Add a --purge argument

[ableinc]

Only when the --purge argument is provided should the data directories we cleared. The --purge argument should be paired with the uninstall argument. If it is not, then uninstall should only remove the service and not the data.

[ableinc]

Plan

Gate --uninstall's data deletion behind a new --purge flag

Context

Today --uninstall (internal/install.Uninstall, called from cmd/agent.go:115) always destroys the operator's state: it removes workspace.root, workspace.repos_root, workspace.logs_root, store.path, and claude.usage_cache_path (removeConfiguredStatePaths, internal/install/install.go:431), and — if --install created the dedicated coding-agent-loop system account — runs userdel -r, deleting that account's entire home. There is no way to remove the systemd service while keeping run history, transcripts, cloned repos, and SQLite state.

Issue #17 asks for a --purge flag that gates exactly that deletion. Plain --uninstall should remove only the service (unit file, /opt/coding-agent-loop, systemd registration); data directories should only be cleared when --purge is also passed. --purge is only meaningful alongside --uninstall.

Approach

1. cmd/agent.go — the flag

• Add purge bool to the flags struct (after uninstall).
• Register it: flag.BoolVar(&f.purge, "purge", false, "with --uninstall: also delete the service's data — workspace.root, workspace.repos_root, workspace.logs_root, store.path, claude.usage_cache_path, and the dedicated service account's home. Without it, --uninstall removes only the service and leaves all data in place").
• Reject --purge on its own: add a small validateFlags(f) error called from main immediately after flag.Parse() (before the --print-service short-circuit, so every invocation is checked uniformly) returning --purge only applies to --uninstall (try: sudo coding-agent-loop --uninstall --purge) when f.purge && !f.uninstall. Exit non-zero via the existing fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, ...) / os.Exit(1) pattern.
• Pass it through: install.Uninstall(install.UninstallOptions{ConfigPath: ..., Purge: f.purge, Log: ...}).
• Update usageHeader (cmd/agent.go:48): the --uninstall line says it removes the service only, plus a new sudo coding-agent-loop --uninstall --purge also delete workspace/logs/state data line.

2. internal/install/install.go — gate the destructive steps

• Add Purge bool to UninstallOptions, documented as: state paths and the dedicated account's home survive when false.

• Rewrite Uninstall's doc comment to separate unconditional steps (stop/disable, remove unitPath, daemon-reload, remove installRoot) from purge-only steps. Keep the existing note that claude.credentials_path is never touched under any flag.

• Replace the direct removeConfiguredStatePaths(t.home, opts.ConfigPath, log) call (install.go:312) with a purge-aware helper. Keep loadStatePaths, expandHome, removeDir, removeFile exactly as they are and restructure only the caller:

  // resolvedStatePaths returns the directories and files the service was
  // configured to write, resolved against home.
  func resolvedStatePaths(home, fallbackConfigPath string, log func(string, ...any)) (dirs, files []string)
  
  // applyStatePaths removes those paths when purge is set, and otherwise logs
  // exactly what was left behind and how to remove it.
  func applyStatePaths(home, fallbackConfigPath string, purge bool, log func(string, ...any))

  applyStatePaths replaces removeConfiguredStatePaths. Its non-purge branch still resolves the paths (so the operator is told where their data lives) and logs one line per retained path plus re-run with --uninstall --purge to delete this data. Resolution must still happen before installRoot is removed, since installedConfigPath lives there — keep the call in its current position in Uninstall.

• Gate the dedicated-user block (install.go:337-350) on opts.Purge. When not purging, keep the user.Lookup(dedicatedUser) check but only log that the account and /home/coding-agent-loop were left in place, naming --uninstall --purge as the way to remove them. Recommendation: do not run userdel at all when not purging — userdel without -r orphans the home to a dangling uid, and a later --install recreates the account with a possibly different uid, leaving the retained data unreadable. Keeping account and home together is the only variant where "keep the data" actually holds.

• Everything else stays unconditional: systemctl disable --now, removing unitPath, daemon-reload, os.RemoveAll(installRoot).

