# Backlog — the prioritized task queue

**This is the only executable work list for agents.** Product themes and
v1.0 intent live in [`docs/VISION.md`](../docs/VISION.md); design history
in [`docs/ROADMAP.md`](../docs/ROADMAP.md); map in
[`docs/README.md`](../docs/README.md) and [`agent/README.md`](README.md).

**Rules:**
- Agents take the topmost actionable item (see LOOP.md). Finished items
  are **deleted** here — the journal + git log are the record; durable
  design notes get a ✓-entry in docs/ROADMAP.md (and/or a note in VISION)
  if worth keeping.
- Item numbers are **stable IDs** — never renumbered or reused. A gap in
  the sequence means shipped (or dropped) work; new items take the next
  free number regardless of tier.
- Tags: `[blocked:hw]` needs real hardware (see HARDWARE-QUEUE.md) ·
  `[human]` needs Bernardo · `[stuck]` two failed attempts, needs help ·
  `[big]` must be split before starting.
- Agents may append to **PROPOSED** and **Decisions** freely (include
  `VISION § …` or `ROADMAP § …` when relevant); only Bernardo moves items
  *out* of PROPOSED into the tiers.

---

## NOW

### Live ISO hardware findings — Acer Aspire M5-481T (Bernardo, 2026-07-13)

These are separate queue items from one real install/session pass. Preserve
that separation when fixing them: the installer blocker, unclear installer
copy, and post-install desktop failures have different verification paths.

### 93. Installer: swap-size field lacks a clear prompt/explanation

The partition value appears prefilled without a caption explaining that it is
swap size. Keep the resolved product default (swap exactly equal to RAM), but
label the field, state its unit/default, and explain the no-swap value. Pass =
the summary makes the resulting swap allocation unambiguous before disk
changes begin.

### 94. Live ISO/install: no default browser observed

Chromium is the resolved default-browser decision and is present in the
downstream template, but this hardware pass found no usable default browser.
Trace the live-to-installed Home Manager path rather than merely checking the
template source. Pass = Chromium launches after installation and HTTP/HTTPS
mime defaults resolve to `chromium-browser.desktop` (and the intended live-ISO
browser posture is explicit).

### 95. Live ISO/install: Ghostty does not open

Reproduce from the launcher and a terminal, capture its stderr/journal, and
fix the packaging/session/runtime cause. Pass = the default terminal opens in
the installed graphical session and the SUPER+Return path works.

### 96. Live ISO/install: battery charge-threshold menu is absent

On this Acer the charge-threshold menu could not be found. Audit the hardware
capability gate, live-ISO `power.laptop = false` policy/permissions, and menu
discoverability. Unsupported hardware must get a clear explanation instead of
looking like a missing feature; supported hardware must expose the control.
Pass = the System/Power route communicates the correct state and never silently
disappears, including in the live session.

### 97. Live ISO/install: Bluetooth menu reports `Connection to BlueZ failed`

Verify that BlueZ is enabled/running and that the live and installed user
sessions can reach it before launching the picker. Pass = the Bluetooth menu
opens normally on supported hardware; when the adapter/service is genuinely
unavailable it shows a useful Nomarchy message rather than the raw failure.

### 98. Boreal: button text renders black and is difficult to read

Audit GTK button foreground/background contrast under Boreal, including the
installer surface where it was observed. Follow THEME-DESIGN's two-theme
visual protocol. Pass = normal, hover, focused, and disabled button labels
remain legible and palette-consistent.

### 99. Doctor/Waybar reports `theme.json` is not git-tracked

The live-installed checkout shows a doctor/Waybar warning that `theme.json`
is not tracked. Determine whether the warning targets the generated alias or
the canonical `theme-state.json`, then align the check with the in-flake state
contract. Pass = a fresh install has no false warning while a genuinely
untracked canonical state file is still detected.

## NEXT

### 103. Live ISO baseline desktop applications

Make Chromium and Firefox, `libreoffice-fresh`, GNOME Text Editor, Amberol, and
GNOME Snapshot explicitly available in the live profile and application
launcher. Text Editor and Snapshot are the maintained gedit/Cheese successors;
HTTP remains assigned to Chromium. Pass = all six launch in the live session
and the resulting ISO-size delta is recorded.

