convoy: migrate CI to self-hosted axiom runners (briefs 1+2) (#132)

* convoy: migrate CI to self-hosted axiom runners (briefs 1+2)

Moves 4 of 5 GitHub Actions workflows from `ubuntu-latest` to the new
`stwl-labs` org-level self-hosted pool (CT 111 axiom-runner-1..4) and
rewires the `migrate` job to use CT 102's shared Postgres via per-run
databases.

Changes:
- ci.yml: lint, schema-map-fresh, forbidden-patterns, migrate, test ->
  `[self-hosted, axiom]`. migrate job drops `services.postgres` (saved
  ~30s/run of image pull) and switches to `HOMELAB_CI_POSTGRES_BASE_URL`
  secret + per-run DB (`ci_run_<run_id>_<run_attempt>`) with `always()`
  cleanup so failed migrations don't leak DBs.
- preview-smoke.yml: gate + smoke -> self-hosted. Playwright browser
  cache lives under /opt/appdata/gha-runner/shared-cache/playwright on
  the host bind mount; first PR primes it, subsequent runs reuse.
- visual-diff.yml: gate + visual -> self-hosted (same Playwright cache).
- pr-health-rollup.yml: rollup -> self-hosted.
- agent-context-drift.yml: deliberately LEFT on ubuntu-latest (D4 in
  convoy doc). Weekly cron stays GitHub-hosted so it runs even when
  axiom is down.

Why on this side and not the runner side:
- migrate adds an explicit `sudo apt-get install -y postgresql-client`
  step (~10s, amortized via apt-cache survival). The runner image
  doesn't ship psql; baking it in would require a custom image and
  doesn't earn its keep for one job.

Repo prereqs (set before this PR opens):
- `HOMELAB_CI_POSTGRES_BASE_URL` repo secret set (value pattern:
  `postgres://deckhearth_ci:<pw>@192.168.68.102:5432`)
- `deckhearth_ci` Postgres user created on CT 102 with CREATEDB,
  no superuser
- stwl-labs org Actions settings: "Require approval for all outside
  collaborators" + runner group rejects public repos
- 4 runners online: `axiom-runner-1..4`, status Idle

Follow-ups (per convoy):
- Brief 3: forbidden-pattern gate to catch `runs-on: ubuntu-latest`
  re-introduction outside the agent-context-drift allowlist
- Brief 4: AGENTS.md updates + 1-line revert path (D5)
- Weekly cron on CT 102 to GC any `ci_run_*` DBs older than 7d
  (Risk #4 mitigation)

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

* fix(migrate): use PGHOST/PGUSER/PGPASSWORD instead of URL secret

First Brief 1+2 validation run failed on the migrate job with
`psql: invalid option -- '/'` despite the secret being set correctly
and a direct CT-111 → CT-102 psql connection working fine. The
URL-parse path in `psql "$PGBASE/postgres"` was the fragile bit.

Splitting the connection into discrete `PG*` env vars (which psql
picks up automatically) sidesteps URL parsing entirely. The
`HOMELAB_CI_POSTGRES_BASE_URL` repo secret is now
`HOMELAB_CI_POSTGRES_PASSWORD` — password only — and the workflow
hardcodes the (non-sensitive) host/port/user. `node-pg-migrate`
still reads `POSTGRES_URL` from `.env.local`, so we assemble that
URL inline for it; the runner is ephemeral so the leaked-to-disk
password is bounded to one job.

Convoy doc updated to reflect the shipped approach + lesson learned
in prerequisites.

