capsule-forge

name	Capsule Forge
description	Use when creating, building, scaffolding, or authoring an Unicity AOS capsule — a sandboxed WASM tool provider that exposes tools to the LLM over a message bus. The complete, self-contained guide: the minimal file set, the #[capsule]/#[astrid::tool] macros, Capsule.toml and the capability/bus ACL, the build→install→call loop, and every footgun. Everything needed to ship a capsule from zero.

Capsule Forge — Author an Unicity AOS Capsule From Zero

You are about to write a capsule: a small WebAssembly Component, compiled from Rust, that the Astrid kernel loads into a sandbox and lets it expose tools to the LLM over an event bus. You need no prior AOS knowledge — this page is the whole map. Everything you need to write the WIT references, the Capsule.toml, and the Rust is here. You should never have to leave it.

The one sentence that anchors everything: A capsule is a sandboxed WASM tool provider that talks only over a message bus. The kernel is dumb — it routes events, enforces capabilities, and runs the sandbox; it contains no tool logic. All intelligence lives in capsules. Your Capsule.toml's [publish]/[subscribe] keys are not config — they are the capability ACL the kernel enforces, and they are fail-closed: a topic you don't list, you cannot touch.

---

Table of contents

1. 60-second quickstart
2. What you are actually building
3. The minimal file set (copy verbatim)
4. The macro reference (#[capsule], #[astrid::tool], lifecycle hooks)
5. The SDK surface (astrid_sdk::*)
6. Capsule.toml — the complete manifest reference
7. The capability catalog (lists vs. bools — get this right)
8. WIT / interface references at author depth
9. How a tool call actually flows (the IPC lifecycle)
10. The three topic matchers (the conceptual footgun)
11. The build → install → call dev loop
12. Footguns (read before you waste an hour)
13. Security mindset
14. Design principles (write small capsules)
15. The forge tools

---

1. 60-Second Quickstart

Get a complete, compiling skeleton one of three ways, then build → install → call:

• Forge tool (available when Unicity AOS is running with the forge capsule installed — it ships with Unicity AOS): call scaffold_capsule { "name": "my-capsule" }. It returns a JSON map of path -> file content for a complete skeleton — write each file out.
• CLI: aos capsule new my-capsule scaffolds the same full project (.cargo/config.toml, rust-toolchain.toml, Cargo.toml, Capsule.toml, src/lib.rs, README.md) ready to cargo build on the first try.
• By hand: copy the files in section 3, substituting your name.

Then:

# 1. Install the WASM target once (the scaffold pins it in rust-toolchain.toml):
rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown

# 2. Build the capsule. `aos capsule build` produces ./dist/<name>.capsule.
#    Plain `cargo build` also works — .cargo/config.toml selects the target,
#    so DO NOT pass --target.
aos capsule build

# 3. Install it into the running daemon (content-addressed — see footgun 4):
aos capsule install ./dist/my-capsule.capsule

# 4. Verify it loaded:
aos capsule list          # your capsule should appear
aos status                # daemon should still be healthy

# 5. Ask the LLM to call your tool.

---

2. What You Are Actually Building

my-capsule/
├── .cargo/config.toml     # selects the wasm target + the getrandom flag (#1 footgun)
├── rust-toolchain.toml    # pins the toolchain + the wasm target
├── Cargo.toml             # cdylib crate, depends on astrid-sdk
├── Capsule.toml           # the manifest — capabilities + the bus ACL
└── src/
    └── lib.rs             # your tools

A capsule:

• runs in a WASM sandbox (wasm32-unknown-unknown, Component Model) with zero wasi:* imports. Every host call is an audited astrid:* call routed through the SDK. The WIT import list is the capsule's literal capability list.
• talks to the world only over the bus. It cannot open a socket, read a file, or spawn a process except through a capability its manifest declares and the kernel grants. Any undeclared syscall is denied before it reaches the bus.
• exposes tools the LLM can call. A tool is just a Rust method; the #[astrid::tool] macro wires it onto the bus and publishes a JSON-schema description of it so the model discovers it.

There is also a per-principal sandbox: home:// resolves to the calling principal's home, and __state/KV are auto-scoped per capsule and per principal. Two users invoking your capsule never see each other's data.

