> **Shared knowledge**: Read `AGENTS.md` at repo root for architecture, patterns, rules, and operations. This file adds Claude-specific features on top.
**ALL infrastructure changes MUST go through Terraform/Terragrunt.** Never use `kubectl apply/edit/patch/set`, `helm install/upgrade`, or any manual cluster mutation as the final state.
- **No exceptions for "quick fixes"** — even one-line changes must be in `.tf` files and applied via `scripts/tg apply`
- **kubectl is for read-only operations and temporary debugging only** (get, describe, logs, exec, port-forward)
- **If a resource isn't in Terraform yet**, evaluate whether it can be added before making manual changes. If manual change is unavoidable (e.g., emergency), document it immediately and create the Terraform resource in the same session
- **kubectl scale/patch during migrations is acceptable** as a transient step, but the final state must be in Terraform and applied via `scripts/tg apply`
- **Helm values live in Terraform** (templatefile or inline) — never `helm upgrade` directly
Violations cause state drift, which causes future applies to break or silently revert changes.
- **"remember X"**: Use `memory-tool store "content" --category facts --tags "tag1,tag2"` (via exec) for persistent cross-session memory. Also update this file + `AGENTS.md` (if shared knowledge), commit with `[ci skip]`. To recall: `memory-tool recall "query"`. To list: `memory-tool list`. To delete: `memory-tool delete <id>`. The native `memory_search` and `memory_get` tools are also available for searching indexed memory files. For **storing** new memories, always use the `memory-tool` CLI via exec.
- **Apply**: Authenticate via `vault login -method=oidc`, then use `scripts/tg` (preferred — handles state decrypt/encrypt) or `terragrunt` directly. `scripts/tg` adds `-auto-approve` for `--non-interactive` applies.
- **Ingress**: `ingress_factory` module. Auth: `protected = true`. Anti-AI: on by default. **DNS**: `dns_type = "proxied"` (Cloudflare CDN) or `"non-proxied"` (direct A/AAAA). DNS records are auto-created — no need to edit `config.tfvars`.
- **Anubis PoW challenge** (`modules/kubernetes/anubis_instance/`): per-site reverse proxy that issues a 30-day JWT cookie after a tiny PoW solve. Use for **public, content-bearing sites without app-level auth** (blog, docs, wikis, static landing pages). Pattern: declare `module "anubis" { source = "../../modules/kubernetes/anubis_instance"; name = "X"; namespace = ...; target_url = "http://<backend>.<ns>.svc.cluster.local" }`, then in `ingress_factory` set `service_name = module.anubis.service_name`, `port = module.anubis.service_port`, `anti_ai_scraping = false`. Shared ed25519 key in Vault `secret/viktor` -> `anubis_ed25519_key`; cookie scoped to `viktorbarzin.me` so one solve covers all Anubis-fronted subdomains. **DO NOT put Anubis in front of Git/API/WebDAV/CLI endpoints** — clients without JS can't solve PoW. **Replicas default to 1** because Anubis stores in-flight challenges in process memory; a challenge issued by pod A and solved against pod B errors with `store: key not found` (HTTP 500). Bumping replicas requires wiring a shared Redis store (TODO). For path-level carve-outs (e.g. wrongmove has `/` behind Anubis but `/api` direct), declare a second `ingress_factory` with `ingress_path = ["/api"]` pointing at the bare backend service. Active on: blog, www, kms, travel, f1, cc, json, pb (privatebin), home (homepage), wrongmove (UI only). See `.claude/reference/patterns.md` "Anti-AI Scraping" for full layering.
- **Private registry**: `forgejo.viktorbarzin.me/viktor/<name>` (Forgejo packages, OAuth-style PAT auth). Use `image: forgejo.viktorbarzin.me/viktor/<name>:<tag>` + `imagePullSecrets: [{name: registry-credentials}]`. Kyverno auto-syncs the Secret to all namespaces. Containerd `hosts.toml` on every node redirects to in-cluster Traefik LB `10.0.20.200` to avoid hairpin NAT. Push-side: viktor PAT in Vault `secret/ci/global/forgejo_push_token` (Forgejo container packages are scoped per-user; only the package owner can push, ci-pusher cannot write to viktor/*). Pull-side: cluster-puller PAT in Vault `secret/viktor/forgejo_pull_token`. Retention CronJob (`forgejo-cleanup` in `forgejo` ns, daily 04:00) keeps newest 10 versions + always `:latest`; integrity probed every 15min by `forgejo-integrity-probe` in `monitoring` ns (catalog walk + manifest HEAD on every blob). See `docs/plans/2026-05-07-forgejo-registry-consolidation-{design,plan}.md` for the migration history. Pull-through caches for upstream registries (DockerHub, GHCR, Quay, k8s.gcr, Kyverno) stay on the registry VM at `10.0.20.10` ports 5000/5010/5020/5030/5040 — the old port-5050 R/W private registry was decommissioned 2026-05-07.
