docs: trim Current state to live status — coordination epic shipped

GPU-arbiter safety layer for when automation, not just the dashboard, swaps
models:
- swap reservation lock (POST/GET/DELETE /api/swap/lock); 423-enforced in
  post_swap via a single-read gate, TTL-bounded, secret-token auth, human
  force-release override + dashboard banner
- swap webhook (swap_complete/swap_failed) fired outside the swap lock, optional
  HMAC signature, configurable URL+secret
- read-only schedule registry (GET/POST/DELETE /api/schedule) + dashboard panel

New module image/app/coordination.py; docs/COORDINATION.md for consumers; 22
offline tests in test_coordination.py.

AGENTS.md

@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ Subsystem guidance lives in `docs/guides/` and loads when matching files are tou
 
 - `image/app/` — FastAPI app (`server.py` entry, routers in sibling modules, `static/` dashboard UI).
 - `package/startos/` — StartOS manifest, interfaces, actions, version + release notes.
-- `docs/` — `AUDIO_API.md`, `EMBEDDINGS.md`, `REDACTION_GATEWAY.md` (consumer-facing API refs; update with API changes).
+- `docs/` — `AUDIO_API.md`, `EMBEDDINGS.md`, `REDACTION_GATEWAY.md`, `COORDINATION.md` (consumer-facing API refs; update with API changes).
 - `README.md` (overview), `HANDOFF.md` (fresh-user install guide), `runbook.md` (ops notes), `known-issues.md`, `ROADMAP.md` (longer-term backlog — items move into "Current state" below when picked up).
 
 ## Conventions
@@ -55,12 +55,15 @@ Subsystem guidance lives in `docs/guides/` and loads when matching files are tou
 
 ## Current state
 
-- **Working (v0.21.0:1, installed and serving):** swap dashboard; chat / transcribe / diarize(+chunk) / TTS proxies; embeddings + rerank + hybrid search (Qdrant); `/scrub` + `/rehydrate`; label-merge incl. dual-channel; per-Spark SSH-key copy + WireGuard `VPN <ip>` hardware-card badge. Spark 2 audio stack healthy. Security hardening (v0.19.0:0 — shellsafe SSH-injection guard, Qdrant path-injection, same-origin CSRF guard) shipped and stable; evidence in `EVALUATION.md`.
+- **Live: v0.25.0:0** (installed 2026-06-18, server reports `status: installed`). The OpenClaw/Johnny-5 coexistence epic is fully shipped & live: configurable `VLLM_PORT` (v0.22, blank ⇒ 8888), local/fine-tuned models (v0.23), configurable topology (v0.24 — `VLLM_CONTAINER`, `DISABLED_SERVICES` hide-list, second-Spark `kind: vllm` monitor), coordination layer (v0.25 — swap reservation lock with `423`-enforced manual-swap pause + `?force=true` Release override, `swap_complete`/`swap_failed` webhook, read-only schedule registry; consumer API in `docs/COORDINATION.md`).
-- **matrix-bridge bot tile (done, v0.21.0:1, verified live):** `bot`-kind service tile — status badge from docker-state only (no HTTP port), plus **Update** / Restart / Stop/Start / **View logs**. Code: `app/matrix_bridge.py` + `/api/matrix-bridge/{update,logs}` (update streams; 25-min cap; fail-loud). Driven directly as `modelo` on Spark 2 (**no `sudo -iu`** — spark2 has no passwordless sudo). User is a blank-default Configure-Sparks field (`matrix_bridge_user`); blank → tile hidden (portable). Host reuses `spark2_host` (`192.168.1.87` = the bot's box `spark-32d0`); container/dir/branch are env-overridable defaults. **Load-bearing ops dep:** Update's `git fetch` runs as `modelo`, which needs `modelo`'s `~/.ssh/config` pinning the Gitea deploy key with `IdentitiesOnly yes` — else the wrong key is offered and Gitea denies (publickey). Optional next, only if the bot dev asks: Docker `HEALTHCHECK` for running-but-disconnected detection (spec §Note).
+- **Other live features:** swap dashboard; chat / transcribe / diarize(+chunk) / TTS proxies; embeddings + rerank + hybrid search (Qdrant); `/scrub` + `/rehydrate`; label-merge incl. dual-channel; per-Spark SSH-key copy + WireGuard `VPN <ip>` hardware badge. Security hardening (v0.19 — shellsafe SSH-injection guard, Qdrant path-injection, same-origin CSRF guard) stable (`EVALUATION.md`). Spark 2 audio/embeddings stack healthy.
-- **Tests:** offline pytest harness in `image/tests/` — `cd image && .venv/bin/python -m pytest` (70 passing). Covers `build_launch_command` (incl. the shell-injection round-trip), the transcript↔diarizer label-merge, the `shellsafe` validators, and `matrix_bridge.build_update_command` (+ phase detection). Mock-heavy swap/proxy tests deliberately skipped (low ROI). Redaction + live-audio suites remain standalone scripts.
+- **matrix-bridge bot tile (v0.21.0:1, live):** `bot`-kind tile (docker-state badge; Update/Restart/Stop-Start/View-logs) for the Matrix bot on Spark 2, driven as `modelo` (no `sudo -iu`; blank `matrix_bridge_user` ⇒ tile hidden; host reuses `spark2_host`). Code: `app/matrix_bridge.py` + `/api/matrix-bridge/{update,logs}`. **Load-bearing:** Update's `git fetch` runs as `modelo` and needs `modelo`'s `~/.ssh/config` pinning the Gitea deploy key with `IdentitiesOnly yes` (else publickey denial). Optional next only if the bot dev asks: Docker `HEALTHCHECK`.
+- **Tests:** offline pytest harness in `image/tests/` — `cd image && .venv/bin/python -m pytest` (124 passing). Covers `build_launch_command` (incl. the shell-injection round-trip + local-model bind-mount), the transcript↔diarizer label-merge, the `shellsafe` validators, `matrix_bridge.build_update_command` (+ phase detection), the configurable-topology layer (`test_topology.py`), and the coordination layer (`test_coordination.py`: swap-lock lifecycle/expiry/token-auth, schedule-registry CRUD, webhook payload + HMAC signature — `now` is injected into the lock so expiry is tested without sleeping). Mock-heavy swap/proxy/endpoint tests deliberately skipped (low ROI). Redaction + live-audio suites remain standalone scripts.
 - **Signal Engine "flakiness":** diagnosed as *not* a server bug — transient 1–4s unresponsiveness while the single GPU is busy. Client-side remedy (in-flight cap 2 / ceiling 3 / retry-on-timeout+503) drafted and **forwarded to that dev (owner confirmed 2026-06-15)**. Awaiting whether they want the measured concurrency knee.
 - **Stance (decided, not built):** no public interface / no API-token auth — LAN + WireGuard/Tailscale split-tunnel only; the CSRF guard covers the browser-driven vector.
 - **Known limits:** `/health` blips while the GPU is busy (mitigated client-side); dual-channel can miss a quiet local word under loud remote bleed; connectivity log misses sub-5s outages between 5s polls; diarizer caps at 4 speakers; matrix-bridge badge won't visibly flip on a fast `docker restart` (status re-checked only after the command returns).
 - **Infra gotcha (safety):** passwordless sudo is NOT configured on spark2 — design unprivileged probes for any Spark feature (the badge uses `ip`, not `sudo wg show`). spark2 sits on the `starttunnel` WireGuard subnet (`10.59.211.6/24`, survives reboot). Owner declined SSH-key rotation after the 2026-06-12 history scrub (only the key *name* leaked) — don't re-flag.
 - **Hosting:** self-hosted Gitea — remote `gitea`, branch `master`, over SSH; push after committing. (Wart: commit `8d839e3` is mislabeled `v0.13.0:4` but contains through v0.18.0:0.)
-- **Next — committed 2026-06-17: OpenClaw/Johnny-5 coexistence epic (full plan + design stance in `ROADMAP.md` → "Cluster coordination").** Stance: Spark Control = control plane / GPU arbiter, **not** a job runner; business cron jobs live in separate services that *call* its swap API (swaps are already API-driven via `POST /api/swap`). Sequence: (1) **configurable `VLLM_PORT`** — DONE in tree, staged as **v0.22.0:0** (Configure-Sparks field, blank ⇒ 8888; + `_env_int` hardening in `config.py` so a blank/bad port no longer crashes startup, killing a P3 tech-debt item). **Not yet built/installed/committed — awaiting go/no-go.** (2) local-path/fine-tuned models (in ROADMAP under Dashboard). (3) configurable topology (service→Spark→port map + container names). (4) coordination layer (swap lock + swap webhook + schedule visibility) — only when our own automation lands. Still-open older threads: audio concurrency sweep (only if the Signal Engine dev wants the knee; needs a quiet window); optional matrix-bridge Docker `HEALTHCHECK` if the bot dev asks; Parakeet long-audio guard deferred (rationale in ROADMAP).
+- **Design stance (decided):** Spark Control = control plane / GPU arbiter, **not** a job runner; recurring business jobs live in separate services that *call* the swap API (`POST /api/swap`). Full epic history (v0.22→v0.25) is in git log + `ROADMAP.md` → "Cluster coordination".
+- **Usage note (2026-06-18):** owner's daily driver is the solo **Qwen3.6 35B**; the 235B `cluster` models are dormant. Keeping `launch-cluster.sh` (the `eugr/spark-vllm-docker` community standard, mirrors NVIDIA's `dgx-spark-playbooks` Ray+RoCE design) is still correct even single-node — it supplies the maintained, hardware-tuned vLLM images; raw docker would mean DIY image upkeep for no gain. Spark 2 stays the speech/embeddings box regardless.
+- **Next steps (all low-priority / externally gated; P2/P3 tech-debt backlog in `ROADMAP.md`):** (1) raw-`docker run` swap generalization — **DEFERRED** (rationale in ROADMAP; revisit only if an adopter wants Spark Control to *drive*, not just monitor, raw-docker swaps — cleanest fix is the adopter adopting `launch-cluster.sh`). (2) audio concurrency knee — only if the Signal Engine dev wants it (needs a quiet window). (3) matrix-bridge Docker `HEALTHCHECK` — only if the bot dev asks. (4) Parakeet long-audio guard — deferred (rationale in ROADMAP).

ROADMAP.md

@@ -10,12 +10,25 @@ Driven by the one other Spark Control adopter (a colleague running OpenClaw + cr
 
 Sequenced:
 1. **Configurable `VLLM_PORT`** — DONE, v0.22.0:0. Field in Configure Sparks (blank ⇒ 8888); numeric-setting parsing hardened so a blank/bad value falls back instead of crashing startup. Was the immediate "vLLM unreachable" bug for an adopter on port 8000.
-2. **Local-path / fine-tuned model support** — see the dedicated item under "## Dashboard" below. Independently wanted; his merged `ten31-v2` (a directory, not an HF repo) is the motivating case.
+2. **Local-path / fine-tuned model support** — DONE, v0.23.0:0. Catalog/`ModelDef` gained `local_path` (exactly one of `repo`/`local_path`); swap bind-mounts the dir into the vLLM container at the same path via the launch script's `VLLM_SPARK_EXTRA_DOCKER_ARGS` hook (no `launch-cluster.sh` change); "+ Add local model" form + `local` badge; disk-delete refused for local models; `validate_local_path` boundary check. His merged `ten31-v2` was the motivating case.
-3. **Configurable topology** — make the service→Spark→port map and container names configurable so the package stops assuming our exact layout. Lets an adopter monitor vLLM on *both* Sparks, use a different container name, and stop the Parakeet probe from hitting a vLLM that shares its port — without forking. (Covers report P4 multi-Spark vLLM, P5 container name, and the Parakeet-port collision #6.)
+3. **Configurable topology** — DONE, v0.24.0:0. Three optional Configure-Sparks knobs: vLLM container name (`VLLM_CONTAINER`, blank ⇒ `vllm_node`; threaded through the swap log-tail + pre-flight validator via `quote_arg`); "services to hide" (`DISABLED_SERVICES`, comma list — hidden services show no tile and are skipped by status/deep-health/connectivity probes, killing the Parakeet-on-8000 collision); and a second-Spark vLLM monitor via a `kind: vllm` custom service in `services-overrides.yaml` (read-only tile probed through the shared `probe_vllm_endpoint`). `/api/endpoints` gained a `disabled` flag. Covers report P4/P5/#6. (Generalizing the *swap* mechanism to the adopter's raw `docker run` was deliberately left out — that's coordination, item 4; he swaps via his own crons and uses Spark Control to monitor.)
-4. **Coordination layer** — build when our own automation actually lands (zero value until something other than the dashboard swaps models):
+4. **Coordination layer** — DONE in tree, staged as **v0.25.0:0** (built/typechecked clean; install pending). All three primitives shipped; `image/app/coordination.py` + `docs/COORDINATION.md`. Brought forward 2026-06-17 on request rather than waiting for our own automation.
-   - **Swap lock** with holder + TTL (`POST` / `GET` / `DELETE /api/swap/lock`). An external scheduler acquires it before swapping; the dashboard then refuses manual swaps and shows who holds the GPU and until when. Enforced by the swap path, not advisory.
+   - **Swap lock** with holder + TTL (`POST` / `GET` / `DELETE /api/swap/lock`). Acquire returns a secret token; the swap endpoint refuses any real swap (`423`) that doesn't present it in `X-Swap-Lock-Token`, so the dashboard's manual swap is paused while a scheduler holds it (with a `?force=true` human override). In-memory + TTL-bounded → resets to unlocked on restart; re-acquire with the token extends. Enforced in `post_swap`, not advisory.
-   - **Swap-event webhook** (`swap_complete` / `swap_failed`) to a configurable URL, so downstream consumers update their provider config when the running model changes.
+   - **Swap-event webhook** (`swap_complete` / `swap_failed`) to a configurable URL (Configure-Sparks field), fired from `SwapManager._run` *outside* the swap lock; optional shared secret ⇒ `X-Spark-Signature` HMAC. Fire-and-forget (5 s, no retries); dry runs don't fire.
-   - **Schedule visibility** — read-only view the dashboard surfaces, *registered by* external schedulers (Spark Control does not own the schedule).
+   - **Schedule visibility** — `GET/POST/DELETE /api/schedule`; read-only "Scheduled jobs" dashboard panel, registered by external schedulers. Spark Control stores and displays, never executes.
+   - Tests: `image/tests/test_coordination.py` (22 cases — lock lifecycle/expiry/token, the single-read swap gate, schedule CRUD + id validation, webhook payload+signature). Known limit: lock + schedules are in-memory (a restart frees the lock and empties the registry until schedulers re-register) — persist to `/data` only if that bites.
+
+### Generalizing the swap mechanism to raw `docker run` — DEFERRED (decided 2026-06-18, research-backed; was item 4's last open thread)
+
+Our swap drives `~/spark-vllm-docker/launch-cluster.sh` over SSH on Spark 1 (`./launch-cluster.sh stop`, then `[VLLM_SPARK_EXTRA_DOCKER_ARGS=…] ./launch-cluster.sh [--solo ]-d exec vllm serve <model> <args>`, then `docker logs -f` until the ready marker). The OpenClaw adopter launches vLLM with a plain `docker run` instead, so the swap button can't drive his cluster — only monitor it. The portability fix would be a configurable "swap backend": keep `launch-cluster.sh` as the default and add a "bring your own command" mode (operator-authored stop/launch templates in `services-overrides.yaml` with quoted `{model}`/`{container}`/`{port}`/`{extra_args}` substitution; ready-detection unchanged; the vLLM-argparse pre-flight disabled for that backend).
+
+**Why deferred, not built:**
+- **Raw docker is not an upgrade for *us* — for half our catalog it's impossible.** `launch-cluster.sh` is the `eugr/spark-vllm-docker` community project (de-facto DGX Spark standard; mirrors NVIDIA's own `dgx-spark-playbooks` Ray+RDMA architecture). Its headline job is **multi-node** serving: our 235B `cluster` models (Qwen3-VL 235B, Qwen3 235B) exceed one Spark's 128 GB and *must* shard across both Sparks via Ray over the 200 Gbps ConnectX/RoCE link — plumbing (NCCL/MTU/per-node env) that a single-node `docker run` cannot do. So we keep the helper script; switching our own cluster to raw docker is off the table.
+- **The feature is therefore portability-only** (for differently-wired adopters), and the one known adopter doesn't need it — he swaps via his own crons and uses Spark Control to watch.
+- **Untestable on our hardware** — our cluster uses the helper script, so we can't validate a real raw-docker swap without risking the live vLLM.
+- The one real standing risk is eugr's single-maintainer status; fallback is community forks or migrating to NVIDIA's official `dgx-spark-playbooks` launcher (same design). No reason to switch now.
+
+**Revisit only if** an adopter explicitly wants Spark Control to *drive* (not just monitor) swaps on a raw-`docker run` cluster. At that point, get their actual working `docker run` command and build the command-template backend to it.
 
