Old docs described a k8s/ArgoCD/Terraform deployment that no longer
exists, with ASCII-art system diagrams that hadn't aged well. Rewritten
to match how the project actually ships:
- README: control plane (Railway) + execution plane (per-VPS workers)
split, dashboard-driven worker management, credentials/profiles,
auto-update from GitHub releases, OS package updates, self-hosting
knobs. Removed all ASCII art.
- resources/architecture.md: control vs execution plane, encryption
model (worker SSH keys + platform secrets under the same KMS-envelope
cipher as user secrets), worker identity from public IPv4, credentials
model, push-driven release flow, anti-abuse layers, source anchors.
- resources/deployment-guide.md: end-to-end from "provision a VPS" to
"auto-update on release". No more k8s, ArgoCD, kubectl, or Terraform.
Step-by-step backend env, webhook setup, worker add flow, day-2 ops,
rollback per plane.
- resources/local-development.md: the five make targets (dev / sim /
seed / tools / reset), what each profile runs, LocalStack bootstrap,
rich seed contents, native dev against containerized infra, the
offset-port URL table.
- resources/cicd.md: the two-plane build/release flow, image tag scheme
({sha} / dev / vX.Y.Z / vX.Y / vX / prod), webhook setup, release
process, security notes around HMAC and least-privilege worker AWS
keys.
- deploy/README.md: tight version of the same.
Workers are no longer curl|sh-only. Admins add and manage them from the
dashboard over SSH, with all runtime config (Kafka, Schema Registry,
Redis, AWS keys) stored encrypted via the existing KMS-envelope cipher
service.
Worker lifecycle:
1. Admin POSTs host/port/user. Backend generates an ed25519 keypair,
encrypts the private key under uuid.Nil (platform identity), and
stores the row in 'pending' state.
2. Admin pastes the returned public key into the VPS's authorized_keys.
3. Test connection — runs `true` over SSH, pins the host SHA256
fingerprint on first success (TOFU).
4. Install — backend scp's install-worker.sh + a per-worker env file
and runs it. State moves pending → provisioning → installed.
5. From then on: restart, update image, apply config, uninstall,
rotate keys, tail logs, live status, OS package update, reboot —
all dashboard buttons backed by SSH operations.
Credentials are reusable entities:
- aws_credentials: named keypair, secret encrypted at rest
- worker_profiles: bundles Kafka + Schema Registry + Redis + image +
release channel, references one AWS credentials row
- workers.profile_id links a worker to a profile; many workers can
share one profile
Saving a profile doesn't restart anything. The dashboard compares
profile.updated_at to each worker's config_applied_at and shows a
"stale config" badge; Apply rewrites /etc/warmbly/worker.env over SSH
and restarts the unit.
Auto-update on GitHub release:
- profile.release_channel ∈ {pinned, stable, dev}
- profile.auto_update toggles automatic rollout
- Trigger model is push, not poll: one check on backend boot, then
the /webhooks/github/releases endpoint (HMAC-validated with
RELEASES_WEBHOOK_SECRET) on every release event. Manual "Check now"
button as fallback.
- When a new tag resolves, the orchestrator SSHes into each assigned
worker, runs install-worker.sh --update --image <new>, which now
rewrites the systemd unit (not just `docker pull`) so the image
actually changes. workers.image_version captures the running tag
for the UI's "v1.2.3 → v1.2.4" diff.
Self-hostable: every release knob is env-driven —
RELEASES_GITHUB_REPO, RELEASES_WORKER_IMAGE_REPO,
RELEASES_WEBHOOK_SECRET, RELEASES_GITHUB_TOKEN, RELEASES_ENABLED. Set
RELEASES_ENABLED=false to disable the feature entirely.
OS-level updates and reboot are also exposed: detect apt / dnf / yum /
pacman / apk, run the right upgrade noninteractively, return the full
output and a reboot-required flag. Reboots are never automatic.
Migrations:
000028_worker_ssh — ssh fields, install_state enum, last_seen,
host fingerprint
000029_worker_credentials — aws_credentials + worker_profiles +
workers.profile_id + workers.config_applied_at
000030_worker_releases — release_channel enum, auto_update,
resolved_image_tag, workers.image_version
Endpoints added:
POST /admin/workers (create + keypair)
GET /admin/workers/managed
GET /admin/workers/:id/managed
POST /admin/workers/:id/{test,install,restart,upgrade,uninstall,rotate-keys,apply,system-update,reboot}
PUT /admin/workers/:id/profile
GET /admin/workers/:id/{live-status,logs}
DELETE /admin/workers/:id
GET /admin/aws-credentials CRUD
GET /admin/worker-profiles CRUD + /workers + /apply + /release
GET /admin/releases/state
POST /admin/releases/check
POST /webhooks/github/releases public, HMAC-validated
Admin UI:
/app/admin/workers list with status + version columns
/app/admin/workers/new add form with profile dropdown
/app/admin/workers/:id detail with all actions + logs + system update
/app/admin/credentials tabs: AWS credentials + worker profiles,
Releases panel, channel selector +
auto-update toggle in profile form
Hoist the dev/sim stack to a single docker-compose.yml at the repo root.
Adds profiles (default / sim / seed / tools) so you can opt into heavier
setups, and bundles dependencies that were previously missing:
- LocalStack (KMS + DynamoDB + S3) with a localstack-init one-shot that
idempotently creates alias/master-key-dev, the UserEncryptedKeys and
EmailMessageData tables, and the main S3 bucket. Backend and workers
wait on it via service_completed_successfully.
- stripe-mock for billing flows
- kafka-ui under the tools profile
Three workers with deterministic UUIDv5 hostnames (shared / premium /
dedicated) so assignment, rebalancing, and per-pool routing all have
real targets to exercise.
Richer seed (cmd/seed/main.go) loads 3 orgs across tiers, 6 mailboxes
joined to free/premium warmup pools, a Beta campaign with a 2-step
sequence, and 10 contacts (2 unsubscribed) so suppression behaviour is
visible in the UI. Idempotent — safe to re-run.
Makefile targets:
make dev — infra + app + one worker
make sim — adds premium + dedicated workers
make seed — rich fixtures
make tools — kafka-ui at :18090
make reset — nuke volumes
Workers need IP diversity, but k8s nodes typically NAT all pods through a
small set of egress IPs — defeating the point of a DaemonSet for cold mail.
Plus, the control plane is moving to Railway and workers will be managed
per-VPS, so the kustomize tree no longer reflects how anything actually
ships.
Matthew Meszaros