quicproquo/docs/status.md

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?

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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)