpdate never fires → existing clients keep serving the stale-CSP precached shell (a fresh nginx curl shows the new header, but the browser enforces the cached one — wake word stayed broken after the blob-worklet CSP fix until this was understood). Fix: pair any served-header change with a frontend build bump — bump __BUILD_STAMP__ in src/frontend/src/main.tsx (its whole purpose). That changes the JS bundle hash → rewrites index.html's <script src> → index.html's revision changes → the SW re-precaches it (re-fetching the current header) and autoUpdate propagates on the next visit. Verify the served /assets/index-<hash>.js filename actually CHANGED after the build.

Verify the live headers from inside the cluster (renfield.local mDNS is flaky from the laptop):

kubectl -n renfield exec deploy/backend -c backend -- curl -sI http://frontend/sw.js
# Expect: Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate
kubectl -n renfield exec deploy/backend -c backend -- curl -sI http://frontend/index.html
# Expect: Cache-Control: no-cache, must-revalidate  + X-Frame-Options present
kubectl -n renfield exec deploy/backend -c backend -- curl -sI http://frontend/assets/index-<hash>.js
# Expect: Cache-Control: public, immutable

Propagation after a fix: existing clients self-heal on the browser's mandatory ~24h SW byte-check (or a manual refresh); autoUpdate injects skipWaiting+clientsClaim, so a newly-detected SW activates on the next reload. An nginx-only change needs no backend rebuild — roll deploy/frontend only.

End-to-end checklist (run through this every release)

✅ Merge release commits into main (PR review done).
✅ Tag vX.Y.Z locally + push tag + create GitHub release.
✅ rsync src/backend, src/frontend, data/wakeword-models, src/satellite to /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z on .159 (the model dir lands INSIDE the backend build context as wakeword-models/; the satellite source as satellite/ — bundled for the OTA update package).
✅ Verify staging — Dockerfile, .dockerignore, wakeword-models/ (~9 files), satellite/renfield_satellite/__init__.py all present; config/mcp_servers.yaml etc. NOT present (else the configmap mount breaks).
✅ Build backend (long if requirements.txt changed) and frontend (fast); build voice-server ONLY if voice-server/ changed (its own v0.1.x tag).
✅ Push :latest + the pinned tag for each image built — verify each digest: line in the push output.
✅ Roll out: rollout restart backend, dlna-mcp, document-worker; kubectl set image for frontend (and voice-server if rebuilt) — both run pinned tags, so rollout restart is a no-op for them.
✅ kubectl rollout status per rolled deploy with 600s timeout.
✅ Verify image digests across the rolled deploys match what was pushed.
✅ Backend health smoke (curl -sS http://localhost:8000/health inside the pod).
✅ Browser smoke for migrated pages / new features. 11b. ✅ If the frontend image changed: verify PWA cache headers (sw.js/registerSW.js/index.html no-cache, hashed bundles immutable) so the deploy actually reaches the browser — see "Frontend PWA cache propagation".
✅ Cleanup /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z on .159.
✅ Image retention on .159 — prune old backend/frontend tags (keep newest 3) + cap build cache (Step 3). Skipping this is what fills the build box to 90%.

Build-box testing (not production)

The .159 build box runs the full Docker Compose stack for integration testing. It's where pytest lives because CI doesn't run.

# Rsync the working copy to the build box (exclude secrets + scratch)
rsync -avz --exclude='.env' --exclude='secrets/' --exclude='.git' \
  --exclude='node_modules' --exclude='__pycache__' --exclude='tasks/' \
  /Users/evdb/projects.ai/renfield/ 192.168.1.159:/opt/renfield/

# Run the suite inside the backend container
#   Source mount:  /opt/renfield/src/backend → /app
#   Tests mount:   /opt/renfield/tests       → /tests
ssh 192.168.1.159 "docker exec renfield-backend python -m pytest /tests/backend/... -q"

For a narrow-scope rsync of a few files, per-file rsync calls matching the repo layout are usually faster than a full tree sync. See memory/reference_test_runner_159.md for the full test-runner workflow including the "filter by subsystem + compare against pre-change tip via git stash" pattern used to distinguish regressions from the ~161 pre-existing failures.

