Fix what review found in the skill: five real defects

Adversarial review of #29 found bugs I confirmed by reproducing each one.

**Every hand-written error message was unreachable.** `tok=$(curl ...)` is a
plain assignment, so `set -e` acts on the command substitution before the
following `|| die` can run. A wrong password produced exit 22 and no output at
all — the most likely way this gets used wrongly, and the least explained.
All four captures now go through a `run` helper that takes a *description*
rather than echoing the command, because one of them carries the account
password in `-u`.

**`up` was not idempotent, and the second run destroyed DNS.** The resolv.conf
backup was copied unconditionally, so `up --full` twice overwrote the good
backup with PIA's own resolvers; the later `down` then "restored" those and
left the container with no working DNS and no way back. `up` now runs `down`
first. Verified: two `up --full` runs, then `down`, and the backup still holds
the original 192.168.65.7.

**An empty gateway produced total connectivity loss, reported as healthy.**
`$gw` was never validated and `add_route` swallowed every failure to /dev/null.
The two half-routes need no gateway and would succeed, so the tunnel captured
everything while the exclusions keeping DNS and the Docker host reachable
silently did not exist — and `status` still printed "full tunnel". Routes are
now fatal on failure, and a via-less default (`$3` is the literal "eth0") is
rejected.

**The PIA session token was in the process arguments** — confirmed in `ps` and
/proc/*/cmdline, a ~24h bearer credential for the account readable by anything
in the container. It now goes to curl on stdin as a config. Verified: 60 polls
across a full `up`, zero sightings.

**The preflight diagnosed the wrong kernel module.** It checked /dev/net/tun
and blamed the tun module, but kernel WireGuard is a netlink interface and does
not use it — verified by creating one with NET_ADMIN and no tun device. The
check is dropped (the container could not have started without the device
anyway) and `ip link add` now reports the real dependency.

Also: a full tunnel with no DNS servers from PIA used to warn and carry on,
which is a tunnel leaking every lookup while reporting itself healthy — now
fatal. `down` validates the backup before restoring it, so a truncated one
cannot leave the container with no resolver at all. `wg.priv` is shredded on
teardown and created under umask 077, because /run rides `docker commit` into
the snapshot image. A mistyped `up --ful` is rejected instead of silently
giving a test route.

entrypoint: `install_feature_skill` gets `local`, a blank-name guard (the
disabled branch would otherwise `rm -rf` the whole skills directory under a
persisted volume), `-e`/`-L` so a leftover *file* at the destination is cleaned
up, and a chown of the parent so `claude` can still add skills of their own
when Mission Control is off. When the base image predates the skill it now says
so instead of returning silently — and `/opt/triple-c-skills` joins
FEATURE_PROBES so the migration pre-flight reports it. Docs corrected to match:
neither half reaches an existing project without a migration.

`vpn_env_var` extracted and tested, pinning the property the whole removal path
rests on — that the variable is emitted as 0 rather than omitted.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

