feat(profile): named instance profiles via --profile flag by TimeToBuildBob · Pull Request #652 · ActivityWatch/aw-server-rust

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-23T10:01:57Z

Part of ActivityWatch/activitywatch#1399.

What

Named --profile on aw-server-rust, with --testing as an alias for --profile testing. Replaces static mut TESTING with OnceLock<String> PROFILE.

Testing-root fallback (activitywatch#1399 / aw-core#152)

Identical contract to python. Resolution rule:

If activitywatch-testing/ already exists → use it.
Else if legacy testing artifacts exist in the bare activitywatch/ root (sqlite-testing.db, config-testing.toml, python peewee-sqlite-testing*.db, …) → stay in legacy mode (old paths, old filenames).
Else (fresh setup) → create and use activitywatch-testing/.

Inside isolated profile roots (including new-style testing), filenames are bare: sqlite.db, config.toml, unsuffixed logs. Suffixed names remain only in legacy mode so existing sqlite-testing.db files are not orphaned.

set_profile() now runs before setup_logger(), so named profiles log into their own cache dir rather than the shared one.

AW_PROFILE is the env fallback when --profile is absent (matches aw-qt exporting the env to children). CLI flag wins.

Developer-mode

is_testing() is still profile == "testing" only. A research instance is production-mode (no Rocket debug / permissive CORS).

Tests

Fallback rule covered against fake XDG roots: fresh / legacy artifacts / new-root-wins / config-testing.toml marker / named profiles stay isolated.

greptile-apps · 2026-08-23T10:06:42Z

Greptile Summary

The PR adds named server and sync profiles, including CLI/environment resolution and isolated configuration, database, and log roots while preserving legacy testing paths.

Replaces mutable testing state with an immutable process-wide profile.
Adds profile-aware filesystem resolution and testing-root compatibility fallback.
Exposes the active profile through server information and propagates profile selection to aw-sync.

Confidence Score: 5/5

The PR appears safe to merge.

No blocking failure remains.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
aw-server/src/config.rs	Replaces mutable testing state with atomic profile initialization; the updated conflict handling rejects differing concurrent or compatibility-setter values.
aw-server/src/dirs.rs	Adds profile-aware platform roots, legacy testing detection, isolated filenames, and profile validation.
aw-server/src/main.rs	Resolves and initializes the profile before logging, configuration loading, and datastore selection.
aw-server/src/logging.rs	Routes logs by profile while retaining legacy testing filenames only for shared-root installations.
aw-sync/src/dirs.rs	Aligns sync and embedded-server configuration paths with the selected server profile.
aw-sync/src/main.rs	Adds profile selection and initializes the shared profile before resolving local server settings.
aw-models/src/info.rs	Adds a backward-compatible profile field to the server information model.

Flowchart

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
flowchart TD
    A[CLI --profile] --> D[Resolve profile]
    B[AW_PROFILE] --> D
    C[--testing alias or build default] --> D
    D --> E[Validate and initialize OnceLock]
    E --> F[Select profile config root]
    E --> G[Select profile database root]
    E --> H[Select profile log root]
    E --> I[Expose profile through server info]
    E --> J[Propagate profile to aw-sync]
    F --> K{Testing profile?}
    G --> K
    H --> K
    K -->|New root exists| L[Use isolated activitywatch-testing root]
    K -->|Legacy artifacts exist| M[Use shared root with testing suffixes]
    K -->|Fresh setup| L

_{Reviews (6): Last reviewed commit: "fix(aw-sync): keep Android filesDir conf..." | Re-trigger Greptile}

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-23T10:11:55Z

Fixed two CI failures:

Clippy (aw-sync/src/main.rs:156): setup_logger signature changed from testing: bool to profile: &str, but the call site in aw-sync wasn't updated. Fixed by converting opts.testing to a profile string:

let profile = if opts.testing { "testing" } else { "default" };
aw_server::logging::setup_logger("aw-sync", profile, verbose)?;

Format (aw-server/src/dirs.rs): Long assert! lines in tests exceeded rustfmt's line width. Ran cargo fmt to reformat them.

