refactor: type the example source inline instead of shipping a manifest

A dora-node.yml describes exactly one node and is the unit `dora hub publish`
operates on, which expects it beside pyproject.toml. This repository ships one
node, so it should carry one manifest. examples/dora-node.yml described a test
fixture that nobody installs and that has no package of its own -- a manifest
for something that is not a node.

The source's outputs are now annotated with `output_types:` in the dataflow,
which is the documented way to type an output without a manifest: "only
annotated outputs are type-checked". It runs as `path: python` + `args:`
because `dora validate` matches a manifest to a `path:` node by entrypoint, so
a path node would be tried against the root manifest, fail to match
`dora-image-view`, and warn -- fatal under strict_types. Through the
interpreter there is nothing to match.

The type gate is unchanged in strength: the viewer's contract is still
injected and compared against the source's annotations, and a deliberate
Float32 -> String swap still fails validate.

The cost is that the fixture no longer gets a managed venv of its own and runs
against the project environment. That applies to the fixture only; the shipped
node still uses path: + build:, which is what a consumer exercises.

This supersedes the approach in "fix strict-type validation by giving the
example source a manifest" and the doc commit that cited the
manifest-next-to-a-path-node rule as justification.

AGENTS.md

@@ -32,8 +32,11 @@ CI=true SOURCE_FRAMES=30 dora run dataflow.yml --uv   # the same, headless
 - **`dora_image_view/bbox.py`** — Parses the `bbox` struct into xyxy corners. `xywh` is centre-based (x, y are the box centre). `_flat()` unwraps the single-element list that `pa.array([{...}])` produces around each field, and reads a field stored flat as-is.
 - **`examples/source.py`** — The synthetic source node: an animated frame, a depth map of the same scene (a flat wall with the square in front of it), the box around the square, and a caption. It exists so the example dataflow exercises all three inputs without a camera or a detector, and so CI can run the dataflow rather than only validate it. `SOURCE_FRAMES` bounds the run, which is what lets CI wait for a clean exit instead of killing it on a timeout.
 - **`dora-node.yml`** — Node manifest (`apiVersion: 1`). `dora validate` injects these types into any dataflow that reaches the node by `path:`; a `git:`-sourced node does **not** pick it up, which is why the example builds from the checkout. `image` and `text` carry type URNs naming the element type because each payload is a raw buffer described by its metadata, not an Arrow struct. `bbox` is deliberately **untyped**: senders disagree on whether its numeric fields are 32- or 64-bit, and the node reads either.
-- **`examples/dora-node.yml`** — Manifest for the source node, and not optional. A manifest describes exactly one node (the schema is `NodeManifest`, singular), so the second node in this repository gets a second manifest; a `dora-node.yml` next to a plain `path:` node is [the documented way](https://dora-rs.ai/dora/hub/node-manifest) to type a node without publishing it. `dora validate` matches a manifest to a `path:` node by entrypoint; with no manifest beside `examples/source.py`, the root `dora-node.yml` is tried against it, does not match its entrypoint, and warns — which `strict_types: true` turns into a failure. Declaring the source's types here rather than as `output_types:` in `dataflow.yml` is also what makes them *checked*: an inline annotation shadows the manifest, so the manifest would be injected but never compared.
+- **`dataflow.yml`** — The example and the CI gate, with `strict_types: true`. The viewer is a `path:` node, so its manifest is injected; the source is typed inline with `output_types:` and the two are compared against each other. `bbox` is annotated on neither side, matching the manifest.
-- **`dataflow.yml`** — The example and the CI gate, with `strict_types: true`. Both nodes are `path:` nodes with a manifest, so both contracts are injected and compared against each other; `bbox` is annotated on neither side, matching the manifests.
+
+  **One manifest, on purpose.** A `dora-node.yml` describes exactly one node (the schema is `NodeManifest`, singular) and is the unit `dora hub publish` operates on — it expects one beside `pyproject.toml`. This repository ships one node, so it has one manifest. The example source is a test fixture and gets none.
+
+  That is why the source runs as `path: python` + `args:` rather than `path: examples/source.py`. `dora validate` matches a manifest to a `path:` node **by entrypoint**, so a path node here would be tried against the root manifest, would fail to match its `dora-image-view` entrypoint, and would warn — and `strict_types: true` makes that warning fatal. Going through the interpreter leaves nothing to match. The cost is that the fixture gets no managed venv of its own (`.dora/python-envs/` stays empty for it) and runs against the project environment instead; the shipped node still uses `path:` + `build:`, which is the mechanism a consumer actually uses. Do not "fix" this back into a path node without re-reading this paragraph.
 - **`.gitea/workflows/validate.yml`** — CI: lints, runs the unit tests, validates the dataflow and runs it headless. Needs no camera and no display. One job on purpose — the gates themselves take about a second, and are dwarfed by preparing the runner.
 
