docs: plan source registry store

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lda
2026-06-03 23:01:17 +07:00 Verified
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# Store-Backed Source Registry Design
## Purpose
The workflow server now has neutral read-only workflow, source-admin, and
admin/config surfaces. The next platform step is safe mutation: adding,
updating, disabling, and removing server-owned sources/connections without
editing config files by hand.
This spec defines the persistence and merge rules before mutation commands are
implemented.
## Current State
`wf_mcp.storage.FileStore` persists:
- auth records under `auth/<connection_id>.json`
- catalog snapshots under `catalog/<connection_id>.json`
It does not persist the connection/source registry itself. Current connection
definitions come from config and live in memory through `ConnectionService`.
Neutral workflow config currently has:
- `client.target`: local or JSON-RPC HTTP target
- `server.store`: filesystem store root
- `server.transports`: server-hosted transports
- `server.sources`: static built-in sources such as `wf.std` / `wf.recipes`
Legacy MCP config still has `connections`.
## Goals
- Persist server-owned dynamic source/connection changes across process restarts.
- Keep config useful as bootstrap and deployment-time infrastructure.
- Preserve structural source identity. Source ids are explicit ids, not parsed
from dotted display names.
- Make mutation validation explicit and fail-fast.
- Keep disabled/missing sources visible as diagnostics, not silent deletion from
deployments or runs.
- Avoid turning catalog snapshots into source definitions. Catalogs are observed
capability state; registry entries are desired configuration state.
## Non-Goals
- No UI design.
- No auth-secret format redesign beyond referencing existing auth records.
- No SQL store in the first implementation.
- No automatic source id inference from provider/account strings.
- No workflow lifecycle changes.
## Registry Model
The persisted registry stores desired source/connection definitions:
```json
{
"version": 1,
"sources": [
{
"id": "github.work",
"kind": "mcp",
"enabled": true,
"provider": "github",
"account": "work",
"profile": null,
"transport": {
"kind": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
"env": {}
},
"auth_ref": "github.work",
"metadata": {}
}
]
}
```
### Source Identity
`id` is the stable workflow-facing concrete source id. Examples:
- `github.work`
- `github.personal`
- `everything.default`
- `wf.std`
The id is not decomposed for meaning. The structured fields carry meaning:
- `provider`: logical provider/server family, such as `github`
- `account`: account/workspace name, such as `work`
- `profile`: optional variant under one provider/account
- `transport`: concrete connectivity details
Transport belongs to the concrete source entry, not only to the provider. The
same provider/account may need different connection transports in different
server deployments, and one source id must carry the exact runtime transport the
server should use.
### Source Kinds
Initial persisted kind:
- `mcp`: upstream MCP source
Bootstrap-only / built-in kinds can remain config/code-owned for now:
- `stdlib`
- `docs`
- `admin`
Do not persist built-in `wf.std`, `wf.recipes`, or `wf.admin` in the dynamic
registry unless/until there is a real need.
## Store Shape
Add a registry store beside existing auth/catalog files:
```text
<store_root>/
auth/
catalog/
source_registry.json
```
Why one file first:
- The registry is small.
- Writes can be atomic by writing a temp file then replacing it.
- Whole-file validation is simple.
- It matches config-like semantics.
Future stores can expose the same interface over SQL or another durable backend.
## Merge Rules
On server startup:
1. Load built-in sources from code/config.
2. Load config-defined connections/sources.
3. Load `source_registry.json`.
4. Merge into one desired source map.
5. Hydrate runtime `ConnectionService` / `SourceCatalogService` from that map.
Precedence:
1. Built-in reserved ids always win for reserved ids.
2. Config-defined entries win over dynamic registry entries with the same id.
3. Dynamic registry entries fill in ids not present in config.
Rationale: config is deployment bootstrap and operator-controlled. Dynamic store
state should not secretly override source definitions checked into deployment
config.
Duplicate behavior:
- Duplicate ids inside one config or one registry file are validation errors.
- A registry entry with the same id as config is allowed but ignored with a
diagnostic/event.
- A registry entry using a reserved id is invalid.
## Mutation Rules
Initial mutation commands should target the registry only, not config:
- add source
- update source
- enable/disable source
- remove source
Rules:
- Mutations validate the full registry before saving.
- Mutations write one atomic registry replacement.
- Enabling a source requires validation of source shape and transport config.
- Optional live validation can be requested, but ordinary connection failure
should not corrupt registry state.
- Removing a source deletes desired registry state only. It does not delete old
catalog/auth files in the first pass.
- Disable is preferred over remove when deployments may still reference the
source.
## Runtime Semantics
If a deployment references a missing/disabled/unreachable source:
- validation reports diagnostics (`source_missing`, `source_disabled`,
`source_unreachable`)
- run start fails or is blocked by validation
- existing deployments are not rewritten
- ordinary dead tools/sources do not become interrupts or pauses
## Events
Registry mutations should emit broker/server events:
- `source_registered`
- `source_updated`
- `source_enabled`
- `source_disabled`
- `source_removed`
- `source_registry_ignored_config_shadow`
Events are read-only through the existing `WorkflowAdminApi`.
## API Surfaces
Do not add mutation to `WorkflowApiSurface`.
Likely surfaces:
- `WorkflowSourceAdminSurface`: read-only source list/inspect already exists
- future `WorkflowSourceRegistrySurface`: mutating registry operations
- `WorkflowAdminSurface`: read-only connections/status/events already exists
The mutation surface may live in `wf_api` if it remains protocol-neutral. If it
becomes transport/provider-heavy, split it into a platform admin package instead
of bloating workflow lifecycle APIs.
## First Implementation Slices
### Slice 1: Registry Models and File Store
- Add Pydantic registry models.
- Add `SourceRegistryStore` protocol.
- Add `FileSourceRegistryStore`.
- Validate duplicate ids and reserved ids.
- Atomic write for filesystem store.
- No runtime wiring yet.
### Slice 2: Startup Merge
- Load registry during server/broker construction.
- Merge config + registry deterministically.
- Emit diagnostics/events for ignored shadowed entries.
- Preserve existing config-only behavior when registry file is absent.
### Slice 3: Read Registry Through Admin
- Add admin read method for desired registry entries if needed.
- Keep current source inventory list as runtime/observed source inventory.
- Document difference between desired registry and observed source catalog.
### Slice 4: Mutating RPC/CLI
- Add add/update/enable/disable/remove operations.
- Add JSON-RPC methods.
- Add CLI commands.
- Validate before commit.
- Do not delete auth/catalog on remove in v1.
## Open Questions
- Should dynamic registry entries support non-MCP transports in v1, or only MCP
stdio/HTTP?
- Should auth references be required for sources that need auth, or optional
until live validation?
- Should config shadowing registry entries be a warning only, or should server
startup fail in strict mode?
- Should disabled registry entries still hydrate as disabled sources so inspect
can explain them, or stay only in registry/admin output?
## Recommendation
Implement Slice 1 first. Keep it independent from runtime startup so the model
and file persistence rules become solid before they affect source hydration.
The existing `wf_mcp` store can host the first file-backed implementation, but
the interface should be neutral enough to move later. Catalog/auth remain
observed/secret state; the new registry is desired source configuration state.