Lab

lab is the Rust workspace behind Labby, a local-first control plane for agent tooling and homelab operations. One binary, labby, exposes the same operator capabilities through a CLI, an MCP server, an HTTP API, and the Labby web UI.

The root README is the public entrypoint. The topic docs in docs/ own the detailed contracts; when this file and a topic doc disagree, fix the topic doc first and then refresh this summary.

Contents

• What Lab Does
• Quick Start
• Core Workflows
• Runtime Surfaces
• Configuration
• Current Catalogs
• Architecture
• Development
• Documentation

What Lab Does

Labby is centered on the current gateway/operator surface:

• MCP gateway - connect HTTP and stdio upstream MCP servers, inspect their tools/resources/prompts, apply exposure filters, publish protected MCP routes, and optionally collapse the upstream catalog into Code Mode search and execute.
• Marketplace and registry - browse Claude/Codex plugin marketplaces, the official MCP Registry, and the ACP Agent Registry; install plugins, MCP servers, and ACP providers through explicit target-aware workflows.
• Stash workspaces - mirror installable artifacts into ~/.labby/stash, edit and version component snapshots, preview deployment diffs, and deploy saved artifacts back to configured targets.
• ACP chat - run provider-backed Agent Client Protocol sessions, stream and persist events, and keep the backend service named acp. The Labby web UI no longer ships a /chat surface for this.
• Fleet, setup, logs, and deployment - run labby serve as a controller or node, enroll devices, search local/fleet logs, audit setup health, and deploy the local release binary to SSH targets.
• Generated discovery - publish code-owned service, action, environment, API route, OpenAPI, MCP help, CLI help, and feature-matrix artifacts under docs/generated.

Lab no longer exposes the old Radarr/Sonarr/Plex-style service catalog in this branch. Use the generated catalogs below for the current surface instead of copying command or action lists by hand.

Quick Start

Install A Release

Linux/macOS:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jmagar/lab/main/scripts/install.sh | sh
labby setup
labby serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8765

Windows PowerShell:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jmagar/lab/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex
labby setup
labby serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8765

The install scripts download the requested GitHub Release asset, verify its checksum, and install labby onto the user PATH. They do not perform operator provisioning or environment setup. The scripts only install the binary (from a release or fallback source build); all first-run provisioning is handled inside labby via labby serve bootstrap and labby setup.

Override install behavior with LABBY_INSTALL_DIR, LABBY_INSTALL_VERSION, or LABBY_INSTALL_REPO.

Build From Source

Prerequisites:

• Rust 1.92 or newer. CI/release currently verifies with Rust 1.94.1.
• just for repo commands.
• cargo-nextest for the main test suite.
• pnpm 9.15.9 for the Labby web UI. The repo pins this in .mise.toml and apps/gateway-admin/package.json.
• openssl if you want to generate a bearer token manually.

git clone https://github.com/jmagar/lab.git
cd lab
just install
just web-build
labby serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8765

just install builds the all-features release binary and symlinks it to ~/.local/bin/labby.

First Run

For loopback development, labby serve can bootstrap a missing bearer token for you. If LABBY_MCP_HTTP_TOKEN is absent and LABBY_AUTH_MODE is not oauth, it generates a token, writes a minimal ~/.labby/.env, reloads it into the running process, prints the setup URL, and continues. The token itself is stored in ~/.labby/.env rather than printed.

Bootstrap writes these required setup keys if no env exists yet:

• LABBY_MCP_HTTP_TOKEN (generated random 64-character hex token)
• LABBY_MCP_TRANSPORT=http
• LABBY_MCP_HTTP_HOST=127.0.0.1
• LABBY_MCP_HTTP_PORT=8765
• LABBY_AUTH_MODE=bearer

It also enforces secure file creation via Lab's env_merge path (0600 perms on Unix) and then skips creating anything else until the web wizard runs.

For explicit setup:

mkdir -p ~/.labby
printf 'LABBY_AUTH_MODE=bearer\nLABBY_MCP_HTTP_TOKEN=%s\n' "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" > ~/.labby/.env
chmod 600 ~/.labby/.env
labby setup
labby serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8765

Open http://127.0.0.1:8765/. Build static Labby assets with just web-build first when running from a source checkout.

Self-Host The Gateway

The recommended self-hosted gateway substrate is an amd64 Ubuntu 24.04 Incus system container. Bare metal is the secondary supported shape for a dedicated gateway host or VM. Docker is retained for explicit development/image smoke, but it is not the recommended production boundary for Labby because stdio MCP servers and agent CLIs are installed and launched at runtime.

scripts/incus-bootstrap.sh --version vX.Y.Z
incus exec labby -- systemctl status labby --no-pager
incus exec labby -- curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:8765/ready

See docs/runtime/INCUS.md for the full Incus runbook, bare-metal variant, /dev/net/tun Tailscale passthrough, manual claude/codex/gemini login checklist, and rollback commands.