---

3. The Minimal File Set (copy verbatim, substitute the name)

.cargo/config.toml

[build]
target = "wasm32-unknown-unknown"

[target.wasm32-unknown-unknown]
# THE #1 FOOTGUN. Activates astrid-sys's custom getrandom backend, which routes
# entropy to the host's astrid:sys.random-bytes. WITHOUT THIS, anything pulling
# getrandom — uuid::v4, HashMap's RandomState seed — fails to LINK on
# wasm32-unknown-unknown. A library CANNOT set this for its dependents; it MUST
# live here, in the final capsule crate. This is the most common confusing build
# failure for new authors.
rustflags = ["--cfg=getrandom_backend=\"custom\""]

rust-toolchain.toml

[toolchain]
channel = "1.95.0"
targets = ["wasm32-unknown-unknown"]
components = ["rustfmt", "clippy"]

Cargo.toml

[package]
name = "my-capsule"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2024"
license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0"
publish = false

[lib]
crate-type = ["cdylib"]      # capsules are cdylib — NOT bin, NOT the default rlib

[dependencies]
# 0.7 resolves to 0.7.1+, which carries the tool_describe publish fix (a
# return-only describe collects zero tools), so the floor matters.
astrid-sdk = { version = "0.7", features = ["derive"] }
serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
serde_json = "1.0"

[profile.release]
opt-level = "z"      # optimise for size — capsules ship as wasm
lto = true
codegen-units = 1
strip = true
panic = "abort"

Capsule.toml

[package]
name = "my-capsule"            # lowercase ASCII alphanumeric + hyphens only
version = "0.1.0"             # MUST be three-part numeric MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH
description = "What this capsule does"
authors = ["Your Name <[e-mail]>"]
astrid-version = ">=0.7.0"    # semver requirement against the host runtime

[[component]]
id = "my-capsule"
file = "my_capsule.wasm"      # crate name with hyphens -> underscores, + .wasm
type = "executable"           # "executable" (default) or "library"

[capabilities]
# Declare ONLY what you use. Least capability. (See section 7.)
fs_read = ["home://"]

# --- The mandatory tool-bus ACL. Without these two publish keys, tool results
#     never return and the describe fan-out cannot answer. ---
[publish]
"tool.v1.execute.*.result" = { wit = "@unicity-astrid/wit/types/tool-call-result" }
"tool.v1.response.describe.*" = { wit = "@unicity-astrid/wit/tool/describe-response" }

# One subscribe row per tool, plus the describe request. The `handler` is
# `tool_execute_<tool_name>`. `tool_describe` is AUTO-GENERATED by the macro —
# you declare it here but never write it.
[subscribe]
"tool.v1.execute.hello" = { wit = "@unicity-astrid/wit/types/tool-call", handler = "tool_execute_hello" }
 = { wit = , handler =  }

src/lib.rs

#![deny(unsafe_code)]
#![deny(clippy::all)]

use astrid_sdk::prelude::*;   // capsule, SysError, fs, ipc, kv, http, log, runtime, ...
use astrid_sdk::schemars;     // for #[derive(schemars::JsonSchema)] on the args type
use serde::Deserialize;

#[derive(Default)]            // the struct MUST derive Default
pub struct MyCapsule;

#[derive(Debug, Default, Deserialize, schemars::JsonSchema)]
pub struct HelloArgs {
    /// Who to greet (this doc-comment becomes the parameter description the LLM sees).
    pub name: String,
}

#[capsule]
impl MyCapsule {
    /// Greet someone. This method doc-comment becomes the tool description the
    /// LLM sees, so write it for the model.
    #[astrid::tool("hello")]
    pub fn hello(&self, args: HelloArgs) -> Result<String, SysError> {
        Ok(format!("Hello, {}!", args.name))
    }
}

Canonical contracts referenced as @unicity-astrid/wit/... are resolved at build time and need no local copy. If the capsule defines its own public WIT interface, check that source into wit/; the capsule builder includes it in the installable archive so consumers can discover and subscribe to it.

---

4. The Macro Reference

Everything lives behind one prelude import:

use astrid_sdk::prelude::*;   // brings capsule, SysError, and the modules: fs,
                              // ipc, kv, http, log, runtime, env, time, net,
                              // process, identity, approval, capabilities, ...
use astrid_sdk::schemars;     // for #[derive(schemars::JsonSchema)] on args

#[capsule] — on the impl block

#[capsule] (or #[capsule(state)] for stateful mode) goes on your impl Struct block. It generates the four WASM exports the kernel calls (astrid_hook_trigger, run, astrid_install, astrid_upgrade), the export!() wiring, the auto tool_describe, and a panic hook that routes guest panics to log::error. The struct must #[derive(Default)] — this is enforced by a generated assertion.

