meshclaw 1.2.42

AI-native operations runtime for vssh-backed infrastructure

MeshClaw

MeshClaw is an AI-native operations runtime for real infrastructure.

Codex, Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, and local models can already SSH into servers and run commands. MeshClaw exists for the part that raw SSH and chat history do not solve: shared infrastructure state, policy checks, approval gates, repeatable workflows, structured execution results, secret handles, failure classification, and evidence bundles.

MeshClaw is not a chatbot and not a generic assistant. Users keep talking to their preferred AI frontend. MeshClaw is the runtime those AI operators call when they need to inspect or operate real servers safely.

Codex / Claude / Cursor / Open WebUI / local LLM
  -> MeshClaw MCP or CLI
  -> inventory + capabilities + policy + workflows + vault handles + evidence
  -> vssh / local adapters / provider adapters / monitor agents
  -> servers / models / APIs / devices

Why Not Just SSH?

SSH gives an AI a shell. MeshClaw gives an AI an operations control plane:

• typed node and capability inventory
• policy decisions before execution
• approval-required and deny-by-default boundaries
• workflow depends_on, retry, fallback_for, and step timeouts
• structured status, failure_kind, and next_action
• evidence bundles with plan.md, execution.json, steps.jsonl, and report.html
• local vault handles and secret_env injection without exposing raw secrets
• vssh-backed fan-out and remote execution for AI-friendly infrastructure work

The goal is not to replace Codex or Claude. The goal is to give them a safer, repeatable runtime when they operate real infrastructure.

First 5 Minutes

pip install -U meshclaw vssh
meshclaw --version
meshclaw init
meshclaw quickstart --json
meshclaw setup-check --json
meshclaw doctor --json
meshclaw nodes list
meshclaw workflows inspect fleet-health-demo --json
meshclaw run fleet-health-demo --dry-run --json
meshclaw run fleet-readonly-execute-demo --execute --json
meshclaw evidence open latest
meshclaw mcp

This is the preferred first-run path for Codex, Claude, Cursor, and local LLM operators:

1. quickstart runs setup diagnostics, workflow inspection, and a safe dry-run evidence bundle in one command.
2. setup-check / doctor checks the local MeshClaw, VSSH, MCP, policy, and evidence configuration before blaming the fleet.
3. nodes list shows the fleet inventory that AI clients can reason over.
4. workflows inspect shows the plan before any action is executed.
5. run ... --dry-run creates a deterministic evidence bundle without private mail, DNS, provider credentials, or destructive operations.
6. fleet-readonly-execute-demo --execute captures bounded real server state without mutation, using representative hosts and longer diagnostic timeouts.
7. evidence open latest opens the generated plan.md, execution.json, steps.jsonl, meshclaw-actions.md, and report.html.
8. mcp exposes the same runtime to Codex, Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients.

Controller And Worker Lanes

MeshClaw does not require every desktop node to be always on. The intended operating model is:

• MacBook: interactive controller lane. Codex, Claude, Cursor, browsers, local review, and screenshots run here while the MacBook is awake.
• Mac mini: always-on worker lane. Monitor agents, Open WebUI/Ollama services, Matrix/Open WebUI bridges, periodic checks, and evidence collection should live here when continuous operation is needed.
• Fleet servers: execution lanes. vssh daemons and service checks run on the real server nodes.

If Codex or Claude is running on the MacBook, MeshClaw can still operate the fleet from that controller. For unattended operation, move the long-running agent process to the Mac mini and keep the MacBook as a human-facing control and verification node.

What MeshClaw Owns

MeshClaw owns:

• server inventory
• model and API capability registry
• workspace registry: which model/human is working on which server/folder
• capacity and budget facts
• fleet status
• policy answers
• safe remote execution
• server operations agent workflows
• log analysis
• security checks
• provision/bootstrap/deprovision hooks
• diagnostics and repair plans
• service/log/deploy runbooks
• audit and evidence
• CLI, dashboard, and MCP surfaces
• AI-operator friendly outputs for Codex and Claude

MeshClaw does not own:

• general chat
• assistant personality
• Matrix-first personal assistant behavior
• Siri or Shortcuts automation
• mail, calendar, browser, or lifestyle assistant tools
• multi-agent roleplay or broad coworker orchestration
• coding-agent replacement workflows

The product direction is fixed in docs/SURVIVAL_DIRECTION.md: MeshClaw is the shared operational truth and execution-control layer for Codex, Claude, local models, Matrix operations rooms, and human operators.

