update-container-re

name	update_container_re
description	Update the Claude Code web container reverse engineering effort. Detects changed binaries, captures new references, runs parallel RE subagents for bindiff/decompilation, updates container snapshot/diff, and refreshes all documentation.
argument-hint	[--detect-only] [--skip-re] [--skip-diff]
allowed-tools	Bash, Read, Grep, Glob, Edit, Write, Agent, WebSearch, WebFetch

Claude Code Web Container RE Update

Complete procedure for updating the reverse engineering effort when the live container has changed. This covers binary updates, full disassembly-based reverse engineering of deltas, container reconstruction diffing, and documentation refresh.

Argument: $ARGUMENTS — optional flags to limit scope.

Directory: devinfra/claude/web_env/ in the repo root.

Prerequisite: Phases 1-3 (detection, binary capture, metadata) require running inside a Claude Code web container with access to the live binaries. Phase 5 (container build) works from any machine with Docker and network access — it fetches packages from pinned Ubuntu snapshot archives via fetch_debs.py, not dpkg-repack.

---

Phase 1: Detection — What Changed?

Compare live binaries against stored references to determine scope.

# Environment-manager
LIVE_EM_HASH=$(md5sum /opt/env-runner/environment-manager | awk '{print $1}')
REF_EM_HASH=$(zcat devinfra/claude/web_env/reference/environment-manager.gz | md5sum | awk '{print $1}')
echo "environment-manager: live=$LIVE_EM_HASH ref=$REF_EM_HASH"

# process_api (PID 1)
LIVE_PA_HASH=$(md5sum /proc/1/exe | awk '{print $1}')
REF_PA_HASH=$(zcat devinfra/claude/web_env/reference/process_api.gz | md5sum | awk '{print $1}')
echo "process_api: live=$LIVE_PA_HASH ref=$REF_PA_HASH"

# Quick version check
/usr/local/bin/environment-manager --version 2>&1

If hashes match, the binaries haven't changed — skip binary RE and go to Phase 5 (container diff) to check for package/config changes only.

Extract key properties of changed binaries:

# For environment-manager (Go, has DWARF)
file /opt/env-runner/environment-manager
readelf -n /opt/env-runner/environment-manager | grep "Build ID"
go version -m /opt/env-runner/environment-manager | head -5

# For process_api (Rust, stripped)
file /proc/1/exe
readelf -n /proc/1/exe | grep "Build ID"
wc -c < /proc/1/exe  # Size comparison
strings /proc/1/exe | grep 'process_api_20'  # Release string

---

Phase 2: Capture New References

2a. Binaries

# process_api
cp /proc/1/exe /tmp/process_api_new
gzip -c /tmp/process_api_new > devinfra/claude/web_env/reference/process_api.gz

# environment-manager
cp /opt/env-runner/environment-manager /tmp/env-manager-new
gzip -c /tmp/env-manager-new > devinfra/claude/web_env/reference/environment-manager.gz

2b. Version Snapshot

bazel run //devinfra/claude/web_env/tools:capture_versions -- \
  > devinfra/claude/web_env/reference/versions-$(date +%Y-%m-%d).yaml

# Diff against previous
bazel run //devinfra/claude/web_env/tools:capture_versions -- \
  --diff devinfra/claude/web_env/reference/versions-YYYY-MM-DD.yaml

2c. Metadata

# Sandbox settings
/usr/local/bin/environment-manager print-sandbox-settings \
  > devinfra/claude/web_env/reference/sandbox-settings.json

# Subcommand help
{
  /usr/local/bin/environment-manager --help 2>&1
  /usr/local/bin/environment-manager --version 2>&1
  /usr/local/bin/environment-manager setup --help 2>&1
  /usr/local/bin/environment-manager orchestrator --help 2>&1
  /usr/local/bin/environment-manager task-run --help 2>&1
  /usr/local/bin/environment-manager poll --help 2>&1
} > devinfra/claude/web_env/reference/subcommands.txt

# Environment variables
env | grep -E '^(CLAUDE|CODESIGN|MCP_)' | sort \
  > devinfra/claude/web_env/reference/claude-env-vars.txt

---

Phase 3: Update RE Source In-Place

RE source lives directly under re/process_api/src/ and re/environment_manager/src/ (flat layout — no BuildID subdirectories). The current Build ID is documented in each binary's README.md and PLAN.md, not encoded in directory names.

