veritas-kanban

Veritas Kanban v6 Upgrade, Install, Remote, And Admin Guide

This is the release-facing operator guide for Veritas Kanban 6.1.0. The detailed provider commands live in Agent Providers, the machine-readable support contract is summarized in Harness Compatibility, and Buzz relay setup lives in Buzz Integration.

Documentation freshness: 2026-07-26 for Veritas Kanban 6.1.0.

Do not install 6.0.0. It is retained as a quarantined prerelease. Version 6.1.0 is the current supported stable v6 build and supersedes 6.0.2.

Fresh Mac Desktop Install

Install the signed/notarized stable app:

brew tap BradGroux/tap
brew install --cask veritas-kanban

Manual installation uses Veritas-Kanban-6.1.0-mac-arm64.zip from the v6.1.0 GitHub release. Move Veritas Kanban.app into /Applications, launch it normally, and verify Settings -> Maintenance before enabling an agent or external integration.

For a new board:

  1. Choose Board Only unless agent execution is required immediately.
  2. Create the local admin password and retain the recovery key securely.
  3. Confirm /api/health reports version 6.1.0.
  4. Create a governed backup before adding external credentials or relay mappings.

The default desktop workspace remains:

~/Library/Application Support/@veritas-kanban/desktop/profiles/default/workspaces/local/

Keep the authoritative SQLite database on the normal local Application Support filesystem. NAS, SMB, NFS, FUSE, iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, and other synchronized/remote filesystems are unsupported database locations.

v5 To v6 Upgrade

The supported source is the latest signed v5.2.5 desktop release or an equivalent v5.2.5 self-hosted workspace.

  1. In v5.2.5, create a governed export/backup in Settings -> Maintenance and confirm the report completed.
  2. Record representative counts for tasks, Squad Chat messages, telemetry, workflow definitions/runs, provider profiles, and agent registry entries.
  3. Pause any heartbeat, LaunchAgent, or watchdog that can reopen Veritas.
  4. Quit every desktop/source server writer. Confirm the desktop process and preferred port are stopped before copying data.
  5. Preserve the complete workspace, not only the SQLite file. Keep the backup through release acceptance.
  6. Install v6.1.0 without replacing the workspace.
  7. Launch with the same profile. If setup appears for a populated database, choose Use Existing Data. Do not rerun file migration or restore over the populated database.
  8. Wait for the exact-version readiness gate:

    EXPECTED_VERSION=6.1.0
    pnpm desktop:wait:ready -- --expected-version "$EXPECTED_VERSION"
    
  9. Verify PRAGMA quick_check, the representative counts, owner metadata, provider profile normalization, board/search/task detail, workflows, Squad Chat, Maintenance, and /api/health.version.
  10. Run vk doctor --json. Review each enabled profile’s support tier, version/build, authentication posture, capability evidence, and remediation. Do not assume a v5 profile remains Certified.
  11. Resume automation only after the app and health versions match and the board is accepted.

The public API remains v1. v6 adds provider, approval, lifecycle, tool, credential, compatibility, Buzz, and conformance records without requiring a new API mount.

Veritas Kanban 6.1.0 advances the SQLite workspace through migrations 30 to 33 for knowledge collections and integrity operations. Keep the stopped-writer backup until collection, task, workflow, provider, and board data have been accepted. Rollback to an older schema requires restoring that backup; do not open migrated data with an older binary.

Legacy provider profile normalization

Routine Mac Desktop Upgrade

For any later v6 patch:

  1. Create and verify a governed backup.
  2. Pause auto-reopen automation.
  3. Quit Veritas and confirm its app process and port are stopped.
  4. Run:

    brew update
    brew upgrade --cask bradgroux/tap/veritas-kanban
    brew list --cask --versions veritas-kanban
    
  5. Read CFBundleShortVersionString, launch the app, and use pnpm desktop:wait:ready -- --expected-version <version>.
  6. Verify the listener belongs to the packaged application, then check the board and Maintenance.
  7. Resume automation only after exact-version readiness passes.

Homebrew replacement does not launch the app or wait for its bundled server. Do not substitute an immediate curl or fixed sleep for the readiness gate.

Harness Installation And Authentication

Veritas never installs a third-party harness. Install the exact tested build from its official distribution, authenticate using the provider’s supported flow, then enable its built-in profile in Settings -> Agents.

