96fdf90aacd6 | atagen | 2026-09-08 08:24 UTC | 1 | # macltok design decisions |
96fdf90aacd6 | atagen | 2026-09-08 08:24 UTC | 2 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 3 | the contract the working tree actually implements. if the code disagrees with |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 4 | this, one of them is lying and it should be fixed |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 5 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 6 | ## two ways in, one way out |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 7 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 8 | state changes are commands. `ClientHandle::send` queues one and hands back a |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 9 | `Pending`, `execute` queues and waits, and there's an awaited convenience method |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 10 | for every command. each command answers exactly once with |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 11 | `Result<CommandOutput, Error>`. drop the `Pending` if you don't care, the |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 12 | command still runs |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 13 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 14 | pure reads skip the engine and ask the sdk directly through the handle. rooms, |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 15 | members, power levels, account data, devices, push notification resolution, |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 16 | and media bytes all live here |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 17 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 18 | the event stream carries state and only state. timelines, history, typing, |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 19 | rooms, connection, encryption, verification, upload progress, session. no |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 20 | command results ride on it. drain it from its own task, it's bounded and the |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 21 | engine waits for you |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 22 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 23 | one error type for everything, `Error { kind, message, challenge }`. match on |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 24 | `kind`. `Interrupted` means the engine stopped, the room closed, or the task |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 25 | doing the work died before it could answer. `challenge` turns up with |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 26 | `InteractiveAuthRequired` |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 27 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 28 | ## engine |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 29 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 30 | the run loop routes and does nothing slow. every task it spawns is registered |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 31 | with a context. a command task that panics costs its caller an `Interrupted` |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 32 | and gets logged. a watcher or a room actor that panics takes the engine down, |
62fe32759529 | atagen | 2026-09-26 08:50 UTC | 33 | emitting `Failed` then `Stopped`. natively, anyway. wasm aborts the whole |
62fe32759529 | atagen | 2026-09-26 08:50 UTC | 34 | instance on any panic and nothing is left to log it |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 35 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 36 | sync restarts itself with backoff after an error or an unexpected stop, and |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 37 | `ConnectionChanged` shows `Offline` meanwhile. a run that drops again inside |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 38 | thirty seconds counts as a failure too, or a server that answers `/versions` |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 39 | but refuses sync would bounce us between online and offline forever. every return to `Online` re-arms |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 40 | the send queues, since the sdk parks a room's queue on any send failure and |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 41 | never unparks it. a recoverable failure while online gets the room another go |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 42 | after a few seconds |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 43 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 44 | logout and a rejected token both stop the engine. `Shutdown` answers once |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 45 | `Stopped` has gone out, every one of them if several were queued |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 46 | |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 47 | `Engine::run` hands back a boxed future. the real one nests deep enough that |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 48 | every crate spawning it would trip the compiler's query depth |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 49 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 50 | ## rooms |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 51 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 52 | one actor per open room. the engine holds a slot per room, `Active` with a |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 53 | sender or `Closing` with a fifo of opens and closes that arrived while it wound |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 54 | down. those replay in order once the actor exits. a room you leave, or get |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 55 | kicked or banned from, closes itself. it tells the engine first, and anything |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 56 | already queued to it comes back to be answered or replayed, so an open racing a |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 57 | leave still gets a fresh actor |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 58 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 59 | opening sends `TimelineReset` on the stream before it answers. opening an |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 60 | already open room sends a fresh reset, so a second frontend gets a snapshot |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 61 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 62 | sends, edits and replies run on the actor in order, so they reach the send |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 63 | queue in the order they were asked for. redactions, reactions and read |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 64 | receipts are network calls, so they run beside the actor and a slow one |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 65 | doesn't queue the room behind it. closing lets them finish rather than lie |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 66 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 67 | threads belong to their room's actor. commands for a thread that's still |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 68 | opening wait behind the open, up to the actor's queue capacity |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 69 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 70 | pagination runs one request at a time per timeline and emits `HistoryChanged` |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 71 | around each. the sdk remembers where history starts, we don't, because a gappy |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 72 | sync can unload it again |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 73 | |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 74 | the actor's watchers are supervised, and a panic in any of them panics the |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 75 | actor. its command work isn't, a panicking redaction just answers `Interrupted` |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 76 | and gets logged |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 77 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 78 | ## timelines |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 79 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 80 | `TimelineDiff::try_apply` refuses a diff whose indices don't fit your snapshot |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 81 | and leaves the snapshot alone. stop applying, `resync`, and carry on from the |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 82 | next `TimelineReset`. resync kills the old watcher