AIDE Closed-Loop Wiring — Verified Wire-In Recipe

Status: VERIFIED (2026-09-08)

• scripts/selfimprove.mjs runs OBSERVE -> DETECT -> CLUSTER -> ROUTE -> EMIT -> DELEGATE -> VERIFY -> JOURNAL on a 24h/6h schedule.
• Wired into the daemon lifecycle: boot kick (--since=24h) + 6h periodic spawn, env-gated by AIDE_CLOSED_LOOP.
• Hermetic test override AIDE_SELFIMPROVE_ROOT added so tests never touch real .aide/.
• Full arch battery green: 346/346 pass, exit 0 (Windows-safe invocation, 372s).

What the runner watches

The state bus writes at: new Date().toISOString(). DETECT matches event types. Approval decisions flow through the audit layer:

• Legacy shape (consumed by [learned] injector / getPreferences / selfimprove DETECT): type: 'approval'|'rejection'|'abort'.
• New agent.approval envelope: { sessionId, tool, decision, argsPreview }.

Because emitApproval writes BOTH shapes, selfimprove DETECT (which matches e.type === 'rejection') needs NO change. This was the resolved DETECT-vs-audit-taxonomy decision — do not "unify" the shapes.

Files that implement the wire-in

File	Role
node/src/services/agent-loop.mjs	createAgentLoop(...) gained audit = null param + auditSafe fail-closed wrapper. 4 emit points (see below).
node/src/services/audit-trail.mjs (+.d.mts)	emitApproval writes legacy shape + agent.approval envelope; getPreferences unchanged.
node/src/routes/audit.ts, common/contracts/audit.ts	Audit slice routes (staged with the sandbox slice).
node/src/routes/closed-loop.ts, common/contracts/closed-loop.ts	Read-only GET /api/closed-loop/status -> ClosedLoopStatusResponse.
node/src/openapi.ts	Instantiates audit trail, passes audit to createAgentLoop, spreads ...routesForClosedLoop(workspace).
node/src/server.ts main()	Closed-loop spawn schedule.
node/src/facade route map	"/api/closed-loop": "ts" prefix entry.
scripts/selfimprove.mjs	AIDE_SELFIMPROVE_ROOT env override (STATE_BUS / SIGNAL_DIR / LOG redirected).

The 4 audit emit points in agent-loop.mjs

1. emitAgentStart in start(): after sessions.set(...), before runSession(...).
2. emitToolCall beside emit({ event:'tool_call', ... }).
3. emitToolResult at all 3 result paths: emitToolResult(sessionId, tool, { ok:false, error }) on error; the switch_mode return; and the success { ok:true, result } path.
4. decide() replaced raw bus.append with auditSafe.emitApproval({ sessionId, tool, decision, argsPreview }).

Fail-closed contract: if audit is null (other callers), every call is a no-op — never throws, never writes. createAgentLoop has exactly ONE caller (openapi.ts :374), already wired with audit: auditTrail.

Daemon schedule semantics (env-gated)

• AIDE_CLOSED_LOOP === 'false' -> runner disabled; logs 'closed-loop runner disabled (AIDE_CLOSED_LOOP=false)'.
• Otherwise: kickClosedLoop('24h') at boot + setInterval(..., 6h, unref).
• Spawn via execFile (NOT spawn — see native-abort trap below), detached: true, stdio: 'ignore', windowsHide: true, child.unref(), interval .unref().

Verification battery (reproduce the green path)

Windows-only trap: node:test with spawn native-asserts on close (Assertion failed: (env_->execution_async_id()) == (0) at InternalCallbackScope::Close) when the child fails synchronously. Use execFile + promisify in tests.

Windows path trap: new URL(import.meta.url).pathname yields /E:/... (leading slash, invalid path). Use fileURLToPath(import.meta.url) for repoRoot.

Isolated slice

node --experimental-strip-types --no-warnings --import ./scripts/http-close-shim.mjs --test --test-concurrency=1 --test-timeout=240000 tests/arch/closed-loop.test.ts tests/arch/audit-routes.test.ts tests/arch/openapi-drift.test.ts

-> 8/8 pass, exit 0.

Full battery (Windows-safe, NEVER --test-force-exit locally)

node --experimental-strip-types --no-warnings --import ./scripts/http-close-shim.mjs --test --test-concurrency=1 --test-timeout=240000 (tests/arch/*.test.ts)

-> 346/346 pass, exit 0. scripts/run-arch.mjs uses --test-force-exit (fine on CI/ubuntu, native assert on win32) — do NOT modify it.

Included tests (closed-loop.test.ts)

• Dry run of selfimprove.mjs --dry-run exits 0 under AIDE_SELFIMPROVE_ROOT.
• Injected rejection bus event -> runner writes a signal file under AIDE_SELFIMPROVE_ROOT.
• GET /api/closed-loop/status via real ArchServer HTTP reflects env gate + runner state.

Contracts (strict, exactOptionalPropertyTypes-safe)

• ClosedLoopStatusResponse = { enabled: boolean, last_run_logged_at: string|null, signal_file_count: number, bus_event_count: number }.
• Use ?? null on string | undefined fields before returning (TS exactOptionalPropertyTypes).
• Route is read-only; a disabled runner reports enabled: false (fail-closed), never 404.

What this wiring proves

Continuous self-improvement from real use is on by default with a verified gate. The next improvement still needs its own data + training pipeline (the fine-tune lane); this skill only guarantees capture -> signal.