NEW_EM_BUILDID=$(readelf -n /tmp/env-manager-new | grep 'Build ID' | awk '{print substr($NF,1,8)}')
NEW_PA_BUILDID=$(readelf -n /tmp/process_api_new | grep 'Build ID' | awk '{print substr($NF,1,8)}')

echo "environment-manager: $NEW_EM_BUILDID"
echo "process_api: $NEW_PA_BUILDID"

# Update Build ID references in RE source and documentation
# (previous versions are preserved in git history)

---

Phase 4: Parallel RE Subagents

Launch two parallel subagents — one per changed binary. Each works in isolation (ideally in a worktree) to avoid conflicts.

Subagent 1: environment-manager (Go with DWARF)

The Go binary ships with full debug info. Use go tool objdump for actual disassembly — not string-level guessing.

Census (run in parallel within subagent):

BIN=/tmp/env-manager-new

# 1. Dependencies and build flags
go version -m "$BIN"

# 2. DWARF source file list
go tool objdump "$BIN" 2>/dev/null | grep -oP 'TEXT \K\S+' | \
  grep -E '(cmd/|internal/)' | sed 's/\..*//' | sort -u

# 3. Application function count and list
go tool nm "$BIN" | grep -E '^0x[0-9a-f]+ T' | \
  grep -E '(cmd\.|internal/)' > /tmp/em-new-functions.txt

# 4. Application strings
strings "$BIN" | sort -u > /tmp/em-new-strings.txt

Diff against old RE:

• Compare source file lists (find new/removed Go files)
• Compare function lists (find new/removed/resized functions)
• Compare dependency versions
• Compare embedded content (install scripts, hook templates)

Reconstruction: For every new or significantly changed function:

1. go tool objdump -s 'package.FunctionName' "$BIN" — full annotated disassembly
2. Read the assembly with DWARF source line references
3. Reconstruct actual Go source from disassembly
4. Annotate with // Binary: 0xADDRESS

Subagent 2: process_api (Stripped Rust)

The Rust binary is stripped — no symbols, no debug info. Must use Ghidra headless or detailed objdump -d analysis.

Census:

BIN=/tmp/process_api_new

# 1. String diff
diff <(strings /tmp/process_api_old | sort -u) \
     <(strings "$BIN" | sort -u) > /tmp/pa-string-diff.txt

# 2. Section comparison
readelf -S "$BIN"

# 3. Rust source paths from panic messages
strings "$BIN" | grep '/build/src/'

# 4. New CLI flags
strings "$BIN" | grep -E '^--(addr|port|max|block|fire|cgr|mem|cpu|oom|control)'

Decompilation: Use Ghidra headless if available, otherwise careful objdump -d analysis:

1. Map functions via string cross-references (panic paths → source files)
2. For each new function: read actual decompiled C pseudocode
3. Translate to idiomatic Rust guided by known types (serde, clap)
4. Annotate with /// Decompiled from 0xAAAA..0xBBBB

Verification (after each subagent)

1. Build check: bazel build //devinfra/claude/web_env/re/... succeeds
2. String coverage: All application strings in the new binary appear in RE source
3. Function coverage: All DWARF-listed functions (env-manager) have source files
4. Address annotations: Every function has binary address annotation

---

Phase 5: Container Snapshot → Diff

This phase works from any machine with Docker and network access.