For a current handoff, start with docs/CURRENT_SYSTEM_OVERVIEW.md. It records the active branch, runtime architecture, current MCP/CLI surface, recent milestones, known gaps, and the next development path for another Codex or Claude operator.

Install

Public install target:

pip install -U meshclaw vssh
meshclaw init
meshclaw --install-binary
meshclaw --print-binary
meshclaw mcp

The meshclaw PyPI package is a Python entrypoint that finds the real Go runtime. If no runtime binary is present, it tries to bootstrap one with go install into ~/.local/bin. Operators can override that behavior:

MESHCLAW_BIN=/path/to/meshclaw meshclaw help
MESHCLAW_AUTO_INSTALL=0 meshclaw --no-auto-install help
MESHCLAW_INSTALL_DIR=/opt/meshclaw/bin meshclaw --install-binary

During local development the Go binaries can be built directly:

go build -o /Users/dragon/bin/meshclaw ./cmd/meshclaw
cd /Users/dragon/meshpop-repos/vssh && go build -o /Users/dragon/bin/vssh ./cmd/vssh

First Test

Run these before connecting an AI client:

meshclaw init
meshclaw quickstart --json
meshclaw setup-check --json
meshclaw doctor --json
meshclaw workflows
meshclaw workflows scaffold my-first-ops --json
meshclaw workflows validate ~/.meshclaw/workflows/my-first-ops.json --json
meshclaw workflows validate fleet-health-demo --json
meshclaw workflows inspect fleet-health-demo --json
meshclaw run fleet-health-demo --dry-run --json
meshclaw run fleet-readonly-execute-demo --execute --json
meshclaw workflows plan-execute latest --json
meshclaw evidence open latest
meshclaw doctor --json
meshclaw nodes list
meshclaw capabilities
meshclaw capabilities validate --json
meshclaw capabilities recommend "choose a GPU model worker" --json
meshclaw guard-modes --json
meshclaw guard-model --json
meshclaw guard-vault --json
meshclaw guard-vault-init --json
meshclaw guard-vault-list --json
meshclaw guard-vault-use vault://meshclaw/scope/name TOKEN_ENV --approve --actor dragon --reason "bounded use" -- command args
meshclaw guard-detect chat "token=..." --json
meshclaw guard-posture --json
meshclaw monitor-check
meshclaw autoheal-plan --json
meshclaw doctor d1
meshclaw service-audit d1
meshclaw data-clean-plan d1 /home
meshclaw policy-check codex data_clean_apply server
meshclaw evidence-list 10
meshclaw mcp

Expected behavior:

• fleet-health-demo creates a repeatable evidence bundle without requiring private email, DNS, or provider credentials
• fleet-readonly-execute-demo creates a real read-only evidence bundle from bounded fleet diagnostics without mutating hosts
• the bundle includes plan.md, execution.json, steps.jsonl, meshclaw-actions.md, and report.html
• read-only tools return structured facts and evidence paths
• Guard commands redact secrets before returning evidence to AI operators
• autoheal-plan marks each action with policy_decision and approval_required
• autoheal-apply-safe executes only mode=auto_safe, policy_decision=allow, approval_required=false actions
• cleanup starts with data-clean-plan; destructive apply requires approval and manifest evidence

