glm-5.1 f77b515968 docs(architecture): add Phase 0 architecture specs for ALPN-as-service model
Foundational architecture documents following the SDD process:

ADRs:
- 001: ALPN-based protocol dispatch (one endpoint, ALPN negotiation)
- 002: ProtocolHandler trait (replaces StreamInterface/MessageInterface)
- 003: Crate decomposition (one crate per handler, core provides shared infra)
- 004: Auth as shared core (IdentityProvider, hybrid resolution model)
- 005: irpc as call protocol foundation
- 006: ALPN string convention and connection model (alknet/ prefix, one ALPN per connection)

Docs:
- overview.md: crate graph, shared types, ALPN registry, failure modes
- README.md: index with doc table, ADR table, lifecycle definitions
- open-questions.md: 10 OQs across 7 themes (3 resolved, 7 open)

Crate spec stubs for all 11 planned crates (alknet-core through alknet CLI).

Key decisions resolved during self-review:
- AuthContext resolution is hybrid: endpoint resolves TLS-level auth,
  handlers resolve protocol-level auth (resolves OQ-02)
- ALPN is per-connection not per-stream, corrected ADR-001 (resolves OQ-06)
- ALPN naming uses alknet/ prefix without versions (resolves OQ-03)
- HandlerError return type on ProtocolHandler trait
- alknet/secret removed from ALPN registry until OQ-08 resolved
2026-06-15 22:14:58 +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 The previous implementation has been archived and a greenfield rebuild is in progress.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-secret stable 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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