- **LinuxServer.io containers**: `DOCKER_MODS` runs apt-get on every start — bake slow mods into a custom image (`RUN /docker-mods || true` then `ENV DOCKER_MODS=`). Set `NO_CHOWN=true` to skip recursive chown that hangs on NFS mounts.
- **Node memory changes**: When changing VM memory on any k8s node, update kubelet `systemReserved`, `kubeReserved`, and eviction thresholds accordingly. Config: `/var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml`. Template: `stacks/infra/main.tf`. Current values: systemReserved=512Mi, kubeReserved=512Mi, evictionHard=500Mi, evictionSoft=1Gi.
- **Sealed Secrets**: User-managed secrets go in `sealed-*.yaml` files in the stack directory. Stacks pick them up via `kubernetes_manifest` + `fileset(path.module, "sealed-*.yaml")`. See AGENTS.md for full workflow.
- **CRITICAL — Update docs with every change**: When modifying infrastructure (Terraform, Vault, networking, storage, CI/CD, monitoring), you MUST update all affected documentation in the same commit. Check and update: `docs/architecture/*.md`, `docs/runbooks/*.md`, `.claude/CLAUDE.md`, `AGENTS.md`, `.claude/reference/service-catalog.md`. Stale docs cause incident response failures and onboarding confusion. If unsure which docs are affected, grep for the service/resource name across all doc files.
- **Tier 0 (bootstrap)**: Local state, SOPS-encrypted in git. Stacks: `infra`, `platform`, `cnpg`, `vault`, `dbaas`, `external-secrets`. These must exist before PG is reachable.
- **Tier 1 (everything else)**: PostgreSQL backend (`pg`) on CNPG cluster at `pg-cluster-rw.dbaas.svc.cluster.local:5432/terraform_state`. Native `pg_advisory_lock` for concurrent safety. Each stack gets its own PG schema.
- **Auth**: `scripts/tg` auto-fetches PG credentials from Vault (`database/static-creds/pg-terraform-state`). Humans use `vault login -method=oidc`, agents use K8s auth (role: `terraform-state`, namespace: `claude-agent`).
- **Tier 0 workflow** (unchanged): `git pull` → `scripts/tg plan` → `scripts/tg apply` → `git push`. State sync via SOPS is transparent.
- **Tier detection**: Defined in `terragrunt.hcl` (`locals.tier0_stacks`), `scripts/tg`, and `scripts/state-sync`. All three share the same list.
- **Fallback**: If PG is down, Tier 0 local state can bring it back (`scripts/tg apply` in `dbaas` stack). Tier 1 ops are blocked until PG recovers.
- **Tier 0 details**: Decrypt priority: Vault Transit (primary) → age key fallback. Encrypt: both Vault Transit + age recipients. Scripts: `scripts/state-sync {encrypt|decrypt|commit} [stack]`.
- **Adding operator**: Generate age key (`age-keygen`), add pubkey to `.sops.yaml`, run `sops updatekeys` on Tier 0 `.enc` files. For Tier 1, only Vault access is needed.
- **Migration script**: `scripts/migrate-state-to-pg` (one-shot, idempotent) migrates Tier 1 stacks from local to PG.
- **`secret/viktor`** — go-to path for ALL personal secrets (135 keys). Contains every API key, token, password, SSH key, and config from the old terraform.tfvars. Check here first: `vault kv get -field=KEY secret/viktor`.
- **ESO (External Secrets Operator)**: `stacks/external-secrets/` — 43 ExternalSecrets + 9 DB-creds ExternalSecrets. API version `v1beta1`. Two ClusterSecretStores: `vault-kv` and `vault-database`.
- **Plan-time pattern**: Former plan-time stacks use `data "kubernetes_secret"` to read ESO-created K8s Secrets at plan time (no Vault dependency). First-apply gotcha: must `terragrunt apply -target=kubernetes_manifest.external_secret` first, then full apply. `count` on resources using secret values fails — remove conditional counts.
- **14 hybrid stacks** still keep `data "vault_kv_secret_v2"` for plan-time needs (job commands, Helm templatefile, module inputs). Platform has 48 plan-time refs — no migration possible without restructuring modules.