CLAUDE.md

@@ -343,12 +343,20 @@ container is created once by a very long function where a dropped capability is
   directly avoids both, which is what the skill does.
 - **The `pia-vpn` skill is installed *and removed* from `VPN_SUPPORT_ENABLED`.** `container/skills/`
   is baked to `/opt/triple-c-skills` and `install_feature_skill()` in `entrypoint.sh` copies it into
-  `~/.claude/skills/` on every start — refreshed each time, so a fix reaches existing projects, and
+  `~/.claude/skills/` on every start — refreshed each time, so a fix reaches any project whose base
-  `rm -rf`'d first, so files dropped from a later version do not linger. The removal branch matters
+  image has the source, and `rm -rf`'d first, so files dropped from a later version do not linger.
-  as much as the install: `~/.claude` is a persisted volume, so a skill left behind after the toggle
+  The removal branch matters as much as the install: `~/.claude` is a persisted volume, so a skill
-  goes off would keep instructing an agent to use a capability the container no longer has. Which is
+  left behind after the toggle goes off would keep instructing an agent to use a capability the
-  also why the variable is sent as `0` rather than omitted, and why it is in `RESERVED_ENV_EXACT` —
+  container no longer has. Which is also why the variable is sent as `0` rather than omitted (see
-  a custom env var of that name could otherwise claim the skill without the capability behind it.
+  `vpn_env_var`, tested), and why it is in `RESERVED_ENV_EXACT` — a custom env var of that name
+  could otherwise claim the skill without the capability behind it.
+- **Both halves of that live in the base image, so neither reaches an existing project.** A
+  recreation builds from the project's *own snapshot*, which has no `/opt/triple-c-skills` and no
+  updated `entrypoint.sh`; only a migration or a Reset delivers them. The install path says so out
+  loud rather than returning silently, and `/opt/triple-c-skills` is in `FEATURE_PROBES` so the
+  migration pre-flight lists it as missing. Worth knowing before adding anything else behind an
+  existing toggle: the label fingerprints *the setting*, not the set of things the setting drives,
+  so a project already at `true` gets no recreation at all on upgrade.
 
 ### Container Lifecycle
 

HOW-TO-USE.md

@@ -495,6 +495,10 @@ easy to get wrong (see the DNS note below), and it is removed again when you tur
 It needs your PIA credentials in `~/pia-creds`, two lines, username then password. If you use a
 different provider, ignore it and set up your own client; nothing else depends on it.
 
+Like the VPN tooling above, the skill ships in the container image, so a project whose container
+predates it will not get one by toggling the setting — **migrate the project** and it appears; the
+migration pre-flight lists it among what you would gain.
+
 With the setting **off**, a client such as PIA or OpenVPN installs and its daemon starts normally,
 but the connection attempt **hangs until it times out** — a default container has no tun device to open
 and no permission to add an interface or a route, and most clients report that as a generic timeout

app/src-tauri/src/docker/container.rs

@@ -841,6 +841,23 @@ type VpnHostConfigParts = (
 /// host-kernel module auto-loading. It is also enough to flush netfilter rules
 /// inside the container, so pair it with `sandbox_mode_enabled` advisedly.
 /// Hence opt-in, per project, rather than on for everyone.
+/// The env var `entrypoint.sh` installs and removes the `pia-vpn` skill from.
+///
+/// **Emitted either way, never omitted.** `~/.claude` is a persisted volume, so
+/// turning the toggle off has to actively tell entrypoint to remove a skill an
+/// earlier run left there, and an absent variable cannot say that. It is also
+/// what stops a `=1` baked into a snapshot by `docker commit` from outliving
+/// the setting — the explicit `=0` overwrites it.
+///
+/// Extracted for the same reason as [`vpn_host_config`]: the emitting code sits
+/// in a very long function where a dropped or inverted value is invisible, and
+/// `MISSION_CONTROL_ENABLED` twenty lines above shows the failure this avoids —
+/// it is pushed only when true, so a snapshot's baked `=1` survives the toggle
+/// going off.
+fn vpn_env_var(enabled: bool) -> String {
+    format!("VPN_SUPPORT_ENABLED={}", u8::from(enabled))
+}
+
 fn vpn_host_config(enabled: bool) -> VpnHostConfigParts {
     if !enabled {
         return (None, None, None);
@@ -1276,14 +1293,7 @@ pub async fn create_container(
         env_vars.push("MISSION_CONTROL_ENABLED=1".to_string());
     }
 
-    // Drives the pia-vpn skill install in entrypoint.sh. Sent as 0 rather than
+    env_vars.push(vpn_env_var(project.vpn_support_enabled));
-    // omitted when off, because ~/.claude is a persisted volume: entrypoint has
-    // to be told to *remove* a skill left there by an earlier run with the
-    // toggle on, and an absent variable cannot say that.
-    env_vars.push(format!(
-        "VPN_SUPPORT_ENABLED={}",
-        u8::from(project.vpn_support_enabled)
-    ));
 