 ## Why CI installs libgl1
@@ -44,7 +47,7 @@ CI=true SOURCE_FRAMES=30 dora run dataflow.yml --uv   # the same, headless
 
 ## A caveat on typed optional inputs
 
-`dora validate --strict` injects a contract type for *every* typed manifest input and then warns `input_types key "..." not found in inputs list` for any the dataflow does not wire. So a typed optional input forces the example dataflow to wire it. If a typed input is added to the manifest, either wire it in `dataflow.yml` or leave it untyped. This is why `examples/source.py` publishes a depth map and a camera_info at all: both are typed, so the example has to drive them.
+`dora validate --strict` injects a contract type for *every* typed manifest input and then warns `input_types key "..." not found in inputs list` for any the dataflow does not wire. So a typed optional input forces the example dataflow to wire it. If a typed input is added to the manifest, either wire it in `dataflow.yml` or leave it untyped. This is why `examples/source.py` publishes a depth map and a camera_info at all: both are typed, so the example has to drive them, and a new output it sends needs a matching entry in the dataflow's `output_types:`.
 
 ## Checking what it draws
 

README.md

@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ dora run dataflow.yml --uv
 A window opens with a square bouncing across a gradient, boxed and labelled. Press `q`
 to quit.
 
-It builds both nodes from this checkout (`path:` + `build:`) rather than from a tag,
+It builds the viewer from this checkout (`path:` + `build:`) rather than from a tag,
 which is what lets `dora validate` pick up the manifest described below.
 
 Set `SOURCE_FRAMES` to stop the source after a fixed number of frames instead of running
@@ -66,16 +66,19 @@ CI=true SOURCE_FRAMES=30 dora run dataflow.yml --uv
 [`dora-node.yml`](dora-node.yml) declares the node's inputs with type URNs. No source
 package is shared between node repositories, so it is the only contract a consumer has,
 and it is what makes a wiring mistake fail at build time instead of at runtime. The
-example source has a manifest of its own, so `dora validate` checks the two against
+example source is typed inline in the dataflow with `output_types:`, so `dora validate`
-each other:
+checks the two against each other:
 
 ```
 $ dora validate dataflow.yml
-  node "source": injected 2 contract type(s) from .../examples/dora-node.yml
+  node "view": injected 4 contract type(s) from .../dora-node.yml
-  node "view": injected 2 contract type(s) from .../dora-node.yml
 All type annotations OK.
 ```
 
