gateway: converge, don't start/stop/reload

The gateway is a deployment (castle-gateway) — its lifecycle is the same
convergence as everything else, so the bespoke start/stop/reload verbs
(which still routed through the retired enable/disable path) are gone.

- CLI: `castle gateway` is now inspection only — bare or `status` shows
  the route table. Start/stop/reload it via `castle apply` (render routes
  + reload) or `castle restart castle-gateway`. Deletes the last users of
  `_service_enable`/`_service_disable`, so those are removed too.
- API: retire `POST /gateway/reload` (making routes live is `POST /apply`);
  `PUT /gateway/config` message + docstring now say apply, not deploy.
- UI: GatewayPanel's "Reload" button → "Apply" (useApply); drop the
  useGatewayReload hook; GatewaySettings points at `castle apply`.
- docs: `castle gateway reload|status` → `castle gateway` (status lens).

core 129 / cli 31 / api 59 pass; dashboard builds clean; live `castle
gateway` shows routes with no start/stop/reload; /gateway/reload removed
from the API.

AGENTS.md

@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ castle list [--kind ...] [--stack ...] [--json]    # all deployments
 castle status                                      # unified health/status
 castle doctor                                      # diagnose setup + runtime, with fix hints
 castle restart [name]                              # imperative bounce (one or all)
-castle gateway reload|status                       # the Caddy gateway
+castle gateway                                     # gateway status + route table (inspection)
 ```
 
 `castle service`/`job`/`tool` are **views** over the one deployment set, filtered
@@ -184,8 +184,8 @@ public: true   # ALSO expose to the internet via Cloudflare tunnel (requires pro
 - There are **no path-prefix routes** — a whole subdomain maps to the backend
   root, so root-relative assets and `window.location` WebSocket URLs just work.
 
-Inspect routes: `castle gateway status` (or `GET /gateway`). Regenerate + reload:
+Inspect routes: `castle gateway` / `GET /gateway`. Regenerate routes + reload the
-`castle gateway reload`. → Field-level detail: **`docs/registry.md`**.
+gateway: `castle apply` (converge). → Field-level detail: **`docs/registry.md`**.
 
 ---
 

README.md

@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ castle list [--kind K] [--stack S] [--json]   # catalog + every deployment view
 castle status                                 # unified runtime status
 castle doctor                                 # diagnose setup + health, with fix hints
 castle restart [name]                         # imperative bounce (one or all)
-castle gateway reload|status
+castle gateway               # status + route table (inspection)
 ```
 
 To turn a deployment off, set `enabled: false` in its config and `castle apply` —

app/src/components/GatewayPanel.tsx

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { useMemo, useState } from "react"
 import { Link } from "react-router-dom"
 import { Globe, RefreshCw, FileText, ExternalLink, Cable } from "lucide-react"
 import type { GatewayInfo, HealthStatus } from "@/types"
-import { useGatewayReload, useCaddyfile } from "@/services/api/hooks"
+import { useApply, useCaddyfile } from "@/services/api/hooks"
 import { subdomainUrl } from "@/lib/labels"
 import { HealthBadge } from "./HealthBadge"
 import { GatewaySettings } from "./GatewaySettings"
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ interface GatewayPanelProps {
 
 export function GatewayPanel({ gateway, statuses }: GatewayPanelProps) {
   const statusMap = new Map(statuses.map((s) => [s.id, s]))
-  const { mutate: reload, isPending: reloading } = useGatewayReload()
+  const { mutate: apply, isPending: applying } = useApply()
   const [showCaddyfile, setShowCaddyfile] = useState(false)
   const { data: caddyfileData } = useCaddyfile(showCaddyfile)
 