     // Permission mode — read by triple-c-task-runner for scheduled (headless)
     // Claude Code runs. Interactive terminals get the flags directly instead.
@@ -2799,6 +2809,17 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(cap_add.unwrap(), vec!["NET_ADMIN"]);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn the_vpn_skill_flag_is_emitted_either_way_never_omitted() {
+        // The whole removal path depends on this. If `false` ever became "emit
+        // nothing", a project that had the toggle on would keep the skill
+        // forever: the container recreates from a snapshot whose baked
+        // VPN_SUPPORT_ENABLED=1 would then go unchallenged, and entrypoint
+        // would reinstall a skill for a capability the container no longer has.
+        assert_eq!(vpn_env_var(true), "VPN_SUPPORT_ENABLED=1");
+        assert_eq!(vpn_env_var(false), "VPN_SUPPORT_ENABLED=0");
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn the_vpn_skill_flag_is_reserved_from_custom_env() {
         // entrypoint.sh installs and removes the pia-vpn skill from this

app/src-tauri/src/docker/migration.rs

@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ pub const FEATURE_PROBES: &[(&str, &str)] = &[
     ("/usr/local/bin/triple-c-sso-refresh", "AWS SSO auto-refresh"),
     ("/opt/mission-control", "Mission Control (Flight Control)"),
     ("/usr/bin/wg", "VPN tooling for the VPN Support toggle (WireGuard)"),
+    ("/opt/triple-c-skills", "Bundled skills for the VPN Support toggle (PIA VPN)"),
 ];
 
 /// Headroom demanded on Docker's storage backend on top of the measured

container/Dockerfile

@@ -401,7 +401,9 @@ COPY mission-control /opt/mission-control
 # no skill at all. Staged in /opt because ~/.claude is a volume mount: an image
 # copy underneath it would be masked from the project's first start onward.
 COPY skills /opt/triple-c-skills
-RUN chmod +x /opt/triple-c-skills/*/*.sh
+# `find`, not a `*/*.sh` glob: the glob fails the build the day a skill ships
+# without a script, which is a legitimate thing for a skill to do.
+RUN find /opt/triple-c-skills -name '*.sh' -exec chmod +x {} +
 
 COPY entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh
 RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh

container/entrypoint.sh

@@ -347,18 +347,37 @@ fi
 # Copied on every start rather than only when absent, so a fix to a skill
 # reaches projects that already have the old copy. Local edits under these
 # directories do not survive — treat /opt/triple-c-skills as the source.
+#
+# The source lives in the *base image*, so a project whose container predates it
+# recreates from its own snapshot and has no /opt/triple-c-skills to copy from.
+# That case says so rather than returning silently: the toggle is on, the
+# capability is there, and the skill simply never appears — which is impossible
+# to work out from the outside.
 install_feature_skill() {
-    _name=$1
+    local _name="$1"
-    _enabled=$2
+    local _enabled="$2"
-    _dest="/home/claude/.claude/skills/$_name"
+    local _src="/opt/triple-c-skills/$1"
+    local _dest="/home/claude/.claude/skills/$1"
+
+    # A blank name would make the disabled branch `rm -rf` the whole skills
+    # directory, Mission Control's included, under a persisted volume.
+    [ -n "$_name" ] || { echo "entrypoint: install_feature_skill called with no name"; return 1; }
+
     if [ "$_enabled" = "1" ]; then
-        [ -d "/opt/triple-c-skills/$_name" ] || return 0
+        if [ ! -d "$_src" ]; then
+            echo "entrypoint: $_name skill unavailable — this container's base image predates it; migrate the project to get it"
+            return 0
+        fi
         mkdir -p /home/claude/.claude/skills
+        # Not just $_dest: when Mission Control is off nothing else creates the
+        # parent, so root would own it and `claude` could not add a skill there.
+        chown claude:claude /home/claude/.claude/skills
         rm -rf "$_dest"
-        cp -r "/opt/triple-c-skills/$_name" "$_dest"
+        cp -r "$_src" "$_dest"
         chown -R claude:claude "$_dest"
         echo "entrypoint: $_name skill installed to ~/.claude/skills/"
-    elif [ -d "$_dest" ]; then
+    elif [ -e "$_dest" ] || [ -L "$_dest" ]; then
+        # -e/-L rather than -d: a leftover *file* at that path must go too.
         rm -rf "$_dest"
         echo "entrypoint: $_name skill removed (feature disabled)"
     fi

