kandev/docs/plans/plugins/host-data-api/task-07-docs.md

id, title, status, wave, depends_on, plan, spec, adr

id	title	status	wave	depends_on	plan	spec	adr
07-docs	Author docs: Host data API + manifest api_read/api_write resource list	done	4	04-host-data-impl	plan.md	../../../specs/plugins/requirements/plugins.md	../../../decisions/0043-plugin-host-data-api.md

Task 07: Author docs for the Host data API

Document the Host data API for plugin authors: which resources are readable, the api_read/api_write capability vocabulary, and the SDK accessor surface.

Scope

• Wire reference (docs/plans/plugins/GRPC-CONTRACT.md): add the Host data RPCs to the service Host block (§3) and note capability gating uses api_read:<resource> / api_write:<resource> (§5), replacing the "reserved" language. Note write RPCs are deferred (Unimplemented).
• SDK reference (docs/plans/plugins/GRPC-CONTRACT.md §4 and/or PLUGIN-API.md): document the author accessors (host.Tasks().List(...), host.Sessions().List(...), host.Sessions().CodeStats(...), etc.) and that they return Go-native structs.
• Manifest reference: wherever the manifest capabilities block is documented for authors, list the api_read / api_write resource vocabulary (tasks, sessions, workspaces, workflows, agents, repositories, comments) and what each unlocks, with the api_read: ["sessions"] example from the agent-stats plugin.
• Public docs: if a user-facing plugin authoring page exists under docs/public/** at implementation time, add the resource list there too; there is none today, so the authoritative author docs are the plans references above. Do not invent a new public page in this task.

Acceptance

• GRPC-CONTRACT.md lists the Host data RPCs and the per-resource capability gating; the "reserved / not implemented" wording for api_read/api_write is removed or scoped to the deferred write RPCs.
• The manifest capability vocabulary is documented with the readable-resource list and an example.

Verification

• Markdown-only; no build. cd apps && pnpm --filter @kandev/web lint only if a docs/public page is touched (none expected).

Files likely touched

• docs/plans/plugins/GRPC-CONTRACT.md
• docs/plans/plugins/PLUGIN-API.md (if the SDK/author surface is documented there)

Inputs

• Final RPC set + accessor names from tasks 01/03/04.
• Spec: "Host data API"; ADR 0043.

Dependencies

Task 04 (behavior finalized).

Output contract

Summary, files changed, and status update here + in plan.md.

Output

Summary: Documented the Host data API (ADR 0043) in the wire/SDK contract reference and reconciled the spec section against the shipped code.

Files changed:

• docs/plans/plugins/GRPC-CONTRACT.md — added the 9 read RPCs + 3 deferred write RPCs to the service Host block (§3); added a new "§3a. Host data API (ADR 0043)" subsection covering the resource/capability table, deferred writes, service-layer/DTO conventions, pagination/timestamp/nullable/scoping conventions; added the Host interface's 6 data accessors plus the 6 reader interfaces (TaskReader, SessionReader, WorkspaceReader, WorkflowReader, AgentProfileReader, RepositoryReader) with their real Go signatures, and an authoring example (manifest snippet + Sessions().CodeStats call) to §4; rewrote the §5 "Capability gating" bullet to remove the stale "api_read/api_write reserved" wording and describe the real per-RPC gating plus the write RPCs' current Unimplemented behavior.
• docs/specs/plugins/requirements/plugins.md — fixed capability-vocabulary drift against code (see below) and added a "Declaring data access" note under the manifest capabilities section; reworded the interceptor description to match the actual per-RPC inline checks (no shared unary interceptor exists in code); updated the readable-resources table's ListAgentProfiles row.
• docs/plans/plugins/host-data-api/plan.md — marked task-07 done in the wave list.

Code-vs-doc drift found and corrected (spec.md only; code is source of truth, left unchanged):

• The ListAgentProfiles capability is api_read:agent_profiles in code (internal/plugins/host_data.go: resourceAgentProfiles = "agent_profiles", confirmed by host_data_test.go), not api_read:agents as the spec had it in the manifest example, the resource-vocabulary sentence, and the readable- resources table. Fixed all three.
• The spec's manifest example listed "projects" as an api_read resource; there is no ListProjects RPC, resource constant, or reader anywhere in the proto or internal/plugins/host_data.go. Removed it from the example.
• The spec described api_read/api_write as "reserved for future Host RPCs" in the manifest example comments and said the capability-gating interceptor covers "state, secrets; api_read/api_write reserved" — both predate this ADR shipping; api_read is live now (write RPCs remain deferred/ Unimplemented). Reworded both.
• The spec attributed capability gating to "a unary server interceptor on Host"; there is no grpc.UnaryServerInterceptor in internal/plugins or pkg/pluginsdk — each Host/Host-data method checks its own capability inline at the top of the handler (host.go, host_data.go). Reworded to describe the actual per-RPC check without implying a shared interceptor layer (this was pre-existing drift, unrelated to ADR 0043, caught while editing the same paragraph).
• GRPC-CONTRACT.md's pre-ADR text already read "api_read/api_write reserved for future" in §5 and the service Host proto snippet only listed the 6 pre-ADR RPCs; both were stale relative to the shipped proto and are now updated in place.

Not touched (out of scope / already correct):

• docs/decisions/0043-plugin-host-data-api.md — read for context per the task's Inputs; its Status: proposed front matter looks stale given the code is fully implemented, but the task's edit scope was spec.md, not the ADR, so it is left for whoever finalizes the ADR's status.
• docs/plans/plugins/PLUGIN-API.md — this is the native frontend (JS) UI plugin contract; it has no backend Host/SDK content and the Host data API has no UI surface, so nothing there needed updating. The SDK reference went into GRPC-CONTRACT.md §4 per the task's "and/or" framing.
• docs/public/plugins*.md — do not exist on this branch (confirmed); per the task instructions these live on feature/kandev-plugin-system-docs and are out of scope here.
• apps/backend/internal/plugins/manifest/manifest_test.go has an unrelated test fixture using api_read: ["tasks", "agents"] as a manifest capability example — manifest capability values are freeform strings with no vocabulary validation at that layer (confirmed: no enum/allow-list check in internal/plugins/manifest), so this is a test fixture choice, not a functional bug; flagged here as a code-side echo of the same naming drift, left unchanged since it's code, not docs.