docs/local-development.md

@@ -27,6 +27,13 @@ project directory. Dockerfiles are in `infra/images/`. Runtime and startup files
 are grouped by service under `infra/local/`. The stack consists of Vault, Mongo,
 NATS, notifications, BFF and Caddy serving the frontend.
 
+The frontend container uses Compose `init: true` to reap orphaned `ssl_client`
+children created by BusyBox's HTTPS `wget` health probe. Keep this enabled:
+Caddy alone does not reap those children when it runs as PID 1, and repeated
+probes can accumulate thousands of zombie processes. Recreate the frontend
+container when applying this setting; restarting an old container does not
+change its init configuration.
+
 On first startup, bootstrap initializes/unseals persistent Vault, provisions
 AppRoles and secrets, initializes Mongo replica set `rs0`, configures Vault's Mongo
 plugin, and starts authenticated NATS JetStream. Product startup fails explicitly

docs/signup-facts.md

@@ -144,6 +144,24 @@ BFF to restore Docker DNS and the loopback bridge. Final
 for frontend/proxied BFF, authenticated Sendico currency/ledger reads and the
 Vault/database checks. No Sendico repository files were changed.
 
+On October 18, the frontend had 15,897 processes, including 15,888 unreaped
+`ssl_client` zombie children of Caddy PID 1. The three-second HTTPS health
+probe used BusyBox `wget`, which left those children behind. This confirmed a
+recurring local infrastructure leak, independently of SMTP authentication.
+Compose now enables `init: true` for frontend, and only that container was
+recreated. PID 1 is now `docker-init`; 40 consecutive HTTPS probes completed
+with zero zombie processes and a bounded count of 15 processes afterward.
+Compose configuration validation and `make test-dev-tooling` pass. The API
+health endpoint returns HTTP 200; a diagnostic request using the existing
+account and a generated incorrect password returned HTTP 400 `email_in_use`
+without creating an account or sending email.
+
+The contemporaneous full local verification attempt is blocked by MongoDB's
+five-second health-check timeout under continuing host load; it is not recorded
+as passing. The exact response to the reported Safari attempt was not captured,
+and the frontend's generic unavailable text also covers some HTTP 400 input
+errors. A fresh user retry is needed to confirm the visible signup outcome.
+
 
 With `api.sendico` configured, the product BFF creates the local pending customer
 and activation token atomically, then registers an independent individual through

infra/local/compose.yml

@@ -119,6 +119,8 @@ services:
 
   frontend:
     image: sxchnge-local/frontend:dev
+    # Reap orphaned ssl_client children from BusyBox wget HTTPS health probes.
+    init: true
     build:
       context: .
       dockerfile: infra/images/frontend.Dockerfile