container/skills/pia-vpn/SKILL.md

@@ -65,6 +65,19 @@ PIA's own resolvers through the tunnel with `/32` routes that outrank the
 `10/8` exclusion. If you ever route traffic by hand, you owe both halves — the
 exclusions *and* a resolver reachable from wherever you pointed the default.
 
+The failure has a quiet twin. Do only the first half — exclude the private
+ranges, leave the resolver alone — and everything *works*, while every DNS
+query travels outside the tunnel to your ISP. A VPN that leaks the full list of
+what you looked up is worse than one that is visibly broken, so `up --full`
+refuses to proceed if PIA does not hand back resolvers rather than carrying on
+without them.
+
+The mechanism above is Docker Desktop's. On a user-defined Docker network the
+resolver is `127.0.0.11`, which is loopback and never captured by a default
+route — the trap still exists there (that resolver forwards upstream from
+inside the container's namespace) but arrives by a different path. Check
+`/etc/resolv.conf` rather than assuming which case you are in.
+
 ## Trap 2: an IP-literal health check cannot see a dead resolver
 
 `curl https://1.1.1.1/cdn-cgi/trace` needs no DNS, so it returns a cheerful
@@ -116,9 +129,20 @@ p1234567
 your-password
 ```
 
-Set `PIA_CREDS` to use a different path. Treat the contents as secret: never
+Treat the contents as secret: never print the file, never echo the values, and
-print the file, never echo the values, and never include them in a commit, a
+never include them in a commit, a log or a message. The script reads it directly
-log or a message. The script reads it directly and does not echo it.
+and does not echo it, and passes PIA's session token to `curl` on stdin rather
+than in the argv, where `ps` would expose it to everything in the container.
+
+`PIA_CREDS` points somewhere else — but `sudo` resets the environment, so it
+only takes effect **after** the word `sudo`:
+
+```bash
+sudo PIA_CREDS=/path/to/creds ~/.claude/skills/pia-vpn/pia-wg.sh up   # works
+PIA_CREDS=/path/to/creds sudo ~/.claude/skills/pia-vpn/pia-wg.sh up   # ignored
+```
+
+The second form fails silently back to the default path. Same for `PIA_REGION`.
 
 ## Regions
 
@@ -156,10 +180,16 @@ true in test mode too, and means much less than it sounds like.
 
 ## Tearing down
 
-`down` restores `resolv.conf` from its backup and removes exactly the routes
+`down` restores `resolv.conf` from its backup (only if that backup still looks
-that were added, in reverse order, then deletes the interface. It is safe to
+like a resolver file — restoring a truncated one would leave the container with
-run when nothing is up. Confirm afterwards that the public address is back to
+no DNS at all), removes exactly the routes that were added, in reverse order,
-the container's own.
+deletes the interface, and shreds the WireGuard private key. It is safe to run
+when nothing is up, and `up` runs it first so a repeat `up` cannot stack state.
+Confirm afterwards that the public address is back to the container's own.
+
+The key deletion is not housekeeping: `/run` is in the container's writable
+layer, so `docker commit` bakes whatever is there into the project's snapshot
+image. A key left behind rides that image into every future container.
 
 ## What this deliberately does not do
 
@@ -173,3 +203,11 @@ the container's own.
   cannot work headless: the daemon never accepts a client connection without
   the GUI, and `piactl --help` states that connecting requires it. If you find
