ADR 0001: System Boundaries

Status

Accepted.

Context

SysKnife exists to let an agent perform real Linux administration without granting it arbitrary shell access or root.

Decision

SysKnife uses three separate roles:

• sysknife-brain plans
• sysknife-shell presents and collects approval
• sysknife-daemon executes

The daemon is the only privileged executor. The brain is never allowed to mutate the system directly.

Consequences

• The trust boundary is simple and auditable.
• The shell remains a client instead of a second privileged runtime.
• The daemon can enforce policy, preview, transaction logging, and rollback in one place.
• The project can grow without collapsing into an unsafe command runner.