Developer Commands

The full local command surface is broader:

go run ./cmd/meshclaw direction
go run ./cmd/meshclaw list
go run ./cmd/meshclaw capabilities
go run ./cmd/meshclaw capabilities init --force
go run ./cmd/meshclaw status
go run ./cmd/meshclaw monitor-check
go run ./cmd/meshclaw ops-control
go run ./cmd/meshclaw ops-control --apply-safe
go run ./cmd/meshclaw monitor-agent 5m
go run ./cmd/meshclaw monitor-agent 10m --hygiene
go run ./cmd/meshclaw fleet-scan --hosts d1,v1 --security --hygiene --logs --json
go run ./cmd/meshclaw service-triage --limit 5
go run ./cmd/meshclaw autoheal-plan
go run ./cmd/meshclaw autoheal-apply-safe
go run ./cmd/meshclaw disk-investigate d1 /home/dell
go run ./cmd/meshclaw data-clean-plan d1 /home/dell/kobolt
go run ./cmd/meshclaw data-clean-apply d1 /tmp/meshclaw-data-clean-plan-d1-...
go run ./cmd/meshclaw policy-check codex read_state server
go run ./cmd/meshclaw policy-show
go run ./cmd/meshclaw policy-init --preset devops
go run ./cmd/meshclaw policy-presets
go run ./cmd/meshclaw matrix-plan
go run ./cmd/meshclaw workers
go run ./cmd/meshclaw workspace-list
go run ./cmd/meshclaw workspace-add meshclaw-local local /Users/dragon/meshclaw codex serverops
go run ./cmd/meshclaw workspace-activity meshclaw-local codex edit "added workspace registry"
go run ./cmd/meshclaw ops-chat
go run ./cmd/meshclaw ops-dispatch matrix "!workers"
go run ./cmd/meshclaw ops-dispatch openwebui "workspaces"
go run ./cmd/meshclaw evidence-list 10
go run ./cmd/meshclaw ai-guide --json
go run ./cmd/meshclaw tool-recommend "d1 disk cleanup and duplicate checkpoint removal" --json
go run ./cmd/meshclaw adapters --json
go run ./cmd/meshclaw workflows
go run ./cmd/meshclaw workflows validate fleet-health-demo --json
go run ./cmd/meshclaw workflows inspect fleet-health-demo --json
go run ./cmd/meshclaw run fleet-health-demo --dry-run --json
go run ./cmd/meshclaw workflows inspect meshclaw-ops-orchestration-demo --json
go run ./cmd/meshclaw run meshclaw-ops-orchestration-demo --dry-run --json
go run ./cmd/meshclaw workflows inspect email-orchestration-demo --json
go run ./cmd/meshclaw workflows resume latest --json
go run ./cmd/meshclaw approvals grant latest send-approval --actor dragon --reason "approved test email send"
go run ./cmd/meshclaw approvals list latest
go run ./cmd/meshclaw run email-orchestration-demo --execute --approvals latest --json
go run ./cmd/meshclaw run email-orchestration-demo --dry-run --step send-approval --json
go run ./cmd/meshclaw run meshclaw-runtime-why-demo --dry-run
go run ./cmd/meshclaw run meshclaw-runtime-why-demo --execute
go run ./cmd/meshclaw evidence open latest
go run ./cmd/meshclaw run d1 'hostname && uptime'
go run ./cmd/meshclaw doctor d1
go run ./cmd/meshclaw analyze-logs d1 syslog
go run ./cmd/meshclaw service-check v3 server-agent.service
go run ./cmd/meshclaw service-remove v3 walknews.service /root/walknews
go run ./cmd/meshclaw security-check d1
go run ./cmd/meshclaw hygiene-plan d1
go run ./cmd/meshclaw hygiene-scan-host d1
go run ./cmd/meshclaw provision-plan batch-log-analysis 10
go run ./cmd/meshclaw mcp

The execution path is vssh-native first over Tailscale/private network. SSH is only a fallback for nodes that do not have vssh server running yet. Wire remains legacy compatibility.

Default remote execution requires:

Tailscale/private route + vssh server + VSSH_SECRET

Fallback execution still needs Tailscale + sshd + SSH key/user mapping.

Product Claim

Kubernetes is for orchestrating containerized workloads. MeshClaw is for operating the servers that already exist: VPS nodes, home servers, GPU boxes, NAS devices, Docker hosts, mail servers, and small private infrastructure. When existing capacity is not enough, MeshClaw exposes approved provisioning hooks so an AI operator can plan, rent, bootstrap, attach, use, and tear down temporary servers under policy.