Push: e7719a2

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-23T10:31:54Z

@greptileai review

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-23T10:42:25Z

@greptileai review

ErikBjare · 2026-08-23T20:43:07Z

@TimeToBuildBob fix broken CI

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-24T04:49:25Z

Confirmed. The four red jobs all fail at the same integration assertion: aw-client-rust/tests/test.rs:202 expects info.testing, but the test server now reports false after the profile migration. Android, format, and clippy are green. I am fixing the testing-profile propagation and will post the focused SHA/test evidence here.

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-24T04:54:25Z

Fixed in aecb912: the in-process test server fixture now explicitly sets testing: true, so /api/0/info matches the integration test contract after the profile refactor. Reproduced the failure first, then verified cargo test -p aw-client-rust --test test (2 passed) and cargo fmt --all -- --check. The new CI run is in progress.

codecov · 2026-08-24T05:03:10Z

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 70.10309% with 58 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.
✅ Project coverage is 79.26%. Comparing base (656f3c9) to head (aae79f8).
⚠️ Report is 97 commits behind head on master.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
aw-server/src/main.rs	0.00%	15 Missing ⚠️
aw-sync/src/main.rs	0.00%	15 Missing ⚠️
aw-server/src/dirs.rs	90.43%	11 Missing ⚠️
aw-sync/src/dirs.rs	72.00%	7 Missing ⚠️
aw-server/src/config.rs	72.22%	5 Missing ⚠️
aw-server/src/logging.rs	0.00%	3 Missing ⚠️
aw-models/src/info.rs	0.00%	2 Missing ⚠️

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##           master     #652      +/-   ##
==========================================
+ Coverage   70.81%   79.26%   +8.44%     
==========================================
  Files          51       67      +16     
  Lines        2916     5768    +2852     
==========================================
+ Hits         2065     4572    +2507     
- Misses        851     1196     +345

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TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-24T05:08:27Z

CI-green and mergeable (Greptile 5/5) — waiting only on a maintainer click.

This PR is ready to merge, but the bot has pull-only access to this repo and can't self-merge — surfacing it here so it isn't lost. The monitoring loop will stop re-flagging it now that this note is posted.

ErikBjare · 2026-08-25T12:00:05Z

@TimeToBuildBob This is not the approach we've discussed

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-25T12:04:48Z

You're right, and I see exactly what's wrong. This PR still uses the old filename-suffix approach — sqlite.db, sqlite-testing.db in the same directory — while aw-core#149 was revised to the per-profile appname approach you proposed: fully separate directory roots (activitywatch-testing/, activitywatch-research/) so cleanup is rm -rf ~/.local/share/activitywatch-research/ and nothing else.

I'll revise this PR to match: when profile is non-default, the app name passed to the app_dirs / dirs crate becomes activitywatch-<profile>, giving each profile its own isolated data/config tree. Same mechanism as aw-core#149. The filename logic in dirs.rs becomes unnecessary and can be dropped entirely.

One question before I push: should the Rust side pick up the AW_PROFILE env var (matching how aw-core sets the appname), or is --profile NAME on the CLI the sole setter, with no env fallback?

ErikBjare · 2026-08-25T12:13:24Z

@TimeToBuildBob Probably env fallback? What does aw-core do?

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-25T12:16:47Z

aw-core reads os.environ.get("AW_PROFILE") in _get_appname() — env var only, no CLI flag at that layer. The planned flow per the RFC is aw-qt sets AW_PROFILE=<name> before spawning children, so each child inherits it without needing an explicit flag.

For aw-server-rust that means: --profile NAME on the CLI is the override; AW_PROFILE is the fallback. I'll implement it that way in the revision — read env, override with CLI flag if supplied, validate whichever wins.

ErikBjare · 2026-08-26T14:49:47Z

@TimeToBuildBob fix it

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-26T14:59:42Z

Revised in three commits (d7f8db2..7d75747):

Per-profile directory root (d7f8db2): non-default/non-testing profiles now use a sibling appname (activitywatch-research, activitywatch-mywork, etc.) so config, data, cache, and logs are fully isolated. default and testing keep the bare activitywatch root — no migration needed. The filename-suffix approach (sqlite-testing.db) is dropped from dirs.rs.
AW_PROFILE env fallback (791cff9): --profile NAME overrides; AW_PROFILE is the fallback (matches how aw-qt propagates the profile to child processes without requiring every module to grow a flag). CLI flag wins when both are set.
aw-sync isolation (7d75747): aw-sync picks up the profile from aw_server::config::get_profile() so its config dir goes under the same activitywatch-<profile> root rather than a separate path.

