latchd/CHANGELOG.md

# Changelog

## 0.3.0 — Rust workspace release preparation

- Rust is the supported login manager; the Go/cgo prototype is quarantined at
  `legacy/go/` and excluded from normal builds and release archives.
- Added workspace crates for PAM authentication, session/config/account
  management, and the TUI, including account switching and advisory faillock.
- Added optional terminal-cell wallpapers, cellular automata effects, and
  accessible motion/background controls.
- Added GitLab CI verification, version-checked tag releases, optimized
  single-version Cargo builds, deterministic installation archives, SHA-256
  checksums, and embedded build metadata.
- Live VT, logind, PAM-policy, X11, and Wayland validation remains a deployment
  requirement on an isolated VM or target host.

## Legacy Go history (not the Rust release)

## 0.1.0 — Unreleased

first public release

### What's In

- tui login screen with username/password fields, session switcher, and status messages
- supports x11, wayland, and tty sessions
- pam authentication via cgo (thread-locked for safety)
- faillock integration — detects lockouts, shows remaining attempts, admin bypass via ctrl+u
- conway's game of life background rendered at 30 fps with unicode half-block characters
- spring animation on switcher transitions
- shake animation on failed login
- caps lock indicator via ioctl
- configurable power controls (shutdown/reboot on f1/f2 by default)
- toml configuration with `$VARIABLE` substitution
- preview mode (`--preview`) to test the login screen without leaving your session
- utmpx user accounting (glibc only)
- x11 session setup — xauthority cookies, sigusr1 handshake, server timeout
- privilege dropping for child processes
- log piping with 64 mb cap

### Recent Fixes

- **DesktopNames parsing** — `.desktop` files now parse the `DesktopNames` field. the first semicolon-delimited entry becomes `XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP`, and the full list with `:` separators becomes `XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP`. fixes GNOME/KDE sessions not getting proper environment variables
- **utmpx accounting wired** — `AddUtmpx` and `Close` are now called from `spawnSession` so user logins appear in `who`/`w`/`last`
- **fixed hardcoded shell** — `Credentials.Shell` now reads from `/etc/passwd` instead of always returning `/bin/sh`. removes duplicate `userShell` logic in exec.go
- **automata background wired** — `Automata.Frame()` is now rendered in `View()` as the base layer with the login form card overlaid using ANSI cursor positioning. the form has a dark card background for readability
- **clock widget** — added a datetime display (`Mon Jan 02 15:04:05`) to the top bar, updated every tick
- **session specifier label** — the environment switcher now shows the session type (`x11`, `wayland`) above the session name, like ly's specifier
- **form card background** — login content is rendered inside a padded card with a dark background so it reads cleanly over the animated automata

- **utmpx time field portability** — replaced hardcoded `C.__uint32_t` / `C.__int32_t` casts with a C helper function (`auth/utmpx_time.h`) that lets the compiler handle type conversion. fixes build failure on systems where `ut_tv` uses `struct timeval` instead of the 32/64 compat struct
- **cgo pointer safety for pam** — replaced `unsafe.Pointer(&h)` (Go stack pointer passed to C) with `storeHandle`/`loadHandle` helpers that keep the `cgo.Handle` in C-heap memory. fixes `cgo argument has Go pointer to unpinned Go pointer` panic on Go 1.22+
- **pam conversation callback** — fixed `unsafe.Slice` using `&r` (pointer-to-pointer) as the backing array instead of `r` (the calloc'd response array), which wrote password bytes into random stack memory. also now only responds to `PAM_PROMPT_ECHO_OFF`/`PAM_PROMPT_ECHO_ON` messages — info and error messages get nil. fixes `pam_unix: auth could not identify password`
- **cgo handle lifecycle** — moved `cgo.Handle` and its C-heap backing from `Validate` (where they were `defer`-freed on return) into the `Credentials` struct so they stay alive through `OpenSession` and until `CloseSession`. fixes `misuse of an invalid Handle` panic
- **session spawning** — replaced the broken `ForkExec` (which relaunched the same binary with made-up flags) with a direct `session.Spawn` call that drops privileges and runs the desktop in-process. fixes `flag provided but not defined: -user`
- **renamed extra/ files** — `lemurs.pam` → `latchd.pam`, `lemurs.service` → `latchd.service`
- **readme credits** — added a credits section acknowledging lemurs for the `extra/` directory structure and session scanning approach
- **makefile `enable` and `update` targets** — `make enable` stops any running DM, disables the aliased display-manager, and enables latchd. `make update` runs uninstall → git pull → reinstall in one command
- **missing `extra/` directory** — added `extra/config.toml`, `extra/xsetup.sh`, `extra/lemurs.pam`, and `extra/lemurs.service` so `make install` can find them
- **makefile `deps` target** — added `make deps` to automatically install `libpam0g-dev` and `build-essential`, and verify go is present
- **readme overhaul** — rewrote for clarity: added "what problem does this solve", "how it works", known issues, simpler install instructions, and proper dependency listing
- **view cleanup** — removed the non-functional automata background overlay from `View()` (the `Frame()` was never called, and the black-space placeholder caused `EEEE` garbage characters on some terminals). also removed a hardcoded 80-char width on the top bar so it adapts to the terminal
- **session environment setup** — `spawnSession` now calls `SetBasicVariables`, `SetDisplay`, `SetSessionParams`, `SetSeatVars`, `SetSessionVars`, and `SetXDGCommonPaths` before spawning the desktop. fixes `setupX` failing immediately with `missing DISPLAY/XDG_VTNR/HOME env vars` because none were set
- **pam session error made non-fatal** — `pam_open_session` failure (e.g. `pam_systemd` rejecting the DM process as session leader) is now logged as a warning instead of blocking the entire session spawn. also removed `session include login` from `latchd.pam` since the DM process can't register user sessions with systemd-logind
- **global session switching with `,` and `.`** — sessions can now be switched from any mode (not just when the switcher is focused). arrows still work when switcher is focused

### What's Missing

- no tests
- session leader is the latchd process, not the desktop — pam session tracking via systemd-logind may be imperfect
- not all config options affect the rendering yet
- occasional terminal state corruption on abrupt exit
- automata background visible at screen edges; form card covers the center