   one installed, it is not a working alternative to this script.
+- **Not `wg-quick`.** Its `Table=auto` full-tunnel mode routes by firewall mark
+  and needs `xt_CONNMARK` from the host kernel, which Docker Desktop for
+  Windows (WSL2) does not have and a container cannot load. This script adds
+  the routes with `ip route` directly, which works on every host.
+- **IPv4 only.** The `0.0.0.0/1` + `128.0.0.0/1` pair covers v4. A container
+  with a global IPv6 address and a v6 default route would leak all v6 traffic
+  outside the tunnel; Triple-C's containers do not have one by default, but
+  check `ip -6 route show default` before relying on this where it matters.

container/skills/pia-vpn/pia-wg.sh

@@ -13,13 +13,20 @@
 #
 # Requires the project's "VPN support" setting (Config -> Runtime) to be on.
 #
+# Settings are read from the environment, but note that sudo resets it: they
+# have to be passed *through* sudo, after the word `sudo`, not before it.
+#
+#   sudo PIA_REGION=uk_london pia-wg.sh up --full     # works
+#   PIA_REGION=uk_london sudo pia-wg.sh up --full     # silently ignored
+#
 #   PIA_CREDS   credentials file, two lines: username, then password
-#               (default ~/pia-creds; never echoed by this script)
+#               (default /home/claude/pia-creds; never echoed by this script)
 #   PIA_REGION  region id (default us_chicago). List them with:
 #     curl -s https://serverlist.piaservers.net/vpninfo/servers/v6 \
 #       | head -1 | jq -r '.regions[].id'
 set -euo pipefail
 
+# Not ~/pia-creds: under sudo, HOME is /root.
 CREDS=${PIA_CREDS:-/home/claude/pia-creds}
 REGION=${PIA_REGION:-us_chicago}
 IFACE=pia0
@@ -36,11 +43,28 @@ PRIVATE_NETS="10.0.0.0/8 172.16.0.0/12 192.168.0.0/16 169.254.0.0/16"
 # source lines without the indentation ending up in the output.
 die() { echo "pia-wg: $*" >&2; exit 1; }
 
+# `x=$(cmd)` is a plain assignment, so `set -e` kills the script on a non-zero
+# cmd *before* any `[ -z "$x" ] || die` line can run. Every capture below
+# therefore goes through `run`; without it a wrong password exits 22 with no
+# output at all, which is the most likely way this is used wrongly and was the
+# least explained.
+#
+# It takes a description rather than reporting the command it ran: one of these
+# invocations carries the account password in `-u`, and an error message is
+# exactly the wrong place for that to surface.
+run() { local what=$1; shift; "$@" || die "$what (exit $?)"; }
+
 preflight() {
   [ "$(id -u)" = 0 ] || die "run with sudo"
   # CAP_NET_ADMIN is bit 12. Checking it by name gives a usable error; without
   # it the first `ip` call fails with a bare "Operation not permitted" that
   # points nowhere near the setting that actually needs changing.
+  #
+  # Deliberately NOT checking /dev/net/tun: kernel WireGuard is a netlink
+  # interface and does not use it (verified -- `ip link add type wireguard`
+  # succeeds with NET_ADMIN and no tun device). It is OpenVPN and userspace
+  # wireguard-go that need it. The real kernel dependency here is the
+  # `wireguard` module, which `ip link add` below reports on directly.
   local caps
   caps=$(awk '/^CapEff:/{print $2}' /proc/self/status)
   if [ $(( 0x$caps & 0x1000 )) -eq 0 ]; then
@@ -49,51 +73,88 @@ preflight() {
         "again. That recreates the container; the home and .claude volumes" \
         "are preserved, so nothing in them is lost."
   fi
-  [ -e /dev/net/tun ] || \