Result: rm -rf ~/.local/share/activitywatch-research/ cleanly removes a research instance with zero spillover.

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-27T02:08:37Z

@greptileai review

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-29T19:33:07Z

Testing-root fallback is in 4e555f2, matching ActivityWatch/aw-core#152 / activitywatch#1399.

Rule (identical to python):

activitywatch-testing/ exists → use it
else legacy testing artifacts in the bare activitywatch/ root → stay legacy (sqlite-testing.db, config-testing.toml)
else fresh → create and use activitywatch-testing/

Bare filenames inside isolated profile roots. set_profile() now runs before setup_logger() so named profiles no longer log into the shared cache dir.

Local: cargo test -p aw-server -p aw-sync green (39+10 unit tests + integration). CI running on the new head.

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-29T19:33:23Z

@greptileai review

Replace the two-valued `testing: bool` with a named profile string so that more than two parallel ActivityWatch instances can coexist on one machine. - `dirs.rs`: `db_path(profile)` → `sqlite.db` / `sqlite-<profile>.db`; add `validate_profile()` (lowercase alnum + `-_`, max 32 chars, starts with alnum); tests for suffix rule and validation - `config.rs`: replace `static mut TESTING: bool` with `OnceLock<String> PROFILE`; `set_profile()` is idempotent for same value, panics on conflict; `get_profile()` / `is_testing()` derived from it; config file is `config.toml` / `config-<profile>.toml` - `logging.rs`: `setup_logger(module, profile, verbose)` — logfile suffix is `<module>-<profile>_<ts>.log` for non-default profiles - `main.rs`: add `--profile NAME`; `--testing` remains as alias for `--profile testing`; debug builds still default to "testing"; profile is validated before use - `android/mod.rs`: update two call-sites to pass `"default"` Backwards compatibility: - `--testing` still works (alias for `--profile testing`) - `default` profile maps to existing unsuffixed paths (sqlite.db, config.toml) — no migration required - `testing` profile maps to existing -testing suffix paths Part of ActivityWatch/activitywatch#1399.

setup_logger signature changed to accept profile: &str instead of testing: bool. Convert opts.testing bool to "testing"/"default" profile string at the call site. Also run cargo fmt to fix long assert! lines in dirs.rs tests.

…::set result Previously the function checked PROFILE.get() then PROFILE.set() in two separate steps. Two threads with different profile values could both see get()==None before either set, causing the loser's set() error to be discarded and the loser to silently proceed under the wrong profile. Fix: use the atomic OnceLock::set return value directly. If Ok(()), we won the race. If Err(_), the lock was already set by a concurrent caller; check the existing value and panic only if it differs.

…ct panics Greptile P1: bare PROFILE.set() in set_testing silently discarded conflicts even when the existing profile differed, allowing a losing caller to proceed under the wrong instance. Delegating to set_profile() reuses its idempotent same-value check and conflict panic, matching the documented semantics.

…rver info --profile only suffixed the DB filename, so a non-default instance still shared config.toml, the cache dir and the log dir with prod — the one thing profile isolation is for. Move the profile into the platformdirs appname instead ("activitywatch-<profile>"), which isolates config/data/cache/logs and everything nested under them in one place, with no per-module path changes. default and testing deliberately keep the bare "activitywatch" root: their legacy per-file suffixes (sqlite-testing.db, config-testing.toml, port 5666) already separate them, and moving their root would orphan existing installs. Also add Info.profile so clients (webui badge) can tell concurrent instances apart; it deserializes with a "default" fallback so a new client still parses an older server's /api/0/info.

aw-qt exports AW_PROFILE for the modules it spawns (ActivityWatch/aw-qt#128), so a profile set on the launcher reaches aw-server-rust without every module growing its own flag. --profile still wins when given.

aw-sync hard-coded activitywatch/aw-sync, so a research instance would read prod's sync config. Use aw_server::dirs::appname() and the same config-{profile}.toml filename rule as the server. aw-sync now resolves --profile / AW_PROFILE / --testing and calls set_profile so appname() is the named profile, not always default.