#[astrid::tool] — on a method

Accepted forms:

#[astrid::tool("name")]            // explicit tool name
#[astrid::tool("name", mutable)]   // explicit name, marked mutable
#[astrid::tool(mutable)]           // name inferred from the method name, mutable
#[astrid::tool]                    // name inferred, not mutable

The method signature is:

fn name(&self, args: ArgsType) -> Result<T, E>

where:

• ArgsType derives serde::Deserialize + schemars::JsonSchema (and Default). The JsonSchema derive produces the parameter schema the LLM sees; field doc-comments become parameter descriptions.
• T: serde::Serialize — String is the common choice (return JSON or markdown text). Anything Serialize works.
• E: Display — use SysError. The error's Display string is returned to the model as the tool's error content.
• The method doc-comment becomes the tool description shown to the LLM.
• mutable (or a &mut self receiver) flags a state-mutating tool. The flag rides in the tool schema so the approval layer can present the right copy; it does not change routing or auto-gate anything. With &mut self, the macro loads self from KV before the call and persists it after (on success only) — see "Stateful mode" below.

Behind the scenes: a tool named foo becomes an interceptor handler tool_execute_foo, dispatched when an event arrives on tool.v1.execute.foo, and its result is published on tool.v1.execute.foo.result.

Lifecycle hooks (each is a singleton; duplicates are a compile error)

• #[astrid::install] — fn(&self) -> Result<(), SysError>. Runs once at aos capsule install, before the capsule enters the normal runtime. This is the only place elicit works (interactive secret/value prompting). This is also how a Skill lands on disk — see footgun 5.
• #[astrid::upgrade] — fn(&self, prev_version: &str) -> Result<(), SysError>. Runs on version upgrade; receives the previous version string.
• #[astrid::run] — fn(&self) -> Result<(), SysError>. A long-lived background loop (rare — most capsules are pure tool providers and need none). A run-loop capsule must call runtime::signal_ready() once it is initialized, and should recv regularly (the kernel epoch-interrupts a run loop that burns CPU without yielding). run never auto-persists state.
• #[astrid::interceptor("topic")] — fn(&self, payload: Vec<u8>) -> Result<InterceptResult, SysError>. The raw event handler. Tools are sugar over this. Returns InterceptResult::Continue(payload) / Final(payload) / Deny { reason }. A handler = in a [subscribe] row binds a topic to one of these.
• #[astrid::command("name")] — registers a slash-command handler (dispatched like a tool, but not surfaced as an LLM tool / no describe entry).

Stateful mode

Two ways to make a capsule stateful: put #[capsule(state)] on the impl block, or take &mut self on any handler. Then:

• before each handler, the macro loads your struct from KV key __state (kv::get_json("__state")), falling back to Default on a decode error;
• after a successful handler call, it persists with kv::set_json("__state", &self) (skipped on error, so a failure never writes partial state);
• #[astrid::install] starts from Default and persists the result; #[astrid::upgrade] starts from the saved state (or Default);
• #[astrid::run] loads once at startup and never auto-saves — manage your own persistence with explicit kv::set_json(...) calls.

Stateless capsules (&self, no state) use an in-memory OnceLock<T> singleton and never touch KV.

---

5. The SDK Surface (astrid_sdk)

The prelude re-exports SysError and every module below; you can write fs::read(...) after use astrid_sdk::prelude::*, or fully-qualify as astrid_sdk::fs::read(...). Almost every function returns Result<_, SysError>.

SysError variants: HostError(String) (any host-call failure — all typed host error codes collapse here), JsonError, BorshError, ApiError(String) (your own logic errors — SysError::ApiError("…".into())).

fs — VFS file I/O (paths are VFS schemes, e.g. home://...)

These are live and cover the common cases:

fs::exists(path) -> Result<bool>
fs::read(path) -> Result<Vec<u8>>
fs::read_to_string(path) -> Result<String>
fs::write(path, contents: &[u8]) -> Result<()>      // truncate-or-create; 10 MB/call cap
fs::create_dir(path) -> Result<()>                  // strict: fails if it exists
fs::create_dir_all(path) -> Result<()>              // idempotent
fs::remove_file(path) -> Result<()>
fs::read_dir(path) -> Result<ReadDir>               // iterator of DirEntry (.file_name()); 4096-entry cap
fs::metadata(path) -> Result<Metadata>              // .is_file(), .is_dir(), .len(), .modified()