 ## Near term
 - parakeet-asr long-audio memory guard — **deferred 2026-06-15, low priority.** A duration cap on `/v1/audio/diarize`: Sortformer runs the whole file in one pass (`diarizer.py:128-135`) over Spark 2's *shared* 128 GB unified memory (also feeding Kokoro/embeddings/Qdrant), so one giant single file can thrash into swap. **Precautionary — no observed incident**, and the production consumer (Recap Relay) already chunks via `/diarize-chunk` (~5-min, already bounded), so the only exposed path is a consumer POSTing one huge file to the full `/diarize`. When picked up: add a configurable `MAX_DIARIZE_SECONDS` guard in `diarizer.py` right after `duration` is computed (~line 130) → raise → HTTP 413 in `main.py` (mirrors the existing `MAX_UPLOAD_MB` 413); ship via the Reapply-patches action (restarts the live parakeet-asr container → needs go/no-go). Leave transcription out of v1 (upstream/un-patched file; parakeet-TDT handles long audio better). Revisit only if a consumer starts sending long single files.
@@ -34,7 +47,6 @@ Sequenced:
 - Second audio worker / queueing layer; revisit which services share Spark 2.
 
 ## Dashboard
-- Support local-path / fine-tuned models in the swap catalog. Today the catalog is static (`models.yaml` + custom overrides) and the "Add custom model" path (`POST /api/models`) only accepts an HF `org/name` repo (`shellsafe._HF_REPO_RE`), so a model that exists only as a directory on a Spark (the usual fine-tuning output) can't be registered or swapped. Needs: (a) a "local model" add form/field taking a Spark-side directory path, with its own safe validation instead of the `org/name` regex (path whitelist + `shlex.quote`, no traversal); (b) `models.build_launch_command` / `launch-cluster.sh` able to `vllm serve <path>`; (c) `disk.py` size-probe handling a path instead of deriving the HF cache dir from a repo id. Raised 2026-06-15 — a colleague's locally fine-tuned model doesn't appear because nothing scans the machine; the list is a curated catalog, not a discovery probe.
 - Per-model configurable vLLM flags editable from the UI (today: edit `models.yaml` and rebuild).
 - Spark host update actions (OS/driver) from the UI.
 - Open WebUI link-out integration; richer per-service detail views.

docs/COORDINATION.md

@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+# Cluster coordination through Spark Control (v0.25.0)
+
+Spark Control is the **GPU arbiter, not a job runner.** Your recurring pipelines
+(model-warming crons, "daily X" generators, batch jobs) live in your own
+services and *drive Spark Control's swap API*. This page documents the safety
+layer around that: a **swap reservation lock**, a **swap-event webhook**, and a
+**read-only schedule registry**.
+
+If only the dashboard ever swaps models, you don't need any of this — it's for
+when something automated also swaps.
+
+All endpoints are on the Spark Control host (same LAN/VPN URL as the LLM, audio,
+and embeddings proxies). There is no API-token auth by design (LAN + split-tunnel
+VPN only); a non-browser client passes the same-origin guard automatically.
+
+---
+
+## 1. Swap reservation lock
+
+A short, TTL-bounded reservation of the swap path. While a lock is held, **any
+real swap that doesn't present the holder's token is refused with `423 Locked`**
+— including the dashboard's manual swap. The holder *name* is descriptive; the
+returned **token** is the secret that authorises swaps and the release.
+
+The lock is in-memory: it resets to *unlocked* if Spark Control restarts (the
+safe-for-availability default), and the swap engine's own in-progress guard
+still prevents two swaps running at once.
+
+### `POST /api/swap/lock` — acquire (or extend)
+
+```json
+// request
+{ "holder": "openclaw-daily-vol", "ttl_seconds": 900, "note": "daily vol run" }
+
+// 200 response
+{
+  "held": true,
+  "holder": "openclaw-daily-vol",
+  "acquired_at": "2026-06-17T12:00:00+00:00",
+  "expires_at":  "2026-06-17T12:15:00+00:00",
+  "seconds_remaining": 900,
+  "note": "daily vol run",
+  "token": "a1b2c3…"        // SECRET — store it; needed to swap and to release
+}
+```
+
+- `ttl_seconds` is optional (default 900) and clamped to `[1, 86400]`.
+- **`409`** if a *different* holder already holds it (body includes the current
+  `lock` state). To **extend** your own lock, POST again with the same `holder`
+  **and** your `token` — the token is preserved and the window slides forward.
+
+### `GET /api/swap/lock` — status (no token)
+
+```json
+{ "held": true, "holder": "openclaw-daily-vol", "expires_at": "…", "seconds_remaining": 612, "note": "…" }
+// or
+{ "held": false }
+```
+
+### `DELETE /api/swap/lock` — release
+
+Send your token in the `X-Swap-Lock-Token` header (or `?token=`):
+
+```
+DELETE /api/swap/lock
+X-Swap-Lock-Token: a1b2c3…
+```
+
+- **`403`** if the token doesn't match. The dashboard's human override is
+  `DELETE /api/swap/lock?force=true` (no token).
+
+### Swapping while you hold the lock
+
+Pass the token on the swap call; the dashboard (no token) is then blocked:
+
+```
+POST /api/swap
+X-Swap-Lock-Token: a1b2c3…
+{ "model_key": "gemma-3-27b" }
+```
+
+Recommended scheduler flow: **acquire → swap (with token) → poll `/api/swap/{id}`
+→ release**. Always release in a `finally`; if you crash, the TTL frees it.
+
+> `POST /api/swap/{key}/validate` (pre-flight) and dry-run swaps are **not**
+> blocked by the lock — they don't touch the cluster.
+
+---
+
+## 2. Swap-event webhook
+
+Configure a URL in **Configure Sparks → "Swap webhook URL"**. After every real
+swap, Spark Control POSTs:
+
+```json
+{
+  "event": "swap_complete",   // or "swap_failed"
+  "job_id": "1a2b3c4d",
+  "model_key": "gemma-3-27b",
+  "state": "ready",           // or "failed"
+  "returncode": 0,
+  "started_at": "2026-06-17T12:00:00+00:00",
+  "finished_at": "2026-06-17T12:03:11+00:00",
+  "dry_run": false
+}
+```
+
+Headers: `X-Spark-Event: swap_complete`. If you set a **webhook secret**, the
+body is signed: `X-Spark-Signature: sha256=<hmac>` (HMAC-SHA256 of the raw body
+with the shared secret). Verify it like:
+
+```python
+import hmac, hashlib
+expected = "sha256=" + hmac.new(secret.encode(), raw_body, hashlib.sha256).hexdigest()
+assert hmac.compare_digest(expected, request.headers["X-Spark-Signature"])
+```
+
+Delivery is best-effort and fire-and-forget (5 s timeout, no retries) — a
+webhook failure never affects the swap itself. Dry runs don't fire.
+
+---
+
+## 3. Schedule registry (read-only display)
+
+So the dashboard can show *what's scheduled to touch the GPU and when*, your
+schedulers register their jobs here. **Spark Control only displays these — it
+never executes them.**
+
+### `POST /api/schedule` — register / update
+
+```json
+// request (pass a stable `id` to update in place on re-register)
+{ "id": "daily-vol", "name": "Daily Vol", "owner": "openclaw",
+  "cron": "0 6 * * *", "next_run": "2026-06-18T06:00:00Z",
+  "description": "Swaps to the big model, generates the vol report" }
+
+// response: the stored entry (generates an id if you omit one)
+```
+
+`name` is required; `id` (if given) must match `[A-Za-z0-9_.-]` (≤64 chars).
+
+### `GET /api/schedule` — list
+
+```json
+{ "schedules": [ { "id": "daily-vol", "name": "Daily Vol", "owner": "openclaw",
+  "cron": "0 6 * * *", "next_run": "…", "description": "…",
+  "registered_at": "…", "updated_at": "…" } ] }
+```
+
+### `DELETE /api/schedule/{id}` — deregister
+
+```json
+{ "deleted": true }
+```
+
+The registry is in-memory — re-register your schedules on your own startup so
+they survive a Spark Control restart.

docs/guides/startos-package.md

@@ -25,6 +25,22 @@ npm run prettier   # prettier --write startos (no semicolons, single quotes, tra
 - Version format is `X.Y.Z:N` (`:N` = revision). Bump in `package/startos/versions/v0_1_0.ts`; **replace** the release notes — never leave old notes behind under an extra key (any unknown key fails `tsc`).
 - New external-facing endpoints get noted in release notes for downstream app developers (Recap Relay, Ten31 Transcripts, CRM, Signal Engine consume these APIs).
 
+## Releasing to Gitea
+
+The s9pk is distributed via Gitea **Releases** (the binary is gitignored — never commit it). Adopters pull the latest asset with a read-only token. Per-version ritual:
+
+```bash
+# 1. bump version in startos/versions/v0_1_0.ts (+ replace release notes), then:
+cd package && make x86                       # build
+# 2. commit + push the source change
+git tag vX.Y.Z && git push gitea vX.Y.Z      # tag — plain vX.Y.Z, NO ':' (git refs forbid it)
+make install                                 # optional: sideload to your own server (restarts it — go/no-go)
+# 3. publish the s9pk as a release asset (needs a write-scoped token):
+GITEA_URL=https://<gitea-host> GITEA_TOKEN=<write-token> make release
+```
+
+`make release` → `scripts/gitea-release.sh`: creates/reuses the release for the tag and uploads (replacing) the s9pk asset; idempotent, fails loud on real HTTP errors. `GITEA_INSECURE=1` skips TLS verify for a self-signed LAN cert. Hand adopters a **read-only** token (repository: Read), ideally on a dedicated reader account; their agent then `GET`s `/api/v1/repos/<owner>/spark-control/releases/latest` and downloads the `.s9pk` asset. Note Gitea returns `browser_download_url` on its configured ROOT_URL (may be a `.local` name) — an off-LAN adopter pulls via whatever address actually reaches the Gitea.
+
 ## Layout
 
 - `package/startos/` — manifest, interfaces, actions (`configureSparks`, `showPublicKey`), `versions/v0_1_0.ts` (current version string + release notes).

image/app/config.py

@@ -1,13 +1,44 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
+import logging
 import os
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from pathlib import Path
 
+from .shellsafe import validate_container
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
 
 def _env(name: str, default: str = "") -> str:
     return os.environ.get(name, default)
 
 
+def _env_container(name: str, default: str) -> str:
+    """Resolve a container-name env var, validating it at the config boundary.
+
+    The value flows into `docker logs`/`docker exec` over SSH, so it's quoted at
+    the sink — but per the repo's two-layer convention it's also whitelist-checked
+    here. A malformed optional value falls back to `default` rather than crashing
+    daemon startup (mirrors `_env_int` for VLLM_PORT)."""
+    val = os.environ.get(name, "") or default
+    try:
+        return validate_container(val)
+    except ValueError:
+        log.warning("ignoring invalid %s=%r; using %r", name, val, default)
+        return default
+
+
+def _env_set(name: str) -> frozenset[str]:
+    """Parse a comma-separated env var into a lowercased frozenset of keys.
+
+    Used by DISABLED_SERVICES so an adopter whose cluster doesn't run a given
+    support service can switch its tile + probes off entirely (rather than have
+    the probe hit whatever else listens on that port — e.g. a vLLM sharing
+    Parakeet's default 8000)."""
+    raw = os.environ.get(name, "")
+    return frozenset(part.strip().lower() for part in raw.split(",") if part.strip())
+
+
 def _env_int(name: str, default: int) -> int:
     """Parse an int env var, falling back to `default` when unset, blank, or
     malformed. The StartOS Configure panel passes optional numeric fields as an
@@ -63,6 +94,8 @@ class Settings:
     ssh_known_hosts: str
     models_yaml: str
     vllm_port: int
+    vllm_container: str
+    disabled_services: frozenset[str]
     parakeet_port: int
     kokoro_port: int
     embed_port: int
@@ -70,6 +103,8 @@ class Settings:
     bind_port: int
     open_webui_url: str
     ngc_api_key: str
+    swap_webhook_url: str
+    swap_webhook_secret: str
 
     @classmethod
     def from_env(cls) -> "Settings":
@@ -116,6 +151,15 @@ class Settings:
             ssh_known_hosts=_env("SSH_KNOWN_HOSTS"),
             models_yaml=_resolve_models_yaml(),
             vllm_port=_env_int("VLLM_PORT", 8888),
+            # Container name for the swappable vLLM on Spark 1. Defaults to the
+            # bundled launch-cluster.sh container; override if you named yours
+            # something else (the swap log-tail and pre-flight validator exec
+            # into it by name).
+            vllm_container=_env_container("VLLM_CONTAINER", "vllm_node"),
+            # Built-in support-service keys (parakeet, kokoro, embeddings,
+            # qdrant) the deployment doesn't run — hidden from the dashboard and
+            # never probed.
+            disabled_services=_env_set("DISABLED_SERVICES"),
             parakeet_port=_env_int("PARAKEET_PORT", 8000),
             kokoro_port=_env_int("KOKORO_PORT", 8880),
             embed_port=_env_int("EMBED_PORT", 8088),
@@ -123,6 +167,11 @@ class Settings:
             bind_port=_env_int("BIND_PORT", 9999),
             open_webui_url=_env("OPEN_WEBUI_URL", ""),
             ngc_api_key=_env("NGC_API_KEY", ""),
+            # Coordination layer: fire a swap-lifecycle webhook to this URL so
+            # downstream consumers re-point their model config on a swap. Blank
+            # ⇒ disabled. The optional secret HMAC-signs the body (X-Spark-Signature).
+            swap_webhook_url=_env("SWAP_WEBHOOK_URL", ""),
+            swap_webhook_secret=_env("SWAP_WEBHOOK_SECRET", ""),
         )
 