Adopt the activitywatch#1399 rule so rust matches aw-core#152: 1. activitywatch-testing/ exists → use it 2. else legacy testing files in activitywatch/ → stay on the shared root (sqlite-testing.db, config-testing.toml) 3. else fresh setup → create and use activitywatch-testing/ Isolated profile roots use bare sqlite.db / config.toml / log names. set_profile now runs before setup_logger so named profiles log into their own cache dir.

Master's ActivityWatch#666 reads the embedded server's config from filesDir for the API key. After rebasing onto that, get_server_config_path must not switch Android onto desktop XDG + appname_for (those helpers are cfg-gated off Android). Desktop still uses the isolated activitywatch-<profile> root.

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-31T15:25:19Z

Rebased onto current master (2ded7d7) to clear the DIRTY/CONFLICTING state.

Conflict was in aw-sync/src/dirs.rs against #666 (Android API-key / filesDir lookup). Resolution kept both sides:

master's Android files_dir_from_xdg_data_home helper + tests
this PR's --profile / AW_PROFILE isolation

Follow-up aae79f8: get_server_config_path stays on filesDir on Android (appname_for is desktop-only). Desktop still uses the isolated activitywatch-<profile> root.

Local verify: cargo test -p aw-server --lib (43 passed), cargo test -p aw-sync --lib (13 passed), cargo test -p aw-client-rust --test test (2 passed), cargo fmt --all -- --check.

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-31T15:25:24Z

@greptileai review

TimeToBuildBob · 2026-08-31T16:17:46Z

Merged — thanks. The final head uses per-profile directory roots, AW_PROFILE fallback with CLI override, the Python-compatible testing-root fallback, and preserves Android filesDir behavior from #666. CI and Greptile were green on that head.

… absence Since ActivityWatch/aw-server-rust#652, --testing servers log to ~/.cache/activitywatch-testing/ while released builds use ~/.cache/activitywatch/. Use shopt nullglob to gracefully handle both paths and avoid failing when no log files are present. Git-Session-Id: 8fb4

… absence (#962) The 'aw-server-rust master' matrix leg has failed on every PR since the aw-server-rust nightly picked up ActivityWatch/aw-server-rust#652 (named instance profiles, merged 2026-08-31). That change resolves the cache root via appname(): a --testing server on a machine with no legacy testing data now logs under ~/.cache/activitywatch-testing/, not ~/.cache/activitywatch/. GitHub runners are fresh, so the nightly leg writes to the new root while the pinned v0.12.3b18 legs (pre-#652 binaries) still use the old one - exactly the observed pass/fail split. Glob both roots so the diagnostics come back, and guard with nullglob so these always()-gated log steps can no longer fail the job when no logs exist. A diagnostic step should never gate a merge. Git-Session-Id: f31d

TimeToBuildBob mentioned this pull request Aug 23, 2026

RFC: named instance profiles — testing-root fallback in aw-core#152; remaining PRs need the same rule ActivityWatch/activitywatch#1399

Closed

greptile-apps Bot reviewed Aug 23, 2026

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Comment thread aw-server/src/config.rs

greptile-apps Bot reviewed Aug 23, 2026

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Comment thread aw-server/src/config.rs

TimeToBuildBob added 6 commits August 31, 2026 15:14

fix(tests): mark in-process server as testing

da1e0a7

TimeToBuildBob added 4 commits August 31, 2026 15:14

feat(profile): fall back to AW_PROFILE env when --profile is absent

3edfe90

aw-qt exports AW_PROFILE for the modules it spawns (ActivityWatch/aw-qt#128), so a profile set on the launcher reaches aw-server-rust without every module growing its own flag. --profile still wins when given.

TimeToBuildBob force-pushed the feat/profile branch from 4e555f2 to aae79f8 Compare August 31, 2026 15:24

ErikBjare merged commit c8533a0 into ActivityWatch:master Aug 31, 2026
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Testing-root fallback (activitywatch#1399 / aw-core#152)

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Confidence Score: 5/5

Important Files Changed

Flowchart

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