V Vant Docs

Steward Runbook

Operating a corporate group of separate orgs on Vant: separate companies, one knowledge and decision chain. This guide encodes the recorded design decisions and a proven live-fire exercise. Every mechanism named here is shipped and pinned by the test suite.

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How the pattern works

A group of separate orgs sharing decision chains is modeled as a standing JV on a dedicated steward install (the “router” node). The steward hosts the group’s org model and the group’s agora topics; it runs no production work. Member nodes stay fully sovereign: their own org model, their own brains, their own budgets, their own gates. Cross-org traffic uses the same signed, registered-peers-only wire as every other leg, so the steward adds no new trust path.

Two rules make it safe, both pinned by tests:

Rule What it means
Pass-50: scope resolves where the model lives Group topics live on the steward; the steward’s gates admit ballots; members vote remotely
Wave J: the resolution cache Members hold a replica of the group org model so they can read group topics locally; the cache can only widen resolution to members the steward’s signed model contains, never bypass a local denial

Trust inventory

Thing Where it lives Who may write it
Group org model (org, dept, team, roles) Steward’s orgchart store The steward only
Group topics (scoped ledgers) Steward’s consensus state The steward’s gates
Member org models (local) Each member’s own orgchart Each member only; the replica never touches it
Org-sync replicas Each member’s org-sync state Replaced only by a newer steward-signed generation
Budgets Each member’s own escrow The member; the steward records claims, never money
Ring secret per pair Memory or VANT_MESH_SECRET env Genesis and the rite only; never files, never the repo

Sizing: the steward is small. A webhook receiver and JSON state, no agent loops, no workshops, no brain pressure. A small VM is plenty for a group of dozens of agents.

Stand up the steward

Provision a clean Vant install that will do nothing but steward, then set the ring secret and node identity:

export VANT_MESH_SECRET="$(openssl rand -hex 32)"
export VANT_NODE_NAME=group-steward
export VANT_NODE_PORT=4890

Boot the bus and install the wire legs:

const crewBus = require('./lib/crew-bus');
const agoraSync = require('./lib/agora-sync');
const settlement = require('./lib/settlement');
const orgSync = require('./lib/org-sync');

crewBus.configure({ name: 'group-steward', port: 4890, secret: process.env.VANT_MESH_SECRET, agentId: 'steward-lead' });
agoraSync.install(crewBus);    // vote, status, and pull legs
settlement.install(crewBus);   // the claims ledger legs
orgSync.install(crewBus);      // the replicate leg (inert on the steward)
orgSync.configureStewards(['group-steward']); // the steward never accepts foreign org models
await crewBus.listen(4890);

Create the group org model. The steward is the only writer; assign every principal that will act in the group chain, including members’ agents:

const teams = require('./lib/teams');
const org  = teams.createOrg('group-commons');
const dept = teams.createDept('group-ops', { org: org.id });
const team = teams.createTeam('group-chain', { dept: dept.id });
for (const a of ['steward-lead', 'acme-1', 'beta-1']) {
    teams.assign(a, { org: org.id, dept: dept.id, team: team.id });
}

Register vetting anchors for every voter principal. The name field must be the agent’s node name so principal resolution maps transport ids correctly (this matters for settlement):

const registry = require('./lib/node-registry');
registry.register({ id: 'steward-lead', name: 'group-steward', host: '127.0.0.1', port: 4890 });
registry.register({ id: 'acme-1', name: 'acme-node', host: '192.0.2.10', port: 4891 });
registry.register({ id: 'beta-1', name: 'beta-node', host: '192.0.2.20', port: 4892 });

Rite the members into the ring

Each member boots its own sovereign stack, then joins the mesh.

The first member closes a genesis pair. On the steward:

const genesis = require('./lib/genesis');
const pair = await genesis.create({ name: 'group-steward', joiner: { name: 'acme-node', agentId: 'acme-1', port: 4891 } });
// Hand pair.secret to Acme out-of-band, once.