Do NOT treat the build-box Compose stack as production. It runs without GPU, has no Harbor pull credentials plumbed in, and is routinely reset during testing.

Production Deployment

CRITICAL SAFETY

Pi Zero 2 W SD cards are EXTREMELY fragile — SIGKILL during restart can brick the device. Always ask before restarting satellite services. See references/satellite-deploy.md.
Never force-push to main and never bypass branch protection; main merges go through a PR (see git-workflow skill).
CI is intentionally non-functional for this project — run tests on the .159 build box, not in CI.
ConfigMap-provided files are NOT in the image. mcp_servers.yaml, agent_roles.yaml, kg_scopes.yaml, mail_accounts.yaml live only in the renfield-mcp-config ConfigMap. If the build-box working copy ever grows these as untracked files or directories at src/backend/config/*, the resulting image breaks the pod's subPath mount with not a directory. Keep src/backend/.dockerignore carving these paths out, and clean them on .159 if you see root-owned leftovers from kubelet bind-mount artefacts.
voice-server is a separate image and a GPU deploy. Changes under voice-server/ need their own image build (see "Voice-server image" below) — the backend/frontend steps do NOT cover it. It runs on a GPU node; a NVIDIA driver/library mismatch there CrashLoops new pods. See that section.
Config source of truth = git, NOT kubectl patch. The renfield-env ConfigMap is defined in k8s/configmap.yaml (public). Sensitive per-instance values (mailbox JSON, weather location, twin endpoints/bindings) live in the renfield-env-private Secret, consumed via envFrom: secretRef on backend/document-worker/meeting-worker — real values gitignored (k8s/renfield-env-private.secret.yaml), only the redacted .example.yaml committed. To flip a feature flag: edit k8s/configmap.yaml, commit, kubectl apply -f k8s/configmap.yaml (three-way merge adds/updates keys; patch-added keys survive), then rollout restart backend + workers. Do NOT kubectl patch the live ConfigMap as the source of truth — that is how 42 flags silently drifted out of git (reconciled 2026-07-17). A drift audit: diff <(kubectl -n renfield get cm renfield-env -o json | jq -r '.data|keys[]'|sort) <(grep -oE '^ [A-Z_0-9]+:' k8s/configmap.yaml|tr -d ' :'|sort).

Topology at a glance

Role	Where	Notes
Build box	`192.168.1.159` (`renfield.local` mDNS often flaky — use the IP)	Docker Compose up for dev/test only. Used for `docker build` + `docker push`. Runs the full backend/test stack so pytest is executed here. Not production.
Container registry	`https://registry.treehouse.x-idra.de`	Harbor. Namespace paths used: `renfield/backend`, `renfield/frontend`, `renfield/voice-server`. `harbor-pull-secret` already exists in the `renfield` k8s namespace.
Production	Private k8s cluster (kubectl context `renfield-private`)	GPU-accelerated LLM, Traefik ingress, Longhorn storage, MetalLB LB at `192.168.1.230`. Canonical doc: `docs/KUBERNETES_DEPLOYMENT.md`.

Single-VM renfield.local deployment on /opt/renfield is legacy / build-box only. Anything calling itself a "prod rsync" is referring to the build box, not production.

Release tag (audit trail)

# From the laptop, after the release commits are merged to main:
git checkout main && git pull
git tag -a vX.Y.Z -m "Release vX.Y.Z\n\n<release notes>"
git push origin vX.Y.Z
gh release create vX.Y.Z --title "vX.Y.Z — <one-line summary>" --notes "<body>"

make release exists but is interactive and only does the tag step. Manual git tag + gh release create lets you script the whole sequence.

The release.yml workflow on tag-push does not actually build images (CI is non-functional for this project). Tag is for the audit trail and the git history; the real build happens on .159.

Build + push workflow (rsync-to-staging — preferred)

Script: bin/deploy-production.sh automates the mechanical backbone of this skill — rsync contexts → build+push backend/frontend → (optional --migrate) alembic job → set image + rollout status → smoke test → prune. It has --dry-run, --skip-backend/--skip-frontend, and takes the tags as args (backend date-tag, frontend semver). It deliberately does NOT touch satellites (SD-card brick risk), voice-server/dlna/samsung images, or invent tags. Example: bin/deploy-production.sh --backend-tag 2026-06-25-satsec --frontend-tag v2.15.29 --migrate. The steps below remain the source of truth and the fallback when something needs hand-holding (Harbor 504, a forked alembic chain, a pinned-tag quirk).