### 104. Runtime Airplane mode

Add Airplane mode under System connectivity controls. It must disable Wi-Fi
and Bluetooth together, remember their prior states, and restore those states
when disengaged. Pass = the runtime round trip works, and a Waybar indicator is
visible only while engaged with parity across every whole-bar swap.

### 105. `[big]` System-menu information architecture

Keep exactly six root menu entries while reorganizing System into
Connectivity, Devices, Recovery, and Preferences. This item must be split into
scoped implementation/verification tasks before work starts. Pass = every
current route has one deliberate home, navigation remains shallow, and no
root-level entry is added or lost.

### 106. Internal menu Back/Left navigation contract

Reproduce the reported internal leaf with neither Back nor Left behavior, then
fix any breach of the already-intended navigation contract. Add a permanent
guard covering every internal leaf; external GUIs and free-text prompts retain
their explicit Esc exceptions. Pass = no internal leaf can strand the user and
the guard fails on a regression.

### 107. Direct keybindings for System and Tools menus

Add conflict-free direct bindings for System and Tools through the canonical
`keybinds.nix` source of truth. Pass = both routes open directly, generated
Hyprland bindings and the cheatsheet agree, and conflict checks stay green.

### 108. Keybindings menu presentation and completeness audit

Group the menu as Window, Workspace, Menu, and Media, then prove every live
Hyprland binding appears from the canonical source. Do not repeat the obsolete
claim that float/move bindings are absent. Pass = presentation is scannable and
an automated comparison detects omissions or stale displayed bindings.

### 109. Conditional keyboard Waybar indicator parity

Hide the keyboard indicator for an unambiguous one-layout setup; show it when
multiple layouts, a per-device override, or a remembered keyboard makes it
useful. Pass = hotplug/remembered-device transitions update correctly and every
whole-bar swap matches the generated default bar.

### 110. `[big]` Retire Control Center safely

Split this into two phases before implementation: first build a migration/drop
matrix for every unique setting, then remove the package and all references.
Keyboard and terminal replacements must reject unsafe free-text values. Pass =
no supported setting silently disappears and the second phase leaves no stale
launcher, menu, package, documentation, or generated-artifact reference.

### 111. Scope-first Recovery menu

Replace confusing Rollback/Snapshots duplication with explicit Desktop
generation, System boot generation, and Files/root BTRFS scopes. Pass = labels
state what is restored and from where before action, with destructive or reboot
effects made clear and each existing recovery path represented once.

### 112. Installer disk-picker safety

Exclude floppy, pseudo, tiny, and otherwise non-installable devices such as
`/dev/fd0`; never select them by default. Pass = the real install disk is clear,
invalid devices cannot reach destructive setup, a permanent guard covers the
filter/default logic, and a pre-destructive KVM run proves the picker behavior.

## LATER

- **Wallpapers artifact split** (ROADMAP § Faster switches — decided,
  deferred): pinned `Nomarchy-wallpapers` input so a state write stops
  re-copying 86 MB. Follow-on: pre-built theme variants if switches are
  still slow after.
- **Installer round 2** (ROADMAP § Installer): multi-disk BTRFS RAID,
  impermanence, BIOS/legacy boot.
- **Boot-from-snapshot**: a systemd-boot equivalent of grub-btrfs.
- **MIPI/IPU software-ISP camera** support (no-UVC machines).
- **NixOS release bump → v2** `[human]`: deliberate, hand-edited, never
  automated; the previous attempt was discarded (2026-06-22) over a
  Hyprland OOM blocker — see MEMORY.md before retrying (NOW#3 should
  also soften that blocker class).

## FUTURE (decided deferred — not the agent queue head)

Work we **intend** someday but explicitly **not** NEXT. Agents do not
pick these unless Bernardo promotes one into NEXT/NOW.

### 20. KVM runner → VM suite in CI `[human]`
**Status (2026-07-10):** keep **eval-only** CI on the current Gitea
stack (act_runner in docker-compose on the 4c/4 GB IONOS VPS). Nested
KVM + RAM headroom on that host are a poor fit next to Gitea; full
`checks.*` VMs stay local / promotion-time until a **separate**
KVM-capable machine exists.

