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T1 starter · any team: the smallest safe deletion. nika:remove_file removes one existing regular file by its exact path, with nothing recursive and nothing expanded, and only after this run’s own write succeeded.

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The job

A job writes a scratch file, uses it, and should clean up after itself without ever deleting something it did not create. This workflow writes the scratch file with overwrite: false, then removes exactly that path once the write has succeeded. If the path is already taken, the write refuses, the removal never runs, and the file that was there survives.

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The shape

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The file

remove-owned-file.nika

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How it works

1

The write refuses to replace anything

overwrite: false makes publish fail when a file already sits at the path (NIKA-BUILTIN-WRITE-002). The workflow can create the scratch file; it cannot clobber one.
2

The removal waits for that write

after: { publish: success } is a state edge: remove runs only when this run’s own write succeeded. When the path was taken, remove is blocked and the existing file stays where it was.
3

Removal is a write effect

nika:remove_file needs the tool grant and a permits.fs.write entry holding the exact path. It reads no content, so the file grants no fs.read at all. A missing name, a directory, a symlink or a special file fails; nothing is recursive, and no pattern is expanded.
This is not a transaction. If the removal fails after the write, the scratch file stays visible and nothing rolls back. The removed output is the path the run asked to remove, not a proof of what is on disk.

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Constructs you just used

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Run it

What it needs: Nothing: no model, no key, no network.
1

Rehearse it

The rehearsal runs in a temporary folder; nothing is written in yours.
2

Check it, then run it

Save the file above as remove-owned-file.nika, then:
The run writes out/remove-owned-file/scratch.txt, removes it, and prints {"removed":"./out/remove-owned-file/scratch.txt"}.

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Make it yours

  • Use your own scratch path: change both task paths and the permits.fs.write entry together. A permit is a literal, never an interpolation (NIKA-AUTH-007).
  • Put the work that uses the scratch file between the two tasks, give it the fs.read grant it needs, and make remove wait for that task too.

Level up · T2 chains

Next tier: typed outputs, in-place file edits and a webhook ping. Release day, automated.