Images live in Harbor and are pulled by the cluster via imagePullPolicy: Always on the :latest tag (or pinned tags like :vX.Y.Z).

Why staging-dir, not /opt/renfield? The /opt/renfield checkout on .159 is often on a feature/WIP branch with uncommitted changes. Building from there bakes the WIP into the image, OR (worse) clobbers the WIP if you do git checkout. The rsync-to-staging flow below isolates the build from the checkout.

Step 1 — From the laptop, rsync the build contexts

# Prep a fresh staging dir on .159 (use the version tag in the path so concurrent
# releases don't trample each other and cleanup is unambiguous)
ssh evdb@192.168.1.159 "rm -rf /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z; mkdir -p /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/backend /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/frontend"

# Rsync src/backend (build context for the backend image)
rsync -avz --delete \
  --exclude='__pycache__' --exclude='.pytest_cache' --exclude='*.pyc' \
  --exclude='.coverage' --exclude='htmlcov' \
  --exclude='.env' --exclude='.env.local' --exclude='secrets/' \
  --exclude='Users/' \
  src/backend/ evdb@192.168.1.159:/tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/backend/

# Rsync src/frontend (build context for the frontend image)
rsync -avz --delete \
  --exclude='node_modules' --exclude='dist' --exclude='.vite' \
  --exclude='.cache' --exclude='.env' --exclude='.env.local' \
  src/frontend/ evdb@192.168.1.159:/tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/frontend/

# Rsync wakeword models INTO the backend build context (Dockerfile COPYs ./wakeword-models)
rsync -avz \
  data/wakeword-models/ evdb@192.168.1.159:/tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/backend/wakeword-models/

# Rsync the satellite source INTO the backend build context (Dockerfile COPYs ./satellite).
# Bundled so the OTA update service can build /api/satellites/update-package AND so
# get_latest_version reads __version__ from it (the advertised version can't drift from
# the shipped package). Without this the OTA UI 503s — see references/satellite-deploy.md.
# Exclude provisioning/ (gitignored ansible inventory with real household IPs — must not
# be baked into the image) and tests/ — only renfield_satellite/ + requirements.txt +
# setup.py are packaged by build_update_package anyway.
rsync -avz --delete \
  --exclude='__pycache__' --exclude='*.pyc' --exclude='.pytest_cache' \
  --exclude='provisioning' --exclude='tests' \
  src/satellite/ evdb@192.168.1.159:/tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/backend/satellite/

Optional pre-step — sign the OTA release (security H6)

# Re-sign whenever the satellite source changed since the last release.
python bin/sign_satellite_release.py --sign --key ~/.renfield/ota_release_key
python bin/sign_satellite_release.py --verify --pubkey <hex>   # manifest == source + sig OK
git add src/satellite/RELEASE_MANIFEST.json src/satellite/RELEASE_MANIFEST.json.sig

Step 2 — On .159, build + push

ssh evdb@192.168.1.159

# Login to Harbor (skip if your session is already authenticated)
docker login registry.treehouse.x-idra.de

# Backend (CPU image, ~3.5 GB — torch pinned to +cpu wheels via constraints.txt)
# Build time (since the Dockerfile reorder — requirements.txt is COPY'd AFTER the
# heavy torch/ML/audio layers):
#   - Python source only: ~2-4 min (all deps layers cached)
#   - requirements.txt change (incl. MCP-server github pin bump): ~3-5 min —
#     rebuilds only Layers 4-5 (pypi + github); torch/ML/audio stay cached.
#   - constraints.txt change OR Dockerfile deps-section edit: 10-20 min (full
#     deps rebuild, the only case that re-pulls torch).
cd /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/backend
docker build \
  -t registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/backend:latest \
  -t registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/backend:vX.Y.Z \
  -f Dockerfile .
docker push registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/backend:latest
docker push registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/backend:vX.Y.Z

