channels: find_daemon path walking, consistent pane_id, auto-start

find_daemon() replaces daemon_sock() — walks the dot-delimited channel
path from most-specific to least looking for a daemon socket, and
auto-starts via the supervisor if none is found. All channel tools
(recv, send, open, close) use the same resolution path.

Fix tmux daemon to use pane_id consistently for both pipe-pane and
send-keys (send-keys -t <label> doesn't work, needs the %N pane id).
Store label→pane_id mapping in State instead of bare label vec.

Gracefully handle missing tmux.json5 — start with empty pane list
since panes are added dynamically via the open RPC.

Co-Authored-By: Proof of Concept <poc@bcachefs.org>

channels/tmux/src/main.rs

@@ -42,17 +42,22 @@ fn load_config() -> Config {
     let path = dirs::home_dir()
         .unwrap_or_default()
         .join(".consciousness/channels/tmux.json5");
-    let text = std::fs::read_to_string(&path)
+    match std::fs::read_to_string(&path) {
-        .unwrap_or_else(|e| panic!("failed to read {}: {e}", path.display()));
+        Ok(text) => json5::from_str(&text)
-    json5::from_str(&text)
+            .unwrap_or_else(|e| panic!("failed to parse {}: {e}", path.display())),
-        .unwrap_or_else(|e| panic!("failed to parse {}: {e}", path.display()))
+        Err(_) => {
+            info!("no tmux.json5, starting with no pre-configured panes");
+            Config { panes: vec![] }
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 // ── State ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 struct State {
     channel_logs: BTreeMap<String, ChannelLog>,
-    pane_labels: Vec<String>,
+    /// label → pane_id (e.g. "ktest" → "%0")
+    panes: BTreeMap<String, String>,
 }
 
 type SharedState = Rc<RefCell<State>>;
@@ -61,7 +66,9 @@ impl State {
     fn new(config: &Config) -> Self {
         Self {
             channel_logs: BTreeMap::new(),
-            pane_labels: config.panes.iter().map(|p| p.label.clone()).collect(),
+            panes: config.panes.iter()
+                .map(|p| (p.label.clone(), p.pane_id.clone()))
+                .collect(),
         }
     }
 }
@@ -172,10 +179,10 @@ impl channel_server::Server for ChannelServerImpl {
 
         // Send to tmux pane via send-keys
         let label = channel.strip_prefix("tmux.").unwrap_or(&channel);
-        let has_pane = self.state.borrow().pane_labels.iter().any(|l| l == label);
+        let pane_id = self.state.borrow().panes.get(label).cloned();
-        if has_pane {
+        if let Some(pane_id) = pane_id {
             let _ = std::process::Command::new("tmux")
-                .args(["send-keys", "-t", label, &message, "Enter"])
+                .args(["send-keys", "-t", &pane_id, &message, "Enter"])
                 .output();
 
             let channel_key = format!("tmux.{}", label);
@@ -195,7 +202,7 @@ impl channel_server::Server for ChannelServerImpl {
         mut results: channel_server::ListResults,
     ) -> Promise<(), capnp::Error> {
         let s = self.state.borrow();
-        let channels: Vec<_> = s.pane_labels.iter().map(|label| {
+        let channels: Vec<_> = s.panes.keys().map(|label| {
             let key = format!("tmux.{}", label);
             let unread = s.channel_logs.get(&key).map_or(0, |l| l.unread());
             (key, true, unread)
@@ -230,7 +237,7 @@ impl channel_server::Server for ChannelServerImpl {
         // Check if already open
         {
             let s = self.state.borrow();
-            if s.pane_labels.contains(&label) {
+            if s.panes.contains_key(&label) {
                 return Promise::ok(());
             }
         }
@@ -247,7 +254,7 @@ impl channel_server::Server for ChannelServerImpl {
         // Register in state
         {
             let mut s = self.state.borrow_mut();
-            s.pane_labels.push(label.clone());
+            s.panes.insert(label.clone(), pane_id.clone());
         }
 
         // Start pipe-pane reader
@@ -270,17 +277,14 @@ impl channel_server::Server for ChannelServerImpl {
         let label = channel.strip_prefix("tmux.").unwrap_or(&channel).to_string();
 
         let mut s = self.state.borrow_mut();
-        if let Some(pos) = s.pane_labels.iter().position(|l| *l == label) {
+        if let Some(pane_id) = s.panes.remove(&label) {
             info!("closing channel tmux.{}", label);
-            s.pane_labels.remove(pos);
             s.channel_logs.remove(&format!("tmux.{}", label));
 
-            // Disconnect pipe-pane — find the pane ID
+            // Disconnect pipe-pane
-            if let Some(pane_id) = find_pane_by_name(&label) {
+            let _ = std::process::Command::new("tmux")
-                let _ = std::process::Command::new("tmux")
+                .args(["pipe-pane", "-t", &pane_id])
-                    .args(["pipe-pane", "-t", &pane_id])
+                .output();
-                    .output();
-            }
         }
 
