# Phase 1: Core Infrastructure & Security - Context

**Gathered:** 2026-01-25
**Status:** Ready for planning

<domain>
## Phase Boundary

Production-ready backend infrastructure with security-hardened build environment. FastAPI backend, PostgreSQL database, HTTPS, rate limiting, CSRF protection, and sandboxed ISO builds using systemd-nspawn with deterministic output.

</domain>

<decisions>
## Implementation Decisions

### Sandbox Strictness
- Network access via whitelist: official Arch mirrors + our own package server
- Private overlays can require external packages (user's SSH keys, shell configs, etc.)
- Resource limits: generous (8GB RAM, 4 cores) — prioritize build speed over concurrent capacity
- No direct host filesystem access (Claude's discretion on read-only cache mounts if beneficial)

### Determinism Approach
- **Critical constraint:** Same speech must produce identical ISO hash — caching depends on this
- Fixed build locale: en_US.UTF-8 + UTC timezone for all builds
- Package versioning and timestamp strategy: Claude's discretion based on archiso best practices
- Cache invalidation strategy: Claude's discretion

### Error Visibility
- Friendly summary + expandable "Show full log" for power users
- Private builds = private logs (only the triggering user can see their logs)
- Admin access to logs requires explicit user consent ("share logs with support")
- Log retention: 30 days

### Backup & Recovery
- Backup frequency: Claude's discretion
- Backup retention: Claude's discretion
- Recovery testing: Claude's discretion
- Storage: same infrastructure (no offsite requirement for v1)

### Claude's Discretion
- Build timeout handling (soft warning vs hard kill, duration)
- Host path access for caching (if beneficial for performance)
- Timestamp strategy for deterministic builds (SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH or alternative)
- Package version locking mechanism
- Cache invalidation strategy when packages update
- Database backup frequency and retention
- Automated recovery testing approach

</decisions>

<specifics>
## Specific Ideas

- "Caching of ISOs will take up too much space if we aren't able to reproduce the same hash for an ISO with the same speech" — determinism is a hard requirement, not a nice-to-have
- Private overlays are a real use case: user's SSH keys, default shell setup, personal configs

</specifics>

<deferred>
## Deferred Ideas

- Locale management tool for installed systems — "a single tool they run and get a menu to select and it does everything in the background" — future phase (user experience enhancement)

</deferred>

---

*Phase: 01-core-infrastructure-security*
*Context gathered: 2026-01-25*