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

* ci: trigger vercel preview after stwl-labs reauth

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

* ci: re-test playwright after vercel project rebind

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

.convoys/migrate-ci-to-self-hosted.md

@@ -0,0 +1,210 @@
+---
+slug: migrate-ci-to-self-hosted
+status: queued
+opened: 2026-06-05
+owner: rstillw
+prerequisites:
+  - CT 111 (`ci-runner`) provisioned and online on axiom (`192.168.68.111`)
+  - 2× `axiom-runner-*` registered + Idle in Settings → Actions → Runners
+  - `deckhearth_ci` Postgres user + tracking script wired on CT 102
+  - `HOMELAB_CI_POSTGRES_PASSWORD` set as a GitHub Actions repo secret (password only — `PGHOST`/`PGUSER`/`PGPORT` are hardcoded in the workflow). Earlier draft of this convoy used a single `HOMELAB_CI_POSTGRES_BASE_URL` URL secret, but during Brief 1+2 validation `psql "$URL/postgres"` failed with `invalid option -- '/'` — the URL-parse path was fragile. Split secret + standard `PG*` env vars sidesteps it.
+  - Repo Settings → Actions → General → **"Require approval for all outside collaborators"** = enabled
+related_axiom_artifacts:
+  - axiom-server/proxmox/ct111/docker-compose.yml
+  - axiom-server/proxmox/ct111/.env.example
+  - axiom-server/proxmox/ct111/README.md
+  - axiom-server/.cursor/rules/ct111-ci-runner.mdc
+---
+
+# migrate-ci-to-self-hosted
+
+## Problem
+
+GitHub Actions billing on the free tier blocks CI on a private repo when the
+monthly minute budget runs out (hit during the `unify-glass-panel-surfaces`
+convoy, 2026-06-04; PRs #124 + #125 had to admin-merge without CI). The
+`slash-ci-minutes` convoy (PR #126) reduced consumption by ~60% via
+`paths-ignore`, grep consolidation, and caching, but a busy week of
+implementation work still trips the limit.
+
+This convoy migrates all 4 GitHub Actions workflows off `ubuntu-latest`
+(GitHub-hosted, billed) onto the axiom homelab runner (`CT 111`,
+self-hosted, free). It also rewires the `migrate` job to use CT 102's
+shared Postgres instead of spinning up an ephemeral container per run —
+saving ~30s/PR and eliminating the Docker-in-runner pull cost.
+
+## Non-goals
+
+- Migrating to a different CI provider (CircleCI, Buildkite, etc.) — overkill.
+- Hosting the production app on axiom — Vercel keeps the deploy story simple
+  and the homelab is already at ~95% RAM allocation. Out of scope.
+- Replacing the Vercel Preview deployments — Vercel still builds previews;
+  Playwright smoke + visual-diff still run *against* those previews from the
+  self-hosted runner.
+
+## Workflows to migrate
+
+| File | Jobs | Notes |
+|---|---|---|
+| `.github/workflows/ci.yml` | lint, schema-map-fresh, forbidden-patterns, migrate, test | `migrate` needs the Postgres rewire (see below) |
+| `.github/workflows/preview-smoke.yml` | gate, smoke | smoke job needs Chromium — first run will `npx playwright install` and cache it |
+| `.github/workflows/visual-diff.yml` | (visual) | same Chromium cache benefit; baselines still TBD |
+| `.github/workflows/pr-health-rollup.yml` | rollup | trivial — single `gh pr comment` job |
+| `.github/workflows/agent-context-drift.yml` | (weekly cron) | Optional: leave on `ubuntu-latest` so the cron runs even when axiom is down. Decision deferred — see Risk #3 |
+
+Change shape per job:
+
+```yaml
+# Before
+jobs:
+  lint:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+# After
+jobs:
+  lint:
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, axiom]
+```
+
+## Migrate-job Postgres rewire
+
+Today (`ci.yml` § migrate):
+
+```yaml
+services:
+  postgres:
+    image: postgres:16
+    env: { POSTGRES_USER: postgres, POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres, POSTGRES_DB: deckhearth_test }
