# Status Log

## 2026-03-30 — Mesh Protocol Gap Analysis

### Completed
- Created `docs/plans/mesh-protocol-gaps.md` — honest assessment of QuicProChat vs. Reticulum/Meshtastic/Briar
- Created `docs/src/design-rationale/mesh-protocol-comparison.md` — technical comparison document
- Updated `docs/positioning.md` — sharper messaging + honest limitations
- Identified critical gaps:
  1. **MLS overhead too large for LoRa** — KeyPackages are 500-800 bytes, SF12 MTU is 51 bytes
  2. **KeyPackage distribution unsolved** — MLS needs server, mesh has no server
  3. **No lightweight mode** — need "MLS-Lite" for constrained links
  4. **No real hardware testing** — all LoRa code runs against mocks

### Key Insight
QuicProChat has **best-in-class crypto** but **unproven mesh efficiency**. Meshtastic and Reticulum have **weak crypto** but **battle-tested mesh**. We need to close the efficiency gap without sacrificing crypto properties.

### Priority Actions
1. **S4: Multi-hop routing** — complete core mesh (in progress)
2. **Measure actual sizes** — benchmark MLS KeyPackage, Welcome, Commit sizes
3. **Design MLS-Lite** — lightweight symmetric mode for constrained links
4. **Real hardware test** — procure SX1262 boards, test actual LoRa

### Open Design Questions
- How to distribute KeyPackages over mesh without server?
- What's the right crypto/efficiency tradeoff for SF12 LoRa?
- Should we implement LXMF compatibility for Reticulum interop?

---

## 2026-03-30 — Sprint 6: LoRa transport & integration demo

### Completed
- Added `transport_lora.rs`: `LoRaConfig`, Semtech-style airtime estimate, `DutyCycleTracker` (rolling 1 h window, `eu868_one_percent()`), `LoRaMockMedium` + `LoRaTransport` implementing `MeshTransport` (`lora` name for `TransportManager`), LR framing with automatic fragmentation/reassembly, tests (mock roundtrip, fragmentation, duty accounting, `split_for_mtu`).
- Example `mesh_lora_relay_demo`: A (LoRa mock) → B (relay) → C (TCP) and reply path; `scripts/mesh-demo.sh` runs it.
- Wired `pub mod transport_lora` in `lib.rs`.
- Adjusted `cbor_smaller_than_json` to assert CBOR is materially smaller than JSON (fixed overhead dominates; a strict half-JSON threshold failed on current envelope sizes).

### What's next
- Optional: UART-backed `LoRaTransport` behind a feature flag (modem-specific framing).
- Hardware runbook: replace mock medium with RNode / SX1262 serial when available.

## 2026-03-30 — Sprint 3: Announce & Discovery Protocol

### Completed
- Created `MeshAnnounce` struct with Ed25519 signed announcements, CBOR wire format, hop forwarding
- Created `compute_address()` — SHA-256 truncation of identity key to 16-byte mesh address
- Created `RoutingTable` with `RoutingEntry` — keyed by 16-byte address, supports lookup by address or full key, TTL-based expiry, sequence-based stale rejection
- Created `AnnounceDedup` for loop prevention (address+sequence deduplication)
- Created `AnnounceConfig` with sensible defaults (10min interval, 30min max age, 8 max hops)
- Created `create_announce()` and `process_received_announce()` — complete announce processing pipeline (verify, expiry check, dedup, routing update, propagation decision)
- Capability flags: CAP_RELAY, CAP_STORE, CAP_GATEWAY, CAP_CONSTRAINED
- Tests: 17 tests across 3 modules covering signature verification, tampering, forwarding, expiry, dedup, routing updates, stale rejection, CBOR roundtrip, address determinism
- Updated lib.rs with `announce`, `announce_protocol`, `routing_table` modules

### What's Next
- S4: Multi-Hop Routing
- Integrate announce protocol with TransportManager for actual broadcast/receive loops
- Add tokio async announce loop (periodic re-announce, GC timer)

### Notes
- Signature excludes `hop_count` (same design as MeshEnvelope) so forwarding doesn't break verification
- Protocol engine uses free functions rather than a stateful struct — simpler, more testable
- Cannot run `cargo test` in this environment (no C toolchain / linker available)

## 2026-03-30 — Sprint 2: Transport Abstraction Layer

### Completed
- Created `MeshTransport` trait with `send`, `recv`, `discover`, `close` methods
- Created `TransportAddr` enum for transport-agnostic addressing (Iroh, Socket, LoRa, Serial, Raw)
- Created `TransportInfo` struct for transport capability metadata
- Implemented `IrohTransport` wrapping iroh `Endpoint` with same length-prefixed framing as `P2pNode`
- Implemented `TcpTransport` using tokio `TcpListener`/`TcpStream` with length-prefixed framing
- Implemented `TransportManager` for multi-transport routing based on address type
- Added `async-trait` dependency, enabled tokio `net` + `io-util` features
- Tests: TransportAddr Display formatting, TCP roundtrip, TransportManager routing, error cases

### What's Next
- S3: Announce & Discovery Protocol
- Future: integrate transport layer into `HybridRouter` / replace direct iroh usage

### Notes
- New transport layer sits alongside existing `P2pNode` — no breaking changes
- `IrohTransport` uses separate ALPN (`quicprochat/mesh/1`) to avoid conflicts with `P2pNode`
- Cannot run `cargo test`/`cargo clippy` in this environment (no Rust toolchain installed)