# Session Summary - home-apps
**Date**: 2026-04-12
**Hostname**: home-apps
**Repository**: homelab-agents (shared)

## Session Overview

Debugging and fixing Emacs configuration to work correctly on the Linux VM
accessed via terminal from an iPad. Config is authored on a Mac and synced
to the VM via Syncthing.

## Accomplishments

### Emacs Init Error Fixed (flashcard-config.el)
- Identified `void-variable flash-card-mode-map` error on startup
- Root cause: mismatched parenthesis caused `(define-key flash-card-mode-map ...)`
  to fall outside the `use-package` block and execute before the package loaded
- Fixed by moving the closing `)` to after the second `define-key`

### Cross-Platform Load Paths Fixed
- `flashcard-config.el` and `task-config.el` both referenced `~/config/sam_emacs_packages/`
  which does not exist on this VM (packages live at `~/sam_emacs_packages/`)
- Applied the conditional `darwin`/Linux pattern:
  ```elisp
  (add-to-list 'load-path (expand-file-name
                           (if (eq system-type 'darwin)
                               "~/config/sam_emacs_packages/<pkg>"
                             "~/sam_emacs_packages/<pkg>")))
  ```

### secrets.el Symlink Added
- `init.el` loads `secrets.el` via `user-emacs-directory` but no symlink existed
- Added: `~/.emacs.d/secrets.el` → `~/emacs_config/secrets.el`

### ELPA Package Visibility Fixed (ob-mermaid)
- On Mac, `~/.emacs.d` symlinks to `~/config/emacs_config` so packages install into
  `~/emacs_config/elpa/`. On the VM, `~/.emacs.d/elpa/` is a separate real directory.
- Fixed by adding `~/emacs_config/elpa/` to `package-directory-list` in `package-setup.el`
  before `(package-initialize)`, Linux-only

### mermaid-mode Added
- Added `mermaid-mode` alongside existing `ob-mermaid` in `org-base.el`
- Guarded by same `(when my/mmdc-path ...)` check — only loads if `mmdc` is available
- Reuses `my/mmdc-path` variable for cross-platform CLI path

### Puppeteer Sandbox Fix (VM only)
- `mmdc` uses headless Chromium which requires sandboxing — blocked on this Linux VM
- Created `~/.config/mermaid/puppeteer-config.json` with `{"args": ["--no-sandbox"]}`
- `org-base.el` detects this file at load time and sets `ob-mermaid-puppeteer-config`
  and `mermaid-flags` accordingly; Mac is unaffected (file doesn't exist there)

### Notion Credentials Investigated
- "Notion Task DBID not set" error traced to credentials path resolution
- `notion-config.el` resolves path relative to parent of `user-emacs-directory`
  (following symlinks): Mac → `~/config/credentials/`, VM → `~/credentials/`
- File confirmed present at `~/credentials/notion-credentials.env` — already synced

### .netrc Set Up for Gitea
- Bootstrap script at `https://gitea.pdmarf.co.uk` required authentication
- Created `~/.netrc` with API token for both the public domain and internal IP
  (`100.120.125.113`) — git operations inside the bootstrap use the internal address
- Documented in `~/netrc-explainer.org`

## Key Decisions

- **Conditional load paths** rather than VM-only overrides — keeps one config file working on both platforms
- **`package-directory-list`** rather than symlinking elpa directories — safer, non-destructive
- **Puppeteer config file as feature flag** — presence of the file enables the workaround, absence is safe
- **`.netrc` for Gitea auth** — token stored once, not embedded in scripts or history

## Files Modified

| File | Change |
|------|--------|
| `my-packages/flashcard-config.el` | Fixed paren bug; conditional load path |
| `my-packages/task-config.el` | Conditional load path |
| `my-packages/package-setup.el` | Added `~/emacs_config/elpa` to `package-directory-list` on Linux |
| `my-packages/org-base.el` | Added `mermaid-mode`; Puppeteer config detection |
| `~/.emacs.d/secrets.el` | New symlink → `~/emacs_config/secrets.el` |
| `~/.config/mermaid/puppeteer-config.json` | New file, VM only |
| `~/.netrc` | New file, Gitea credentials |
| `~/netrc-explainer.org` | New documentation file |

## Next Steps

- Restart Emacs on Mac to let `:ensure t` install `mermaid-mode` from MELPA
- Test `mermaid-compile` and Babel `#+begin_src mermaid` blocks on the iPad
- Verify Notion Tasks opens cleanly after credentials fix