Files
wanderbooks/crates/ledger-mcp/handbook/format-upgrade.md
T
swaitsandClaude Opus 5.5 3a9aa92315 P3: the books' format moves only with the owner's go-ahead (D-39)
Books an update could write a newer format for open on their old format
and are asked at every open; anything needing a new feature is refused
until the owner agrees with the passphrase, after a verified backup that
includes the keys. New books start on the current format. Each projection
schema has its own database file, so an older version still opens the
books until the owner agrees.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01T3gXMVt7XJPi6ens1or9Dj
2026-10-21 14:04:11 -06:00

1.3 KiB

The format upgrade

  • A new version of wanderbooks can keep the books in a newer journal format than the version that wrote them. Books an older version wrote wait for a format upgrade: books.start says so (format_upgrade) and puts it first among its next steps, in every session until it is done.
  • Until then they work on their old format: everything that needs nothing new works as before, and whatever would need the new format is refused with format_upgrade_pending, changing nothing. Never retry it, work around it, or post it another way.
  • Only the owner can agree to the upgrade, with the owner passphrase: in the app, which asks each time it opens the books, or with wanderbooks books upgrade ID in a terminal. No tool can, and you never ask for, take or type the passphrase. Tell the human, in plain words: the books wait for their go-ahead, what was refused, and that saying no keeps the books working as they are.
  • Before it upgrades, the server makes a backup of the books, their vault and keys included, and proves it whole; a backup that can't be made or proven upgrades nothing. Then the books move to the new format in one step, on the record.
  • After the upgrade an older version of wanderbooks can't open these books; the backup made first keeps them as they were. Going back is the owner's choice, never yours.