ide/docs/superpowers/plans/2026-03-14-runtime-provider-loading.md

Runtime Provider Loading — Implementation Plan

Date: 2026-03-14 Spec: ../specs/2026-03-14-runtime-provider-loading-design.md Status: Complete

Task 1: ProxyProvider in core/api (pkg/provider/proxy.go)

File: /Users/snider/Code/core/api/pkg/provider/proxy.go

Replace the Phase 3 stub with a working ProxyProvider that:

• Takes a ProxyConfig struct: Name, BasePath, Upstream URL, ElementSpec, SpecFile path
• Implements Provider (Name, BasePath, RegisterRoutes)
• Implements Renderable (Element)
• RegisterRoutes creates a catch-all /*path handler using net/http/httputil.ReverseProxy
• Strips the base path before proxying so the upstream sees clean paths
• Upstream is always 127.0.0.1 (local process)

Test file: pkg/provider/proxy_test.go

• Proxy routes requests to a test upstream server
• Health check passthrough
• Element() returns configured ElementSpec
• Name/BasePath return configured values

Task 2: Manifest Extensions in go-scm (manifest/manifest.go)

File: /Users/snider/Code/core/go-scm/manifest/manifest.go

Extend the Manifest struct with provider-specific fields:

• Namespace — API route prefix (e.g. /api/v1/cool-widget)
• Port — listen port (0 = auto-assign)
• Binary — path to binary relative to provider dir
• Args — additional CLI args
• Element — UI element spec (tag + source)
• Spec — path to OpenAPI spec file

These fields are optional — existing manifests without them remain valid.

Test: Add parse test with provider fields.

Task 3: Provider Discovery in go-scm (marketplace/discovery.go)

File: /Users/snider/Code/core/go-scm/marketplace/discovery.go

• DiscoverProviders(dir string) — scans dir/*/manifest.yaml (using os directly, not Medium, since this is filesystem discovery)
• Returns []DiscoveredProvider with Dir + Manifest
• Skips directories without manifests (logs warning, continues)

File: /Users/snider/Code/core/go-scm/marketplace/registry_file.go

• ProviderRegistry — read/write registry.yaml tracking installed providers
• LoadRegistry(path), SaveRegistry(path), Add(), Remove(), Get(), List()

Test file: marketplace/discovery_test.go

• Discover finds providers in temp dirs with manifests
• Discover skips dirs without manifests
• Registry CRUD operations

Task 4: RuntimeManager in core/ide (runtime.go)

File: /Users/snider/Code/core/ide/runtime.go

• RuntimeManager struct holding discovered providers, engine reference, process registry
• NewRuntimeManager(engine, processRegistry) constructor
• StartAll(ctx) — discover providers in ~/.core/providers/, start each binary via os/exec.Cmd, wait for health, register ProxyProvider
• StopAll() — SIGTERM each provider process, clean up
• List() — return running providers
• Free port allocation via net.Listen(":0")
• Health check polling with timeout

Task 5: Wire into core/ide main.go

File: /Users/snider/Code/core/ide/main.go

• After creating the api.Engine (engine, _ := api.New(...)), create a RuntimeManager
• In each mode (mcpOnly, headless, GUI), call rm.StartAll(ctx) before serving
• In shutdown paths, call rm.StopAll()
• Import forge.lthn.ai/core/go-scm/marketplace (add dependency)

Task 6: Build Verification

• cd core/api && go build ./...
• cd go-scm && go build ./...
• cd ide && go build ./... (may need go.mod updates)

Task 7: Tests

• cd core/api && go test ./pkg/provider/...
• cd go-scm && go test ./marketplace/... ./manifest/...

Repos Affected

Repo	Changes
core/api	pkg/provider/proxy.go (implement), pkg/provider/proxy_test.go (new)
go-scm	manifest/manifest.go (extend), manifest/manifest_test.go (extend), marketplace/discovery.go (new), marketplace/registry_file.go (new), marketplace/discovery_test.go (new)
core/ide	runtime.go (new), main.go (wire), go.mod (add go-scm dep)

Commit Strategy

1. core/api — feat(provider): implement ProxyProvider reverse proxy
2. go-scm — feat(marketplace): add provider discovery and registry
3. core/ide — feat(runtime): add RuntimeManager for provider loading