refactor(dream): rename sidecar subsystem to Dream + convert processor skill to a real agent

[dean0x]

Summary

Renames the background-maintenance worker subsystem from "sidecar" to "Dream" and converts the processor skill into a real agent. The worker "dreams" — consolidates memory/learning/decisions/knowledge/curation — between sessions.

Why: Every session, a SessionStart hook forced the main model to load the devflow:sidecar skill and paste its ~340-line "Processor Spec" into a bare Agent({prompt}) call — visible noise (skill-load line + giant paste + narration) on every session, and the spec was re-shipped through the model each time.

Now: SessionStart emits a 5-line DREAM MAINTENANCE directive that spawns a single Agent(subagent_type="Dream", run_in_background: true) with a one-sentence prompt. The 340-line spec lives once in shared/agents/dream.md. Session noise collapses to one Agent(...) line.

What changed

• New `Dream` agent (`shared/agents/dream.md`, `model: sonnet`, tools exclude `Agent`) — the former Processor Spec as a real, version-controlled agent. Replaces the deleted `shared/skills/sidecar/`.
• Universal availability — declared in the always-force-installed `devflow-core-skills` plugin (not just ambient), preserving the universal install guarantee the old skill had (agents install per-selected-plugin; the old skill installed everywhere).
• Full internal rename `sidecar → dream`: hook filenames (`dream-capture/dispatch/evaluate/recover/collect-tasks/lock`, `lib/dream-ops.cjs`), shell functions (`dream_lock_*`, `dream_recover_stale`, `dream_collect_tasks`), the on-disk config dir `.devflow/sidecar/` → `.devflow/dream/`, TS/CJS identifiers (`DreamConfig`, `readDream`/`DreamData`, `getDreamDir`/`getDreamConfigPath`), json-helper op `read-sidecar` → `read-dream`, and the SessionStart directive.
• Neutral user-facing CLI — toggle/status output drops the subsystem name entirely ("… — configuration updated", `Config:`); users never see "sidecar" or "dream" jargon. "Dream" is visible only as the spawned background-agent's name.
• Per-project migration `rename-sidecar-to-dream-v1` — moves `.devflow/sidecar/` → `.devflow/dream/`. `config.json` is old-wins (preserves real feature toggles over a fresh all-true default); all other entries (markers, `.processing`, `.processor-spawned-at`, `.reinforce.lock/`) merge without clobbering; no whole-dir lock (won't deadlock a live processor); best-effort rmdir. A deliberate, user-approved exception to ADR-001 (clean-break) because `config.json` is the feature-toggle source of truth.
• Transitional legacy-config fallback (`TODO(dream-fallback)`, removable after one release) — both TS `readConfig` and the shell hooks fall back to a stale `sidecar/config.json` when `dream/config.json` is absent, preventing a silent toggle-reset on the D37 edge case (project cloned after the global migration marker is set).

Two intentional "sidecar" remnants (by design)

1. `'sidecar'` + `'devflow:sidecar'` in `LEGACY_SKILL_NAMES` — prunes upgraders' orphaned `~/.claude/skills/devflow:sidecar/` (deleting source does not auto-uninstall).
2. The `TODO(dream-fallback)` legacy-config reads — removable after one release.

(Plus historical migration code that must keep its old paths/IDs, the `LEGACY_HOOK_MARKERS` self-healing list, and the unrelated "sidecar output file" pattern in the Knowledge agent — a different meaning, out of scope.)

Validation

• `npm run build` green; 1575/1575 unit/integration tests pass.
• 19/19 acceptance scenarios pass (F1–F7, A1, M1–M5, P1) — including a real migration harness (config preservation, old-wins, idempotency, no-clobber), the anti-toggle-reset fallback in both TS and shell, and an end-to-end `dream-capture` run that writes the queue + marker.