@@ -36,13 +36,13 @@ export function GatewayPanel({ gateway, statuses }: GatewayPanelProps) {
         </div>
         <div className="flex items-center gap-1">
           <button
-            onClick={() => reload()}
+            onClick={() => apply({})}
-            disabled={reloading}
+            disabled={applying}
             className="flex items-center gap-1 text-xs px-2.5 py-1 rounded bg-[var(--border)] hover:bg-[var(--border)]/80 text-[var(--muted)] hover:text-[var(--foreground)] transition-colors disabled:opacity-40"
-            title="Regenerate Caddyfile and reload Caddy"
+            title="Converge: regenerate routes and reload the gateway"
           >
-            <RefreshCw size={12} className={reloading ? "animate-spin" : ""} />
+            <RefreshCw size={12} className={applying ? "animate-spin" : ""} />
-            Reload
+            Apply
           </button>
           <button
             onClick={() => setShowCaddyfile((v) => !v)}

app/src/components/GatewaySettings.tsx

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import type { GatewayInfo } from "@/types"
 import { useSaveGatewayConfig } from "@/services/api/hooks"
 
 /** Editable gateway routing + public-exposure settings (domain / public_domain /
- *  tunnel / tls). Saves to castle.yaml; changes take effect on the next deploy. */
+ *  tunnel / tls). Saves to castle.yaml; changes take effect on the next apply. */
 export function GatewaySettings({ gateway }: { gateway: GatewayInfo }) {
   const { mutate: save, isPending, data: saved } = useSaveGatewayConfig()
   const [editing, setEditing] = useState(false)
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ export function GatewaySettings({ gateway }: { gateway: GatewayInfo }) {
           <button onClick={() => setEditing(false)} className="flex items-center gap-1 text-xs px-2.5 py-1 rounded bg-[var(--border)] text-[var(--muted)]">
             <X size={12} /> Cancel
           </button>
-          <span className="text-xs text-[var(--muted)]">Run <span className="font-mono">castle deploy</span> to apply.</span>
+          <span className="text-xs text-[var(--muted)]">Run <span className="font-mono">castle apply</span> (or the Apply button) to converge.</span>
         </div>
       </div>
     )

app/src/services/api/hooks.ts

@@ -226,16 +226,6 @@ export function useProgramAction() {
   })
 }
 
-export function useGatewayReload() {
-  const qc = useQueryClient()
-  return useMutation({
-    mutationFn: () => apiClient.post<{ status: string }>("/gateway/reload"),
-    onSuccess: () => {
-      qc.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: ["gateway"] })
-    },
-  })
-}
-
 export function useSaveGatewayConfig() {
   const qc = useQueryClient()
   return useMutation({

castle-api/src/castle_api/routes.py

@@ -2,13 +2,11 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-import asyncio
 import subprocess
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException, status
 
-from castle_core.config import SPECS_DIR
 from castle_core.generators.caddyfile import generate_caddyfile_from_registry
 from castle_core.manifest import (
     ProgramSpec,
@@ -937,7 +935,7 @@ def get_gateway() -> GatewayInfo:
 def save_gateway_config(request: GatewayConfigRequest) -> dict[str, str]:
     """Update the gateway's routing/exposure settings in castle.yaml.
 
-    Saves only; the caller runs deploy to regenerate the Caddyfile + tunnel config.
+    Saves only; the caller runs apply to regenerate the Caddyfile + tunnel config.
     An empty string clears a field.
     """
     root = get_castle_root()
@@ -952,7 +950,7 @@ def save_gateway_config(request: GatewayConfigRequest) -> dict[str, str]:
     config.gateway.public_domain = norm(request.public_domain)
     config.gateway.tunnel_id = norm(request.tunnel_id)
     save_config(config)
-    return {"status": "saved", "message": "Saved. Run deploy to apply."}
+    return {"status": "saved", "message": "Saved. Run apply to converge."}
 
 
 @router.get("/gateway/caddyfile")
@@ -962,35 +960,5 @@ def get_caddyfile() -> dict[str, str]:
     return {"content": generate_caddyfile_from_registry(registry)}
 
 
-@router.post("/gateway/reload")
+# Note: gateway reload is not a standalone endpoint. Making routes/config live is
-async def reload_gateway() -> dict[str, str]:
+# convergence — POST /apply renders the Caddyfile (+ tunnel) and reloads Caddy.
-    """Regenerate Caddyfile and reload Caddy."""
-    registry = get_registry()
-    SPECS_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
-    caddyfile_path = SPECS_DIR / "Caddyfile"
-
-    # Include remote registries for cross-node routing
-    remote_regs = {h: n.registry for h, n in mesh_state.all_nodes().items()}
-    caddyfile_path.write_text(
-        generate_caddyfile_from_registry(
-            registry, remote_registries=remote_regs or None
-        )
-    )
-
-    proc = await asyncio.create_subprocess_exec(
-        "systemctl",
-        "--user",
-        "reload",
-        "castle-castle-gateway.service",
-        stdout=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE,
-        stderr=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE,
-    )
-    _, stderr = await proc.communicate()
-
-    if proc.returncode != 0:
-        raise HTTPException(
-            status_code=500,
-            detail=f"Reload failed: {(stderr or b'').decode().strip()}",
-        )
-
-    return {"status": "ok"}