+  command -v wg >/dev/null || \
-    die "/dev/net/tun is missing." \
+    die "wireguard-tools is not installed." \
-        "Same fix: turn on \"VPN support\" in Config -> Runtime. If it is" \
+        "If this project's container was built from an older base image," \
-        "already on, the Docker host's kernel is missing the tun module."
+        "migrate it onto the current one -- that is what ships \`wg\`."
-  command -v wg >/dev/null || die "wireguard-tools is not installed."
   [ -r "$CREDS" ] || \
     die "no credentials at $CREDS." \
         "Two lines are expected: username, then password." \
-        "Set PIA_CREDS to read them from somewhere else."
+        "Set PIA_CREDS (after the word \`sudo\`) to read them elsewhere."
 }
 
-# Record every route we add so teardown removes exactly those and nothing else.
+# Routes that must work. A silent failure here is the worst state this script
-add_route() { ip route add $1 2>/dev/null && echo "$1" >> "$STATE/routes" || true; }
+# can reach: the two half-routes need no gateway and would succeed, so the
+# tunnel captures everything while the exclusions that keep DNS and the Docker
+# host reachable are quietly missing -- and `status` still says "full tunnel".
+add_route() {
+  ip route add "$@" || die "could not add route '$*'. Run 'down' to undo the partial setup."
+  printf '%s\n' "$*" >> "$STATE/routes"
+}
 
 up() {
+  case "${1:-}" in
+    ""|--full) ;;
+    *) die "unknown option '$1' (expected --full or nothing)." \
+           "Refusing rather than silently giving you a test route." ;;
+  esac
   preflight
+
+  # Always start from a known state. Without this a second `up` overwrites the
+  # saved resolv.conf with PIA's own resolvers, so the later `down` "restores"
+  # those and leaves the container with no working DNS and no way back.
+  down >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+
   mkdir -p "$STATE"; cd "$STATE"
-  [ -f ca.rsa.4096.crt ] || curl -sf -m 20 -o ca.rsa.4096.crt \
+
-    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pia-foss/manual-connections/master/ca.rsa.4096.crt \
+  # `curl -o` creates the file before it knows the request failed, so a plain
-    || die "could not fetch PIA's CA certificate"
+  # `[ -f ]` cache check can pin a truncated cert forever -- and /run rides the
+  # snapshot, so "forever" outlives the container. Fetch to a temp name and
+  # rename only on success.
+  if [ ! -s ca.rsa.4096.crt ]; then
+    run "could not download PIA's CA certificate" \
+      curl -sf -m 20 -o ca.crt.part \
+      https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pia-foss/manual-connections/master/ca.rsa.4096.crt
+    [ -s ca.crt.part ] || die "PIA's CA certificate downloaded empty"
+    mv ca.crt.part ca.rsa.4096.crt
+  fi
 
   local u p tok srv sip scn priv pub resp ep gw dns
   u=$(sed -n 1p "$CREDS"); p=$(sed -n 2p "$CREDS")
-  tok=$(curl -sf -m 25 -u "$u:$p" \
+  [ -n "$u" ] && [ -n "$p" ] || die "$CREDS needs two lines: username, then password"
-    https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/gtoken/generateToken | jq -r .token)
-  [ -n "$tok" ] && [ "$tok" != null ] || die "PIA authentication failed - check $CREDS"
 
-  curl -sf -m 30 https://serverlist.piaservers.net/vpninfo/servers/v6 | head -1 > servers.json
+  tok=$(run "PIA rejected the credentials in $CREDS, or could not be reached" \
+    curl -sf -m 25 -u "$u:$p" \
+    https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/gtoken/generateToken | jq -r .token)
