quixos-nix-helpers/PORTABLE_ARTIFACTS.md

Checked capability and component artifacts

mkCaminoArtifacts is the fresh package builder. It regenerates candidate bindings, typechecks the entry's dependency closure, bundles declared targets, generates a process service when requested, and emits content manifests and receipts. It has no migration step or package-defined shell hooks.

# Inside a per-system flake output:
quixosPackages.checkedArtifacts =
  { buildContract, sourceDigest, generator, core, sharedRuntime, typescript, packageRevisionId, ... }:
  helpers.mkCaminoArtifacts {
    inherit pkgs buildContract sourceDigest core sharedRuntime typescript packageRevisionId;
    protocol = generator;
    src = ./.;
    portable = {
      entry = "src/portable.ts";
      bindingOutput = "src/gen/qx.ts";
      registryExport = "registry";
      targets = [ "browser" "server" ];
    };
  };

buildContract is a canonical, source-free capability slice. sourceDigest records the exact selected package source in the final installation manifest; it does not enter the reusable compilation group. Ordinary source dependencies, SDKs and React props companions remain explicit Nix inputs. Raw QX and resource lock files enter through the checked contract and evaluated recipe, and are excluded from the implementation source tree. The plan argument on the low-level helper is a composition convenience for fixtures; it is projected before building. Package recipes receive the contract directly and can be checked without a workspace.

The handler entry exports registry = createRegistry(handlers) from the generated bindings. One registry contains many exports. The builder always supplies a server implementation for the generated process service. A service-only package instead omits portable and supplies service.entry, an ordinary JavaScript process entry using the versioned stdin/stdout protocol. Custom services own their lifecycle and may hold external resources. This first helper supports JavaScript custom service entries; other languages can emit the same checked artifact contract independently.

Additional portable source dependencies can be provided as a locked nodeModules directory. The workspace supplies the exact SDK and compiler; packages cannot replace those with their own versions. Authored source symlinks and non-bundled portable imports other than the SDK and server Node builtins are rejected. This is build closure checking, not a purity proof or security sandbox.

The core/Automerge bundle and Replicache bundle are built once. Browser modules import the core through a content-addressed gateway URL, independent of package identity. Each manifest covers the shared bytes it uses. The gateway retains its workspace authentication and explicit file registry; it never interprets an HTTP path as a Nix store path. Applications cannot import Replicache through the SDK.

checked-artifacts.nix evaluates a package's checkedArtifacts output without activation. During the checked Nix build, loadCheckedArtifactWorld verifies manifest bytes, the selected generator identity, and exact regenerated binding sources. Receipts are consistency evidence from a trusted Nix build, not cryptographic attestations of remote builds. The build stores the checked plan, kernel/query programs, their digests and original compiler provenance in its immutable candidate output. Runtime loading validates that output's identities, artifact contents and supported runtime contracts. It does not regenerate bindings or programs with the currently running compiler. Nix owns rebuilding and cache reuse when a toolchain input changes.

The root camino-artifact-builds check exercises actual reader/service outputs, module and process execution, browser shared imports, rejection recovery, and altered receipt rejection at the build boundary. The managed workspace host loads the resulting checked candidate before activation. No adapter pretends this ABI works in the old server dispatcher.

Component packages add components = { inherit (react) sdk runtime; entries; }. The ordinary execution candidate checker supplies the selected React build inputs when the package declares components. Each entry maps a component ID to { entry = "src/card.tsx"; export = "Card"; }. See the React SDK for bindings and hooks. CSS is emitted as a checked artifact; local image/font imports are inlined. The helper rejects undeclared external assets and substituted React/client dependencies. Component-only packages produce no backend service.

camino-component-artifacts checks bad subject/SDK/dependency/asset inputs and proves that a component-only edit preserves a mixed package's service digest. Run nix run .#camino-component-source-qualification from the monorepo to materialize separate retained Git resources and compile an ordinary Nix candidate. This is a source/build qualification harness; it does not deploy a workspace.