docs(arch): ADR-034 — outgoing-only X.509 and three peer roles, resolve OQ-37

Untangles the conflation of three distinct remote roles under 'X.509
endpoint': (1) public X.509 endpoint — a remote HTTPS/call-over-TLS
server the local node is a client of (no PeerEntry, no PeerId, not in
the peer graph; CA verification + bearer token); (2) transport relay —
iroh's DERP-equivalent, infrastructure, not an alknet peer; (3) hub /
hosting node — an alknet peer that also exposes a public domain + X.509
for browsers (mixed-fingerprint PeerEntry, already supported by
ADR-030).

The load-bearing one-way door is the client-side verifier selection
rule: known peer (PeerEntry present) → fingerprint pin; unknown X.509
remote → CA verification (WebPkiServerVerifier); unknown Ed25519
remote → fails closed. This closes the AcceptAnyServerCertVerifier
security hole OQ-29 flagged, with the peer-model criterion (PeerEntry
presence) made explicit. The 'make PeerEntry symmetric' instinct is
rejected — pure-client connections to public APIs have no stable
logical identity to pin.

Documents that CallCredentials.remote_identity: None is load-bearing
(None = public X.509 endpoint → CA path, not a missing field; Some =
known peer → fingerprint pin), closing a subtle gap where an
implementer could have defaulted to a placeholder or treated None as
skip-verify.

Records WebTransport relay-as-proxy (deferred with h3/WebTransport,
new OQ-HTTP-07) and on-chain/smart-contract peer discovery (fits the
OQ-36 repo/adapter pattern, no auth-model change) so they aren't lost.

Amends auth.md and client-and-adapters.md with the three-role naming,
the verifier selection rule, and the Option semantics; updates OQ-37
to resolved in open-questions.md, README.md, and both crate READMEs.
This commit is contained in:
2026-06-28 10:47:49 +00:00
parent 3f011cbb82
commit 6cc8715ccf
8 changed files with 602 additions and 65 deletions

View File

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
---
status: draft
last_updated: 2026-06-27
last_updated: 2026-06-28
---
# Alknet Architecture
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ The alknet-call crate is **implemented and reviewed** — both the server-side c
| [031](decisions/031-credentialstore-repo-trait.md) | CredentialStore Repo Trait | Accepted |
| [032](decisions/032-forwarded-for-identity.md) | Forwarded-For Identity (Metadata, Not Authority) | Accepted |
| [033](decisions/033-storage-boundary-and-repo-adapter-pattern.md) | Storage Boundary and Repo/Adapter Pattern | Accepted |
| [034](decisions/034-outgoing-only-x509-and-three-peer-roles.md) | Outgoing-Only X.509 and the Three Peer Roles | Accepted |
## Open Questions
@@ -124,7 +125,7 @@ See [open-questions.md](open-questions.md) for the full tracker.
**Open (feature extensions, not blocking):**
- **OQ-32**: Multi-hop federation — the one-hop model is the architectural commitment; multi-hop is a feature extension that doesn't break downstream
- **OQ-36**: Concrete persistence adapter shapes — the repo/adapter pattern is committed (ADR-033); in-memory adapters ship with core; persistence adapters (SQLite, etc.) are deferred for exploration
- **OQ-37**: X.509 outgoing-only case — the three auth types (Ed25519, X.509, bearer token) and how X.509 server identity fits the peer model. Not blocking the ADR-029 migration; downstream (HTTP crate phase)
- **OQ-37**: ~~X.509 outgoing-only case~~**resolved by ADR-034** (three remote roles named: public X.509 endpoint, transport relay, hub; `PeerEntry` asymmetry is correct; client-side verifier selection by `PeerEntry` presence)
**Deferred (not active):**
- **OQ-09**: WASM target boundaries — design constraint, not deliverable