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
│   └── tui/         Bubble Tea terminal UI (connects to a running daemon)
└── internal/
    ├── proto/       All wire types (shared by daemon and anchor)
    ├── crypto/      Ed25519 identity, nacl/box signaling, ChaCha20-Poly1305
    ├── 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 (or use --join with an invite from peer A)
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":"send_message","room":"dm:<peer-hex>","body":"hey","to":"<peer-hex>"}
{"type":"get_state"}
{"type":"generate_invite"}
```

**Events the daemon pushes:**
```jsonc
// Sent immediately on connect and in response to get_state
{"type":"state_snapshot","local_peer":{"id":"<64-hex>","alias":"alice","public_key":"<64-hex>","created_at":"..."},"connected_peers":[...],"rooms":["general"]}

// Peer lifecycle
{"type":"peer_connected","peer":{"id":"<64-hex>","alias":"bob",...}}
{"type":"session_ready","peer_id":"<64-hex>","nick":"bob"}
{"type":"peer_disconnected","peer_id":"<64-hex>"}

// Incoming message — mid is a 32-hex dedup token, to is set for DMs
{"type":"message_received","message":{"mid":"<32-hex>","from":"<64-hex>","to":"<64-hex>","room":"general","body":"hi","sent_at":"..."}}

// Invite generation response
{"type":"invite_generated","invite":"waste:<base64>"}

// Error
{"type":"error","error_message":"..."}
```

## 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.

## Onboarding a new peer

Alice is already on the network and wants to add Bob.

**Alice generates an invite** (from the TUI with `Ctrl+I`, or via IPC directly):
```bash
echo '{"type":"generate_invite"}' | nc 127.0.0.1 17337
# → {"type":"invite_generated","invite":"waste:eyJhbmNob3IiOiJ3czovL..."}
```

**Bob starts his daemon using the invite** — the `--join` flag sets the anchor URL and auto-joins the network:
```bash
go run ./cmd/daemon -alias bob -data-dir ~/.waste-bob --join 'waste:eyJhbmNob3IiOiJ3czovL...'
```

**Bob opens the TUI** — `--join` also accepts the invite to skip the `-network` flag:
```bash
go run ./cmd/tui --join 'waste:eyJhbmNob3IiOiJ3czovL...'
```

The invite encodes the anchor URL and network name as a `waste:` URI. Share it over Signal, email, or any side channel — the anchor never sees plaintext messages, so the invite leaking to a third party only lets them join the same network (which is by design: same network = mutual trust).

## Terminal UI

Start the daemon first (see Getting started above), then:

```bash
go run ./cmd/tui -network friends
```

Options:

| Flag | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `-network` | *(required unless -join)* | Network name to join on startup |
| `-join` | — | `waste:` invite string — sets the network name automatically |
| `-ipc` | `17337` | Daemon IPC port |

**Layout:**

```
╭─ Rooms ──────╮╭─── #general ────────────────╮╭─ Peers ──────╮
│ ▶ #general   ││ 15:04 alice  hey everyone   ││ ◉ alice (me) │
│   @ bob      ││ 15:04 bob    hi alice!       ││ ● bob        │
│              ││ 15:05 charlie the mesh works ││ ● charlie    │
╰──────────────╯╰─────────────────────────────╯╰──────────────╯
╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ Type a message…                                             │
╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
```

**Key bindings:** `Tab` / `Shift+Tab` — switch rooms · `PgUp` / `PgDn` — scroll · `Enter` — send · `Ctrl+I` — generate invite · `Esc` — close invite overlay · `Ctrl+C` — quit

## 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
- [x] **TUI** — Bubble Tea terminal UI (`cmd/tui`); three-pane layout with room switching and DMs
- [ ] **File transfer** — chunked binary DataChannel (`f:<xid>`)
- [ ] **Native UI** — web frontend with native packaging (Tauri-style)