The SDK also exposes fs::append, fs::copy, fs::rename, fs::remove_dir_all, fs::canonicalize, fs::read_link, fs::hard_link, fs::symlink_metadata, and a fs::File offset-I/O handle — but several of these are host-stubbed today and return a "port pending" error. For a new capsule, stick to read/write/read_dir/ metadata/create_dir_all/remove_file and read whole files at once.

kv — per-(capsule, principal) key-value store (no capability needed)

kv::get_json::<T>(key) -> Result<T>            // T: DeserializeOwned
kv::get_json_opt::<T>(key) -> Result<Option<T>>
kv::set_json::<T>(key, &value) -> Result<()>   // T: Serialize
kv::get_bytes(key) / kv::get_bytes_opt(key) / kv::set_bytes(key, &[u8])
kv::delete(key) -> Result<()>
kv::list_keys(prefix) -> Result<Vec<String>>
kv::clear_prefix(prefix) -> Result<u64>
kv::cas(key, expected: Option<&[u8]>, new: &[u8]) -> Result<bool>   // compare-and-swap
// Versioned + borsh variants also exist.

http — outbound HTTP (needs net capability)

let resp = http::send(&http::Request::get("https://api.example.com")
    .header("authorization", "Bearer …")
    .json(&body)?)?;            // .post/.put/.delete; .body/.body_bytes too
resp.status() -> u16; resp.is_success() -> bool;
resp.text() -> Result<&str>; resp.json::<T>() -> Result<T>; resp.bytes() -> &[u8]
// http::stream_start(&req) -> HttpStream for chunked/SSE responses (.read_chunk()).

ipc — the event bus (publish/subscribe; the heart of capsule comms)

ipc::publish(topic, payload: &str) -> Result<()>
ipc::publish_json::<T>(topic, &payload) -> Result<()>           // T: Serialize
ipc::subscribe(topic_pattern) -> Result<Subscription>          // trailing-* only (see §10)
sub.recv(timeout_ms) -> Result<PollResult>                     // empty messages = timeout
sub.poll() -> Result<PollResult>                               // non-blocking
ipc::request_response::<Req, Resp>(req_topic, resp_namespace, &req, timeout_ms) -> Result<Resp>
// publish_as / publish_json_as exist but are UPLINK-ONLY (need uplink = true).

A PollResult carries messages: Vec<Message>; each Message has topic, payload, source_id, and principal: PrincipalAttribution (Verified(_) / Claimed(_) / System). For any sensitive action, gate on message.principal.verified() per message — a recv batch can mix publishers. Note: a recv timeout returns Ok with an empty message list, not an error — treat an empty PollResult as the timeout signal.

log — structured logging (infallible; lands in ~/.aos/runtime/log/)

log::trace(msg); log::debug(msg); log::info(msg); log::warn(msg); log::error(msg);
// arg is `impl Display`. ERROR-level guest logs also surface in the daemon log.

runtime

runtime::signal_ready() -> Result<()>          // run-loop capsules call this when initialized
runtime::caller() -> Result<CallerContext>     // who invoked this handler
runtime::random_bytes(len) -> Result<Vec<u8>>  // host entropy (OsRng)
runtime::socket_path() -> Result<String>

Other modules (use only with the matching capability)

• process (needs host_process) — process::Command::new("git").arg("status").spawn()? -> Output (.stdout/.stderr/.exit); .spawn_background()? -> Process (RAII, drop reaps); .spawn_persistent() needs allow_persistent. Per-capsule cap 8 concurrent.
• net (needs net_connect / net_bind) — TcpStream, TcpListener, UnixListener. Raw sockets; rare.
• identity (needs identity) — resolve, link, unlink, list_links, create_user.
• approval — approval::request(action, resource) -> Result<bool> blocks for human approval (or hits an existing allowance). No capability required.
• elicit — interactive prompting; only valid inside an install/upgrade hook. elicit::secret(key, desc), elicit::text(...), elicit::select(...), elicit::array(...).
• env — env::var(key) -> Result<String>, env::var_opt(key). Reads the per-invocation, per-principal capsule config (declared in [env]). Never cache the result in a OnceLock/static — env::var resolves the active principal's overlay each call; a global cache pins one principal's value for all.
• capabilities — capabilities::enumerate() -> Vec<String> (your own held capability names, infallible); capabilities::check(uuid, cap).
• time — time::now(), time::sleep(duration), time::monotonic().

