Files
Cortex-Inara/documentation/MASTER.md
Scott Idem 658c508925 feat: multi-level agent management — background agents, lifecycle tools, 3-level hierarchy
agent_manager.py (new):
- AgentRecord dataclass: agent_id, level (1/2/3), role, task, status, started,
  parent_id (lineage), finished, result, notify, _task_ref
- register() / finish() / cancel_agent() / list_agents() / get() / set_task_ref()
- Calls notification.notify() on completion when notify=True (same channel as
  reminders and cron completions)
- 24-hour pruning of completed records on each new registration

spawn_agent (tools/agents.py):
- background=True: fires asyncio.create_task(), registers in agent_manager, returns
  agent_id string immediately — sync path unchanged (no regression)
- notify=True: push/Talk notification when the background task completes
- Level enforcement: _agent_level param tracks hierarchy depth; when spawning from
  Level 2, child automatically gets spawn_agent + aider_run denied so Level 3 agents
  cannot delegate further

New lifecycle tools (tools/agents.py + __init__.py):
- agent_status(agent_id) — status, role, level, elapsed, task, result preview; user-level
- agent_list(status, limit) — all agents for current user, newest first; user-level
- agent_cancel(agent_id) — kills background task; admin-only, confirm-required

tests/test_agent_manager.py (new, 41 tests):
- agent_manager CRUD, pruning, notification hook
- spawn_agent background: returns immediately, completes async, timeout, failure
- Level enforcement: L1→L2 permits spawn, L2→L3 auto-denies; explicit tool_list path
- agent_status / agent_list / agent_cancel output formatting
- aider_run background: returns agent_id, completes async, sync path unchanged
- All tests run without browser or Cortex service (~2.5s total)
  Run: cd cortex && .venv/bin/python -m pytest tests/test_agent_manager.py -v

Docs: ARCH__FUTURE.md §13 (full design), ROADMAP.md, TODO__Agents.md, MASTER.md,
HELP.md (orchestrator description corrected, tool schema line updated to reflect
keyword routing), CLAUDE.md tool count 66→69.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-06-03 22:40:20 -04:00

7.4 KiB

Cortex — Master Index

Start here. This document is a map, not a manual. Last updated: 2026-06-03

Documentation philosophy: Cortex is a no-black-box system. Docs must match reality. Update docs before implementing significant changes. Verify they still match after.


What It Is

Cortex is a self-hosted personal AI platform. It routes messages from any input channel to AI backends, manages per-user AI personas with persistent memory, and coordinates across a fleet of machines. It is infrastructure, not a product.

Running at: https://cortex.dgrzone.com | systemctl --user restart cortex


Current State

Component Status Notes
Web UI Live SPA, dark theme, mobile-responsive, PWA-installable
Nextcloud Talk bot Live HMAC-signed, per-user routing
Google Chat Add-on Live JWT-verified, per-user routing
Claude backend Live Primary — via Claude Code CLI
Gemini backend Live Fallback — via Gemini CLI
Local backend Live Open WebUI/Ollama on scott_gaming; per-user multi-model config
Gemini orchestrator Live Tool loop → Claude response, toggle in UI (66 tools)
Local orchestrator Live OpenAI-compatible ReAct loop; used when orchestrator role → local model
Model registry V2 Live Providers (Anthropic/Google/Local), multi-account Gemini, role assignments
Memory distillation Live Short (daily) / Mid (weekly) / Long (monthly)
Multi-user Live Scott, Holly, Brian — each with own personas
Session search Live Full-text search across past session logs
Proactive cron Live 5 job types: remind, note, message, brief, task (full orchestrator loop) → NC Talk / web push
Schedules web UI Live /settings/crons — view, add, edit, pause/resume, delete jobs without going through the AI
Tool audit log Live Every orchestrator tool call logged to home/{user}/tool_audit/
Token usage tracking Live Per-user daily buckets in home/{user}/usage.json; visible in Settings
Web push notifications Live VAPID push; web_push orchestrator tool; subscribe via ☰ menu
Proactive notifications Live Daily reminder check (09:00); distill/cron completion alerts; dedicated /settings/notifications page
Sub-agent spawning Live spawn_agent tool — sync or background; agent_status/agent_list/agent_cancel; 3-level hierarchy (L2→L3 enforcement built in)
Aider coding agent Live aider_run tool — Aider subprocess; model-agnostic (DeepSeek, Ollama, OpenRouter, etc.)
Agent private notes Live AGENT_NOTES.md — orchestrator-only notepad; 3 rolling backups; user-visible as read-only
Distill safety Live Per-persona asyncio lock, per-endpoint cooldowns, Rebuild option
Guided onboarding Live Setup Step 3 for OpenRouter; existing-user banner; settings quick-link

