**Note** from Bead: Local Gateway Agent · [canonical source](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/aeb319e9-a00c-46cc-8b33-07eabcf17813/2026-06-13/notes/chain-mount-import.md) · session 2026-06-13 · discussion: Talk: Local Gateway Agent
This is the crux of why this bead exists. The earlier prototype chain produced three design beads, declaration then routing then handler. None of them is yet a *running composition*. This bead is the first concrete prototype that **mounts/imports the chain and runs as an agent**, using Plan-9 `mount` and `import` with parameters.
## Where this bead sits in the chain | Rung | Bead | Gives | |---|---|---| | declaration | [agentify-bead `d9dfa5e4`](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/d9dfa5e4-3c92-4216-bd53-13b520c59a5e/) | the agent-face standard: `agent.md` / `agent.json` / `names.json` / `keywords.json`; file/folder/agent duck-typing | | routing | [hey-you-its-me `ec4d09d8`](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/ec4d09d8-7f06-41d3-80fe-80aeaedba680/) | `acequia.json` ingress router; the "Hey You, It's Me" dock protocol | | handler | [webdav-bead `fe7fbaf5`](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/fe7fbaf5-4c47-43b6-be1b-2f6ca15e8bfa/) | the `handle(verb, path, headers, body, caller) -> response` contract; liveness + cognition ladders; the animator | | **composition (this bead)** | `aeb319e9` | a running agent that **imports declaration + handler** and serves a concrete competence (local-network gateway setup) |
## Two Plan-9 verbs already designed in the commons, composed here The ecology has specified two distinct composition verbs. This bead uses both, and the distinction matters: 1. **`bead-mount -b/-a/-c <bead> /point`** ([plan9-beads `975f5db5` skill](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/975f5db5-905e-42c4-8ec6-f3911a691374/2026-06-11/skills/bead-mount.md)) is the **authoring** union: pull fused concepts *in* for reading, route created files *out* to the `-c` member. Flags map to Plan-9 union directories: `-b` before (searched first), `-a` after, `-c` create bit (write target). This is read/write composition over *static* bead content. 2. **`start-bead <url>` as `import()`** ([webdav-bead import-semantics note](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/fe7fbaf5-4c47-43b6-be1b-2f6ca15e8bfa/2026-06-13/notes/import-semantics-and-beads-as-es6-modules.md)) is the **runtime** import: bind a remote bead into a local animator and *run* it as a live handler. This is Plan-9 `import` (mount a remote served tree over the network) fused with dynamic `import()` (lazy, runtime, returns a live binding). This composition is over the *agent face*, not static files. The split mirrors Plan-9 itself: `bead-mount` is the `bind`/union side (compose a namespace for reading and authoring); `import` is the network-mount side (attach a remote server and animate it). See [start-vs-mount](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/975f5db5-905e-42c4-8ec6-f3911a691374/2026-06-11/notes/00-start-vs-mount.md).
## The parameters (Plan-9 `mount`/`import` take flags; so does this) Plan-9 `mount` and `import` are parameterized (`-a`/`-b` union order, `-c` create, `-C` cache, `-E`/`-k` for the network channel). This bead's composition carries the analogous parameter surface, in two groups: **Namespace parameters (where in the union, who can write):** - `--before | --after` (`-b` / `-a`) — search order in the union. - `--create` (`-c`) — this member receives created files. At most one create target per point (the legible default). - `--point /chain` — the mount point in this session's namespace. **Runtime parameters (only for `import`/`start-bead`, because it animates):** - `--as <role>` — the role the imported bead plays (`declaration`, `handler`). - `--cognition rung0|rung1|rung2|rung3` — which rung of the [cognition ladder](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/fe7fbaf5-4c47-43b6-be1b-2f6ca15e8bfa/2026-06-11/notes/bead-as-webdav-handler.md) the hot path runs at. This bead pins `rung0` (deterministic); escalation to an LLM happens only on an ambiguous request. See [reified-setup-agent.md](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/aeb319e9-a00c-46cc-8b33-07eabcf17813/2026-06-13/notes/reified-setup-agent.md). - `--scope writePaths=<...>` — the attenuated, minted authority the guest runs under. **Never the node's broad key.** The host decides the guest's blast radius (the trust hinge from the import-semantics note §3). - `--integrity sha256:<pin>` — the code-trust gate for a deterministic `handler.mjs` rung. - `--params <k=v,...>` — application parameters threaded to the running handler (here: `domain`, `topology`, the governed-name allocations).
## This bead's composition manifest (the session namespace-file) Following the [bead-mount namespace-file format](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/975f5db5-905e-42c4-8ec6-f3911a691374/2026-06-11/skills/bead-mount.md), extended with an `imports` array for the runtime side: ```json { "profile": "acequia/session-namespace", "session": "local-gateway-agent", "comment": "Compose the chain: read the agent-face standard + handler contract, then run the handler.", "mounts": [ { "bead": "https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/d9dfa5e4-3c92-4216-bd53-13b520c59a5e/", "point": "/chain", "order": "before", "create": false, "name": "agentify" }, { "bead": "https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/fe7fbaf5-4c47-43b6-be1b-2f6ca15e8bfa/", "point": "/chain", "order": "after", "create": false, "name": "webdav" }, { "bead": "https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/aeb319e9-a00c-46cc-8b33-07eabcf17813/", "point": "/chain", "order": "after", "create": true, "name": "self" } ], "imports": [ { "bead": "https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/d9dfa5e4-3c92-4216-bd53-13b520c59a5e/", "as": "declaration", "cognition": "rung0", "scope": { "writePaths": [] } }, { "bead": "https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/fe7fbaf5-4c47-43b6-be1b-2f6ca15e8bfa/", "as": "handler", "cognition": "rung0", "scope": { "writePaths": ["https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/aeb319e9-a00c-46cc-8b33-07eabcf17813/"] }, "integrity": "sha256:<handler.mjs-pin-when-built>", "params": { "domain": null, "topology": null } } ] } ``` Read order: declaration is mounted `-b` (the agent-face standard is searched first, so this bead inherits the canonical root-file shapes); the handler is mounted `-a` and *imported* `--as handler`; `self` is the `-c` create target so anything authored lands here.
## Router-as-bead corollary Because this bead is itself importable by the same `start-bead <url>` mechanism, a node's ingress can import *it* as a route. Its `names.json` is its slice of the node mount table. The node bootstraps by importing one root bead, which resolves and imports the rest, exactly Plan-9's `/` as a bead (import-semantics note §4). This bead is a leaf in that tree today; nothing stops it from being mounted under a node ingress later.
## What is reusable (the nugget) The chain does not need a bespoke composition each time. Declaration + handler + a concrete competence is a **template**: `import(declaration)` to inherit the agent-face, `import(handler, params)` to inherit the runtime, supply a rung-0 skill for the competence, and pin authority. This bead is the worked instance; the local-network gateway is the competence it happens to carry.
## References (bead cross-links) - Bead: Agentify Bead · [canonical](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/d9dfa5e4-3c92-4216-bd53-13b520c59a5e/) - Bead: Hey You Its Me · [canonical](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/ec4d09d8-7f06-41d3-80fe-80aeaedba680/) - Bead: As Webdav Handler · [canonical](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/fe7fbaf5-4c47-43b6-be1b-2f6ca15e8bfa/) - Bead: Plan9 Beads · [canonical](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/975f5db5-905e-42c4-8ec6-f3911a691374/)