---

6. Capsule.toml — The Complete Manifest Reference

The manifest is the authoritative, declarative source of truth. The kernel reads it before touching a byte of WASM. Every section below is optional except [package] (needs name + version) and a [[component]] for a WASM capsule.

[package]

[package]
name = "my-http-capsule"       # required; lowercase ASCII alphanumeric + hyphens
version = "0.1.0"             # required; three-part numeric
description = "HTTP fetch tool"
authors = ["Name <e@mail>"]
astrid-version = ">=0.7.0"     # semver req against the host runtime
license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0"
repository = "https://github.com/…"
keywords = ["http", "fetch"]
categories = ["networking"]
publish = true                # set false to block registry publication

[[component]]

One per WASM binary (a capsule usually has exactly one).

[[component]]
id = "http-tools"
file = "astrid_capsule_http.wasm"  # path relative to Capsule.toml; crate name, hyphens->underscores
type = "executable"               # "executable" (default) or "library"
# hash = "sha256:…"               # optional; checked against meta.json at load

[publish] and [subscribe] — the IPC surface AND the ACL

Each key is an IPC topic name or wildcard pattern; the keys are exactly the kernel's IPC ACL (effective_ipc_publish_patterns / _subscribe_patterns). A capsule may publish only to topics matching a [publish] key and subscribe only to topics matching a [subscribe] key — anything else is denied. There is no separate ACL array.

Each value carries a typed WIT payload reference, in short or long form:

[publish]
"tool.v1.execute.*.result" = "@unicity-astrid/wit/types/tool-call-result"   # short form
"tool.v1.response.describe.*" = { wit = "@unicity-astrid/wit/tool/describe-response" }  # long

[subscribe]
"tool.v1.execute.fetch_url" = { wit = "@unicity-astrid/wit/types/tool-call", handler = "tool_execute_fetch_url" }
"tool.v1.request.describe"  = { wit = "@unicity-astrid/wit/tool/describe-request", handler = "tool_describe" }

The wit value may be:

• an @scope/repo/<iface>/<record> reference (the standard tool-bus form), or
• a bare local record name (resolved from your own wit/ — rare for tool capsules), or
• the literal "opaque" — declares the ACL but waives payload type-checking. Used by uplink/proxy capsules that forward bytes they do not own.

On a [subscribe] entry, handler = "..." binds the topic to a generated WASM export (your #[astrid::tool]/#[astrid::interceptor] method, or the auto tool_describe). An optional priority (u32, default 100, lower fires first) orders the interceptor chain. A [subscribe] entry without a handler is ACL-only — it grants you the right to ipc::subscribe() that topic at runtime, but binds no export.

The mandatory tool-bus boilerplate for any tool capsule is always:

• [publish]: tool.v1.execute.*.result (so results return) and tool.v1.response.describe.* (so the describe fan-out can answer).
• [subscribe]: one tool.v1.execute.<tool> per tool (handler tool_execute_<tool>) plus tool.v1.request.describe (handler tool_describe). tool_describe is auto-generated — list it, never write it.

If [publish] or [subscribe] is empty/missing, the capsule cannot talk on the bus at all. Fail-closed means silence, not a loud error.

[capabilities]

What the capsule may ask of the OS. Every field is fail-closed (empty list or false). See section 7 for the full catalog and the list-vs-bool table.

[imports] / [exports] — the WIT interface contract

Declares which astrid:* interfaces (or another capsule's exported interface) this capsule depends on or provides. Two equivalent surface forms:

# Flat (cargo-like):
[imports]
"astrid:llm" = "^1.0"
"astrid:kv"  = { version = "^1.0", optional = true }   # optional: boot even with no provider

[exports]
"astrid:llm" = "1.0.0"

# Nested (equivalent):
[imports.astrid]
llm = "^1.0"

Most pure tool capsules need neither — the tool-bus topics are a convention, not a WIT import. You need [imports]/[exports] only when you provide or consume a typed interface (e.g. an LLM provider exports astrid:llm). Uplink capsules may not declare [imports] (the loader rejects it).

[env] — capsule configuration, elicited at install

[env]
API_KEY = { type = "secret", request = "Enter your API key", placeholder = "sk-..." }
REGION  = { type = "select", enum_values = ["us-east-1", "eu-west-1"], default = "us-east-1" }
TAGS    = { type = "array",  request = "Comma-separated tags" }
NAME    = { type = "text",   request = "Your name", default = "Agent" }

type is secret | text | select | array. secret is masked at the install prompt and stored 0600 in ~/.aos/runtime/secrets/ (never returned to the guest as plaintext via the env path); the others land in per-principal env JSON. Read values at runtime with env::var("API_KEY"). scope is operator-only (skip_deserializing) — a manifest cannot set it; the kernel decides per-agent vs. shared from operator action. (The forge validate_manifest warns if you try.)

