ADR-070 made Connection hold Box<dyn BidiStreamSource> so downstream crates can add connection shapes without editing core. The trait and three built-in impls landed, but the public constructor that lets a downstream crate construct a Connection from its own BidiStreamSource impl was never added — the source field is private with no from_source constructor. The channels POC update surfaced this when it tried to use the trait directly and found no way to build a Connection from a ChannelBidiStreamSource. This is a gap in the ADR-070 implementation, not a new decision. ADR-070 §Consequences says 'the channels crate implements ChannelBidiStreamSource in its own crate and constructs Connection from it' — the constructor for that path is what was missing. - ADR-070: add from_source to the Constructors table + reword the downstream-crates paragraph to make the two paths explicit (from_source for custom impls; from_quinn/from_iroh/from_stream for built-in impls) - core-types.md: add from_source to the impl Connection block, the built-in implementations table, and the design-decisions table entry - tasks/core/connection-from-source-constructor.md: the implementation task (one constructor + one test, scope narrow, risk low)
status, last_updated
| status | last_updated |
|---|---|
| draft | 2026-07-12 |
alknet-core
Core library for ALPN-based protocol dispatch. Every handler crate depends on alknet-core.
Documents
| Document | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
| core-types.md | draft | ProtocolHandler trait, HandlerError, Connection (Box<dyn BidiStreamSource> — ADR-070), BidiStreamSource trait, BiStream, StreamError |
| endpoint.md | draft | ALPN router, HandlerRegistry, accept loop, graceful shutdown |
| auth.md | draft | AuthContext (incl. anonymous constructor), Identity, IdentityProvider, AuthToken, resolution flow, PeerEntry, CredentialStore |
| config.md | draft | StaticConfig, DynamicConfig, ArcSwap, ConfigReloadHandle, AuthPolicy.peers |
Applicable ADRs
| ADR | Title | Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| 001 | ALPN-Based Protocol Dispatch | Core architectural model |
| 002 | ProtocolHandler Trait | The trait every handler implements |
| 003 | Crate Decomposition | alknet-core's position in the crate graph |
| 004 | Auth as Shared Core | IdentityProvider in core |
| 006 | ALPN String Convention | ALPN format, one-ALPN-per-connection |
| 007 | BiStream Type Definition | Connection, BiStream trait, SendStream, RecvStream |
| 009 | One-Way Door Framework | Decision classification |
| 010 | ALPN Router and Endpoint | Endpoint, HandlerRegistry, accept loop |
| 011 | AuthContext Structure | AuthContext fields and resolution flow |
| 015 | Privilege Model and Authority Context | Per-request identity on OperationContext; admin scope for config reload |
| 030 | PeerEntry and Identity.id Decoupling | authorized_fingerprints → peers: Vec<PeerEntry>; Identity.id = peer_id (stable) |
| 031 | CredentialStore Repo Trait | Second repo trait in core; InMemoryCredentialStore default adapter |
| 033 | Storage Boundary and Repo/Adapter Pattern | Core defines traits + in-memory defaults; persistence adapters are separate crates |
| 065 | Connection::from_stream — Generic Single-Stream Connections |
from_stream/from_bidi accept any AsyncRead + AsyncWrite; yield-once accept_bi contract; unblocks TCP+TLS, SSH channels, WebTransport, wasm |
| 070 | BidiStreamSource Trait — Open Connection for Extension | Connection holds Box<dyn BidiStreamSource>; QUIC/iroh/stream wrap crate-private impls; from_source is the public constructor for downstream crates that implement the trait (channels, future transports) |
Relevant Open Questions
| OQ | Title | Status | Relevance |
|---|---|---|---|
| OQ-04 | Dynamic handler registration | resolved (start static) | HandlerRegistry is immutable at startup |
| OQ-05 | Multi-connectivity endpoint | resolved (quinn + iroh) | AlknetEndpoint supports both, both feature-gated |
| OQ-11 | Handler-level auth resolution observability | resolved | Handlers store resolved identity on Connection; two identity scopes (connection-level for observability, per-request for ACL) |
| OQ-33 | PeerId — logical id vs crypto identity | resolved by ADR-030 | PeerId = Identity.id = PeerEntry.peer_id (stable across key rotation) |
| OQ-34 | Persistent peer registry (storage boundary) | resolved by ADR-030+031+033 | Core defines repo traits + in-memory defaults; persistence adapters are separate crates |
| OQ-35 | dissolved | PeerEntry supports multiple credential paths; ApiKeyEntry is for tokens that ARE the identity |
|
| OQ-36 | Concrete persistence adapter shapes | resolved by ADR-035 | Read-sync / write-async split (IdentityStore); SQLite adapter caches in memory, honker NOTIFY for no-restart cache invalidation; alknet-store-sqlite crate |
| OQ-37 | X.509 outgoing-only case | resolved by ADR-034 | Three remote roles (public X.509 endpoint, transport relay, hub); PeerEntry asymmetry correct; client-side verifier by PeerEntry presence (CA vs fingerprint pin) |
| OQ-55 | AlknetClient / Client Establishment Extraction | deferred(scope) | Blocked on a second transport's real client (not a second QUIC client); extracting a QUIC-shaped connector now would bake QUIC in as the establishment shape — the welding ADR-065 unwound on the server side |
Key Design Principles
- One trait, one dispatch point:
ProtocolHandleris the only abstraction handlers implement. No StreamInterface/MessageInterface split. - ALPN does the routing: The endpoint dispatches by ALPN string. No byte-peeking, no ListenerConfig enum.
- Handlers own their wire format: Each handler manages its own protocol parsing. alknet-core provides the Connection, not the framing.
- Auth is hybrid: The endpoint provides what it can (TLS-level auth). Handlers complete what they need. AuthContext may be partial.
- WASM door preserved: BiStream is a trait, Connection is an opaque type. Core types don't assume tokio or quinn in public APIs.