Agent-state documentation and GitHub backup-sprawl containment

Contained automatic GitHub repository creation, verified the six-Mac Git/GitHub transport contract, and committed the complete private agent-state/backup/rollback analysis in isolated ECS0 and Dataroo branches without changing either live site or any repository visibility/history.

Scope

• Writing host: rdmsm4x.
• Read-only fleet audit: rdmsm4x, rdmbair13m5, rdmbair15m5, rdmpw3265m, rdmpw3275m, and jdmbair13m5.
• Configuration mutation: rdmsm4x scheduled GitHub backup control plane only.
• Documentation mutation: isolated ECS0 and Dataroo worktrees only; dirty canonical main worktrees were not edited.
• External GitHub state: read-only inventory/validation only. No repository create/delete/archive, transfer, visibility change, push, force push, or history rewrite was performed by this task.

Exact files and state changed

Backup control plane

• /Users/richh/dev/fleet/ops/backup/github_backup_dev.zsh
  • v1.5 defaults to fail-closed registration.
  • Unattended runs require an exact pre-existing local backup remote and an existing GitHub repository.
  • Missing registrations, missing GitHub repositories, and mismatched remotes are skipped.
  • New registration requires --create-missing plus one exact relative path.
  • Automatic remote set-url behavior was removed.
  • concepts/icloud-cleanup is quarantined by exact relative path before remote inspection/push.
  • After SHA-256: f750bf7542d37217fb0ea62419a544d36bab995d0247802cebc3f77cbe580f70.
• /Users/richh/Library/LaunchAgents/com.eastcoastscience.devbackup.plist
  • File contents were not changed.
  • Job was temporarily booted out during the script edit and bootstrapped again after validation.
  • SHA-256 remains 4d8a37c06a2a6f37ecfa239d1087cedab8f8d569a0eb8745e89f9f3f9de5d5df.
• Exact pre-change rollback copies:
  • /Users/richh/dev/_ops/backup/config-backups/agent-state-github-sprawl-20260829/github_backup_dev.zsh.before
  • /Users/richh/dev/_ops/backup/config-backups/agent-state-github-sprawl-20260829/com.eastcoastscience.devbackup.plist.before
• Synthetic integration evidence is retained under /Users/richh/Documents/Codex/2026-08-29/hel/work/github-backup-integration.R1GMlW.

ECS0 local capture

• Worktree: /Users/richh/dev/_worktrees/dev-ecs0-net/codex-agent-state-checkpoints-20260829.
• Branch: codex/agent-state-checkpoints-20260829.
• Commit: 34354abd8edce1edd21a0c4bc36637fad650560d.
• Added/updated:
  • docs/agent-state-github-backups-and-rollback.md
  • wiki/guides/agent-state-github-backups/index.html
  • tests/test_agent_state_github_backups_page.py
  • docs/publication/agent-state-github-backups-20260829.md
  • config/native-wiki-paths.txt
  • SESSION-STATE.md
• Markdown SHA-256: 225cbcb67a72839db41226f5733b2c603af47406eaade1be8481f6d11e74c352.
• HTML SHA-256: affba2a36410516a40d9d90e150ebe638e55862c426dc6109845c63b9f0ab7aa.
• Status after commit: clean isolated worktree; not pushed, integrated, synced, or deployed.

Dataroo local capture

• Worktree: /Users/richh/dev/_worktrees/dev-dataroo-net/codex-agent-state-checkpoints-20260829.
• Branch: codex/agent-state-checkpoints-20260829.
• Commit: 4b092b96b1f13666974749b54ecd8cc199fb17fe.
• Added/updated:
  • docs/agent-state-github-backups-and-rollback.md
  • docs/agent-state-github-backups-and-rollback.html
  • tests/test_agent_state_github_backups_document.py
  • README.md
• Markdown is byte-identical to the ECS0 source.
• Dataroo HTML SHA-256: 425cce5e219fbda963e970a50ba6af6552944415382a41701a88fe0b3d536de9.
• Status after commit: clean isolated worktree; not pushed, integrated, published, or deployed.

Coordination and durable status

• /Users/richh/.agent-coordination/checkins/codex-rdmsm4x-agent-state-github-sprawl-20260829.json
• /Users/richh/dev/todo/items/20260828-fleet-backup-republishes-known-exposed-credential.md
  • Status changed to contained-remediation-open; rotation and history cleanup remain open.
• /Users/richh/dev/fleet/ISSUES.md
  • Item now distinguishes containment from unresolved remediation.
• /Users/richh/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Codex/projects/AGENTS.md principles/PROJECTS.md
  • Added the bounded “Agent State Recovery and GitHub Backup Containment” milestone.
  • SHA-256 after update: 3827886deb93d85f54d3b11aafa7ced818a1fa42be80cdfab2177292864e6b7c.

