Delete the smolmachines backend (the whole bot_bottle/backend/smolmachines
package and its tests). It had fatal Linux issues (TSI networking under
sustained use, exec-channel contention, no SIGWINCH) and is superseded by
the Firecracker backend (issue #342).
Backend selection now:
- default is macos-container on macOS, firecracker on KVM-capable Linux
hosts, and docker as the last resort (was smolmachines).
- firecracker is selected on a KVM host even when the `firecracker`
binary isn't installed, so start routes through its preflight and
prints an install pointer (same UX as require_container), instead of
silently falling back. Split is_host_capable() (Linux + KVM) out of
is_available() (adds the binary check) to drive this.
Retarget the cross-backend tests (parity, print-parity, prepare,
workspace, freezer, selection) from smolmachines to firecracker rather
than dropping the coverage. Remove docker.util.image_id/save, which only
smolmachines used. Update README/AGENTS/example bottles and stale
comments; historical docs/prds are left as a point-in-time record.
BREAKING: BOT_BOTTLE_BACKEND=smolmachines now errors as unknown.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01WBMWTEtQdJ4W5UrWuLHCck
CLI and dashboard now share one cross-backend abstraction for
listing + launching bottles, so adding a backend (docker /
smolmachines) lights up in both places without separate wiring.
Backend abstraction:
- New `ActiveBottle` dataclass (`backend_name`, `slug`,
`agent_name`, `started_at`, `services`) replaces the
docker-specific `ActiveAgent`. Same field surface for the
existing dashboard consumers; `ActiveAgent` becomes a typed
alias for source-compat.
- New `BottleBackend.enumerate_active() -> Sequence[ActiveBottle]`
replaces the old `list_active() -> None` (which printed and
returned nothing). Docker implements it via the existing
compose query; smolmachines implements it via `smolvm machine
ls --json` cross-referenced with each bundle container's
`CLAUDE_BOTTLE_SIDECAR_DAEMONS` env (`backend/smolmachines/
enumerate.py`).
- New `enumerate_active_bottles()` and `known_backend_names()`
module-level helpers fold every backend into one call.
- `get_bottle_backend(name=None)` takes an optional explicit
name (precedence: arg > $CLAUDE_BOTTLE_BACKEND > "docker").
CLI:
- `./cli.py list active` enumerates every backend, prints
tab-separated `<backend>\t<slug>\t<agent>\t<services>`. The
smolmachines bottle the user was looking for now shows up.
- `./cli.py start` grows `--backend=<docker|smolmachines>`
(choices pulled live from `known_backend_names()`). Threaded
through `prepare_with_preflight(backend_name=...)` so the
resume path picks up the flag too.
Dashboard:
- Active agents pane lists both backends (the row formatter now
prefixes `[docker]` / `[smolmachines]`).
- New-agent flow inserts a backend picker modal between agent
pick and preflight (`_backend_picker_modal`). Short-circuits
when only one backend is registered.
- `discover_active_agents()` collapses to
`enumerate_active_bottles()`; `_parse_services_by_project` and
`_query_services_by_project` move to
`backend/docker/cleanup.py` where the docker enumerator owns
them.
Tests: parser + enumerate-active tests relocated to
`test_docker_enumerate_active.py`. New
`test_backend_selection.py` covers `get_bottle_backend`,
`known_backend_names`, `enumerate_active_bottles`. New
`test_cli_start_backend_flag.py` covers `--backend`'s argparse
shape + the explicit-over-env precedence.
605 unit tests pass.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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