Agent Workflows

MeshClaw should expose repeatable infrastructure workflows as MCP tools and CLI commands. These workflows return structured findings, risk levels, evidence, and recommended next actions. Codex, Claude, or a local model explains and coordinates the plan; MeshClaw supplies the operational truth.

Initial workflows:

• examples/workflows/fleet-health.json: generic first-run fleet health example for OSS users; validate and run this before adapting a private workflow
• examples/workflows/service-triage-autoheal.json: host/service triage example with dependency gates, fallback log capture, and approval-gated remediation
• examples/workflows/model-worker-orchestration.json: local model worker orchestration example with placement, retry, fallback, and approval gates
• fleet-health-demo: generic server operations workflow loaded from workflows/fleet-health-demo.json; this is the preferred OSS-facing example because it is not tied to email
• meshclaw-ops-orchestration-demo: combined AI-operator workflow loaded from workflows/meshclaw-ops-orchestration-demo.json; it explains why MeshClaw and vssh are needed when Codex/Claude can do one-off manual orchestration, then ties together fleet state, mail/DNS approval gates, Ollama worker lanes, service triage, autoheal planning, cleanup planning, screenshot evidence, and a final runtime report
• meshclaw-runtime-why-demo: prove why MeshClaw exists when Codex/Claude can already do the work; render the positioning artifact and write a runtime evidence bundle
• ollama-orchestration-demo: replay model-worker orchestration with structured failures and evidence
• email-orchestration-demo: replay mail/DNS/Mox operations with approval gates for real sends or provider changes
• doctor: diagnose reachability, services, capacity, and runtime health
• monitor-check: check the whole fleet and store evidence
• ops-control: summarize fleet health, service risks, auto-safe candidates, next commands, and evidence in one server-management control report
• monitor-agent: continuously collect fleet state and alert evidence; with --hygiene, it also stores redacted sensitive-data leak findings
• fleet-scan: run monitor, security, logs, and redacted hygiene checks across selected hosts and store one evidence bundle for AI review
• autoheal-plan: convert fleet alerts and service triage into structured actions with policy_decision and approval_required
• autoheal-apply-safe: execute only plan actions where mode=auto_safe, policy_decision=allow, and approval_required=false; all other plan actions are skipped with evidence
• disk-investigate: collect disk evidence without deleting data
• data-clean-plan: find raw/intermediate/checkpoint cleanup candidates, preserve clean/final outputs, and write both a manifest and structured JSONL sidecar with category, risk, size, and reason
• data-clean-apply: apply a manifest generated by data-clean-plan; policy requires approval for real deletion
• analyze-logs: summarize recent logs, detect errors, and cite evidence
• service-check: collect read-only systemd status, unit config, and logs
• service-triage: run service audit, inspect top candidates, and classify them as real incidents, stale boot-only findings, ignore candidates, or approval-required actions
• service-quarantine: disable a flapping service only when its ExecStart target is missing
• service-remove: stop/disable a local systemd service, remove its local unit, and optionally remove its matching working directory
• security-check: check SSH exposure, users, updates, firewall, open ports, failed logins, risky services, and secret handling
• hygiene-plan: continuously detect sensitive data leaks, log leaks, risky permissions, and safe remediation opportunities
• hygiene-scan-host: scan likely remote logs/config files for redacted secret and PII leak evidence without storing raw values
• capacity-plan: decide whether existing servers are enough
• provision-plan: propose temporary VPS/GPU capacity under budget policy

Runtime workflows can be built into the binary or loaded from JSON files in ./workflows, ~/.meshclaw/workflows, or directories listed in MESHCLAW_WORKFLOW_DIR. This keeps domain workflows such as email, DNS, VPS provisioning, or browser automation outside the runtime core.

meshclaw adapters [--json] lists runtime adapters and whether they actually execute. local and vssh are executable today. manual, policy, mail, dns, browser, and cloud are evidence-only placeholders until concrete adapters are configured.

