# Bare runtime

The installed JARVIS daemon runs on the packaged Bare ELF runtime. Node.js is
used in CI for npm dependency resolution and the portable test suite; it is not
required on an end user’s machine.

```mermaid
flowchart LR
  Install[web installer] --> Bundle[rolling Bare bundle]
  Bundle --> ELF[bare-runtime ELF]
  ELF --> Entry[daemon/bare-entry.js]
  Entry --> Compat[bare-node-runtime map]
  Compat --> Harness[copied agent harness]
  Entry --> QVAC[@qvac/inference in process]
  QVAC --> GPU[QVAC GPU backend]
```

Bare has no Node standard library. JARVIS carries the official
`bare-node-runtime` conditional map at the root, daemon, computer-use, and
copied harness package boundaries. Portable source imports such as
`node:fs`, `node:path`, and `node:events` resolve to `bare-fs`, `bare-path`,
and `bare-events`. Process execution resolves to `bare-subprocess`. New direct
runtime code should prefer `bare-*` names when it has no Node test counterpart.

The QVAC boundary has one deliberate runtime switch. Node uses the existing
`@qvac/sdk` surface. Bare uses `@qvac/inference` in process and registers the
LLM plugin once inside the copied harness engine. The daemon remains the single
QVAC owner: no skill, job, or extension creates another inference runtime.

`packaging/prepare-bare-deps.py` applies the same official map to CommonJS
dependencies at bundle-build time. Bare resolves imports at each package
boundary, and some third party CommonJS packages do not declare their own map.
The preparation changes only the release copy under `node_modules`.

Build and verify the bundle with:

```bash
npm ci
npm run bare:smoke
npm run package:bare
```

The installer executes `node_modules/bare-runtime-linux-*/bin/bare` directly.
The `node_modules/.bin/bare` convenience script is a Node launcher and is not
used by the service. The generated systemd unit therefore has no Node
executable in its `ExecStart` line.

GPU policy remains strict. The Bare QVAC engine must report a visible GPU and
the master load path passes `device: "gpu"`, full GPU layer offload, and GPU
multimodal projection settings. A missing or unusable GPU stops inference and
is reported by `gpu-doctor`; it never silently falls back to CPU.