cli/src/castle_cli/commands/gateway.py

@@ -1,119 +1,25 @@
-"""castle gateway - manage the Caddy reverse proxy gateway."""
+"""castle gateway — inspect the Caddy reverse proxy gateway.
+
+The gateway is itself a deployment (`castle-gateway`): start/stop/reload it the
+same way as anything else — `castle apply` (render routes + reload), `castle
+restart castle-gateway` (bounce), or `enabled: false` + apply (stop). This command
+is the read-only inspection lens: is it up, and what's the route table.
+"""
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import argparse
 import subprocess
 
-from castle_core.config import SPECS_DIR
-from castle_core.generators.caddyfile import generate_caddyfile_from_registry
 from castle_core.registry import REGISTRY_PATH, load_registry
 
-from castle_cli.config import CastleConfig, ensure_dirs, load_config
-
-GATEWAY_COMPONENT = "castle-gateway"
 GATEWAY_UNIT = "castle-castle-gateway.service"
 
 
-def _write_generated_files() -> None:
-    """Write generated Caddyfile from registry."""
-    ensure_dirs()
-
-    if not REGISTRY_PATH.exists():
-        print("Error: no registry found. Run 'castle apply' first.")
-        return
-
-    registry = load_registry()
-    caddyfile_path = SPECS_DIR / "Caddyfile"
-    caddyfile_path.write_text(generate_caddyfile_from_registry(registry))
-    print(f"  Generated {caddyfile_path}")
-
-
 def run_gateway(args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
-    """Manage the Caddy gateway."""
+    """Show the gateway's status + route table (the only gateway verb)."""
-    if not args.gateway_command:
-        print("Usage: castle gateway {start|stop|reload|status}")
-        return 1
-
-    config = load_config()
-
-    if args.gateway_command == "start":
-        if getattr(args, "dry_run", False):
-            return _gateway_dry_run()
-        return _gateway_start(config)
-    elif args.gateway_command == "stop":
-        return _gateway_stop()
-    elif args.gateway_command == "reload":
-        if getattr(args, "dry_run", False):
-            return _gateway_dry_run()
-        return _gateway_reload()
-    elif args.gateway_command == "status":
     return _gateway_status()
 
-    return 1
-
-
-def _gateway_dry_run() -> int:
-    """Print generated Caddyfile without applying."""
-    if not REGISTRY_PATH.exists():
-        print("Error: no registry found. Run 'castle apply' first.")
-        return 1
-
-    registry = load_registry()
-    print("# Caddyfile")
-    print(generate_caddyfile_from_registry(registry))
-    return 0
-
-
-def _gateway_start(config: CastleConfig) -> int:
-    """Generate config and enable the gateway service."""
-    from castle_cli.commands.service import _service_enable
-
-    if GATEWAY_COMPONENT not in config.services:
-        print(f"Error: '{GATEWAY_COMPONENT}' not found in services section")
-        return 1
-
-    print("Generating gateway configuration...")
-    _write_generated_files()
-
-    print(f"\nStarting gateway on port {config.gateway.port}...")
-    return _service_enable(config, GATEWAY_COMPONENT)
-
-
-def _gateway_stop() -> int:
-    """Stop the gateway service."""
-    from castle_cli.commands.service import _service_disable
-
-    return _service_disable(GATEWAY_COMPONENT)
-
-
-def _gateway_reload() -> int:
-    """Regenerate config and reload Caddy."""
-    print("Regenerating gateway configuration...")
-    _write_generated_files()
-
-    result = subprocess.run(
-        ["systemctl", "--user", "reload", GATEWAY_UNIT],
-        capture_output=True,
-        text=True,
-    )
-
-    if result.returncode == 0:
-        print("Gateway reloaded.")
-    else:
-        print("Reload signal sent. Verifying...")
-        result = subprocess.run(
-            ["systemctl", "--user", "is-active", GATEWAY_UNIT],
-            capture_output=True,
-            text=True,
-        )
-        if result.stdout.strip() == "active":
-            print("Gateway running.")
-        else:
-            print("Warning: gateway may not be running. Try: castle gateway start")
-
-    return 0
-
 
 def _gateway_status() -> int:
     """Show gateway status + the full route table (static, proxy, remote)."""