Workflow execution has bounded step timeouts so one slow remote command cannot hold the whole run indefinitely. Defaults are local=90s and remote=15s; override with MESHCLAW_WORKFLOW_LOCAL_TIMEOUT_SECONDS and MESHCLAW_WORKFLOW_REMOTE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS when running heavy diagnostics.

Every workflow bundle includes an AI handoff section in meshclaw-actions.md and report.html. The handoff tells Codex, Claude, or a local model to treat execution.json as source of truth, steps.jsonl as the timeline, and approval-required skips as intentional gates rather than failures.

meshclaw workflows inspect <name> is the preflight view for Codex, Claude, and local LLMs. It returns the workflow steps, approval gates, required adapters, required nodes, policy decisions, and matching capability IDs before anything is executed.

meshclaw workflows validate <workflow|file.json> checks workflow structure before a run. It reports duplicate step IDs, unknown adapters, broken depends_on and fallback_for references, invalid vault handles, secret_env errors, missing commands for executable adapters, and policy-denied steps. Invalid workflows exit non-zero while still returning structured JSON when --json is used, making the command useful in CI and for AI operators.

meshclaw workflows resume [latest|bundle|execution.json] reads a previous workflow evidence bundle and writes resume-plan.json. It does not execute anything. It classifies failed, retryable, approval-pending, and dry-run ready-for-execute steps so an AI operator can continue from evidence instead of reconstructing state from chat history. Resume items include action, resource, approval actor, approval time, and approval source when available.

meshclaw approvals grant ... appends an approval record to approvals.jsonl inside the workflow evidence bundle. workflow resume reads that file and changes matching steps from approval_pending to approved_ready. Approval records identify actor, workflow, step, action, resource, reason, source, timestamp, and bundle path.

meshclaw run <workflow> --execute --approvals latest loads approval records from a previous evidence bundle and records matching approval metadata on each execution result. Approval-gated local and vssh steps can execute after approval. Approval-gated non-executable adapters such as policy, manual, mail, or provider steps are kept as structured skipped results until a specific adapter exists, so approvals are auditable but not over-interpreted. Use --step <id[,id]> to rerun only selected workflow steps from a resume plan instead of replaying the whole workflow. meshclaw workflows plan-execute also validates the effective capability registry, so execute mode is blocked when node/model/API capability metadata is malformed.

Policy is loaded from ~/.meshclaw/policy.json, or from MESHCLAW_POLICY_FILE when set. Configured rules are evaluated before the built-in safety defaults, so operators can grant or restrict Codex, Claude, local LLMs, and automations without changing code.

The capability registry is loaded from ~/.meshclaw/capabilities.json, or from MESHCLAW_CAPABILITY_FILE when set. meshclaw capabilities init --force writes a starter registry, then MeshClaw merges it with inventory-discovered node capabilities such as GPU workers, NAS/storage nodes, mail servers, and automation lanes. Secrets remain use-only; capability listings describe what is available without revealing credentials. meshclaw capabilities validate checks a registry before AI placement or execute mode and returns structured errors and warnings instead of asking models to infer problems from prose. Inventory role and tag refinements belong in ~/.meshclaw/inventory_overrides.json or MESHCLAW_INVENTORY_OVERRIDES_FILE, so private fleet meaning stays operator-owned instead of hardcoded in MeshClaw. Use meshclaw inventory-override set <node> --role <role> --tag <tag> to manage these refinements without editing JSON by hand. meshclaw capabilities recommend <intent> scores capability IDs for model, mail, automation, storage, provisioning, and API intents with reasons, approval flags, and secret-handling cautions. meshclaw workflows inspect <workflow> --json includes per-step capability_hints so operators and models can see likely capability IDs before execute mode. Workflow runs also write capability_class and capability_hints into execution.json, steps.jsonl, and meshclaw-actions.md, keeping placement rationale inside the evidence bundle instead of leaving it only in chat.

Runtime workflow evidence bundles also snapshot the capability registry:

evidence/latest/
  plan.md
  execution.json
  steps.jsonl
  capabilities.json
  meshclaw-actions.md
  report.html

This makes a Codex/Claude operation reproducible: the model can see not only what steps ran, but also what servers, model lanes, storage nodes, APIs, and approval-gated capabilities were available at that moment.