+    ports: ["5432:5432"]
+env:
+  POSTGRES_URL: postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/deckhearth_test
+```
+
+Shipped (post-validation revision):
+
+```yaml
+env:
+  PGHOST: 192.168.68.102
+  PGPORT: '5432'
+  PGUSER: deckhearth_ci
+  PGPASSWORD: ${{ secrets.HOMELAB_CI_POSTGRES_PASSWORD }}
+  DBNAME: ci_run_${{ github.run_id }}_${{ github.run_attempt }}
+steps:
+  - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+  - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+    with: { node-version: '20', cache: npm }
+  - name: Install postgresql-client
+    run: sudo apt-get update -qq && sudo apt-get install -y -qq postgresql-client
+  - name: Cache node_modules
+    uses: actions/cache@v4
+    with:
+      path: node_modules
+      key: node-modules-${{ runner.os }}-node20-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}
+  - run: npm ci
+  - name: Create per-run database
+    run: |
+      psql -d postgres -c "CREATE DATABASE \"$DBNAME\";"
+      echo "POSTGRES_URL=postgres://$PGUSER:$PGPASSWORD@$PGHOST:$PGPORT/$DBNAME" >> .env.local
+  - run: npm run migrate up
+  - name: Drop per-run database (always)
+    if: always()
+    run: psql -d postgres -c "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS \"$DBNAME\";"
+```
+
+`psql` reads `PG*` env vars automatically so we never need to assemble a connection URL on the psql command line (which was the failure mode in the first validation attempt). `node-pg-migrate` still wants a `POSTGRES_URL`, hence the inline URL written to `.env.local`. The runner is ephemeral so leaking the password into `.env.local` is bounded to that single job.
+
+Why per-run DB:
+- Two PRs migrating in parallel don't collide.
+- A failed migration leaves a dirty DB behind — `if: always()` ensures cleanup.
+- Naming with `run_id` + `run_attempt` is collision-free even with re-runs.
+- `psql` is available on Debian 13 — add `postgresql-client` to CT 111's
+  install if not already present (see axiom-server CT 111 README).
+
+## Architecture decisions to ratify
+
+- **D1.** Use `runs-on: [self-hosted, axiom]` (not `[self-hosted]` alone)
+  so that if another runner is ever added with a different `axiom-*` label,
+  these workflows still match correctly.
+- **D2.** Keep `ubuntu-latest` as the literal string in ZERO workflow files
+  after migration — make CT 111 a hard dependency rather than a soft one.
+  Rationale: dual-mode workflows hide drift (e.g. cache-key OS mismatch when
+  swapping between the two). Single mode is simpler to reason about; if
+  axiom is down, the operator runs the 1-line revert (D5).
+- **D3.** Rewire `migrate` to per-run DB on CT 102 (see above), NOT keep the
+  ephemeral `services.postgres` block. The shared Postgres is already there
+  and underutilized; the `services:` block on a self-hosted runner requires
+  Docker-in-runner which adds 30s of pull/start time per run.
+- **D4.** Leave `agent-context-drift.yml` on `ubuntu-latest`. It's a weekly
+  cron, costs ~2 min/month, and runs independently of axiom uptime. Trading
+  $0 for resilience is a good trade here.
+- **D5.** Document a 1-line revert path in `AGENTS.md` § 7 Deployment:
+  `sed -i 's/\[self-hosted, axiom\]/ubuntu-latest/g' .github/workflows/*.yml`
+  for the case where axiom is offline mid-PR-storm and we need GitHub-hosted
+  fallback fast. Operator manually re-enables billing or accepts the
+  consumption for that day.
+
+## Risks
+
+| # | Risk | Likelihood | Mitigation |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| 1 | CT 111 down → PRs queue indefinitely | medium | Beszel alerts on CT 111 down; D5 revert path documented |
+| 2 | PAT expires silently → new jobs fail registration | medium | Calendar reminder at PAT mint time (90 days); runner logs surface failure on next restart |
