waste-go/README.md

# waste-go

A modern reimagining of [WASTE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WASTE) — decentralized,
friend-to-friend encrypted mesh networking with chat and file sharing. Written in Go.

## Project layout

```
waste-go/
├── cmd/
│   ├── daemon/      The peer process — run one on each friend's machine
│   └── anchor/      WebSocket signaling server — run this on your Hetzner VPS
└── internal/
    ├── proto/       All wire types (shared by daemon and anchor)
    ├── crypto/      Ed25519 identity, nacl/box signaling, ChaCha20-Poly1305
    <20><><EFBFBD>── mesh/        Connected peer state + DataChannel helpers
    ├── anchor/      Anchor client — WebRTC signaling via the anchor server
    └── ipc/         Local JSON API (UI talks to daemon here, port 17337)
```

## Prerequisites

- Go 1.24+  →  https://go.dev/dl/
- VS Code with the Go extension (`golang.go`)

On first open VS Code will prompt you to install `gopls`, `dlv`, and `goimports` — accept all of them.

## Getting started

```bash
# Fetch dependencies
go mod tidy

# Build everything (confirms it compiles)
go build ./...

# Terminal 1 — anchor (required for peers to find each other)
go run ./cmd/anchor -bind 127.0.0.1:17339

# Terminal 2 — peer A
go run ./cmd/daemon -alias alice -data-dir /tmp/waste-alice -ipc-port 17337 -anchor ws://127.0.0.1:17339/ws

# Terminal 3 — peer B
go run ./cmd/daemon -alias bob -data-dir /tmp/waste-bob -ipc-port 17341 -anchor ws://127.0.0.1:17339/ws
```

Both peers join the same named network via IPC:

```bash
# Join peer A to a network called "friends"
echo '{"type":"join_network","network_name":"friends"}' | nc 127.0.0.1 17337

# Join peer B to the same network
echo '{"type":"join_network","network_name":"friends"}' | nc 127.0.0.1 17341

# Subscribe to peer A's events (in a separate terminal)
nc 127.0.0.1 17337 &

# Send a message from B
echo '{"type":"send_message","room":"general","body":"hello from bob"}' | nc 127.0.0.1 17341
```

**On Windows** — use PowerShell's built-in TCP client instead of `nc`:

```powershell
$c = [System.Net.Sockets.TcpClient]::new('127.0.0.1', 17341)
$w = [System.IO.StreamWriter]::new($c.GetStream()); $w.AutoFlush = $true

$w.WriteLine('{"type":"join_network","network_name":"friends"}')
$w.WriteLine('{"type":"send_message","room":"general","body":"hello from bob"}')

# In a separate terminal — subscribe to peer A's events
$r = [System.Net.Sockets.TcpClient]::new('127.0.0.1', 17337)
$reader = [System.IO.StreamReader]::new($r.GetStream())
while ($true) { $reader.ReadLine() }
```

## Deploying the anchor on your Hetzner VPS

```bash
GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -o bin/waste-anchor ./cmd/anchor
scp bin/waste-anchor user@your-vps:~/

# On the VPS (also run coturn in STUN-only mode on port 3478)
./waste-anchor -bind 0.0.0.0:17339
```

Then start daemons with `-anchor ws://your-vps-ip:17339/ws` and they'll connect via WebRTC
with ICE (STUN-assisted hole punching) through the anchor for signaling.

## IPC protocol (plain JSON over TCP)

Everything is newline-delimited JSON. You can test with `nc 127.0.0.1 17337`.

**Commands you send:**
```jsonc
{"type":"join_network","network_name":"friends"}
{"type":"leave_network"}
{"type":"send_message","room":"general","body":"hi"}
{"type":"get_state"}
```

**Events the daemon pushes:**
```jsonc
{"type":"state_snapshot","local_peer":{...},"connected_peers":[...]}
{"type":"peer_connected","peer":{...}}
{"type":"session_ready","peer_id":"<hex>","nick":"alice"}
{"type":"message_received","message":{"from":"<hex>","body":"hi","room":"general"}}
{"type":"peer_disconnected","peer_id":"<hex>"}
```

## Crypto choices

| Purpose | Algorithm | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | Ed25519 | Fast, small keys, standard |
| Peer ID | Hex-encoded Ed25519 pubkey | 64 lowercase hex chars (YAW/2 §2) |
| Signaling encryption | XSalsa20-Poly1305 (`nacl/box`) | X25519 keys derived from Ed25519 identity (YAW/2 §3) |
| Transport | WebRTC DataChannels (DTLS+SCTP) | pion/webrtc — ICE, hole punching included |
| Hashing | SHA-256 | File integrity, network name hashing |

Replaces WASTE's original Blowfish/PCBC (broken cipher mode) + RSA.

> Peer IDs are 64-char lowercase hex (Ed25519 public key). Existing `identity.json` files
> on disk are unaffected — only the over-the-wire representation changed from base64url.

## Testing

A self-contained test script boots anchor + three peers, joins them to a named network, exchanges group messages and DMs, and verifies SQLite persistence:

```bash
./test-network.sh
```

Data lands at `/tmp/waste-test` (wiped on each run). Inspect after a run:

```bash
sqlite3 /tmp/waste-test/alice/messages.db
.headers on
SELECT room, from_peer, body, sent_at FROM messages;
SELECT peer_id, alias, last_seen FROM peers;
```

## Roadmap

- [x] **Crypto layer** — hex peer IDs, `nacl/box` signaling, Ed25519→X25519 key derivation
- [x] **Proto additions** — `mid` dedup field, signaling types, anchor wire types, `hello` message
- [x] **Anchor server** (`cmd/anchor`) — WebSocket signaling server replacing TCP relay
- [x] **WebRTC peer connections** — pion/webrtc DataChannels; ICE hole-punching via STUN
- [x] **Anchor client** (`internal/anchor`) — offer/answer/candidate lifecycle, `nacl/box` sealing
- [x] **IPC updates** — `join_network`/`leave_network`; `session_ready` event; DMs via `to` field
- [x] **Message persistence** — SQLite (`internal/store`); messages and peer alias cache
- [ ] **TUI** — Bubble Tea terminal UI consuming the IPC port
- [ ] **File transfer** — chunked binary DataChannel (`f:<xid>`)
- [ ] **Native UI** — web frontend with native packaging (Tauri-style)