Replace the host `docker build` + `docker export` behind the Firecracker
agent rootfs with an in-VM buildah build. `image_builder.build_agent_rootfs_dir`
boots a throwaway builder VM (the orchestrator image, which carries
buildah) on the NAT'd orchestrator link, sends the Dockerfile over SSH,
`buildah build`s it, smoke-tests the result with `buildah run` (the
image's own PATH, so it catches an npm silent-failure stub), and streams
the rootfs tar back into the content-addressed cache dir — the same base
dir `util.build_rootfs_ext4` already turns into a bootable ext4 with
`mke2fs -d`. No host Docker daemon, no root-equivalent `docker` group;
an untrusted Dockerfile runs in a confined microVM, not on the host.
- new firecracker/image_builder.py (boot → build → smoke → stream).
- launch.py: `_build_agent_image` → `_build_agent_base`, returning the
base dir from the builder VM. The committed-snapshot (freeze/migrate)
path still exports via host docker until it too is ported.
- util: `_inject_guest_boot` → public `inject_guest_boot` (shared with
the builder). unit tests for the cache decision + smoke-test paths.
Verified on a KVM host end-to-end: builds the real claude Dockerfile
(node:22-slim + npm claude-code) in-VM in ~60s, the produced agent VM
boots and `claude --version` returns 2.1.172; the content cache skips
the rebuild on a repeat launch.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01WBMWTEtQdJ4W5UrWuLHCck
