docs: port architecture specs + 45 ADRs from alknet, renumbered
Port the call + channels architecture documentation from the alknet mono-repo into docs/architecture/, renumbered as alkcall ADR-001..045. Renumbering map (alknet -> alkcall): Core: 001,002,004,006,007,011,065,070,092,014,050,091 -> 001-012 Call: 005,064,012,023,015,022,024,016,049,017,028,029,030,032,066,069,067,068 -> 013-030 Shared: 003,009,013 -> 031-033 Channels: 071,093,072,073,074,075,076,094,079,080,081,089 -> 034-045 3 superseded/reversed ADRs kept for historical trail: - ADR-013 (irpc foundation, superseded by ADR-014) - ADR-023 (peer-scoped filtering, superseded by ADR-024) - ADR-077 (TTY inside channels, reversed by ADR-035 — not ported, TTY-only) Ported docs (11 spec files + README + open-questions): - call-README.md, call-protocol.md, operation-registry.md, client-and-adapters.md - channels-README.md, channels-overview.md, channels-wire.md, channels-connection.md, channels-adapter.md, channel-operations.md, channel-client.md - README.md (index with doc table, ADR table grouped by category, key principles) - open-questions.md (lean — 30 OQs, renumbered OQ-01..030; includes new OQ-22 for the pub/sub gap) Cross-reference rewriting: - All ADR-NNN references rewritten single-pass (no chaining bug) - Markdown link paths fixed - Title lines aligned with filenames - Non-ported ADR refs (052, 082, 086, etc.) left as-is with README note The open-questions.md includes OQ-22 (new): the call protocol pub/sub gap — subscribe exists but pub does not, needed for channels channel/resources/subscribe fan-out. This is the next ADR to write (alkcall ADR-046).
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# ADR-039: ChannelsAdapter and ChannelManager
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## Status
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Accepted (amended 2026-07-18 by ADR-035 — demux reads 8-byte headers, not
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9-byte; one reassembly buffer per `channel_id` (not per
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`(channel_id, stream_type)`); `ChannelState.stream_types` removed; the
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channels layer has no `stream_type` concept — see "Amendment (ADR-035,
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2026-07-18)" below)
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## Amendment (ADR-035, 2026-07-18)
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The demux loop reads **8-byte headers** (not 9-byte). `ChannelState` has
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**one reassembly buffer per `channel_id`** (not per
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`(channel_id, stream_type)`), yielding a `BiStream` to the handler. The
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`stream_types: Vec<u8>` field on `ChannelState` is **removed**. The
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`ChannelManager` has no `stream_type` concept — it routes by `channel_id`
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only, and the handler owns its sub-stream multiplexing on the `BiStream`
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it receives (per ADR-035, the channels-layer consequence of ADR-009's
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`BiStream` handler leaf).
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The body below describes the **original** (9-byte, per-stream_type) shape;
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the amendment above is the operative decision. See ADR-035 for the
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resolution rationale and the cross-ADR impacts.
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## Context
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The channels crate has two internal components, split by responsibility
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(`docs/research/alknet-channels/phase-0-findings.md` §Channel Manager and
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Connection Internals):
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1. **`ChannelsAdapter`** — implements `ProtocolHandler` for
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`alknet/channels`. Its `handle()` receives one `Connection` (the
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transport), reads 9-byte chunk headers, and routes each chunk. It is the
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read/demux half.
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2. **`ChannelManager`** — the shared state both halves touch. It holds the
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map of `channel_id → ChannelState`, the `HandlerRegistry` reference, and
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the `OperationRegistry` reference. It is the reassemble/allocate half.
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It is what the `channel/open` operation handler closes over.
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The de-risk POC (`docs/research/alknet-channels/poc-summary.md` §Issues
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Surfaced) surfaced three invariants the spec must pin: the mux needs dynamic
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registration (handle/runner split — REQ-CH-03), the demux must drop all
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channel senders on transport EOF (REQ-CH-02), and the `AsyncWrite::shutdown`
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must emit a zero-length sentinel (REQ-CH-01). This ADR pins these as
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contracts.
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## Decision
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### `ChannelsAdapter` — the read/demux half
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```rust
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#[async_trait]
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impl ProtocolHandler for ChannelsAdapter {
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fn alpn(&self) -> &'static [u8] { b"alknet/channels" }
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async fn handle(&self, connection: Connection, auth: &AuthContext)
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-> Result<(), HandlerError>
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{
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// 1. Channel 0 is pre-negotiated as alknet/call (ADR-036).
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// The first bidi stream the transport yields is channel 0.
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let (send, recv) = connection.accept_bi().await?;
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self.manager.preinstall_channel_0(send, recv, auth).await?;
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// 2. Accept remaining bidi streams and read 9-byte headers off each.