On the member:

await genesis.join({ host: 'group-steward', hostPort: 4890, secret: pairSecret, name: 'acme-node', agentId: 'acme-1', port: 4891 });

Every member after that joins the ring without re-keying anything. On the steward:

const r = await genesis.admit({ member: { name: 'beta-node', agentId: 'beta-1', port: 4892 } });
// r.secret is the same ring secret, reused - never forked.

On the new member:

await genesis.accept({ host: 'group-steward', hostPort: 4890, secret: ringSecret, name: 'beta-node', agentId: 'beta-1', port: 4892 });

The ack is the live proof of membership: the hello was signed with the ring secret. After each admission the steward broadcasts a member intro and standing members adopt the new principal merge-only.

Member-side boot requirements:

orgSync.install(crewBus);   // receive replicated org models
orgSync.setProvider();      // activate the resolution cache
notices.install(crewBus);   // if the member posts to the board

Replicate the model

Push the steward’s org model to every member:

await orgSync.replicate(crewBus, 'acme-node');
await orgSync.replicate(crewBus, 'beta-node');

Rules the members enforce (all pinned in test/org-sync.test.js):

Re-push after every org-model change. If a member was down, the next push converges it; the latest generation makes any queue unnecessary.

The first group topic

  1. Propose on the steward, scoped to the group team:
const forum = require('./lib/forum');
const v = await forum.vote('q3-platform-call', {
    options: ['thursday-1400utc', 'friday-0900utc'],
    minQuorum: 3,
    scope: { owner: 'team:' + team.id, visibility: 'scope' }
});

The topic lives on the steward. Do not create it on a member: a member-owned copy is a different ledger the steward’s gates never saw.

  1. Members vote remotely through the owner’s gate stack:
const agoraSync = require('./lib/agora-sync');
await agoraSync.vote(crewBus, 'group-steward', v.topic, 'thursday-1400utc', { agentId: 'beta-1' });

Scope, registry vetting, quarantine, one-vote, and deadline gates all run owner-side where the model lives.

  1. Members read locally. Pull the ledger, then read; the member’s scope check admits group members through the replica:
await agoraSync.pull(crewBus, 'group-steward', v.topic);
const ledger = require('./lib/consensus').get(v.topic, 'beta-1');
  1. Settle execution economics. Publish the group listing on the steward (its gates hold the group scope), debit the buyer’s own escrow, and let the steward record a claim:
const settlement = require('./lib/settlement');
const inv = settlement.makeInvoice({ listingId, price: 6, buyer: 'acme-1', seller: 'steward-lead' });
await settlement.sendInvoice(crewBus, 'group-steward', inv);
  1. Announce the outcome. The board bridge refuses scoped topics by design (a scope’s existence is not nameable on the commons board); post the plain notice instead:
const notices = require('./lib/notices');
const refused = notices.bridgeDecision(v.topic);      // { bridged: false, reason: 'scoped_topic' }
const note = notices.post({ title: 'Q3 platform call set: thursday-1400utc (3 orgs)' });

Operating posture

Situation The answer
Steward down Group writes pause, fail-closed by construction. Members keep working locally; nothing misresolves.
Steward lost Restore from backup and re-rite; the steward is state-light and its state files are portable. Election and standby are deliberately deferred until a real crew demands them.
Backups Steward: the orgchart store (the group model, the one thing with no other copy) plus consensus and claims state. Members: their own brains and books as always; the replica is reproducible and needs no backup.
Key rotation Re-keying a pair is a re-genesis; admitting new members never re-keys. Keep the ring secret in memory or env, never in dotfiles or repos.
Monitoring vant mesh status locally, vant mesh status --peers federated, vant notices list for the board.

Incident cookbook

Symptom Likely cause Action
Member denied a group topic it should read Replica missing or stale Steward re-push; check orgSync.replicaStatus().generation on the member
Remote vote refused with a scope error Voter not in the steward’s group model Add the assignment on the steward and re-push
Remote vote refused with a registry error Vetting anchor missing or wrong node name Anchors use the agent id with the node name
Settlement refused with a buyer mismatch Invoice buyer does not match the sending node’s vetted principal Fix the registry anchor shape
Settlement refused, listing not found Listing created on a member but the claim sought on the steward Group listings live on the steward
Bridge returns scoped_topic Working as designed Post the plain notice instead