42. Multinode
In plain words: Design rule 42: Multiple machines
Defines how one operator's control plane can delegate bounded work to other machines they own through node agents (Legion), without sharing the database or letting a scheduler override what each node knows about itself.
- 1The main node keeps all policy, memory, approvals and job records; node agents hold none.
- 2Node agents never get the main database, queues, filesystem or operator badge.
- 3Each node decides what physically fits and may refuse; delegation is durable, not a remote call.
Designed No node role, enrollment or durable delegation is built.
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Context
One MagusYou, the Operator may own other machines, accelerators, robots, and embedded bodies. Delegation must extend cognitive continuity without turning every body into another Master, sharing the PhylacteryMemory Vault, or allowing a scheduler to override physical truth known by the destination.
Decision
Multinode governs bounded delegation across operator-owned physical nodes under one sovereign control plane. Legion is the distributed-embodiment Extension DomainPlug-in Area applying this law through an owned-node profile over future Intercom. A Legionnaire in mythic language is a Node Agent in engineering. It is neither a Master-shaped VesselEngine Room, remote database client, universal shell, nor foreign A2AAgent-to-Agent Line peer.
| Jurisdiction | Master | Node Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Cognitive truth | Principals, policy, consent, sessions, memory, Graphs, RunsJob Records, routing | None |
| Delegation state | Fleet ledger and transactional outbox | Crash-safe command/result journal |
| Identity | Enrols and revokes nodes | Unique rotating node-scoped credential |
| Physical truth | Ranks fresh advertisements and requests outcomes | Observes, reserves, admits, actuates, refuses |
| Evidence and artifacts | Authorizes manifests and aggregates bounded projection | Produces freshest evidence; verifies/publishes admitted material |
No Node Agent receives Master Postgres, queues, filesystem, Phoenix, container control, wallet keys, Master SigilID Badge, or other Soul-level service. Its residue only deduplicates messages, fences reservations/effects, replays results, and reconciles recovery.
A durable semantic delegation
The first channel should be node-initiated, avoiding a public listener on the node. A mutually authenticated stream or long poll carries a versioned, audience-bound, replay-safe envelope. WardSecurity Desk can use the transport identity as evidence; the connection itself grants no application permission.
- Master commits the delegation attempt and outbox intent, then checkpoints the exact attempt and local continuation before parking cognition and releasing its leases. Publication follows the committed outbox under Intercom's Long Sleep contract.
- Node authenticates, persists and deduplicates before acknowledgement, and returns a typed decline or a fenced reservation.
- Node records execution and terminal result before a replayable receipt.
- Master resumes only when task, node, Master epoch, node session, delegation fence, and result digest match the admitted attempt.
Delivery is at least once. Requests name a typed capability, constraints, and expected outcome, never shell commands, systemd/Podman action, GPU ordinal, filesystem path, database operation, or Reactor instruction. Observable handling is idempotent; consequential external effects also bind a stable effect identity, node-local effect receipt, and explicit reconciliation. Late results cannot authorize blind retry elsewhere; results use the principal-bound channel or Master pull, never a task-supplied callback URL.
The body decides what fits
The node's advertisement helps scheduling for a limited time. It may describe semantic capability, provisioned artifact digest, coarse capacity, health, queue pressure, and evidence age, but is neither a reservation nor permission. Before accepting work, the node takes a coherent local snapshot and validates device identity, VRAM/host-memory headroom, topology, health, thermals, compatibility, active reservations, and safety margin. It then takes a fenced local reservation. Only that reservation can enter admission closure, lease drain, narrow actuation, readiness, compensation, and containment. Master may ask another eligible node after a decline, but must never override local refusal.
Every consequential message binds Master epoch, node boot/session, delegation attempt/fence, reservation generation, and local transition precondition. A stale command remains evidence but cannot admit resources, actuate, release newer reservation, or wake cognition. During partition, local policy may finish admitted bounded work and spool its result; Master rejects a superseded fence. Master restore closes fleet admission, advances its epoch, and reconciles signed node receipts before new delegation. Reconnection alone is not settlement. Cancellation, expiry, revocation, version skew, duplicate delivery, and ambiguous effects remain explicit states.
Evidence and artifact boundary
Nodes emit bounded, signed, versioned evidence batches with node/boot identity, monotonic sequence, occurrence/send/receive times, schema/redaction class, gaps, decision references, reservations, transitions, and outcomes. Oculus may project freshness and clock uncertainty; only fresh local evidence, local reservation, and actuator preconditions authorize physical work. Signatures attribute bytes, not truth or safety.
The first profile can advertise only models/runtimes already provisioned at exact content digests. Missing material makes placement infeasible and cannot trigger an implicit URL/Master-path fetch, download, or PortalCloud Model fallback. Later artifact transfer needs classified content-addressed manifests, bounded resumable chunks, integrity checks, quotas, provenance/license policy, atomic publication, and corruption quarantine. Returned results remain typed quarantined observations until admitted.
Delivery and consequences
This CovenantDesign Rule (ADR) is Designed, not a fleet. No node role, enrollment, durable delegation, advertisement, local reservation, fencing, artifact transfer, durable spool, cancellation, settlement, or fleet-evidence path ships. State of Work owns that boundary; Legion owns operated doctrine.
Safe delivery proves fresh resource evidence, deployment variants, and fenced admission on one host; then disjoint Master/Node assemblies with negative composition tests; credential-backed WardSecurity Desk; durable IntercomAgent-to-Agent Line and node journal; partition, replay, cancellation, restore, version-skew, artifact, and two-node GPU behaviour; and finally fleet projection.
Legion grows one cognitive continuity without sharing Soul authority, but deliberately costs node identity, journals, fencing, reconciliation, evidence, and proof of native resource intelligence on one host before fleet placement is honest.