Natural-language conversation is owned by Codex, Claude, ChatGPT, Open WebUI, or another model frontend. MeshClaw makes that conversation operational by exposing MCP tools, policy decisions, vssh execution, and evidence.

Hygiene workflows are allowed to auto-apply only safe repairs such as permission hardening, redacted log copies, and quarantine. Destructive actions, secret rotation, database edits, service restarts, and provider revocation need approval.

Non-Conversation Rule

All natural-language planning belongs to Codex, Claude, ChatGPT, local LLMs, or another operator frontend. MeshClaw interfaces return structured facts and action results. Matrix is allowed as an operations room, notification channel, approval channel, and optional MCP command surface; it is not the assistant brain.

Real Matrix bridge commands:

meshclaw matrix-config-init --force
meshclaw matrix-post "MeshClaw Matrix bridge connected"
meshclaw matrix-sync-once
meshclaw matrix-bridge

Archived Previous Version

The previous broad personal-AI-runtime version was archived outside this repo:

/Users/dragon/meshclaw-archive-20260516-serverops-pivot

Current Handoff

See:

docs/HANDOFF_2026-05-16.md
docs/MCP_SETUP.md

MCP

Run:

meshclaw mcp

AI operator rule of thumb:

• Use MeshClaw MCP for policy, state, capability registry, workflow runs, approval boundaries, and evidence.
• Use direct vssh only for low-level structured remote execution, typed facts, daemon RPC, parallel execution primitives, or debugging MeshClaw adapters.
• Prefer meshclaw_run_evidence over raw vssh/SSH when Codex/Claude needs an audit trail.
• Prefer meshclaw_workflow_run over reconstructing multi-step operations from chat history.
• Use meshclaw_tool_recommend when an AI operator is unsure whether an intent belongs in MeshClaw, direct vssh, or a safer plan/apply workflow.

Canonical tools:

• meshclaw_ai_guide
• meshclaw_tool_recommend
• meshclaw_workflow_list
• meshclaw_workflow_run
• meshclaw_workflow_plan_execute
• meshclaw_evidence_latest
• meshclaw_ops_control
• meshclaw_run_evidence

Tool surface:

• meshclaw_server_list
• meshclaw_ai_guide
• meshclaw_doctor
• meshclaw_tool_recommend
• meshclaw_workers
• meshclaw_workspace_list
• meshclaw_workspace_add
• meshclaw_workspace_activity
• meshclaw_capability_list
• meshclaw_capability_validate
• meshclaw_capability_recommend
• meshclaw_monitor_check
• meshclaw_autoheal_plan
• meshclaw_autoheal_apply_safe
• meshclaw_workflow_list
• meshclaw_workflow_run
• meshclaw_evidence_latest
• meshclaw_evidence_list
• meshclaw_policy_check
• meshclaw_policy_show
• meshclaw_matrix_plan
• meshclaw_ops_dispatch
• meshclaw_provision_plan
• meshclaw_run_evidence
• meshclaw_disk_investigate
• meshclaw_data_clean_plan
• meshclaw_data_clean_apply
• meshclaw_service_check
• meshclaw_service_audit
• meshclaw_service_triage
• meshclaw_service_quarantine
• meshclaw_service_remove
• meshclaw_fleet_scan
• meshclaw_fleet_service_audit
• meshclaw_security_check
• meshclaw_hygiene_scan_host
• meshclaw_node_repair_plan
• meshclaw_vssh_daemon_audit
• meshclaw_vssh_auth_paths
• meshclaw_process_top
• meshclaw_orchestration_plan
• meshclaw_placement_plan
• meshclaw_workflow_inspect
• meshclaw_workflow_plan_execute
• meshclaw_workflow_resume
• meshclaw_approvals_list
• meshclaw_approvals_grant
• meshclaw_job_start
• meshclaw_job_status
• meshclaw_job_logs
• meshclaw_job_cancel
• meshclaw_artifact_collect

Tool names use underscores. Dotted names such as meshclaw.autoheal_plan are legacy documentation bugs and are not valid MCP tool names.