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Soul runtime overrides — manager-editable ACLs without redeploy (2026-06-11)

Problem#

SOUL.md ACLs (trustedChannels, allowedChannels, dmAllowedUsers, blockedUsers) were static: any change meant editing the file and rebooting. The manager needs to trust a new channel, allowlist a DM user, or ban a noisy user at runtime.

Full design: docs/superpowers/specs/2026-06-11-soul-runtime-overrides-design.md.

Shape#

  • Store: soul_overrides sqlite table — (field, value) primary key, action ∈ {add, remove}, latest write wins, audited (created_by, created_at).
  • Merge: soulData() applies (base ∪ adds) − removes on every read. All gates call soulData() per inbound message and never cache across messages → an override is live on the next message in every session, no reload. soulDataBase() exposes the un-overlaid view for provenance rendering.
  • Full shadow: a runtime remove masks an entry that comes from SOUL.md itself. /soul list shows soul-vs-runtime provenance so drift stays visible; /soul clear reverts to pure SOUL.md.
  • Surfaces: /soul <trust|allow|dm|block> <add|remove> <id> slash command + soul_override tool on the surface MCP. Both write through one validated helper (mutateOverride in src/soul/overrides.ts).

Authority — deliberate choices#

  • Primary manager ONLY. Backup manager and approvers are excluded (owner: "only Manager"). Loosening is a one-line change at each gate.
  • Both surfaces gate on the signed inbound Slack user id — the MCP tool checks the turn initiator via a live getter over the route ctx, so a prompt-injected model call cannot mutate ACLs from a non-manager turn.
  • Self-lockout guard: blockedUsers can never contain the manager id.

Gotchas hit#

  • setSoulData() memo holds the base; the overlay is applied in soulData() after memo resolution — so test fixtures injected via setSoulData still see runtime overrides (and the memo path stays override-aware in prod).
  • The overlay read is wrapped in try/catch returning base — a corrupt overrides table must never take the engagement gates down.
  • soul_override only mounts when the gateway passes an initiator resolver to createSurfaceMcp — legacy callers (tests, sim) without one get no tool rather than an ungateable one.