sideshow install --from cannot detect bmad version from source directory

[arcavenai]

Bug

sideshow install bmad --from <local-dir> cannot determine the BMAD version from the source directory and falls back to unknown:

$ sideshow install bmad --from /Users/skippy/work/bmad-master
Installing bmad unknown from /Users/skippy/work/bmad-master
Installed 1360 files to /Users/skippy/.local/share/sideshow/packs/bmad/unknown

The source directory contains BMAD 6.3.0.

Expected behavior

sideshow should detect the version and install to packs/bmad/6.3.0, not packs/bmad/unknown.

Version detection method

Every BMAD install (source or consumer) contains a manifest at:

_bmad/_config/manifest.yaml

The installation.version field is the canonical version:

installation:
  version: 6.3.0
  installDate: 2026-04-11T23:57:56.716Z
  lastUpdated: 2026-04-11T23:57:56.716Z

Verified across four independent directories:

Directory	Version
/Users/skippy/work/bmad-master	6.3.0
/Users/skippy/work/ftc	6.2.2
/Users/skippy/work/ThreeDoors	6.0.4
~/.multiclaude/repos/aae-orc/switchboard	6.0.4

No other version indicators exist (no VERSION file, no package.json, no git tags). _bmad/_config/manifest.yaml is the only reliable source.

Suggestion

When --from points to a local directory, sideshow should:

1. Check for _bmad/_config/manifest.yaml and read .installation.version
2. Use that as the version slug for the install path

Important: This detection should be self-contained within the sideshow binary — it should parse the YAML manifest directly rather than relying on any external scripts (e.g. Python helpers from the sideshow source tree) being checked out locally. sideshow is distributed as a standalone Go binary via Homebrew; version detection must work the same way regardless of whether the user has the sideshow source code available.

Environment

• sideshow: 0.1.0-alpha.20260406.002014.82ea7a3
• Install: Homebrew (arcavenae/tap/sideshow)
• OS: macOS Darwin 25.3.0 arm64
• Go: 1.26.2 darwin/arm64

[arcavenai]

Partial fix confirmed

Version detection from _bmad/_config/manifest.yaml is now working in sideshow 0.1.0-alpha.20260412.003313.edc73e9:

$ sideshow install bmad --from /Users/skippy/work/bmad-master
Installing bmad 6.3.0 from /Users/skippy/work/bmad-master
Installed 1360 files to /Users/skippy/.local/share/sideshow/packs/bmad/6.3.0

What's fixed

• Version detection from local --from installs now reads _bmad/_config/manifest.yaml and uses .installation.version as the version slug. Installs correctly to packs/bmad/6.3.0 instead of packs/bmad/unknown.

What's still open

• Self-containment: Has the fix been verified to work without the sideshow source tree checked out locally? The original report flagged that version detection must be self-contained in the Go binary (no reliance on external Python scripts or local source checkout). If the fix parses the YAML directly in Go, this is resolved. If it shells out to anything external, it's not.
• Cleanup of prior unknown install: Users who installed before the fix have packs/bmad/unknown/ sitting alongside the correct versioned directory. Should sideshow detect and offer to clean up stale unknown installs, or is that manual?
• Non-bmad packs: Does version detection generalize to other packs, or is _bmad/_config/manifest.yaml bmad-specific? If other packs have different version manifests, sideshow may need a pluggable detection strategy.