docs(architecture): spec alknet-core with per-crate subdocs, ADR-010/011
Add alknet-core architecture specs in docs/architecture/crates/core/ with focused subdocuments for core types, endpoint, auth, and config. Write ADR-010 (ALPN Router and Endpoint) defining AlknetEndpoint, HandlerRegistry, accept loop, and graceful shutdown. Write ADR-011 (AuthContext Structure) defining AuthContext fields, immutability in handle(), and IdentityProvider injection pattern. Resolve OQ-04 (static registration), OQ-12 (file paths only for v1). Add OQ-11 (auth observability). Fix remaining alknet-secret references to alknet-vault across ADRs 003/004/005/009.
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docs/architecture/decisions/010-alpn-router-and-endpoint.md
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docs/architecture/decisions/010-alpn-router-and-endpoint.md
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# ADR-010: ALPN Router and Endpoint
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## Status
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Proposed
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## Context
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ADR-001 establishes ALPN-based protocol dispatch: a single QUIC+TLS endpoint accepts connections, and the ALPN negotiated during the TLS handshake routes each connection to the correct `ProtocolHandler`. ADR-002 defines the `ProtocolHandler` trait. ADR-006 establishes one ALPN per connection. ADR-007 defines `Connection` and `BiStream`.
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The question now is: **how does the endpoint work?** What accepts QUIC connections, negotiates ALPN, and hands connections to handlers? This is the central runtime piece of alknet-core — every handler depends on it.
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The reference implementation (`alknet-main`) uses a `Server` struct that binds a `TransportAcceptor`, runs an accept loop, and dispatches to a `ServerHandler` based on transport type and interface kind. This has three problems that the ALPN model solves:
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1. **Multiple listener types**: `ListenerConfig` has three variants (Stream, Http, Dns) with per-variant configuration and validation. ALPN eliminates this — one endpoint, one listener, ALPN does the routing.
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2. **Protocol detection by byte-peeking**: The `stealth` module reads the first bytes to detect SSH vs HTTP. ALPN negotiation makes this unnecessary — the TLS handshake tells you the protocol before any application bytes are read.
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3. **SSH-centric accept loop**: The current `handle_connection` immediately enters `russh::server::run_stream`. In the new model, the accept loop is ALPN-agnostic — it doesn't know or care what protocol the handler speaks.
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### iroh's pattern
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iroh's `Router` registers `ProtocolHandler` instances with ALPN strings, then calls `endpoint.accept()` in a loop. For each incoming connection, it reads the negotiated ALPN, looks up the handler, and calls `handler.accept(connection)`. This is clean and proven.
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### Key design questions
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1. **Handler registration**: Static (at startup) or dynamic (at runtime)?
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2. **TLS certificate management**: How does the endpoint get TLS certs? Where does ACME fit?
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3. **Connection lifecycle**: Who owns the `quinn::Endpoint`? How does graceful shutdown work?
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4. **Error handling**: What happens when a handler panics? When ALPN negotiation fails?
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## Decision
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### Endpoint owns the QUIC endpoint
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`alknet-core` owns the `quinn::Endpoint` directly. The endpoint binds to a single address, configures TLS with a `rustls::ServerConfig` that includes the ALPN strings from all registered handlers, and accepts connections in a loop.
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```rust
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pub struct AlknetEndpoint {
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endpoint: quinn::Endpoint,
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handlers: Arc<HandlerRegistry>,
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dynamic: Arc<ArcSwap<DynamicConfig>>,
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identity_provider: Arc<dyn IdentityProvider>,
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shutdown: watch::Receiver<bool>,
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}
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```
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There is no `TransportAcceptor` trait, no `TransportKind` enum, no `ListenerConfig` enum. QUIC+TLS+ALPN replaces all of that.
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### HandlerRegistry maps ALPN strings to ProtocolHandler instances
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```rust
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pub struct HandlerRegistry {
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handlers: HashMap<&'static [u8], Arc<dyn ProtocolHandler>>,
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}
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```
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Registration is static at startup. The CLI binary constructs a `HandlerRegistry` by inserting handlers for each ALPN, then passes it to `AlknetEndpoint::new()`. The ALPN strings in the TLS `ServerConfig` are derived from the registry's keys.
