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Pick: Remote Execution

Pick integrates with Prospector Studio for remote tool invocation over gRPC. This guide covers issues with the remote execution pipeline.

Tool registration fails

Symptom: Pick starts but doesn't appear in Prospector Studio's tool list.

Possible causes:

  • Studio unreachable — The gRPC endpoint for Prospector Studio is down or misconfigured.
  • Authentication failure — Pick's credentials are invalid or expired.
  • Network issues — Firewall or DNS preventing the gRPC connection.

Debugging:

# Run with gRPC tracing
RUST_LOG=tonic=debug,pick_connector=debug cargo run -p pick-connector

Look for:

tonic::transport: connecting to studio endpoint="https://studio.example.com:443"
tonic::transport: connection failed err="dns resolution failed"
# or
pick_connector: tool registration failed err="unauthenticated"

Verify the Studio endpoint:

# Test gRPC connectivity
grpcurl -plaintext studio.example.com:443 list

Remote invocation doesn't execute

Symptom: A tool is invoked from Prospector Studio but Pick doesn't execute it.

Possible causes:

  • Stale registration — Pick registered tools but the gRPC stream was interrupted.
  • Tool name mismatch — The invocation uses a tool name that doesn't match Pick's registry.
  • Pick process restarted — After a restart, tools must re-register.

Debugging:

RUST_LOG=pick_connector=debug cargo run -p pick-connector

Look for incoming invocation messages:

pick_connector: remote invocation received tool="port_scan" id="abc-123"
# If missing, the invocation never reached Pick

If no invocation log appears, the issue is on the Studio side or the gRPC stream is disconnected.

Studio connection drops

Symptom: Pick connects to Studio initially but the connection drops after some time.

Possible causes:

  • Idle timeout — The gRPC connection was terminated due to inactivity.
  • Network instability — Intermittent connectivity between Pick and Studio.
  • Studio restart — The Studio server was restarted, invalidating existing streams.

Debugging:

RUST_LOG=tonic=debug,pick_connector=debug cargo run -p pick-connector

Look for reconnection attempts:

tonic::transport: connection lost, reconnecting...
pick_connector: re-registering tools with studio

Tip: Pick should automatically reconnect and re-register tools. If it doesn't, restart the Pick process.

Tool execution timeouts

Symptom: A remotely invoked tool starts but never returns a result, or Studio shows a timeout error.

Possible causes:

  • Long-running tool — Some tools (e.g., port_scan with large ranges, traffic_capture) take longer than the default timeout.
  • Tool hung — The tool subprocess is stuck (e.g., waiting for network response that will never come).
  • Result too large — The tool output exceeds the gRPC message size limit.

Debugging:

# Check if the tool is still running
RUST_LOG=pick_connector::tools=debug cargo run -p pick-connector

Look for:

pick_connector::tools: tool invoked name="port_scan" params=...
# ... long gap with no completion message ...
pick_connector::tools: tool timeout name="port_scan" elapsed_ms=30000

For large port scans, consider reducing the port range or increasing concurrency limits. For traffic capture, set a reasonable packet count or duration limit.

Note: Timeouts are configured on the Studio side. If a tool legitimately needs more time, coordinate with your Studio administrator to adjust the invocation timeout.