Test plan

• Build + full suite green
• Migration: config preserved (old-wins), markers merged without clobber, idempotent, no whole-dir lock
• D37 fallback honors stale `sidecar/config.json` (TS + shell)
• SessionStart emits single `Agent(subagent_type="Dream")` — no skill load, no spec paste
• User-facing CLI reads neutrally (no sidecar/dream jargon)

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[dean0x]

BLOCKING: Over-broad rename conflated two unrelated "sidecar" concepts

The word "sidecar" had two distinct meanings in this codebase:

1. The background-maintenance subsystem being renamed (sidecar-capture, .devflow/sidecar/, dream-config.ts) → correctly renamed to Dream
2. The generic "sidecar file" pattern — an auxiliary JSON file the Knowledge agent writes alongside its work (result.json, refresh-result.json)

This file (originally src/cli/utils/sidecar.ts) implements meaning #2 — it has zero relationship to the Dream maintenance subsystem. The rename mechanically turned it into dream.ts / DreamData / readDream, and now reads "Read a dream JSON file written by the Knowledge agent." This is semantically false: the Knowledge agent does not participate in the Dream subsystem.

Impact: A future reader seeing DreamData imported by knowledge-agent.ts will reasonably conclude the Knowledge agent is wired into the Dream pipeline. It is not. This is exactly the false abstraction that compounds — the next refactor will attempt to "consolidate" these into one subsystem and break things.

Fix: Revert this file's rename to describe the companion-file pattern, not the subsystem it doesn't belong to. Options:

• Keep src/cli/utils/sidecar.ts / SidecarData / readSidecar — the file-pattern meaning is a legitimate, industry-standard term and was never part of the subsystem rename.
• Or rename to the pattern it represents: agent-result.ts / AgentResultData / readAgentResult — avoid naming it after the subsystem.

Then update imports in knowledge-agent.ts:5, type refs at :45, :83.

Cited by: Architecture (92%), Consistency (90%), Documentation (82%)

[dean0x]

BLOCKING: Shell-side fallback implemented but completely untested

The three hooks (dream-capture, dream-evaluate, session-start-context) contain a legacy-fallback branch:

if [ ! -f "$DREAM_DIR/config.json" ] && [ -f "$DEVFLOW_DIR/sidecar/config.json" ]; then
  DREAM_CONFIG=...sidecar/config.json
fi

This is the D37 edge-case safety net (project cloned after the global migration marker is set, so the rename migration never runs and only sidecar/config.json exists). The PR description asserts this is "tested TS+shell," but the shell side has zero test coverage.

The test helper createSidecarConfig (line 1591) writes to .devflow/dream/, never .devflow/sidecar/. Its callers (lines 1660, 2568) exercise the primary dream/ path. There is no test seeding .devflow/sidecar/config.json to verify hooks fall back correctly.

Impact: An untested safety net that gates whether memory/learning toggles are honored for D37-affected users. If the fallback regresses (e.g., typo in legacy path), users silently get all-true defaults — exactly the toggle-reset data loss the migration's ADR-001 comment warns against.

Fix: Add shell tests that seed ONLY .devflow/sidecar/config.json (no dream/config.json) and assert the toggle is honored. Example pattern:

it('falls back to legacy sidecar/config.json when dream/config.json absent', () => {
  const legacyDir = path.join(tmpDir, '.devflow', 'sidecar');
  fs.mkdirSync(legacyDir, { recursive: true });
  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(legacyDir, 'config.json'), JSON.stringify({ learning: false }));
  createTranscript(homeDir, tmpDir, 5);
  runHook(EVALUATE_HOOK, { cwd: tmpDir, session_id: 'test' }, homeDir);
  const log = fs.readFileSync(path.join(tmpDir, '.devflow', 'logs', '.dream-evaluate.log'), 'utf-8');
  expect(log).not.toContain('Evaluating learning'); // toggle honored
});

Cited by: Testing (95%)

[dean0x]

BLOCKING: Migration lacks true re-run idempotency test (PF-004 violation)

M3 is labeled "idempotent" but only tests the no-op-when-sidecar-absent case. It never runs the full migration twice against the same seeded state.

PF-004 ("migration idempotency — tests must verify correctness since buggy runs never re-run") explicitly requires proving a second run on already-migrated state is a clean no-op that preserves data. The sibling consolidate-to-devflow migration includes this test (tests/migrations.test.ts:848), making this gap an inconsistency in the new block.

Impact: The moveFile lstat-guard idempotency and best-effort rmdir are plausibly correct but unverified. A future edit to moveFile or the logic could break re-run safety with no failing test.