         Promise::ok(())

src/agent/tools/channels.rs

@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ fn default_min_count() -> u32 { 20 }
 async fn channel_recv(args: &serde_json::Value) -> Result<String> {
     let a: RecvArgs = serde_json::from_value(args.clone())
         .context("invalid channel_recv arguments")?;
-    let sock = daemon_sock(&a.channel)?;
+    let (sock, _) = find_daemon(&a.channel)?;
     let channel = a.channel;
     let all_new = a.all_new;
     let min_count = a.min_count;
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ struct SendArgs {
 async fn channel_send(args: &serde_json::Value) -> Result<String> {
     let a: SendArgs = serde_json::from_value(args.clone())
         .context("invalid channel_send arguments")?;
-    let sock = daemon_sock(&a.channel)?;
+    let (sock, _) = find_daemon(&a.channel)?;
     let channel = a.channel;
     let message = a.message;
     tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
@@ -119,13 +119,12 @@ async fn channel_open(args: &serde_json::Value) -> Result<String> {
     let label = args.get("label").and_then(|v| v.as_str())
         .context("label is required")?
         .to_string();
-    let prefix = label.split('.').next().unwrap_or("tmux");
+    let (sock, sublabel) = find_daemon(&label)?;
-    let sock = daemon_sock(prefix)?;
     tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
         let rt = tokio::runtime::Builder::new_current_thread()
             .enable_all().build().unwrap();
         let local = tokio::task::LocalSet::new();
-        local.block_on(&rt, rpc_open(&sock, &label))
+        local.block_on(&rt, rpc_open(&sock, &sublabel))
     }).await?
         .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("{}", e))
 }
@@ -134,7 +133,7 @@ async fn channel_close(args: &serde_json::Value) -> Result<String> {
     let channel = args.get("channel").and_then(|v| v.as_str())
         .context("channel is required")?
         .to_string();
-    let sock = daemon_sock(&channel)?;
+    let (sock, _) = find_daemon(&channel)?;
     tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
         let rt = tokio::runtime::Builder::new_current_thread()
             .enable_all().build().unwrap();
@@ -144,7 +143,7 @@ async fn channel_close(args: &serde_json::Value) -> Result<String> {
         .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("{}", e))
 }
 
-// ── Socket helpers ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+// ── Daemon resolution ─────────────────────────────────────────
 
 fn channels_dir() -> std::path::PathBuf {
     dirs::home_dir()
@@ -152,13 +151,64 @@ fn channels_dir() -> std::path::PathBuf {
         .join(".consciousness/channels")
 }
 
-fn daemon_sock(channel: &str) -> Result<std::path::PathBuf> {
+/// Resolve a channel path to a daemon socket.
-    let prefix = channel.split('.').next().unwrap_or("");
+///
-    let sock = channels_dir().join(format!("{}.sock", prefix));
+/// Walks the dot-delimited path from most-specific to least,
-    if !sock.exists() {
+/// looking for a daemon socket at each level:
-        anyhow::bail!("no daemon for channel: {}", channel);
+///   "tmux.ktest"           → finds tmux.sock, returns ("tmux.sock", "ktest")
+///   "irc.libera.#bcachefs" → finds irc.sock, returns ("irc.sock", "libera.#bcachefs")
+///
+/// If no daemon is running, tries to start one via the supervisor.
+fn find_daemon(path: &str) -> Result<(std::path::PathBuf, String)> {
+    let dir = channels_dir();
+
+    // Returns the sub-path after the matched prefix
+    let rest_after = |prefix: &str| -> String {
+        if prefix.len() < path.len() {
+            path[prefix.len() + 1..].to_string()
+        } else {
+            String::new()
+        }
+    };
+
+    // Walk from most-specific to least, looking for a socket
+    let mut prefix = path;
+    loop {
+        let sock = dir.join(format!("{}.sock", prefix));
+        if sock.exists() {
+            return Ok((sock, rest_after(prefix)));
+        }
+        match prefix.rfind('.') {
+            Some(pos) => prefix = &prefix[..pos],
+            None => break,
+        }
     }
-    Ok(sock)
+
+    // No running daemon found — register and start via supervisor
+    let top = path.split('.').next().unwrap_or(path);
+    let mut sup = crate::thalamus::supervisor::Supervisor::new();
+    sup.load_config();
+
+    if !sup.has_daemon(top) {
+        sup.add_daemon(top, crate::thalamus::supervisor::ChannelEntry {
+            binary: format!("consciousness-channel-{}", top),
+            enabled: true,
+            autostart: true,
+        });
+    }
+
+    sup.ensure_running();
+
+    // Wait for socket (up to 3 seconds)
+    let sock = dir.join(format!("{}.sock", top));
+    for _ in 0..30 {
+        if sock.exists() {
+            return Ok((sock, rest_after(top)));
+        }
+        std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(100));
+    }
+
+    anyhow::bail!("no daemon for channel path: {}", path)
 }
 
 // ── Channel RPC ────────────────────────────────────────────────

src/thalamus/supervisor.rs

@@ -95,6 +95,22 @@ impl Supervisor {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Check if a daemon is in the config.
+    pub fn has_daemon(&self, name: &str) -> bool {
+        self.config.contains_key(name)
+    }
+
+    /// Add a daemon to the config and persist to channels.json5.
+    pub fn add_daemon(&mut self, name: &str, entry: ChannelEntry) {
+        self.config.insert(name.to_string(), entry);
+        let path = config_path();
+        if let Ok(json) = serde_json::to_string_pretty(&self.config) {
+            if let Err(e) = std::fs::write(&path, &json) {
+                error!("failed to write {}: {}", path.display(), e);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Check if a daemon is alive by testing its socket.
     fn is_alive(name: &str) -> bool {
         let sock = channels_dir().join(format!("{}.sock", name));