Merge fix-kind-relative-volume-paths into fix-caddy-acme-email-rbac

docs/deployment_patterns.md

@@ -125,6 +125,43 @@ When using Ansible for deployments, pass the token from a credentials file:
 2. Creates a Kubernetes `docker-registry` secret named `{deployment}-registry`
 3. The deployment's pods reference this secret for image pulls
 
+## Volume Persistence in k8s-kind
+
+k8s-kind has 3 storage layers:
+
+- **Docker Host**: The physical server running Docker
+- **Kind Node**: A Docker container simulating a k8s node
+- **Pod Container**: Your workload
+
+For k8s-kind, volumes with paths are mounted from Docker Host → Kind Node → Pod via extraMounts.
+
+| spec.yml volume | Storage Location | Survives Pod Restart | Survives Cluster Restart |
+|-----------------|------------------|---------------------|-------------------------|
+| `vol:` (empty)  | Kind Node PVC    | ✅ | ❌ |
+| `vol: ./data/x` | Docker Host      | ✅ | ✅ |
+| `vol: /abs/path`| Docker Host      | ✅ | ✅ |
+
+**Recommendation**: Always use paths for data you want to keep. Relative paths
+(e.g., `./data/rpc-config`) resolve to `$DEPLOYMENT_DIR/data/rpc-config` on the
+Docker Host.
+
+### Example
+
+```yaml
+# In spec.yml
+volumes:
+  rpc-config: ./data/rpc-config  # Persists to $DEPLOYMENT_DIR/data/rpc-config
+  chain-data: ./data/chain       # Persists to $DEPLOYMENT_DIR/data/chain
+  temp-cache:                    # Empty = Kind Node PVC (lost on cluster delete)
+```
+
+### The Antipattern
+
+Empty-path volumes appear persistent because they survive pod restarts (data lives
+in Kind Node container). However, this data is lost when the kind cluster is
+recreated. This "false persistence" has caused data loss when operators assumed
+their data was safe.
+
 ## Cluster and Volume Management
 
 ### Stopping Deployments
@@ -139,18 +176,6 @@ laconic-so deployment --dir my-deployment stop
 laconic-so deployment --dir my-deployment stop --delete-volumes
 ```
 
-### Volume Persistence
-
-Volumes persist across cluster deletion by design. This is important because:
-- **Data survives cluster recreation**: Ledger data, databases, and other state are preserved
-- **Faster recovery**: No need to re-sync or rebuild data after cluster issues
-- **Safe cluster upgrades**: Delete and recreate cluster without data loss
-
-**Only use `--delete-volumes` when:**
-- You explicitly want to start fresh with no data
-- The user specifically requests volume deletion
-- You're cleaning up a test/dev environment completely
-
 ### Shared Cluster Architecture
 
 In kind deployments, multiple stacks share a single cluster:

stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_create.py

@@ -690,10 +690,14 @@ def _check_volume_definitions(spec):
         for volume_name, volume_path in spec.get_volumes().items():
             if volume_path:
                 if not os.path.isabs(volume_path):
-                    raise Exception(
-                        f"Relative path {volume_path} for volume {volume_name} not "
-                        f"supported for deployment type {spec.get_deployment_type()}"
-                    )
+                    # For k8s-kind: allow relative paths, they'll be resolved
+                    # by _make_absolute_host_path() during kind config generation
+                    if not spec.is_kind_deployment():
+                        deploy_type = spec.get_deployment_type()
+                        raise Exception(
+                            f"Relative path {volume_path} for volume "
+                            f"{volume_name} not supported for {deploy_type}"
+                        )
 
 
 @click.command()

stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/cluster_info.py

@@ -352,11 +352,15 @@ class ClusterInfo:
                 continue
 
             if not os.path.isabs(volume_path):
-                print(
-                    f"WARNING: {volume_name}:{volume_path} is not absolute, "
-                    "cannot bind volume."
-                )
-                continue
+                # For k8s-kind, allow relative paths:
+                # - PV uses /mnt/{volume_name} (path inside kind node)
+                # - extraMounts resolve the relative path to Docker Host
+                if not self.spec.is_kind_deployment():
+                    print(
+                        f"WARNING: {volume_name}:{volume_path} is not absolute, "
+                        "cannot bind volume."
+                    )
+                    continue
 
             if self.spec.is_kind_deployment():
                 host_path = client.V1HostPathVolumeSource(