     @property

image/app/coordination.py

@@ -0,0 +1,342 @@
+"""Cluster-coordination layer: the GPU swap lock, swap-event webhook, and the
+read-only schedule registry.
+
+Spark Control is the **control plane / GPU arbiter, not a job runner.** Recurring
+business pipelines live in separate services that *call* the swap API. These
+three primitives add the *safety* layer around that:
+
+- **Swap lock** — a TTL-bounded reservation of the swap path. An external
+  scheduler acquires it before swapping; while held by someone else the
+  dashboard's manual swap is refused (enforced in the swap endpoint, not
+  advisory). Holder name is descriptive; the returned token is the secret that
+  authorises a swap or a release.
+- **Webhook** — fires `swap_complete` / `swap_failed` to a configurable URL so
+  downstream consumers re-point their provider config when the running model
+  changes. Optionally HMAC-signed.
+- **Schedule registry** — a read-only view the dashboard surfaces, *registered
+  by* external schedulers. Spark Control stores what it's told; it does not own
+  or execute any schedule.
+
+All state is in-memory (mirroring the swap/download/NIM job managers). On a
+restart the lock resets to *unlocked* — the available-by-default failure mode;
+the swap manager's own in-progress guard still prevents two swaps at once —
+and schedulers re-register their schedules.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+import hashlib
+import hmac
+import json
+import logging
+import re
+import uuid
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
+from typing import Optional
+
+import httpx
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+# A lock reserves the GPU for a window; clamp the TTL so a buggy client can
+# neither pin the cluster forever nor take a zero-length (useless) lock.
+LOCK_TTL_MIN = 1
+LOCK_TTL_MAX = 86_400      # 24h
+LOCK_TTL_DEFAULT = 900     # 15 min
+
+# Schedule ids are reflected to the dashboard and used as a URL path segment on
+# delete, so a caller-supplied id is whitelist-checked. Generated ids are hex.
+_SCHEDULE_ID_RE = re.compile(r"^[A-Za-z0-9_.-]{1,64}$")
+
+
+def valid_schedule_id(value: str) -> bool:
+    """Whitelist check for a caller-supplied schedule id (register and delete)."""
+    return bool(_SCHEDULE_ID_RE.match(value or ""))
+
+
+def _now() -> datetime:
+    return datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+
+
+def _iso(dt: datetime) -> str:
+    return dt.isoformat()
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------- swap lock ----
+
+class LockHeld(Exception):
+    """The lock is held by a different holder. Carries the public lock state so
+    the endpoint can return holder + expiry in the 409 body."""
+
+    def __init__(self, state: dict) -> None:
+        self.state = state
+        super().__init__("swap lock is held by another holder")
+
+
+@dataclass
+class LockState:
+    holder: str
+    token: str
+    acquired_at: datetime
+    expires_at: datetime
+    note: str = ""
+
+    def public(self, now: datetime) -> dict:
+        """Token-free view safe to expose on GET / in error bodies."""
+        return {
+            "held": True,
+            "holder": self.holder,
+            "acquired_at": _iso(self.acquired_at),
+            "expires_at": _iso(self.expires_at),
+            "seconds_remaining": max(0, int((self.expires_at - now).total_seconds())),
+            "note": self.note,
+        }
+
+
+class SwapLockManager:
+    """In-memory, TTL-bounded reservation of the GPU swap path.
+
+    `now` is injectable on every method purely so the expiry logic is testable
+    without sleeping; production calls omit it and get wall-clock UTC.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self._lock: Optional[LockState] = None
+
+    def _active(self, now: Optional[datetime] = None) -> Optional[LockState]:
+        """The current lock if one is held and unexpired; lazily clears an
+        expired lock so it never lingers."""
+        now = now or _now()
+        if self._lock is not None and self._lock.expires_at <= now:
+            self._lock = None
+        return self._lock
+
+    def status(self, now: Optional[datetime] = None) -> dict:
+        now = now or _now()
+        active = self._active(now)
+        return active.public(now) if active else {"held": False}
+
+    def acquire(
+        self,
+        holder: str,
+        ttl_seconds: Optional[int] = None,
+        note: str = "",
+        token: Optional[str] = None,
+        *,
+        now: Optional[datetime] = None,
+    ) -> LockState:
+        """Acquire a free lock (new token), or extend one already held by
+        presenting its token. A request without the token is refused even if the
+        holder name matches — the name is descriptive, the token is the secret.
+        """
+        now = now or _now()
+        holder = (holder or "").strip()
+        if not holder:
+            raise ValueError("holder is required")
+        ttl = ttl_seconds if ttl_seconds is not None else LOCK_TTL_DEFAULT
+        try:
+            ttl = int(ttl)
+        except (TypeError, ValueError):
+            ttl = LOCK_TTL_DEFAULT
+        ttl = max(LOCK_TTL_MIN, min(LOCK_TTL_MAX, ttl))
+
+        active = self._active(now)
+        if active is not None:
+            # Held — only the token-holder may extend/re-acquire.
+            if not (token and hmac.compare_digest(active.token, token)):
+                raise LockHeld(active.public(now))
+            self._lock = LockState(
+                holder=holder or active.holder,
+                token=active.token,
+                acquired_at=active.acquired_at,
+                expires_at=now + timedelta(seconds=ttl),
+                note=note or active.note,
+            )
+            return self._lock
+
+        self._lock = LockState(
+            holder=holder,
+            token=uuid.uuid4().hex,
+            acquired_at=now,
+            expires_at=now + timedelta(seconds=ttl),
+            note=note,
+        )
+        return self._lock
+
+    def verify(self, token: Optional[str], now: Optional[datetime] = None) -> bool:
+        """True iff `token` matches the currently-active lock."""
+        active = self._active(now)
+        return bool(active and token and hmac.compare_digest(active.token, token))
+
+    def is_blocked_by(self, token: Optional[str], now: Optional[datetime] = None) -> Optional[dict]:
+        """Single-read swap gate. Returns the public lock state if an active
+        lock blocks a swap carrying this token, else None. Does exactly one
+        `_active()` read so the decision can't straddle a TTL expiry the way a
+        separate status()+verify() pair could (which, at the expiry tick, would
+        spuriously refuse a swap that should now be allowed)."""
+        now = now or _now()
+        active = self._active(now)
+        if active is None:
+            return None
+        if token and hmac.compare_digest(active.token, token):
+            return None
+        return active.public(now)
+
+    def release(
+        self,
+        token: Optional[str] = None,
+        *,
+        force: bool = False,
+        now: Optional[datetime] = None,
+    ) -> bool:
+        """Release the lock. Returns False if nothing was held. Requires the
+        matching token unless `force` (the human override from the dashboard)."""
+        active = self._active(now)
+        if active is None:
+            return False
+        if not force and not self.verify(token, now):
+            raise PermissionError("token does not hold the lock")
+        self._lock = None
+        return True
+
+
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------- webhook ----
+
+def build_webhook_payload(
+    *,
+    event: str,
+    job_id: str,
+    model_key: str,
+    state: str,
+    returncode: Optional[int],
+    started_at: Optional[str],
+    finished_at: Optional[str],
+    dry_run: bool,
+) -> dict:
+    return {
+        "event": event,            # swap_complete | swap_failed
+        "job_id": job_id,
+        "model_key": model_key,
+        "state": state,
+        "returncode": returncode,
+        "started_at": started_at,
+        "finished_at": finished_at,
+        "dry_run": dry_run,
+    }
+
+
+def sign_payload(secret: str, body: bytes) -> str:
+    """`X-Spark-Signature` value: sha256 HMAC of the exact JSON body the
+    consumer receives, so they can recompute and trust it."""
+    return "sha256=" + hmac.new(secret.encode(), body, hashlib.sha256).hexdigest()
+
+
+class WebhookNotifier:
+    """Fire-and-forget POST of swap-lifecycle events. A webhook failure is
+    logged and swallowed — it must never affect the swap outcome."""
+
+    def __init__(self, url: str, secret: str = "", timeout: float = 5.0) -> None:
+        self.url = (url or "").strip()
+        self.secret = secret or ""
+        self.timeout = timeout
+
+    @property
+    def enabled(self) -> bool:
+        return bool(self.url)
+
+    async def fire(self, event: str, payload: dict) -> None:
+        if not self.enabled:
+            return
+        body = json.dumps(payload).encode()
+        headers = {
+            "content-type": "application/json",
+            "user-agent": "spark-control-webhook",
+            "x-spark-event": event,
+        }
+        if self.secret:
+            headers["x-spark-signature"] = sign_payload(self.secret, body)
+        try:
+            async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=self.timeout) as client:
+                await client.post(self.url, content=body, headers=headers)
+        except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001 — best-effort, never propagate
+            log.warning("swap webhook to %s failed: %s", self.url, e)
+
+
+# -------------------------------------------------------- schedule registry ----
+
+@dataclass
+class ScheduleEntry:
+    id: str
+    name: str
+    owner: str = ""
+    cron: str = ""
+    next_run: str = ""
+    description: str = ""
+    registered_at: str = ""
+    updated_at: str = ""
+
+    def public(self) -> dict:
+        return {
+            "id": self.id,
+            "name": self.name,
+            "owner": self.owner,
+            "cron": self.cron,
+            "next_run": self.next_run,
+            "description": self.description,
+            "registered_at": self.registered_at,
+            "updated_at": self.updated_at,
+        }
+
+
+class ScheduleRegistry:
+    """What external schedulers tell us about their cron jobs. Read-only from the
+    dashboard's side; Spark Control never executes any of it."""
+
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self._items: dict[str, ScheduleEntry] = {}
+
+    def list(self) -> list[dict]:
+        return [e.public() for e in self._items.values()]
+
+    def register(
+        self,
+        *,
+        name: str,
+        id: Optional[str] = None,
+        owner: str = "",
+        cron: str = "",
+        next_run: str = "",
+        description: str = "",
+    ) -> ScheduleEntry:
+        name = (name or "").strip()
+        if not name:
+            raise ValueError("name is required")
+        if id is not None:
+            id = id.strip()
+            if id and not valid_schedule_id(id):
+                raise ValueError("id must match [A-Za-z0-9_.-] (max 64 chars)")
+        ts = _iso(_now())
+        existing = self._items.get(id) if id else None
+        if existing is not None:
+            existing.name = name
+            existing.owner = owner.strip()
+            existing.cron = cron
+            existing.next_run = next_run
+            existing.description = description
+            existing.updated_at = ts
+            return existing
+        sid = id or uuid.uuid4().hex[:8]
+        entry = ScheduleEntry(
+            id=sid,
+            name=name,
+            owner=owner.strip(),
+            cron=cron,
+            next_run=next_run,
+            description=description,
+            registered_at=ts,
+            updated_at=ts,
+        )
+        self._items[sid] = entry
+        return entry
+
+    def delete(self, schedule_id: str) -> bool:
+        return self._items.pop(schedule_id, None) is not None

image/app/custom_services.py

@@ -10,6 +10,17 @@ Format:
         port: 8001
         health_path: /health
         image: nvcr.io/nim/nvidia/riva-multilingual:latest
+
+A `kind: vllm` entry monitors an additional vLLM on another Spark (read-only —
+the swap machinery only drives the primary Spark 1 vLLM). It gets a health tile
+probed via /v1/models plus container state and start/stop/restart:
+    custom:
+      - key: vllm-spark2
+        kind: vllm
+        host: <spark-2-ip>
+        user: <ssh-user>
+        container: vllm_node
+        port: 8000
 """
 from __future__ import annotations
 import os

image/app/deep_health.py

@@ -377,6 +377,10 @@ class DeepHealth:
     async def run_all(self) -> dict[str, ProbeResult]:
         results = {}
         for name in self.PROBES:
+            # Don't deep-probe a service the deployment switched off — its port
+            # may be answered by something else (e.g. a vLLM on Parakeet's 8000).
+            if name in self.settings.disabled_services:
+                continue
             results[name] = await self.run_one(name)
         return results
 

image/app/disk.py

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ from dataclasses import dataclass
 from typing import Optional
 
 from .config import Settings
+from .shellsafe import quote_arg
 from .ssh import ssh_run
 
 
@@ -76,16 +77,52 @@ async def probe_host(host: str, user: str, repo: str, settings: Settings) -> Hos
     return HostDiskResult(host=host, on_disk=True, size_bytes=size)
 
 
-async def probe_disk(repo: str, mode: str, settings: Settings) -> DiskStatus:
+async def probe_local_host(host: str, user: str, path: str, settings: Settings) -> HostDiskResult:
-    """Probe one model across the relevant Sparks based on its mode (solo|cluster)."""
+    """Return whether a local model directory exists on this host and its size.
+
+    For locally fine-tuned models (a Spark directory, not an HF cache entry). The
+    path is whitelisted at the API boundary (shellsafe.validate_local_path); we
+    shlex-quote it here in depth.
+    """
+    if not host or not user:
+        return HostDiskResult(host=host or "?", on_disk=False, error="host not configured")
+    qp = quote_arg(path)
+    cmd = f"if [ -d {qp} ]; then du -sb {qp} 2>/dev/null | cut -f1; else echo MISSING; fi"
+    rc, out, err = await ssh_run(host, user, cmd, settings, timeout=20.0)
+    if rc != 0:
+        return HostDiskResult(host=host, on_disk=False, error=(err or out).strip() or f"rc={rc}")
+    raw = out.strip()
+    if raw == "MISSING" or raw == "":
+        return HostDiskResult(host=host, on_disk=False)
+    try:
+        size = int(raw.splitlines()[-1])
+    except ValueError:
+        return HostDiskResult(host=host, on_disk=False, error=f"unparsable du output: {raw!r}")
+    return HostDiskResult(host=host, on_disk=True, size_bytes=size)
+
+
+async def probe_disk(
+    repo: str, mode: str, settings: Settings, *, local_path: str | None = None
+) -> DiskStatus:
+    """Probe one model across the relevant Sparks based on its mode (solo|cluster).
+
+    A local model (local_path set) is probed by directory; otherwise by HF cache.
+    """
     hosts: list[tuple[str, str]] = [(settings.spark1_host, settings.spark1_user)]
     if mode == "cluster" and settings.spark2_host:
         hosts.append((settings.spark2_host, settings.spark2_user))
 
+    if local_path:
+        results = await asyncio.gather(
+            *(probe_local_host(h, u, local_path, settings) for h, u in hosts)
+        )
+        key = local_path
+    else:
         results = await asyncio.gather(*(probe_host(h, u, repo, settings) for h, u in hosts))
+        key = repo
     on_disk = any(r.on_disk for r in results)
     total = sum(r.size_bytes for r in results)
-    return DiskStatus(repo=repo, on_disk=on_disk, total_bytes=total, per_host=list(results))
+    return DiskStatus(repo=key, on_disk=on_disk, total_bytes=total, per_host=list(results))
 
 
 async def delete_host(host: str, user: str, repo: str, settings: Settings) -> HostDiskResult:

image/app/health.py

@@ -6,17 +6,28 @@ from .config import Settings
 _TIMEOUT = 3.0
 
 
-async def check_vllm(settings: Settings) -> dict:
+def _disabled(settings: Settings, key: str) -> dict | None:
-    base_url = (
+    """A clean 'disabled' verdict if `key` is in DISABLED_SERVICES, else None.
-        f"http://{settings.spark1_host}:{settings.vllm_port}/v1"
+
-        if settings.spark1_host
+    Lets an adopter who doesn't run a given support service switch its probe off
-        else None
+    entirely — so the probe never hits whatever else listens on that port, and
-    )
+    the connectivity log doesn't record it as perpetually down."""
-    if not settings.spark1_host:
+    if key in settings.disabled_services:
-        return {"ok": False, "error": "spark1 not configured", "base_url": base_url}
+        return {"ok": False, "disabled": True, "error": "disabled", "base_url": None}
+    return None
+
+
+async def probe_vllm_endpoint(host: str, port: int) -> dict:
+    """Probe any OpenAI-compatible vLLM at host:port via /v1/models.
+
+    Shared by the primary (Spark 1) health check and any extra vLLM registered
+    as a custom service (kind: vllm) to monitor a second Spark."""
+    base_url = f"http://{host}:{port}/v1" if host else None
+    if not host:
+        return {"ok": False, "error": "vllm host not configured", "base_url": base_url}
     try:
         async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=_TIMEOUT) as c:
-            r = await c.get(f"http://{settings.spark1_host}:{settings.vllm_port}/v1/models")
+            r = await c.get(f"http://{host}:{port}/v1/models")
             r.raise_for_status()
             ids = [m["id"] for m in r.json().get("data", [])]
             return {
@@ -29,7 +40,15 @@ async def check_vllm(settings: Settings) -> dict:
         return {"ok": False, "error": str(e), "base_url": base_url}
 
 
+async def check_vllm(settings: Settings) -> dict:
+    if not settings.spark1_host:
+        return {"ok": False, "error": "spark1 not configured", "base_url": None}
+    return await probe_vllm_endpoint(settings.spark1_host, settings.vllm_port)
+
+
 async def check_parakeet(settings: Settings) -> dict:
+    if d := _disabled(settings, "parakeet"):
+        return d
     base_url = (
         f"http://{settings.parakeet_host}:{settings.parakeet_port}"
         if settings.parakeet_host
@@ -47,6 +66,8 @@ async def check_parakeet(settings: Settings) -> dict:
 
 
 async def check_kokoro(settings: Settings) -> dict:
+    if d := _disabled(settings, "kokoro"):
+        return d
     base_url = (
         f"http://{settings.kokoro_host}:{settings.kokoro_port}"
         if settings.kokoro_host
@@ -68,6 +89,8 @@ async def check_kokoro(settings: Settings) -> dict:
 
 
 async def check_embeddings(settings: Settings) -> dict:
+    if d := _disabled(settings, "embeddings"):
+        return d
     base_url = (
         f"http://{settings.embed_host}:{settings.embed_port}"
         if settings.embed_host
@@ -89,6 +112,8 @@ async def check_embeddings(settings: Settings) -> dict:
 
 
 async def check_qdrant(settings: Settings) -> dict:
+    if d := _disabled(settings, "qdrant"):
+        return d
     base_url = (
         f"http://{settings.qdrant_host}:{settings.qdrant_port}"
         if settings.qdrant_host

image/app/models.py

@@ -1,15 +1,33 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
+import logging
 from typing import Literal, Optional
 import yaml
-from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
+from pydantic import BaseModel, Field, model_validator
 
 from .overrides import apply_knobs_to_args, load_overrides
-from .shellsafe import quote_arg, quote_args
+from .shellsafe import quote_arg, quote_args, validate_local_path
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def _chat_template_path(vllm_args: list[str]) -> str | None:
+    """Extract the path from a `--chat-template=<path>` arg, if present."""
+    for a in vllm_args:
+        if a.startswith("--chat-template="):
+            return a.split("=", 1)[1]
+    return None
+
+
+def _is_within(path: str, base: str) -> bool:
+    """True if `path` is `base` itself or lives inside it (lexical check)."""
+    base = base.rstrip("/")
+    return path == base or path.startswith(base + "/")
 
 
 class ModelDef(BaseModel):
     display_name: str
-    repo: str
+    repo: str = ""                   # HF 'org/name'; empty for a local model
+    local_path: str | None = None    # absolute dir on the Spark; set => local model
     size_gb: float
     mode: Literal["solo", "cluster"]
     capabilities: list[str] = Field(default_factory=list)
@@ -19,6 +37,38 @@ class ModelDef(BaseModel):
     knobs: dict | None = None       # user-customized; merged at launch time
     custom: bool = False             # True if this came from /data overrides
 