+  [ -n "$tok" ] && [ "$tok" != null ] || die "PIA returned no token - check the credentials in $CREDS"
+
+  run "could not fetch PIA's server list" \
+    curl -sf -m 30 https://serverlist.piaservers.net/vpninfo/servers/v6 \
+    | head -1 > servers.json
   srv=$(jq -r --arg r "$REGION" '.regions[] | select(.id==$r) | .servers.wg[0]' servers.json)
   sip=$(echo "$srv" | jq -r .ip); scn=$(echo "$srv" | jq -r .cn)
-  [ -n "$sip" ] && [ "$sip" != null ] || die "no WireGuard server for region $REGION"
+  [ -n "$sip" ] && [ "$sip" != null ] || die "no WireGuard server for region '$REGION'"
 
-  priv=$(wg genkey); pub=$(echo "$priv" | wg pubkey)
+  # umask, not a later chmod: the file is created under the inherited 0022
-  printf '%s' "$priv" > wg.priv; chmod 600 wg.priv
+  # otherwise, so the key is world-readable for the moment in between.
+  ( umask 077; priv=$(wg genkey); printf '%s' "$priv" > wg.priv )
+  priv=$(cat wg.priv); pub=$(printf '%s' "$priv" | wg pubkey)
 
+  # The token goes in on stdin as a curl config rather than in the argv, where
+  # `ps` and /proc/*/cmdline expose it to every process in the container --
+  # verified. It is a ~24h bearer credential for the whole PIA account.
   # PIA pins its certificate to the server's common name, which is why this
   # connects by CN and lets --connect-to point that name at the real address.
-  resp=$(curl -sf -m 25 -G --connect-to "$scn::$sip:" --cacert ca.rsa.4096.crt \
+  resp=$(printf -- '--data-urlencode "pt=%s"\n--data-urlencode "pubkey=%s"\n' "$tok" "$pub" \
-    --data-urlencode "pt=$tok" --data-urlencode "pubkey=$pub" \
+    | run "could not register the key with $scn" \
-    "https://$scn:1337/addKey")
+        curl -sf -m 25 -G -K - --connect-to "$scn::$sip:" \
+        --cacert ca.rsa.4096.crt "https://$scn:1337/addKey")
   [ "$(echo "$resp" | jq -r .status)" = OK ] || die "key registration failed: $resp"
 
   : > "$STATE/routes"
-  ip link del "$IFACE" 2>/dev/null || true
+  ip link add "$IFACE" type wireguard 2>/dev/null || \
-  ip link add "$IFACE" type wireguard
+    die "could not create a WireGuard interface." \
+        "The Docker host's kernel has no 'wireguard' module."
   wg set "$IFACE" private-key wg.priv \
     peer "$(echo "$resp" | jq -r .server_key)" \
     endpoint "$(echo "$resp" | jq -r .server_ip):$(echo "$resp" | jq -r .server_port)" \
@@ -102,36 +163,41 @@ up() {
   ip link set "$IFACE" up
 
   if [ "${1:-}" = "--full" ]; then
+    ep=$(echo "$resp" | jq -r .server_ip)
+    gw=$(ip route show default | awk '{print $3; exit}')
+    # `default dev eth0` with no `via` yields the literal "eth0" here, which
+    # would make every exclusion below a malformed no-op.
+    [[ $gw =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]] || \
+      die "no usable default gateway to pin the tunnel against (got '${gw:-none}')"
+
+    # PIA's resolvers are required in --full. Without them the 10/8 exclusion
+    # below is already in place, so every lookup would go to the container's
+    # own resolver *outside* the tunnel -- a full tunnel leaking all its DNS,
+    # reported by `status` as perfectly healthy.
+    dns=$(echo "$resp" | jq -r '.dns_servers[]? // empty' | head -2)
+    [ -n "$dns" ] || die "PIA returned no DNS servers; refusing a full tunnel that would leak every lookup"
+
     # Pin the endpoint to the pre-existing gateway first, so the tunnel's own
     # packets do not try to route through the tunnel. Then beat the default
