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feat(desktop): packs-vs-teams design — deploy-to-channel and ownership model #858

@wpfleger96

Description

@wpfleger96

Context

PR #852 added full pack CRUD to the desktop UI. During review, two design concerns surfaced that are too large for that PR but need to be addressed:

  1. Packs can't deploy to channel — teams can deploy all their personas to a channel in one click, but packs cannot. Users who install a pack still need to manually create a team from the pack's personas to deploy them together.

  2. Pack ownership model is confusing — pack personas appear in "My Agents" alongside regular personas but behave differently (can't be individually deleted, delete error says "use Uninstall Pack"). The source_pack field on PersonaRecord controls lifecycle in ways that aren't visible in the UI.

Questions to resolve

  • Should packs support a "Deploy to channel" action (like teams)?
  • Should packs subsume teams entirely, or do they serve genuinely distinct purposes?
  • Should source_pack prevent individual deletion, or be purely informational?
  • If packs and teams merge: what's the migration path for existing teams.json data?

Current state

Dimension Team Pack
Purpose "Quick deployment to channels" "Bundled groups that can be installed and shared"
Deploy-to-channel Yes No
Versioned No Yes (semver)
Storage teams.json (reference list) Filesystem directory with manifest
Persona ownership References free personas Owns via source_pack field
Persona editability Independently editable Editable (as of #852)
Import method .team.json file Directory (native picker)
Export Yes No

Both are "groups of personas" displayed as card grids in the Agents view. The overlap is real — the question is whether to converge them or keep them distinct with clearer differentiation.

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