ci: build Windows agent natively on Pluto runner (drop mingw cross-compile)

The build-agent job (build-and-test.yml) and a new build-agent-windows job (release.yml)
now run on the windows-msvc Gitea Actions runner on Pluto, building native
x86_64-pc-windows-msvc with crt-static. release.yml hands the unsigned guruconnect.exe to
the Linux job, which signs it with Azure Trusted Signing (jsign). Removes the fragile
mingw/GNU cross-compile. Reviewed by Code Review Agent (approve-with-nits).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

.gitea/workflows/build-and-test.yml

@@ -81,48 +81,45 @@ jobs:
 
   build-agent:
     name: Build Agent (Windows)
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    # Native build on the Pluto Gitea Actions runner (host-mode, Windows Server 2019).
+    # The MSVC toolchain (x86_64-pc-windows-msvc target + crt-static via .cargo/config.toml)
+    # is pre-installed under the Administrator profile; the runner itself runs as SYSTEM, so
+    # the job points CARGO_HOME/RUSTUP_HOME at the Administrator homes.
+    runs-on: windows-msvc
+    env:
+      CARGO_HOME: C:\Users\Administrator\.cargo
+      RUSTUP_HOME: C:\Users\Administrator\.rustup
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-      - name: Install Rust toolchain
+      - name: Add cargo bin to PATH
-        uses: actions-rs/toolchain@v1
+        shell: pwsh
-        with:
-          toolchain: stable
-          # Single source of truth for the Windows target used by the build below.
-          target: x86_64-pc-windows-gnu
-          override: true
-
-      - name: Install cross-compilation tools
         run: |
-          sudo apt-get update
+          # Make cargo/rustc from the Administrator toolchain visible to later steps.
-          sudo apt-get install -y mingw-w64
+          "C:\Users\Administrator\.cargo\bin" | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_PATH -Encoding utf8 -Append
 
-      - name: Cache Cargo dependencies
+      - name: Toolchain sanity check
-        uses: actions/cache@v3
+        shell: pwsh
-        with:
-          path: |
-            ~/.cargo/bin/
-            ~/.cargo/registry/index/
-            ~/.cargo/registry/cache/
-            ~/.cargo/git/db/
-            target/
-          key: ${{ runner.os }}-cargo-agent-${{ hashFiles('agent/Cargo.lock') }}
-          restore-keys: |
-            ${{ runner.os }}-cargo-agent-
-
-      - name: Build agent (cross-compile for Windows)
         run: |
-          # Target is installed by the toolchain step above (single source of truth).
+          # Fail early with a clear marker if the pre-installed toolchain is not reachable.
-          cd agent
+          cargo --version
-          cargo build --release --target x86_64-pc-windows-gnu
+          rustc --version
+
+      - name: Build agent (native x86_64-pc-windows-msvc)
+        shell: pwsh
+        run: |
+          # crt-static and the default target come from .cargo/config.toml; we pass --target
+          # explicitly so the artifact path is deterministic regardless of host defaults.
+          Set-Location agent
+          cargo build --release --target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
+          Write-Host "[OK] Built agent for x86_64-pc-windows-msvc"
 
       - name: Upload agent binary
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
         with:
           name: guruconnect-agent-windows
-          path: agent/target/x86_64-pc-windows-gnu/release/guruconnect.exe
+          path: agent/target/x86_64-pc-windows-msvc/release/guruconnect.exe
           retention-days: 30
 
   security-audit:

.gitea/workflows/release.yml

@@ -7,16 +7,19 @@ name: Release
 #                 commit `chore: release vX.Y.Z [skip ci]`, and create + push tag vX.Y.Z.
 #   2. changelog — generate CHANGELOG.md + per-component changelogs with git-cliff (run inside
 #                 the version job so it is part of the release commit).
-#   3. build    — cross-compile the Windows agent (x86_64-pc-windows-gnu) to guruconnect.exe.
+#   3. build    — natively build the Windows agent (x86_64-pc-windows-msvc) to guruconnect.exe
-#   4. sign     — sign guruconnect.exe with Azure Trusted Signing via jsign (fails the job if
+#                 on the Pluto Gitea Actions runner (windows-msvc), upload it as an artifact.
-#                 signing fails — never publish unsigned).
+#   4. sign     — on Linux, download the Windows artifact and sign guruconnect.exe with Azure
+#                 Trusted Signing via jsign (fails the job if signing fails — never publish
+#                 unsigned).
 #   5. publish  — upload signed exe + .sha256 + changelog artifacts; create a Gitea release.
 #
 # Loop guard: the workflow skips entirely when the head commit is a release commit
 # (`chore: release` / `[skip ci]`), and the release commit itself carries `[skip ci]`.
 #
-# All jobs run on ubuntu-latest. GuruConnect ships a single .exe (no WiX/MSI); jsign is a Java
+# The agent is built NATIVELY on the windows-msvc runner (no mingw cross-compile). Signing and
-# tool that signs PE binaries on Linux, so no Windows runner is required.
+# publishing run on ubuntu-latest: jsign is a Java tool that signs PE binaries on Linux, so the
+# signed-binary handoff is Windows-build-job -> artifact -> Linux-sign-job.
 