+    @model_validator(mode="after")
+    def _validate_source(self) -> "ModelDef":
+        if bool(self.repo) == bool(self.local_path):
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"model {self.display_name!r} must set exactly one of 'repo' (HF) "
+                f"or 'local_path' (Spark directory)"
+            )
+        if self.local_path:
+            # Single place that enforces the path whitelist, so YAML/override
+            # entries get the same boundary check as the API. The quote_arg sink
+            # is still defense-in-depth.
+            validate_local_path(self.local_path)
+            # Only local_path is bind-mounted into the vLLM container, so any
+            # --chat-template path must live inside it or vLLM can't find it.
+            tmpl = _chat_template_path(self.vllm_args)
+            if tmpl is not None and not _is_within(tmpl, self.local_path):
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f"--chat-template path {tmpl!r} must be inside the model "
+                    f"directory {self.local_path!r} (only that directory is mounted "
+                    f"into the container)"
+                )
+        return self
+
+    @property
+    def is_local(self) -> bool:
+        return bool(self.local_path)
+
+    @property
+    def source(self) -> str:
+        """What `vllm serve` is pointed at: the local dir if set, else the HF repo."""
+        return self.local_path if self.local_path else self.repo
+
 
 class Defaults(BaseModel):
     port: int = 8888
@@ -47,7 +97,8 @@ def _merge_overrides(catalog: Catalog) -> Catalog:
             continue
         defaults_dump = {
             "display_name": entry.get("display_name", key),
-            "repo": entry["repo"],
+            "repo": entry.get("repo", ""),
+            "local_path": entry.get("local_path"),
             "size_gb": float(entry.get("size_gb", 0)),
             "mode": entry.get("mode", "solo"),
             "capabilities": entry.get("capabilities") or [],
@@ -57,7 +108,12 @@ def _merge_overrides(catalog: Catalog) -> Catalog:
             "knobs": entry.get("knobs"),
             "custom": True,
         }
+        # A single malformed override entry (bad path, missing source, etc.) must
+        # not take down the whole catalog — skip it and keep the rest loadable.
+        try:
             new_models[key] = ModelDef.model_validate(defaults_dump)
+        except Exception as e:
+            log.warning("skipping invalid custom model %r: %s", key, e)
 
     return Catalog(defaults=catalog.defaults, models=new_models)
 
@@ -78,7 +134,21 @@ def build_launch_command(key: str, model: ModelDef, defaults: Defaults) -> str:
     solo = "--solo " if model.mode == "solo" else ""
     base_args = apply_knobs_to_args(list(model.vllm_args), model.knobs)
     args = [f"--port={defaults.port}", f"--host={defaults.host}", *base_args]
-    # repo + args are user-controlled (custom models, knobs); shlex.quote each so
+    # source + args are user-controlled (custom models, knobs); shlex.quote each
-    # they cannot break out of the SSH shell command. shlex.split (used by the
+    # so they cannot break out of the SSH shell command. shlex.split (used by the
     # vLLM pre-flight validator) cleanly reverses this quoting.
-    return f"./launch-cluster.sh {solo}-d exec vllm serve {quote_arg(model.repo)} {quote_args(args)}"
+    prefix = ""
+    if model.local_path:
+        # A local model's directory isn't in the HF cache the launch script
+        # already mounts, so bind-mount it at the SAME path inside the vllm
+        # container via the script's VLLM_SPARK_EXTRA_DOCKER_ARGS hook. Same
+        # path inside and out means `vllm serve <dir>` and any
+        # `--chat-template=<dir>/...` arg both resolve. No launch-cluster.sh
+        # change needed. (The env assignment sits before the script, so the
+        # validator's `serve`-keyed shlex round-trip is unaffected.)
+        mount = quote_arg(f"-v {model.local_path}:{model.local_path}")
+        prefix = f"VLLM_SPARK_EXTRA_DOCKER_ARGS={mount} "
+    return (
+        f"{prefix}./launch-cluster.sh {solo}-d exec vllm serve "
+        f"{quote_arg(model.source)} {quote_args(args)}"
+    )

image/app/overrides.py

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Shape:
     custom:
       - key: my-new-model
         display_name: My New Model (from download)
-        repo: my-org/my-model
+        repo: my-org/my-model        # an HF repo; OR set local_path instead (exactly one)
         size_gb: 20
         mode: solo
         description: null
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@ Shape:
           fastsafetensors: true
           prefix_caching: true
           kv_cache_dtype: fp8
+      - key: my-finetune                       # a local/fine-tuned model (a directory on the Spark)
+        display_name: My Fine-tune
+        local_path: /home/you/models/my-finetune
+        size_gb: 59
+        mode: solo
+        vllm_args: [--chat-template=/home/you/models/my-finetune/chat_template.jinja]
 """
 from __future__ import annotations
 import os

image/app/server.py

@@ -6,11 +6,12 @@ from pathlib import Path
 from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException, Query, Request
 from fastapi.responses import FileResponse, JSONResponse, StreamingResponse
 from fastapi.staticfiles import StaticFiles
-from pydantic import BaseModel
+from pydantic import BaseModel, ValidationError
 from typing import Literal
 
 from .config import Settings
 from .connectivity import get_mac, record_report, record_state, summary as connectivity_summary
+from .coordination import LockHeld, ScheduleRegistry, SwapLockManager, WebhookNotifier, valid_schedule_id
 from .custom_services import add_custom_service, delete_custom_service
 from .audio_proxy import build_router as build_audio_router
 from .deep_health import DeepHealth
@@ -20,9 +21,9 @@ from .llm_proxy import build_router as build_llm_router
 from .embeddings_proxy import build_router as build_embeddings_router
 from .redaction_gateway import build_router as build_redaction_router, MapStore
 from .hardware import HardwareProbe
-from .health import check_kokoro, check_parakeet, check_vllm, check_embeddings, check_qdrant
+from .health import check_kokoro, check_parakeet, check_vllm, check_embeddings, check_qdrant, probe_vllm_endpoint
 from .matrix_bridge import MatrixBridgeManager
-from .models import load_catalog
+from .models import ModelDef, load_catalog
 from .nim import SUGGESTED_NIMS, CATALOG_URL, NimManager
 from .overrides import add_custom, delete_custom, extract_knobs_from_args, load_overrides, set_knobs
 from .services import docker_state, run_action, services_from_settings
@@ -37,7 +38,12 @@ from .wol import send_local_broadcast, send_via_peer
 
 settings = Settings.from_env()
 catalog = load_catalog(settings.models_yaml)
-swap_manager = SwapManager(settings, catalog)
+# Coordination layer (GPU arbiter): swap-lifecycle webhook, the swap reservation
+# lock, and the read-only schedule registry. See coordination.py.
+swap_webhook = WebhookNotifier(settings.swap_webhook_url, settings.swap_webhook_secret)
+swap_lock = SwapLockManager()
+schedule_registry = ScheduleRegistry()
+swap_manager = SwapManager(settings, catalog, notifier=swap_webhook)
 download_manager = DownloadManager(settings)
 update_manager = UpdateManager(settings)
 hardware_probe = HardwareProbe(settings)
@@ -67,6 +73,10 @@ _CSRF_EXEMPT_PREFIXES = (
     "/api/audio/",        # diarize-chunk / label-merge / transcribe-with-speakers
     "/api/health-event",  # health reports posted by consumer apps
 )
+# Note: the coordination endpoints (/api/swap/lock, /api/schedule) are
+# intentionally NOT exempt. External schedulers are non-browser clients (no
+# Origin header) so they pass the guard already — same as /api/swap — while a
+# malicious page can't drive them from the operator's browser. Don't add them.
 
 
 @app.middleware("http")
@@ -183,7 +193,8 @@ async def put_model_knobs(key: str, body: KnobsBody) -> dict:
 class CustomModelBody(BaseModel):
     key: str
     display_name: str
-    repo: str
+    repo: str = ""
+    local_path: str | None = None
     size_gb: float = 0
     mode: Literal["solo", "cluster"] = "solo"
     description: str | None = None
@@ -196,8 +207,17 @@ class CustomModelBody(BaseModel):
 async def post_model(body: CustomModelBody) -> dict:
     if not body.key or not body.key.replace("-", "").replace("_", "").isalnum():
         raise HTTPException(400, "key must be alphanumeric/-/_ only")
+    # Validate the full entry BEFORE persisting (exactly-one source, local-path
+    # whitelist, chat-template location). Doing it via ModelDef means the API and
+    # the YAML-override path share one set of rules, and a bad entry can't be
+    # written to /data and then break catalog load.
     try:
-        validate_repo(body.repo)
+        ModelDef.model_validate(body.model_dump())
+        if body.repo:
+            validate_repo(body.repo)  # HF charset (the model only validates local paths)
+    except ValidationError as e:
+        msg = e.errors()[0]["msg"] if e.errors() else str(e)
+        raise HTTPException(400, msg.removeprefix("Value error, "))
     except ValueError as e:
         raise HTTPException(400, str(e))
     if body.key in catalog.models and not catalog.models[body.key].custom:
@@ -229,7 +249,13 @@ async def get_models_disk_status() -> dict:
         return {"configured": False, "models": {}}
     keys = list(catalog.models.keys())
     statuses = await asyncio.gather(*(
-        probe_disk(catalog.models[k].repo, catalog.models[k].mode, settings) for k in keys
+        probe_disk(
+            catalog.models[k].repo,
+            catalog.models[k].mode,
+            settings,
+            local_path=catalog.models[k].local_path,
+        )
+        for k in keys
     ), return_exceptions=True)
     out: dict[str, dict] = {}
     for k, s in zip(keys, statuses):
@@ -260,6 +286,14 @@ async def del_model_disk(key: str) -> dict:
         raise HTTPException(404, f"unknown model: {key}")
     m = catalog.models[key]
 
+    # Never rm a local fine-tune directory from the dashboard — it's irreplaceable
+    # training output the user placed by hand, not a re-downloadable HF cache.
+    if m.local_path:
+        raise HTTPException(
+            400,
+            "this is a local model; its directory must be managed on the Spark, not deleted from here",
+        )
+
     # Refuse if currently loaded
     try:
         vllm = await check_vllm(settings)
@@ -476,6 +510,10 @@ async def get_services() -> dict:
             http = await check_embeddings(settings)
         elif name == "qdrant":
             http = await check_qdrant(settings)
+        elif svc.kind == "vllm":
+            # An extra vLLM monitored on another Spark (registered as a custom
+            # service). Probe its own host/port, not the primary Spark 1 one.
+            http = await probe_vllm_endpoint(svc.host, svc.port)
         elif svc.kind == "bot":
             # No HTTP health endpoint (host networking, no port) — judged purely
             # by docker state. http_ready stays None so the badge isn't pinned
@@ -497,7 +535,7 @@ async def get_services() -> dict:
             # Prefer the check fn's own top-level model key (embeddings reports
             # it there); fall back to a model field inside detail for services
             # whose /health embeds it (parakeet).
-            "model": http.get("model") or ((http.get("detail") or {}).get("model") if isinstance(http.get("detail"), dict) else None),
+            "model": http.get("model") or http.get("current_model") or ((http.get("detail") or {}).get("model") if isinstance(http.get("detail"), dict) else None),
             "docker_state": docker.get("state"),
             "restart_count": docker.get("restart_count"),
             "started_at": docker.get("started_at"),
@@ -775,17 +813,20 @@ async def get_endpoints() -> dict:
             "base_url": vllm.get("base_url"),
             "model": vllm.get("current_model"),
             "openai_compat": True,
+            "disabled": bool(vllm.get("disabled")),
         },
         "parakeet": {
             "ready": bool(parakeet.get("ok")),
             "base_url": parakeet.get("base_url"),
             "kind": "stt",
             "model": (parakeet.get("detail") or {}).get("model") if isinstance(parakeet.get("detail"), dict) else None,
+            "disabled": bool(parakeet.get("disabled")),
         },
         "kokoro": {
             "ready": bool(kokoro.get("ok")),
             "base_url": kokoro.get("base_url"),
             "kind": "tts",
+            "disabled": bool(kokoro.get("disabled")),
         },
         "embeddings": {
             "ready": bool(embeddings.get("ok")),
@@ -794,12 +835,14 @@ async def get_endpoints() -> dict:
             "model": embeddings.get("model"),
             # The proxied OpenAI-compatible endpoints live on Spark Control itself.
             "openai_endpoints": ["/v1/embeddings", "/v1/rerank", "/api/search"],
+            "disabled": bool(embeddings.get("disabled")),
         },
         "qdrant": {
             "ready": bool(qdrant.get("ok")),
             "base_url": qdrant.get("base_url"),
             "kind": "vectordb",
             "collection": settings.qdrant_collection or None,
+            "disabled": bool(qdrant.get("disabled")),
         },
     }
 
@@ -813,12 +856,15 @@ async def get_status() -> dict:
         check_embeddings(settings),
         check_qdrant(settings),
     )
-    # Feed health into the connectivity log (deduped — only logs on transition)
+    # Feed health into the connectivity log (deduped — only logs on transition).
-    record_state("vllm", bool(vllm.get("ok")))
+    # Skip services switched off via DISABLED_SERVICES — they'd otherwise log as
-    record_state("parakeet", bool(parakeet.get("ok")))
+    # perpetually down.
-    record_state("kokoro", bool(kokoro.get("ok")))
+    for _name, _r in (
-    record_state("embeddings", bool(embeddings.get("ok")))
+        ("vllm", vllm), ("parakeet", parakeet), ("kokoro", kokoro),
-    record_state("qdrant", bool(qdrant.get("ok")))
+        ("embeddings", embeddings), ("qdrant", qdrant),
+    ):
+        if not _r.get("disabled"):
+            record_state(_name, bool(_r.get("ok")))
     current_key = _identify_current_model(vllm.get("current_model"))
     return {
         "configured": settings.configured,
@@ -856,9 +902,21 @@ async def validate_swap(key: str) -> dict:
 
 
 @app.post("/api/swap")
-async def post_swap(req: SwapRequest) -> dict:
+async def post_swap(req: SwapRequest, request: Request) -> dict:
     if not settings.configured and not req.dry_run:
         raise HTTPException(503, "spark1 not configured")
+    # Enforce the swap reservation lock (the GPU arbiter). A held lock blocks any
+    # real swap that doesn't present the holder's token in X-Swap-Lock-Token — so
+    # an external scheduler that holds the lock can swap, but the dashboard (no
+    # token) is refused while someone else holds it. Dry runs don't touch the
+    # cluster, so they're exempt.
+    if not req.dry_run:
+        blocked = swap_lock.is_blocked_by(request.headers.get("x-swap-lock-token"))
+        if blocked is not None:
+            raise HTTPException(status_code=423, detail={
+                "error": "the GPU swap path is reserved by another holder",
+                "lock": blocked,
+            })
     try:
         job = await swap_manager.trigger(req.model_key, dry_run=req.dry_run)
     except KeyError:
@@ -913,6 +971,89 @@ async def stream_swap(job_id: str):
     return StreamingResponse(gen(), media_type="text/event-stream")
 
