multi-agent-mux/.mam/reports/canary-projects-multi-agent-mux-reviewer-cline/report-mam-installer-review.md

Review Report — MAM Installer (scripts/install_mam.sh) & Manual (.agents/INSTALL.md)

• Reviewer: Reviewer Cline (canary-projects-multi-agent-mux-reviewer-cline, role: reviewer)
• Date: 2026-07-11
• Files reviewed: scripts/install_mam.sh (untracked, new), .agents/INSTALL.md (untracked, new)
• Governing documents: AGENTS.md, .agents/MULTI_AGENT_RULES.md / .ko.md

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Verdict: NOT PASS ❌

The script passes its claimed static checks (bash -n ✅, shellcheck clean ✅) and the manual is well-structured. However, three robustness defects cause the installer to break its own documented success criteria on systems lacking rsync, to pollute the target project with host Python bytecode caches, and to mis-resolve its source directory when invoked via symlink. These contradict AGENTS.md §4 (Goal-Driven Execution: "Define success criteria. Loop until verified") and §1 (Think Before Coding: "Surface tradeoffs... if unclear, ask"). They are straightforward to fix; this is a NOT PASS with clear remediation, not a fundamental design rejection.

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1. Validation Commands Run In-Session

Check	Command	Result
Syntax	bash -n scripts/install_mam.sh	✅ BASH_N_OK
Lint	shellcheck -f gcc scripts/install_mam.sh	✅ clean (0 findings)
Git state	git status --short scripts/install_mam.sh .agents/INSTALL.md	both untracked (??)
Target creation	mkdir -p <nonexistent> && cd && pwd	✅ works under set -euo pipefail
rsync dry-run	rsync -a --dry-run --out-format='%n' --exclude=...	⚠️ reveals __pycache__/+.pyc leak
Symlink resolution	cd "$(dirname "/tmp/symlinked.sh")/.."	❌ resolves to / (wrong source)
.gitignore idempotency	grep -Fqx "$MAM_PATTERN" in if	✅ set -e-safe (conditional context)
INSTALL.md inclusion	dry-run file list	✅ INSTALL.md is copied

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2. Defects Found (blocking)

D1 — rsync is an undeclared hard dependency (MEDIUM)

Location: scripts/install_mam.sh:100

rsync -a --exclude='.git/' --exclude='reports/' --exclude='*.log' "$SRC_DIR/.agents/" "$TARGET_DIR/.agents/"

Problem: rsync is invoked as the core copy mechanism, but it is absent from:

• The script's DEPS array (line 73: DEPS=(tmux python3 sqlite3) — no rsync)
• .agents/INSTALL.md §1 prerequisite list (tmux, python3, sqlite3, pyyaml — no rsync)

Impact: On a system without rsync (e.g. minimal containers, some Alpine images, WSL defaults), under set -euo pipefail the script aborts at line 100 with an unhelpful rsync: command not found — after mkdir -p "$TARGET_DIR/.agents" (line 96) has already partially created the target tree. The user is left with a half-installed .agents/ and no guidance from the dependency-check stage (which already printed [OK] Dependency checks completed.).

Why it violates the guidelines:

• AGENTS.md §4 Goal-Driven: the stated success criterion "Dependency checks completed" (line 92) is false when rsync is missing — the verification loop is incomplete.
• AGENTS.md §1 Think Before Coding: an undocumented external dependency is exactly the kind of "hidden confusion" the guideline warns against.

Required fix:

# Line 73 — add rsync to the declared dependency list
DEPS=(tmux python3 sqlite3 rsync)

And mirror in .agents/INSTALL.md §1: add **rsync**: install_mam.sh .agents/ 폴더 동기화에 사용.

D2 — __pycache__/ + .pyc bytecode caches leak into the target (MEDIUM)

Location: scripts/install_mam.sh:100

Problem: The rsync exclude list does not exclude Python bytecode caches. Dry-run output confirms these files are copied into the target:

skills/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job/scripts/__pycache__/job_subscriber.cpython-314.pyc
... (4 .pyc files total)

Impact: The installer pollutes the target with host-specific (CPython-version-stamped) bytecode caches. The source repo already ignores these via root .gitignore lines 13–14 (__pycache__/, *.pyc), but rsync reads the filesystem, not gitignore. The target inherits machine-specific artifacts that may confuse later python3 runs or get accidentally committed.

Why it violates: AGENTS.md §2 Simplicity First ("No features beyond what was asked") and §3 Surgical Changes (installer should install, not leak build state).

