# Piece YAML Schema

This is the reference for the piece YAML format consumed by
`src/engine/piece-runner.ts` (`loadPiece` / `validatePieceDef`) and the
`/api/pieces` HTTP layer (`src/bridge/pieces-api.ts` `validatePiece`).

Field names are snake_case in the YAML; the engine maps them to
camelCase internally (see `Movement` in `src/engine/agent-loop.ts`).

## Top-level

| Field | Type | Required | Notes |
|-------|------|----------|-------|
| `name` | string | yes | lowercase `[a-z0-9-]+` |
| `description` | string | yes | shown in the piece classifier |
| `max_movements` | positive integer | yes | hard cap on movement count per run |
| `initial_movement` | string | yes | must reference a `movements[].name` |
| `triggers.keywords` | string[] | no | classifier hint only |
| `required_mcp` | string[] | no | `[a-z0-9_-]{1,64}` server slugs |
| `model` | string | no | preferred LLM model |
| `movements` | Movement[] | yes | non-empty array |

## Movement

| Field | Type | Required | Notes |
|-------|------|----------|-------|
| `name` | string | yes | unique within the piece |
| `edit` | boolean | yes | when true, Write/Edit are exposed |
| `persona` | string | yes | system-prompt persona |
| `instruction` | string | yes | the movement's task description |
| `allowed_tools` | string[] | yes | tool names; `'mcp__*'` wildcard allowed |
| `allowed_commands` | string[] | no | Bash command allowlist (overrides default) |
| `allowed_ssh_connections` | string[] | conditional | see below |
| `rules` | Rule[] | yes | transition rules; may be empty |
| `default_next` | string | no | engine-internal fallback (sentinel-friendly) |
| `max_consecutive_revisits` | number | no | loop-detection threshold override |

## `allowed_ssh_connections`

Per-movement SSH connection allowlist (Phase 4 of the SSH tool integration

| Value | Meaning |
|-------|---------|
| `undefined` (field omitted) | SSH tools reject with `no_allowed_connections_declared`. |
| `[]` (empty array) | SSH tools reject with `no_allowed_connections_declared`. The empty form is preferred over omission when the movement intentionally denies all connections (intent is explicit). |
| `['<connection-id>', ...]` | Only listed connection IDs may be passed to SSH tools. |
| `['*']` | Any registered connection may be passed. Still subject to ownership and grant checks (defense in depth). Use sparingly — typically only `ssh-ops`-style pieces. |

**Required**: If a movement's `allowed_tools` contains any of `SshExec`,
`SshUpload`, or `SshDownload`, then `allowed_ssh_connections` MUST be
present. `validatePieceDef` and `validatePiece` both reject pieces that
omit it for SSH-using movements.

**Format**: each entry must be `'*'` or a lowercase hex/hyphen id with
8+ characters (loose match against `randomUUID()` output).

Example:
```yaml
movements:
  - name: ops
    edit: false
    persona: ops-operator
    instruction: Run health checks on production hosts.
    allowed_tools: [SshExec, Read]
    allowed_ssh_connections:
      - 6f9619ff-8b86-d011-b42d-00c04fc964ff
      - 7a8b9cde-1234-4567-89ab-cdef12345678
    rules:
      - condition: all checks pass
        next: COMPLETE
```

## Rule

```yaml
- condition: <human-readable description shown to the LLM>
  next: <movement name | WAIT_SUBTASKS>
```

`rules[].next` may NOT use the reserved terminal sentinels
`COMPLETE` / `ABORT` / `ASK` — those are reachable only through the
`complete` tool (status: `success` / `aborted` / `needs_user_input`).
`default_next` does accept the terminal sentinels because it is an
engine-internal fallback (context overflow, ASK limit, SpawnSubTask
unavailable).

## Validation paths

Two validators implement the same rules:

- `validatePieceDef` in `src/engine/piece-runner.ts` — runs on every
  `loadPiece` (file-backed) and `CreatePiece` (runtime).
- `validatePiece` in `src/bridge/pieces-api.ts` — runs on `PUT
  /api/pieces/:name` (UI editor).

Both must stay in sync. When changing the schema, update both and add
test coverage in `src/engine/piece-runner.test.ts` and
`src/bridge/pieces-api.test.ts`.