3. Makefile

• Add purge to .PHONY (line 17).
• Reword the ## uninstall: help comment to "stop, disable, and remove the service; leaves data in place". Keep the existing build-if-missing shim and its comment verbatim (it exists because uninstalling must work without a valid config.json for go:embed).
• Add a purge target using the same shim, invoking sudo $(BINARY) --uninstall --purge, with a ## purge: help line marking it destructive. Either factor the shim into an internal ensure-binary prerequisite shared by both targets, or repeat the four-line block — either is acceptable.

4. README.md

• CLI flags table (~line 152): change the --uninstall row to "stop, disable, and remove the systemd unit and /opt/coding-agent-loop; leaves all data in place", and add a --purge row: "only with --uninstall: also delete the configured workspace/logs/state paths and the dedicated service account's home".
• "To remove everything --install created" section (~lines 845-871): show both commands (--uninstall, --uninstall --purge, make uninstall, make purge) and split the numbered list into "always" steps (today's 1, 3, 4) and "only with --purge" steps (today's 2 and 5), keeping the existing prose about non-default state paths and about running --uninstall the same way --install was run.
• Quick start (~line 118) needs no change.

5. Tests — internal/install/install_test.go

Existing coverage (TestUninstallRequiresRoot, removeDir/removeFile/loadStatePaths tests) stays. Add tests against the new applyStatePaths seam, which needs no root:

• TestApplyStatePathsRemovesWhenPurging — temp home with .agent-loop/work, .../logs, .../state.db; point installedConfigPath at a temp config via the existing setInstalledConfigPathForTest helper; purge=true; assert the paths are gone.
• TestApplyStatePathsKeepsDataWhenNotPurging — same fixture, purge=false; assert every path still exists and that the log callback fired.
• TestApplyStatePathsHonoursConfiguredPaths — config naming non-default absolute paths under a temp dir, purge=true; assert those exact paths are removed, locking in that purge follows the config rather than assuming ~/.agent-loop.

Risks / decisions for the reviewer

• Behaviour change for existing users. Anyone relying on make uninstall / --uninstall to wipe state now needs --purge. That is the explicit intent of the issue; the README and usage-text changes are what make it discoverable.
• Dedicated-user handling (main judgement call). This plan leaves the coding-agent-loop account and its home in place when not purging. The alternative — delete the account, keep the home — is rejected because it strands data behind an orphaned uid. Worth a reviewer nod, since it means plain --uninstall does not fully reverse --install in that path.
• /opt/coding-agent-loop/config.json is still deleted by plain --uninstall, since it goes with os.RemoveAll(installRoot) as today. I read the issue's "data directories" as the state paths, not the installed config copy. If the reviewer wants the config preserved on a non-purge uninstall, the change would be to remove installRoot/bin and the unit while leaving config.json behind (note installConfig already refuses to clobber an existing config on re-install).
• --purge alone errors rather than warning — the issue calls it a paired flag, and a silent no-op on a destructive-sounding flag is worse than a clear failure.

Verification

go build ./... && go vet ./...
go test -race ./internal/install/...
make test                                  # full suite
bin/coding-agent-loop --purge              # expect exit 1 with the pairing error
bin/coding-agent-loop --help               # usage shows --purge and the reworded --uninstall

Manual end-to-end (throwaway VM/container with systemd; these steps need root):

1. make install, let the service create ~/.agent-loop/{work,repos,logs} and state.db.
2. sudo bin/coding-agent-loop --uninstall → unit gone, /opt/coding-agent-loop gone, ~/.agent-loop and its contents intact, log lines naming each retained path.
3. make install again, then sudo bin/coding-agent-loop --uninstall --purge → same service removal plus ~/.agent-loop gone; confirm ~/.claude/.credentials.json still exists.
4. In the no-SUDO_USER path (run as root in a container): non-purge leaves the coding-agent-loop account and /home/coding-agent-loop; purge removes both.

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Reply with exactly implement to approve this plan and start the change. Reply with anything else and the plan will be revised to address it.

_{coding-agent-loop run fb571323-4ec1-4435-bd4c-961adace0b22, model claude-opus-5, cost $0.9100}

[ableinc]

implement

[ableinc]

Opened a draft pull request for this issue: #20

Tests failed (make test) — see the PR for output.

Comment implement again if you want another attempt at this issue.

_{coding-agent-loop run 2f5f1598-467b-4d0f-a207-27131c31f3e2}