chore: reduce installed footprint: exclude dev-only files and directories from target deployments

[evereq]

Problem

When DreamServer is installed on a target PC/Mac, the entire dream-server/ subtree is copied to $HOME/dream-server without any filtering. This includes a significant number of files and directories that are only needed for development, CI, or documentation — not for running DreamServer.

Root Cause

The bootstrap installer (get-dream-server.sh) performs a sparse checkout of the dream-server/ directory and then copies it wholesale:

git sparse-checkout set dream-server
cp -r "$TEMP_DIR/repo/dream-server" "$INSTALL_DIR"

No exclusion or filtering is applied during the copy step. Similarly, the Windows installer (install-windows.ps1) clones or copies the full dream-server/ tree into the WSL environment.

Files/Directories Not Needed at Runtime

Directories

Directory	Contents	Why it's not needed
tests/	~34 test scripts (integration, smoke, benchmark, etc.)	Testing infrastructure — not needed on end-user machines
docs/	~34 markdown files (troubleshooting, architecture docs, guides)	Developer/contributor documentation — not needed at runtime
examples/	2 sample files (sample-code.py, sample-doc.txt)	Example files for developers
.github/	CI workflows, issue templates, PR templates	GitHub-specific CI/CD — irrelevant on installed systems

Root-level files in dream-server/

File	Why it's not needed
CHANGELOG.md	Release history — not needed at runtime
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md	Community guidelines — not needed at runtime
CONTRIBUTING.md	Contributor guide — not needed at runtime
EDGE-QUICKSTART.md	Developer quickstart doc
FAQ.md	Can be referenced online
QUICKSTART.md	Setup guide — useful during install but not after
SECURITY.md	Security policy — not needed at runtime
README.md	Project description — not needed at runtime
.shellcheckrc	Shell linting config — dev-only
PSScriptAnalyzerSettings.psd1	PowerShell linting config — dev-only
test-stack.sh	Test harness — dev-only
.gitignore	Git config — not needed at runtime

Files That ARE Needed at Runtime

These are the essential files/directories for a functioning DreamServer installation:

• install.sh / install-core.sh — installer entry points
• installers/ — platform-specific installers and libraries
• docker-compose.*.yml — Docker Compose service definitions
• config/ — runtime configuration
• lib/ — shared shell libraries
• scripts/ — operational scripts (preflight, health checks, etc.)
• agents/ — AI agent templates
• extensions/ — extension/plugin system
• migrations/ — database migrations
• opencode/ — OpenCode systemd service file
• memory-shepherd/ — memory management service
• dream-cli — CLI tool
• dream-backup.sh, dream-restore.sh, dream-update.sh, dream-uninstall.sh, dream-preflight.sh — operational scripts
• .env / .env.example / .env.schema.json — environment configuration
• manifest.json — version and compatibility manifest
• Makefile — operational commands
• LICENSE — required for compliance

Proposed Solutions

Option A: Add exclusion list to the copy step (quick win)

Modify get-dream-server.sh to exclude dev-only directories and files during the copy:

rsync -a --exclude='tests/' --exclude='docs/' --exclude='examples/' \
  --exclude='.github/' --exclude='CHANGELOG.md' --exclude='CONTRIBUTING.md' \
  --exclude='CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md' --exclude='.shellcheckrc' \
  --exclude='PSScriptAnalyzerSettings.psd1' --exclude='test-stack.sh' \
  --exclude='SECURITY.md' --exclude='FAQ.md' --exclude='QUICKSTART.md' \
  --exclude='EDGE-QUICKSTART.md' --exclude='README.md' --exclude='.gitignore' \
  "$TEMP_DIR/repo/dream-server/" "$INSTALL_DIR/"

Option B: Use a manifest-driven approach (more robust)

Extend manifest.json to include a runtime_files or exclude_patterns section that the installer reads to determine what to copy:

{
  "install": {
    "exclude": [
      "tests/", "docs/", "examples/", ".github/",
      "*.md", ".shellcheckrc", "PSScriptAnalyzerSettings.psd1",
      "test-stack.sh", ".gitignore"
    ],
    "keep_md": ["LICENSE"]
  }
}

Option C: Use .dockerignore-style .installignore file

Create a .installignore file in dream-server/ that lists patterns to exclude during installation, similar to how .dockerignore works.

Impact

• Reduced disk usage on target machines (~250KB+ of unnecessary files removed)
• Cleaner installation — end-users won't see developer artifacts
• Reduced attack surface — test scripts and CI configs are not exposed on production machines
• Better UX — cleaner directory listing when users explore their installation

[evereq]

@Lightheartdevs I suggest to first clean up folder "dream-server" by moving all things that not needed on target device to other folders inside mono-repo!

For example, we can move /dream-server/docs into /docs, move /dream-server/.github into /.github and so on. After we done this, the dream-server folder will be almost the same as one we need to have on target device. And next we can execute one of the options described above.

[Lightheartdevs]

Current status after audit: this is partially fixed, but not complete across installers.

The Linux bootstrap path in get-dream-server.sh now uses rsync excludes for tests/, docs/, examples/, root *.md, caches, node_modules/, etc., with a cp fallback cleanup. So the original Linux one-line install root cause is mostly handled.

The issue remains valid because the platform installers still have their own copy filters:

• macOS install-macos.sh excludes runtime data/log/model/build artifacts, but still copies docs/tests/examples/root markdown when source and install dirs differ.
• Windows phases/06-directories.ps1 excludes .git, data/log/model/build artifacts, but also still copies docs/tests/examples/root markdown.

Best next step: centralize this into a shared .installignore/manifest-style runtime copy policy and have Linux/macOS/Windows consume the same rules, then add a small test that asserts dev-only paths are absent from a staged install tree.