memphis-rebuild-rust

name	memphis-rebuild-rust
description	Rebuild Memphis NAPI binary after Rust crate changes and verify the runtime will see the new code. Use whenever crates/memphis-{core,operator,napi,vault,tui,case-index,embed}/ source has been modified.
allowed-tools	Bash, Read
paths	["crates/**/*.rs","crates/**/Cargo.toml"]

Rebuild NAPI binary after Rust crate changes

The TS host loads the compiled crates/memphis-napi/index.node at module-load time and ESM caches it. Rust source edits are silent until the binary is rebuilt — this is the #1 source of "I changed the code but Memphis still behaves the old way" reports.

When to run this skill

Trigger automatically (via the paths: glob) any time a crates/**/*.rs file is modified in the session. Trigger manually:

• After git pull that includes Rust crate changes (CI builds artifacts upstream but local checkouts ship source-only)
• After landing a hotfix that touched a crate
• When the operator reports "Memphis isn't picking up my fix"

Steps

1. Sanity-check the source/binary delta

ls -la crates/memphis-napi/index.node
git log --format='%h %ai %s' -1 -- 'crates/**/*.rs'

If the latest Rust commit timestamp is after the binary's mtime, the runtime is stale. Proceed.

2. Build the workspace

npm run build:rust 2>&1 | tail -10

Confirms no compile errors. The script (scripts/run-rust.sh) builds all crates in workspace and copies the NAPI shared library into crates/memphis-napi/index.node.

3. Verify the binary moved

ls -la crates/memphis-napi/index.node

Mtime must be later than the latest Rust commit timestamp from step 1. If unchanged, the build silently failed — re-run with --release or check target/debug/libmemphis_napi.so exists.

4. Tell the operator they need to restart

The TS host process loads .node once at startup. A running memphis serve / TUI session will keep using the old binary in memory. Inform the operator:

Rebuild done. If Memphis is currently running, it needs a restart to pick up the new binary — pkill memphis (or close the TUI) then start fresh.

5. Optional: run targeted tests

If the change touched provider.rs, chat.rs, or loop_engine.rs:

cargo test -p memphis-operator --lib provider:: 2>&1 | tail -20
cargo test -p memphis-core --lib loop_engine:: 2>&1 | tail -20

Anti-patterns

• Don't assume the binary is fresh because compilation finished. The script silently exits 0 even if the copy step is skipped — verify mtime.
• Don't suggest --release reflexively. Debug builds are 5–10× faster to iterate; release is for tagged versions.
• Don't forget restart messaging. Building without restarting = same effect as not building.

Reference memories

• feedback_napi_rebuild_after_rust_changes.md — root-cause documentation
• feedback_truth_model_silent_catch.md — same family ("what's actually running ≠ what source says")
• feedback_install_root_anchoring.md — same family for path resolution