# Slice K1 — portable single-session headless closeout

**Date:** 2026-07-27
**Implementation:** `f8cb840fb15b27f61afa5c33cad6c4dba8584949`
**Status:** COMPLETE

## Outcome

`AcDream.Headless` is now a production, presentation-free Windows/Linux host
for one real ACE session. It constructs the same canonical `GameRuntime` used
by the graphical client and adds no bot-specific world model.

The host owns one runtime, one host lease, one `LiveSessionHost`, one direct
typed command adapter, one policy subscription, one erasable credential, and
one retryable teardown cursor. Runtime owns the character, entity/object,
inventory, communication, action, physics, environment, and portal state.

## Shipped mechanisms

- Strict version-1 JSON configuration with rejected unknown fields.
- Windows special-folder and Linux XDG config/data/cache paths with normalized
  command-line overrides.
- Environment, standard-input, and credential-file providers. Linux file
  credentials reject symlinks and require owner-read with no group/other
  permissions. Passwords are not accepted on the command line or emitted in
  diagnostics.
- Character selection by active index, GUID, or case-insensitive name.
- `run` and `validate` CLI modes, stable exit codes, Ctrl+C, and Unix SIGTERM.
- `DirectGameRuntimeCommandAdapter` with generation-gated routes. K1 supports
  session lifecycle, Say/Tell, and the four recall commands; K2 completes the
  remaining typed gameplay commands through this same adapter.
- `RuntimeLiveEntitySessionController`, which commits inbound create/update/
  delete/pickup and portal state directly into Runtime without App, UI,
  rendering, audio, or a parallel GUID map.
- Exact headless portal readiness/materialization/host acknowledgements and
  LoginComplete. A no-window host has no graphical resource debt to await.
- Structured JSON lifecycle/resource/failure diagnostics containing only
  exception types and redacted credential identities.
- `idle` policy and explicit `lifecycle-smoke` connected-gate policy.

## Reconnect finding

ACE confirms CharacterLogOff before its account/session index releases the
retiring socket. Reconnecting about 350 ms later causes ACE to evict the old
session and reject the replacement as Account In Use; the index disappears
about two seconds later.

K1 therefore performs an explicit stop, verifies the complete teardown
acknowledgement, and gives production reconnect a one-time 2.5-second
quiescence suffix. Injected deterministic tests use zero delay. This is a
connection-lifecycle boundary, not a steady scheduler loop. K2 moves the wait
to the monotonic absolute-deadline scheduler.

## Automated gates

- Windows Runtime: 402/402.
- Windows Headless: 25/25.
- Windows complete Release solution: 8,728 passed / 5 intentional skips.
- Ubuntu/WSL portable closure:
  - Core.Net 600/600
  - Content 119/119
  - Runtime 402/402
  - Headless 25/25
- Linux-only credential permission and symlink gates pass.
- Dependency and loaded-assembly guards continue to prove no App, UI, Silk,
  ImGui, OpenAL, or graphical backend is loaded.

## Connected gates

Both Windows and Linux/WSL connected to the local ACE server and completed:

1. authenticate and select the configured character;
2. enter world and receive the CreateObject stream;
3. issue harmless local speech;
4. send lifestone recall;
5. accept the exact teleport destination;
6. complete Runtime reveal, host acknowledgements, and LoginComplete;
7. request and confirm graceful logout;
8. reconnect after ACE quiescence;
9. enter the second generation;
10. gracefully stop and converge every Runtime ownership ledger.

Both processes exited with code zero. No presentation assembly or device was
loaded.

## K2 carry

- Replace K1's 15 ms single-session loop and one-time blocking reconnect suffix
  with one monotonic absolute-deadline scheduler.
- Complete the remaining typed movement, selection, interaction, combat,
  magic, inventory, character, and social operations on the existing adapter.
- Serialize each session's accepted inbound turn and compare graphical versus
  headless packet order/cadence.
- Preserve one runtime and one mutable owner graph per session.

## Rollback

```text
git revert f8cb840fb15b27f61afa5c33cad6c4dba8584949
```