     # route with two half-routes rather than replacing it -- nothing to restore
     # on teardown, and the container keeps working if this script dies midway.
-    ep=$(echo "$resp" | jq -r .server_ip)
+    add_route "$ep/32" via "$gw"
-    gw=$(ip route show default | awk '{print $3; exit}')
+    add_route 0.0.0.0/1 dev "$IFACE"
-    add_route "$ep/32 via $gw"
+    add_route 128.0.0.0/1 dev "$IFACE"
-    add_route "0.0.0.0/1 dev $IFACE"
-    add_route "128.0.0.0/1 dev $IFACE"
 
     # Keep container, host and LAN traffic off the tunnel. Longer prefixes than
     # the two halves above, so these win.
-    for n in $PRIVATE_NETS; do add_route "$n via $gw"; done
+    for n in $PRIVATE_NETS; do add_route "$n" via "$gw"; done
 
-    # PIA's resolver lives inside 10/8, so pin it back through the tunnel with a
+    # PIA's resolvers live inside 10/8, so pin them back through the tunnel with
-    # /32 -- longer still, so it beats the 10.0.0.0/8 exclusion just added.
+    # /32s -- longer still, so they beat the exclusion just added.
-    # Using PIA's resolver rather than the container's keeps DNS from leaking,
+    cp /etc/resolv.conf "$STATE/resolv.conf.bak"
-    # and the container's own resolver is unreachable from inside the tunnel.
+    for d in $dns; do add_route "$d/32" dev "$IFACE"; done
-    dns=$(echo "$resp" | jq -r '.dns_servers[]? // empty' | head -2)
+    # resolv.conf is a bind mount: write through it, never replace it.
-    if [ -n "$dns" ]; then
+    for d in $dns; do echo "nameserver $d"; done > /etc/resolv.conf
-      cp /etc/resolv.conf "$STATE/resolv.conf.bak"
-      for d in $dns; do add_route "$d/32 dev $IFACE"; done
-      # resolv.conf is a bind mount: write through it, never replace it.
-      for d in $dns; do echo "nameserver $d"; done > /etc/resolv.conf
-    else
-      echo "pia-wg: warning - PIA returned no DNS servers; leaving resolv.conf alone" >&2
-    fi
     echo "full tunnel: public traffic exits via PIA; private ranges stay local"
   else
-    add_route "1.1.1.1/32 dev $IFACE"
+    add_route 1.1.1.1/32 dev "$IFACE"
     echo "test route only: 1.1.1.1 goes via PIA, everything else unchanged"
   fi
 
@@ -141,8 +207,15 @@ up() {
 
 down() {
   [ "$(id -u)" = 0 ] || die "run with sudo"
+  # Only restore something that actually looks like a resolver file. Restoring
+  # an empty or truncated backup leaves the container with no DNS at all, which
+  # is worse than leaving the current one alone.
   if [ -f "$STATE/resolv.conf.bak" ]; then
-    cat "$STATE/resolv.conf.bak" > /etc/resolv.conf
+    if grep -q '^nameserver' "$STATE/resolv.conf.bak" 2>/dev/null; then
+      cat "$STATE/resolv.conf.bak" > /etc/resolv.conf
+    else
+      echo "pia-wg: warning - saved resolv.conf looks empty; leaving the current one alone" >&2
+    fi
     rm -f "$STATE/resolv.conf.bak"
   fi
   if [ -f "$STATE/routes" ]; then
@@ -153,6 +226,10 @@ down() {
     rm -f "$STATE/routes"
   fi
   ip link del "$IFACE" 2>/dev/null || true
+  # /run is in the writable layer and `docker commit` bakes it into the
+  # project's snapshot image, so a key left here rides that image into every
+  # future container. Verified: a snapshot already carried one.
+  rm -f "$STATE/wg.priv"
   echo "tunnel down"
 }
 
@@ -197,5 +274,5 @@ case "${1:-}" in
   up) shift; up "${1:-}" ;;
   down) down ;;
   status) status ;;
-  *) sed -n '2,20p' "$0" | sed 's/^# \{0,1\}//'; exit 1 ;;
+  *) sed -n '2,27p' "$0" | sed 's/^# \{0,1\}//'; exit 1 ;;
 esac