# Path B — `kind = 'Sidecar` (ADR-030 mechanism #6)

Phase A — implementable today. The main ontoref daemon proxies
dispatch over HTTP to a per-project sidecar process. Each sidecar can
ship its own deploy cadence and signing key while sharing a Rust
library with sibling instances.

Canonical use case: shared-domain (`provisioning`) + Level-3 instances
(`libre-daoshi`, `libre-wuji`, `libre-forge`) — see
[`reflection/qa.ncl::ontoref-catalog-discovery-shared-domain`](../../.ontoref/reflection/qa.ncl).

## Files

| File | Purpose |
| --- | --- |
| [`catalog/send_email_notification.ncl`](catalog/send_email_notification.ncl) | Catalog declaration with `kind = 'Sidecar` |
| [`sidecar/Cargo.toml`](sidecar/Cargo.toml) | Standalone Cargo manifest (own workspace) |
| [`sidecar/src/main.rs`](sidecar/src/main.rs) | Minimal axum server on `:7902` — validates inputs, mock-dispatches email, returns `DispatchResponse`-shaped JSON |
| [`config-snippet.ncl`](config-snippet.ncl) | `ops.sidecar_url = "http://127.0.0.1:7902"` snippet for `.ontoref/config.ncl` |

## How to run

1. Build and start the sidecar (standalone — not part of ontoref's
   workspace):

       cd examples/catalog-extension/02-sidecar/sidecar
       cargo run

   You should see:

       INFO addr=127.0.0.1:7902 example-mail-sidecar listening

2. Test the sidecar directly (bypass the main daemon proxy):

       curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:7902/ops/send_email_notification \
         -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
         -d '{"inputs":{"recipient":"jpl@jesusperez.pro","subject":"hi","body":"hello","template":"plain"}}' \
         | jq .

   Expected response (message_id varies):

       {
         "status": "queued",
         "message_id": "msg-19a3c8...-jpl",
         "payload": {
           "recipient": "jpl@jesusperez.pro",
           "subject":   "hi",
           "template":  "plain",
           "bytes":     5
         }
       }

3. To dispatch via the main daemon (once the Phase A proxy handler
   lands in `crates/ontoref-daemon/src/api.rs`):

       curl -X POST 'http://127.0.0.1:7891/ops/send_email_notification?project=<your-project>' \
         -H "Authorization: Bearer $ONTOREF_TOKEN" \
         -d '{"recipient":"jpl@jesusperez.pro","subject":"hi","body":"hello","template":"plain"}'

   The daemon looks up `sidecar_url` for the project, proxies the
   request to `http://127.0.0.1:7902/ops/send_email_notification`,
   signs the response envelope as the witness, returns the
   `DispatchResponse` to the caller.

## Key properties

- **`evaluate_ondaod` is mandatory in `constraints.pre`** — ADR-034
  Hard constraint. The host runtime invokes ondaod-discipline before
  proxying to the sidecar; the sidecar itself cannot satisfy it.
- **Witness honesty** — `payload_kind = "sidecar_response_envelope"`.
  The daemon's signature attests it faithfully forwarded the sidecar's
  reported effect; it does NOT claim to attest the sidecar's internal
  computation (HTTP boundary is opaque).
- **Per-instance signing key** — each instance's sidecar can be
  configured with its own actor id; the cryptographic blast radius
  stays per-instance.
- **No wasmtime dependency** — Sidecar runtime is HTTP + axum + tokio
  in the sidecar process; the main daemon adds only a ~80-LOC
  reqwest-based proxy handler. Honours
  `protocol-not-runtime` axiom (invariant=true).

## When NOT to use

- The op is part of the ontoref piloto self-host → use
  [Path A `'Rust`](../01-rust/) (zero IPC overhead, full type safety).
- You need cross-instance op dispatch with witness chaining → ADR-030
  T3 trigger, leans toward Phase B WASM.
- You need to author the op in a non-Rust language → Path B works
  (sidecar can be any language as long as it speaks the HTTP contract)
  but consider whether toolchain divergence justifies a Phase B
  spike per ADR-030 T4.

## References

- [ADR-030 mechanism #6 — SidecarProcessWithSharedDomainLibrary](../../../.ontoref/adrs/adr-030-catalog-discovery-cross-project.ncl)
- [`reflection/qa.ncl::ontoref-catalog-discovery-shared-domain`](../../../.ontoref/reflection/qa.ncl)
- [ADR-018 — Delegate / Override / Compose semantics](../../../.ontoref/adrs/adr-018-level-hierarchy-mode-resolution-strategy.ncl)