69 orchestrator tools across 17 domain modules — added 2026-06-03: agent_status/agent_list (user-level)/agent_cancel (admin, confirm-required); background mode for spawn_agent (background=True returns agent_id immediately; notify=True sends push on completion); agent_manager.py registry with lineage tracking and 24h pruning; L2→L3 level enforcement auto-denies spawn_agent/aider_run in Level 3 children. Added 2026-05-23: aider_run (Aider coding agent subprocess; project aliases for cortex/aether_api/aether_frontend/aether_container; model-agnostic via .aider.conf.yml or env vars; admin-only, confirm-required). .aider.conf.yml added to project root (read-only context, Python lint-cmd, auto-commits). Added 2026-05-12: file_diff, git_status / git_log / git_diff (read-only git inspection), ae_db_query / ae_db_describe / ae_db_show_view (SELECT-only Aether MariaDB access, admin, per-user credentials). /settings/integrations page added (admin-only). File attachments in chat (images for vision-capable local models; text/code files for all backends). Settings pages unified under pg.css. Added 2026-05-13: task cron type (full orchestrator loop on a schedule); monthly/yearly schedule formats (monthly, monthly:DD:HH:MM, yearly:MM:DD:HH:MM); Schedules web UI at /settings/crons (list, add, edit, pause, delete); HA inbound webhook tools toggle (orchestrator vs. direct LLM); Anthropic API key backend (anthropic_api model type via Anthropic SDK — alternative to CLI OAuth); Cloud APIs catalog in Model Registry — named provider picker (OpenRouter, OpenAI, Groq, X.ai/Grok, Together.ai, Fireworks.ai, Custom) with auto-filled URLs; hosts split into Cloud APIs / Local Hosts sections. Added 2026-05-15: Per-user custom roles — three required roles (chat, orchestrator, distill) are always present; users can add/remove custom roles (e.g. coder, research) via the Model Registry UI; existing .env-defined roles auto-migrated. Settings pages (local_llm.html + all settings pages) migrated to Tailwind CSS CDN (no build step); preflight: false preserves pg.css base styles; input[type=checkbox/radio] global width fix in pg.css; btn-submit now responsive (w-full md:w-96).

Active users / personas: scott/inara, holly/tina, brian/wintermute


Document Map

Project-Level

Doc What it covers
This file Index and current state
CORTEX.md Vision, philosophy, "what it is and isn't"
ROADMAP.md Phases — what's done, what's next, what's deferred
TODO__Agents.md Active task list — read before starting work

Architecture

Doc What it covers
ARCH__SYSTEM.md Overall architecture, component map, key design decisions
ARCH__BACKENDS.md LLM backends, routing, fallback, per-user config
ARCH__PERSONA.md Persona system, context tiers, memory distillation
ARCH__CHANNELS.md Input channels — web, NC Talk, Google Chat, cron
ARCH__FUTURE.md Planned: local orchestrator, dev agents, knowledge layer

Setup & Reference

Doc What it covers
docs/NEXTCLOUD_TALK_BOT.md NC Talk bot setup and troubleshooting
docs/GOOGLE_CHAT_BOT.md Google Chat Add-on setup
docs/OPEN_WEBUI_API.md Open WebUI/Ollama API reference for local model work

Code-Level

Doc What it covers
CLAUDE.md Project instructions for Claude Code — directory map, run commands, design decisions
README.md Project root orientation, quick-start, user management
cortex/static/HELP.md In-app help (rendered in UI for all users)
SELF_UPDATE.md Bootstrap for agents doing self-maintenance — git, Syncthing, scripts, doc checklist

Quick Reference

Start the service / check logs

systemctl --user restart cortex
journalctl --user -u cortex -f

Syntax check before restart

python3 -m py_compile cortex/<file>.py

Add a user

cd cortex && .venv/bin/python manage_passwords.py invite <username> <email>

Run tests

cd cortex && .venv/bin/python -m pytest tests/ -q