Core Workflows

Start Labby

labby serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8765
labby mcp

labby serve starts the hosted HTTP runtime: /v1 product APIs, /mcp streamable HTTP MCP, auth routes, node runtime endpoints, and static Labby web assets when an export is available. labby mcp is the stdio MCP entrypoint for local MCP clients.

Manage Upstream MCP Gateways

labby gateway add \
  --name github \
  --url https://example.com/mcp \
  --bearer-token-env GITHUB_MCP_TOKEN \
  -y

labby gateway reload
labby gateway list

Stdio upstreams execute local commands when tested or reconciled, so gateway tests and config mutations use the shared destructive-action confirmation gate. The stdio spawn guard allows known runtimes such as npx, uvx, docker, node, python, python3, deno, pipx, and dnx; customize it in [gateway] inside config.toml.

Use Code Mode

When [code_mode].enabled = true, Lab hides raw proxied upstream tools from MCP list_tools() and exposes the canonical synthetic codemode tool.

labby gateway code status
labby gateway code enable
labby gateway code exec --code 'async () => tools.length'

MCP call shapes:

{ "code": "async () => (await codemode.search(\"github issues\")).results" }

{ "code": "async () => callTool(\"github::search_issues\", {\"query\":\"repo:jmagar/lab gateway\"})" }

{ "code": "async () => codemode.run(\"gateway-summary\", {\"includeHealth\": true})" }

Code Mode can call exposed upstream MCP tools only. It cannot call Lab actions from inside the sandbox.

Browse And Install Agent Tooling

labby marketplace sources.list --json
labby marketplace plugins.list --params '{"runtime":"claude"}'
labby marketplace mcp.list --params '{"search":"postgres","limit":10}'
labby marketplace agent.list

Destructive install/update/deploy operations require explicit confirmation:

labby marketplace mcp.install \
  --params '{"name":"io.github.user/server","gateway_ids":["default"],"confirm":true}' \
  -y

Marketplace actions cover Claude/Codex plugins, MCP Registry servers, ACP agents, artifact fork/update flows, and device-aware installation targets.

Work With Stash

labby stash help

The stash service manages versioned components, provider metadata, target config, import/export, diffs, and deploy previews for Lab-managed artifact workspaces.

Operate The Fleet And Logs

labby doctor system
labby nodes list
labby logs search node-a oauth
labby deploy plan node-a

Every supported node runs labby serve. One node acts as controller; other nodes report status, inventory, and logs back through /v1/nodes/*.

Drive The API

Generic action dispatch:

curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8765/v1/gateway \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LABBY_MCP_HTTP_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"action":"gateway.list","params":{}}'

Dedicated product routes also exist for catalog discovery, ACP sessions/events, setup, stash, logs, gateway OAuth, auth allowlists, OpenAPI, and compatibility routes. See generated API routes and OpenAPI.

Runtime Surfaces

MCP service tools use the shared action shape:

{
  "action": "mcp.list",
  "params": { "search": "postgres", "limit": 10 }
}

Every service tool also supports help and schema through the shared dispatcher. Destructive MCP actions use elicitation when the client supports it; headless clients pass "confirm": true inside params.

Configuration

Configuration is split deliberately:

config.toml is searched in this order:

1. ./config.toml
2. ~/.labby/config.toml
3. ~/.config/labby/config.toml

Startup loads the first config.toml, initializes tracing, then loads ~/.labby/.env and a CWD .env if present. Runtime precedence is:

1. CLI flags
2. Environment variables
3. config.toml
4. Built-in defaults

Useful environment variables:

Bearer auth is an operator/admin shortcut for Lab routes. Public protected MCP routes validate route-scoped Lab OAuth JWTs; do not treat LABBY_MCP_HTTP_TOKEN as a public resource credential.

When driving the web UI with automation while OAuth is enabled, pass the bearer token as a same-origin header. /auth/session recognizes that token and returns a synthetic admin session:

TOKEN=$(awk -F= '/^LABBY_MCP_HTTP_TOKEN=/{print $2}' ~/.labby/.env)
agent-browser open http://127.0.0.1:8765/gateways \
  --headers "{\"Authorization\":\"Bearer $TOKEN\"}"

See runtime configuration, environment variables, and OAuth.

Current Catalogs

Do not maintain action, feature, env, or coverage inventories by hand in this README. The generated artifacts are authoritative for the current branch:

Refresh and verify them with:

just docs-generate
just docs-check

docs-check verifies generated-artifact freshness and invariants. It is not a Markdown link checker, live health check, or onboarding policy audit.

