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Merged
XiaojuCH merged 2 commits into from
Aug 13, 2026
Merged

build(windows): produce a portable developer preview #10

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986f5f0
build(windows): add portable developer preview artifact
XiaojuCH Aug 13, 2026
ad21a22
docs: record portable preview validation
XiaojuCH Aug 13, 2026
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15 changes: 9 additions & 6 deletions .agent/PROJECT_STATE.md
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Expand Up @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Last updated: 2026-08-13

## Current phase

The public foundation, pre-collector hardening, and first real Windows product slice are on `main`. PR #6 is merged: SystemDiff can capture Registry Run/RunOnce startup evidence, write a Snapshot, and compare a real before/after pair. The current `feat/human-readable-diff` work for Issue #7 is the first product-presentation pass: default human-readable Diff output, an explicit technical text mode, and a truthful stranger-first repository front page. v0.1 remains incomplete.
The public foundation, pre-collector hardening, first real Windows product slice, and stranger-first Diff presentation are on `main`. PR #8 is merged: SystemDiff has default human-readable Registry Diff output, exact `--technical` evidence, deterministic `--json`, and a truthful Registry-only front page. The current `build/portable-developer-preview` work for Issue #9 adds an unsigned, CI-generated Windows x64 package so the existing product slice can be exercised without a Rust development environment. v0.1 remains incomplete.

## Implemented components

Expand All @@ -14,15 +14,16 @@ The public foundation, pre-collector hardening, and first real Windows product s
- Coverage-aware comparison: incomplete, unavailable, unsupported, or permission-denied scope coverage cannot silently become a Removed finding.
- `windows.registry.startup` v1 using query-only Win32 Registry APIs, explicit Registry views, scoped diagnostics, bounded mutation/resource handling, strict native-data decoding, lossless UTF-16 value names, and complete-value SHA-256.
- `systemdiff snapshot -o <path>` with canonical UTC metadata, bounded serialization, and create-new output semantics.
- Default human-readable Registry Diff output, explicit `--technical` evidence output, and unchanged `--json` machine output on the current Issue #7 feature branch.
- Default human-readable Registry Diff output, explicit `--technical` evidence output, and unchanged `--json` machine output.
- On the current Issue #9 branch, a release-mode Windows x64 Developer Preview pipeline with packaging-only static MSVC CRT, an explicit `asInvoker` manifest, exact package/checksum verification, and a later artifact-download smoke job.
- Registry-only synthetic before/after fixtures and a dual-gated test-only real HKCU E2E. The real E2E observed exactly one expected Added startup value, zero Removed changes, and verified exact-data cleanup; production Rust has no Registry write path.
- A truthful Registry-only README demo whose transcript is regression-tested and whose static visual is derived from that exact output.
- Project-scoped Codex agents, three repeated-workflow skills, living ExecPlans, architecture/format/Collector/threat-model documentation, and synthetic cross-platform tests.

## Known limitations

- Only Registry Run/RunOnce collection is implemented. Services, Scheduled Tasks, rules/explanations, sanitization, installation/package delivery, and the desktop app are unavailable.
- There is no official binary release. Current users must build the development CLI from source.
- Only Registry Run/RunOnce collection is implemented. Services, Scheduled Tasks, rules/explanations, sanitization, an installer, and the desktop app are unavailable.
- There is no official binary Release or Authenticode signing. The Developer Preview is an expiring GitHub Actions artifact that requires GitHub sign-in, and clean-machine validation remains a gate for an official alpha.
- The current minimum is Windows 10 version 1709 or Windows Server 2016 version 1709. ARM64 v1 collects HKCU Shared scopes but reports HKLM alternate-view coverage as unsupported until those views are represented and tested.
- Snapshot files are unredacted and can contain usernames in paths, command strings, software details, and other sensitive host evidence. They must be reviewed before sharing.
- Draft v0.1 diffs assume the same Windows installation and the same user/principal context. Cross-host and cross-user identity are intentionally out of scope.
Expand All @@ -41,15 +42,17 @@ The public foundation, pre-collector hardening, and first real Windows product s
- Unknown cross-version comparisons for the same Collector ID are rejected by default. A future verified compatible pair remains possible, but no migration framework exists.
- Registry views, RunOnce prefixes, and value names retain their documented/evidence semantics; no command parsing, environment expansion, executable resolution, signature check, or risk inference occurs.
- Normal changes to `main` go through pull requests and the two required checks: `Rust (windows-latest)` and `Rust (ubuntu-latest)`.
- Developer Preview packaging runs only after those gates on trusted upstream `push` events, uploads an exact ZIP/checksum pair for 14 days, and verifies the downloaded artifact in a fresh Windows job. Normal artifacts come from `main`; the exact Issue #9 branch temporarily produces a clearly named candidate for pre-merge validation. Fork pull requests cannot enter this upload path.
- The portable build alone uses static MSVC CRT and remains at version `0.0.0`. The package is commit-linked and hashed but is not claimed to be reproducible, signed, released, or permanently downloadable.

## Next milestone

Finish review and CI for Issue #7 without merging automatically. After that, plan the lightest credible portable developer preview so strangers can try the real Registry workflow without a Rust toolchain. Windows Services remains the next Collector candidate, but it is not started in the presentation PR.
Finish implementation, independent review, remote CI, and downloaded-artifact verification for Issue #9 without merging automatically. A signed, permanent public download remains future release work. Services remains the next Collector candidate but is not started in this productization PR.

## Major unresolved questions

- What genuine, monitored private channel should receive Code of Conduct reports?
- What publisher-signing and portable-build process can support a trustworthy first Windows developer preview?
- What publisher-signing, clean-machine validation, and immutable Release process should support the first official Windows alpha?
- What explicitly versioned identity upgrade should eventually address Registry value-name casing without hiding raw evidence or coupling Diff to mutable Windows NLS behavior?
- What bounded/archive policy should apply to Scheduled Task raw XML before that Collector is implemented?
- What minimum supported Rust version will be tested and documented?
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