Pack candidate: chainlink — hierarchical issue tracker for AI agents

[arcaven]

Context

chainlink (dollspace-gay/chainlink) is a Rust CLI implementing a hierarchical issue tracker designed for AI agent workflows. It is part of the VSDD (Vibe-Spec-Driven Development) methodology and provides a traceability pipeline from specs to implementation.

Part of: #9 (SDD system survey)
Ref: kos finding-042

System Profile

• Repo: dollspace-gay/chainlink
• Language: Rust CLI
• Fingerprint: .chainlink/ directory with issues.db (SQLite), rules/, hook-config.json
• Storage: SQLite database + configuration files
• Methodology: VSDD — traceability from specs through issues to implementation

Artifact Layout

.chainlink/
  issues.db               # SQLite database (tool-managed, not sideshow-managed)
  rules/                  # tracking enforcement rules
  hook-config.json        # Claude Code hook configuration
.claude/
  hooks/                  # installed hooks for tracking enforcement

What Sideshow Would Manage

1. Rules — .chainlink/rules/ (tracking enforcement rules)
2. Hook configuration — .chainlink/hook-config.json (defines what hooks to install)
3. Claude Code hooks — .claude/hooks/ (hooks that enforce issue tracking in agent workflows)

Sideshow would NOT manage issues.db — that is runtime state owned by the chainlink CLI.

Why This Is Interesting for Sideshow

chainlink installs Claude Code hooks, not just commands. This is a new artifact type beyond what bmad requires. Supporting chainlink would push sideshow to handle:

• Hook installation (.claude/hooks/)
• Rule file management (.chainlink/rules/)
• Configuration file initialization without overwriting user customization

This is the first candidate that exercises the hooks installation path.

Implementation Notes

• The SQLite database is out of scope — sideshow manages config, not runtime state
• Hook installation needs careful handling: don't clobber user-authored hooks
• chainlink is part of a larger VSDD toolkit — gastown and beads are related tools. Supporting chainlink first tests the pattern for the family
• The Rust CLI binary itself is not a sideshow concern — sideshow manages the project-local configuration files