Architecture

The workspace uses Rust 2024, resolver 3, and a single workspace version.

Shared behavior belongs in the shared execution layer. Upstream/domain logic belongs in labby-apis; reusable gateway/runtime/code-mode behavior belongs in the extracted labby-* crates; product dispatch belongs in crates/labby/src/dispatch; CLI, MCP, HTTP, and web adapters stay thin. See Architecture and Dispatch.

Development

Prefer the just aliases:

just check            # cargo check --workspace --all-features
just test             # cargo nextest run --workspace --all-features
just test-integration # cargo nextest run --workspace --all-features --run-ignored ignored-only
just lint             # skill drift + cargo wrapper smoke + clippy -D warnings + fmt check
just deny             # cargo deny check
just build            # cargo build --workspace --all-features
just build-release    # release build, bin/labby install, ~/.local/bin symlink
labby setup host-service install --install-self -y # install current binary + start system service
labby setup host-service restart --install-self -y # reinstall current binary + restart service
labby setup host-service status --json # inspect the host Labby gateway service
just host-sync        # repo dev shortcut: rebuild + install binary + restart host service
just dev-container    # explicit Docker compatibility/prod-like smoke path
just dev-container-debug # explicit Docker debug binary path
just web-build        # cd apps/gateway-admin && pnpm build
just web-watch        # rebuild web assets when frontend files change
just run -- help      # cargo run --all-features -- <args>
just chat-local       # local Labby admin UI workflow with browser auth disabled
just dev-up           # start the explicit Docker compatibility stack
just dev              # alias for just dev-container
just dev-debug        # alias for just dev-container-debug
just install          # build-release + symlink ~/.local/bin/labby
just prod-run         # local prod-like image smoke on port 18765
just mcp-token        # rotate LABBY_MCP_HTTP_TOKEN in .env

Authoritative Rust verification is all-features:

cargo check --workspace --all-features
cargo clippy --workspace --all-features -- -D warnings
cargo nextest run --workspace --all-features
cargo build --workspace --all-features

CI uses the same posture and runs nextest with its CI profile. Use cargo test only for narrow local slices or when a tool specifically requires it.

Frontend changes should also run the relevant pnpm scripts under apps/gateway-admin, and just web-build when exported assets matter.

Host Gateway Runtime

The recommended self-hosted gateway runtime is the Incus system container provisioned by scripts/incus-bootstrap.sh --version vX.Y.Z and converged in-box with labby setup --provision. Bare metal uses the same provisioner and system unit when the host or VM is dedicated to Labby. The default service is /etc/systemd/system/labby.service, running as User=labby, Group=labby, with ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/labby serve. From a source checkout, just host-sync remains the rebuild-and-restart developer shortcut. Docker remains available for prod-like image smoke and adapter-container work, but it is no longer the recommended agent gateway runtime.

Dev Container

The Compose stack is a trusted local operator environment, not a hardened generic deployment. It bind-mounts host Lab state, agent credentials/plugin caches, the repo, and built web assets; secrets are loaded from the mounted /home/labby/.labby/.env. The image pre-installs ACP adapters (claude-agent-acp, codex-acp, gemini) so session spawns use deterministic local binaries rather than repeated npx installs. Rebuild the image when changing Dockerfiles or adapter versions; use just dev or just dev-debug for ordinary Labby binary swaps.

Releases

Release prep is version/changelog first, then tag:

1. Bump the workspace version in Cargo.toml.
2. Update CHANGELOG.md when present.
3. Regenerate docs and web assets when relevant.
4. Push a vX.Y.Z tag.

The release workflow builds Linux and Windows archives with checksums, publishes the GitHub Release, pushes GHCR images, and includes the generated marketplace artifact.

ACP Runtime Notes

The Rust ACP SDK is pinned exactly in crates/labby/Cargo.toml as agent-client-protocol = "=0.13.1" with the unstable feature. Model/config discovery depends on reading session_config_options() from the raw NewSessionResponse before attach_session, and model switching uses SetSessionConfigOptionRequest. Re-check those APIs before upgrading the SDK.

Plugin Setup Hooks

The plugins/labby plugin ships skills, commands, and MCP config, not a labby binary. SessionStart runs labby setup plugin-hook --no-repair when labby is on PATH and prints an install pointer otherwise. ConfigChange runs labby setup plugin-hook to sync settings. Hooks should stay advisory: no binary bundling, no auto-install, and no Docker/systemd bootstrap.

Documentation

Start at docs/README.md. High-value entrypoints:

• Architecture
• Configuration
• Environment
• OAuth
• Transport
• Gateway
• Marketplace
• ACP
• Testing
• Operations

License

Workspace metadata declares MIT OR Apache-2.0.