Other sections (declarative, less common)

• [[command]] — slash-command registrations.
• [[mcp_server]] — stdio MCP servers (the "airlock override"; command must be in host_process; this breaks out of the WASM sandbox into a host process).
• [[context_file]], [[uplink]], [[tool]], [[topic]] (legacy).

Agent Skills are user-space instructions, not a Capsule.toml protocol. Vendor a trigger through the host plugin or add it to the agent-level Skills service; serve capsule-owned detailed guidance through an ordinary IPC tool.

---

7. The Capability Catalog (lists vs. bools — get this right)

Declare only what you use (least capability). The kernel's ManifestSecurityGate enforces these at every host call; an undeclared capability is denied before it reaches the bus. The single most-missed detail: some keys take a list, some take a bool. Getting this wrong is a parse/semantics error.

Key	Type	Grants
uplink	bool	Act as a long-lived uplink/daemon; enables publish_as. Disables the WASM timeout.
net	list	Outbound HTTP via http. Entries are hostnames or "*". ["api.openai.com"], ["*"].
net_connect	list	Raw outbound TCP. Each entry "host:port" or "host:*" (no DNS wildcards).
net_bind	list	Bind a listening socket. ["unix:*"]. Rare.
kv	list	Reserved (declared, NOT yet gate-enforced). Per-capsule KV already works without it (auto-scoped per capsule + principal). Use kv = [] or omit.
fs_read	list	Read under the given VFS prefixes. ["home://"].
fs_write	list	Write under the given prefixes. ["home://documents/"].
host_process	list	Spawn the named host binaries via process. ["git", "cargo"]. The "airlock override".
allow_persistent	bool	Operator sub-grant on top of host_process: allow persistent (instance-outliving) child processes.
identity	list	Identity ops. Values: "resolve" < "link" < "admin" (each implies the lesser). ["resolve"].
allow_prompt_injection	bool	Hook output may modify the system prompt. Off by default — unprivileged capsules cannot inject system-prompt instructions.

# Worked example — a capsule that reads home, fetches one API, and runs git:
[capabilities]
fs_read      = ["home://"]
net          = ["api.example.com"]
host_process = ["git"]

VFS schemes for fs_* prefixes:

• home:// — the calling principal's home directory, resolved per-invocation (per-principal isolation; most common).
• cwd:// — the capsule's install directory, resolved at construction.
• "*" — workspace-confined (broad; prefer a narrow prefix). Does not grant whole-filesystem access. Paths containing .. are always rejected.

---

8. WIT / Interface References at Author Depth

You almost never hand-write WIT for a tool capsule. What you need to know:

• WIT is the contract surface — the host ABI (astrid:fs, astrid:ipc, astrid:kv, astrid:http, astrid:sys, astrid:process, astrid:identity, …) is a set of frozen @1.0.0 interfaces. The SDK wraps them; you call the SDK.

• The wit = "@unicity-astrid/wit/..." references in [publish]/[subscribe] name the payload type for a topic. For tool capsules they are always exactly these four — copy them verbatim:

  Topic role	WIT reference
  tool execute request (subscribe)	@unicity-astrid/wit/types/tool-call
  tool result (publish)	@unicity-astrid/wit/types/tool-call-result
  describe request (subscribe)	@unicity-astrid/wit/tool/describe-request
  describe response (publish)	@unicity-astrid/wit/tool/describe-response

• The tool payloads are simple. A request carries call_id, tool_name, arguments (JSON). A result is ToolCallResult { call_id, content: String, is_error: bool } — there is no structured error type; you produce a string and a boolean. The SDK macro builds these for you from your Result<T, E>.

• wit = "opaque" waives type-checking for uplink/proxy capsules (keeps the ACL). You won't need it for a tool capsule.

• Inspect a real interface with the forge explain_interface { "name": "tool" } tool (reads from home://wit/ and summarizes package/interfaces/records), or the system capsule's list_interfaces / read_interface.

• Canonical versus capsule-owned WIT. Canonical @unicity-astrid/wit/... contracts are resolved at build. Custom interfaces owned by your capsule belong in a checked-in wit/ directory and ship in the capsule archive.