 
+# ---- Coordination layer: swap lock + schedule registry ----
+# Endpoints are control-surface, not browser-exempt: an external scheduler is a
+# non-browser client (no Origin header) so it passes the CSRF guard already, the
+# same way it calls /api/swap today; the dashboard is same-origin.
+
+class LockAcquireRequest(BaseModel):
+    holder: str
+    ttl_seconds: int | None = None
+    note: str = ""
+    token: str | None = None   # present only to extend an existing hold
+
+
+@app.post("/api/swap/lock")
+async def acquire_swap_lock(req: LockAcquireRequest) -> dict:
+    """Reserve the GPU swap path. Returns a secret token used to swap (header
+    X-Swap-Lock-Token) and to release. 409 if held by another holder."""
+    try:
+        lock = swap_lock.acquire(req.holder, req.ttl_seconds, req.note, token=req.token)
+    except ValueError as e:
+        raise HTTPException(422, str(e))
+    except LockHeld as e:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=409, detail={
+            "error": "swap lock is held by another holder",
+            "lock": e.state,
+        })
+    return {**swap_lock.status(), "token": lock.token}
+
+
+@app.get("/api/swap/lock")
+async def get_swap_lock() -> dict:
+    """Public, token-free view of the reservation: held? who? until when?"""
+    return swap_lock.status()
+
+
+@app.delete("/api/swap/lock")
+async def release_swap_lock(request: Request, force: bool = Query(False)) -> dict:
+    """Release the reservation. Needs the matching X-Swap-Lock-Token unless
+    ?force=true (the human override from the dashboard)."""
+    token = request.headers.get("x-swap-lock-token") or request.query_params.get("token")
+    try:
+        released = swap_lock.release(token, force=force)
+    except PermissionError as e:
+        raise HTTPException(403, str(e))
+    return {"released": released, **swap_lock.status()}
+
+
+class ScheduleRequest(BaseModel):
+    name: str
+    id: str | None = None
+    owner: str = ""
+    cron: str = ""
+    next_run: str = ""
+    description: str = ""
+
+
+@app.get("/api/schedule")
+async def list_schedules() -> dict:
+    return {"schedules": schedule_registry.list()}
+
+
+@app.post("/api/schedule")
+async def register_schedule(req: ScheduleRequest) -> dict:
+    """Register (or update, by id) a schedule an external scheduler owns. Spark
+    Control only stores it for the dashboard — it never executes it."""
+    try:
+        entry = schedule_registry.register(
+            name=req.name, id=req.id, owner=req.owner,
+            cron=req.cron, next_run=req.next_run, description=req.description,
+        )
+    except ValueError as e:
+        raise HTTPException(422, str(e))
+    return entry.public()
+
+
+@app.delete("/api/schedule/{schedule_id}")
+async def delete_schedule(schedule_id: str) -> dict:
+    # Whitelist the path segment at the boundary (repo convention), even though
+    # it's only ever a dict key — keeps it from being reflected or logged raw.
+    if not valid_schedule_id(schedule_id):
+        raise HTTPException(422, "invalid schedule id")
+    return {"deleted": schedule_registry.delete(schedule_id)}
+
+
 class DownloadRequest(BaseModel):
     repo: str
     mode: Literal["spark1", "spark2", "cluster"] = "spark1"

image/app/services.py

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ machinery. We just run `docker start|stop|restart <container>` via SSH on the
 appropriate host.
 """
 from __future__ import annotations
+import logging
 import time
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from typing import Literal, Optional
@@ -13,6 +14,8 @@ from .config import Settings
 from .shellsafe import quote_arg
 from .ssh import ssh_run
 
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
 
 # Cache the "unreachable" verdict per (host, user) for a short period so that a
 # repeated docker_state call doesn't re-pay the 6 s SSH connect timeout each time.
@@ -103,7 +106,13 @@ def services_from_settings(s: Settings) -> dict[str, ServiceDef]:
     }
     for entry in load_custom_services():
         key = entry.get("key")
-        if not key or key in out:
+        if not key:
+            continue
+        if key in out:
+            # A custom entry can't shadow a built-in (parakeet/kokoro/…); warn so
+            # an adopter who picked a colliding key for, say, a second vLLM sees
+            # why no tile appeared instead of a silent no-op.
+            log.warning("custom service %r collides with a built-in name; ignoring", key)
             continue
         out[key] = ServiceDef(
             name=key,
@@ -113,7 +122,9 @@ def services_from_settings(s: Settings) -> dict[str, ServiceDef]:
             container=entry.get("container", key),
             port=int(entry.get("port", 0)),
         )
-    return out
+    # Drop services the deployment has switched off (DISABLED_SERVICES) so they
+    # show no tile and are never probed/auto-restarted.
+    return {k: v for k, v in out.items() if k not in s.disabled_services}
 
 
 async def docker_state(settings: Settings, svc: ServiceDef) -> dict:

image/app/shellsafe.py

@@ -28,6 +28,12 @@ _IMAGE_RE = re.compile(r"^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9._:/@-]*$")
 # Docker container / volume name (Docker's own rule).
 _CONTAINER_RE = re.compile(r"^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_.-]*$")
 
+# Absolute filesystem path to a local model directory on a Spark. Conservative
+# charset (letters, digits, and safe path punctuation) with a required leading
+# '/', so it carries no shell metacharacters and no whitespace. Traversal ('.'
+# and '..' segments) is rejected separately in validate_local_path.
+_LOCAL_PATH_RE = re.compile(r"^/[A-Za-z0-9._+/-]+$")
+
 
 def validate_repo(repo: str) -> str:
     """Return `repo` if it is a well-formed 'org/name'; else raise ValueError."""
@@ -50,6 +56,25 @@ def validate_container(name: str) -> str:
     return name
 
 
+def validate_local_path(path: str) -> str:
+    """Return `path` if it is a safe absolute model directory path; else ValueError.
+
+    For locally fine-tuned models served by directory (not an HF repo). Requires
+    an absolute path, a metacharacter-free charset, and no '.'/'..' segments so a
+    caller cannot traverse out of an intended models directory. The `quote_arg`
+    sink still quotes it in depth — this is the boundary check.
+    """
+    p = path or ""
+    if len(p) > 512 or not _LOCAL_PATH_RE.fullmatch(p):
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"invalid local model path (expected an absolute path, no spaces or "
+            f"shell metacharacters): {path!r}"
+        )
+    if any(seg in (".", "..") for seg in p.split("/")):
+        raise ValueError(f"local model path must not contain '.' or '..' segments: {path!r}")
+    return p
+
+
 def quote_arg(value: object) -> str:
     """shlex.quote a single token for safe embedding in a shell command string."""
     return shlex.quote(str(value))

image/app/static/app.js

@@ -21,11 +21,19 @@ const state = {
   deep_health: {},
   disk_status: {},         // keyed by model key: { on_disk, total_bytes, per_host }
   disk_status_loaded: false,
+  lock: { held: false },   // GPU swap reservation (coordination layer)
+  schedules: [],           // schedules external automation has registered
 };
 
 const el = (sel) => document.querySelector(sel);
 const $$ = (sel) => document.querySelectorAll(sel);
 
+// ISO timestamp -> local clock string (e.g. "2:45:10 PM"); '' if unparseable.
+function fmtClock(iso) {
+  const t = Date.parse(iso);
+  return isNaN(t) ? '' : new Date(t).toLocaleTimeString();
+}
+
 function escapeHtml(s) {
   if (s == null) return '';
   return String(s)
@@ -51,6 +59,12 @@ function renderCards() {
   const root = el('#cards');
   root.innerHTML = '';
   const isSwapping = !!state.swap_job_id;
+  // GPU reserved by external automation — manual swaps are refused server-side
+  // (423); reflect that in the buttons so the click never bounces.
+  const locked = !!(state.lock && state.lock.held);
+  const lockTip = locked
+    ? `Reserved by ${state.lock.holder || 'automation'}${state.lock.expires_at ? ' until ' + fmtClock(state.lock.expires_at) : ''}`
+    : '';
   for (const key of Object.keys(state.models)) {
     const m = state.models[key];
     const isActive = key === state.current_model_key;
@@ -60,6 +74,7 @@ function renderCards() {
       ? `<div class="desc">${escapeHtml(m.description)}</div>`
       : '';
     const customPill = m.custom ? `<span class="tag custom-pill">custom</span>` : '';
+    const localPill = m.local_path ? `<span class="tag local-pill" title="Served from a directory on the Spark, not Hugging Face">local</span>` : '';
     // Disk-presence pill + trash button. Until /api/models/disk-status comes back,
     // we don't know — render a neutral placeholder.
     const disk = state.disk_status[key];
@@ -73,8 +88,10 @@ function renderCards() {
       }
     }
     // Trash button — hidden if not on disk; disabled (with tooltip) if currently loaded.
+    // Never offered for local models: their directory is hand-placed training output,
+    // not a re-downloadable HF cache (the server refuses the delete too).
     let trashBtn = '';
-    if (state.disk_status_loaded && disk && disk.on_disk) {
+    if (state.disk_status_loaded && disk && disk.on_disk && !m.local_path) {
       const disabled = isActive || isSwapping;
       const tip = isActive
         ? 'Currently loaded — switch to another model first'
@@ -91,7 +108,12 @@ function renderCards() {
     if (isActive) {
       primaryBtn = `<button class="btn" disabled>Current</button>`;
     } else if (isOnDisk) {
-      primaryBtn = `<button class="btn primary" data-swap-key="${key}" ${isSwapping ? 'disabled' : ''}>Switch to this</button>`;
+      const swapBlocked = isSwapping || locked;
+      const tip = locked ? ` title="${escapeHtml(lockTip)}"` : '';
+      primaryBtn = `<button class="btn primary" data-swap-key="${key}"${tip} ${swapBlocked ? 'disabled' : ''}>Switch to this</button>`;
+    } else if (m.local_path) {
+      // A local model can't be "downloaded" — its directory has to exist on the Spark.
+      primaryBtn = `<button class="btn" disabled title="Directory not found on the Spark — create it there, then refresh">Not found on Spark</button>`;
     } else {
       const tip = dlInFlight ? 'A download is already in progress' : 'Download weights to the Spark(s)';
       primaryBtn = `<button class="btn info" data-download-key="${key}" title="${escapeHtml(tip)}" ${dlInFlight ? 'disabled' : ''}>Download</button>`;
@@ -102,12 +124,15 @@ function renderCards() {
         <span class="tag mode-${m.mode}">${m.mode}</span>
         <span class="tag">${m.size_gb} GB</span>
         ${customPill}
+        ${localPill}
         ${diskPill}
         ${(m.capabilities || []).map(c => `<span class="tag cap">${escapeHtml(c)}</span>`).join('')}
       </div>
       ${desc}
       <div class="muted small repo">
-        <a href="https://huggingface.co/${encodeURIComponent(m.repo)}" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="View on Hugging Face">${escapeHtml(m.repo)} <span class="hf-icon">↗</span></a>
+        ${m.local_path
+          ? `<span class="local-path" title="Local model directory on the Spark">${escapeHtml(m.local_path)}</span>`
+          : `<a href="https://huggingface.co/${encodeURIComponent(m.repo)}" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="View on Hugging Face">${escapeHtml(m.repo)} <span class="hf-icon">↗</span></a>`}
       </div>
       <div class="spacer"></div>
       <div class="card-actions">
@@ -923,6 +948,10 @@ function renderHealth(status) {
   function setDot(id, ok, payload) {
     const item = el(id);
     if (!item) return;
+    // A service switched off via DISABLED_SERVICES isn't part of this
+    // deployment — hide its indicator entirely rather than show it as down.
+    if (payload && payload.disabled) { item.classList.add('hidden'); return; }
+    item.classList.remove('hidden');
     const dot = item.querySelector('.dot');
     dot.classList.remove('ok', 'bad', 'warn');
     if (ok === true) dot.classList.add('ok');
@@ -1221,6 +1250,11 @@ function openDiskDeleteDialog(key) {
 
 async function triggerSwap(modelKey) {
   if (state.swap_job_id) return;
+  if (state.lock && state.lock.held) {
+    const until = state.lock.expires_at ? ' until ' + fmtClock(state.lock.expires_at) : '';
+    alert(`The GPU swap path is reserved by ${state.lock.holder || 'automation'}${until}. Use "Release" on the reservation banner to override.`);
+    return;
+  }
   try {
     const r = await fetchJSON('/api/swap', {
       method: 'POST',
@@ -1229,8 +1263,82 @@ async function triggerSwap(modelKey) {
     });
     attachToSwap(r.job_id, /*needsBackfill=*/false);
   } catch (e) {
+    // 423 Locked: a reservation was acquired between our last poll and this click.
+    if (e.message && e.message.startsWith('423')) {
+      alert('The GPU swap path was just reserved by automation. Refreshing…');
+      pollCoordination();
+    } else {
       alert('Failed to start swap: ' + e.message);
     }
+  }
+}
+
+// ---- coordination layer: swap lock + schedule registry ----
+
+async function pollCoordination() {
+  try {
+    state.lock = await fetchJSON('/api/swap/lock');
+  } catch { state.lock = { held: false }; }
+  try {
+    const r = await fetchJSON('/api/schedule');
+    state.schedules = r.schedules || [];
+  } catch { state.schedules = []; }
+  renderLockBanner();
+  renderSchedules();
+  renderCards();  // reflect lock state on the swap buttons
+}
+
+function renderLockBanner() {
+  const banner = el('#lock-banner');
+  if (!banner) return;
+  const lock = state.lock;
+  if (lock && lock.held) {
+    const until = lock.expires_at ? ` until ${fmtClock(lock.expires_at)}` : '';
+    const note = lock.note ? ` — ${escapeHtml(lock.note)}` : '';
+    el('#lock-text').innerHTML =
+      `GPU swap path reserved by <strong>${escapeHtml(lock.holder || 'automation')}</strong>${until}${note}. Manual swaps are paused.`;
+    banner.classList.remove('hidden');
+  } else {
+    banner.classList.add('hidden');
+  }
+}
+
+function renderSchedules() {
+  const panel = el('#schedule-panel');
+  const list = el('#schedule-list');
+  if (!panel || !list) return;
+  const items = state.schedules || [];
+  if (!items.length) {
+    panel.classList.add('hidden');
+    list.innerHTML = '';
+    return;
+  }
+  list.innerHTML = items.map((s) => {
+    const meta = [
+      s.cron ? `<code>${escapeHtml(s.cron)}</code>` : '',
+      s.next_run ? `next: ${escapeHtml(s.next_run)}` : '',
+      s.owner ? `by ${escapeHtml(s.owner)}` : '',
+    ].filter(Boolean).join(' · ');
+    const desc = s.description ? `<div class="desc">${escapeHtml(s.description)}</div>` : '';
+    return `<div class="schedule-item">
+      <div class="name">${escapeHtml(s.name)}</div>
+      <div class="muted small">${meta}</div>
+      ${desc}
+    </div>`;
+  }).join('');
+  panel.classList.remove('hidden');
+}
+
+async function releaseLock() {
+  const lock = state.lock || {};
+  const who = lock.holder || 'automation';
+  if (!confirm(`Force-release the GPU reservation held by ${who}? Any job relying on it may then collide with a manual swap.`)) return;
+  try {
+    await fetchJSON('/api/swap/lock?force=true', { method: 'DELETE' });
+  } catch (e) {
+    alert('Failed to release: ' + e.message);
+  }
+  pollCoordination();
 }
 
 async function triggerDownloadForKey(modelKey) {
@@ -1671,6 +1779,60 @@ function setupAdvancedDialog() {
   el('#adv-gmu').addEventListener('input', (e) => { el('#adv-gmu-out').value = parseFloat(e.target.value).toFixed(2); });
 }
 
