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Remove Noise protocol references from wiki docs and tests

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Delete 8 Noise-specific documentation pages (noise-xx.md,
transport-keys.md, adr-001/003/006, framing-codec.md) and update
~30 remaining wiki pages to reflect QUIC+TLS as the sole transport.
Remove obsolete Noise-based integration tests (auth_service.rs,
mls_group.rs). Code-side Noise removal was done in f334ed3.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Christian Nennemann
2026-02-22 08:25:23 +01:00
parent f334ed3d43
commit 9fdb37876a
36 changed files with 125 additions and 2201 deletions
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38
docs/src/protocol-layers/quic-tls.md
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@@ -1,21 +1,16 @@
# QUIC + TLS 1.3
quicnprotochat uses QUIC (RFC 9000) with mandatory TLS 1.3 (RFC 9001) as its client-to-server transport layer. This page explains why QUIC was chosen over raw TCP, how the `quinn` and `rustls` crates are integrated, and what security properties the transport provides.
quicnprotochat uses QUIC (RFC 9000) with mandatory TLS 1.3 (RFC 9001) as its transport layer. This page explains how the `quinn` and `rustls` crates are integrated and what security properties the transport provides.
## Why QUIC over raw TCP
## Why QUIC
The M1 milestone used raw TCP sockets with a Noise\_XX handshake for transport encryption (see [Noise\_XX Handshake](noise-xx.md)). Starting from M3, the project migrated to QUIC for several reasons:
QUIC provides several advantages over traditional TCP-based transports:
| Property | Raw TCP + Noise | QUIC + TLS 1.3 |
|---|---|---|
| **Multiplexed streams** | Single stream; application must multiplex manually | Native bidirectional streams; each RPC call gets its own stream |
| **0-RTT resumption** | Not available; full handshake every time | Built-in; returning clients can send data in the first flight |
| **Head-of-line blocking** | A lost TCP segment blocks all subsequent data | Only the affected stream is blocked; other streams proceed |
| **NAT traversal** | TCP requires keep-alives; NAT rebinding breaks connections | UDP-based; connection migration survives NAT rebinding |
| **TLS integration** | Separate Noise handshake layered on top of TCP | TLS 1.3 is integral to the QUIC handshake; no extra round-trips |
| **Ecosystem support** | Custom framing codec required | `capnp-rpc` can use QUIC bidirectional streams directly via `tokio-util` compat layer |
The migration also simplified the codebase: the custom `LengthPrefixedCodec` framing layer and the `into_capnp_io()` bridge (documented in [Noise\_XX Handshake](noise-xx.md)) are no longer needed on the QUIC path because `capnp-rpc` reads and writes directly on the QUIC stream.
- **Multiplexed streams**: Native bidirectional streams; each RPC call gets its own stream without head-of-line blocking.
- **0-RTT resumption**: Returning clients can send data in the first flight, reducing connection setup latency.
- **Integrated encryption**: TLS 1.3 is integral to the QUIC handshake; no extra round-trips for transport security.
- **NAT traversal**: UDP-based; connection migration survives NAT rebinding.
- **Ecosystem support**: `capnp-rpc` can use QUIC bidirectional streams directly via the `tokio-util` compat layer.
## Crate integration
@@ -134,21 +129,6 @@ The QUIC + TLS 1.3 layer provides:
- **Client authentication**: Handled by MLS identity credentials at the application layer. See [MLS (RFC 9420)](mls.md).
- **End-to-end encryption**: TLS terminates at the server. The server can read the Cap'n Proto RPC framing and message routing metadata. Payload confidentiality is provided by MLS. See [MLS (RFC 9420)](mls.md).
- **Post-quantum resistance**: TLS 1.3 key exchange uses classical ECDHE. Post-quantum protection of application data is provided by the [Hybrid KEM](hybrid-kem.md) layer (M5 milestone).
- **Mutual peer authentication**: For peer-to-peer scenarios, the M1-era [Noise\_XX](noise-xx.md) transport provides mutual authentication with identity hiding.
## Comparison with Noise\_XX (M1 approach)
| Aspect | Noise\_XX (M1) | QUIC + TLS 1.3 (M3+) |
|---|---|---|
| **Transport** | Raw TCP | UDP (QUIC) |
| **Handshake** | 3-message Noise XX pattern | TLS 1.3 (1-RTT or 0-RTT) |
| **Mutual auth** | Both peers authenticate static X25519 keys | Server-only at TLS layer; mutual auth via MLS |
| **Identity hiding** | Initiator's identity hidden until message 3 | No identity hiding at TLS layer |
| **Stream multiplexing** | None (single stream) | Native QUIC streams |
| **RPC bridge** | `into_capnp_io()` with `tokio::io::duplex` | Direct `compat()` wrapper on QUIC stream |
| **Codebase location** | `quicnprotochat-core/src/noise.rs` | `quicnprotochat-server/src/main.rs`, client `lib.rs` |
The Noise\_XX path remains useful for direct peer-to-peer connections (without a central server) and as a fallback transport. Both paths carry identical Cap'n Proto message payloads, so the application layer is transport-agnostic.
## Configuration reference
@@ -171,7 +151,5 @@ The Noise\_XX path remains useful for direct peer-to-peer connections (without a
## Further reading
- [Noise\_XX Handshake](noise-xx.md) -- The M1-era transport layer that QUIC replaced.
- [Cap'n Proto Serialisation and RPC](capn-proto.md) -- The RPC layer that runs on top of QUIC streams.
- [Service Architecture](../architecture/service-architecture.md) -- How the server's `NodeServiceImpl` binds to the QUIC endpoint.
- [ADR-006: PQ Gap in Noise Transport](../design-rationale/adr-006-pq-gap.md) -- Discusses the post-quantum gap in both the Noise and TLS transport layers.