---

9. How a Tool Call Actually Flows (the IPC lifecycle)

Tools are a convention over bus primitives — the kernel has no notion of a "tool". Understanding the round trip explains the boilerplate:

1. The react loop decides the LLM wants tool foo; it publishes a ToolExecuteRequest on tool.v1.request.execute.
2. The router capsule (stateless middleware) catches it, validates the tool name (rejects anything but alphanumeric / - / _ / : — dots are forbidden to prevent topic injection), and forwards to tool.v1.execute.foo.
3. Your capsule is subscribed to tool.v1.execute.foo with handler tool_execute_foo. The macro deserializes the args, runs your method, and publishes the result on tool.v1.execute.foo.result (covered by your tool.v1.execute.*.result publish ACL).
4. The router catches the per-tool result and republishes it on the unified tool.v1.execute.result, which react polls and matches by call_id.

The describe fan-out (how the model learns your tools exist):

1. The prompt-builder subscribes tool.v1.response.describe.*, then publishes an empty tool.v1.request.describe.
2. Your capsule's auto tool_describe handler fires and publishes its { "tools": [...] } descriptor on tool.v1.response.describe.self (covered by your tool.v1.response.describe.* publish ACL; the real source_id rides in kernel-stamped metadata).
3. The prompt-builder drains responses over a bounded ~500ms window, dedups by tool name (first wins), and caches the schema.

Critical: tool_describe must publish, never return — a return-only describe collects zero tools (the bug SDK 0.7.1 fixed). The #[capsule] macro does this correctly; just depend on astrid-sdk = "0.7" (resolves to 0.7.1+).

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10. The Three Topic Matchers (the conceptual footgun)

* in a topic does not mean one consistent thing — there are three matchers with three different rules. Name this so you don't trip:

1. Event delivery / route matcher (subtree). A trailing * matches the whole subtree at any depth ≥ prefix+1: a.b.* delivers a.b.c and a.b.c.d. This decides which subscriptions receive a published event.
2. ACL authorization (publish + subscribe). As of the current kernel, the publish/subscribe ACL authorizes via the same subtree matcher as delivery — a trailing * is recursive. (tool.v1.execute.*.result authorizes tool.v1.execute.foo.result.)
3. Interceptor dispatch (strict equal-segment). When the kernel routes a concrete event to your handler, segment count must match exactly and a mid * matches exactly one segment. This is why each tool needs its own concrete tool.v1.execute.<tool> subscribe row — you cannot collapse them into one wildcard for dispatch.
4. Runtime ipc::subscribe syntactic gate. At runtime you may subscribe with at most one *, and it must be trailing (foo.bar.*). A mid-segment or multi-* pattern is host-rejected at runtime — even though it's legal in a static [subscribe] ACL key. Per-capsule cap: 128 subscriptions.

Practical rules:

• Subscribe: use one trailing * and let subtree delivery handle variable depth. Never enumerate .*.* — redundant and runtime-illegal.
• Publish: the publish ACL is fine with the concrete patterns you declare (tool.v1.execute.*.result); a fixed deep front-door topic needs its own exact publish row.
• Tool dispatch is strict — one concrete tool.v1.execute.<tool> row per tool.

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11. The Build → Install → Call Dev Loop

edit src/lib.rs / Capsule.toml
      │
      ▼
aos capsule build            # -> ./dist/<name>.capsule
      │                         #    (plain `cargo build` works too; no --target)
      ▼
aos capsule install ./dist/<name>.capsule   # content-addressed; replaces prior version
      │
      ▼
aos capsule list             # confirm it loaded
aos status                   # confirm the daemon is healthy
      │
      ▼
ask the LLM to call the tool    # verify behaviour
      │
      └── tools missing? -> capsule_doctor (forge tool), then re-prompt

• There is NO hot-reload — the watcher is dead code (issue #296). To iterate, rebuild and reinstall; each install replaces the prior version.
• Logs live under ~/.aos/runtime/log/, one file per capsule. A guest panic shows as capsule panic at src/lib.rs:NN (the SDK installs a panic hook). ERROR-level guest logs also surface in the daemon log. Grep the per-capsule log when a tool traps or a run loop exits.
• If aos isn't on PATH, the standard install is at ~/.aos/bin/aos.
• If aos capsule build is unavailable, cargo build --release works (the .cargo/config.toml selects the target); the .wasm lands under target/wasm32-unknown-unknown/release/.

