glm-5.2 9087f0579f docs(architecture): document vault remote capability, enrich OQ-21
The VaultProtocol is a remote-capable irpc service by construction —
#[rpc_requests] generates both Service (local) and RemoteService (remote)
trait impls. DerivedKey's dual serialization (JSON redacts, postcard
preserves) was designed for this. Enabling remote vault access is a
server-setup change, not a protocol change.

OQ-21 enriched with full context:
- What's already in place (protocol, serialization, actor, auth transport)
- What's not in place (IrohProtocol handler forwards all messages without
  auth checks; needs NodeId allowlist + message filtering in assembly layer)
- Operation access policy: Unlock/Lock local-only; Derive/Encrypt/Decrypt
  remote-capable
- Use case: machine node → workers (workers don't hold mnemonics)
- Per-machine-node vaults, not shared (compartmentalization)
- Breaking vs non-breaking analysis (enabling = non-breaking; protocol
  evolution = wire break, manageable via ALPN versioning)

The auth-wrapping handler lives in the assembly layer (or a dedicated
vault-server crate depending on both alknet-core and alknet-vault), not in
the vault crate itself — the vault is standalone (ADR-018) and can't
import alknet-core's auth model.

OQ-21 remains deferred — no commitment to implement, but the door is open
and the design space is mapped.
2026-06-20 06:48:23 +00:00

Alknet

Status: Pre-alpha — This project is undergoing a major architectural pivot to an ALPN-as-service model. The previous implementation has been archived and a greenfield rebuild is in progress.

A self-hostable networking toolkit built on QUIC+TLS with ALPN-based protocol dispatch. Each protocol handler (SSH, SFTP, Git, HTTP, DNS, messaging, call protocol) registers an ALPN string on a shared endpoint. The ALPN negotiation during the TLS/QUIC handshake routes connections to the correct handler before any application bytes are read.

Core Insight

A service IS an ALPN. One endpoint, one port, many protocols — dispatched by the TLS handshake, not by application-level peeking or separate listeners.

Crates

Crate Status Description
alknet-vault stable Local key vault: BIP39/SLIP-0010/AES-GCM key derivation and encryption
alknet-core planned ProtocolHandler trait, ALPN router, auth/identity, config
alknet-ssh planned SSH handler (russh), SOCKS5, port forwarding
alknet-call planned JSON-RPC call protocol (EventEnvelope framing)
alknet-fs planned Content-addressed file storage (iroh-blobs backend)
alknet-sftp planned SFTP handler (russh-sftp protocol core)
alknet-git planned Git smart protocol handler (gix)
alknet-http planned HTTP handler (axum, REST API, MCP)
alknet-dns planned DNS handler (hickory-proto, pkarr)
alknet-msg planned E2E encrypted messaging, mixnet support
alknet planned CLI binary (assembles and registers handlers)

Documentation

Reference implementation (previous architecture) is preserved at /workspace/@alkdev/alknet-main/.

License

Licensed under either of

at your option.

Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in this work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.

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