+function openLocalModelDialog() {
+  const dlg = el('#local-model-dialog');
+  el('#lm-key').value = '';
+  el('#lm-name').value = '';
+  el('#lm-path').value = '';
+  el('#lm-chat').value = '';
+  el('#lm-size').value = '';
+  el('#lm-mode').value = 'solo';
+  el('#lm-desc').value = '';
+  el('#lm-mml').value = 32768;
+  el('#lm-gmu').value = 0.85;
+  el('#lm-gmu-out').value = '0.85';
+  el('#lm-fst').checked = true;
+  el('#lm-pcache').checked = true;
+  el('#lm-fp8').checked = true;
+  dlg.showModal();
+}
+
+function setupLocalModelDialog() {
+  el('#lm-cancel').addEventListener('click', () => el('#local-model-dialog').close());
+  el('#lm-gmu').addEventListener('input', (e) => { el('#lm-gmu-out').value = parseFloat(e.target.value).toFixed(2); });
+  el('#local-model-form').addEventListener('submit', async (e) => {
+    e.preventDefault();
+    const chat = el('#lm-chat').value.trim();
+    const body = {
+      key: el('#lm-key').value.trim(),
+      display_name: el('#lm-name').value.trim(),
+      local_path: el('#lm-path').value.trim(),
+      size_gb: parseFloat(el('#lm-size').value) || 0,
+      mode: el('#lm-mode').value,
+      description: el('#lm-desc').value.trim() || null,
+      // A fine-tune's chat template (if any) rides along as a launch flag.
+      vllm_args: chat ? [`--chat-template=${chat}`] : [],
+      knobs: {
+        max_model_len: parseInt(el('#lm-mml').value, 10) || 32768,
+        gpu_memory_utilization: parseFloat(el('#lm-gmu').value),
+        fastsafetensors: el('#lm-fst').checked,
+        prefix_caching: el('#lm-pcache').checked,
+        kv_cache_dtype: el('#lm-fp8').checked ? 'fp8' : 'auto',
+      },
+    };
+    try {
+      await fetchJSON('/api/models', {
+        method: 'POST',
+        headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+        body: JSON.stringify(body),
+      });
+      el('#local-model-dialog').close();
+      await loadModels();
+      pollStatus();
+    } catch (e) { alert('Add local model failed: ' + e.message); }
+  });
+}
+
 // ===================== NIM installer =====================
 
 const nimState = {
@@ -2034,8 +2196,11 @@ async function init() {
     if (kbtn) { copySparkSshKey(kbtn.dataset.sshKey, kbtn); return; }
   });
   el('#sshkey-close').addEventListener('click', () => el('#sshkey-dialog').close());
+  el('#open-local').addEventListener('click', openLocalModelDialog);
+  el('#lock-release').addEventListener('click', releaseLock);
   setupCatalogDialog();
   setupAdvancedDialog();
+  setupLocalModelDialog();
   // Open WebUI link from /api/config
   try {
     state.config = await fetchJSON('/api/config');
@@ -2050,6 +2215,7 @@ async function init() {
   await loadModels();
   await pollStatus();
   await renderServices();
+  pollCoordination();
   pollHardware();
   pollUpdates();
   // Disk-status probe runs after first paint — slow over SSH and not blocking.
@@ -2057,6 +2223,7 @@ async function init() {
   // Speech-model patches panel — slow over SSH, runs after first paint.
   renderSpeechModels();
   setInterval(pollStatus, 5000);
+  setInterval(pollCoordination, 5000); // swap lock + schedule registry
   setInterval(pollHardware, 8000);    // every 8s
   setInterval(pollUpdates, 300000);  // every 5 min
   setInterval(loadDiskStatus, 60000); // every 60s — disk state changes rarely

image/app/static/index.html

@@ -96,6 +96,13 @@
       </details>
     </section>
 
+    <section id="lock-banner" class="banner lock-banner hidden">
+      <span class="lock-icon" aria-hidden="true">🔒</span>
+      <span id="lock-text">GPU swap path reserved</span>
+      <span class="spacer"></span>
+      <button id="lock-release" class="btn small-btn">Release</button>
+    </section>
+
     <nav id="dashboard-tabs" class="dashboard-tabs hidden" role="tablist">
       <button type="button" class="dashboard-tab" data-tab="llm" role="tab" aria-selected="true">LLM</button>
       <button type="button" class="dashboard-tab" data-tab="audio" role="tab" aria-selected="false">Audio / Speech</button>
@@ -229,6 +236,7 @@
       <div class="section-header">
         <h2 class="section-title">LLM swap</h2>
         <button id="open-download" class="btn small-btn">+ Download a new model</button>
+        <button id="open-local" class="btn small-btn">+ Add local model</button>
       </div>
 
       <dialog id="catalog-dialog" class="modal">
@@ -261,6 +269,37 @@
         </form>
       </dialog>
 
+      <dialog id="local-model-dialog" class="modal">
+        <form method="dialog" class="modal-form" id="local-model-form">
+          <h3>Add a local / fine-tuned model</h3>
+          <p class="muted small">For a model that lives as a directory on a Spark (e.g. a fine-tune), not a Hugging Face repo. The directory is bind-mounted into the vLLM container at the same path when you swap to it. It must already exist on the Spark.</p>
+          <label class="modal-row"><span>Key (URL-safe id)</span><input type="text" id="lm-key" required pattern="[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+"></label>
+          <label class="modal-row"><span>Display name</span><input type="text" id="lm-name" required></label>
+          <label class="modal-row"><span>Model directory (absolute path on the Spark)</span><input type="text" id="lm-path" required placeholder="e.g. /home/you/models/my-finetune"></label>
+          <label class="modal-row"><span>Chat template path (optional)</span><input type="text" id="lm-chat" placeholder="e.g. /home/you/models/my-finetune/chat_template.jinja"></label>
+          <label class="modal-row"><span>Size (GB)</span><input type="number" id="lm-size" step="0.1" min="0"></label>
+          <label class="modal-row"><span>Mode</span>
+            <select id="lm-mode">
+              <option value="solo">solo (Spark 1 only)</option>
+              <option value="cluster">cluster (both Sparks via Ray)</option>
+            </select>
+          </label>
+          <label class="modal-row"><span>Description (optional)</span><textarea id="lm-desc" rows="3"></textarea></label>
+          <fieldset class="modal-fieldset">
+            <legend>Default launch knobs</legend>
+            <label class="modal-row"><span>Max context (tokens)</span><input type="number" id="lm-mml" step="1024" min="1024" value="32768"></label>
+            <label class="modal-row"><span>GPU memory %</span><input type="range" id="lm-gmu" min="0.5" max="0.95" step="0.01" value="0.85"> <output id="lm-gmu-out">0.85</output></label>
+            <label class="modal-row inline"><input type="checkbox" id="lm-fst" checked> Fast safetensors loading</label>
+            <label class="modal-row inline"><input type="checkbox" id="lm-pcache" checked> Prefix caching</label>
+            <label class="modal-row inline"><input type="checkbox" id="lm-fp8" checked> FP8 KV cache</label>
+          </fieldset>
+          <div class="modal-actions">
+            <button type="button" id="lm-cancel" class="btn">Cancel</button>
+            <button type="submit" class="btn primary">Add local model</button>
+          </div>
+        </form>
+      </dialog>
+
       <dialog id="disk-delete-dialog" class="modal">
         <form method="dialog" class="modal-form">
           <h3>Delete model weights from disk?</h3>
@@ -362,6 +401,14 @@
       <section id="cards" class="cards"></section>
     </section>
 
+    <section id="schedule-panel" class="schedule-panel hidden">
+      <div class="section-header">
+        <h2 class="section-title">Scheduled jobs</h2>
+      </div>
+      <p class="muted small">Registered by your own automation. Spark Control only displays these — it doesn't run them.</p>
+      <div id="schedule-list" class="schedule-list"></div>
+    </section>
+
     <section id="update-banner" class="update-banner hidden">
       <div class="ub-context muted small">
         Updates to <strong><a href="https://github.com/eugr/spark-vllm-docker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eugr/spark-vllm-docker</a></strong>

image/app/static/style.css

@@ -74,6 +74,42 @@ main {
 }
 .banner em { font-style: normal; background: rgba(245, 158, 11, 0.15); padding: 2px 6px; border-radius: 4px; }
 
+/* GPU swap reservation (coordination layer) — informational, not a warning. */
+.lock-banner {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 10px;
+  border-color: var(--info);
+  color: var(--info);
+}
+.lock-banner .lock-icon { font-size: 16px; }
+.lock-banner strong { color: var(--text); }
+.lock-banner .spacer { flex: 1; }
+
+/* Scheduled-jobs panel — read-only view of what external automation registered. */
+.schedule-panel { margin-top: 8px; }
+.schedule-list {
+  display: grid;
+  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(240px, 1fr));
+  gap: 12px;
+  margin-top: 8px;
+}
+.schedule-item {
+  background: var(--surface);
+  border: 1px solid var(--border);
+  border-radius: var(--radius);
+  padding: 12px 14px;
+}
+.schedule-item .name { font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 4px; }
+.schedule-item code {
+  background: var(--surface-2);
+  border: 1px solid var(--border);
+  border-radius: 4px;
+  padding: 1px 5px;
+  font-size: 12px;
+}
+.schedule-item .desc { margin-top: 6px; color: var(--muted); font-size: 13px; }
+
 /* ===== Endpoint panel ===== */
 
 .endpoint-panel {
@@ -694,6 +730,7 @@ main {
 .card .repo a { color: inherit; text-decoration: none; }
 .card .repo a:hover { color: var(--info); text-decoration: underline; }
 .card .repo .hf-icon { font-size: 13px; opacity: 0.7; }
+.card .repo .local-path { font-family: var(--mono, ui-monospace, monospace); opacity: 0.85; }
 .tag {
   background: var(--surface-2);
   border: 1px solid var(--border);
@@ -738,6 +775,7 @@ main {
 .card .adv-btn,
 .card .test-btn { padding: 8px 12px; font-size: 12px; }
 .card .custom-pill { color: var(--info); border-color: rgba(96, 165, 250, 0.4); }
+.card .local-pill { color: var(--warn); border-color: rgba(245, 158, 11, 0.4); }
 .tag.on-disk { color: var(--accent); border-color: rgba(74, 222, 128, 0.4); }
 .tag.not-on-disk { color: var(--muted); border-color: var(--border); opacity: 0.7; }
 .card-actions .icon-btn.danger { color: var(--error); border-color: rgba(239, 68, 68, 0.3); margin-left: auto; }

image/app/swap.py

@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from typing import Optional
 
 from .config import Settings
+from .coordination import WebhookNotifier, build_webhook_payload
 from .models import Catalog, build_launch_command
+from .shellsafe import quote_arg
 from .ssh import ssh_run, ssh_stream, StreamHandle
 
 
@@ -32,9 +34,15 @@ class SwapJob:
 
 
 class SwapManager:
-    def __init__(self, settings: Settings, catalog: Catalog) -> None:
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        settings: Settings,
+        catalog: Catalog,
+        notifier: Optional[WebhookNotifier] = None,
+    ) -> None:
         self.settings = settings
         self.catalog = catalog
+        self.notifier = notifier
         self.lock = asyncio.Lock()
         self.jobs: dict[str, SwapJob] = {}
         self.current_job_id: Optional[str] = None
@@ -77,6 +85,21 @@ class SwapManager:
                 job.finished_at = datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat()
                 if self.current_job_id == job.id:
                     self.current_job_id = None
+        # Outside the swap lock (so a webhook POST can't stall a queued swap) and
+        # only for real swaps — a dry run never changes the running model. A
+        # webhook failure is logged inside fire(), never raised.
+        if self.notifier is not None and self.notifier.enabled and not job.dry_run:
+            event = "swap_complete" if job.state == "ready" else "swap_failed"
+            await self.notifier.fire(event, build_webhook_payload(
+                event=event,
+                job_id=job.id,
+                model_key=job.model_key,
+                state=job.state,
+                returncode=job.returncode,
+                started_at=job.started_at,
+                finished_at=job.finished_at,
+                dry_run=job.dry_run,
+            ))
 
     async def _do(self, job: SwapJob) -> None:
         model = self.catalog.models[job.model_key]
@@ -112,7 +135,7 @@ class SwapManager:
 
         # Step 3: tail logs until the ready marker (or timeout)
         job.state = "tailing"
-        tail_cmd = "docker logs -f --tail 50 vllm_node"
+        tail_cmd = f"docker logs -f --tail 50 {quote_arg(s.vllm_container)}"
         job.append(f"$ {tail_cmd}")
         timeout = max(model.expected_ready_seconds * 2, 600)
         handle = StreamHandle()

image/app/validate.py

@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ from typing import Any
 
 from .config import Settings
 from .models import Catalog, build_launch_command
+from .shellsafe import quote_arg
 from .ssh import ssh_run
 
 
@@ -114,7 +115,7 @@ async def validate_launch(key: str, catalog: Catalog, settings: Settings) -> dic
     # Pipe the JSON args list to a here-doc Python invocation. The validator
     # reads from stdin to avoid shell-escaping the args themselves.
     cmd = (
-        f"echo '{payload}' | docker exec -i vllm_node python3 -c "
+        f"echo '{payload}' | docker exec -i {quote_arg(settings.vllm_container)} python3 -c "
         + shlex.quote(_VALIDATOR_SCRIPT)
     )
 