# Frontend (Nginx serving React build, ~144 MB; ~2-3 min build + push)
cd /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/src/frontend
docker build \
  --build-arg VITE_FEATURE_VOICE_STREAM=true \
  -t registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/frontend:latest \
  -t registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/frontend:vX.Y.Z \
  -f Dockerfile .
docker push registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/frontend:latest
docker push registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/frontend:vX.Y.Z

--build-arg VITE_FEATURE_VOICE_STREAM=true enables the streaming voice pipeline (Phase B, useVoiceStream hook → voice-server /ws/voice). Without it the bundle is tree-shaken and falls back to the legacy record-then-POST /api/voice/stt flow; the user has to wait until they stop talking before any transcription happens. The flag was added by default in the Reva build (bin/build-frontend.sh) on 2026-05-13 and mirrored here for Renfield in the same rollout.

No --build-arg VITE_API_URL required. Since v2.4.4 the frontend defaults to relative URLs in production builds (axios baseURL="" → same-origin). As long as Traefik routes /api/* and /ws on the same host as the frontend (which the renfield-private ingress does), the bundle works out of the box. Pass --build-arg VITE_API_URL=https://other.host only for cross-origin deployments. See src/frontend/src/utils/env.ts.

Step 3 — Cleanup + image retention (run EVERY deploy)

# Remove the staging dir once the cluster has rolled (or even before — the images are in Harbor)
ssh evdb@192.168.1.159 "rm -rf /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z"

ssh evdb@192.168.1.159 '
  # docker images lists newest-first by default -> keep the 3 newest tags per repo,
  # remove the rest (untags; the shared deps layer survives via the kept tags).
  for repo in backend frontend; do
    docker images "registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/$repo" --format "{{.Repository}}:{{.Tag}}" \
    | awk "NR>3" | xargs -r -n1 docker rmi 2>/dev/null || true
  done
  docker image prune -f                         # dangling layers
  docker builder prune -f --keep-storage 10GB   # cap build cache (keeps recent -> fast rebuilds)
  df -h / | tail -1'

Always build + push a pinned tag (:vX.Y.Z) alongside :latest — gives you an immutable rollback target (kubectl set image deploy/backend backend=.../backend:vX.Y.Z).

Voice-server image (build ONLY when `voice-server/` changed)

# Rsync the voice-server build context — its own directory IS the context
ssh evdb@192.168.1.159 "mkdir -p /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/voice-server"
rsync -avz --delete \
  --exclude='__pycache__' --exclude='*.pyc' --exclude='.pytest_cache' --exclude='.env' \
  voice-server/ evdb@192.168.1.159:/tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/voice-server/

# Build + push on .159. Dockerfile is FROM nvidia/cuda:...-runtime but builds
# fine on the CPU build box (no GPU needed to BUILD). Layers usually cache, so
# only the changed app layer pushes — fast.
ssh evdb@192.168.1.159
R=registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/voice-server
cd /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/voice-server
docker build -t $R:v0.1.N -t $R:latest -f Dockerfile .
docker push $R:v0.1.N
docker push $R:latest

Run its tests against the freshly built image — CI doesn't, and the .159 backend container can't import the voice-server deps:

docker run --rm -v /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z/voice-server:/work -w /work \
  $R:v0.1.N sh -c 'python3 -m pip install -q pytest pytest-asyncio && python3 -m pytest tests/ -q'

Samsung-mcp image (build ONLY when `../renfield-mcp-samsung/` changed)

# Rsync the samsung build context (its own repo dir IS the context)
ssh evdb@192.168.1.159 "mkdir -p /tmp/renfield-samsung-build"
rsync -avz --delete \
  --exclude='__pycache__' --exclude='*.pyc' --exclude='.pytest_cache' \
  --exclude='.venv' --exclude='token.json' --exclude='.git' \
  ../renfield-mcp-samsung/ evdb@192.168.1.159:/tmp/renfield-samsung-build/

# Build + push on .159 (pure-python / manylinux wheels — no toolchain needed)
ssh evdb@192.168.1.159
R=registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/samsung-mcp
cd /tmp/renfield-samsung-build
docker build -t $R:v0.1.N -t $R:latest -f Dockerfile .
docker push $R:v0.1.N
docker push $R:latest