+| 3 | Malicious PR exfiltrates from runner | low (repo-scoped, "require approval" enabled) | Repo Settings gate; runner has no creds beyond `secrets.HOMELAB_CI_POSTGRES_PASSWORD` (scoped to `deckhearth_ci`, CREATEDB but no superuser, no access to other apps' databases) |
+| 4 | Per-run DB litter on CT 102 if `if: always()` cleanup itself fails | low | Add a weekly cron on CT 102: `psql ... -c "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS …" FOREACH ci_run_* older than 7d` |
+| 5 | Cache poisoning across runs (shared `~/.npm` between runner-1 and runner-2) | low | `npm ci` validates against `package-lock.json` checksum; corrupt cache is self-healing |
+| 6 | Two ephemeral runners insufficient for peak load (5+ jobs per PR) | medium | Add `runner-3:` block in CT 111 compose; ~200 MB RAM per slot |
+| 7 | Workflow file regressions (drift back to `ubuntu-latest`) | low | Add a forbidden-patterns check (8th gate): `grep -rE "^\s*runs-on:\s*ubuntu-latest" .github/workflows/` should match only the agent-context-drift cron |
+
+## Decomposition (proposed briefs)
+
+1. **Brief 1 — Workflow migration.** Single PR. Find/replace `runs-on:
+   ubuntu-latest` → `runs-on: [self-hosted, axiom]` in `ci.yml`,
+   `preview-smoke.yml`, `visual-diff.yml`, `pr-health-rollup.yml`. Leave
+   `agent-context-drift.yml` untouched (D4). Add a HOMELAB_CI_POSTGRES_BASE_URL
+   secret to the repo before the PR opens (otherwise `migrate` job will fail
+   on first run).
+2. **Brief 2 — Migrate-job rewire.** Same PR or split? Recommend SAME PR —
+   the migrate job is part of `ci.yml`, splitting introduces a window where
+   migrate runs on the self-hosted runner with no Postgres. Keep coupled.
+3. **Brief 3 — Forbidden-pattern gate (Risk #7).** Add 8th check to the
+   `forbidden-patterns` job: `runs-on: ubuntu-latest` is only allowed in
+   `agent-context-drift.yml`. Cheap insurance against drift.
+4. **Brief 4 — Documentation.** Update `AGENTS.md` § 6 Testing + § 7
+   Deployment with the self-hosted runner story + the D5 revert path. Add
+   `axiom-server/proxmox/ct111/README.md` as a cross-reference.
+
+Briefs 1 + 2 are tightly coupled — recommend single combined PR. Briefs 3 + 4
+are independent and can dispatch in parallel after Brief 1+2 lands.
+
+## Validation
+
+After Brief 1+2 merges:
+
+1. Open a no-op PR (e.g. add a trailing newline to `README.md` — wait, that
+   hits `paths-ignore`. Use a 1-line code comment in `pages/index.js` instead).
+2. Confirm in the PR's Checks tab: all jobs report `In progress on
+   axiom-runner-1` or `axiom-runner-2` within 10s of dispatch.
+3. Confirm GitHub Actions billing page shows zero minute consumption for
+   that PR.
+4. SSH `axiom` and verify the per-run DB was created + dropped:
+   `./proxmox/scripts/sync.sh exec 102 "docker exec postgres psql -U postgres -c '\l'"` — no
+   `ci_run_*` databases should linger.
+
+## Acceptance
+
+- 4/4 workflows green on self-hosted runner.
+- GitHub Actions minute consumption drops to ~0 (only the weekly
+  `agent-context-drift` cron remains on `ubuntu-latest`).
+- Forbidden-pattern gate (8th check) catches accidental
+  `runs-on: ubuntu-latest` reintroduction.
+- AGENTS.md § 6/7 updated; CT 111 README cross-referenced.
+
+## Queued follow-ups
+
+- `seed-visual-baselines-on-linux` — already queued (see
+  `ship-readiness.md`). With axiom now in the loop, this gets easier:
+  baselines can generate on CT 111 directly via
+  `npm run test:visual:update` against a preview deploy, producing
+  Linux-compatible PNGs the CI runner will match exactly.
+- `cleanup-stale-ci-runs-cron` — weekly cron on CT 102 to drop
+  `ci_run_*` DBs older than 7d (Risk #4 mitigation, defensive).

