Plan step 23: init owns the files, tools/remote wraps

Decided 2026-09-01: Werkator becomes the executing app, the remote
script a thin wrapper (build, transport, remote execution, service
switching). Parameters travel as env files instead of many options —
'remote --env .env.mih34 werkator ...' selects the target, and
'werkator --env ... init' reads the same file and writes real values
into the files it owns, idempotently; the wrapper's YAML heredocs and
sed patches (the duplicate-block class) die. control-token becomes a
werkator subcommand, check-prerequisites delegates to werkdock doctor.
Explicitly not the removed legacy env-to-YAML conversion: the env file
is setup-time input to init, never runtime configuration.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/plan/23-init-owns-the-files.md

@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+# Step 23: Init Owns the Files, `tools/remote` Wraps
+
+Prerequisites: step 21 session D (the role-named `tools/remote`).
+Read `README.md` first.
+
+## The Problem
+
+`werkator init` and `tools/remote` overlap: both write the machine config — init as a commented template, the script by appending heredoc blocks (`bwrap`, `server`) and patching values with `sed`.
+The script re-implements configuration knowledge Werkator owns (YAML shape, indentation, key names), outside the three-places sync invariant — the indentation-mismatch of one append guard produced nine duplicate `bwrap` blocks on mih34 before it was found.
+Smaller duplications of the same kind: the script re-implements control-token generation in bash (`ControlTokenService` owns it), and `check-prerequisites` still pipes the bash script whose generic half exists as `werkdock doctor`.
+
+## The Decision (2026-09-01)
+
+Werkator becomes the executing app wherever possible; `tools/remote` shrinks to a wrapper: build artifacts locally, transport them, execute Werkator/werkdock remotely, switch services.
+
+Parameters travel as an **env file**, not as many CLI options:
+
+```bash
+tools/remote --env .env.mih34 werkator repo-init
+werkator --env .env.mih34 init
+```
+
+- `tools/remote --env FILE` selects the target (default: `.env`), so several instances (`.env.mih34`, `.env.vm4006`, later a Werkbaum instance) are files, not edits.
+- `werkator --env FILE` loads the same file; `init` reads the `WERKATOR_*` values from it (or from the process environment) and writes **real values** into the files it owns, instead of commented templates the script then patches.
+- The wrapper uploads the env file alongside the artifacts and calls `werkator --env … init` remotely — the heredocs and `sed` calls in `tools/remote` disappear.
+
+Not a relapse into the removed legacy env-to-YAML conversion: the env file is an *input to init at setup time*, written once into the machine config — the server never reads `WERKATOR_*` at runtime, and the YAML stays the single source of truth.
+
+## Env Keys and Their Targets
+
+Consumed by `werkator init` (written into the machine config; re-runs update these managed values in place, schema-aware instead of `sed`):
+
+| Env key | Config key |
+|---|---|
+| `WERKATOR_PORT` | `server.port` |
+| `WERKATOR_DOMAIN` | `server.publicBaseUrl` (`https://<domain>/`) |
+| `WERKATOR_MEMORY_MAX` / `WERKATOR_TASKS_MAX` | `server.systemd.memoryMax` / `tasksMax` |
+| `WERKATOR_ROOTFS` (remote path) | `builds.default.bwrap.rootfs` (+ `bwrap.enabled: true`) |
+| `WERKATOR_WERKDOCK` | `builds.default.bwrap.werkdock` |
+
+Transport-only keys (`WERKATOR_REMOTE`, `WERKATOR_PATH`, `WERKATOR_LOCAL_PORT`, `WERKATOR_REPO_URL`) stay the wrapper's business; init ignores them, documented.
+Secrets (`git.token`, `gitea` keys) stay out of env files on purpose — they are entered in the machine config on the host, as today.
+
+## The Sessions
+
+### A — Werkator side
+
+- Root-level picocli option `--env FILE`: loads `KEY=VALUE` lines into the command's parameter environment; unknown keys are ignored (they belong to the wrapper).
+- `init` writes real values for the keys above when they are set — creating the sections when missing, updating the managed values when present, never duplicating (the duplication class dies here).
+- `init --systemd` keeps generating the units; decide in the session whether the Apache `.htaccess` becomes part of the host-integration output when `WERKATOR_PORT`/`WERKATOR_DOMAIN` are set (proposal: yes, under `init --systemd`, since it is generated host integration exactly like the units).
+- New subcommand `werkator control-token`: print the token, creating it exactly like `ControlTokenService` does — the bash duplication in the wrapper dies.
+- Tests per the writing-tests conventions; `docs/configuration.md` and `docs/bootstrapping.md` document the env keys.
+
+### B — Wrapper side
+
+- `tools/remote --env FILE` (default `.env`); the file is uploaded and every remote `werkator` call gets `--env`.
+- `repo-init` and `instance-start` lose their heredoc/`sed` config writing; `control-token` delegates to the new subcommand.
+- `check-prerequisites` uploads the werkdock binary first and runs `werkdock doctor`; `tools/werkator-build-prerequisites.sh` retires (its werkdock port is the survivor).
+
+### C — Live verification and docs
+
+- Run the full wrapper flow against mih34 (`instance-update`, `repo-init`, `instance-start` as no-op re-runs); `docs/deployment.md`'s webspace section switches to the `--env` invocations.
+
+## Acceptance Criteria
+
+- Session A: `werkator --env … init` writes and updates the managed config values idempotently; `werkator control-token` exists; full suite green.
+- Session B: `tools/remote` contains no YAML heredocs and no `sed` into the machine config; the prerequisites bash script is gone.
+- Session C: the mih34 re-runs change nothing on a configured host and the deployment docs show only `--env`-style calls.

docs/plan/README.md

@@ -95,6 +95,10 @@ Added to correct the bwrap prototype's drift toward self-building on the webspac
 
 - [ ] `21-werkdock-extraction-and-webspace-install.md` — roadmap in four sessions: close step 17's open ends, grow the sandbox tooling into **Werkdock** (a docker-like filesystem-only sandbox CLI, developed in the `werkdock/` subdirectory, later its own repository), let Werkator consume it, and replace the webspace self-build with the local-build-plus-install path of ADR 0006
 
+Added after step 21 session D exposed that `tools/remote` re-implements configuration Werkator owns (2026-09-01):
+
+- [ ] `23-init-owns-the-files.md` — Werkator becomes the executing app, `tools/remote` a thin wrapper: parameters travel as env files (`remote --env .env.mih34 werkator …`, `werkator --env … init`), `init` writes real values idempotently instead of templates the script patches, `werkator control-token` and `werkdock doctor` replace the bash duplications
+
 Added for surfacing build time as a trend (2026-08-31):
 
 - [ ] `20-build-duration-tracking.md` — a per-name duration trend over the existing history, derived on read in the History view: series, window average/min/max, and a visible marker when the latest build is slower than its window average (grouped by the history's own `name`, so branch builds and named jobs stay separate — complements Step 14, which owns phase timing)
@@ -110,3 +114,4 @@ Step 18 depends on nothing in code but on the watched repository having migrated
 Step 19 depends on nothing; `WatcherState` and `/api/watcher` already carry everything it needs to render.
 Step 20 depends on nothing; the duration is already recorded, and the trend is derived read-only from `repository.history()`.
 Step 21 depends on 17; its sessions B and C grow Werkdock in the `werkdock/` subdirectory (later its own repository), and session D supersedes the self-build prototype in `tools/remote`.
+Step 23 depends on 21 session D; its env-file convention (one file per instance) also feeds step 22's instance setup and should land before Werkbaum rolls out.