quicproquo/docs/status.md

Status Log

2026-03-31 — FAPP: Free Appointment Propagation Protocol

Completed

• Protocol spec — docs/specs/fapp-protocol.md: decentralized psychotherapy appointment discovery over mesh
• Rust module — crates/quicprochat-p2p/src/fapp.rs: full data structures, store, query matching, signature verification
• Message types: SlotAnnounce, SlotQuery, SlotResponse, SlotReserve, SlotConfirm
• Domain model: Fachrichtung, Modalitaet, Kostentraeger, SlotType (German enum names for domain concepts)
• FappStore: in-memory cache with dedup (therapist_address + sequence), TTL expiry, signature verification, capacity limits
• Query matching: filter by Fachrichtung, Modalitaet, Kostentraeger, PLZ prefix, time range, SlotType, max_results
• Tests: 16 inline tests covering creation, signing, verification, tampering, forwarding, expiry, CBOR roundtrip, store dedup, sequence supersede, query filters (PLZ, SlotType, Kostentraeger, max_results)
• Privacy model: therapist identity public (Approbation-bound), patient queries anonymous

Design Decisions

• Extends announce.rs capability bitfield with CAP_FAPP_THERAPIST (0x0100), CAP_FAPP_RELAY (0x0200), CAP_FAPP_PATIENT (0x0400)
• Uses same signing pattern as MeshAnnounce: hop_count excluded from signature, forwarding nodes don't re-sign
• CBOR wire format consistent with existing envelope/announce code
• Location hint is PLZ only (e.g. "80331") — never exact address
• Anti-spam: Approbation hash binding, signature verification, sequence-based dedup, rate limiting, TTL enforcement

What's Next

• Integrate FAPP message handling into mesh_router.rs
• SlotReserve/SlotConfirm E2E encryption (X25519 key exchange)
• Return-path routing for anonymous SlotQuery responses
• Rate limiting per therapist address in FappStore

---

2026-03-30 — Implementation Sprint (S4-S5 + MLS-Lite)

Completed

• S4: Multi-hop routing — MeshRouter with send(), handle_incoming(), forward(), drain_store_for()
• S4: REPL commands — /mesh trace <address> and /mesh stats
• S5: Truncated addresses — MeshEnvelopeV2 with 16-byte addresses (~18% smaller)
• MLS-Lite — Lightweight symmetric mode for constrained links (mls_lite.rs)
• Size measurements — Actual MLS and envelope sizes benchmarked

Actual Measured Sizes (Key Finding!)

Component	Size	LoRa SF12 fragments
MLS KeyPackage	306 bytes	6
MLS Welcome	840 bytes	17
MLS-Lite (no sig)	129 bytes	3
MLS-Lite (with sig)	262 bytes	6
MeshEnvelope V1	410 bytes	9
MeshEnvelope V2	336 bytes	7
MLS KeyPackage (PQ hybrid)	2,676 bytes	53

Key insight: Classical MLS is actually LoRa-viable! 6 fragments for KeyPackage, ~14 sec for group setup at 1% duty. PQ hybrid remains impractical.

What's Next

1. KeyPackage distribution over mesh (announce-based)
2. Transport capability negotiation
3. Real hardware testing (LoRa boards)
4. MLS-Lite upgrade path to full MLS

---

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

Key Insight

QuicProChat has best-in-class crypto AND viable mesh efficiency (for classical MLS). PQ hybrid mode needs constrained-link fallback.

Open Design Questions

• How to distribute KeyPackages over mesh without server?
• 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)