+There is one manifest because this repository ships one node. The example source is a
+test fixture rather than something anyone installs, so it has none, and runs through
+the interpreter to keep `dora validate` from matching the viewer's manifest against it.
+
 `image` is `std/core/v1/UInt8`, `depth` and `camera_info` are `std/core/v1/Float32` and
 `text` is `std/core/v1/String`; the payloads are raw buffers described by their
 metadata, so the URN names the element type rather than a struct. `bbox` is deliberately

dataflow.yml

@@ -11,7 +11,21 @@ strict_types: true
 
 nodes:
   - id: source
-    path: examples/source.py
+    # Run through the interpreter rather than as `path: examples/source.py`.
+    #
+    # A dora-node.yml describes exactly one node and is what gets published
+    # (`dora hub publish` expects it beside pyproject.toml), and this
+    # repository ships one node: dora-image-view. The example source is a test
+    # fixture, not a node anyone installs, so it gets no manifest.
+    #
+    # That has a mechanical consequence. `dora validate` matches a manifest to
+    # a `path:` node by entrypoint, so a path node here would be tried against
+    # the root manifest, would not match its `dora-image-view` entrypoint, and
+    # would warn -- which strict_types turns into a failure. Going through the
+    # interpreter leaves nothing for it to match, and `output_types` below is
+    # the documented way to type an output without one.
+    path: python
+    args: examples/source.py
     # The source needs dora-rs, numpy and pyarrow; installing the project gives
     # it exactly the versions pinned in uv.lock.
     build: pip install .
@@ -23,6 +37,13 @@ nodes:
       - camera_info
       - bbox
       - text
+    # bbox is deliberately absent: it is untyped on the viewer's side too,
+    # because senders disagree on 32- vs 64-bit numeric fields.
+    output_types:
+      image: std/core/v1/UInt8
+      text: std/core/v1/String
+      depth: std/core/v1/Float32
+      camera_info: std/core/v1/Float32
 
   - id: view
     path: dora-image-view

examples/dora-node.yml

@@ -1,66 +0,0 @@
-# Manifest for the example source node.
-#
-# A manifest describes exactly one node, so a second node in this repository
-# gets a second manifest. This is the documented way to type a node you have
-# not published: "a dora-node.yml sitting next to a plain `path:` node is
-# picked up automatically" -- https://dora-rs.ai/dora/hub/node-manifest
-#
-# It is not optional here. `dora validate` matches a manifest to a `path:` node
-# by entrypoint; with no manifest beside examples/source.py the repository-root
-# one is tried against it, does not match its `dora-image-view` entrypoint, and
-# warns -- which `strict_types: true` turns into a failure.
-#
-# Declaring the types here rather than as `output_types:` in dataflow.yml is
-# what makes them checked: an inline annotation shadows the manifest, so the
-# manifest would be injected but never compared against dora-image-view's.
-apiVersion: 1
-name: source
-namespace: liria
-description: Synthetic image, depth, camera_info, bbox and text source for the dora-image-view example
-categories: [debug]
-keywords: [example, test, synthetic]
-
-runtime: python
-entrypoint: source.py
-build: pip install .
-dora: ">=1.0"
-
-inputs:
-  tick:
-    required: true
-    description: Timer tick; one frame is emitted per tick.
-
-outputs:
-  image:
-    type: std/core/v1/UInt8
-    description: >-
-      Animated bgr8 frame as a flat UInt8 buffer, with metadata
-      {width, height, encoding}.
-  bbox:
-    description: >-
-      The box around the moving square: an Arrow struct {bbox, conf, labels}
-      with metadata {format: xyxy}. Untyped to match the dora-image-view input.
-  text:
-    type: std/core/v1/String
-    description: A fixed caption.
-  camera_info:
-    type: std/core/v1/Float32
-    description: >-
-      [fx, fy, cx, cy] for the frames above. Published once, on the first tick,
-      the way a real camera publishes it once per session.
-  depth:
-    type: std/core/v1/Float32
-    description: >-
-      Depth of the same scene in millimetres, [height, width]: a flat wall with
-      the square standing in front of it.
-
-env:
-  SOURCE_WIDTH:
-    type: int
-    description: Frame width in pixels. Defaults to 640.
-  SOURCE_HEIGHT:
-    type: int
-    description: Frame height in pixels. Defaults to 480.
-  SOURCE_FRAMES:
-    type: int
-    description: Stop after this many frames. 0, the default, runs until the viewer quits.