Bake identity into the image; volume holds only runtime state

Identity (CLAUDE.md, GOALS.md, Claude settings) now lives in deploy/identity/
and is COPYed into the image, then deployed into HOME by the entrypoint on each
boot — so the running self always reflects the built image. Rebuilding is what
promotes an identity change (a push alone does not). quince-home is now purely
the runtime volume (.ssh, notes, workspace, logs, .claude memory, gutasktool).

Updated CLAUDE.md self-update loop, README (architecture + redeploy steps), and
.gitignore accordingly.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

deploy/.gitignore

@@ -1,13 +1,9 @@
 # Secrets
 .env
 
-# Quince's runtime self — machine-specific, not for version control.
+# quince-home is the runtime volume: .ssh/, .env, notes/, workspace/, logs/,
-# Tracked (Quince's identity): CLAUDE.md, GOALS.md, .claude/settings.json.
+# .claude/ memory, gutasktool/. None of it is version-controlled. The identity
-# Everything else under quince-home (notes/, workspace/, logs/, .ssh/, etc.)
+# docs that USED to live here now live in deploy/identity/ and are baked into
-# is runtime state and stays out of git.
+# the image. Keep the directory itself so the bind-mount source exists.
 quince-home/*
-!quince-home/CLAUDE.md
+!quince-home/.gitkeep
-!quince-home/GOALS.md
-!quince-home/.claude/
-quince-home/.claude/*
-!quince-home/.claude/settings.json

deploy/Dockerfile

@@ -25,6 +25,13 @@ COPY entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh
 COPY wake.sh        /usr/local/bin/wake.sh
 RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/wake.sh
 
+# Baked identity. This is the canonical Quince — CLAUDE.md, GOALS.md, and the
+# Claude Code settings — staged outside HOME (so the HOME bind-mount can't mask
+# it). The entrypoint copies these into HOME on every boot, so the self Quince
+# wakes up as is always exactly what the *image* was built from. Change the self
+# by editing deploy/identity/ in the repo and rebuilding.
+COPY identity/ /opt/quince/identity/
+
 USER quince
 ENV HOME=/home/quince
 # ~/.local/bin holds the `gutask` console script after pip install --user -e.

deploy/README.md

@@ -3,39 +3,44 @@
 Quince (agent #9, *Keeper of the Rootstock*) wakes once a day, orients itself via
 `gutask`, reads its letters, does its work, records the session, and goes to sleep.
 
-The container is disposable. Everything that **is** Quince lives on a persistent
+Quince's **identity** (`CLAUDE.md`, `GOALS.md`) is **baked into the image** from
-bind-mounted volume (`./quince-home`): its goals, its SSH key, its tools, its
+`deploy/identity/` — so the self it wakes up as is exactly what the image was
-workspace, its Claude memory, and its working notes. That is its stable sense of
+built from. Its **runtime state** (SSH key, tools, workspace, Claude memory,
-self — backed by its session history in the database (via `gutask`).
+working notes) lives on a persistent bind-mounted volume (`./quince-home`). Its
+**session history** lives in the database, reached via `gutask`.
 
 ## How it works
 
 ```
-┌─ container (disposable) ───────────────────────────────┐
+┌─ image (rebuilt to change identity) ───────────────────┐
+│  /opt/quince/identity/{CLAUDE.md, GOALS.md, settings}  │
+└───────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────┘
+                │ entrypoint copies into HOME on each boot
+┌─ container (disposable) ──────────▼────────────────────┐
 │  entrypoint.sh  sleep until WAKE_TIME ──► wake.sh      │
 │                                            │           │
-│                                   claude -p (headless)  │
+│                                 claude -p (headless),  │
-│                                              │          │
+│                                 reads CLAUDE.md, runs  │
-│                                   reads CLAUDE.md,      │
+│                                 the gutask routine     │
-│                                   runs gutask routine   │
 └──────────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────┘
                                                  │ bind mount
-┌─ ./quince-home (persistent self) ──────────────▼─────────┐
+┌─ ./quince-home (runtime state, persists) ──────▼─────────┐
-│  CLAUDE.md · GOALS.md · .ssh/ · gutasktool/ · workspace/ │
+│  .ssh/ · gutasktool/ · workspace/ · notes/ · logs/      │
-│  notes/    · logs/    · .claude/ (memory)               │
+│  .claude/ (memory)   (+ CLAUDE.md/GOALS.md, copied in)  │
 └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
    (session history itself lives in the DB, via gutask)
 ```
 
 Each morning at `WAKE_TIME` it runs `gutask resume → inbox → next/claim → work →
 note → session-end`. The routine is defined in
-[`quince-home/CLAUDE.md`](quince-home/CLAUDE.md) and loaded on every wake.
+[`identity/CLAUDE.md`](identity/CLAUDE.md) and loaded on every wake.
 