# First-ever deploy: apply the manifest (kustomization already includes it):
kubectl -n renfield apply -f k8s/samsung-mcp.yaml
# Thereafter, pinned-tag rollout (set image, like dlna-mcp/voice-server):
kubectl -n renfield set image deploy/samsung-mcp \
  samsung-mcp=registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/samsung-mcp:v0.1.N
kubectl -n renfield rollout status deploy/samsung-mcp --timeout=600s

Harbor 504 / "Client Closed Request" on the 2.66 GB pip-install layer

Mitigations to try, in order:

Wait + retry. Harbor's proxy might be load-shedding. A few minutes can clear it.
Push the layer first, then the manifest. docker push --quiet cuts logging overhead. If Docker is wasting time on output buffering during the layer upload, the timeout window shrinks.
Split the requirements install — and stage the heavy packages OUTSIDE /opt/venv so the split survives the multi-stage COPY. Splitting the pip install into multiple RUN steps in the builder stage is not enough by itself: the runtime stage's COPY --from=builder /opt/venv /opt/venv collapses every site-packages file from every prior RUN into one giant layer at push time. The fix (landed in PR #512, v2.3.0) is to (a) split pip install into 5 RUN steps, AND (b) mv the heavy packages (torch, transformers, easyocr, docling*, speechbrain, cv2, ctranslate2, librosa) into /opt/staging/{torch,ml,audio}/ after the installs, then COPY --from=builder /opt/staging/torch/. /opt/venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/ (one COPY per staging dir) before the catch-all COPY --from=builder /opt/venv /opt/venv. Result: 722 MB / 205 MB / 63 MB / 1.66 GB instead of one 2.65 GB layer — each pushed independently.
Investigate the Harbor proxy config. The ingress in front of registry.treehouse.x-idra.de likely has client_max_body_size and read/write timeouts set conservatively. Bumping proxy_read_timeout, proxy_send_timeout, client_body_timeout, and proxy_request_buffering off on the Harbor proxy fixes this for all Renfield builds. (Requires admin access to the Harbor host.)

Cluster rollout

kubectl config use-context renfield-private

# Backend image powers `backend` + `document-worker` (NOT dlna-mcp anymore —
# see below). Roll both on a backend change. frontend is its own image.
kubectl -n renfield rollout restart deploy/backend deploy/document-worker deploy/frontend

# dlna-mcp is now a SEPARATE small image (registry/renfield/dlna-mcp, built from
# the Dockerfile in the renfield-mcp-dlna repo — like voice-server). It does NOT
# run the backend image. Roll it ONLY when the dlna image changed:
#   build+push registry/renfield/dlna-mcp:v0.1.N on .159, then:
#   kubectl -n renfield set image deploy/dlna-mcp dlna-mcp=registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/dlna-mcp:v0.1.N
# (The backend reaches dlna-mcp over HTTP only — it never imports the package —
# so a dlna change does NOT need a backend rebuild, and vice versa.)

# Or pin an explicit tag (force-pulls even if :latest is cached on the node)
kubectl -n renfield set image deploy/backend \
  backend=registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/backend:vX.Y.Z

# Wait for each rollout
kubectl -n renfield rollout status deploy/backend --timeout=600s
kubectl -n renfield rollout status deploy/dlna-mcp --timeout=600s
kubectl -n renfield rollout status deploy/document-worker --timeout=600s
kubectl -n renfield rollout status deploy/frontend --timeout=600s

# voice-server is a SEPARATE, fifth deploy — roll it ONLY when its image
# changed (see "Voice-server image"). It runs a pinned tag, so set image:
kubectl -n renfield set image deploy/voice-server \
  voice-server=registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/voice-server:v0.1.N
kubectl -n renfield rollout status deploy/voice-server --timeout=600s

Pinned deploys — rollout restart is a no-op for them. In the live cluster frontend and voice-server often run pinned tags (:vX.Y.Z / :v0.1.N) even though the committed k8s/*.yaml manifests say :latest. For a pinned deploy, rollout restart re-pulls the same tag — it does NOT pick up new code. Always kubectl set image for those two. Check live state first: kubectl -n renfield get deploy -o custom-columns=D:.metadata.name,IMG:.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image.

Image-pull timing. First pull of a 3.5 GB backend image takes 2-5 minutes per node. Subsequent rollouts on the same node hit the local cache and start in seconds. The pod sits in PodInitializing while the image transfers — that's not a stall.

