feat(task/controller): TASK_DIR per-vault (required, no default)

[bborbe]

Vaults follow different folder conventions:

Vault	task-dir
openclaw	tasks
personal	24 Tasks

Previously the binary defaulted TaskDir to "24 Tasks" but the STS env hard-coded it to 'tasks' for both controllers, so commands routed to agent-task-controller-personal materialized in the wrong directory (Personal vault grew a tasks/ folder instead of using the canonical 24 Tasks/).

Changes

• task/controller/main.go: TaskDir is now required:"true" with no default. Missing TASK_DIR env now fails fast at startup with a clear validation error instead of silently defaulting to a vault-incorrect path.
• task/controller/k8s/agent-task-controller-sts.yaml: TASK_DIR env reads {{ "TASK_DIR" | env }} (was hard-coded 'tasks').
• task/controller/k8s/Makefile: VAULTS tuple gains a third =<task-dir> field. The apply loop exports TASK_DIR per iteration via cut -d'=' -f3-, preserving the space in "24 Tasks".

Migration

After this lands:

1. BRANCH=dev make apply + BRANCH=prod make apply redeploy with new env wiring
2. git mv 45 files in bborbe/obsidian-personal from tasks/ → 24 Tasks/ (one-time)
3. Future ticks land directly in 24 Tasks/; UUID5 prevents duplicates regardless of path

Test plan

• Local /coding:pr-review loop converged
• Bot review approves
• All CI green
• Apply to dev + prod, verify no regressions on openclaw, verify personal pod's Argument: TaskDir '24 Tasks'

[ben-s-pull-request-reviewer]

Based on my review of the 3 changed files, here is my analysis:

Review Findings

Changes Overview

The PR makes TASK_DIR a required field per-vault instead of a global default. This enforces explicit configuration for each vault (openclaw=tasks, personal=24 Tasks).

Analysis by Concern

Concern 1: TaskDir required with no default — crash loop risk

The concern about missing TASK_DIR causing startup failure is valid but intended. The change explicitly moves from a default of "24 Tasks" to required:"true". The agent-task-controller-sts.yaml now uses {{ "TASK_DIR" | env }} which will produce an empty string if unset — combined with required:"true", the binary will fail fast at startup. This is the correct behavior: it forces operators to provide TASK_DIR explicitly rather than silently using a wrong default. Migration path: update k8s manifests to set TASK_DIR before deploying this version.

Concern 2: Helm templating {{ "TASK_DIR" | env }} with unset variable

The helm env function returns the value of the named environment variable at template rendering time. If TASK_DIR is unset, this renders as an empty string (not the literal {{ ... }}). Since main.go now requires this field, the container will fail to start if the variable is missing. This is correct — it's a hard fail rather than silent wrong behavior.

Concern 3: cut -d'=' -f3- parsing with spaces in vault names

✅ No issue found. The command uses -f3- (from 3rd field to end), so 'personal=dwkkgw=24 Tasks' correctly extracts 24 Tasks (preserving the space). The vault name itself (personal) cannot contain = so field splitting is clean.

Must Fix (Critical)

None — the behavior is as intended.

Should Fix (Important)

None.

Nice to Have (Optional)

• Documentation: The agent-task-controller-sts.yaml comment block could document that TASK_DIR env var must be set by the Helm render pipeline (e.g., via {{ .Values.taskDir }} with a required field), since an unset variable produces an empty string that will crash the container.

---

{
  "verdict": "approve",
  "summary": "The PR correctly makes TASK_DIR required per-vault with no default. The three-file change (Makefile, STS template, main.go) is internally consistent: the Makefile exports TASK_DIR from the VAULTS tuple, the STS template consumes it via helm env templating, and main.go enforces it as required. Missing TASK_DIR causes fast-fail startup rather than a silent wrong-behavior crash — which is the intended design.",
  "comments": [
    {
      "file": "task/controller/k8s/agent-task-controller-sts.yaml",
      "line": 68,
      "severity": "nit",
      "message": "Consider adding a comment documenting that TASK_DIR must be provided at helm render time (e.g., via Values.taskDir with required=true), since an unset variable renders as empty string and will cause startup failure when combined with main.go's required:true flag."
    }
  ],
  "concerns_addressed": [
    "correctness: TaskDir is now required with no default — the binary fails fast at startup if TASK_DIR is missing, enforcing explicit per-vault configuration rather than silently using a wrong default. This is the intended behavior.",
    "correctness: The helm templating {{ \"TASK_DIR\" | env }} renders as empty string if unset. Combined with required:true in main.go, this causes a clear startup failure rather than silent misbehavior. Correct.",
    "correctness: cut -d'=' -f3- correctly preserves '24 Tasks' (space included) by taking fields 3 onward. No issue with vault names containing spaces."
  ]
}