Experiment 020: Physical AI Edge/Fleet Worker Runtime

Date: 2026-06-23 Classification: Experimental runtime path

Goal

Move the Physical AI edge/fleet connector beyond lifecycle-only server control by adding a bounded server-managed worker foundation.

Hypothesis

If EdgeFleetConnectorRuntime owns bounded worker passes and telemetry, then the standalone replay tool is no longer required to control connector lifecycle. A production adapter can later supply the concrete SQL/HTTP outbox loader and fleet sink without changing the delivery state machine.

Implementation

• Added EdgeFleetConnectorRuntimeHooks:
  • load_outbox
  • sink
  • optional observe_pass
• Added manual runOnce().
• Added background worker mode:
  • worker_enabled
  • worker_poll_interval_ms
• Added runtime snapshot fields for worker hook readiness, worker running state, worker counters, and last pass telemetry.
• Added Prometheus worker metrics.
• Added HTTP status/config fields and HttpServer hook installation API.

Acceptance Checks

Check	Expected
Manual bounded pass	Runtime processes only min(batch_limit, max_inflight) events.
Background convergence	Worker drains an outbox across multiple bounded passes.
Loader outage	Worker records load errors and recovers on a later pass.
Missing hooks	Worker mode rejects start with a clear error.
HTTP lifecycle	Admin lifecycle can start the worker when hooks are installed.
Metrics	Worker pass/error counters appear in /metrics.

Verification

cd build && ninja -j$(nproc) zepto_tests zepto_http_server zepto_edge_fleet_replay

./build/tests/zepto_tests \
  --gtest_filter='EdgeFleetFeedConnectorTest.*:EdgeFleetConnectorRuntimeTest.*'

./build/tests/zepto_tests \
  --gtest_filter='MetricsProviderTest.EdgeFleetConnector*:EdgeFleetConnectorAdminAuthTest.*'

Results:

• Build: pass.
• Connector/runtime focused tests: pass, 16/16.
• HTTP lifecycle/admin tests: pass, 5/5.

Interpretation

Experiment 020 closes the server-managed worker lifecycle gap from Experiment 019. The runtime can now own bounded processing and pass telemetry instead of only owning configuration and start/stop state.

This is still not a promoted production feature. The worker currently requires embedding code to install outbox-loader and fleet-sink hooks. Product promotion still requires a built-in SQL/HTTP adapter, persisted config, idempotent sink docs, live fault/soak tests, and cross-architecture verification.