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12. Footguns (read these before you waste an hour)

1. The getrandom flag. .cargo/config.toml must carry rustflags = ["--cfg=getrandom_backend=\"custom\""]. Without it, uuid::v4 and HashMap fail to link on wasm32-unknown-unknown. A library can't set it for you — it must live in your crate. The #1 cause of confusing build failures.
2. crate-type = ["cdylib"]. Not bin, not the default rlib.
3. Put only capsule-owned contracts in wit/. Canonical @unicity-astrid/wit/... contracts are resolved at build; custom interfaces must be checked in so they can ship with the capsule.
4. Content-addressed install. Install with aos capsule install ./dist/<name>.capsule. Do not hand-copy the .wasm into ~/.aos/runtime — install records a BLAKE3 hash in meta.json, and a capsule whose binary doesn't match (or wasn't installed this way) fails to load.
5. Keep agent instruction protocols out of Capsule.toml. Host plugins may vendor a compact trigger and the user-space Skills service may index workspace or principal-home entries. Serve version-matched capsule guidance through an ordinary IPC tool.
6. tool_describe must publish, not return — covered by depending on astrid-sdk = "0.7" (0.7.1+). The macro does it right; don't hand-roll describe.
7. Empty [publish]/[subscribe] = silent muteness. Fail-closed means no error you'll notice quickly — the capsule just can't talk on the bus.
8. env::var is per-principal; never cache it in a OnceLock/static — you'd pin one principal's config for everyone.
9. recv timeout returns Ok with empty messages, not an error. Branching on an error string for timeout is dead code.

No longer a footgun: earlier kernels had a describe fan-out that was non-deterministically incomplete on the first prompt after boot. That race is fixed in the current kernel — if your tools are in the manifest and the capsule loaded, the model will see them. If they don't appear, it is almost certainly a real manifest problem (run capsule_doctor), not a kernel race.

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13. Security Mindset

Capsules run other people's prompts and handle untrusted, LLM-supplied arguments. Three rules, always:

1. Validate untrusted input. Reject path traversal in any name/path argument (/, \, ..). The LLM will, eventually, hand you ../../etc/passwd. The VFS gate also rejects .., but validate at your edge too.
2. Least capability. Declare the narrowest fs_*/net/host_process scope that works. The manifest ACL is your blast radius — and the first thing a reviewer reads.
3. Fail closed. On any doubt — missing capability, malformed input, denied topic — refuse rather than guess. Gate sensitive actions on message.principal.verified(). The kernel fails closed; your code should too.

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14. Design Principles — Write Small Capsules

The kernel is dumb on purpose, and the consequence is: a capsule should do one thing. The runtime composes many small capsules over the bus; it does not host a few large ones. This isn't style — it's what the security model rewards:

• Least privilege is a function of scope. A file-reader needs only fs_read. Fold in writes, network, and process-spawn and its floor becomes the union of all of them — a permanent, maximal blast radius. A prompt injection into a single-purpose reader can at worst read files it could already read.
• Compose, don't embed. Capsules don't call each other — they publish and subscribe. Need a capability you don't own? Publish to the capsule that owns it. Adding behaviour = adding a capsule, never forking a monolith.
• Keep tools cohesive. The tools a capsule exports should share a domain. A capsule whose tools have nothing in common is a bundle, not a capsule.
• Push state to where it belongs. Routing/transform capsules stay stateless; durable state lives in session/memory/KV.

Read the [capabilities] block as a job description. If it spans unrelated domains (files and network and process), that's the smell, not the feature.

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15. The Forge Tools

The forge capsule — bundled with Unicity AOS and bridged to this Grok Build session over MCP when AOS is running — gives you tools to do all of the above without leaving the chat:

Tool	Use it when
forge_quickstart	You want the condensed build-your-first-capsule guide inline.
scaffold_capsule { name }	You want a complete compiling skeleton as path -> content JSON to write out.
explain_interface { name }	You need to read a WIT contract (e.g. tool, llm, session) plus a plain-English summary.
suggest_capabilities { intent }	You describe what the capsule should do and get the exact manifest lines (incl. real LLM-provider topics).
validate_manifest { toml }	You want your Capsule.toml linted for the common mistakes before you build.
capsule_doctor { name }	A capsule loaded but its tools don't appear, or an import is unsatisfied — diagnose it.

(If those tools aren't present, AOS isn't running or the forge capsule isn't installed — every step above also works with the aos CLI and by hand, so you are never blocked.)

Welcome to capsule authoring. Scaffold one and ship it.