image/tests/test_coordination.py

@@ -0,0 +1,201 @@
+"""Coordination layer: swap lock lifecycle/expiry, schedule registry CRUD, and
+the webhook payload+signature. All offline — the lock takes an injectable `now`
+so expiry is tested without sleeping, and the webhook is exercised only on the
+disabled (no-network) path plus its pure payload/signature helpers.
+"""
+import asyncio
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
+
+import pytest
+
+from app.coordination import (
+    LOCK_TTL_MAX,
+    LOCK_TTL_MIN,
+    LockHeld,
+    ScheduleRegistry,
+    SwapLockManager,
+    WebhookNotifier,
+    build_webhook_payload,
+    sign_payload,
+    valid_schedule_id,
+)
+
+T0 = datetime(2026, 6, 17, 12, 0, 0, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+
+
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------- swap lock ----
+
+def test_acquire_free_lock_returns_token_and_status_held():
+    mgr = SwapLockManager()
+    lock = mgr.acquire("openclaw", ttl_seconds=60, note="daily vol", now=T0)
+    assert lock.token
+    st = mgr.status(now=T0)
+    assert st["held"] is True
+    assert st["holder"] == "openclaw"
+    assert st["note"] == "daily vol"
+    assert st["seconds_remaining"] == 60
+    assert "token" not in st  # public view never leaks the token
+
+
+def test_acquire_requires_holder():
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        SwapLockManager().acquire("  ", now=T0)
+
+
+def test_acquire_held_by_other_raises_lockheld_with_state():
+    mgr = SwapLockManager()
+    mgr.acquire("openclaw", ttl_seconds=60, now=T0)
+    with pytest.raises(LockHeld) as ei:
+        mgr.acquire("johnny5", ttl_seconds=60, now=T0)
+    assert ei.value.state["holder"] == "openclaw"
+
+
+def test_reacquire_with_token_extends_and_keeps_token():
+    mgr = SwapLockManager()
+    first = mgr.acquire("openclaw", ttl_seconds=60, now=T0)
+    later = T0 + timedelta(seconds=30)
+    second = mgr.acquire("openclaw", ttl_seconds=60, token=first.token, now=later)
+    assert second.token == first.token
+    # window extended from the later moment, not the original
+    assert mgr.status(now=later)["seconds_remaining"] == 60
+    assert second.acquired_at == first.acquired_at  # acquired_at preserved
+
+
+def test_reacquire_without_token_is_refused_even_for_same_holder_name():
+    # Holder name is descriptive, not a secret — matching it must not grant access.
+    mgr = SwapLockManager()
+    mgr.acquire("openclaw", ttl_seconds=60, now=T0)
+    with pytest.raises(LockHeld):
+        mgr.acquire("openclaw", ttl_seconds=60, now=T0)
+
+
+def test_ttl_is_clamped():
+    mgr = SwapLockManager()
+    mgr.acquire("a", ttl_seconds=0, now=T0)
+    assert mgr.status(now=T0)["seconds_remaining"] == LOCK_TTL_MIN
+    mgr2 = SwapLockManager()
+    mgr2.acquire("b", ttl_seconds=10**9, now=T0)
+    assert mgr2.status(now=T0)["seconds_remaining"] == LOCK_TTL_MAX
+
+
+def test_lock_expires_and_clears_lazily():
+    mgr = SwapLockManager()
+    tok = mgr.acquire("openclaw", ttl_seconds=10, now=T0).token
+    after = T0 + timedelta(seconds=11)
+    assert mgr.status(now=after) == {"held": False}
+    assert mgr.verify(tok, now=after) is False
+    # an expired lock is free to re-take by anyone
+    mgr.acquire("johnny5", ttl_seconds=10, now=after)
+    assert mgr.status(now=after)["holder"] == "johnny5"
+
+
+def test_verify_matches_only_active_token():
+    mgr = SwapLockManager()
+    tok = mgr.acquire("openclaw", ttl_seconds=60, now=T0).token
+    assert mgr.verify(tok, now=T0) is True
+    assert mgr.verify("nope", now=T0) is False
+    assert mgr.verify(None, now=T0) is False
+
+
+def test_release_requires_token_then_frees():
+    mgr = SwapLockManager()
+    tok = mgr.acquire("openclaw", ttl_seconds=60, now=T0).token
+    with pytest.raises(PermissionError):
+        mgr.release("wrong", now=T0)
+    assert mgr.release(tok, now=T0) is True
+    assert mgr.status(now=T0) == {"held": False}
+
+
+def test_force_release_skips_token_and_release_of_free_lock_is_false():
+    mgr = SwapLockManager()
+    mgr.acquire("openclaw", ttl_seconds=60, now=T0)
+    assert mgr.release(force=True, now=T0) is True
+    assert mgr.release(force=True, now=T0) is False  # nothing held now
+
+
+def test_is_blocked_by_is_the_swap_gate():
+    # Mirrors the single-read decision the /api/swap endpoint makes.
+    mgr = SwapLockManager()
+    assert mgr.is_blocked_by(None, now=T0) is None          # free lock blocks nobody
+    tok = mgr.acquire("openclaw", ttl_seconds=10, now=T0).token
+    blocked = mgr.is_blocked_by(None, now=T0)               # no token -> blocked
+    assert blocked is not None and blocked["holder"] == "openclaw"
+    assert mgr.is_blocked_by("wrong", now=T0) is not None   # wrong token -> blocked
+    assert mgr.is_blocked_by(tok, now=T0) is None           # holder's token -> allowed
+    # At/after expiry the gate is open even without a token (the bug a separate
+    # status()+verify() pair would get wrong).
+    assert mgr.is_blocked_by(None, now=T0 + timedelta(seconds=11)) is None
+
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------- webhook ----
+
+def test_build_webhook_payload_shape():
+    p = build_webhook_payload(
+        event="swap_complete", job_id="abc123", model_key="gemma",
+        state="ready", returncode=0, started_at="t0", finished_at="t1",
+        dry_run=False,
+    )
+    assert p == {
+        "event": "swap_complete", "job_id": "abc123", "model_key": "gemma",
+        "state": "ready", "returncode": 0, "started_at": "t0",
+        "finished_at": "t1", "dry_run": False,
+    }
+
+
+def test_sign_payload_is_deterministic_and_prefixed():
+    body = b'{"event":"swap_complete"}'
+    sig = sign_payload("s3cr3t", body)
+    assert sig.startswith("sha256=")
+    assert sig == sign_payload("s3cr3t", body)
+    assert sig != sign_payload("other", body)
+
+
+def test_disabled_webhook_fire_is_noop():
+    n = WebhookNotifier("", "")
+    assert n.enabled is False
+    # Must not attempt any network call or raise when no URL is configured.
+    assert asyncio.run(n.fire("swap_complete", {"x": 1})) is None
+
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------- schedule registry ----
+
+def test_register_and_list_schedule():
+    reg = ScheduleRegistry()
+    e = reg.register(name="Daily Vol", owner="openclaw", cron="0 6 * * *")
+    assert e.id and e.registered_at and e.updated_at
+    listed = reg.list()
+    assert len(listed) == 1 and listed[0]["name"] == "Daily Vol"
+
+
+def test_register_with_id_updates_in_place():
+    reg = ScheduleRegistry()
+    reg.register(name="Daily Vol", id="dv", owner="openclaw", cron="0 6 * * *")
+    reg.register(name="Daily Vol v2", id="dv", owner="openclaw", cron="0 7 * * *")
+    listed = reg.list()
+    assert len(listed) == 1
+    assert listed[0]["name"] == "Daily Vol v2" and listed[0]["cron"] == "0 7 * * *"
+
+
+def test_register_requires_name_and_validates_id():
+    reg = ScheduleRegistry()
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        reg.register(name="  ")
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        reg.register(name="ok", id="bad id; rm -rf")
+
+
+def test_delete_schedule():
+    reg = ScheduleRegistry()
+    reg.register(name="Daily Vol", id="dv")
+    assert reg.delete("dv") is True
+    assert reg.delete("dv") is False
+    assert reg.list() == []
+
+
+def test_valid_schedule_id():
+    assert valid_schedule_id("daily-vol")
+    assert valid_schedule_id("a.b_c-1")
+    assert not valid_schedule_id("")
+    assert not valid_schedule_id("../etc")
+    assert not valid_schedule_id("has space")
+    assert not valid_schedule_id("x" * 65)

image/tests/test_launch_command.py

@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ the command back into the exact token list. The vLLM pre-flight validator
 """
 import shlex
 
+import pytest
+from pydantic import ValidationError
+
 from app.models import Defaults, ModelDef, build_launch_command
 
 DEFAULTS = Defaults(port=8888, host="0.0.0.0")
@@ -65,3 +68,81 @@ def test_injection_via_vllm_arg_stays_literal():
     payload = "--foo=$(touch /tmp/pwned)"
     cmd = build_launch_command("k", _model(vllm_args=[payload]), DEFAULTS)
     assert payload in shlex.split(cmd)  # preserved as one inert token
+
+
+# ---- local / fine-tuned models (served by directory, not HF repo) ----
+
+def test_local_model_bind_mounts_dir_and_serves_the_path():
+    m = _model(repo="", local_path="/home/u/models/ft-v2", vllm_args=["--max-model-len=2048"])
+    cmd = build_launch_command("k", m, DEFAULTS)
+    tokens = shlex.split(cmd)
+    # The launch script's hook bind-mounts the host dir at the SAME container path.
+    assert tokens[0] == (
+        "VLLM_SPARK_EXTRA_DOCKER_ARGS=-v /home/u/models/ft-v2:/home/u/models/ft-v2"
+    )
+    # vLLM is pointed at the directory, not an HF repo id.
+    i = tokens.index("serve")
+    assert tokens[i + 1] == "/home/u/models/ft-v2"
+    assert "--max-model-len=2048" in tokens
+
+
+def test_local_model_chat_template_arg_survives_round_trip():
+    m = _model(
+        repo="",
+        local_path="/m/ft",
+        vllm_args=["--chat-template=/m/ft/chat_template.jinja"],
+    )
+    cmd = build_launch_command("k", m, DEFAULTS)
+    assert "--chat-template=/m/ft/chat_template.jinja" in shlex.split(cmd)
+
+
+def test_local_path_with_metacharacters_is_quoted_not_executed():
+    # The validator rejects a hostile path at the boundary; bypass it with
+    # model_construct to prove the quote_arg sink is safe in depth even if a bad
+    # value somehow reaches build_launch_command.
+    evil = "/m/ft; rm -rf ~"
+    m = ModelDef.model_construct(
+        display_name="X", repo="", local_path=evil, size_gb=1.0, mode="solo",
+        vllm_args=[], knobs=None, custom=False, capabilities=[],
+        expected_ready_seconds=300, description=None,
+    )
+    cmd = build_launch_command("k", m, DEFAULTS)
+    tokens = shlex.split(cmd)
+    i = tokens.index("serve")
+    assert tokens[i + 1] == evil  # recovered as one literal token, not executed
+    assert tokens[0] == f"VLLM_SPARK_EXTRA_DOCKER_ARGS=-v {evil}:{evil}"
+
+
+def test_model_requires_exactly_one_source():
+    with pytest.raises(ValidationError):
+        ModelDef(display_name="x", size_gb=1, mode="solo")  # neither repo nor local_path
+    with pytest.raises(ValidationError):
+        ModelDef(display_name="x", repo="o/n", local_path="/p", size_gb=1, mode="solo")  # both
+
+
+def test_local_model_rejects_chat_template_outside_dir():
+    # Only local_path is mounted into the container, so a chat-template elsewhere
+    # would silently 404 inside vLLM — reject it up front.
+    with pytest.raises(ValidationError):
+        ModelDef(
+            display_name="x", repo="", local_path="/m/ft", size_gb=1, mode="solo",
+            vllm_args=["--chat-template=/other/dir/t.jinja"],
+        )
+
+
+def test_invalid_local_path_rejected_by_model():
+    with pytest.raises(ValidationError):
+        ModelDef(display_name="x", repo="", local_path="/m/../etc", size_gb=1, mode="solo")
+
+
+def test_merge_overrides_loads_local_and_skips_invalid(monkeypatch):
+    # YAML/override-added local models get the same validation as the API; a single
+    # bad entry is skipped (logged) rather than breaking the whole catalog load.
+    from app import models as M
+    monkeypatch.setattr(M, "load_overrides", lambda: {"knobs": {}, "custom": [
+        {"key": "good", "display_name": "G", "local_path": "/home/u/m", "size_gb": 1, "mode": "solo"},
+        {"key": "bad", "display_name": "B", "local_path": "/home/u/../etc", "size_gb": 1, "mode": "solo"},
+    ]})
+    cat = M._merge_overrides(M.Catalog(models={}))
+    assert cat.models["good"].is_local and cat.models["good"].source == "/home/u/m"
+    assert "bad" not in cat.models  # traversal path skipped, not catalog-fatal

image/tests/test_shellsafe.py

@@ -6,7 +6,12 @@ use `validate_x(v)` inline.
 """
 import pytest
 
-from app.shellsafe import validate_container, validate_image, validate_repo
+from app.shellsafe import (
+    validate_container,
+    validate_image,
+    validate_local_path,
+    validate_repo,
+)
 
 # Shell metacharacters that must never survive any validator — these are the
 # actual injection vectors. (Path traversal like "../" is NOT in scope here:
@@ -96,3 +101,27 @@ def test_container_valid_passes_through_unchanged(name):
 def test_container_rejects_malformed_and_hostile(name):
     with pytest.raises(ValueError):
         validate_container(name)
+
+
+# ---- validate_local_path: absolute model dir, no traversal/metacharacters ----
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("path", [
+    "/home/modelo/models/gemma-4-31B-ten31-v2",
+    "/data/models/ft.v2_1",
+    "/srv/m/a-b/c",
+])
+def test_local_path_valid_passes_through_unchanged(path):
+    assert validate_local_path(path) == path
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("path", [
+    "",
+    "relative/path",            # must be absolute
+    "~/models/x",               # no ~ expansion
+    "/models/../etc/shadow",    # '..' traversal
+    "/models/./x",              # '.' segment
+    "/a" * 300,                 # over the 512 cap (600 chars)
+] + [f"/models/x{h}" for h in HOSTILE])
+def test_local_path_rejects_relative_traversal_and_hostile(path):
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        validate_local_path(path)

image/tests/test_topology.py

@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+"""Configurable topology: DISABLED_SERVICES, vLLM container override, and the
+extra-vLLM probe. All offline — the disabled checks short-circuit before any
+network call, and the probes are exercised only on the not-configured path.
+"""
+import asyncio
+
+from app.config import Settings
+from app.health import (
+    check_embeddings,
+    check_kokoro,
+    check_parakeet,
+    check_qdrant,
+    check_vllm,
+    probe_vllm_endpoint,
+)
+from app.services import services_from_settings
+
+
+def _settings(monkeypatch, **env) -> Settings:
+    # Pin the topology env vars under test; default the rest to blank so a stray
+    # value in the real environment can't leak into the assertion.
+    keys = [
+        "SPARK1_HOST", "SPARK1_USER", "SPARK2_HOST", "SPARK2_USER",
+        "DISABLED_SERVICES", "VLLM_CONTAINER",
+    ]
+    for k in keys:
+        monkeypatch.delenv(k, raising=False)
+    for k, v in env.items():
+        monkeypatch.setenv(k, v)
+    return Settings.from_env()
+
+
+# ---- DISABLED_SERVICES parsing ----
+
+def test_disabled_services_parsed_lowercased_and_trimmed(monkeypatch):
+    s = _settings(monkeypatch, DISABLED_SERVICES="parakeet, Kokoro ,,")
+    assert s.disabled_services == frozenset({"parakeet", "kokoro"})
+
+
+def test_disabled_services_blank_is_empty(monkeypatch):
+    assert _settings(monkeypatch).disabled_services == frozenset()
+
+
+# ---- vLLM container override ----
+
+def test_vllm_container_defaults_to_vllm_node(monkeypatch):
+    assert _settings(monkeypatch).vllm_container == "vllm_node"
+
+
+def test_vllm_container_override(monkeypatch):
+    assert _settings(monkeypatch, VLLM_CONTAINER="vllm-gemma4").vllm_container == "vllm-gemma4"
+
+
+def test_vllm_container_invalid_falls_back(monkeypatch):
+    # A malformed value (space / shell metachar) is rejected at the boundary and
+    # falls back to the default rather than crashing startup or reaching a sink.
+    assert _settings(monkeypatch, VLLM_CONTAINER="bad name; rm -rf").vllm_container == "vllm_node"
+
+
+# ---- services map honors the disable list ----
+
+def test_services_from_settings_drops_disabled(monkeypatch):
+    s = _settings(
+        monkeypatch,
+        SPARK1_HOST="10.0.0.1", SPARK1_USER="u",
+        SPARK2_HOST="10.0.0.2", SPARK2_USER="u",
+        DISABLED_SERVICES="parakeet,qdrant",
+    )
+    svcs = services_from_settings(s)
+    assert "parakeet" not in svcs and "qdrant" not in svcs
+    assert "kokoro" in svcs and "embeddings" in svcs
+
+
+def test_custom_vllm_service_registered(monkeypatch):
+    from app import custom_services
+    monkeypatch.setattr(custom_services, "load_custom_services", lambda: [
+        {"key": "vllm-spark2", "kind": "vllm", "host": "10.0.0.2",
+         "user": "u", "container": "vllm_node", "port": 8000},
+    ])
+    s = _settings(monkeypatch, SPARK1_HOST="10.0.0.1", SPARK1_USER="u",
+                  SPARK2_HOST="10.0.0.2", SPARK2_USER="u")
+    svc = services_from_settings(s)["vllm-spark2"]
+    assert svc.kind == "vllm" and svc.port == 8000 and svc.container == "vllm_node"
+
+
+def test_custom_service_colliding_with_builtin_is_ignored(monkeypatch):
+    # A custom entry can't shadow a built-in key — the built-in wins.
+    from app import custom_services
+    monkeypatch.setattr(custom_services, "load_custom_services", lambda: [
+        {"key": "parakeet", "kind": "vllm", "host": "10.0.0.9", "user": "u", "port": 8000},
+    ])
+    s = _settings(monkeypatch, SPARK1_HOST="10.0.0.1", SPARK1_USER="u",
+                  SPARK2_HOST="10.0.0.2", SPARK2_USER="u")
+    assert services_from_settings(s)["parakeet"].kind == "stt"
+
+
+# ---- disabled health checks short-circuit (no network) ----
+
+def test_disabled_check_returns_disabled_verdict(monkeypatch):
+    s = _settings(
+        monkeypatch,
+        SPARK2_HOST="10.0.0.2", SPARK2_USER="u",  # host set, but disable wins
+        DISABLED_SERVICES="parakeet,kokoro,embeddings,qdrant",
+    )
+    for check in (check_parakeet, check_kokoro, check_embeddings, check_qdrant):
+        r = asyncio.run(check(s))
+        assert r == {"ok": False, "disabled": True, "error": "disabled", "base_url": None}
+
+
+# ---- vLLM probe: not-configured path is pure ----
+
+def test_probe_vllm_endpoint_unconfigured(monkeypatch):
+    r = asyncio.run(probe_vllm_endpoint("", 8000))
+    assert r["ok"] is False and "not configured" in r["error"]
+
+
+def test_check_vllm_unconfigured_without_spark1(monkeypatch):
+    s = _settings(monkeypatch)  # no SPARK1_HOST
+    r = asyncio.run(check_vllm(s))
+    assert r["ok"] is False and "spark1 not configured" in r["error"]

