ticket: plan resource_dir removal

work-items/open/20260531-110818-remove-resource-dir/item.md

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+---
+id: 20260531-110818-remove-resource-dir
+slug: remove-resource-dir
+title: Manifest: remove filesystem resource_dir dependency
+status: open
+kind: task
+priority: P2
+labels: [manifest, profile, nix, env, cleanup]
+created_at: 2026-05-31T11:08:18Z
+updated_at: 2026-05-31T11:08:18Z
+assignee: null
+legacy_ticket: null
+---
+
+## Background
+
+`manifest::paths::resource_dir()` and `INSOMNIA_RESOURCE_DIR` currently keep a filesystem resource lookup boundary for bundled assets. That boundary appears increasingly historical:
+
+- prompts are already embedded through `include_dir!` in the Pod prompt loader;
+- provider/model builtin catalogs are already embedded in the provider catalog path;
+- the remaining important uses are builtin Lua profile discovery and a manifest-profile model-context lookup that still reads `resources/models/builtin.toml` through `resource_dir()`.
+
+The desired direction is to remove the filesystem `resource_dir` dependency rather than preserve `INSOMNIA_RESOURCE_DIR` as a public/user-facing configuration surface.
+
+## Requirements
+
+- Investigate and then remove the need for `manifest::paths::resource_dir()` if feasible.
+- Remove `INSOMNIA_RESOURCE_DIR` as an active supported environment variable once no production code needs it.
+- Preserve current builtin behavior:
+  - builtin/default profiles remain available through normal profile selection;
+  - builtin provider/model metadata remains available;
+  - prompts and profile assets still resolve correctly in dev and installed/Nix builds.
+- Prefer embedding builtin assets in Rust over runtime filesystem discovery where this does not create a worse design.
+- If builtin Lua profiles need synthetic source labels or special handling for diagnostics/local requires, design that explicitly rather than keeping `resource_dir` by inertia.
+- Update Nix packaging only after confirming resources no longer need to be installed at `share/insomnia/resources` for runtime behavior.
+- Update `docs/environment.md` to remove `resource_dir` / `INSOMNIA_RESOURCE_DIR` from supported path keys if implementation removes it.
+
+## Non-goals
+
+- Changing user/project `config_dir` override semantics.
+- Removing user profile files or project profile support.
+- Changing profile selector semantics except where needed to replace builtin profile filesystem discovery.
+- Reworking credential env handling.
+- Reintroducing ambient manifest discovery.
+
+## Acceptance criteria
+
+- No production code depends on `manifest::paths::resource_dir()` for bundled asset lookup, or any remaining dependency is explicitly justified and documented in the ticket thread.
+- `INSOMNIA_RESOURCE_DIR` is removed from active code/docs if `resource_dir()` is removed.
+- Builtin default profile/profile registry tests pass without filesystem resource discovery.
+- Builtin model/provider lookup behavior remains available and tested.
+- Nix build/install checks still pass; installed package does not need runtime filesystem resources unless explicitly justified.
+- `cargo fmt --check`, focused manifest/provider/pod/tui tests as relevant, `cargo check` for affected crates, `./tickets.sh doctor`, and `git diff --check` pass.

work-items/open/20260531-110818-remove-resource-dir/thread.md

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+<!-- event: create author: tickets.sh at: 2026-05-31T11:08:18Z -->
+
+## Created
+
+Created by tickets.sh create.
+
+---