Commands and operations run

• Resolved the executing host with scutil --get ComputerName and synchronized fleet check-ins.
• Inspected the LaunchAgent with plutil and launchctl print; verified the backup process was idle.
• Used launchctl bootout before editing and launchctl bootstrap only after validation.
• Validated the backup script with zsh -n, help/invalid-argument checks, an actual GitHub no-create negative test, an exact quarantine test, a registered-repository dry run, and a full estate dry run.
• Queried the GitHub inventory with gh repo list without displaying any token.
• Audited each Mac through its pinned SSH identity for ComputerName, public host-key fingerprint, Git version, .gitconfig checksum, GitHub CLI version/protocol, and authentication status.
• Created isolated worktrees with git worktree add; rendered self-contained HTML with Pandoc; ran focused and full Python unittest suites; served each page over loopback-only Python HTTP; verified HTTP 200, byte-exact bodies, title/noindex/brand markers, and privacy patterns.
• Committed only explicitly listed files on each isolated branch.

Verification evidence

• GitHub inventory: 282 total, 282 private, zero non-private, two archived, 144 with the automatic rdmsm4x-dev- prefix.
• Git fleet: the previously accepted twelve-key Git contract remains checksum-exact on 6/6 hosts.
• GitHub transport: GitHub CLI 2.98.0 and HTTPS on 6/6 hosts.
• Authentication: rdmsm4x and rdmpw3275m authenticated as richhdoty; the other four report not authenticated and require their own owner browser login.
• Public SSH host-key fingerprints matched the fleet registry on 6/6 hosts.
• Backup full dry run: 76 registered eligible repositories, one unregistered repository, one remote mismatch, two security quarantines, zero implicit create markers.
• Synthetic no-create integration: an exact registered local remote targeting a nonexistent GitHub repository remained nonexistent after the unattended path.
• ECS0 focused tests: 6/6 pass.
• Dataroo focused tests: 4/4 pass.
• Dataroo full suite: 38/38 pass.
• ECS0 full suite: 67 run, 60 pass, three expected runtime skips, four failures; the unmodified e8cc50e base runs 61 tests with the same four failures and three skips, proving six added passes and zero new failures.
• Both loopback pages: HTTP 200, byte-exact response body, expected title, noindex directive, and correct site brand.
• Privacy scans: no private absolute path, credential-shaped token, Access cookie, secret-store path, or external asset dependency in either published document.

Rollback

1. Temporarily unload com.eastcoastscience.devbackup.
2. Restore the exact github_backup_dev.zsh.before file from the rollback directory, preserving its mode, then verify its SHA-256 is 6c65df710fe40d18460dae9483dbe33a9958cac27096b91987f7734564972208.
3. Restore the saved plist only if its checksum differs from the unchanged value recorded above.
4. Validate with zsh -n and plutil -lint, then bootstrap the saved plist.
5. To undo documentation staging, remove only the two isolated worktrees/branches after confirming the commits are no longer needed. Neither canonical main worktree needs restoration because it was not edited.
6. To undo the project-index/todo/issue annotations, remove only the exact additive 2026-08-29 paragraphs; preserve any later concurrent entries.

Restoring v1.4 would intentionally re-enable automatic GitHub repository creation and remove the credential-history quarantine. Do so only if Rich explicitly chooses that risk.

Outstanding owner actions

• Run the interactive HTTPS browser login on rdmbair13m5, rdmbair15m5, rdmpw3265m, and jdmbair13m5; never copy credentials from another Mac.
• Rotate the known exposed third-party credential, then scope and approve cleanup of both existing GitHub histories. Containment alone does not remediate them.
• Decide whether/when the two documentation branches should be integrated or privately published.
• Reconcile the 144 backup-prefixed repositories by provenance before any archive/delete action.
• If desired, approve a local-only Entire pilot on one low-sensitivity private repository; Entire was researched but not installed or enabled.

Secrets and external-state declaration

No secret value was printed or written. No token, Keychain entry, cookie, auth file, task/session database, or live .git directory was copied between hosts. No purchase, subscription change, Git LFS activation, public launch, or provider/authentication policy change occurred.