package/startos/actions/configureSparks.ts

@@ -49,6 +49,24 @@ const inputSpec = InputSpec.of({
     placeholder: 'leave blank for 8888',
     masked: false,
   }),
+  vllm_container: Value.text({
+    name: 'vLLM container name (optional)',
+    description:
+      'Docker container name for the swappable vLLM on Spark 1. Defaults to "vllm_node" (what the bundled launch-cluster.sh creates). Change this only if you run your vLLM under a different container name — the model-swap log view and the pre-flight validator exec into it by name.',
+    required: false,
+    default: null,
+    placeholder: 'leave blank for vllm_node',
+    masked: false,
+  }),
+  disabled_services: Value.text({
+    name: 'Services to hide (optional)',
+    description:
+      "Comma-separated list of built-in services your cluster doesn't run, so Spark Control hides their tiles and stops probing them. Valid names: parakeet, kokoro, embeddings, qdrant. Example: if you only run vLLM, set this to 'parakeet,kokoro,embeddings,qdrant'. Leave blank to monitor all of them. (Useful when, say, your vLLM shares port 8000 with Parakeet's default — hide Parakeet so its probe doesn't hit vLLM.)",
+    required: false,
+    default: null,
+    placeholder: 'e.g. parakeet,kokoro',
+    masked: false,
+  }),
   parakeet_host: Value.text({
     name: 'Parakeet host (optional)',
     description:
@@ -155,6 +173,24 @@ const inputSpec = InputSpec.of({
     placeholder: 'starts with "nvapi-..."',
     masked: true,
   }),
+  swap_webhook_url: Value.text({
+    name: 'Swap webhook URL (optional)',
+    description:
+      'If you run automation that needs to know when the loaded model changes, paste a URL here. Spark Control POSTs a small JSON event (swap_complete / swap_failed) to it after every model swap, so the consumer can re-point its config to the new model. Leave blank to disable. Only needed if something other than this dashboard cares about swaps.',
+    required: false,
+    default: null,
+    placeholder: 'e.g. https://my-service.local/spark-swap',
+    masked: false,
+  }),
+  swap_webhook_secret: Value.text({
+    name: 'Swap webhook secret (optional)',
+    description:
+      'Optional shared secret. If set, each webhook is signed with an "X-Spark-Signature: sha256=…" header (HMAC of the body) so the receiver can verify it really came from Spark Control. Leave blank to send the webhook unsigned.',
+    required: false,
+    default: null,
+    placeholder: 'a random string the receiver also knows',
+    masked: true,
+  }),
 })
 
 export const configureSparks = sdk.Action.withInput(

package/startos/fileModels/sparkConfig.yaml.ts

@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ export const sparkConfigSchema = z.object({
   spark2_user: z.string().catch(''),
   // Optional vLLM port override (Spark 1). Blank => 8888 (launch-cluster.sh default).
   vllm_port: z.string().catch(''),
+  // Optional vLLM container-name override (Spark 1). Blank => "vllm_node".
+  vllm_container: z.string().catch(''),
+  // Optional comma-separated list of built-in services to switch off
+  // (parakeet, kokoro, embeddings, qdrant). Blank => all enabled.
+  disabled_services: z.string().catch(''),
   // Optional per-service overrides. Blank => use spark2_host / spark2_user.
   parakeet_host: z.string().catch(''),
   parakeet_user: z.string().catch(''),
@@ -30,6 +35,11 @@ export const sparkConfigSchema = z.object({
   open_webui_url: z.string().catch(''),
   // Optional NGC API key for pulling NIM containers from nvcr.io/nim/...
   ngc_api_key: z.string().catch(''),
+  // Optional coordination webhook: POSTed on swap_complete/swap_failed so
+  // downstream consumers re-point their model config. Blank => disabled.
+  swap_webhook_url: z.string().catch(''),
+  // Optional shared secret; if set, the webhook body is HMAC-signed.
+  swap_webhook_secret: z.string().catch(''),
 })
 
 export type SparkConfig = z.infer<typeof sparkConfigSchema>

package/startos/main.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ export const main = sdk.setupMain(async ({ effects }) => {
     spark2_host: '',
     spark2_user: '',
     vllm_port: '',
+    vllm_container: '',
+    disabled_services: '',
     parakeet_host: '',
     parakeet_user: '',
     parakeet_container: '',
@@ -30,6 +32,8 @@ export const main = sdk.setupMain(async ({ effects }) => {
     matrix_bridge_user: '',
     open_webui_url: '',
     ngc_api_key: '',
+    swap_webhook_url: '',
+    swap_webhook_secret: '',
   }
 
   return sdk.Daemons.of(effects).addDaemon('primary', {
@@ -52,6 +56,8 @@ export const main = sdk.setupMain(async ({ effects }) => {
         SPARK2_HOST: cfg.spark2_host,
         SPARK2_USER: cfg.spark2_user,
         VLLM_PORT: cfg.vllm_port,
+        VLLM_CONTAINER: cfg.vllm_container,
+        DISABLED_SERVICES: cfg.disabled_services,
         PARAKEET_HOST: cfg.parakeet_host,
         PARAKEET_USER: cfg.parakeet_user,
         PARAKEET_CONTAINER: cfg.parakeet_container,
@@ -71,6 +77,8 @@ export const main = sdk.setupMain(async ({ effects }) => {
         CONNECTIVITY_LOG: '/data/connectivity.json',
         OPEN_WEBUI_URL: cfg.open_webui_url,
         NGC_API_KEY: cfg.ngc_api_key,
+        SWAP_WEBHOOK_URL: cfg.swap_webhook_url,
+        SWAP_WEBHOOK_SECRET: cfg.swap_webhook_secret,
         BIND_PORT: String(uiPort),
       },
     },

package/startos/versions/v0_1_0.ts

@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 import { VersionInfo, IMPOSSIBLE } from '@start9labs/start-sdk'
 
 export const v0_1_0 = VersionInfo.of({
-  version: '0.22.0:0',
+  version: '0.25.0:0',
   releaseNotes: {
     en_US:
-      "v0.22.0:0 — configurable vLLM port. The port Spark Control uses to reach vLLM on Spark 1 (the health check and the chat proxy) is now a field in the Configure Sparks action, so you can point it at a vLLM that listens on a non-default port without rebuilding the package. Leave it blank to keep the previous default of 8888 — what the bundled launch-cluster.sh wrapper uses; set it to 8000 (vLLM's own default) or any other port if your vLLM listens elsewhere. Also hardened numeric-setting parsing so a blank or malformed port value falls back to its default instead of crashing daemon startup.",
+      "v0.25.0:0 — cluster coordination layer (GPU arbiter). For clusters where automation, not just this dashboard, swaps models. Three additions: (1) Swap reservation lock — an external scheduler can reserve the GPU swap path (POST /api/swap/lock) and gets a secret token; while held, any swap without the token is refused (423), so the dashboard's manual swap is paused and shows who holds the GPU and until when (with a human Release override). The lock is TTL-bounded and self-frees. (2) Swap webhook — set a URL (and optional signing secret) in Configure Sparks; Spark Control POSTs a swap_complete / swap_failed event after each swap so downstream consumers re-point their model config. (3) Schedule registry — your automation can register its cron jobs (POST /api/schedule) for a read-only \"Scheduled jobs\" panel on the dashboard; Spark Control only displays them, it never runs them. New API: /api/swap/lock (GET/POST/DELETE), /api/schedule (GET/POST/DELETE). See docs/COORDINATION.md. Spark Control remains a control plane, not a job runner — business pipelines stay in their own services and call the swap API.",
   },
   migrations: {
     up: async ({ effects }) => {},

runbook.md

@@ -52,6 +52,26 @@ The **Update** button runs `git fetch && git reset --hard origin/<branch> && doc
 
 3. Spark Control's own package key must be authorized for that SSH user (Show Public Key → add to their `authorized_keys`) unless it's the same user Spark Control already uses for that Spark.
 
+## Configurable topology (v0.24.0+)
+
+For a cluster wired differently from the reference layout, three optional knobs in **Configure Sparks** (no fork needed):
+
+- **vLLM container name** — defaults to `vllm_node`. Set it if your swappable vLLM on Spark 1 runs under a different container name; the swap log-tail and the pre-flight validator `docker exec` into it by name.
+- **Services to hide** — comma-separated `parakeet,kokoro,embeddings,qdrant`. Hidden services show no tile and are never probed (status, deep-health, or connectivity log). Use this when a service you don't run would otherwise be probed at a port something else answers — e.g. a vLLM on port 8000 colliding with Parakeet's default.
+- **Monitor a second vLLM** — the swap machinery only drives the Spark 1 vLLM, but you can *monitor* a vLLM on another Spark by adding a custom service of `kind: vllm` to `/data/services-overrides.yaml`:
+
+  ```yaml
+  custom:
+    - key: vllm-spark2
+      kind: vllm
+      host: <spark-2-ip>
+      user: <ssh-user>
+      container: vllm_node
+      port: 8000
+  ```
+
+  It gets a read-only tile: loaded model (via `/v1/models`), container state, and start/stop/restart. (Spark Control's SSH key must be authorized for that user — Show Public Key.)
+
 ## Adding a new model
 
 1. Add an entry to `image/models.yaml`. Required fields: `display_name`, `repo`, `size_gb`, `mode` (`solo` or `cluster`), `vllm_args`. Optional but recommended: `description` (one paragraph — what the model is, what it's good for, how it differs from others; renders below the meta tags in each card), `capabilities` (tags like `[vision, reasoning, tools]`), `expected_ready_seconds`.
@@ -60,6 +80,12 @@ The **Update** button runs `git fetch && git reset --hard origin/<branch> && doc
 
 If `description` is omitted, the card simply hides that section — no need to populate it for every model. Keep descriptions generic (not user-specific) so the catalog stays portable.
 
+### Local / fine-tuned models (v0.23.0+)
+
+A model that lives as a directory on a Spark (e.g. a LoRA-merged fine-tune) instead of an HF repo: use the **"+ Add local model"** button under LLM swap (or a `custom:` entry with `local_path` instead of `repo` in the override YAML). The directory must already exist on the Spark; only its parent dir is mounted, so a `--chat-template` must live **inside** `local_path`.
+
+**Load-bearing contract:** on swap, spark-control prefixes the launch with `VLLM_SPARK_EXTRA_DOCKER_ARGS="-v <path>:<path>"` so `launch-cluster.sh` bind-mounts the dir into the vLLM container at the same path. This relies on the upstream `eugr/spark-vllm-docker` `launch-cluster.sh` expanding `$VLLM_SPARK_EXTRA_DOCKER_ARGS` **unquoted** into its `docker run` (verified against the on-Spark script 2026-06-17: line ~11 appends it to `DOCKER_ARGS`, used unquoted in `docker run`). If a future upstream version quotes that variable, local-model mounts would silently fail — re-check this before pulling launch-cluster.sh updates.
+
 ## Manual swap fallback
 
 If the UI is unavailable and you need to swap by hand:
@@ -75,6 +101,17 @@ cd ~/spark-vllm-docker
 docker logs -f vllm_node      # wait for "Application startup complete."
 ```
 
+## Sideload (`make install`) can't reach the server
+
+Symptom: `make install` fails with `package.sideload: error sending request for url (https://immense-voyage.local/rpc/v1)`. Cause seen 2026-06-17: `immense-voyage.local` stopped resolving via mDNS from the Mac (`curl https://immense-voyage.local/...` → exit 6, "couldn't resolve host"), even though the server is up — `curl -sk https://<server-ip>/rpc/v1` returns 200.
+
+- **Don't** work around it with `start-cli -H https://<server-ip> package install`: TLS connects but it returns `UNAUTHORIZED`, because start-cli's stored credential is bound to the registered `.local` host, not the IP.
+- **Fix:** make the name resolve again, then re-run `make install`:
+  - `sudo dscacheutil -flushcache && sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder` (flush mDNS), or
+  - `echo "<server-ip> immense-voyage.local" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts` (deterministic; remove later).
+
+Note this only blocks installing to *your own* Start9 — building and publishing the s9pk to Gitea Releases is unaffected (adopters still pull the latest).
+
 ## Diagnostics
 
 ```bash

scripts/gitea-release.sh

@@ -8,38 +8,58 @@
 # The git tag (vX.Y.Z, derived from the version) must already exist and be pushed
 # (`git tag v0.22.0 && git push gitea v0.22.0`). Re-running is idempotent: it
 # reuses an existing release for the tag and replaces a same-named asset.
+# Set GITEA_INSECURE=1 to skip TLS verification (self-signed cert on a LAN box).
 set -euo pipefail
 
 VERSION="${1:-}"; S9PK="${2:-}"
 [ -n "$VERSION" ] && [ -n "$S9PK" ] || {
   echo "usage: GITEA_URL=.. GITEA_TOKEN=.. $0 <version e.g. 0.22.0:0> <s9pk path>" >&2; exit 2; }
 : "${GITEA_URL:?set GITEA_URL to your Gitea base URL, e.g. https://gitea.lan:3000}"
-: "${GITEA_TOKEN:?set GITEA_TOKEN to a token with repository write access}"
+: "${GITEA_TOKEN:?set GITEA_TOKEN to a token with repository read+write access}"
 [ -f "$S9PK" ] || { echo "s9pk not found: $S9PK" >&2; exit 1; }
 
 TAG="v${VERSION%%:*}"                      # 0.22.0:0 -> v0.22.0
 ASSET="$(basename "$S9PK")"
 SLUG="$(git remote get-url gitea | sed -E 's#.*[:/]([^/:]+/[^/]+)\.git$#\1#')"  # grant/spark-control
 API="${GITEA_URL%/}/api/v1/repos/${SLUG}"
-AUTH=(-H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}")
+CURL=(curl -sS)                            # no -f: we inspect HTTP codes ourselves
+[ "${GITEA_INSECURE:-}" = "1" ] && CURL+=(-k)
 
 echo "repo ${SLUG} | tag ${TAG} | asset ${ASSET} | ${GITEA_URL}"
 
+# api METHOD URL [extra curl args...] -> sets globals HTTP_CODE and BODY
+api() {
+  local method="$1" url="$2"; shift 2
+  local out
+  out="$("${CURL[@]}" -X "$method" -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" "$@" \
+        -w $'\n%{http_code}' "$url")"
+  HTTP_CODE="${out##*$'\n'}"
+  BODY="${out%$'\n'*}"
+}
+
 # Reuse an existing release for this tag, otherwise create one.
-id="$(curl -fsS "${AUTH[@]}" "$API/releases/tags/$TAG" 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.id // empty')"
+api GET "$API/releases/tags/$TAG"
-if [ -z "$id" ]; then
+if [ "$HTTP_CODE" = 200 ]; then
-  id="$(curl -fsS -X POST "${AUTH[@]}" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+  id="$(printf '%s' "$BODY" | jq -r '.id')"
+elif [ "$HTTP_CODE" = 404 ]; then
+  api POST "$API/releases" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     --data "$(jq -n --arg t "$TAG" --arg n "$VERSION" \
-      '{tag_name:$t, name:$n, body:("Spark Control "+$n+". See AGENTS.md / release notes.")}')" \
+      '{tag_name:$t, name:$n, body:("Spark Control "+$n+". See AGENTS.md / release notes.")}')"
-    "$API/releases" | jq -r '.id')"
+  [ "$HTTP_CODE" = 201 ] || { echo "create release failed (HTTP $HTTP_CODE): $BODY" >&2; exit 1; }
+  id="$(printf '%s' "$BODY" | jq -r '.id')"
+else
+  echo "release lookup failed (HTTP $HTTP_CODE) — check GITEA_URL and the token's scope: $BODY" >&2
+  exit 1
 fi
-[ -n "$id" ] && [ "$id" != null ] || { echo "could not obtain release id (check URL/token/tag)" >&2; exit 1; }
+[ -n "$id" ] && [ "$id" != null ] || { echo "could not parse release id: $BODY" >&2; exit 1; }
 
 # Replace a same-named asset so re-runs don't 409.
-old="$(curl -fsS "${AUTH[@]}" "$API/releases/$id/assets" | jq -r --arg n "$ASSET" '.[] | select(.name==$n) | .id')"
+api GET "$API/releases/$id/assets"
-[ -n "$old" ] && curl -fsS -X DELETE "${AUTH[@]}" "$API/releases/$id/assets/$old" >/dev/null || true
+old="$(printf '%s' "$BODY" | jq -r --arg n "$ASSET" '.[]? | select(.name==$n) | .id')"
+[ -n "$old" ] && { api DELETE "$API/releases/$id/assets/$old"; }
 
-curl -fsS -X POST "${AUTH[@]}" -F "attachment=@${S9PK};type=application/octet-stream" \
+api POST "$API/releases/$id/assets?name=$ASSET" \
-  "$API/releases/$id/assets?name=$ASSET" >/dev/null
+  -F "attachment=@${S9PK};type=application/octet-stream"
+[ "$HTTP_CODE" = 201 ] || { echo "asset upload failed (HTTP $HTTP_CODE): $BODY" >&2; exit 1; }
 
 echo "published: ${GITEA_URL%/}/${SLUG}/releases/tag/${TAG}"