Context

Actors

Actor	Uses crawl to
CLI user	Install, validate, inspect, and remove plugins; run crawls; read results
Plugin author	Implement per-file processing, declare a manifest and output schema
Automation	Invoke crawls, evaluate exit codes, consume CSV and structured logs

Deployment model

A local multiprocess application, not a service:

flowchart LR
    subgraph HOST["Local host"]
        CRAWL["crawl (Rust)"]
        subgraph WP["Bounded worker pool"]
            P1["Python worker 1"]
            PN["Python worker N"]
        end
        REG["Plugin registry"]
        CSV["CSV report"]
    end
    INPUT["Input filesystem"]
    CRAWL <-->|stdin/stdout JSONL| P1
    CRAWL <-->|stdin/stdout JSONL| PN
    CRAWL --> REG
    P1 --> INPUT
    PN --> INPUT
    CRAWL --> CSV

Workers receive file paths and open those files themselves. The host never passes file contents or host objects across the boundary (ARC-002, NFR-042).

Trust boundary

The process boundary is a reliability boundary. Documentation must never describe it as protection against malicious plugin behaviour (NFR-040, NFR-041).