- **CI/CD (GHA + Woodpecker)**: Docker builds run on **GitHub Actions** (free on public repos). Woodpecker is **deploy-only** — receives image tag via API POST, runs `kubectl set image`. Woodpecker authenticates via K8s SA JWT → Vault K8s auth. Sync CronJob pushes `secret/ci/global` → Woodpecker API every 6h. Shell scripts in HCL heredocs: escape `$` → `$$`, `%{}` → `%%{}`.
- **Platform cannot depend on vault** (circular). Apply order: vault first, then platform. Platform has 48 vault refs, all in module inputs — no ESO migration possible.
- **Complex types** (maps/lists like `homepage_credentials`, `k8s_users`) stored as JSON strings in KV, decoded with `jsondecode()` in consuming stack `locals` blocks.
- **New stacks**: Add secret in Vault UI/CLI at `secret/<stack-name>`, add ExternalSecret + `data "kubernetes_secret"` for plan-time, `secret_key_ref` for env vars. Use `data "vault_kv_secret_v2"` only if `data "kubernetes_secret"` won't work (e.g., first-apply bootstrap).
- **LimitRange**: Tier-based defaults silently apply to pods with `resources: {}`. Always set explicit resources on containers needing more than defaults. Tier 3-edge and 4-aux now use Burstable QoS (request <limit)toreduceschedulerpressure.
- **Democratic-CSI sidecars**: Must set explicit resources (32-80Mi) in Helm values — 17 sidecars default to 256Mi each via LimitRange. `csiProxy` is a TOP-LEVEL chart key, not nested under controller/node.
- **ResourceQuota blocks rolling updates**: When quota is tight, scale to 0 then back to 1 instead of RollingUpdate. Or use Recreate strategy.
- **Kyverno ndots drift**: Kyverno injects dns_config on all pods. Every `kubernetes_deployment`, `kubernetes_stateful_set`, and `kubernetes_cron_job_v1` MUST include `lifecycle { ignore_changes = [spec[0].template[0].spec[0].dns_config] # KYVERNO_LIFECYCLE_V1 }` (use `spec[0].job_template[0].spec[0].template[0].spec[0].dns_config` for CronJobs). The `# KYVERNO_LIFECYCLE_V1` marker is the canonical discoverability tag — grep for it to locate every site. A shared Terraform module was considered but `ignore_changes` only accepts static attribute paths (not module outputs, locals, or expressions), so the snippet convention is the only viable path. Full rationale and copy-paste snippets in `AGENTS.md` → "Kyverno Drift Suppression".
- **NVIDIA GPU operator resources**: dcgm-exporter and cuda-validator resources configurable via `dcgmExporter.resources` and `validator.resources` in nvidia values.yaml.
- **Quarterly right-sizing**: Check Goldilocks dashboard. Compare VPA upperBound to current request. Also check for under-provisioned (VPA upper > request x 0.8).
**`postgresql_host`** in `config.tfvars` is `pg-cluster-rw.dbaas.svc.cluster.local` (the CNPG primary). The legacy `postgresql.dbaas` service has no endpoints — never use it. This variable is shared by ~12 stacks.
| CrowdSec | Pin version, disable Metabase when not needed (CPU hog), LAPI scaled to 3, **DB on PostgreSQL** (migrated from MySQL), flush config: max_items=10000/max_age=7d/agents_autodelete=30d, DECISION_DURATION=168h in blocklist CronJob |
| MySQL Standalone | Raw `kubernetes_stateful_set_v1` with `mysql:8.4` (migrated from InnoDB Cluster 2026-04-16). `skip-log-bin`, `innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit=2`, `innodb_doublewrite=ON`. ConfigMap `mysql-standalone-cnf`. PVC `data-mysql-standalone-0` (15Gi, `proxmox-lvm-encrypted`). Service `mysql.dbaas` unchanged. Anti-affinity excludes k8s-node1. Old InnoDB Cluster + operator still in TF (Phase 4 cleanup pending). Bitnami charts deprecated (Broadcom Aug 2025) — use official images. |
- Every new service gets Prometheus scrape config + Uptime Kuma monitor. External monitors auto-created for Cloudflare-proxied services by `external-monitor-sync` CronJob (10min, uptime-kuma ns). Mechanism: `ingress_factory` auto-adds `uptime.viktorbarzin.me/external-monitor=true` whenever `dns_type != "none"` (see `modules/kubernetes/ingress_factory/main.tf`) — no manual action needed on new services. The `cloudflare_proxied_names` list in `config.tfvars` is a legacy fallback for the 17 hostnames not yet migrated to `ingress_factory``dns_type`; don't check that list when debugging "is this monitored?" questions.
