Promote the WebSocket browser path from a section in http-server.md to a
first-class spec (websocket.md) and commit the contract-pattern decision
(ADR-048): a WS connection carries the native EventEnvelope call-protocol
session, not the HTTP gateway shape. The gateway endpoints are HTTP-only;
discovery on WS is via services/list/services/schema as ordinary call-protocol
ops; subscriptions project as native call.responded events (no SSE).
ADR-044 already decided WS as the v1 browser bidirectional path; ADR-048
clarifies the shape of what ADR-044 committed (§1 implies native session;
the ADR makes it an explicit implementer-visible rule). The from_wss adapter
(importing a remote node's ops over WS) is recorded as out-of-scope with a
concrete reversal trigger so it is not re-derived later.
Spec cleanup: http-server.md WS section collapsed to a stub pointer;
websocket.md Why section references ADRs rather than re-arguing them;
length-prefix decision made canonical (no prefix on WS — message boundary
is the delimiter); default upgrade path pinned (/alknet/call) with HTTP/2
extended CONNECT noted; indexes (README, http/README, overview) updated.
OQ-39 (to_openapi published-spec versioning) resolved by ADR-045:
info.version semver tracks the gateway endpoint contract, not the
operation set — per-caller operations discovered via /search do not
bump the version. The gateway pattern (ADR-042) dissolved most of the
original churn concern.
ADR-046: assembly-layer custom HTTP routes on HttpAdapter. The HTTP
router had no documented extension point for deployment-specific
endpoints (e.g., an OAI-compatible proxy at /v1/chat/completions). Adds
extra_routes: Option<Router> at construction; raw HTTP, not operations;
default surface takes precedence on collision. The mechanism is the
one-way door; specific routes are two-way.
ADR-047: remove the direct-call POST /{service}/{op} HTTP surface. The
gateway /call is the sole invoke path — the simplified contract is a
few fixed endpoints, not a per-operation REST tree. The direct-call
surface re-introduced the 'dump the full API regardless of privs'
failure mode at the HTTP level that the gateway /search was built to
escape. ADR-036's routing decision is superseded; its non-routing
clauses (SSE, Bearer auth, /healthz, stealth, error mapping) survive.
A deployment wanting a REST-like per-operation surface builds it as a
custom route projection (ADR-046).
ADR-044 updated with the tradeoff framing (WSS is the right tool for
the call-protocol-from-browser case; WebTransport is the right tool for
the generalized ALPN-stream-proxy case we don't have yet — coexist, not
migrate) and the @alkdev/pubsub concrete prior art (the EventEnvelope
{type,id,payload} the call protocol was derived from already has a
working WebSocket client/server; the sync is a small adjustment, not a
from-scratch build).
call-protocol.md references the pubsub lineage for the
transport-agnosticism claim.
Working through the WebTransport implementation path surfaced a scope
question distinct from the hedging-as-deferral anti-pattern ADR-038 was
written to correct. Three findings drove the re-evaluation:
1. The browser bidirectional call-protocol path doesn't require
WebTransport — WebSocket is full-duplex, EventEnvelope fits a WS
binary message boundary cleanly, and the Dispatcher is stream-
agnostic (ADR-012). What WebTransport gives over WebSocket (native
multi-stream multiplexing, the ALPN-as-stream substrate) benefits the
proxy use case, not the call protocol.
2. WebTransport is a draft standard (-07, not RFC) on an experimental
Rust dependency stack (wtransport/h3 both self-describe as not
production-ready). Either choice puts a draft protocol on the
security surface of the first release.
3. The ALPN-stream-proxy (ADR-040) is speculative — its WASM parser
consumers (browser SSH/SFTP/git clients) don't exist yet, and the
downstream crates WebTransport deferral blocks (SSH, git, SFTP)
expose their ALPNs natively over QUIC regardless.
This is a scope decision (per ADR-009: a decision that 'genuinely
doesn't need to be made yet because the use case isn't concrete'), not
hedging. The reversal trigger is concrete: a real deployment needing
the ALPN-stream-proxy.
ADR-038 is superseded (its anti-pattern correction stands; its specific
'h3 in scope now' decision is reversed). ADR-040 and ADR-043 are
parked, not superseded — their designs revive unchanged when WebTransport
revives, with §2 (bidirectionality) and §3 (no-PeerId overlay) of ADR-043
transferring to WebSocket for v1.
ADR-044 §5 also states the 'browser is not a peer' rationale that
ADR-034 §4 closed without arguing: peer = addressable node in the
call-protocol peer graph (stable PeerId, PeerRef::Specific-reachable,
identity stable across reconnects), not 'any endpoint that exchanges
calls during a live session.' A browser is the second but not the first
(no stable crypto identity of its own, ephemeral, not addressable from
other nodes). ADR-034 §4 and Assumption 2 are amended by reference.