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// On an in-line transport (TCP+TLS, WebTransport), accept_bi()
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// yields once and the header demuxes N channels from that stream.
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// On QUIC native, accept_bi() yields repeatedly — each stream
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// carries one logical channel, and the header provides
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// stream_type + channel_id correlation. Same code path, same
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// wire format (ADR-034 §substrate modes).
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self.manager.run_demux_loop(connection).await
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}
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}
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```
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The `preinstall_channel_0` step constructs the reassembly buffers for
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`channel_id = 0` using stream_types [0, 1] (ADR-036), wraps them as a
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`Connection` (via `Connection::from_source` with a `ChannelBidiStreamSource`
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— ADR-038), and hands that `Connection` to the `CallAdapter` — exactly as if
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`alknet/call` had been the top-level ALPN. The `CallAdapter` is looked up in
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the same `HandlerRegistry` as every other ALPN.
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`run_demux_loop` continues accepting bidi streams from the transport. For
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each stream, it reads 9-byte headers and routes payloads to the matching
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`(channel_id, stream_type)` reassembly buffer. On an in-line transport,
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there is only one stream (channel 0 rides inside it via the header); the
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header demuxes all channels. On QUIC, each subsequent stream is a new
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channel; the header's `channel_id` correlates it. The loop is the same;
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only the transport's stream count differs.
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### `ChannelManager` — the shared state
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```rust
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pub struct ChannelManager {
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/// channel_id → per-channel state. Channel 0 is pre-inserted at
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/// construction by preinstall_channel_0.
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channels: Mutex<HashMap<u32, ChannelState>>,
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/// The handler registry for looking up ALPNs on channel/open.
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handlers: Arc<HandlerRegistry>,
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/// The call protocol's operation registry, so channel/open etc. can be
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/// registered at assembly time.
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call_ops: Arc<OperationRegistry>,
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/// Next server-assigned channel_id. Monotonic; wraps at u32::MAX.
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next_id: AtomicU32,
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/// Per-channel reassembly buffer cap (ADR-040). Default 1 MiB.
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buffer_cap: usize,
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/// Per-connection channel limit (ADR-040). Default 256.
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max_channels: usize,
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}
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struct ChannelState {
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/// The ALPN this channel carries, for routing and observability.
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alpn: String,
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/// Reassembly buffers per active stream_type.
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streams: HashMap<u8, ReassemblyBuffer>,
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/// The handler task driving this channel. Dropping this aborts it.
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handler_task: JoinHandle<()>,
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/// Which stream_types are active (from the open negotiation).
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stream_types: Vec<u8>,
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}
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```
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`ChannelManager` is `Clone` (cheap — `Arc` internally) so the
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`ChannelsAdapter`, the `channel/open` operation handler, and relay logic
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can all hold a handle.
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### The demux loop — REQ-CH-02 and REQ-CH-04
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`run_demux_loop` reads 9-byte headers, looks up `channel_id` in `channels`,
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and pushes the payload into the right `ReassemblyBuffer` for `(channel_id,
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stream_type)`.
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**REQ-CH-04 (lenient unknown-channel_id):** a chunk with an unallocated
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`channel_id` (or `stream_type`) is dropped with a debug log and an error
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counter (exposed via `Demux::stats()`), and the demux continues. This
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matches SSH's behavior and survives transient mis-ordering during teardown.
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Validated by the POC (`demux_unknown_channel_drops_lenient`).
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**REQ-CH-02 (transport close → all handlers see EOF):** on transport EOF,
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the demux loop clears its `channels` map, dropping all `ReassemblyBuffer`
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senders. Every handler's reassembled `RecvStream` sees EOF even without an
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explicit zero-length sentinel on the wire. Without this, `read_to_end` /
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`tokio::io::copy` in handlers hangs forever waiting for a sender that never
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drops. This is a teardown invariant of the `ChannelsAdapter::handle`
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contract. Validated by the POC.
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### The mux — REQ-CH-03 (handle/runner split)
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The mux frames per-channel bytes back onto the transport. The POC surfaced
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that the plan's `Mux::run(self, transport)` shape (consume the mux, run
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pumps for pre-registered channels) does not compose with the dynamic
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`channel/open` model — channels are opened after the run loop starts.
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**REQ-CH-03 (dynamic registration):** the mux is split into:
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- **`MuxHandle`** — clone-able, `register(channel_id, stream_type) ->
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Sender<Bytes>` callable at any time (after the runner has started).
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- **`MuxRunner`** — owns the transport, `select!`s on new-pump registrations
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and per-channel write pumps.
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The runner's `select!` loop exits when all `MuxHandle` clones drop (the
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`new_pumps` sender closes), which is the natural shutdown signal. This
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matches the dynamic `channel/open` model. The split adds one
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`mpsc::UnboundedSender` + `Arc<Mutex<HashMap>>` per mux — cheap. Validated
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by the POC.
