fix(job): Sanitize dotted hostnames in NATS subject routing

.tasks/done/2026-02-18-fix-dotted-hostname-routing.md

@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+---
+title: Fix dotted hostname breaks NATS subject routing
+status: done
+created: 2026-02-18
+updated: 2026-02-18
+---
+
+## Objective
+
+Hostnames containing dots (e.g., `Johns-MacBook-Pro-2.local`) break NATS
+subject routing because dots are NATS subject delimiters.
+
+## Problem
+
+When targeting a host with dots in the name, `BuildSubjectFromTarget` produces
+a subject like `jobs.query.host.Johns-MacBook-Pro-2.local` (6 tokens). The
+worker subscribes using `SanitizeHostname`, which replaces dots with
+underscores: `jobs.*.host.Johns-MacBook-Pro-2_local` (4 tokens). The subjects
+never match, so the job is never delivered.
+
+## Affected Code
+
+- `internal/job/subjects.go` — `BuildSubjectFromTarget` (line 241) builds the
+  publish subject without sanitizing the hostname
+- `internal/job/subjects.go` — `BuildWorkerSubscriptionPattern` (line 148)
+  sanitizes via `SanitizeHostname`
+- `internal/job/subjects.go` — `ParseSubject` (line 113) would also need to
+  handle sanitized hostnames on the parse side
+
+## Suggested Fix
+
+Sanitize the hostname in `BuildSubjectFromTarget` for the `"host"` case so
+the publish subject matches the worker subscription. Ensure `ParseSubject`
+round-trips correctly with sanitized hostnames. Add test cases for dotted
+hostnames.
+
+## Notes
+
+- Reproduced with: `go run main.go client network dns get --interface-name eth0 --target 'Johns-MacBook-Pro-2.local'`
+- The job is created but no worker ever picks it up.

internal/job/client/jobs.go

@@ -50,21 +50,22 @@ func (c *Client) CreateJob(
 		targetHostname = job.AnyHost
 	}
 
-	// Build the notification subject using simplified routing based on operation semantics
-	var notificationSubject string
-
-	// Route based on operation name - operations ending in common read patterns are queries
+	// Build the notification subject using semantic routing based on operation type.
+	// Route based on operation name - operations ending in common read patterns are queries.
+	var prefix string
 	if strings.HasSuffix(operationType, ".get") ||
 		strings.HasSuffix(operationType, ".query") ||
 		strings.HasSuffix(operationType, ".read") ||
 		strings.HasSuffix(operationType, ".status") ||
 		strings.HasSuffix(operationType, ".do") ||
 		strings.HasPrefix(operationType, "system.") {
-		notificationSubject = job.BuildQuerySubject(targetHostname)
+		prefix = job.JobsQueryPrefix
 	} else {
-		notificationSubject = job.BuildModifySubject(targetHostname)
+		prefix = job.JobsModifyPrefix
 	}
 
+	notificationSubject := job.BuildSubjectFromTarget(prefix, targetHostname)
+
 	// Generate job ID
 	jobID := uuid.New().String()
 

internal/job/subjects.go

@@ -156,9 +156,9 @@ func BuildWorkerSubscriptionPattern(
 
 	patterns := make([]string, 0, 3+labelCount)
 	patterns = append(patterns,
-		fmt.Sprintf("jobs.*.host.%s", hostname), // Direct messages to this host
-		fmt.Sprintf("jobs.*.%s", AnyHost),       // Load-balanced messages
-		fmt.Sprintf("jobs.*.%s", BroadcastHost), // Broadcast messages
+		fmt.Sprintf("jobs.*.host.%s", SanitizeHostname(hostname)), // Direct messages to this host
+		fmt.Sprintf("jobs.*.%s", AnyHost),                         // Load-balanced messages
+		fmt.Sprintf("jobs.*.%s", BroadcastHost),                   // Broadcast messages
 	)
 
 	for key, value := range labels {
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ func BuildSubjectFromTarget(
 	case "label":
 		return fmt.Sprintf("%s.label.%s.%s", prefix, key, value)
 	default: // "host"
-		return fmt.Sprintf("%s.host.%s", prefix, key)
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%s.host.%s", prefix, SanitizeHostname(key))
 	}
 }
 

internal/job/subjects_public_test.go

@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ func (suite *SubjectsPublicTestSuite) TestBuildWorkerSubscriptionPattern() {
 			name:     "when building subscription pattern for specific hostname",
 			hostname: "web-server-01",
 			want: []string{
-				"jobs.*.host.web-server-01",
+				"jobs.*.host.web_server_01",
 				"jobs.*._any",
 				"jobs.*._all",
 			},
@@ -314,10 +314,10 @@ func (suite *SubjectsPublicTestSuite) TestBuildWorkerSubscriptionPattern() {
 			},
 		},
 		{
-			name:     "when building subscription pattern with complex hostname",
+			name:     "when building subscription pattern with dotted hostname",
 			hostname: "api.example.com",
 			want: []string{
-				"jobs.*.host.api.example.com",
+				"jobs.*.host.api_example_com",
 				"jobs.*._any",
 				"jobs.*._all",
 			},
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ func (suite *SubjectsPublicTestSuite) TestBuildWorkerSubscriptionPattern() {
 			hostname: "web-01",
 			labels:   map[string]string{"group": "web.dev.us-east"},
 			want: []string{
-				"jobs.*.host.web-01",
+				"jobs.*.host.web_01",
 				"jobs.*._any",
 				"jobs.*._all",
 				"jobs.*.label.group.web",
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ func (suite *SubjectsPublicTestSuite) TestBuildWorkerSubscriptionPattern() {
 			hostname: "web-01",
 			labels:   map[string]string{"team": "platform"},
 			want: []string{
-				"jobs.*.host.web-01",
+				"jobs.*.host.web_01",
 				"jobs.*._any",
 				"jobs.*._all",
 				"jobs.*.label.team.platform",
@@ -599,6 +599,12 @@ func (suite *SubjectsPublicTestSuite) TestBuildSubjectFromTarget() {
 			target: "server1",
 			want:   "jobs.query.host.server1",
 		},
+		{
+			name:   "when target is a dotted hostname",
+			prefix: "jobs.query",
+			target: "my-server.local",
+			want:   "jobs.query.host.my_server_local",
+		},
 		{
 			name:   "when target is a flat label",
 			prefix: "jobs.query",

internal/job/worker/consumer.go

@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ func (w *Worker) consumeQueryJobs(
 		},
 		{
 			name:   "query_direct_" + sanitizedHostname,
-			filter: "jobs.query.host." + hostname,
+			filter: "jobs.query.host." + sanitizedHostname,
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ func (w *Worker) consumeModifyJobs(
 		},
 		{
 			name:   "modify_direct_" + sanitizedHostname,
-			filter: "jobs.modify.host." + hostname,
+			filter: "jobs.modify.host." + sanitizedHostname,
 		},
 	}