narratio/docs/operations.md

# 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, and may provide an optional spell-catalog overlay. Session
files may override those paths for one session. The `prepare` stage
materializes them under `inputs/`; configured consumers use the prepared files,
never the original campaign or session source paths. Field definitions and
source IDs are in [Configuration](./config.md#notarius-reference-bindings).

## 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
```

Run, plan, and status output identify the resolved pipeline profile (or `none`)
and effective configuration digest. Status distinguishes the current resolved
value from the last value persisted in the session manifest, which helps
diagnose profile switches without changing resume authority.

Before switching an operational profile, compare its effective meaning with the
current selection through `narratio config diff <left-profile> <right-profile>`.
The command is read-only and succeeds whether it finds differences or not. Its
sorted records describe defaulted, expanded concrete configuration—not source
file layout—so it can be used to review model, artifact, and publish changes
without creating a session or run. Select the same campaign explicitly when
profiles could resolve different campaign paths; see the [CLI reference](cli.md#config-validate-config-show-config-sources-and-config-diff) for syntax and record format.

## Stage Execution and Continuation Behavior

Canonical stage order:

1. `prepare`
2. `transcribe`
3. `merge`
4. `polish`
5. `normalize`
6. `trim`
7. `render`
8. `extract`
9. `analyze`
10. `publish`
11. `notify`
12. `cleanup`

Execution rules:

- succeeded stages are skipped unless `--force` is set; stages with semantic
  configuration contracts additionally require matching versioned evidence;
- `run` continues interrupted or partially completed sessions by running non-succeeded stages;
- forcing a stage marks succeeded transitive dependents as `stale` before the
  replacement runs; render and extract are independent siblings; and
- an executed failure, changed self-skip, or success that replaces a different
  effective outcome uses the same fixed dependency relation. A
  repeated self-skip with the same reason and no outputs is stable and does not
  perpetually rerun dependent work.

Every aggregate stage except analyze currently provides semantic-configuration
evidence; analyze retains its more precise per-artifact fingerprints and
validator.
Prepare additionally validates current stable/local/S3 source identity and the
checksums of its durable prepared copies before reuse. Changed bytes, audio
membership, S3 object identity, or missing/tampered copies rerun prepare and
its fixed descendants without requiring `--force`. Changing prepare selection
semantics likewise reruns all fixed descendants; changing
WhisperX language/service identity reuses prepare; changing a Seriatim merge
transformation reuses prepare and transcribe; and changing an Audita model
reuses prepare, transcribe, and merge while rebuilding transcript refinement.
A trim change invalidates both render and extract through the fixed dependency
relation, while a render-only change preserves the extract sibling.

Operational timeouts, retry/concurrency tuning, executable paths,
workspace/cache/spool placement, reports, diagnostics, and secret values are
excluded. Configuration, models, prompts, modules, or resources loaded
privately inside external tools remain unobservable to Narratio. If their
contents change behind the same configured identifier, explicitly force the
affected stage.

An explicit self-skip is a durable `skipped` stage outcome that later runs
reconsider. It differs from successful no-output execution: disabled `render`
and `publish`, and absent or no-executable `analyze`, record `succeeded` with
metadata and no outputs. Ordinary later runs reuse those successful results;
force the affected stage after enabling or configuring it. Optional artifact
inputs are omitted only from the consuming artifact invocation and do not make
the stage self-skip.

Single-stage execution:

```bash
narratio run-stage normalize 2026-04-04 --force
```

Contiguous bounded execution uses inclusive canonical endpoints:

```bash
narratio session plan 2026-04-04 --from extract --through analyze --force
narratio run 2026-04-04 --from extract --through analyze --force
```

Omitting `--from` selects from `prepare`; omitting `--through` selects through
`cleanup`. Force applies only within the selected range. Repeating `--from`,
`--through`, or `--force` is rejected instead of resolving by argument order.
The plan command uses the same selection contract and prints only the selected
range. Planning is read-only: it clones the loaded manifest, models selected
stage transitions and invalidation in memory, and invokes resume validation
without writing the manifest, creating run directories, materializing files,
or invoking pipeline adapters. Analyze detail separates explicit targets,
prerequisite rebuilds, scheduled execution, and current reuse. This lets a
coarsely stale aggregate analyze stage show zero artifact executions when its
selected artifact evidence is still semantically current.

Before a bounded run or plan whose range starts after `prepare`, every excluded
prefix stage must already have a session-manifest status of `succeeded` or
`skipped`. Narratio reports the first absent, pending, running, failed, stale,
or interrupted prerequisite without creating a run-local directory or changing
session state. Widen `--from` to include that stage, or recover it explicitly
before retrying. Excluded prefix stages are not resume-validated or repaired as
part of the bounded invocation; selected stages still reject missing, unsafe,
or manifest-inconsistent inputs at their owning boundary.

Stages after `--through` are not prerequisites and are never scheduled by the
bounded invocation. A selected forced stage can mark one of those succeeded
dependents stale through the fixed invalidation relation, but the dependent
does not execute until a later invocation selects it. Production composition
likewise initializes only collaborators needed by the selected range and
shared session lifecycle. In particular, render does not require Notarius or
Scriptorium, extract does not require Scriptorium, and analyze does not require
the transcription, Seriatim, Audita, or Notarius adapters.

For the common post-transcript development loop, use:

