Nora v1.16.4 — safer Remote Docker revocation and fail-closed recovery

[solomon2773]

Remote Docker security and lifecycle patch: revoking a workspace grant now
tears down Nora-mediated access that is already in flight, not only the next
request, while cleanup retains enough authority to avoid orphaning workloads.

Operator-facing changes

• Revocation applies to active work — in-flight HTTP and WebSocket requests,
  gateway RPCs, and tracked remote command processes are cancelled when access
  is removed. Remote Hermes fails safe by stopping the container when a direct
  command cannot be cancelled independently.
• SSH trust reset is explicit — host owners can reset a pinned SSH host key
  only through a confirmation-gated, audited action, then must run Test to
  verify and pin the replacement before reuse.
• Host and agent mutations are serialized — per-host and per-agent advisory
  locks keep concurrent tests, lifecycle actions, redeploys, restores, and
  queue publication from racing a recreated host or stale runtime state.
• Credential reconciliation fails closed — start, restart, replacement, and
  provider mutation paths use the durable agent owner's current state. Failed
  reconciliation stops or quarantines the runtime instead of reporting a false
  success.
• Recovery remains possible after revocation — normal Remote Docker actions
  stay blocked, while cleanup-only paths can still remove workloads Nora owns.
• Release metadata is aligned — Nora v1.16.4, Helm chart 0.7.4, and the
  Gemini extension manifest now publish against the exact release.

Maturity boundaries

Docker and Kubernetes remain the GA paths. Remote Docker, the OpenClaw-only
NemoClaw sandbox, and Proxmox are experimental. NemoClaw on Proxmox remains
blocked.

What feedback would help most

• When access to a remote runtime is revoked, what in-flight work must stop
  immediately in your environment?
• Which recovery action should remain available after normal access is gone?
• What proof would you require before promoting Remote Docker from experimental
  use?

Release notes: https://github.com/solomon2773/nora/releases/tag/v1.16.4

Remote Docker guide:
https://noradocs.solomontsao.com/configuration/provisioner-backends/remote-docker

Quickstart: https://noradocs.solomontsao.com/quickstart

Walkthrough: https://nora.solomontsao.com/walkthrough.mp4

Disclosure: I maintain Nora. This announcement was drafted with AI assistance
and checked against the published release and current production metadata.