Design record for the operator console — the downstream non-technical
operator's surface. **Not scheduled for current build;** lands after the
spearhead (steps 1-6) and the ACD/escalation rungs (capability ladder
rungs 1-2). The current build target is slice-2; the next build target
after slice-2 is slice-3 (the OpenAI Realtime adapter). An agent that
proposes building the console now is wrong — point it at spec §0.
Records the visual-brainstorming session's resolved decisions so they
don't get re-litigated at implementation time:
§1 Principles (load-bearing):
- GUI is a pure API client — **green-zone, never an insider** (ADR-0008);
holds no privilege a third party couldn't get from the public API.
- Config-as-code is the single source of truth; the UI is a reconciled
*view* (the k8s model — declarative desired-state in git, the engine
reconciles; console + CLI + git are views over it).
- Operator persona, not builder. The builder authors flows in **code +
an AI pair** (ARCHITECTURE 'DX spine'); this console is NOT the
authoring surface for the technical builder. **No drag-drop authoring
canvas** — a deliberately-closed decision (vision-revision §8).
- Ships in the batteries-included distro and the all-in-one image
(the reference GUI is bundled — 'boom' includes a usable console).
§2 IA — Ops Console shell: left nav + center panel + persistent live rail.
Dense single-screen; for an operator who lives in it. Live rail always
visible regardless of the selected section.
§3 Dashboards — Live Ops (default landing) + Quality (sibling view). Maps
the k8s split: Live Ops = live operational state; Quality = the data-owned
eval loop (capability ladder rungs 3→4).
§4 Flows editor — master/detail + a generated, navigable preview map.
The preview map is a *view* rendered from the config, not a drag-drop
authoring canvas. Earns its place by showing branching (the escalation
split) the linear stage-list flattens.
§5 Declarative flow schema (illustrative YAML; format is open). The config
the console edits via the API; the builder edits in git; the engine
reconciles. The map is generated from this structure.
§6 Other sections (conventional): Agents · Numbers · Queues · People ·
Recordings · Settings.
§7 Architecture: separate app, public API only; never reaches into the FOB.
Config writes go through the reconcile path. Live data rides the event
stream off Valkey (ADR-0005); never the 20 ms media loop.
§8 v1 vs. later scoping. §9 open decisions (flow config format, map
rendering depth, quality metrics, live transport, framework).
Cross-refs ADR-0002 (fused vertical + composable platform), ADR-0006
(WebRTC ingress / escalation UX), ADR-0007 (rented trunk / Numbers
config), ADR-0008 (FOB / green-zone — the UI is green-zone),
ARCHITECTURE.md 'DX spine' + 'GUI & extension architecture', PORT_PLAN §5
(contact-center domain).
- *.kate-swp: Kate editor's swap files have a different extension pattern
than vim's *.swp; without this, kate-swp files like
docs/reviews/.2026-06-28-slice-1-claude-adversarial-assessment.md.kate-swp
leak into the working tree.
- .superpowers/: the superpowers companion scratches its visual-brainstorming
server state (HTML mockups, server.log, server.pid, server-info) under
.superpowers/brainstorm/ in the project root. The companion explicitly
advises gitignoring this directory; scratch artifacts are not source.
Mechanical propagation of the crate rename ( rutster-signaling-sip →
rutster-trunk ) and the repo URL fix ( github.com/anomalyco →
git.adlee.work/alee ) through the documents that name them:
- docs/DEVELOPMENT.md: crate-layout sketch + stub-crate description.
- docs/superpowers/plans/2026-06-28-slice-1-webrtc-loopback.md: the
workspace members list in the plan's binding-values section —
repository URL updated.
- docs/superpowers/plans/2026-06-28-slice-2-agent-tap.md: workspace
members list in binding-values + crate-layout sketch in the file-
structure section (rutster-signaling-sip → rutster-trunk).
- docs/superpowers/specs/2026-06-28-slice-2-agent-tap-design.md: §2.1
workspace-layout sketch's STUB crate-row.
No content changes beyond the substitutions; the slice-2 spec/plan
body (protocol, TapAudioPipe, TapClient, TapEngine, lifecycle, done-
criteria) is untouched.