The wtransport-vs-hyperium dependency question is recorded (not
resolved — WebTransport is deferred) in ADR-044 §'Research note' and
webtransport.md so the revival doesn't re-derive it: wtransport probably
isn't the right choice (axum-bridge friction — it owns its own HTTP
serving path); the hyperium stack (h3 + h3-quinn + h3-webtransport) fits
the axum integration better but its server-side WebTransport API needs
verification before commitment.
Reviewed by architecture-review subagent; all critical cross-reference
issues (ADR-034 §5 stale 'in scope' assertion, ADR-036 Context listing
h3 as implemented, webtransport.md Design Decisions table) resolved.
A consistency review of the alknet-http specs found two classes of
issues: internal contradictions from the mid-spec pivot (the to_openapi
gateway pattern landed in prose but not in cross-references), and a
systematic client→server assumption that only holds for the OpenAPI/MCP
case leaking into the WebTransport architecture.
Class 1 (internal contradictions):
- C1: to_openapi was half-refactored — body described the ADR-042
gateway pattern but the decisions table and ADR-036 still said
'paths mirror /{service}/{op}'. ADR-036's to_openapi clause is now
amended as superseded by ADR-042; the stale decisions row and README
Principle 2 are fixed.
- C2: the axum Router route list didn't include the 5 gateway endpoints
(/search, /schema, /call, /batch, /subscribe). Added them; clarified
/openapi.json as the gateway description doc; added gateway paths to
the decoy exclusion list.
- C3: ADR-034 §5 still talked about the 'h3/WebTransport deferral
bucket' that ADR-038 eliminated. Amended §5/Consequences/References
to drop the deferral framing (the auth-model decision stands; only
the 'when' wording was stale).
Class 2 (one-way direction assumption):
- C4/C5/C6: the WebTransport specs framed the session as browser→hub
one-way, when the call protocol is bidirectional and WebTransport is
a general ALPN transport substrate. New ADR-043 reframes WebTransport
as a bidirectional ALPN transport substrate (call protocol is the
first/canonical target; needs no WASM parser), names the call
protocol's bidirectionality over WebTransport sessions, and states
the inbound no-PeerId connection-local overlay as the mirror of
ADR-034 §2. webtransport.md is updated to reflect this framing;
ADR-040 is repositioned (not superseded) as the substrate's non-call-
ALPN mechanism.
- C7: the HTTP/1.1+HTTP/2 surface's one-directionality is now named as
a lossy consequence of HTTP request/response; WebTransport is named
as the surface that restores the bidirectional call model.
- C8: overview.md acknowledges the from/to direction model is
OpenAPI/MCP-specific, not a call-protocol property.
A review subagent pass on ADR-043 + webtransport.md found no critical
issues; warnings W1-W3 (residual browser-as-subject framing, ADR-009
rationale in spec, opening abstract tone) and suggestions S2/S4/S5
were addressed.
The 'WebTransport proxy' concept was conflating two distinct things;
this pass separates them:
1. In-process ALPN-stream-proxy (ADR-040, in alknet-http): the h3 handler
hands a WebTransport stream to another ALPN handler (SshAdapter,
GitAdapter, etc.) as a Connection, so a browser with a WASM parser
can reach any ALPN service via WebTransport. Path-based routing
(the CONNECT path declares the target: /alknet/ssh -> SshAdapter).
HttpAdapter gains Arc<HandlerRegistry> for the lookup. The browser's
WASM parser implements BiStream (ADR-007) over the WebTransport
stream. SSH-over-WebTransport is HTTPS-shaped at the network layer
(anti-censorship: the 'VPN-like without being a VPN' use case on a
clean foundation). russh-sftp demonstrates WASM targeting is
feasible; SSH is the next target.
2. Standalone relay service (OQ-38, future alknet-relay crate): a full
relay - fork of iroh-relay - with WebTransport proxy fallback for
NAT traversal. This is infrastructure, not a mode of the h3 handler.
OQ-38 reframed to be the standalone-relay scope question (distinct
from the in-process proxy now resolved by ADR-040).
webtransport.md updated: three stream destinations (call protocol,
ALPN-handler proxy, other sub-protocols) with path-based routing; new
'ALPN-stream-proxy' section covering the WASM client side, auth model
(bearer token gates the session; protocol's own auth gates the
protocol session), and the HandlerRegistry reference.
README/overview ADR tables and OQ summaries updated for ADR-040.
