Review of the three new crates (alknet-tls, alknet-endpoint, alknet-client) + revised core found compile-blocking inconsistencies, stale claims, and dep-graph contradictions. All resolved: Critical: - C1: CallClient::connect / ChannelClient::connect_quic REMOVED (not delegated) — keeping them as thin wrappers over AlknetClient::dial_quic would make protocol crates depend on alknet-client, contradicting the dep graph. Callers compose dial + take-over (2 lines). - C2: alknet-client feature gates now pull alknet-core/quinn + alknet-core/iroh (for Connection::from_quinn_with_alpn / from_iroh). - C3: rustls-native-certs + webpki-roots added to alknet-tls deps (always-present, not feature-gated — CA-verify path is transport-agnostic). Warning: - W1: CallCredentials/RemoteIdentity moved to alknet-core (from alknet-call) — the dial must not depend on the call protocol; not a two-way-door, it determines the dep graph. - W2: webpki-roots fallback implemented in spec (ADR-088 §5 added) — the code claimed a fallback that never existed; now the store is never empty, NoRootAnchors unreachable, containerized deployments work. - W3: EndpointError removed entirely (BindFailed + HandlerNotFound both vestigial after ADR-083); shutdown() is now infallible. - W4: FingerprintPinVerifier moved to alknet-tls (from alknet-call) — alknet-call sheds quinn/rustls/rustls-pemfile/rustls-native-certs entirely; CallClient becomes a pure protocol crate. Plus: ClientError removed (only produced by removed connect); S1 (CallCredentials → ClientVerifierContext mapping + auth_token stripped at TLS boundary documented); amendment notes on ADR-017, ADR-069, ADR-080, ADR-082, ADR-087, ADR-090; overview crate graph + README index updated. 29 files, consistency-reviewed.
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 The previous implementation has been archived and a greenfield rebuild is in progress.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
- ALPN-as-service architecture — pivot proposal
- Cleanup plan — greenfield transition plan
- SDD process — spec-driven development process
- Research references — iroh, russh, russh-sftp deep dives
Reference implementation (previous architecture) is preserved at /workspace/@alkdev/alknet-main/.
License
Licensed under either of
- Apache License, Version 2.0 (LICENSE-APACHE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
- MIT license (LICENSE-MIT or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
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.