Required fix:

rsync -a --exclude='.git/' --exclude='reports/' --exclude='*.log' \
  --exclude='__pycache__/' --exclude='*.pyc' \
  "$SRC_DIR/.agents/" "$TARGET_DIR/.agents/"
### D3 — Symlink-invoked source resolution mis-resolves to `/` (MEDIUM)

**Location**: `scripts/install_mam.sh:60`
```bash
SRC_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"

Problem: ${BASH_SOURCE[0]} returns the invocation path, not the resolved real path. When the script is run via a symlink (e.g. ln -sfn .../install_mam.sh /usr/local/bin/mam-install && mam-install), dirname "/usr/local/bin/mam-install" = /usr/local/bin, and cd /usr/local/bin/.. = /usr/local. In my test with a /tmp symlink, this resolved to / — the script would then look for /.agents/ (wrong/empty source) and either copy the wrong tree or fail with a confusing "source and target identical" or "no such file" error.

Impact: The documented usage (bash scripts/install_mam.sh --target ...) works only when invoked from a real path. Users who symlink the installer into their PATH (a common pattern) get silent wrong-source behavior or an obscure failure, with no diagnostic pointing at the symlink issue.

Why it violates the guidelines:

• AGENTS.md §1 Think Before Coding: a silent wrong-source copy is the kind of hidden confusion the guideline exists to prevent.
• MULTI_AGENT_RULES.md path-safety: the rest of the framework uses readlink-based resolution and explicit path guards; this installer is inconsistent with that norm.

Required fix (Linux; the project's documented platform):

SRC_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$(readlink -f "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")")/.." && pwd)"

readlink -f is GNU coreutils. If macOS support is required, a portable fallback:

src="${BASH_SOURCE[0]}"
while [ -L "$src" ]; do src="$(readlink "$src")"; done
SRC_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$src")/.." && pwd)"

Add readlink to DEPS if taking the readlink -f route.

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3. Conformance to AGENTS.md

Principle	Assessment
§1 Think Before Coding	❌ D1/D3 hide undocumented dependencies and a symlink footgun instead of surfacing them.
§2 Simplicity First	⚠️ Mostly clean, but D2 ships unrequested bytecode artifacts — a non-minimal side effect.
§3 Surgical Changes	✅ No drive-by refactors; existing-user AGENTS.md is backed up before overwrite (lines 106–110).
§4 Goal-Driven Execution	❌ D1: the "Dependency checks completed" success criterion (line 92) is unverified for rsync.

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4. Conformance to MULTI_AGENT_RULES.md

Rule	Assessment
.mam/ under gitignore	✅ .gitignore injection (lines 119–134) is idempotent (grep -Fqx), path-safe, scoped to /.mam/.
Path safeguards	⚠️ The SRC_DIR == TARGET_DIR self-install guard (line 66) is good, but D3's symlink mis-resolution can still point SRC_DIR at an unexpected location, undermining the guard.
Markdown collaboration	✅ .agents/INSTALL.md is a proper markdown manual; this report is persisted under .mam/reports/<session>/.
Role isolation	✅ No cross-role scope creep — this is pure install tooling.

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5. What's Good (acknowledge correctly done)

• set -euo pipefail at the top — correct strict-mode hygiene.
• SRC_DIR == TARGET_DIR self-install guard (line 66) — prevents the script from copying onto itself.
• AGENTS.md backup-before-overwrite with timestamped .bak.<epoch> (lines 107–110) — respects existing user files; --force is opt-in.
• .gitignore injection is idempotent (the grep -Fqx check prevents duplicate appends on re-run) and the grep non-zero return is safe under set -e because it sits in an if conditional.
• INSTALL.md is clear, Korean-localized, and correctly documents the --isolate flag, the -L multi-agent-mux tmux server convention, and the resume/purge state machine.
• bash -n and shellcheck claims are accurate — I reproduced both.

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6. Remediation Summary (for the developer)

ID	Fix	Effort
D1	Add rsync to DEPS array (line 73) and to INSTALL.md §1 prereq list	2 lines
D2	Add --exclude='__pycache__/' --exclude='*.pyc' to the rsync invocation (line 100)	1 line
D3	Resolve symlinks: readlink -f "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" before dirname/cd (line 60); add readlink to DEPS	1–2 lines
Re-verify	Re-run bash -n + shellcheck + a scratch-target dry-run after fixes	—

All three are small, surgical edits that trace directly to the defects above. No design rework is needed.

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7. Final Statement

The installer's static hygiene is genuine (bash -n/shellcheck pass as claimed), and the manual is solid. But three robustness defects — an undeclared rsync dependency that falsifies the "dependency checks completed" gate, a bytecode-cache leak that pollutes the target, and a symlink source-resolution bug that can silently copy from the wrong directory — mean the installer does not yet meet AGENTS.md's "Goal-Driven Execution" bar (the success criteria are not actually verified) or the "Think Before Coding" bar (hidden failure modes not surfaced). These are fixable in under five lines total.

NOT PASS — return to developer with D1/D2/D3 remediation. Re-review after the three fixes are applied and a scratch-target dry-run confirms no __pycache__/ leak and a symlink-invoked run resolves the correct SRC_DIR.