 on:
   # Gated: releases are deliberate, NOT automatic on every push to main.
@@ -283,13 +286,20 @@ jobs:
           retention-days: 90
 
   # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-  # §2 BUILD + SIGN + PUBLISH
+  # §2 BUILD (native Windows on Pluto windows-msvc runner)
   # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-  build-sign-publish:
+  build-agent-windows:
-    name: Build, Sign, Publish Agent
+    name: Build Agent (Windows, native)
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    # Native build on the Pluto Gitea Actions runner (host-mode, Windows Server 2019).
+    # The MSVC toolchain (x86_64-pc-windows-msvc target + crt-static via .cargo/config.toml)
+    # is pre-installed under the Administrator profile; the runner itself runs as SYSTEM, so
+    # the job points CARGO_HOME/RUSTUP_HOME at the Administrator homes.
+    runs-on: windows-msvc
     needs: version
     if: needs.version.outputs.released == 'true'
+    env:
+      CARGO_HOME: C:\Users\Administrator\.cargo
+      RUSTUP_HOME: C:\Users\Administrator\.rustup
     steps:
       - name: Checkout the release tag
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -298,45 +308,71 @@ jobs:
           ref: v${{ needs.version.outputs.version }}
           fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Install Rust toolchain
+      - name: Add cargo bin to PATH
-        uses: actions-rs/toolchain@v1
+        shell: pwsh
-        with:
-          toolchain: stable
-          # Single source of truth for the Windows target used by the build below.
-          target: x86_64-pc-windows-gnu
-          override: true
-
-      - name: Install cross-compilation tools
         run: |
-          sudo apt-get update
+          # Make cargo/rustc from the Administrator toolchain visible to later steps.
-          sudo apt-get install -y mingw-w64
+          "C:\Users\Administrator\.cargo\bin" | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_PATH -Encoding utf8 -Append
 
-      - name: Cache Cargo dependencies
+      - name: Toolchain sanity check
-        uses: actions/cache@v3
+        shell: pwsh
-        with:
-          path: |
-            ~/.cargo/bin/
-            ~/.cargo/registry/index/
-            ~/.cargo/registry/cache/
-            ~/.cargo/git/db/
-            target/
-          key: ${{ runner.os }}-cargo-agent-release-${{ hashFiles('agent/Cargo.lock') }}
-          restore-keys: |
-            ${{ runner.os }}-cargo-agent-release-
-            ${{ runner.os }}-cargo-agent-
-
-      - name: Build agent (cross-compile for Windows)
         run: |
-          set -euo pipefail
+          # Fail early with a clear marker if the pre-installed toolchain is not reachable.
-          # Target is installed by the toolchain step above (single source of truth).
+          cargo --version
-          cd agent
+          rustc --version
-          cargo build --release --target x86_64-pc-windows-gnu
+
-          echo "[OK] Built agent for x86_64-pc-windows-gnu"
+      - name: Build agent (native x86_64-pc-windows-msvc)
+        shell: pwsh
+        run: |
+          # crt-static and the default target come from .cargo/config.toml; we pass --target
+          # explicitly so the artifact path is deterministic regardless of host defaults.
+          Set-Location agent
+          cargo build --release --target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
+          Write-Host "[OK] Built agent for x86_64-pc-windows-msvc"
 
       - name: Stage unsigned binary
+        shell: pwsh
+        run: |
+          Copy-Item agent\target\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\release\guruconnect.exe .\guruconnect.exe
+          Get-Item .\guruconnect.exe | Format-List Name, Length
+
+      - name: Upload unsigned agent binary
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          name: guruconnect-agent-unsigned
+          path: guruconnect.exe
+          retention-days: 90
+
+  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  # §2 SIGN + §2/§4 PUBLISH (Linux: jsign + Gitea REST)
+  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  build-sign-publish:
+    name: Sign, Publish Agent
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [version, build-agent-windows]
+    if: needs.version.outputs.released == 'true'
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout the release tag
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # Checked out for the Gitea publish step (repo metadata); the binary itself comes
+          # from the windows artifact downloaded below, not from a Linux build.
+          ref: v${{ needs.version.outputs.version }}
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Download unsigned agent binary
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          name: guruconnect-agent-unsigned
+          path: .
+
+      - name: Verify unsigned binary present
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
-          cp agent/target/x86_64-pc-windows-gnu/release/guruconnect.exe ./guruconnect.exe
+          if [ ! -f ./guruconnect.exe ]; then
+            echo "[ERROR] guruconnect.exe not found after artifact download"
+            exit 1
+          fi
           ls -l ./guruconnect.exe
 
       # --- §2 Azure Trusted Signing (port of sign-windows.sh) ---