Restructures /docs/ by reader purpose (tutorials, how-to,
reference, design), adds the new-user-progression and
operator-recipe content the prior layout lacked, runs an
accuracy pass against current source across the pre-existing
design docs, and rewrites the gateway feature-set documentation
end-to-end around its actual operational profile (a niche
feature designed for systems already serving DHCP/DNS to a
LAN, with two independent halves — outbound LAN→mesh, inbound
mesh→LAN — sharing one nftables table, one binary, and one
control socket). Top-level README and getting-started rewritten
around two equally-weighted deployment modes (overlay on
existing IP networks; ground-up over non-IP transports).
## Additions
- 11 new tutorials in docs/tutorials/: an 8-step new-user
progression from single-daemon test-mesh peering through
to a ground-up two-device mesh, an IPv6-adapter side-trip
walkthrough, an Advanced Tutorials index, and a hand-held
OpenWrt walk-through for fips-gateway deployment that
exercises both halves of the feature.
- 12 new how-tos in docs/how-to/: firewall activation,
Nostr discovery (resolve / advertise / open across five
scenarios), Tor onion (directory + control_port modes),
UDP buffer tuning, unprivileged-user setup, persistent
identity, host aliases, Bluetooth LE peering, MTU
diagnostics, manual Linux-host gateway deployment (covers
both halves), gateway troubleshooting (organised by half),
and a section index.
- 9 new reference docs in docs/reference/: configuration,
wire formats, control-socket protocol, four CLI references
(fips, fipsctl, fipstop, fips-gateway), security posture
matrix, and Nostr events catalog. Configuration and
wire-formats are renamed-and-extended from prior design/
versions; the other seven are net-new.
- 6 new design docs: fips-concepts, fips-architecture, and
fips-prior-work split out of the deleted fips-intro.md;
consolidated fips-mmp and fips-mtu aggregations; and a
new generic port-advertisement-and-nat-traversal doc
(Nostr-signaled port advertisement plus UDP NAT-traversal
protocol, FIPS as an example implementation, suitable for
eventual NIP submission).
- Top-level docs/getting-started.md walking through the
binary-installer-only Install story.
- packaging/common/hosts pre-populated with the eight public
test-mesh nodes so shortnames resolve out of the box on
every fresh install.
## Changes
- 23 wire-format diagrams relocated to reference/diagrams/
alongside the wire-formats move.
- 4 design diagrams corrected against source code
(fips-protocol-stack, fips-identity-derivation,
fips-coordinate-discovery, fips-routing-decision).
- 10 pre-existing design docs reconciled with current
source. Numeric corrections: stale link-MMP report bounds
(now [1s, 5s] with 200 ms cold-start floor); UDP default
MTU (now 1280, IPv6 minimum); node_addr formula
(SHA-256(pubkey)[..16]); Noise patterns (IK at link, XK
at session); peer-ACL semantics (strict allowlist requires
ALL in peers.deny); daemon DNS upstream ([::1]:5354);
on-the-wire bloom-filter size (1,071 bytes); obsolete
Cargo-feature references (PR #79 dropped them) removed.
- Transport framing tightened across the docs: TCP is for
UDP-filtered networks (not NAT traversal); Tor is a
deployment mode (not failover); WebSocket dropped (not a
shipped FIPS transport); WiFi promoted to Implemented via
Ethernet in infrastructure mode; classic-Bluetooth row
removed (BLE is the only Bluetooth-mode transport).
- docs/design/fips-gateway.md rewritten end-to-end to lead
with the niche-feature framing and the two-halves
structure. Title moved from "FIPS Outbound LAN Gateway"
to "FIPS Gateway"; architecture section describes the
common machinery (the fips-gateway service, the nftables
table, the control socket) before splitting into separate
"Outbound Half" and "Inbound Half" sections of equal
weight; security considerations split per-half; no Future
Work section (speculative directions live in the project
tracker, not in protocol design docs). Inbound port
forwarding is a first-class half rather than a buried
"Implemented Extensions" subsection.