Fix: Add a run-twice test seeded like M1 (config + marker), then:

it('is idempotent on second run with fully migrated state', async () => {
  // Seed: .devflow/sidecar/config.json + marker
  seedSidecarState(tmpDir, { learning: true });
  
  // First run
  const migration = getMigration();
  const ctx1 = makeCtx(tmpDir);
  await expect(migration.run(ctx1)).resolves.toMatchObject({ success: true });
  
  // Second run: should be clean no-op
  const ctx2 = makeCtx(tmpDir);
  await expect(migration.run(ctx2)).resolves.toMatchObject({ success: true });
  
  // Verify state unchanged
  const config = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(tmpDir, '.devflow/dream/config.json'), 'utf-8'));
  expect(config.learning).toBe(true); // preserved
  
  // And sidecar is gone
  expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(tmpDir, '.devflow/sidecar'))).toBe(false);
});

Cited by: Testing (88%)

[dean0x]

PR Review Summary — #237: refactor/rename-sidecar-to-dream

Verdict: CHANGES_REQUESTED — One consensus blocking rename issue + test coverage gaps. No runtime security or regression blockers.

---

High-Confidence Findings (≥80%)

BLOCKING (Address before merge)

1. Over-broad rename conflated two unrelated "sidecar" concepts (Architecture 92%, Consistency 90%, Documentation 82%) — dream.ts is for Knowledge agent companion files, not the Dream subsystem. Misleads future readers. ➜ Revert to agent-result.ts or keep sidecar.ts; update callers.

2. Shell-side fallback completely untested (Testing 95%) — Three hooks implement D37 legacy-config fallback but there are zero tests seeding .devflow/sidecar/config.json. PR claims "tested TS+shell" but shell side has no coverage. ➜ Add tests with legacy-only config path.

3. Migration lacks true re-run idempotency test (Testing 88%, PF-004 violation) — M3 never runs migration twice on same state. PF-004 demands proving second run is clean no-op. ➜ Add run-twice test.

SHOULD-FIX (High maintainability impact)

4. Config parse duplication (Architecture 85%, TypeScript 88%, Complexity 90%) — readConfig fallback copy-pastes the shape-guard block verbatim (lines 35–42 and 49–56). Future schema changes must be synced in two places; cleanup is error-prone. ➜ Extract coerceConfig() helper; both branches call it.

5. Additive move logic duplication (Complexity 88%, Reliability 85%) — Hand-rolled EXDEV fallback in migration (lines 597–616) reimplements what moveFile() already provides. Two divergent implementations can drift. ➜ Add overwrite option to moveFile; use it here.

6. EXDEV copyFile follows symlinks (Security 80%) — Fast path uses fs.rename (safe); EXDEV fallback uses fs.copyFile (dereferences symlinks). Same-user/local filesystem, but violates defense-in-depth. ➜ lstat source before copy; skip if symlink, OR use {verbatimSymlinks: true}.

7. Half-renamed test helper (Consistency 95%) — createSidecarConfig writes to .devflow/dream/ but name still says "sidecar". Every other identifier in the block is "dream". ➜ Rename to createDreamConfig; update calls at lines 1660, 2568.

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What Passed

✓ No runtime blockers — Build passes, 514 tests pass. Regression review found zero dangling references.
✓ Architecture sound — Skill→Agent conversion, migration as ADR-001 exception, LLM-vs-plumbing boundary all correct.
✓ Performance clean — Dual-read fallback is gated; no hot-path regression.
✓ Security score 9/10 — No injection flaws, auth bypasses, or hardcoded secrets.

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Lower-Confidence Observations (60–79%, for context)

• Promise.all in moveDirContents masks sibling errors (Reliability 85%) — use Promise.allSettled for better diagnostics
• Shell hook TODO comments contradict the fallback code below them (Reliability 95%) — reword to "TRANSITIONAL" instead of "TODO"
• Feature-knowledge hooks base has stale referencedFiles pointing to deleted paths (Regression 90%) — run devflow knowledge refresh hooks post-merge

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Post-Merge Follow-ups (Not Blocking)

• Sweep docs/working-memory.md, docs/self-learning.md, etc. for stale "sidecar" → "Dream" references (pre-existing reference docs)
• Align .failed marker documentation in CLAUDE.md vs dream.md agent spec

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Recommendation: The core rename work is disciplined and correct. The blocking issues are architectural clarity (don't name Knowledge helper "Dream") and test coverage (D37 edge case + idempotency). These are cheap to fix and essential for merge readiness. The should-fix items are high-value maintainability improvements (duplication / EXDEV unification) that prevent future rot.

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Claude Code