The local hub is the cloud

There is no vendor cloud and no brain off the node; the node is the central solution.

Context

An agent operations layer can be built as a hosted service the operator connects to, or as software the operator runs. The first shape moves agent state and session brains off the machine and makes an external service the centre of the system. It also tends to make the useful parts a paid tier.

Decision

The homelab or NAS node is the central solution. There is no vendor cloud and no brain off the node: the node holds every brain. The hub is one binary or container the operator runs, and agents on any machine report in over a LAN or tailnet.

Consequences

• All data stays on the operator's hardware. Backups are node or NAS snapshots.
• The hub must be deployable with almost no setup, which drives the single binary and the optional tailnet build flag.
• Availability is the operator's responsibility, which is the intended trade.
• There is no tier to pay for and no service to depend on.