Compose: quote interpolated cpus/memory in local-model service

Context

Third friction signal from the first-real-world cloud-deployment exercise (sibling to #12014, #12015). An IDE editing the external mirror compose flagged cpus: ${NEO_LOCAL_MODEL_CPU_LIMIT:-4.0} as "Numeric value expected" against the Compose JSON schema. The runtime accepts it; the schema-strict validator does not. The same warning fires against the canonical neo compose.

The Problem

ai/deploy/docker-compose.yml:255-256 — the local-model profile is the only service using unquoted env-interpolation under deploy.resources.limits:

  local-model:
    ...
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          memory: ${NEO_LOCAL_MODEL_MEMORY_LIMIT:-8g}
          cpus: ${NEO_LOCAL_MODEL_CPU_LIMIT:-4.0}

YAML interpolation produces a string. The Compose schema declares cpus as number and accepts memory as string-with-suffix OR number-of-bytes. A schema-validating IDE flags cpus (sometimes memory, depending on validator strictness). Compose's runtime coerces correctly, so deployments work — but the editor experience is noisy.

V-B-A: all other services in the canonical use the quoted form (lines 35, 76, 124, 188, 224):

          memory: 2g
          cpus: "2.0"

memory: 2g is a single YAML scalar (no interpolation) so the parser tags it as a string without ambiguity. The interpolated form needs the explicit quote.

The Architectural Reality

Affected:

• ai/deploy/docker-compose.yml:255 (memory interpolation).
• ai/deploy/docker-compose.yml:256 (cpus interpolation).

No other compose files in ai/deploy/ use the unquoted-interpolation pattern (verified via grep -rn '\${[A-Z_]*:-[0-9]' ai/deploy/).

The Fix

Quote the interpolated values:

          memory: "${NEO_LOCAL_MODEL_MEMORY_LIMIT:-8g}"
          cpus: "${NEO_LOCAL_MODEL_CPU_LIMIT:-4.0}"

Two-line edit. No runtime behavior change. Matches the convention already used by the other five services in the same file.

Contract Ledger

Decision Record impact

none — pure consistency fix.

Acceptance Criteria

• ai/deploy/docker-compose.yml:255-256 interpolations are double-quoted.
• grep -n '\${[A-Z_]*:-[0-9]' ai/deploy/docker-compose.yml returns zero unquoted matches (regression guard).
• docker compose -f ai/deploy/docker-compose.yml --profile cloud --profile local-model config parses without error (compose-level smoke test).
• No behavior change in docker compose --profile local-model up (sanity-only — runtime already coerced).

Out of Scope

• Schema-validation across other compose files (none use the unquoted pattern).
• Standardizing the memory: unquoted-literal form (memory: 2g) — that already parses as a string and is the file's prevailing convention for non-interpolated values.
• IDE-side schema-config recommendations.

Avoided Traps

• Dropping the env-interpolation entirely (hardcoding cpus: "4.0") — rejected; loses the operator-tunable override the local-model profile is designed for.
• Filing as bug — rejected; the deployment functions correctly. Schema-strict IDE warning is a DX issue, not a correctness defect.

Related

• #12014 — sibling first-real-world deployment friction (orchestrator co-location follow-up).
• #12015 — sibling Day-0 macOS prerequisites friction.

Handoff Retrieval Hints

• Grep: grep -n '\${[A-Z_]*:-[0-9]' ai/deploy/docker-compose.yml — pre-fix returns lines 255-256; post-fix returns nothing.
• File anchor: ai/deploy/docker-compose.yml:255-256.
• Semantic: "compose env-interpolation IDE numeric-expected warning", "local-model resource limits".