docs(phase-7): add configuration consolidation planning

- Phase 7: Config Consolidation
- CONTEXT.md: Defines scope, decisions, and requirements
- PLAN.md: 18-task implementation plan with detailed acceptance criteria
- Centralize all configs into config/ folder
- Update deploy scripts, backend loading, and documentation
- Maintain backward compatibility with inventory.env

Co-Authored-By: Claude Haiku 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

.planning/phases/07-config-consolidation/07-CONTEXT.md

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+# Phase 7: Config Consolidation - Context
+
+**Gathered:** 2026-04-23
+**Status:** Ready for planning
+**Source:** User Requirements
+
+---
+
+## Phase Boundary
+
+Consolidate all application configuration files into a centralized `config/` folder in the project root. This includes backend configurations, frontend configurations, deployment settings, and network configurations. Update all deployment scripts, application startup procedures, and backend/frontend code to load configurations from this centralized location.
+
+**Scope:**
+- Create and establish `config/` folder as the single source of truth for all application configuration
+- Migrate existing configuration files (inventory.env and variants) to config folder with meaningful names
+- Update all scripts (deploy.sh, run_standalone.sh, etc.) to reference the new config location
+- Refactor backend config_loader.py and config_manager.py to read from config folder
+- Update frontend environment loading if applicable
+- Verify and clean up root directory scripts that are no longer needed
+- Ensure Docker deployment, standalone deployment, and development all work correctly with new structure
+
+**Deliverables:**
+- `config/` folder with structured configuration files
+- Updated backend configuration loading mechanism
+- Updated deployment scripts
+- Updated startup procedures (Docker and standalone)
+- Documentation of configuration structure in README/DEPLOYMENT.md
+
+---
+
+## Implementation Decisions
+
+### Configuration Structure
+- Create `config/` folder in project root as the central location for all configurations
+- Use meaningful filenames: `backend.env`, `frontend.env`, `network.env`, `docker.env` (for docker-compose)
+- Keep backward compatibility: Support both old (`inventory.env`) and new (`config/backend.env`) paths during transition
+- Environment variable precedence: System env vars > Docker build args > config/backend.env > defaults in code
+
+### Backend Loading
+- Update `backend/config_loader.py` to look for configs in `config/backend.env` first
+- If not found, fall back to `inventory.env` (backward compatibility)
+- If neither exists, use system environment variables
+- Log which config source is being used for debugging
+
+### Deployment Scripts
+- `deploy.sh`: Source environment from `config/network.env` or `config/docker.env` instead of `inventory.env`
+- `run_standalone.sh`: Source configuration from `config/backend.env` and `config/network.env`
+- Docker Compose: Updated to reference `config/docker.env`
+- Scripts should create symlinks or validate that config folder exists before running
+
+### Cleanup Actions
+- Remove or archive `inventory.env` templates after migration
+- Audit root directory scripts for redundancy
+- Update .gitignore to ensure config/ folder structure is tracked (if needed)
+
+### Documentation Updates
+- Update DEPLOYMENT.md with new config folder structure
+- Update README.md with configuration setup instructions
+- Add config/README.md explaining each config file's purpose
+
+---
+
+## Specific Ideas
+
+1. **Config Files to Create:**
+   - `config/backend.env` — Backend-specific variables (database, AI keys, auth settings)
+   - `config/frontend.env` — Frontend-specific variables (API endpoints, feature flags)
+   - `config/network.env` — Network/deployment variables (ports, SSL, server IPs)
+   - `config/docker.env` — Docker-specific overrides (for docker-compose.yml)
+   - `config/README.md` — Documentation of all configuration files
+
+2. **Scripts to Update:**
+   - `deploy.sh` — Update to source from config/ folder
+   - `run_standalone.sh` — Update network config loading
+   - `export_prod.sh` — Ensure it uses new config structure
+   - `install_service.sh` — Update systemd service to reference new config paths
+   - `__push_ALL_to_remote.sh` — Review for config-related updates
+
+3. **Backend Changes:**
+   - `backend/config_loader.py` — Update load order: config/backend.env > inventory.env > env vars
+   - `backend/config_manager.py` — Update to read/write from config/backend.env
+   - `backend/entrypoint.sh` — Source from config/ instead of root level
+
+4. **Testing Requirements:**
+   - Docker deployment with new config structure
+   - Standalone deployment with new config structure
+   - Environment variable override behavior still works
+   - Backward compatibility: old inventory.env still loads if config/ doesn't exist
+
+---
+
+## Deferred Ideas
+
+- Dynamic config hot-reload without restart (future optimization)
+- Config validation framework (future enhancement)
+- Encrypted sensitive values in config files (future security enhancement)
+- Web UI for configuration management (future feature)
+
+---
+
+*Phase: 7-config-consolidation*  
+*Context gathered: 2026-04-23 from user requirements*