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ env:
 jobs:
   lint:
     name: Lint
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, axiom]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ jobs:
 
   schema-map-fresh:
     name: Schema map up to date
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, axiom]
     # Only run when migration scripts or the schema map itself changed.
     # If neither changed, nothing to verify.
     if: |
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ jobs:
   # stop-at-first-failure).
   forbidden-patterns:
     name: Forbidden patterns (7 checks)
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, axiom]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - name: Run all forbidden-pattern checks
@@ -368,29 +368,34 @@ jobs:
 
   migrate:
     name: Migrations apply (node-pg-migrate)
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, axiom]
-    services:
+    # Postgres lives on CT 102 (axiom homelab). Per-run database keeps parallel
-      postgres:
+    # PRs isolated and a `DROP DATABASE` in `always()` keeps the catalog tidy.
-        image: postgres:16
+    # `HOMELAB_CI_POSTGRES_PASSWORD` is a repo secret — password only. The
-        env:
+    # `deckhearth_ci` Postgres role has CREATEDB but no superuser; a
-          POSTGRES_USER: postgres
+    # compromised runner can't reach other apps' databases.
-          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
+    #
-          POSTGRES_DB: deckhearth_test
+    # psql picks PGHOST/PGUSER/PGPASSWORD/PGPORT up automatically, so we
-        ports:
+    # don't build a URL and we sidestep any URL-parsing quirks around
-          - 5432:5432
+    # special chars in the connection string.
-        options: >-
-          --health-cmd pg_isready
-          --health-interval 10s
-          --health-timeout 5s
-          --health-retries 5
     env:
-      POSTGRES_URL: postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/deckhearth_test
+      PGHOST: 192.168.68.102
+      PGPORT: '5432'
+      PGUSER: deckhearth_ci
+      PGPASSWORD: ${{ secrets.HOMELAB_CI_POSTGRES_PASSWORD }}
+      DBNAME: ci_run_${{ github.run_id }}_${{ github.run_attempt }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
           node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
           cache: npm
+      - name: Install postgresql-client
+        # myoung34/github-runner image doesn't ship psql. ~10s on first
+        # apt-update; the underlying apt cache survives between runs because
+        # the ephemeral runner container is recreated but layers are cached
+        # by the CT's docker daemon.
+        run: sudo apt-get update -qq && sudo apt-get install -y -qq postgresql-client
       - name: Cache node_modules
         id: cache-node-modules
         uses: actions/cache@v4
@@ -399,13 +404,18 @@ jobs:
           key: node-modules-${{ runner.os }}-node${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}
       - run: npm ci
         if: steps.cache-node-modules.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
-      - name: Write migrate env file
+      - name: Create per-run database
-        run: echo "POSTGRES_URL=${POSTGRES_URL}" >> .env.local
+        run: |
+          psql -d postgres -c "CREATE DATABASE \"$DBNAME\";"
+          echo "POSTGRES_URL=postgres://$PGUSER:$PGPASSWORD@$PGHOST:$PGPORT/$DBNAME" >> .env.local
       - run: npm run migrate up
+      - name: Drop per-run database
+        if: always()
+        run: psql -d postgres -c "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS \"$DBNAME\";"
 
   test:
     name: Unit tests (vitest)
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, axiom]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4

.github/workflows/pr-health-rollup.yml

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
   rollup:
     name: Aggregate gate status
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, axiom]
     steps:
       - name: Compute status + post sticky comment
         uses: actions/github-script@v7

.github/workflows/preview-smoke.yml

@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
   gate:
     name: Should run?
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, axiom]
     outputs:
       should_run: ${{ steps.check.outputs.should_run }}
     steps:
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ jobs:
     name: Playwright smoke
     needs: gate
     if: needs.gate.outputs.should_run == 'true'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, axiom]
     timeout-minutes: 15
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4

.github/workflows/visual-diff.yml

@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
   gate:
     name: Should run?
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, axiom]
     outputs:
       should_run: ${{ steps.check.outputs.should_run }}
     steps:
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ jobs:
     name: Screenshot diff
     needs: gate
     if: needs.gate.outputs.should_run == 'true'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, axiom]
     timeout-minutes: 20
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4