Harness Install/verify Authentication names accepted by the v6 profile Safe default
Buzz Agent Build/install Buzz v0.4.24 buzz-agent; verify ACP identity buzz-agent 0.1.0. ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, OPENAI_COMPAT_API_KEY, or DATABRICKS_TOKEN. Disabled; no resume; only the system-owned veritas-run MCP bridge.
Grok Build Install v0.2.111; run grok --version. Existing GROK_HOME, XAI_API_KEY, GROK_CODE_XAI_API_KEY, or GROK_DEPLOYMENT_KEY. Disabled; dedicated agent --no-leader ... stdio; restrictive policy only.
Codex CLI/app-server Install the reviewed Codex CLI; run codex login status. App-server certification requires 0.145.0. Existing Codex login or OPENAI_API_KEY where supported. Workspace-write task sandbox; app-server plugins, apps, hooks, browser/computer tools, remote control, and unsandboxed shell command disabled.
Codex SDK Installed with Veritas as @openai/codex-sdk 0.144.3. Existing Codex login or OPENAI_API_KEY. Shared manifest, sandbox, tool, event, and completion controls.
Claude Code Install 2.1.218; run claude --version and claude auth status. ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, Foundry, bounded Bedrock keys, or explicit Vertex credential file reference. Disabled; --bare, dontAsk, strict MCP, credential scrubbing; no permission bypass.
GitHub Copilot CLI Install v1.0.74; run copilot --version and provider login. COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN, COPILOT_PROVIDER_API_KEY, COPILOT_PROVIDER_BEARER_TOKEN, GH_TOKEN, or GITHUB_TOKEN. Disabled; ACP public preview, remote/plugins/custom instructions/experimental features off.
Hermes Agent Install v2026.7.7.2; run hermes --version. HERMES_API_KEY or the documented model-provider key. Disabled; one-shot scripted execution.
OpenClaw Run v2026.6.11 gateway and verify tool policy. OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN when required. Explicit gateway URL; sessions_spawn and sessions_send must be allowed.

Credential values belong in the operator environment or the platform’s login store. Settings, docs, task bodies, screenshots, logs, issue comments, and support packets must contain only environment key names or opaque references.

After setup:

vk doctor --json

Fix Degraded or Unsupported evidence before dispatch. Detected means the executable exists but the profile is disabled. Configured is usable adapter evidence without current certification. Certified requires matching deterministic evidence; live authentication and quota remain separate facts.

Buzz Setup

Buzz communication and Buzz Agent execution are independent:

See Buzz Integration for API examples, channel mapping, Nostr identity, trigger rules, replay, and rollback.

Remote And Multi-User Administration

Remote mode remains a trusted-host setup. Serve web, /api, /ws, health routes, manifest, service worker, and assets from one HTTPS origin. Keep VERITAS_AUTH_ENABLED=true and VERITAS_AUTH_LOCALHOST_BYPASS=false.

Use scoped device sessions or API tokens for remote browsers, CLI, MCP, agents, and automation. Never share owner/admin credentials with providers. Approval reviewer identity, authentication freshness, workspace membership, and exact action binding are enforced server-side.

Use Self-Hosting Guide, the v5 remote security ADR, and Identity And RBAC for unchanged remote/server foundations.

Backup And Recovery

Before upgrade, provider-profile changes, or Buzz setup:

  1. Stop or quiesce every writer.
  2. Create a governed backup/export and retain its report.
  3. Copy the complete workspace after SQLite checkpoint and integrity checks.
  4. Store backups away from the live database.
  5. Test restore into an isolated profile, never over a running workspace.

Rollback from v6 means reinstalling the prior signed app only when its data contracts remain compatible. Otherwise restore the stopped-writer v5.2.5 backup. There is no promise of destructive schema down-migration.

For Buzz rollback, disable trigger rules first, then the channel mapping, then the adapter. Audit records and local Squad Chat content remain. Veritas never deletes remote Buzz events or writes imported definitions back.

For a provider rollback, disable the changed profile and restore the reviewed profile configuration from backup. Do not lower support evidence, bypass permissions, or route an ambiguous record through another adapter.

Diagnostics

Use:

vk doctor --json
curl http://127.0.0.1:3001/api/health
curl http://127.0.0.1:3001/health/ready

Compare app, server, CLI, MCP, and updater versions. Review redacted runtime-manifest, support-profile, compatibility-matrix, launch-manifest, approval, run-event, and completion evidence. Never paste raw private relay events, provider output, credentials, or unrestricted support bundles into a public issue.

In the packaged macOS app, choose Veritas Kanban → About Veritas Kanban for the authoritative running version. Copy Version Information in the same native menu produces a redacted offline support string with the build identity, release channel, macOS version, and architecture even when the renderer or local API is unavailable.