- **External monitoring**: `[External] <service>` monitors in Uptime Kuma test full external path (DNS → Cloudflare → Tunnel → Traefik). Divergence metric `external_internal_divergence_count` → alert `ExternalAccessDivergence` (15min). Config: `stacks/uptime-kuma/`, targets from `cloudflare_proxied_names` in `config.tfvars` (17 remaining centrally-managed hostnames; most DNS records now auto-created by `ingress_factory``dns_type` param).
**Default for sensitive data is proxmox-lvm-encrypted.** Use plain `proxmox-lvm` only for non-sensitive workloads. Use NFS when you need RWX, backup pipeline integration, or it's a large shared media library.
- **Proxmox host** (192.168.1.127): Sole NFS for all workloads. HDD at `/srv/nfs` (ext4 thin LV `pve/nfs-data`, 1TB). SSD at `/srv/nfs-ssd` (ext4 LV `ssd/nfs-ssd-data`, 100GB). Exports use `async,insecure` options (`async` — safe with UPS + Vault Raft replication + databases on block storage; `insecure` — pfSense NATs source ports >1024 between VLANs).
- **`nfs-truenas` StorageClass**: Historical name retained only because SC names are immutable on PVs (48 bound PVs reference it — renaming would require mass PV churn, not worth it). Now points to the Proxmox host, identical to `nfs-proxmox`. TrueNAS (VM 9000, 10.0.10.15) operationally decommissioned 2026-04-13; VM still exists in stopped state on PVE pending user decision on deletion.
**Migration note**: CSI PV `volumeAttributes` are immutable — cannot update NFS server in place. New PV/PVC pairs required (convention: append `-host` to PV name).
**NFS CSI mount option requirements** (learned from [PM-2026-04-14]):
- **ALWAYS set `nfsvers=4`** in CSI mount options. NFSv3 is disabled on the PVE host (`vers3=n` in `/etc/nfs.conf`). Without this, mounts fail silently if kernel NFS client state is corrupt.
- **NEVER use `fsid=0`** in `/etc/exports` on `/srv/nfs`. `fsid=0` designates the NFSv4 pseudo-root, which breaks subdirectory path resolution for all CSI mounts. Only `fsid=1` (unique ID) is safe on `/srv/nfs-ssd`.
- **`/etc/exports` is git-managed** at `infra/scripts/pve-nfs-exports`. Deploy: `scp scripts/pve-nfs-exports root@192.168.1.127:/etc/exports && ssh root@192.168.1.127 exportfs -ra`
- **Critical services MUST NOT use NFS storage** — circular dependency risk. Alertmanager, Prometheus, and any monitoring that should alert about NFS must use `proxmox-lvm-encrypted`. Technitium DNS primary uses `proxmox-lvm-encrypted` (migrated 2026-04-14).
- **NFS PV template** (in `modules/kubernetes/nfs_volume/`): always include `mountOptions: ["nfsvers=4", "soft", "actimeo=5", "retrans=3", "timeo=30"]`
- Uses LUKS2 encryption with Argon2id key derivation via Proxmox CSI plugin
- Encryption passphrase stored in Vault KV (`secret/viktor/proxmox_csi_encryption_passphrase`), synced to K8s Secret `proxmox-csi-encryption` in `kube-system` via ExternalSecret
- Backup key at `/root/.luks-backup-key` on PVE host (chmod 600)
- CSI node plugin needs 1280Mi memory limit for LUKS operations (`node.plugin.resources` in Helm values)
- Convention: PVC names end in `-encrypted` (not `-proxmox`)
-`nfs-change-tracker.service` — Continuous inotifywait on `/srv/nfs` + `/srv/nfs-ssd`. Logs changed file paths to `/mnt/backup/.nfs-changes.log`. Consumed by offsite-sync-backup for incremental rsync (completes in seconds instead of 30+ minutes).
- **OpenClaw config is writable**: OpenClaw writes to `openclaw.json` at runtime (doctor --fix, plugin auto-enable). Never use subPath ConfigMap mounts for it — use an init container to copy into a writable volume. Needs 2Gi memory + `NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=1536`.
- **Goldilocks VPA sets limits**: When increasing memory requests, always set explicit `limits` too — Goldilocks may have added a limit that blocks the change.