# Operations Guide Operator workflow for running, recovering, and publishing Narratio sessions. For command syntax, see [docs/cli.md](./cli.md). For field-level config, see [docs/config.md](./config.md). ## Campaign and Session Selection Campaign selection priority: - `--campaign-file` - `--campaign` - `pipeline.campaigns.default_campaign_id` Session source priority: - `--session` - local default search paths - remote session object (S3) when local session file is not found and storage is configured ## Session Initialization Use `session init` to generate a concrete session file for local or remote use. Local file: ```bash narratio session init 2026-04-04 --output ./session.yml --date 2026-04-04 --title "Session 12" ``` Remote session object: ```bash narratio session init 2026-04-04 --remote --force ``` If `campaign.yml` sets `session_template_file`, `session init` renders it. Template variables must resolve to concrete values. Campaigns must provide stable input files for speakers, autocorrect, glossary, players, and party. Session files may override those paths for one session. The `prepare` stage materializes them under `inputs/`; configured Scriptorium artifacts can reference prepared `players`, `party`, and `glossary` files with `narratio.input.players`, `narratio.input.party`, and `narratio.input.glossary`. ## Standard Session Workflow 1. Select pipeline/campaign/session config. 2. Validate session readiness: ```bash narratio session validate 2026-04-04 ``` 3. (Optional) inspect stage decisions: ```bash narratio session plan 2026-04-04 ``` 4. Run the pipeline: ```bash narratio run 2026-04-04 ``` 5. Check state: ```bash narratio session status 2026-04-04 ``` ## Stage Execution and Continuation Behavior Canonical stage order: 1. `prepare` 2. `transcribe` 3. `merge` 4. `polish` 5. `normalize` 6. `trim` 7. `extract` 8. `render` 9. `analyze` 10. `publish` 11. `notify` Execution rules: - succeeded stages are skipped unless `--force` is set; - `run` continues interrupted or partially completed sessions by running non-succeeded stages; - forcing an upstream stage marks succeeded downstream stages as `stale` before the replacement runs; and - an executed failure, changed self-skip, or success that replaces a different effective upstream outcome also marks succeeded downstream stages stale. A repeated self-skip with the same reason and no outputs is stable and does not perpetually rerun downstream work. Single-stage execution: ```bash narratio run-stage normalize 2026-04-04 --force ``` ## Artifact Selection `--artifacts` can be used on `run`, `run-stage`, `analyze`, and `publish`. Selection behavior: - validates names against `pipeline.scriptorium.artifacts`; - filters analyze execution to selected configured artifacts; - filters publish rules for `narratio.artifact.` sources only; - does not suppress built-in transcript, bounds, or explicitly configured `narratio.extraction.` publish sources; and - never partially selects Notarius lanes. ## Extraction Workflow When Notarius is omitted or disabled, `extract` records an explicit skipped outcome with reason `notarius_disabled` and no outputs. A later invocation reconsiders the skipped stage, so enabling Notarius does not require force. When Notarius extraction is enabled, the stage consumes the final trimmed JSON and preserves the complete validated Notarius bundle at: - `artifacts/notarius/{narratio_run_id}/` The directory is immutable once promoted. Configured lanes become `narratio.extraction.` sources for Scriptorium and explicit publish rules; the bundle and `index.json` are retained for audit and resume validation but are not selectable or published implicitly. Starting a replacement clears the previous extraction payload from the current session-stage record. If that replacement fails or self-skips, the current record does not fall back to the earlier outputs. The earlier run manifest and immutable bundle remain available for inspection, but downstream resolution requires a new current successful extraction record. Atomic Notarius bundle promotion is supported on Linux and macOS. On Windows and other operating systems, extraction fails before copying the bundle into a temporary promotion tree because Narratio has no verified atomic no-replace directory primitive there. This is an extraction limitation, not a broader platform-support guarantee for every Narratio workflow. ## External Command Lifecycle When an external command is cancelled or times out, Narratio terminates its owned descendants as well as the command itself. Cancellation first requests termination where the platform supports it, then force terminates after a bounded wait. A command is not considered finished until its leader has been reaped, and descendants that keep standard output or error open cannot keep the invocation blocked. Other operating systems fail closed rather than launch a command without tree ownership. Subprocess stdout and stderr diagnostics are separately redacted and capped at 8 MiB per invocation. Narratio does not retain configured credential values in these logs or their error tails; reaching a capture limit terminates the command tree and reports which stream exceeded the limit. Run-local diagnostics are: - `runs/{run_id}/extract/notarius.receipt.json` - `runs/{run_id}/extract/notarius.stderr.log` - `runs/{run_id}/extract/notarius-output/` before durable promotion The run-record upload is an allowlist derived from the validated run manifest, not a workspace scan. Each declared source is opened without following symlinked ancestors or the leaf, verified as a regular file, and streamed from that verified descriptor. Unlisted files and unsafe entries are never uploaded. The durable bundle is never scanned for implicit publication; only lanes named by explicit `pipeline.publish.outputs` rules are uploaded. To intentionally replace the current extraction result, run: ```bash narratio run-stage extract 2026-04-04 --force ``` Narratio automatically reruns extraction when its recorded invocation contract or durable output validation changes. It cannot fingerprint configuration files, profiles, prompts, modules, or references loaded transitively by Notarius. Force extraction after changing any of those inputs, even when the top-level Narratio and Notarius config paths remain the same. A forced extract marks successful downstream stages stale. Ordinary extraction failures or outcome changes also stale affected downstream stages, while an identical repeated `notarius_disabled` self-skip does not repeatedly invalidate them. ## Publish Workflow Run publish only: ```bash narratio publish 