pyro-mcp/docs/roadmap/llm-chat-ergonomics.md
Thales Maciel 407c805ce2 Clarify workspace-core as the chat-host onramp
Make the recommended MCP profile visible from the first help and docs pass without changing 3.x behavior.

Rework  help, top-level docs, public-contract wording, and shipped MCP/OpenAI examples so  is the recommended first profile while  stays the compatibility default for full-surface hosts.

Bump the package and catalog to 3.8.0, mark the roadmap milestone done, and add regression coverage for the new MCP help and docs alignment. Validation included uv lock, targeted profile/help tests, make check, make dist-check, and a real guest-backed  server smoke.
2026-03-13 11:23:51 -03:00

5.2 KiB

LLM Chat Ergonomics Roadmap

This roadmap picks up after the completed workspace GA plan and focuses on one goal:

make the core agent-workspace use cases feel trivial from a chat-driven LLM interface.

Current baseline is 3.8.0:

  • the stable workspace contract exists across CLI, SDK, and MCP
  • one-shot pyro run still exists as the narrow entrypoint
  • workspaces already support seeding, sync push, exec, export, diff, snapshots, reset, services, PTY shells, secrets, network policy, and published ports
  • stopped-workspace disk tools now exist, but remain explicitly secondary

What "Trivial In Chat" Means

The roadmap is done only when a chat-driven LLM can cover the main use cases without awkward shell choreography or hidden host-side glue:

  • cold-start repo validation
  • repro plus fix loops
  • parallel isolated workspaces for multiple issues or PRs
  • unsafe or untrusted code inspection
  • review and evaluation workflows

More concretely, the model should not need to:

  • patch files through shell-escaped printf or heredoc tricks
  • rely on opaque workspace IDs without a discovery surface
  • consume raw terminal control sequences as normal shell output
  • choose from an unnecessarily large tool surface when a smaller profile would work

The remaining UX friction for a technically strong new user is now narrower:

  • the recommended chat-host onramp is now explicit, but human-mode file reads still need final transcript polish for copy-paste and chat logs

Locked Decisions

  • keep the workspace product identity central; do not drift toward CI, queue, or runner abstractions
  • keep disk tools secondary and do not make them the main chat-facing surface
  • prefer narrow tool profiles and structured outputs over more raw shell calls
  • capability milestones should update CLI, SDK, and MCP together
  • CLI-only ergonomics are allowed when the SDK and MCP surfaces already have the structured behavior natively
  • every milestone below must also update docs, help text, runnable examples, and at least one real smoke scenario

Milestones

  1. 3.2.0 Model-Native Workspace File Ops - Done
  2. 3.3.0 Workspace Naming And Discovery - Done
  3. 3.4.0 Tool Profiles And Canonical Chat Flows - Done
  4. 3.5.0 Chat-Friendly Shell Output - Done
  5. 3.6.0 Use-Case Recipes And Smoke Packs - Done
  6. 3.7.0 Handoff Shortcuts And File Input Sources - Done
  7. 3.8.0 Chat-Host Onramp And Recommended Defaults - Done
  8. 3.9.0 Content-Only Reads And Human Output Polish - Planned

Completed so far:

  • 3.2.0 added model-native workspace file * and workspace patch apply so chat-driven agents can inspect and edit /workspace without shell-escaped file mutation flows.
  • 3.3.0 added workspace names, key/value labels, workspace list, workspace update, and last_activity_at tracking so humans and chat-driven agents can rediscover and resume the right workspace without external notes.
  • 3.4.0 added stable MCP/server tool profiles with vm-run, workspace-core, and workspace-full, plus canonical profile-based OpenAI and MCP examples so chat hosts can start narrow and widen only when needed.
  • 3.5.0 added chat-friendly shell reads with plain-text rendering and idle batching so PTY sessions are readable enough to feed directly back into a chat model.
  • 3.6.0 added recipe docs and real guest-backed smoke packs for the five core workspace use cases so the stable product is now demonstrated as repeatable end-to-end stories instead of only isolated feature surfaces.
  • 3.7.0 removed the remaining shell glue from canonical CLI workspace flows with --id-only, --text-file, and --patch-file, so the shortest handoff path no longer depends on python -c extraction or $(cat ...) expansion.
  • 3.8.0 made workspace-core the obvious first MCP/chat-host profile from the first help and docs pass while keeping workspace-full as the 3.x compatibility default.

Planned next:

  • 3.9.0 makes human-mode file reads cleaner in terminals and chat logs, with explicit content-only reads where summaries would otherwise get in the way.

Expected Outcome

After this roadmap, the product should still look like an agent workspace, not like a CI runner with more isolation.

The intended model-facing shape is:

  • one-shot work starts with vm_run
  • persistent work moves to a small workspace-first contract
  • file edits are structured and model-native
  • workspace discovery is human and model-friendly
  • shells are readable in chat
  • CLI handoff paths do not depend on ad hoc shell parsing
  • the recommended chat-host profile is obvious from the first MCP example
  • human-mode content reads are copy-paste safe
  • the five core use cases are documented and smoke-tested end to end