ADR-0007 (rent the trunk) + ADR-0008 (FOB/green-zone doctrine) propagation
into the narrative docs that orient contributors + readers. No code changes.
README:
- Wedge bullet 2: 'one secure auditable boundary' now lists media + local
reflexes + spend + tap + audit (was: trunk termination + media + spend).
Adds the honest caveat that PSTN media inside the boundary is the on-prem
*graduation* (ADR-0007), not a day-one claim.
- 'Is / isn't': 'isn't a TDM/PSTN-hardware PBX — *and not a SIP stack.*'
No first-party SIP (ADR-0007). PSTN reach is rented transport.
- Memory-safety pillar: 'rutster parses no SIP at all' — entire first-party
wire surface is WebRTC/RTP/SRTP + WebSocket tap/ingress, all memory-safe
Rust. The carrier-SIP interop tail lives outside the trust boundary.
- Spearhead step 5: 'Add a real phone number via rented transport' (was:
'Replace WebRTC ingress with a real PSTN trunk call'). Re-aims at the
AI-telephony frontier; no first-party SIP stack.
- References: 0007 supersedes 0003 in the highlighted ADR list.
ARCHITECTURE:
- New 'FOB and the green zone' section after the fused-vertical framing —
names the build-vs-reuse doctrine with the FOB member list + green-zone
member list, and restates memory-safety precisely ('FOB is 100%
memory-safe Rust; the green zone is trusted OSS kept outside the
boundary — not an over-claim that every byte is Rust').
- 'Inside the boundary': 'Carrier trunk — rented transport, not first-party'
replaces 'Trunk SIP termination — Rust-native.' PSTN audio arrives as
a media-leg ingress from a rented CPaaS raw-media fork or an out-of-tree
SBC for on-prem sovereignty.
- Biggest technical risk: 'No longer the SIP stack — because rutster no
longer builds one.' Retires ADR-0003's named schedule risk; redirects
to 'the reflex loop itself' (turn-taking, VAD-driven barge-in, jitter,
pacing) — which is also the differentiator.
PORT_PLAN:
- Design rule 4: 'rent it, don't own it' replaces ADR-0003's 'Rust-native
trunk SIP, no SBC shield.' ADR-0007 restores the rule's original instinct.
- SIP signaling (trunk) row: disposition flipped to 🔌 Rented / out-of-tree.
- Outbound registration row: disposition flipped to 🔌 Rented / out-of-tree
(handled by the rented transport or out-of-tree SBC; rutster parses no SIP).
- Spend/abuse engine row: 'co-located with call origination + the tap inside
the boundary' (was: 'co-located with trunk termination'). rutster mediates
both the provider call-control API and the brain tap — the brain never
holds the wire.
- Spearhead step 5: 'Add a real phone number via rented transport.'
- Open decisions: SIP line updated to 'Re-decided — ADR-0007.'
AGENTS.md:
- ADR list: adds 0007 and 0008 with annotations; marks 0003 as superseded
by 0007.
- Key decisions to respect: prepends the FOB/green-zone doctrine as the
*the* build-vs-reuse rule. 'When in doubt, default to green zone — the
FOB earns its members, it doesn't collect them. This is why the trunk is
rented (ADR-0007) and Valkey reused (ADR-0005), not rebuilt. Don't pull
green-zone plumbing into the core.'
ADR-0007 lands in code:
- Rename crates/rutster-signaling-sip → crates/rutster-trunk. The crate was
a stub anyway (lib.rs with a doc-comment + crate_compiles() test); the
rename locks the new boundary shape — the future rented-transport
ingress (CPaaS media-leg fork / out-of-tree SBC glue, **no SIP stack**)
lands here at spearhead step 5.
- rutster-trunk/src/lib.rs doc-comment now describes the ADR-0007 split:
CPaaS media-leg adapter as primary, out-of-tree SBC for on-prem
graduation. Cross-refs ADR-0007 + ADR-0008 (FOB vs. green zone: trunk
is green zone; SIP lives outside the trust boundary).