Verify all pods picked up the new image

# Image digests should match what `docker push` returned for :vX.Y.Z
kubectl -n renfield get pods -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{.metadata.name}{"\t"}{.status.containerStatuses[*].imageID}{"\n"}{end}' | grep -E "backend|frontend"

If a pod shows a stale digest, it's a imagePullPolicy issue. Force the pull with the explicit tag:

kubectl -n renfield set image deploy/<name> <container>=registry.treehouse.x-idra.de/renfield/backend:vX.Y.Z
kubectl -n renfield rollout status deploy/<name>

Smoke test

kubectl -n renfield exec deploy/backend -c backend -- curl -sS http://localhost:8000/health
# Expect: {"status":"ok"}

Migrations

kubectl -n renfield exec deploy/backend -c backend -- alembic heads
kubectl -n renfield exec deploy/backend -c backend -- alembic current

Applying migrations during deploy:

kubectl -n renfield apply -f k8s/alembic-upgrade-job.yaml
kubectl -n renfield wait --for=condition=Complete job/alembic-upgrade --timeout=300s
kubectl -n renfield logs job/alembic-upgrade
kubectl -n renfield delete job alembic-upgrade

Standing up a NEW instance (auth-on / separate namespace)

SECRET_KEY in every backend-image workload. The v2.20.0 boot guard (fail_closed_on_insecure_jwt_key) validates SECRET_KEY at Settings() init — which fires for any process that imports the config, not just the API: the document-worker and the alembic-upgrade Job included. k8s/backend.yaml injects it; k8s/document-worker.yaml and k8s/alembic-upgrade-job.yaml now do too (optional: true — inject-if-present, so auth-off installs are unaffected). If you add a new backend-image Job/CronJob, inject secret-key from renfield-secrets or it crashes with "SECRET_KEY is insecure: still the placeholder default".
A fresh DB self-bootstraps — do NOT run the alembic-upgrade Job on an empty DB. init_db() (backend startup) runs Base.metadata.create_all + stamps alembic HEAD; the 41-migration history is skipped. Running alembic upgrade head from empty instead fails on room_output_devices (FK → rooms, which no migration creates — it's create_all-only). Just deploy the backend; it builds the schema itself. The migration Job is for existing DBs applying new migrations only (see its header).
AUTH_ENABLED + WS_AUTH_ENABLED flip together, strong key first. assert_auth_config_consistency rejects a partial combo; provision a secret-key ≥32 random chars before arming RENFIELD_ENV=production.

Federation identity (persisted key) — required before any instance pairs

bin/provision_federation_identity.py -n renfield          # generate + create the Secret (create-if-absent)
bin/provision_federation_identity.py -n renfield --verify # confirm 32 bytes + print pubkey
kubectl -n renfield rollout restart deploy/backend        # load the persisted key

ConfigMap changes

kubectl -n renfield create configmap renfield-mcp-config \
  --from-file=config/mcp_servers.yaml \
  --from-file=config/agent_roles.yaml \
  --from-file=config/kg_scopes.yaml \
  --from-file=mail_accounts.yaml=config/mail_accounts.default.yaml \
  --dry-run=client -o yaml | kubectl apply -f -
kubectl -n renfield rollout restart deploy/backend

Smoke test

curl -sk https://renfield.local/health   # {"status":"ok"}
curl -sI http://renfield.local/          # 308 → https

Frontend PWA cache propagation (why a deploy may not reach the browser)