**When ready:** register a second runner (host-mode nix + `/dev/kvm`,
label `nix-kvm` — not the existing docker eval runner), then uncomment
the `vm-checks` job in `.gitea/workflows/check.yml` (`runs-on: nix-kvm`,
`nix flake check` + toplevel/HM builds). Do not enable the job until
that label is online (Gitea queues forever otherwise).

### Formatter — adopt later `[human]`
**Intent:** add a Nix formatter (likely `nixfmt-rfc-style`) in a dedicated
pass: reformat the tree once, document in CONVENTIONS, optional CI
check. **Not** the queue head — no drive-by reformats until that pass.

## PROPOSED (agent suggestions — await human triage)

*Agents: append here with a one-paragraph pitch (what/why/cost). Do not
implement. Bernardo moves accepted items into a tier.*

*Open work only. Shipped exam/A–C items (#47–#63, #14, #52 theme
high-ROI, etc.) live in the journal + ROADMAP — not here.*

### Product / day-2

- **NVIDIA first-class options** — **deferred past v1** (Bernardo
  2026-07-10). Keep #59 commented install guidance; no
  `nomarchy.hardware.nvidia.*` until a hybrid maintainer + queue.

- **Post-install hardware hints** (`VISION § B`) — After the general
  “you're set” card (#81), optionally fire **one** additional
  self-gated notify when the machine actually has the hardware:
  (a) `fwupdmgr` on PATH → “System › Firmware to check LVFS updates”;
  (b) `fprintd-list` on PATH → “System › Fingerprint to enroll”.
  One-shot markers in `settings.*` (same in-checkout discipline as
  `firstBootShown`); never a permanent MOTD nag. Cost: small — extend
  `nomarchy-first-boot` or a sibling oneshot + `checks.first-boot`
  fixture. Control-center / MOTD already mention these; the gap is the
  silent first *graphical* session for people who never open those.

_(#80–#83 + #85–#88 shipped 2026-07-11. Theme A day-2 + neon-glass finish
  shipped — VISION ✓. Dock/hibernate V3 → HARDWARE-QUEUE. Parallel
  fingerprint-or-password shipped 2026-07-12 (Bernardo promoted it live;
  `fingerprint.parallel`, pam-fprint-grosshack) — reader V3 →
  HARDWARE-QUEUE.)_

### v1.0 pointer

See **VISION**. Open PROPOSED: post-install hardware hints; NVIDIA
deferred past v1; IR portal (b)/(c) need T14s (HARDWARE-QUEUE § T14s).
Standing calls: browser = Chromium; power = PPD.


## Decisions `[human]`

Open calls only Bernardo can make; agents add options/evidence but never
decide. **Resolved** entries stay for history; agents treat them as closed.

### Resolved (2026-07-10)

- **Docs site vs Markdown-in-repo** — **markdown in-repo for now**
  (`docs/`, README). A rendered docs site is FUTURE if wanted.
- **Default browser** — **ship Chromium** in
  `templates/downstream/home.nix`; mime → `chromium-browser.desktop`.
  Opt out: delete the line / override mime.
- **Default power backend** — **keep PPD** (`nomarchy.system.power.backend`
  default). TLP remains the one-line opt-in. Rationale: stability + live
  profile API for menu/Waybar; Omarchy’s TLP experiment reverted.

### Resolved (2026-07-10, more)

- **Formatter adoption** — **yes, but not now.** Tracked as FUTURE
  (below). Nix-source style only (`nixfmt-rfc-style` or similar); one
  bulk reformat + CI/check when promoted. Until then: hand-aligned
  style per CONVENTIONS.

- **Hibernation** — **want by default** (product intent). Needs a
  disk-backed swap (file or partition) sized for resume; not zram alone.
  **Shipped as #76**; V3 power-cycle PASSED on TuringMachine 2026-07-12
  (ROADMAP § Hibernation + zram by default).

### Resolved (2026-07-10, #76 design)

- **Swap sizing** — **exactly RAM** (installer default, unchanged). Hibernate
  image ≤ RAM; zram takes day-to-day paging. **`swapSize=0`** stays no-swap.
- **Migration** — **docs runbook** (`docs/MIGRATION.md`), not a tool.
- **No-swap Hibernate** — keep the menu row; **notify on failure**.