- rutster-spend/src/lib.rs doc-comment updated to quote ADR-0007's
'rutster mediates both the provider call-control API and the brain tap'
framing — the spend gate sits in that boundary, structurally preventing
a runaway brain from exceeding spend/pacing. Pulling spend out into a
service re-introduces the 3-vendor structural hole.
Cargo bumps:
- edition = '2024' (slice-1's pinned Rust 1.85 + edition-2024 floor
already requires this; rutster-media's let-else pattern in
OpusDecoder::decode · Slice-2's let-else in AcceptOffer's Uuid
parse_str · all rely on edition 2024's stabilized let-chains / let-else).
- repository = 'https://git.adlee.work/alee/rutster' (the self-hosted
Gitea remote — matches 'git remote -v' origin). The github.com/anomalyco
URL was stale from the pre-pivot copy.
- Cargo.lock regenerated by cargo for the rename.
No behavioral code changes — the trunk crate's body is still the stub
crate_compiles() test. FOB membership (per ADR-0008) is unchanged:
rutster-trunk will be FOB-internal at step 5 because it's the media-leg
ingress (hot path); spend-spend stays FOB because spend is
security-constitutive.
ADR-0007 — Trunk/PSTN strategy: rent the transport, no first-party SIP stack.
Supersedes ADR-0003 (Rust-native trunk SIP). The 2026-06 strategic-relevance
review stress-tested ADR-0003 against the 2026 market + solo-build realities
and it did not survive: a trunk SIP/media core is the highest-cost,
lowest-differentiation square on the board (the perceived-quality battle and
the buying criteria both live above the transport), and no production-hardened
pure-Rust SIP stack exists to stand on (ezk is bus-factor-1 / pre-1.0;
str0m self-describes as 'not for production' for SIP).
rutster owns no SIP stack. PSTN reach is rented transport in three layers:
1. Primary (demo, most users) — CPaaS raw-media fork (Twilio Media Streams,
Telnyx). Media-leg ingress, core-as-server (parallel to WebRTC ingress
per ADR-0006). Use the raw-audio fork, *not* managed Voice-AI products
that would consume the reflex loop.
2. Graduation (on-prem) — out-of-tree SBC (Kamailio/FreeSWITCH/drachtio +
rtpengine) B2BUAs carrier SIP into rutster as clean RTP/tap media,
outside the trust boundary.
3. Never — a first-party Rust trunk SIP stack. rsip/ezk stay off the
critical path.
The only things rutster owns in Rust: the call model, the reflex loop, the
agent tap. Everything that touches a carrier is rented (layer 1) or
out-of-tree (layer 2).
ADR-0008 — The FOB and the green zone: the build-vs-reuse doctrine. Names
the boundary criterion implicit across ADRs 0002-0007 as one mechanical rule
every contributor (human or agent) applies the same way.
- FOB (build in Rust) — admitted only if it passes one of: hot path,
security-constitutive, differentiating. Current FOB: media termination
(rutster-media on str0m) · real-time reflexes (VAD/barge-in/jitter/pacing)
· call model (rutster-call-model) · agent tap (rutster-tap) · spend/abuse
gate (rutster-spend) · control API + state/bus trait (rutster).
- Green zone (reuse at arm's length) — its own process/container/trust
domain, never in the FOB's address space. Admitted when it fails all
three FOB tests AND a trusted, actively-maintained project already does
it well. Current green zone: Valkey (ADR-0005) · carrier trunk (ADR-0007)
· agent brain · reference GUI · object storage · KMS · OTel collector ·
container supervisor.
- 'Actively maintained' is the load-bearing gate: excludes a first-party
Rust SIP stack and webrtc-rs; admits Valkey and str0m-for-WebRTC.
- When in doubt, default to green zone. The FOB earns its members.
Restates the memory-safety pillar precisely: the FOB is 100% memory-safe
Rust; the green zone is trusted battle-tested OSS kept outside the boundary
— not an over-claim that every byte is Rust.
ADR-0003's status is flipped to Superseded with a forward-pointer to ADR-0007.
Kept as the historical record of the 'own trunk SIP + media termination in
Rust, no SBC shield' plan; reversed under the strategic-relevance review.