cli/src/castle_cli/commands/service.py

@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ from castle_core.manifest import kind_for
 
 from castle_cli.config import (
     CastleConfig,
-    ensure_dirs,
     load_config,
 )
 
@@ -178,30 +177,6 @@ def run_status(args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
     return 0
 
 
-def _service_enable(config: CastleConfig, name: str) -> int:
-    """Enable a service in its mode (systemd unit / gateway route / PATH install)."""
-    import asyncio
-
-    from castle_core.lifecycle import activate
-
-    ensure_dirs()
-    result = asyncio.run(activate(name, config, config.root))
-    print(result.output)
-    return 0 if result.status == "ok" else 1
-
-
-def _service_disable(config: CastleConfig, name: str) -> int:
-    """Disable a service in its mode (stop unit / drop route / uninstall)."""
-    import asyncio
-
-    from castle_core.lifecycle import deactivate
-
-    print(f"Disabling {name}...")
-    result = asyncio.run(deactivate(name, config, config.root))
-    print(f"  {result.output}")
-    return 0
-
-
 def _service_status(config: CastleConfig) -> int:
     """Show status of all services and jobs, dispatched by manager."""
     from castle_core.lifecycle import is_active

cli/src/castle_cli/main.py

@@ -159,15 +159,11 @@ def build_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
     _build_deployment_group(subparsers, "job")
     _build_tool_group(subparsers)
 
-    # Gateway (infrastructure)
+    # Gateway (inspection). The gateway is a deployment — start/stop/reload it via
-    gw = subparsers.add_parser("gateway", help="Manage the Caddy gateway")
+    # `castle apply` / `castle restart castle-gateway`; this lens just shows routes.
+    gw = subparsers.add_parser("gateway", help="Show the gateway's status + route table")
     gw_sub = gw.add_subparsers(dest="gateway_command")
-    p = gw_sub.add_parser("start", help="Start the gateway")
+    gw_sub.add_parser("status", help="Show gateway status + routes (the default)")
-    p.add_argument("--dry-run", action="store_true")
-    gw_sub.add_parser("stop", help="Stop the gateway")
-    p = gw_sub.add_parser("reload", help="Reload gateway configuration")
-    p.add_argument("--dry-run", action="store_true")
-    gw_sub.add_parser("status", help="Show gateway status")
 
     # Convergence — the one lifecycle verb. Renders units/Caddyfile/tunnel, then
     # reconciles the runtime to match config (activate/restart/deactivate).

docs/developing-castle.md

@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ for tools/libraries.
 - Catalog + editing: `GET /programs[/{name}]`, `POST /programs/{name}/{action}`,
   `PUT|DELETE /programs/{name}`; likewise `/services`, `/jobs`
 - Config: `GET|PUT /`, `POST /apply`, `POST /deploy`
-- Gateway: `GET /gateway`, `GET /gateway/caddyfile`, `POST /gateway/reload`
+- Gateway: `GET /gateway`, `GET /gateway/caddyfile` (reload is convergence: `POST /apply`)
 - Mesh: `GET /mesh/status`, `GET /nodes[/{hostname}]`
 - Agents (dashboard terminal UX): `GET /agents`, `GET /agents/sessions`,
   `GET /agents/history`, `DELETE /agents/sessions/{id}`, `WS /agents/{name}/session`

docs/stacks/python-fastapi.md

@@ -454,4 +454,4 @@ castle program create my-service --stack python-fastapi --description "Does some
 ```
 
 See @docs/registry.md for manifest fields, castle.yaml structure,
-and the full service lifecycle (enable, logs, gateway reload).
+and the full service lifecycle (`castle apply`, logs).