docs: add comprehensive README for root and all packages

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# nerve
Observation engine — Sense, Reflex, Workflow
**Observation engine for autonomous agents**sense the world, react to changes, run workflows.
Nerve is a lightweight daemon that continuously observes external state through **Senses**, reacts via declarative **Reflexes**, and orchestrates multi-step **Workflows**. Built for the [Uncaged](https://github.com/uncaged) agent framework.
## Core Concepts
```
External World → Sense → Signal → Reflex → Workflow → Log
↑ ↑
"what to observe" "what to do"
```
| Concept | Metaphor | Role |
|---------|----------|------|
| **Sense** | 👁️ Perception | A `compute()` function that samples or derives data. Each sense has its own SQLite database. |
| **Reflex** | ⚡ Reaction | Declarative trigger — interval-based, event-driven, or both. Connects senses to actions. |
| **Signal** | 📡 Notification | Emitted when a sense returns non-null. Other reflexes can listen for signals. |
| **Workflow** | 🔧 Action | Stateful multi-step execution with Roles (actors) and a Moderator (coordinator). |
| **Log** | 📝 Record | Immutable audit trail. Queryable by senses, but **cannot** trigger reflexes (prevents feedback loops). |
Three extension points, fully orthogonal — a Sense doesn't know when it runs, a Reflex doesn't know what it computes, a Workflow doesn't know why it was triggered.
## Packages
| Package | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| [`@uncaged/nerve-core`](./packages/core) | Shared types and config parser |
| [`@uncaged/nerve-daemon`](./packages/daemon) | The observation engine — kernel, sense runtime, reflex scheduler, workflow manager |
| [`@uncaged/nerve-cli`](./packages/cli) | CLI tool (`nerve`) — init, start, stop, logs, query |
## Quick Start
```bash
# Requirements: Node.js ≥ 22.5, pnpm
pnpm add -g @uncaged/nerve-cli
# Initialize a workspace
mkdir my-agent && cd my-agent
nerve init
# Write a sense
cat > senses/cpu-usage/compute.ts << 'EOF'
export async function compute() {
const [load] = (await import("node:os")).loadavg();
return load > 2.0 ? { load } : null; // signal only when load is high
}
EOF
# Configure reflexes in nerve.yaml
cat > nerve.yaml << 'EOF'
senses:
cpu-usage:
group: system
throttle: 10s
reflexes:
- kind: sense
sense: cpu-usage
interval: 30s
EOF
# Run
nerve dev # foreground (development)
nerve daemon start # background (production)
nerve status # check health
nerve logs # view logs
```
## Configuration
`nerve.yaml` declares senses, reflexes, and workflows:
```yaml
senses:
cpu-usage:
group: system # senses in the same group share a worker process
throttle: 10s # min interval between computes
timeout: 30s # max compute duration
gracePeriod: 5s # wait before first compute after startup
reflexes:
- kind: sense
sense: cpu-usage
interval: 30s # periodic trigger
on: [disk-pressure] # also trigger on signals from other senses
- kind: workflow
workflow: cleanup
on: [disk-pressure] # start a workflow when signal fires
workflows:
cleanup:
concurrency: 1
overflow: drop # discard if already running
code-review:
concurrency: 3
overflow: queue
maxQueue: 20
```
## Architecture
```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Kernel │
│ │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ Worker │ │ Worker │ │ Worker │ (1 per │
│ │ (group A)│ │ (group B)│ │ (group C)│ group) │
│ │ sense-1 │ │ sense-3 │ │ sense-5 │ │
│ │ sense-2 │ │ sense-4 │ │ │ │
│ └────┬─────┘ └────┬─────┘ └────┬─────┘ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ └──────────────┼──────────────┘ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌──────────────┐ │
│ │ Signal Bus │ │
│ └──────┬───────┘ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌──────────────────┐ │
│ │ Reflex Scheduler │ │
│ └────────┬─────────┘ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌───────────────────┐ │
│ │ Workflow Manager │──→ Log Store (SQLite) │
│ └───────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```
- **Worker processes** — one per sense group, forked by the kernel. Isolated compute execution.
- **Signal Bus** — in-memory pub/sub for signal distribution.
- **Reflex Scheduler** — interval timers + signal subscriptions, with throttle/coalesce.
- **Workflow Manager** — concurrency control (drop/queue), thread lifecycle tracking.
- **Log Store** — WAL-mode SQLite via `node:sqlite`, with archival and retention policies.
## Tech Stack
- **Zero native addons** — uses Node.js built-in `node:sqlite` (DatabaseSync)
- **Drizzle ORM** v1.0 for sense databases
- **rslib** (rspack) for building
- **Biome** for formatting/linting
- **Vitest** for testing
- **pnpm** workspaces for monorepo management
## Development
```bash
git clone https://git.shazhou.work/uncaged/nerve.git
cd nerve
pnpm install
pnpm build
pnpm -r test # run all tests
```
## Design Documents
- [RFC-001: Observation Engine](./docs/rfc-001-observation-engine.md) — Sense, Signal, Reflex model
- [RFC-002: Workflow Engine](./docs/rfc-002-workflow-engine.md) — Stateful workflow execution
- [Coding Conventions](./docs/coding-conventions.md)
## License
MIT
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# @uncaged/nerve-cli
Command-line interface for the [nerve](../../README.md) observation engine.