- Gateway terminology unified across all gateway docs as a
separate Linux service running alongside the fips daemon
(its own systemd unit / OpenWrt init script). Container-
pattern terms (sidecar) are reserved for the
Docker/Kubernetes sidecar deployment examples — the
testing/sidecar/ tree, examples/k8s-sidecar/,
examples/sidecar-nostr-relay/,
examples/wireguard-sidecar-macos/, and the related
CHANGELOG / top-level README entries — where the term
carries its standard container meaning.
- Net-new design body content: rekey section in
fips-mesh-layer (Noise IK msg1/msg2 over the established
link, K-bit cutover, drain window, smaller-NodeAddr-wins
tie-breaker on dual-init); Mesh Size Estimation and
Antipoison FPR Cap sections in fips-bloom-filters;
Mesh-Interface Query Filter subsection in
fips-ipv6-adapter; failure-suppression knobs and clock-
skew tolerance in fips-nostr-discovery; loop-rejection
and mid-chain ancestor swap added to spanning-tree
propagation / stability rules; Priority Chain in
fips-mesh-operation renumbered to match the
routing-decision diagram.
- Top-level README: dropped the stale nostr-discovery
cargo-feature parenthetical. docs/README.md and the four
section READMEs (tutorials, how-to, reference, design)
refreshed for the new structure; index rows reflect both
halves of the gateway feature and the new fips-gateway
CLI reference.
- Cargo.toml [package.metadata.deb] assets path updated for
the fips-security.md move; .gitignore /reference/ rule
anchored to repo root so docs/reference/ is trackable.
- packaging/openwrt-ipk/files/etc/fips/fips.yaml
configuration-doc URL updated to the new
docs/reference/configuration.md location.
## Deletions
- docs/design/fips-intro.md (split into the three new intro
design docs).
- docs/design/document-relationships.svg (orphan, no longer
referenced).
- docs/proposals/ tree removed; the only proposal it
contained (the Nostr UDP hole-punch protocol) was
rewritten as the new generic
design/port-advertisement-and-nat-traversal.md.
Wire format diagrams:
- Add 24 SVG diagrams covering every FMP and FSP wire format: common
prefix, established frame headers, Noise IK handshake messages,
handshake flow, TreeAnnounce, AncestryEntry, FilterAnnounce,
LookupRequest/Response, SessionDatagram, Disconnect, SenderReport,
ReceiverReport, FSP complete message, SessionSetup/Ack/Msg3,
PathMtuNotification, CoordsRequired, PathBroken, and MtuExceeded
- Replace ASCII art in fips-wire-formats.md with SVG references
- Apply text edits to fips-mesh-layer.md, fips-mesh-operation.md,
fips-transport-layer.md, and fips-ipv6-adapter.md
Spanning tree dynamics:
- Add 12 topology SVG diagrams: node join (overview + 3-panel steps),
three-node convergence (4-panel), link addition with depth labels,
link removal, partition formation, and 6 real-world example diagrams
(office, mixed-link, two-site WAN topologies)
- Rewrite all code blocks to narrative prose with diagram references
- Add inline prior art attributions distinguishing Yggdrasil-derived
concepts from FIPS-novel contributions
- Add 3 new references (De Couto ETX, IEEE 802.1D, RFC 2328 OSPF) and
Prior Art summary
- Remove outdated sections: indirect partition note, integration test
gaps, DHT-based lookup reference
- Change "must elect a new root" to "must rediscover its new root"
Spanning tree design review (fips-spanning-tree.md):
- Rename "Root Election" to "Root Discovery" across docs
- Add "What Is a Spanning Tree?" introductory section
- Add parent selection intro explaining self-organization role
- Fix tree distance example: 4 hops, not 2
- Clarify timestamp field as advisory only
- Remove unimplemented ROOT_TIMEOUT and TREE_ENTRY_TTL from timing
parameters and implementation status tables
Bloom filter design review (fips-bloom-filters.md):
- Add "What Is a Bloom Filter?" intro section
- Rewrite Purpose section to frame filters as routing path identification
- Correct FPR analysis (old values were 3-50x overstated)
- Add Filter Occupancy Model based on network size and tree position
- Fix filter expiration to describe actual MMP-based cleanup