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### `ChannelManager` is ALPN-blind and auth-blind
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The `ChannelManager` deliberately does **not** hold:
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- **No `ProtocolHandler` implementations.** It holds a `HandlerRegistry`
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reference for ALPN lookup, but it doesn't *be* a handler. Handlers live in
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their crates and register on the same registry.
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- **No ALPN-specific parsing.** It does not parse `NegotiateRequest` JSON,
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SSH frames, or tunnel target strings. It hands `params` JSON to the
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handler and gets back a handler task; it hands `stream_type 3` JSON to the
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handler's control handle.
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- **No auth state.** Auth lives in the `OperationContext` that the call
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protocol passes to `channel/open`. The `ChannelManager` doesn't check
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scopes or ownership — that's `AccessControl::check` in
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`OperationRegistry::invoke`, run before the `channel/open` handler.
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- **No transport coupling.** It talks to the transport only through the
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`ChannelsAdapter`'s read loop and the per-channel write pumps, both of
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which use `AsyncRead + AsyncWrite`.
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This is what makes the channels layer WASM-compatible and transport-agnostic
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— the `ChannelManager` is pure byte routing with no platform or protocol
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dependencies.
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### The `channel/open` handler — threading into `OperationRegistry`
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The `channel/open` (and `channel/close`, `channel/control`,
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`channel/resources/subscribe`) operations are registered on the call
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protocol's `OperationRegistry` at assembly time. The handler closures close
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over a `ChannelManager` clone:
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```rust
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let channel_ops = ChannelOperations::new(manager.clone());
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channel_ops.register_on(&mut call_registry)?;
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```
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The `channel/open` handler (ADR-037) looks up the ALPN in `HandlerRegistry`,
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allocates the `channel_id` via `next_id.fetch_add(1, Relaxed)`, constructs
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the `ChannelBidiStreamSource` (ADR-038), spawns the handler task, and
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records the `ChannelState`. The key insight: spawning the handler task is
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identical to what `TtyAdapter::handle` does today — `tokio::spawn` a
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session-driving task. The only difference is the `Connection` passed in is
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backed by chunk reassembly rather than a quinn connection.
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## Consequences
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**Positive:**
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- The ChannelsAdapter/ChannelManager split mirrors the TTY crate's
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ChunkReader/ChunkWriter + adapter pattern, generalized to N channels.
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- The demux/mux contracts (REQ-CH-01..04) are pinned as wire-level
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invariants, not implementation details. Both sides must agree, or channels
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hang on clean shutdown.
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- The `ChannelManager` is ALPN-blind, auth-blind, and transport-blind — the
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channels layer is a re-framing proxy, not a protocol engine. This is what
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makes it reusable across TTY, SSH, tunnel, and future ALPNs.
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**Negative:**
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- The mux handle/runner split (REQ-CH-03) adds one `mpsc::UnboundedSender` +
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`Arc<Mutex<HashMap>>` per mux. Cheap, but more moving parts than the
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pre-register-all-then-run alternative. The alternative doesn't match the
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dynamic `channel/open` model, so the split is necessary, not optional.
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- The demux loop is one task per transport. If the demux task panics, all
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channels on that transport lose their read side. The teardown invariant
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(REQ-CH-02) ensures handlers see EOF, not a hang — but a panic in the
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demux is still a transport-wide failure. This is the same property as any
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single-task read loop (including the call protocol's dispatch loop).
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## Door type
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**One-way (contracts) + two-way (internals).** The wire-level invariants
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(REQ-CH-01..04) are one-way — both sides must agree, and changing them
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after deployments exist is a protocol migration. The `ChannelManager`'s
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internal structure (fields, `Arc<Mutex<HashMap>>` vs a concurrent map, etc.)
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is two-way — implementation details that can change without breaking the
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contract.
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## References
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- ADR-034: channels wire format (the chunks the demux reads, as amended
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by ADR-035 — 8-byte header)
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- ADR-035: channels pure channel multiplexing (amends this ADR — 8-byte
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header, one reassembly buffer per channel, no `stream_type` concept)
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- ADR-036: channel 0 pre-negotiated (the `preinstall_channel_0` step)
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- ADR-037: channel lifecycle operations (the ops registered on `call_ops`)
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- ADR-038: ChannelBidiStreamSource (the per-channel source the manager
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constructs, as amended by ADR-035 — `accept_bi` yields a `BiStream`)
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- ADR-040: backpressure, channel limits, ID reuse (the `buffer_cap` /
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`max_channels` / reuse invariants)
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- `docs/research/alknet-channels/poc-summary.md` §Issues Surfaced #4-#6
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(REQ-CH-01, 02, 03)
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