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This is a two-way door (OQ-04): starting static is simple. If dynamic registration is needed later, the registry can be wrapped in `ArcSwap<HandlerRegistry>` and the TLS `ServerConfig` can be regenerated. But ALPN negotiation happens during the TLS handshake, so adding a handler at runtime requires the next connection to use the new ALPN — which the client already has to know about. Dynamic registration has limited value for v1.
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### Accept loop: connect, dispatch, spawn
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```
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loop {
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incoming = endpoint.accept().await
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connection = incoming.await // TLS handshake + ALPN negotiation
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alpn = connection.alpn()
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handler = registry.get(alpn)
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match handler {
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Some(h) => {
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auth = resolve_endpoint_auth(connection) // TLS client cert, etc.
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tokio::spawn(h.handle(connection, &auth))
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}
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None => connection.close()
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}
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}
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```
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Key behaviors:
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- **ALPN mismatch**: The TLS handshake fails. This is correct — the client and server have no protocol in common.
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- **Handler not found**: Should not happen — the `ServerConfig` only advertises ALPNs that have registered handlers. If somehow a connection negotiates an ALPN with no handler, the connection is closed with an error log.
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- **Handler panic**: The handler runs in a spawned tokio task. If it panics, the task is caught by tokio's panic handler. The connection is dropped. Other connections are unaffected.
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- **Graceful shutdown**: A `watch::Sender<bool>` signals the accept loop to stop accepting new connections. Existing connections are given a drain timeout (2 seconds default), then forcefully closed.
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### TLS certificate configuration
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TLS certs come from `StaticConfig`:
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- File paths (`tls_cert`, `tls_key`) for manual provisioning
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- Self-signed for development
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The `rustls::ServerConfig` is built from the cert + key + ALPN list at startup. The ALPN list is derived from `HandlerRegistry::alpn_strings()`.
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ACME auto-provisioning (Let's Encrypt) is not in scope for v1. It will be added as a feature later (see OQ-12).
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### Error taxonomy
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```rust
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pub enum EndpointError {
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BindFailed(io::Error),
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TlsConfig(io::Error),
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HandlerNotFound(Vec<u8>), // ALPN string with no registered handler
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}
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pub enum HandlerError {
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ConnectionClosed,
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StreamError(io::Error),
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AuthRequired,
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Internal(Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync>),
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}
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```
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- `EndpointError`: Problems starting or running the endpoint. Fatal — the endpoint cannot accept connections.
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- `HandlerError`: Problems within a handler's `handle()` method. Non-fatal — the connection is closed, but the endpoint keeps running.
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## Consequences
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**Positive:**
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- Single accept loop replaces multiple listener types and byte-peeking
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- ALPN negotiation happens at the TLS layer — no application-level protocol detection
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- Adding a handler is registering an ALPN string — no endpoint code changes
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- Handler panics are isolated — one bad handler can't take down the endpoint
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- `quinn::Endpoint` is the only transport — no TransportAcceptor trait needed for v1
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- The endpoint is testable: give it mock handlers and a test ALPN, verify dispatch
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**Negative:**
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- Direct quinn dependency in alknet-core — WASM targets can't use quinn (mitigated: WASM clients don't run endpoints, they connect to them; the WASM door is for client-side handlers, not the endpoint itself)
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- No runtime handler registration without regenerating the TLS config (mitigated: two-way door, start static, add ArcSwap later if needed)
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- TLS cert provisioning is manual (file paths) for v1 — ACME auto-provisioning is a future feature (OQ-12)
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- One address per endpoint — if you need to listen on multiple addresses, run multiple endpoints (acceptable for v1)
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## References
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- ADR-001: ALPN-based protocol dispatch
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- ADR-002: ProtocolHandler trait
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- ADR-006: ALPN string convention and connection model
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- ADR-007: BiStream type definition (Connection, SendStream, RecvStream)
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- ADR-009: One-way door decision framework
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- OQ-04: Dynamic handler registration (two-way door, start static)
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- OQ-05: Multi-transport endpoint (two-way door, start with quinn)
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- iroh Router pattern: `docs/research/references/iroh/`
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- Reference implementation: `alknet-main/crates/alknet-core/src/server/serve.rs`
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