- Combine Scale Considerations with Size Classes after Wire Format
- Fix stale FPR values in src/bloom/mod.rs comments
Session layer review (fips-session-layer.md):
- Add inline prior art attributions: Noise Protocol Framework, WireGuard,
DTLS (RFC 6347), IKEv2 (RFC 7296), RFC 1191 PMTUD, Yggdrasil, NIP-44
- Replace warmup state machine ASCII art with SVG diagram
- Convert CoordsWarmup wire format code block to prose
- Add External References section with full citations
Level 5 implementation doc cleanup:
- Delete fips-software-architecture.md (redundant with protocol layer docs)
- Delete fips-state-machines.md (Rust tutorial, not protocol design)
- Add fipsctl command reference to README.md
- Update cross-references in fips-intro.md, docs/design/README.md,
fips-transport-layer.md, fips-configuration.md
Fixes:
- Correct fd::/8 to fd00::/8 in fips-session-layer.md,
fips-identity-derivation.svg, and fips-node-architecture.svg
- Fix config example MTU: 1197 → 1472 in fips-configuration.md
File organization:
- Move all SVG diagrams into docs/design/diagrams/ subdirectory
- Update all diagram references to use new paths
Cost-based parent selection:
- Replace depth-only parent selection with effective_depth = depth + link_cost
- link_cost computed from locally measured MMP metrics: etx * (1.0 + srtt_ms / 100.0)
- Prevents bottleneck subtrees in heterogeneous networks where a LoRa link
at depth 1 would otherwise always beat fiber at depth 2
- Configurable hysteresis (default 0.2) prevents marginal parent switches
- Configurable hold-down timer (default 30s) suppresses re-evaluation
after parent switch
- Mandatory switches (parent lost, root change) bypass both safeguards
- Link costs passed as HashMap parameter to keep TreeState pure
Periodic re-evaluation:
- evaluate_parent() was only called on TreeAnnounce receipt or parent loss;
after tree stabilization, link degradation went undetected
- Added timer-based re-evaluation (reeval_interval_secs, default 60s) that
calls evaluate_parent() from the tick handler with current MMP link costs
- Respects existing hold-down and hysteresis safeguards
- Short-circuits when disabled or <2 peers
Design documentation:
- Update 7 design docs to reflect cost-based parent selection
- Replace depth-only algorithm descriptions with effective_depth model
- Replace rejected cumulative path cost spec with local-only design rationale
- Rewrite Example 2 (heterogeneous links) for local-only cost model
- Update config docs: parent_switch_threshold replaced by parent_hysteresis,
hold_down_secs, reeval_interval_secs
Chaos simulation enhancements:
- fips_overrides with deep merge for per-scenario FIPS config customization
- Explicit topology algorithm for deterministic test graphs
- Control socket querying via fipsctl for tree/MMP snapshot collection
- Edge existence validation in netem manager
- Per-link netem policy overrides
- 9 new chaos scenarios covering cost avoidance, depth-vs-cost tradeoffs,
stability, mixed topologies, periodic re-evaluation, and bottleneck parent
12 new unit tests, 667 total passing, clippy clean.
Rename NodeId to NodeAddr and npub to pubkey throughout documentation
and source code for consistency with the established identity model.
Add FIPS API vs IPv6 adapter overview to session protocol document.
Add transport address terminology note to wire protocol document.
Design change: Session layer now uses Noise IK pattern (previously KK),
matching the link layer. Rationale: initiator knows destination npub,
responder learns initiator identity from handshake - same asymmetry as
link connections.
Document consistency fixes:
- Auth* events → Noise IK msg1/msg2 terminology in state machines
- PeerId → NodeId in routing code examples
- BloomUpdate → FilterAnnounce terminology
- Updated cross-references and tables
Move design documents from working directory into source tree:
- fips-design.md - Full protocol design specification
- spanning-tree-dynamics.md - Spanning tree protocol dynamics study
Add README index files for docs/ and docs/design/.
Johnathan Corgan