Update the Dockerfile if the version diff (Phase 2b) revealed changes:

• Node.js/Bun versions: Update download URLs
• npm globals: Update version pins
• Go versions: Update download URLs
• APT packages: Update live-dpkg-versions.txt and optionally advance SNAPSHOT_DATE in fetch_debs.py

Then fetch packages and rebuild:

# Fetch .deb packages from pinned Ubuntu snapshot archives (no dpkg-repack needed)
bazel run //devinfra/claude/web_env/tools:fetch_debs

# Build and diff (also calls fetch_debs automatically)
bazel run //devinfra/claude/web_env/tools:build_and_diff

Review diff_report.md. Update exclusions.yaml if new runtime artifacts need exclusion. Update PLAN.md with the new diff summary.

---

Phase 6: Documentation Update

Files to update:

File	What to update
devinfra/claude/web_env/PLAN.md	Diff summary, change history entry
devinfra/claude/web_env/docs/environment_discovery.md	env-manager version, help, flags, env vars
devinfra/claude/web_env/docs/container_spec.md	Binary info, new capabilities
devinfra/claude/web_env/re/environment_manager/README.md	Target binary table, source tree, CLI docs
devinfra/claude/web_env/re/process_api/README.md	Target binary, new features
devinfra/claude/web_env/re/*/PLAN.md	Reconstruction status

For environment_discovery.md, verify:

• --version output
• --help for all subcommands
• print-sandbox-settings output
• Environment variables: env | grep -E "^(CLAUDE|CODESIGN|MCP_)"

---

Phase 7: Commit

Commit together:

• Updated reference binaries and version snapshot
• New RE directories with reconstructed source
• Updated Dockerfile and diff report
• Updated documentation

---

Key Principles

• Binary is ground truth. Every RE decision traces to binary evidence.
• Full disassembly, not vibes. Use go tool objdump (Go) or Ghidra (Rust), not string guessing.
• Parallel subagents for independent binary RE work.
• Verify results — builds compile, strings match, functions covered.
• Delta-focused — don't rewrite unchanged code, focus on what changed.
• Flat RE directories — source lives under re/<binary>/src/, Build ID is documented in README.md/PLAN.md headers, not encoded in directory names. Previous versions are preserved in git history.
• Update references only where you edit. Don't mass-replace Build ID strings across all files. Only update the Build ID marker in files where you actually change the RE source or documentation to match the new binary.
• Documentation shows current state only. READMEs should describe the current binary version without historical change summaries or diff sections. Don't accumulate change history in PLAN.md — keep a single current status.

See /reverse_engineer skill for the detailed binary RE methodology.

---

Appendix: Docker Build Proxy Pitfalls

The gVisor sandbox requires an egress proxy for all network access. Docker build containers don't inherit host env vars, so the proxy must be passed via --build-arg http_proxy=... --build-arg https_proxy=....

Critical issue: SHELL wrapper + eval + proxy URLs.

The Dockerfile uses a logging SHELL wrapper:

SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-c", "exec 3>&2; set -euo pipefail; trap '...' ERR; exec > /tmp/build-step.log 2>&1; eval \"$0\""]

This wrapper uses eval "$0" to execute the actual RUN command. When the proxy URL contains special characters (JWT tokens with =, +, /, @), eval can corrupt the URL or prevent APT from parsing the proxy config correctly. Symptoms: apt-get update fails with "Temporary failure resolving" even though the proxy IS reachable (verified via docker run).

Fix: Use plain bash shell for APT-setup layers. Before any RUN that writes APT proxy configuration or runs apt-get update, switch to:

SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-euo", "pipefail", "-c"]

Then restore the logging wrapper afterward. The APT proxy config is written as:

printf 'Acquire::http::Proxy "%s";\nAcquire::https::Proxy "%s";\n' \
  "${http_proxy:-}" "${https_proxy:-}" > /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/01proxy

Docker cache key behavior: Docker excludes predefined proxy build-arg names (http_proxy, https_proxy, etc.) from cache keys. This means layer caching is preserved across sessions with different proxy JWTs. However, it also means changing the RUN instruction text is the only way to bust cache for these layers — clearing with docker builder prune --all -f is the nuclear option.

APT version alignment: The snapshot date pins packages to a specific point in time, but the base image may have newer package versions. Use apt-get dist-upgrade --allow-downgrades to align before installing -dev packages, which have strict version dependencies on their library counterparts.