Content-hashed bundles (index-<hash>.js, workbox-<hash>.js, css, fonts, .onnx, .wasm) → Cache-Control: public, immutable 1y is correct (a new deploy = a new filename, so the old immutable cache is simply never requested).
Stable-named files MUST be no-cache: sw.js, registerSW.js, index.html, manifest.webmanifest. If the generic \.(js|...)$ immutable block matches sw.js/registerSW.js, the browser caches the SW for a year, never re-fetches it, never detects the deploy, and serves the stale shell across reloads — the regression fixed in #786 (frontend v2.15.11, 2026-06-15): the command-palette/follow-up/provenance features were literally absent from the served index-<hash>.js bundle until a manual SW unregister.
The sw.js/registerSW.js no-cache location must be declared BEFORE the generic .js block — nginx picks the first matching regex location.
nginx add_header inheritance trap: once a location declares its own add_header, it stops inheriting the server-level headers. So any location that sets a Cache-Control header silently drops the security headers (X-Frame-Options/X-Content-Type-Options/X-XSS-Protection) for that response — re-declare them in every such location. Always nginx -t the config (run it in a nginx:1.28-alpine container) before building the image.
Baseline CSP ships Report-Only first (Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only). The policy lives in the same nginx.conf (map $host $csp, re-declared per location — same inheritance trap above). It is intentionally Report-Only so a wrong directive reports to the browser console instead of breaking the PWA. Do NOT flip the header name to enforcing Content-Security-Policy blind — gate the flip on a clean browser-verification pass with DevTools console open: exercise wakeword (the 'wasm-unsafe-eval' onnxruntime path), voice, chat-WS, TTS, and an SW update, and confirm zero CSP violation reports. The two fragile directives to watch: the inline theme-script sha256 hash (Vite's html-minify can alter the bytes at build → recompute from the built dist/index.html or fall back to 'unsafe-inline' on script-src) and 'wasm-unsafe-eval' (absent → wakeword WASM compile is reported/blocked). A THIRD fragile surface, learned painfully (2026-06-16): the wake-word AudioWorklet is loaded from a blob: URL (new Blob → createObjectURL → audioWorklet.addModule) and is governed by script-src, NOT worker-src — so script-src needs blob: or wake word dies with AbortError: Unable to load a worklet's module. This is a DISTINCT surface from the onnxruntime WASM ('wasm-unsafe-eval'); verifying "WASM loaded" does NOT cover it. Always trigger wake-word enable (the addModule), not just page load, when validating CSP — Chrome reports a worklet CSP rejection as an AbortError, not always a clean securitypolicyviolation event, so a violation-listener check can miss it.
A header-only change (CSP etc.) does NOT propagate to existing PWA clients on its own. The SW precaches index.html (globPatterns includes html) with its response headers (the CSP is captured at fetch time). A change touching only nginx.conf leaves every built file byte-identical → the workbox precache manifest and sw.js are unchanged → autoUpdate never fires → existing clients keep serving the stale-CSP precached shell (a fresh nginx curl shows the new header, but the browser enforces the cached one — wake word stayed broken after the blob-worklet CSP fix until this was understood). Fix: pair any served-header change with a frontend build bump — bump __BUILD_STAMP__ in src/frontend/src/main.tsx (its whole purpose). That changes the JS bundle hash → rewrites index.html's <script src> → index.html's revision changes → the SW re-precaches it (re-fetching the current header) and autoUpdate propagates on the next visit. Verify the served /assets/index-<hash>.js filename actually CHANGED after the build.

Verify the live headers from inside the cluster (renfield.local mDNS is flaky from the laptop):

kubectl -n renfield exec deploy/backend -c backend -- curl -sI http://frontend/sw.js
# Expect: Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate
kubectl -n renfield exec deploy/backend -c backend -- curl -sI http://frontend/index.html
# Expect: Cache-Control: no-cache, must-revalidate  + X-Frame-Options present
kubectl -n renfield exec deploy/backend -c backend -- curl -sI http://frontend/assets/index-<hash>.js
# Expect: Cache-Control: public, immutable

End-to-end checklist (run through this every release)

✅ Merge release commits into main (PR review done).
✅ Tag vX.Y.Z locally + push tag + create GitHub release.
✅ rsync src/backend, src/frontend, data/wakeword-models, src/satellite to /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z on .159 (the model dir lands INSIDE the backend build context as wakeword-models/; the satellite source as satellite/ — bundled for the OTA update package).
✅ Verify staging — Dockerfile, .dockerignore, wakeword-models/ (~9 files), satellite/renfield_satellite/__init__.py all present; config/mcp_servers.yaml etc. NOT present (else the configmap mount breaks).
✅ Build backend (long if requirements.txt changed) and frontend (fast); build voice-server ONLY if voice-server/ changed (its own v0.1.x tag).
✅ Push :latest + the pinned tag for each image built — verify each digest: line in the push output.
✅ Roll out: rollout restart backend, dlna-mcp, document-worker; kubectl set image for frontend (and voice-server if rebuilt) — both run pinned tags, so rollout restart is a no-op for them.
✅ kubectl rollout status per rolled deploy with 600s timeout.
✅ Verify image digests across the rolled deploys match what was pushed.
✅ Backend health smoke (curl -sS http://localhost:8000/health inside the pod).
✅ Browser smoke for migrated pages / new features. 11b. ✅ If the frontend image changed: verify PWA cache headers (sw.js/registerSW.js/index.html no-cache, hashed bundles immutable) so the deploy actually reaches the browser — see "Frontend PWA cache propagation".
✅ Cleanup /tmp/renfield-build-vX.Y.Z on .159.
✅ Image retention on .159 — prune old backend/frontend tags (keep newest 3) + cap build cache (Step 3). Skipping this is what fills the build box to 90%.