2026-04-04 ``` Equivalent: ```bash narratio run-stage publish 2026-04-04 --force ``` Publish commit model: - uploads eligible run files under `{session_prefix}/runs/{run_id}/`, excluding audio and the run-local Notarius staging bundle; - uploads configured published outputs and `previous/**` cache files into the same immutable run scope, including only explicitly configured extraction lanes; - writes `{session_prefix}/runs/{run_id}/commit.json` after all declared immutable objects are uploaded and verified; and - writes `{session_prefix}/current/commit-pointer.json` once, last. `current/commit-pointer.json` is the remote current-state commit marker. It selects exactly one immutable commit, which declares the complete object set. ## Remote Commit Migration The immutable remote commit contract uses `runs/{run_id}/commit.json` to declare a run's complete object set and a small `current/commit-pointer.json` to select it. The pointer binds the selected commit by version, checksum, size, and storage generation; committed artifacts are also checksum- and generation-bound. Readers accept this contract now and strictly reject mismatched or unknown data. Legacy reads are limited to a coherent `current/manifest.json` and `current/run_id.txt` pair; a torn pair is rejected. New publication does not write that pair and remote commit state does not carry local `current_pointer_written` metadata. ## Publish Locks Lock sources: - static locks in `pipeline.publish.locks` - mutable remote locks in `{session_prefix}/locks.yml` Effective lock rules: - static and remote locks are merged; - static locks win on source collisions; - locked outputs are intentional skips; - lock add/remove commands mutate only remote lock state through generation-bound conditional writes. A command retries a bounded number of concurrent conflicts while its invocation context remains active, so it never replaces a different lock-document generation; and - a publish re-reads remote locks immediately before it writes the current commit pointer. A lock committed before that recheck prevents selecting the new snapshot, even though its already-uploaded immutable objects may remain available for a later retry. Examples: ```bash narratio session locks 2026-04-04 narratio session locks add 2026-04-04 narratio.artifact.session_recap --reason "manual edits" --force narratio session locks remove 2026-04-04 narratio.artifact.session_recap ``` ## Restore Workflow Use restore when local durable session state is missing or stale and remote committed current state is authoritative. Dry run: ```bash narratio session restore 2026-04-04 --dry-run ``` Apply: ```bash narratio session restore 2026-04-04 ``` Default restore scope: - `manifest.json` - `transcripts/**` - `artifacts/**` - `previous/**` when needed by configured previous-session artifact inputs Optional: - `--include-audio` to include `audio/**` - `--force` to overwrite local conflicts Restore writes an execution report at `reports/restore-latest.json`. ## Local State Layout Session root: - `{workspace.root}/work/{campaign}/{session_id}` Durable session paths: - `manifest.json` - `inputs/**` - `audio/**` - `transcripts/**` - `artifacts/**` - `previous/**` - `reports/**` - `logs/**` - `config/**` - `runs/**` Validated Notarius bundles live below `artifacts/notarius/{run_id}/`; receipt, stderr, and pre-promotion output remain in the producing run's `extract` directory as described in [Extraction Workflow](#extraction-workflow). Run-local layout: - `runs/{run_id}/{stage}/outputs` - `runs/{run_id}/{stage}/logs` - `runs/{run_id}/{stage}/reports` - `runs/{run_id}/{stage}/config` - `runs/{run_id}/{stage}/scratch` Spool layout (runtime/transient): - `{spool.root}/{campaign}/{session_id}/{run_id}/...` - restore audio spool under `{spool.root}/{campaign}/{session_id}/restore/audio` Cache layout (durable S3 audio cache): - `{cache.root}/s3/{bucket}/...` ### Workspace Permissions Ordinary Narratio workspace content is intentionally shareable with the workspace group. On POSIX systems, Narratio-created workspace, spool, and cache directories converge on setgid `02775`; ordinary files, including manifests, transcripts, generated configuration, logs, reports, and Notarius artifacts, converge on `0664`. Narratio explicitly applies these modes so a restrictive caller umask does not remove group write or setgid. It does not change file or directory ownership: the configured workspace's existing group is inherited. Windows does not implement POSIX mode bits or setgid semantics. Configure the workspace, spool, and cache locations with an ACL that grants the collaborating group read/write access, and configure credential locations with an ACL limited to the intended credential owner. Do not use POSIX mode displays as evidence of Windows access control. API keys are credentials, not ordinary workspace data. Store them outside the shared workspace or in a separately restricted credential location; ordinary workspace group access must never be treated as authorization to read keys. On POSIX, provision a credential directory as `0700` and credential files as `0600`; Narratio rejects group- or other-readable configured credential paths. On Windows, restrict the directory and files with ACLs to the credential owner. External adapter results are individually bounded before Narratio validates or materializes them. These per-file limits do not reserve disk space: prevent hard disk exhaustion with filesystem, service, container, or volume quotas sized for the session workload. ## Cleanup Session-scoped cleanup: ```bash narratio clean 2026-04-04 ``` Global cleanup: ```bash narratio clean --all ``` Dry-run and cache variants: ```bash narratio clean 2026-04-04 --dry-run --clear-cache narratio clean --all --dry-run --clear-cache ``` Rules: - `clean` deletes work/spool session state; - cache is preserved unless `--clear-cache` is set; - each deletion is confined beneath its configured workspace, spool, or cache root and refuses symlinked paths; - automatic post-publish cleanup is gated by successful publish commit plus: - `pipeline.spool.delete_audio_after_publish=true` - `pipeline.workspace.cleanup_after_publish=true` ## Operational Caveats - Local and S3 audio modes are mutually exclusive. - Publish requires prerequisite stages through `render` and `analyze` to be succeeded. - Markdown publish defaults require render outputs (`transcripts/final.md` and `transcripts/final.trimmed.md`). - Restore requires configured object storage and committed remote current state. - Storage-backed commands load filesystem secrets before object-store initialization.