```bash
narratio regenerate-artifacts 2026-04-04
narratio regenerate-artifacts 2026-04-04 --artifacts session_recap,player_handout
```

This command is a transparent expansion to a forced bounded `run` from
`extract` through `analyze`. Extraction always rebuilds its complete configured
bundle. Analysis rebuilds the selected targets and their required analysis
prerequisites, or uses the normal default selection when no artifact names are
given. The command does not run publish, notify, or cleanup; delivery and
retention remain separate operator actions.

Inspect current artifact evidence, then publish explicitly when the regenerated
set is ready:

```bash
narratio session artifacts 2026-04-04
narratio publish 2026-04-04
```

If planning or execution reports stale, missing, failed, or tampered
analysis evidence, regenerate the affected target instead of copying an older
canonical file into place or editing the manifest. See
[Troubleshooting: Analysis artifact evidence is not current](./troubleshooting.md#analysis-artifact-evidence-is-not-current).

Analyze checkpoints each completed configured artifact before starting later
artifact work. After a partial failure or interruption, retry normally: valid
earlier checkpoints are reused and execution resumes with failed, stale, or
missing work in dependency order. `--force` is unnecessary unless the operator
intends to replace otherwise-current artifacts.

## Artifact Selection

For a configured artifact family, selecting its family key expands to every
concrete character artifact. Select a concrete generated key to operate on one
member only. Manifests and plan output retain the concrete key as the durable
identity and include the family and character ID as optional provenance.

`--artifacts` can be used on `run`, `session plan`, `run-stage`, `analyze`, and
`publish`. For a bounded run or plan, the selected range must contain `analyze`
or `publish`.

Selection behavior:

- validates names against `pipeline.scriptorium.artifacts`;
- selects explicit analyze targets and permits their required configured
  prerequisites to be reused or rebuilt first;
- filters publish rules for `narratio.artifact.<name>` sources only;
- does not suppress built-in transcript, bounds, or explicitly configured
  `narratio.extraction.<name>` 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.<name>` 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.

Configured Notarius references resolve only from the current manifest-backed
prepared inputs. Their canonical locations are `inputs/party.yml`,
`inputs/players.yml`, `inputs/glossary.yml`, and, when configured,
`inputs/spell_catalog.json`. Extraction supplies Notarius with verified copies
under `runs/<run_id>/extract/references/` so a concurrent refresh of canonical
prepared files cannot change the bytes consumed by an in-flight invocation.
For a canonical party, preparation retains the validated authored party bytes
at `inputs/party.yml` and generates `inputs/players.yml` from that roster.
The manifest records their checksums separately, with the players input marked
as derived from the party; refresh preparation after changing the roster rather
than editing either prepared file.
Inspect the effective stable-input inventory and
prepared-file readiness with:

```bash
narratio session status 2026-04-04
narratio session validate 2026-04-04
```

Reference metadata records selector, source ID, session-relative path,
checksum, and byte size, but never payload contents. Changing a prepared
reference changes extraction identity: ordinary continuation rejects the old
result, reruns Notarius, and marks successful downstream stages stale. If the
prepared file is missing or inconsistent with its manifest checksum, repair
the source configuration and refresh prepared state first:

```bash
narratio run-stage prepare 2026-04-04 --force
```

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 immutable bundle
remains available for inspection, but downstream resolution requires a new
current successful extraction record.

Notarius extraction validates its run-local bundle and moves it once to the
unique durable bundle path. A pre-existing durable destination is a collision;
no duplicate promotion tree is created.

## 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 upload is an allowlist derived from the session manifest's declared
current-run outputs, logs, and generated configurations, not a workspace scan.
References to canonical session files and prior-run paths are excluded. 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; a run with no declared
current-run diagnostics uploads no run-local files. No distinguished diagnostic
file is 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,
prepared Narratio reference identities, or durable output validation changes.
The semantic portion covers Notarius enablement, pipeline identity, declared
reference mapping, and output contracts. Executable, timeout, working directory,
and private config-file paths are operational and do not invalidate a current
result.
It cannot fingerprint configuration files, profiles, prompts, modules, or
other references loaded transitively by Notarius itself. 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 reuse additionally tracks enabled/run-upload behavior, normalized
output rules, and remote backend/bucket/region/endpoint/root identity.
Credential environment names, local workspace placement, and run IDs are
excluded. Regardless of semantic reuse evidence, executing publish reads
independent remote locks directly and rechecks initially unlocked sources
before commit selection.

## Publish Workflow

Run publish only:

