# Project: Orca

## Vision
A minimalist, offline-first, CLI-first orchestration engine inspired by HashiCorp Nomad, prioritizing stability, security, and simplicity over feature richness.

## Objective
Build a lightweight system to manage and execute workloads across a set of nodes, keeping complexity far below that of Kubernetes.

## Requirements
- **CLI First**: Primary interaction through a CLI tool.
- **Offline First**: Functional without constant internet connectivity.
- **AI First**: Designed to be easily discoverable and manageable by AI agents.
- **Stability & Security**: Prioritize security fixes and bug fixes over new features.
- **Language**: Written in Go 1.25+.
- **Simplicity**: Minimalist implementation, avoiding the "K8s complexity trap".

## Constraints
- No web UI as a primary requirement.
- Must not implement K8s-level complexity.
- Feature development must move slowly to ensure stability.
- Only CI system allowed: CoreCI (git.cloudinit.dev/coreci/coreci).
- Gitea remote: git.cloudinit.dev/coreci/orca.

## Clarified Decisions (D-series, full autonomy)

| ID | Question | Decision | Rationale | Confidence |
|----|----------|----------|-----------|------------|
| D-001 | Single binary or multi-binary distribution? | **Single binary** | Simpler distribution; subcommands baked into one `orca` binary. Aligns with simplicity pillar. | 0.95 |
| D-002 | Local state store technology? | **modernc/sqlite (pure Go, CGO-free)** | Cross-compile friendly, no CGO dependency, single file on disk, mature. | 0.92 |
| D-003 | Inter-node communication? | **Embedded HTTP (net/http) over loopback, mTLS for cross-node** | No external RPC framework needed for v0.1. HTTP suffices. | 0.85 |
| D-004 | Scheduling algorithm for v0.1? | **Single-node only (no scheduling)** | Multi-node scheduling is out of scope for v0.1. Tasks run on the node they're submitted to. | 0.90 |
| D-005 | CLI output format? | **Human-readable by default, `--json` flag for machine consumption** | Serves both humans and AI agents. | 0.95 |
| D-006 | Job/task definition format? | **HCL or YAML in `.hcl`/`.yaml` files** | Familiar to Nomad/HashiCorp users; simpler than JSON for humans. | 0.88 |
| D-007 | Authentication? | **mTLS for v0.1, token-based deferred** | mTLS is the most secure default. Tokens can be added later if needed. | 0.80 |
| D-008 | Container runtime? | **Direct process execution (no container runtime) for v0.1** | Avoids the Docker/container dependency. Pure process management. | 0.85 |
| D-009 | Configuration file location? | **`~/.orca/config.hcl` and `/etc/orca/orca.hcl`** | Standard XDG-style paths. | 0.90 |
| D-010 | Logging format? | **Structured JSON via `log/slog`** | Native Go 1.21+ slog, no external dependency. | 0.95 |

## Out of Scope
- Full-blown Kubernetes-compatible API.
- Complex cloud-provider integrations.
- GUI-based management consoles.
- Multi-node scheduling.
- Container runtime integration.
- Service mesh / sidecar injection.
- Auto-scaling / horizontal pod autoscaler.