## Install
```bash
pnpm add -g @uncaged/nerve-cli
# or
npx @uncaged/nerve-cli
```
Requires Node.js ≥ 22.5.
## Commands
### Workspace
```bash
nerve init # Initialize a nerve workspace (installs deps, scaffolds config)
nerve validate # Validate nerve.yaml configuration
```
### Daemon Management
```bash
nerve daemon start # Start the daemon (background)
nerve daemon stop # Stop the daemon
nerve daemon status # Check daemon health
nerve daemon restart # Restart the daemon
nerve daemon logs # Tail daemon logs
```
### Development
```bash
nerve dev # Run in foreground mode (no daemon, Ctrl+C to stop)
```
### Querying
```bash
nerve logs # View structured logs
nerve sense query <name> # Query a sense's SQLite database
nerve sense schema <name> # Show a sense's database schema
nerve status # Daemon health summary
```
### Workflows
```bash
nerve workflow list # List workflow runs
nerve workflow show <runId> # Show workflow run details
```
### Top-level Aliases
For convenience, these aliases are available:
```bash
nerve start → nerve daemon start
nerve stop → nerve daemon stop
nerve status → nerve daemon status
nerve logs → nerve daemon logs
```
## License
MIT
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# @uncaged/nerve-core
Shared types and configuration parser for the [nerve](../../README.md) observation engine.
## What's Inside
- **Type definitions** — `Signal`, `SenseConfig`, `ReflexConfig`, `WorkflowConfig`, `NerveConfig`, and all related types
- **Config parser** — `parseNerveConfig(yaml)` validates and parses `nerve.yaml` into a typed `NerveConfig`
- **Result type** — `Result<T>` with `ok()` / `err()` helpers for explicit error handling (no thrown exceptions)
## Usage
```typescript
import { parseNerveConfig, ok, err } from "@uncaged/nerve-core";
import type { NerveConfig, Signal, Result } from "@uncaged/nerve-core";
const result: Result<NerveConfig> = parseNerveConfig(yamlString);
if (result.ok) {
console.log(result.value.senses);
}
```
## Duration Format
Config fields like `throttle`, `timeout`, and `interval` accept human-readable durations:
- `5s` — 5 seconds
- `10m` — 10 minutes
- `1h` — 1 hour
## Install
```bash
pnpm add @uncaged/nerve-core
```
## License
MIT
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# @uncaged/nerve-daemon
The observation engine runtime for [nerve](../../README.md) — runs senses, routes signals, schedules reflexes, and manages workflows.
## Architecture
| Module | Responsibility |
|--------|---------------|
| **Kernel** | Top-level orchestrator — spawns workers, wires up signal bus, scheduler, and workflow manager. Supports hot reload and graceful shutdown. |
| **Sense Runtime** | Per-sense SQLite database (via `node:sqlite` + Drizzle ORM), migration runner, peer DB read access. |
| **Sense Worker** | Forked child process — one per sense group. Runs compute functions in isolation. |
| **Signal Bus** | In-memory pub/sub. Sense computes emit signals; reflexes and workflows subscribe. |
| **Reflex Scheduler** | Drives compute triggers — interval timers, signal-based events, throttle/coalesce logic. |
| **Workflow Manager** | Concurrency control (drop/queue), thread lifecycle, worker process management (RFC-002). |
| **Log Store** | Structured log storage in WAL-mode SQLite. Supports retention policies, archival to JSONL, and workflow run tracking. |
| **Blob Store** | Binary artifact storage for workflow outputs. |
| **File Watcher** | Watches `nerve.yaml` and sense files for hot reload. |
| **Daemon IPC** | Unix socket server for CLI ↔ daemon communication. |
## Key Design Decisions
- **One worker process per sense group** — isolation between groups, shared compute within a group
- **`node:sqlite` (DatabaseSync)** — zero native addons, WAL mode, built into Node.js ≥ 22.5
- **Throttle + coalesce** — if compute is in-flight, at most one pending trigger is queued (no unbounded accumulation)
- **Log ≠ Signal** — logs are queryable data assets but cannot trigger reflexes (prevents feedback loops)
## Usage
The daemon is typically started via the CLI (`nerve daemon start`), but can be used programmatically:
```typescript
import { createKernel } from "@uncaged/nerve-daemon";
const kernel = await createKernel(nerveRoot);
await kernel.ready;
// Trigger a sense manually
kernel.triggerSense("cpu-usage");
// Check health
const health = kernel.getHealth();
// Graceful shutdown
await kernel.stop();
```
## Install
```bash
pnpm add @uncaged/nerve-daemon
```
Requires Node.js ≥ 22.5 (for `node:sqlite`).
## License
MIT