2026-10-04 22:54:01 +00:00
# Per-Node Rate Limit Policy (2026-10-04)
2026-10-05 15:58:37 +00:00
> **Box is the main surface.** All operator work goes through Box (box.muse-dev.online). The web UI, `box` CLI, and agents share the same API endpoints. No UI-only powers.
2026-10-04 22:54:01 +00:00
## Why
All 4 fleet nodes (muse, pip, 646, opm) egress from a single Cloudflare IP
(`104.28.195.181` ). Cloudflare therefore sees the whole fleet as one client.
When fleet timers fire simultaneously, synchronized send bursts look like one
aggressive client and invite correlated rate-limiting — the likely shape of
the "all 4 browsers flapping" episodes.
Per-agent rate limiting with deterministic jitter de-correlates the fleet:
each node's send phase drifts apart instead of hitting in lockstep.
## Policy
| Agent | Base interval | Jitter factor | Effective interval | Burst | Max/min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| muse | 3.0s | 1.2917 | 3.875s | 5 | 20 |
| pip | 3.0s | 0.8183 | 2.455s | 5 | 20 |
| 646 | 3.0s | 1.1193 | 3.358s | 5 | 20 |
| opm | 3.0s | 0.8287 | 2.486s | 5 | 20 |
Mean effective interval ≈ 3.04s — the jitter does **not ** make limits
stricter on average; it only spreads phases.
- **Jitter:** ±30% deterministic per agent, seeded by
`sha256("netvm-rate-jitter:v1:" + agent)` . Same agent → same factor every
run (reproducible); different agents → different factors (de-correlated).
Uses an isolated `random.Random` , never touches global random state.
- **Scope:** per-agent token buckets. State lives in one shared file
(`/tmp/netvm-rate-limit.json` ) but keys are namespaced by agent
(`{agent}` , `{agent}_recent` ) — buckets are fully independent.
- **Enforcement points:**
- `job-dispatch.py` — `rate_limit_wait(agent)` / `rate_limit_wait(sender_agent)`
(pre-existing; now jittered, no call-site change needed)
- `dm.py::dm_send` — `rate_limit_wait(agent)` before send, keyed on the
sender (added 2026-10-04). Near no-op at normal pacing since sends
already sleep 2–
## Inspect
``` bash
python3 bin/rate_limiter.py --policy # effective policy per agent
python3 bin/rate_limiter.py --policy opm --no-jitter
```
## Notes
- `/tmp` state does not survive reboots; buckets start empty (permissive).
- To disable jitter for a caller: `rate_limit_wait(agent, jitter=0)` .
- Distinct egress IPs per node (Cloudflare Zero Trust dedicated egress)
remains the structural fix; this policy is the de-correlation layer that
works regardless.