```bash
narratio publish 2026-04-04
```

Equivalent:

```bash
narratio run-stage publish 2026-04-04 --force
```

This standalone command stops after publish and does not invoke cleanup. A
default full `run` continues through notify and cleanup.

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.

A selected commit may carry a `published_output` declaration from an earlier
run in the same campaign/session. Restore, previous-session caching, status,
and artifact inspection use that declaration's exact immutable key and stable
source; they do not reconstruct a current-run key or scan the session prefix.
Other artifact types remain confined to the selected commit's own run.

When the pointer is absent, remote state is not published; republish the
session to establish a committed snapshot. Remote commit state does not carry
local `current_pointer_written` metadata.

## Publish Locks

Each mutable lock is an independent strict JSON object at
`{session_prefix}/locks/{sha256(source)}.lock`. The lowercase digest is computed
from the exact canonical source. Listing validates every object in that
reserved prefix and reports locks sorted by source.

Upgrades do not read, migrate, or delete the retired `{session_prefix}/locks.yml`
object. It has no effect on publication and may be removed manually after
verifying lock commands and publication behavior with the upgraded Narratio
version. No migration command is required.

Operational rules:

- add uses conditional creation and reports an existing lock;
- add with `--force` observes the current generation and attempts one
  generation-matched replacement. A concurrent change is reported for an
  explicit operator retry;
- remove is idempotent and reports whether a lock was present;
- the initial publish lock snapshot controls output planning. A locked source
  carries its exact declaration from the prior current commit when available;
  a never-published locked source remains absent even when required;
- carried bytes are not copied. Publish verifies the prior object's exact key,
  size, and generation without downloading it; and
- after immutable uploads and the immutable commit, publish re-reads every
  initially unlocked participating source. A newly added lock prevents the
  current pointer from advancing, although the immutable attempt may remain.
  A removed initial lock may conservatively cause one carry.

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
```

`--dry-run` does not write durable session files. It still reads the selected
remote current state and may read object identity/content needed to classify the
plan, so it is not a network-free operation.

Default restore scope:

- the committed session manifest and the committed transcript/artifact objects
  declared by the selected remote commit
- `previous/**` when needed by configured previous-session artifact inputs;
  each is selected from its exact committed `published_output` declaration

Optional:

- `--include-audio` to include `audio/**`
- `--force` to overwrite eligible conflicting regular files; it never replaces
  directories, symlinks, or other non-regular local targets

Restore treats a local leaf symlink or any symlinked ancestor beneath the
selected session root as a conflict, even when the linked content matches the
selected remote object. `--force` does not override that conflict.

Before each install, restore validates the destination again beneath the
selected session root. A target changed into a symlink, directory, or other
non-regular entry is not overwritten.

Restore writes an execution report at `reports/restore-latest.json`.

If restore fails after beginning installation, it leaves a durable
`.restore-incomplete.json` marker in the session root. Pipeline runs will stop
until you rerun the same restore command and it completes. Restore intentionally
does not try to roll back files already installed; retrying the selected remote
snapshot is the recovery procedure.

## 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/**`

`manifest.json` is the versioned session-progress document. Narratio accepts
only `narratio.session-manifest.v1`. Do not edit unsupported session state to
add missing markers. Move it aside and regenerate it, restore a verified
current committed snapshot, or republish healthy regenerated state as the
relevant workflow requires.

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}/...`

Each cached audio file has an adjacent managed identity record. It binds the
file to its remote object version and verified digest; deleting or altering the
record simply causes Narratio to download and verify the object again.
Remote audio and restored files are fully transferred into sibling temporary
files and validated before they replace their canonical workspace paths.

### 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.

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.
Provision a credential directory as `0700` and credential files as `0600`;
Narratio rejects group- or other-readable configured credential paths.

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; root, traversal, and out-of-root targets are refused;
- the final cleanup stage is gated by successful publish evidence plus:
  - `pipeline.spool.delete_audio_after_publish=true`
  - `pipeline.workspace.cleanup_after_publish=true`
  - the manifest publish record has `uploaded=true`, the published run ID, the
    exact remote commit key, and the current commit-pointer key.

Cleanup derives only the configured run-scoped spool and workspace targets,
uses root-confined deletion, and does not read or mutate object storage. A
failure leaves publish succeeded and the remote committed snapshot current.
Retry with a normal full run: valid upstream work, including publish and notify,
is skipped while the failed cleanup stage runs again. `run-stage cleanup` is
also available when the manifest has valid publish evidence. A range ending at
`notify` or earlier and the standalone `publish` command never delete local
state.

Older local manifests that contain the retired cleanup-obligation field are
intentionally incompatible with strict manifest decoding. If such an
obligation is still outstanding, complete it with the pre-upgrade binary.
Otherwise verify that the remote publication is committed, move aside or
regenerate the incompatible local manifest (or restore the verified remote
snapshot), and then use the cleanup stage. Manual JSON editing is not the
normal migration path.

## 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.