Laptops and MDM

UNVERIFIED on real devices

halod runs as root inside Linux containers in make uat-clis; CI runs it as a launchd daemon on a hosted macOS runner and as a SYSTEM scheduled task on a hosted Windows runner (scripts/ci-delivery-*), but not on real fleets. MDM exports (Jamf, Kandji, Intune) are generated and unit-tested but were not pushed to any real tenant or device, and the PowerShell they emit has not been executed (install.ps1 and enroll.ps1 are, in CI).

Laptops are the weakest delivery path: a local admin can stop an agent or edit files. Use them as the last ring, and rely on the gateway for authoritative cohort and model enforcement.

Option A: halod agent

halod runs as root under launchd (macOS) or systemd (Linux). On Windows, halod service install registers a SYSTEM scheduled task at startup (there is no native Windows service; see cmd/halod/packaging/WINDOWS.md). Each cycle it resolves the ring, verifies the signed ring pointer and release, applies files atomically, installs pinned CLIs from verified artifacts, and reports status.

Files (root-owned; halod refuses to start otherwise):

	macOS	Linux
Binary	/Library/Halos/bin/halod	/usr/local/lib/halos/halod
Config	/Library/Halos/etc/halod.yaml	/etc/halos/halod.yaml
Public key	/Library/Halos/etc/release.pub	/etc/halos/release.pub
State	/Library/Halos/var/state.json	/var/lib/halos/state.json
Service	cmd/halod/packaging/dev.halos.halod.plist	deploy/packaging/halod.service

halod.yaml

registry: ghcr.io/acme/halos
org: acme-corp
ring: ring3-ga             # or ringEndpoint: https://halo.acme.example/api/v1/fleet/ring
pubkey: /etc/halos/release.pub
interval: 15m
reportURL: https://halo.acme.example/api/v1/fleet/report
deviceTokenFile: /etc/halos/device.token    # mode 0600

sudo halod once --config /etc/halos/halod.yaml     # one verified cycle
halod status --state /var/lib/halos/state.json   # last status as JSON

Check: halod status prints the ring, the release digest, per-harness want and installed versions, and an empty drift list. Full field list: CLI reference.

Claude Code paths are OS-protected, so a non-admin user cannot edit them. See delivery for every harness and OS. Windows: config, key, token and state live under C:\Program Files\Halos\, never C:\ProgramData (whose default ACL lets any user pre-seed a config); verified binaries go to C:\Program Files\Halos\bin, which you add to the machine PATH via MDM.

Enrolling with the portal

The self-service portal issues a single-use token that the developer passes to the enroll.sh script it serves (the exact command is shown in the portal). The script installs a sha256-pinned halod, fetches the release key, exchanges the token for a per-device credential and writes halod.yaml with ringEndpoint, so the server decides the ring from the developer’s identity.

Option B: MDM exports

halo export jamf --registry ghcr.io/acme/halos --pubkey release.pub --ring ring3-ga --org acme \
  --download-url 'https://dl.acme.example/halod-{os}-{arch}' \
  --halod-sha256 darwin/amd64=<hex> --halod-sha256 darwin/arm64=<hex> --out dist/jamf

halo export intune --registry ghcr.io/acme/halos --pubkey release.pub --ring ring3-ga --org acme \
  --download-url 'https://dl.acme.example/halod-{os}-{arch}.exe' \
  --halod-sha256 windows/amd64=<hex> --halod-sha256 windows/arm64=<hex> --out dist/intune

The export pulls the ring’s signed pointer and release and verifies both with --pubkey before writing anything; --org is required with --ring and must match the org in the signed pointer.

MDM	Output	Mechanism
Jamf, Kandji	.mobileconfig plus a halod postinstall	Claude Code reads the com.anthropic.claudecode managed preferences domain; the postinstall installs a sha256-pinned halod under /Library/Halos and a launchd daemon
Intune	PowerShell script	Writes HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\ClaudeCode and registers a SYSTEM startup task for halod

Only Claude Code has an MDM channel; other harnesses are delivered through halod. MDM pushes a snapshot: it does not verify signatures at the endpoint by itself and cannot pin a CLI version. That is why the postinstall installs halod, and why requiredMinimumVersion/requiredMaximumVersion in the rendered settings make Claude Code refuse to run out of range.

Choosing

Need	Use
Drift detection, signature verification, CLI install	halod
Fleet already MDM-controlled	MDM export that installs halod (the exports do)
BYO laptops, no MDM	Portal enrollment
Managed, disposable environments	Dev containers or Coder