§11 Lifecycle

11.1 Stages#

Stage	Precondition	Effect	Capability
lint	Directory readable	Validates §2 to §5; no state change	none
install	Lint passes	Pack present in the runtime's catalog or store	`pack.install`
activate	Installed	Pack's commands loadable for the session; Skill copied (§5.4)	none
connect	Activated; Binding not `public`	Binding established (§8.5)	`pack.connect`
exec	Activated; connected if Binding requires; grants	Command runs (§6)	`verb.exec.read` / `verb.exec.write`
deactivate	none	Removes activation and connection for the session	none
uninstall	none	Removes from catalog or store	`pack.install`

A runtime MUST NOT execute a command of a pack that is not activated.
A runtime MUST NOT skip lint on install. A pack that fails lint MUST NOT be installed.
A runtime MAY treat install and activate as a single user action, but MUST expose both states in availability (§11.2).
Deactivate MUST also drop connected for the session.
A runtime MUST refuse to uninstall its own bootstrap pack, if it has one.
Activation MUST NOT require an MCP configuration or new host tools (§12.2.1).

11.2 Availability#

For each pack a runtime MUST be able to report:

Flag	Meaning
`installed`	Present in the store
`activated`	Loaded for the current session
`connected`	Binding established (always `true` for `public`)
`executable`	Per command: `activated` ∧ (`connected` ∨ Binding `public`) ∧ Principal holds the required grant ∧ Adapter runnable in this runtime

executable is computed per command, not per pack.
A pack's status MUST be one of available, installed, activated, connected, executable, or unavailable, reflecting the highest reached stage. Runtimes MAY report more than one.
A sense_only pack MUST report executable: false for Execute while still being valid; Sense activation is reported separately (§7.4).

11.3 Store#

Informative. The reference store is $HCP_HOME (default ~/.hcp):

~/.hcp/
  packs/<pack_id>/       installed pack directories
  skills/<pack_id>/      SKILL.md copies (§5.4)
  state.json             { activated: [], connected: [], grants? }

A conforming runtime MAY use any store, including a database. It MUST preserve the semantics of §11.1 and §11.2.

11.4 Bootstrap#

A runtime MAY ship a bootstrap pack whose commands describe the runtime's own lifecycle (doctor, list, install, activate, connect, availability, exec, …).
A bootstrap pack follows every rule of this specification. One that manages the runtime's local store is a runtime-plane pack with Binding local; one that acts on an operator's fleet is a control-plane pack (§2.5).
The reference bootstrap pack is hcp-cli; it is installed automatically on first use and cannot be uninstalled.

11.5 Reference CLI (informative)#

The reference binary is hcpx, also installed as hcp.

hcpx lint <pack_dir>
hcpx install <pack_dir>
hcpx activate <pack_id> [pack_id…]
hcpx connect <pack_id>
hcpx exec <pack_id> <verb_key> [-- k=v …]
hcpx availability [pack_id]
hcpx deactivate <pack_id> [pack_id…]
hcpx uninstall <pack_id>

Every command accepts --json.