Build-box testing (not production)

The .159 build box runs the full Docker Compose stack for integration testing. It's where pytest lives because CI doesn't run.

# Rsync the working copy to the build box (exclude secrets + scratch)
rsync -avz --exclude='.env' --exclude='secrets/' --exclude='.git' \
  --exclude='node_modules' --exclude='__pycache__' --exclude='tasks/' \
  /Users/evdb/projects.ai/renfield/ 192.168.1.159:/opt/renfield/

# Run the suite inside the backend container
#   Source mount:  /opt/renfield/src/backend → /app
#   Tests mount:   /opt/renfield/tests       → /tests
ssh 192.168.1.159 "docker exec renfield-backend python -m pytest /tests/backend/... -q"

Do NOT treat the build-box Compose stack as production. It runs without GPU, has no Harbor pull credentials plumbed in, and is routinely reset during testing.

name	deploy-production
description	Production deployment guide for Renfield. Build box .159, Harbor registry, private k8s cluster. Triggers on "deploy", "Deployment", "production", "Produktion", "satellite deploy", "kubectl apply", "rsync", "registry.treehouse".
disable-model-invocation	true

deploy-production

More from this repository

More from this repository

Production Deployment

CRITICAL SAFETY

Topology at a glance

Release tag (audit trail)

Build + push workflow (rsync-to-staging — preferred)

Step 1 — From the laptop, rsync the build contexts

Optional pre-step — sign the OTA release (security H6)

Step 2 — On .159, build + push

Step 3 — Cleanup + image retention (run EVERY deploy)

Voice-server image (build ONLY when voice-server/ changed)

Samsung-mcp image (build ONLY when ../renfield-mcp-samsung/ changed)

Harbor 504 / "Client Closed Request" on the 2.66 GB pip-install layer

Cluster rollout

Verify all pods picked up the new image

Smoke test

Migrations

Standing up a NEW instance (auth-on / separate namespace)

Federation identity (persisted key) — required before any instance pairs

ConfigMap changes

Smoke test

Frontend PWA cache propagation (why a deploy may not reach the browser)

End-to-end checklist (run through this every release)

Build-box testing (not production)

See also

Production Deployment

CRITICAL SAFETY

Topology at a glance

Release tag (audit trail)

Build + push workflow (rsync-to-staging — preferred)

Step 1 — From the laptop, rsync the build contexts

Optional pre-step — sign the OTA release (security H6)

Step 2 — On .159, build + push

Step 3 — Cleanup + image retention (run EVERY deploy)

Voice-server image (build ONLY when voice-server/ changed)

Samsung-mcp image (build ONLY when ../renfield-mcp-samsung/ changed)

Harbor 504 / "Client Closed Request" on the 2.66 GB pip-install layer

Cluster rollout

Verify all pods picked up the new image

Smoke test

Migrations

Standing up a NEW instance (auth-on / separate namespace)

Federation identity (persisted key) — required before any instance pairs

ConfigMap changes

Smoke test

Frontend PWA cache propagation (why a deploy may not reach the browser)

End-to-end checklist (run through this every release)

Build-box testing (not production)

See also

Voice-server image (build ONLY when `voice-server/` changed)

Samsung-mcp image (build ONLY when `../renfield-mcp-samsung/` changed)

Voice-server image (build ONLY when `voice-server/` changed)

Samsung-mcp image (build ONLY when `../renfield-mcp-samsung/` changed)