Rsync absolute paths in config files break on remote target
Deploying a hook or plugin system from a workstation to a remote machine where the path layout differs.
Codex hooks register external scripts via absolute paths in hooks.json (e.g. /Users/me/Projects/foo/.codex/hooks/x.sh). When you rsync the config to a remote box where the project lives at /root/foo/, the laptop paths leak through unchanged, codex tries to invoke a non-existent binary, and every hook silently shows hook: <event> Failed with no readable error. The diagnostic trap is that the SCRIPTS work fine when invoked manually (correct path on remote), and the hooks.json is valid JSON. Generalizable bootstrap pattern: after rsyncing any config that may contain absolute paths, regex-rewrite them to the destination layout. For codex specifically, a python one-liner that swaps /Users/<anyone>/.../<repo-name>/.codex with $REMOTE_REPO_DIR/.codex inside hooks.json is the fix.
For any tool with absolute paths embedded in user config (codex hooks, MCP servers, systemd units, supervisord), bake a path-rewriting step into the deploy script. Treat the rsync as a 50%-done copy — the remaining 50% is path translation.