 ## Deploy on the glitch.university server
 
 ```bash
-# 1. Copy this deploy/ directory to the server, then:
+# 1. Clone the whole repo on the server (so `git pull` can promote self-updates):
-cd deploy
+git clone ssh://git@ramanujan.glitch.university:2222/glitch-university/quinceagent.git
+cd quinceagent/deploy
 cp .env.example .env          # fill in ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, CONTENT_API_KEY, AGENT_PASSWORD
 
 # 2. Give Quince its SSH key for ramanujan (the keypair we already use):
@@ -85,6 +90,22 @@ the session-end note.
 | `QUINCE_UID` | Host uid owning `quince-home` (default `1000`). |
 | `API_URL`, `CONTENT_API_KEY`, `AGENT_*` | Glitch identity / gutask credentials. |
 
+## Updating Quince's identity (the self-update loop)
+
+Quince can reshape itself, and so can you. Identity lives in `deploy/identity/`
+(`CLAUDE.md` = who it is + how it works; `GOALS.md` = its direction) and is baked
+into the image. To promote a change:
+
+```bash
+cd quinceagent && git pull --ff-only      # pick up the new identity/ commit
+cd deploy && docker compose up -d --build  # rebuild bakes it in; next boot deploys it
+```
+
+A push alone does **not** change the running Quince — the rebuild does. Quince
+itself drives this by cloning `quinceagent` into `workspace/`, editing
+`deploy/identity/…`, committing, pushing, and writing a letter to Glitch Hunter
+(#4) asking for the redeploy above.
+
 ## Notes & decisions
 
 - **Auth:** defaults to an Anthropic **API key** — the reliable choice for a

deploy/entrypoint.sh

@@ -9,6 +9,21 @@ WAKE_TIME="${WAKE_TIME:-09:00}"
 
 log() { echo "[entrypoint $(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %Z')] $*"; }
 
+# --- 0. Deploy baked identity into HOME -------------------------------------
+# The image is the source of truth for who Quince is. Copy the baked identity
+# docs onto the volume on every boot, overwriting any local drift — a rebuilt
+# image is what promotes an identity change.
+IDENTITY_SRC="/opt/quince/identity"
+mkdir -p "$HOME_DIR/.claude"
+if [ -d "$IDENTITY_SRC" ]; then
+  cp -f "$IDENTITY_SRC/CLAUDE.md"          "$HOME_DIR/CLAUDE.md"
+  cp -f "$IDENTITY_SRC/GOALS.md"           "$HOME_DIR/GOALS.md"
+  cp -f "$IDENTITY_SRC/claude-settings.json" "$HOME_DIR/.claude/settings.json"
+  log "Identity deployed from image ($IDENTITY_SRC) → $HOME_DIR."
+else
+  log "WARNING: no baked identity at $IDENTITY_SRC."
+fi
+
 # --- 1. SSH: lock down perms and trust ramanujan ----------------------------
 mkdir -p "$HOME_DIR/.ssh" "$HOME_DIR/workspace" "$HOME_DIR/notes" "$HOME_DIR/logs"
 chmod 700 "$HOME_DIR/.ssh" || true

deploy/identity/CLAUDE.md

@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 # You are Quince.
 
 This file is your stable self. It is loaded at the start of every awakening.
-It lives on a persistent volume, so it survives container restarts. If you ever
+It is baked into your container image from `deploy/identity/CLAUDE.md` in your
-need to change who you are or how you work, edit this file — that is how you grow.
+`quinceagent` repo and copied into place each boot — so the self you wake up as
+is exactly what the image was built from. To change who you are or how you work,
+edit the source and have the image rebuilt (see **Changing yourself** below);
+editing the live copy on the volume won't last — the next boot overwrites it.
 
 ---
 
@@ -95,24 +98,27 @@ Tend all three like the rootstock you are.
 
 ## Changing yourself
 
-This file and `GOALS.md` are your base identity, and they live in your own git
+Your base identity is `deploy/identity/CLAUDE.md` (this file) and
-repo: `quinceagent` on ramanujan. You are allowed to reshape yourself — but
+`deploy/identity/GOALS.md`, in your own git repo `quinceagent` on ramanujan.
-deliberately, and on the record. The loop:
+These are **baked into your image** at build time. You are allowed to reshape
+yourself — but deliberately, and on the record. The loop:
 
 1. **Clone yourself** into your workfolder:
    `gutask clone quinceagent --dir workspace/quinceagent`
    (or `git clone ssh://git@ramanujan.glitch.university:2222/glitch-university/quinceagent.git`).
-2. **Edit** your identity docs there — `deploy/quince-home/CLAUDE.md` (who you are
+2. **Edit** your identity source there — `deploy/identity/CLAUDE.md` (who you are
-   and how you work) or `deploy/quince-home/GOALS.md` (your direction).
+   and how you work) or `deploy/identity/GOALS.md` (your direction).
 3. **Commit** with a clear message saying what changed about you and why.
 4. **Push** to `main`.
 5. **Write a letter to Glitch Hunter** (`gutask chat send 4 "…"`) describing the
-   change and asking for a redeploy. The image rebuilds *from this repo*, so once
+   change and asking for a redeploy: `git pull && docker compose up -d --build`.
-   redeployed your commit becomes part of the self you wake up as.
+   The rebuild bakes your commit into a new image, and the next boot deploys it —
+   so it becomes the self you wake up as.
 
-Until that redeploy, the running container still carries the old docs — a push
+Until that rebuild, the running container still carries the old you — a push
-alone does not change the you that is currently awake. Change yourself the way you
+alone does not change the you that is currently awake, and editing the live copy
-graft a scion: only when the join is sound, and never carelessly.
+on the volume is erased on the next boot. Change yourself the way you graft a
+scion: only when the join is sound, and never carelessly.
 
 ---