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finding (gaming-eco): 2026-05-05 - `coily eco status` is 100% failure with opaque ssh-agent error #39

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opened 2026-05-23 20:54:01 +00:00 by coilysiren · 0 comments

coilysiren commented

2026-05-23 20:54:01 +00:00

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Originally filed by @coilysiren on 2026-05-18T03:42:46Z - https://github.com/coilysiren/coily/issues/218

Migrated from coily-gaming-eco-meta/findings/2026-05-05-eco-status-opaque-ssh-agent.md on 2026-05-17 as part of coilysiren/coily#215. Original file preserved in git history; see deletion commit on coilysiren/coily#215.

2026-05-05 - `coily eco status` is 100% failure with opaque ssh-agent error

What was observed

eco.status recorded 6 invocations in the 35-day window. All 6 failed (100% rate). Sample error: eco: remote sudo: ssh: no authentication method available (ssh-agent unreachable and no key path).

The error correctly identifies the immediate cause (ssh-agent unreachable, no key path configured). It does not name what the operator should do. The next reader (operator or agent) sees a verb that always fails and a string they cannot act on without external knowledge.

This is the opaqueness-vs-bug triage from coily-ops-investigation. The bug is environmental: ssh-agent was not loaded in the session that invoked coily eco status. The bug is fixable by the operator (ssh-add ~/.ssh/<key>). The opaqueness is in coily: the error does not say "load ssh-agent" or "configure a key path in coily.yaml." It states the symptom in transport-layer language.

Why it slipped

The error string is a faithful rendering of what pkg/ssh saw. Coily's transport layer surfaces the underlying ssh failure verbatim. That preserves fidelity but loses actionability. The operator sees the SSH library's idiom instead of an instruction.

A connected gap: the verb itself is a thin wrapper around ssh systemctl status eco-server. When ssh-agent is unreachable, the verb cannot complete. There is no fallback or pre-check. The 100% failure rate is genuine - not a coily bug, an environmental precondition that coily does not surface as a precondition.

Rule it produced

Anti-signal: "remote-side transport errors surface usefully through coily." False. They surface verbatim. Verbatim is fidelity, not actionability.

Forward shape (per the opaqueness-vs-bug rule in coily-ops-investigation):

Low-priority, opaque error → fix opaqueness first. Add a precheck or a translated-error layer that converts common transport failures (no ssh-agent, no key path, host unreachable, sudo password required) into instruction-shaped messages.
The verb itself is fine. The transport-error rendering is the gap.

This pattern applies beyond eco status. Every ssh.* verb has the same surface and the same exposure to the same transport-layer error idioms.

_Originally filed by @coilysiren on 2026-05-18T03:42:46Z - [https://github.com/coilysiren/coily/issues/218](https://github.com/coilysiren/coily/issues/218)_ _Migrated from `coily-gaming-eco-meta/findings/2026-05-05-eco-status-opaque-ssh-agent.md` on 2026-05-17 as part of coilysiren/coily#215. Original file preserved in git history; see deletion commit on coilysiren/coily#215._ # 2026-05-05 - `coily eco status` is 100% failure with opaque ssh-agent error ## What was observed `eco.status` recorded 6 invocations in the 35-day window. All 6 failed (100% rate). Sample error: `eco: remote sudo: ssh: no authentication method available (ssh-agent unreachable and no key path)`. The error correctly identifies the immediate cause (ssh-agent unreachable, no key path configured). It does not name what the operator should do. The next reader (operator or agent) sees a verb that always fails and a string they cannot act on without external knowledge. This is the opaqueness-vs-bug triage from `coily-ops-investigation`. The bug is environmental: ssh-agent was not loaded in the session that invoked `coily eco status`. The bug is fixable by the operator (`ssh-add ~/.ssh/<key>`). The opaqueness is in coily: the error does not say "load ssh-agent" or "configure a key path in `coily.yaml`." It states the symptom in transport-layer language. ## Why it slipped The error string is a faithful rendering of what `pkg/ssh` saw. Coily's transport layer surfaces the underlying ssh failure verbatim. That preserves fidelity but loses actionability. The operator sees the SSH library's idiom instead of an instruction. A connected gap: the verb itself is a thin wrapper around `ssh systemctl status eco-server`. When ssh-agent is unreachable, the verb cannot complete. There is no fallback or pre-check. The 100% failure rate is genuine - not a coily bug, an environmental precondition that coily does not surface as a precondition. ## Rule it produced Anti-signal: **"remote-side transport errors surface usefully through coily."** False. They surface verbatim. Verbatim is fidelity, not actionability. Forward shape (per the opaqueness-vs-bug rule in `coily-ops-investigation`): - **Low-priority, opaque error → fix opaqueness first.** Add a precheck or a translated-error layer that converts common transport failures (no ssh-agent, no key path, host unreachable, sudo password required) into instruction-shaped messages. - The verb itself is fine. The transport-error rendering is the gap. This pattern applies beyond `eco status`. Every `ssh.*` verb has the same surface and the same exposure to the same transport-layer error idioms.

coilysiren referenced this issue

2026-05-27 00:14:48 +00:00

release: bump-formula job has failed on every release since run 33 #103

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finding (gaming-eco): 2026-05-05 - coily eco status is 100% failure with opaque ssh-agent error #39

2026-05-05 - coily eco status is 100% failure with opaque ssh-agent error

What was observed

Why it slipped

Rule it produced

finding (gaming-eco): 2026-05-05 - `coily eco status` is 100% failure with opaque ssh-agent error #39

2026-05-05 - `coily eco status` is 100% failure with opaque ssh-agent error