the manifest holds only what the tree cannot say

lean it to identity facts and human choices: publisher, version, platform range,
the four presentation fields, and permissions. everything structural becomes
convention, where presence is the declaration — sidecar/, api/router.ts,
db/schema.ts, web/Router.tsx, web/panels.ts. appName comes from the directory
name, so the id cannot disagree with where the code sits.

the dock tile and page title needed no fields at all: the tile is label + icon +
color + mountPrefix, and the title is label. writing them again was duplication
that could only drift.

runtime is the file extension. index.mjs is node, index.ts is bun — implicit,
but already the rule here, since officer-pty runs under node for node-pty's abi
and everything else is bun. better than a field that can contradict the file.

dependsOn is gone; nothing read it.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/offscale-plugin.md

@@ -465,32 +465,20 @@ from nothing includes what nothing needs and misses what is awkward. The field s
 is the floor, not the ceiling.
 
 ```ts
+// plugins/offscale/manifest.ts
 export const manifest = {
-  // ── Identity ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+  /** Constant today. The one input to `mountPrefix()`, and the seam third parties hang off later. */
-  /** THE id. Route segment, table prefix, sidecar suffix, install key. One name, everywhere. */
-  appName: 'offscale',
-  /** Who published it. The ONLY input that decides the mount prefix — see `mountPrefix()`. */
   publisher: 'officerdev',
   /** The plugin's own semver. Updates compare against this. */
   version: '1.0.0',
   /** Which platforms this build is good for. Refused at install when it does not match. */
   platform: '>=1.0.0 <2.0.0',
 
-  // ── Presentation ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
   label: 'Offscale',
   summary: 'Your tailnet — machines, users, pre-auth keys and access policy',
   icon: 'Network',
   color: '#818cf8',
 
-  // ── Backend ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-  sidecar: {
-    /** PM2 process name. Always `officer-<appName>`, but written out because PM2 is told it verbatim. */
-    process: 'officer-offscale',
-    /** `bun` or `node`. A field rather than an assumption: officer-pty needs node for node-pty's ABI. */
-    runtime: 'bun',
-    script: 'sidecar/index.ts',
-  },
-
   // Named `permissions`, NOT `capabilities`. That word already means three different things here — the
   // permission registry, the officer-items store, and the sidecar's routing keys — and a fourth would be
   // one too many. `permissions` is accurate and free: the old table of that name went in 044aacf4.
@@ -503,32 +491,44 @@ export const manifest = {
       ownerOnly: true,
     },
   ],
-
-  // ── Data ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-  /** Drizzle schema. Every table must be prefixed `offscale_`; the installer enforces it. */
-  schema: 'db/schema.ts',
-
-  // ── Frontend ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-  frontend: {
-    /** Default export is mounted at `<prefix>/*` by the generated Plugins.tsx. */
-    router: 'web/Router.tsx',
-    /** `appRegistryMetas` — the panel apps this plugin contributes. */
-    panels: 'web/panels.ts',
-    dock: { label: 'Offscale', to: '/offscale' },
-    title: 'Offscale',
-  },
-
-  // ── Optional dependencies ────────────────────────────────────────────────
-  // Informational, not enforced: both are service dependencies that already degrade. They exist so the
-  // store can say "the Console section needs the terminal plugin" instead of the section silently not
-  // working, which is the difference between a missing feature and a broken one.
-  dependsOn: [
-    { appName: 'anthropic-proxy', optional: true, reason: 'the ACL drafting assistant' },
-    { appName: 'pty', optional: true, reason: 'the SSH console section' },
-  ],
 } as const;
 ```
 
+### Everything the tree can say, the tree says
+
+The manifest holds only what a directory listing genuinely cannot tell you: an identity fact, or something
+a human chose. Everything structural is convention, and **presence is the declaration**:
+
+| Path                 | Means                                                                                         |
+| -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| _the directory name_ | `appName` — `plugins/offscale/` **is** the id, so it cannot disagree with where the code sits |
+| `sidecar/index.ts`   | there is a sidecar; PM2 gets an entry. `.mjs` instead means node — see below                  |
+| `api/router.ts`      | there is a backend router, mounted at `mountPrefix(manifest)`                                 |
+| `db/schema.ts`       | there are tables; pushed on install, every name prefixed `offscale_`                          |
+| `web/Router.tsx`     | there is a frontend; its default export mounts at `<prefix>/*`                                |
+| `web/panels.ts`      | it contributes panels; exports `appRegistryMetas`                                             |
+
+The dock tile and the page title need no fields either — the tile is `{ label, icon, color, to:
+mountPrefix(manifest) }` and the title is `label`, all of which are already above. Writing them again was
+duplication that could only ever drift.
+
+**The runtime is the file extension.** `sidecar/index.mjs` runs under node, `sidecar/index.ts` under bun.
+Implicit, but it is the rule this repo already follows — `officer-pty` is `pty/index.mjs` under node
+because node-pty is a native module built against Node's ABI, and everything else is bun. Better than a
+field that can contradict the file it describes.
+
+### Dropped from the first draft
+
+- **`dependsOn`** — nothing read it and nothing enforced it. Both of offscale's dependencies already
+  explain themselves where it matters (`assistant_unavailable`; "no SSH host configured"). A field whose
+  only job is to be displayed, that nothing displays, is stale the first time anyone looks at it. Add it
+  when something consumes it.
+- **`kind`** — see below.
+- **`sidecar` / `schema` / `frontend` objects** — all convention now.
+
+`[open]` A plugin with a frontend that should NOT get a dock tile has no way to say so: `web/` present
+means a tile. Fine for offscale; add a flag the first time something needs it.
+
 ### `admin` has to be allowed, and the pilot proved it immediately
 
 The earlier rule here was "a plugin may declare `app`, and nothing else". **That is wrong, and offscale is