before the new reset goes |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 83 | out, so no stale diff can land after it |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 84 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 85 | `TimelineId` tells a room from a thread by its root event |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 86 | |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 87 | every item is an event, a day divider, the read marker or the start. an event |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 88 | carries its sender with avatar and name ambiguity, and a `TimelineContent` |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 89 | saying what it actually is. messages keep their msgtype, membership and profile |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 90 | changes and the common room state changes get their own variants, and anything |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 91 | else is `OtherState` or `Other` with its type. nothing is flattened into english |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 92 | in a body field |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 93 | |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 94 | thread receipts for a thread that isn't open go straight to the room, so |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 95 | marking a thread read works the same whether its room is on screen or not |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 96 | |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 97 | replies carry the replied-to event once it's loaded. the watcher asks the sdk |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 98 | for any it hasn't got, once per event, since the sdk won't on its own |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 99 | |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 100 | edit, redact and react take an `EventRef`, so your own message can be edited or |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 101 | reacted to before the server has echoed it back. redacting an unsent one just |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 102 | cancels it |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 103 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 104 | ## mutations |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 105 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 106 | membership, moderation, power levels, room creation and account data writes go |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 107 | through one keyed fifo scheduler. same room, same alias, same dm partner or |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 108 | same account data type run in order, everything else runs at once. |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 109 | `create_direct` hands back the existing dm when there is one |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 110 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 111 | notifications and encryption each get one serial worker. the encryption worker |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 112 | owns the verification controller outright |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 113 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 114 | power level changes build one state event from the local mapping, since the |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 115 | sdk's own patcher is private |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 116 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 117 | ## media |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 118 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 119 | media is a read. `ClientHandle::media` takes a `MediaId` a retained timeline |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 120 | handed you, `mxc_media` takes any plain mxc uri. both share one bounded |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 121 | download path with the byte cap the sdk's own download lacks, an hour's total |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 122 | deadline instead of the sdk client's thirty seconds, and a minute's patience |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 123 | for a stalled stream. concurrent asks for the same bytes share one flight. |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 124 | a thumbnail the server won't make falls back to the file itself. |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 125 | `MediaId` parses from a string, since a web client has to round trip it |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 126 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 127 | the cache holds plaintext, keyed like the sdk keys it, so the sdk and macltok |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 128 | can read each other's entries. that's how your own encrypted uploads come back. |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 129 | the sdk keys plain and encrypted sources alike, so a plain event pointing at |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 130 | someone's encrypted file can leave ciphertext in the cache. an encrypted read |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 131 | checks the cached bytes against the file's hash and decrypts them if they match |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 132 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 133 | media ids are registered as timelines render and forgotten when their timeline |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 134 | closes, least recently seen first once the cap is hit |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 135 | |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 136 | uploads are commands that answer once the send queue has them. progress only |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 137 | goes out on a room's own send queue channel, so each room that uploads gets a |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 138 | forwarder, subscribed before the upload is queued and restarted for uploads the |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 139 | sdk resumes from last time. failures do reach the client-wide channel, so one |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 140 | watcher there reports them |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 141 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 142 | ## sessions and secrets |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 143 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 144 | `Session::login_password`, `begin_oauth` and `restore` share one client builder |
62fe32759529 | atagen | 2026-09-26 08:50 UTC | 145 | with an encrypted store, refresh tokens and threads. the store is sqlite |
62fe32759529 | atagen | 2026-09-26 08:50 UTC | 146 | natively and indexeddb in a browser. secret-bearing inputs don't derive `Clone` |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 147 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 148 | the caller owns the saved record. save `Session::record()` after login and |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 149 | replace it atomically with `ClientHandle::session_record()` on every |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 150 | `SessionTokensChanged`. logout and a hard rejection kill the record and the |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 151 | store. a soft logout keeps the store for a same-device login, or the e2ee keys |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 152 | go with it. a bare `Stopped` kills nothing. one store directory per login |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 153 | |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 154 | ## room lists, spaces and profiles |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 155 | |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 156 | `RoomSummary` has what a room list row needs without a second query. topic, |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 157 | alias, member counts, heroes for nameless rooms, the inviter, where an upgraded |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 158 | room went, a latest event preview, the joined spaces listing it, and for a |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 159 | space the children it lists |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 160 | |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 161 | parents come from one lazily built `SpaceService` shared by every handle. |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 162 | children come straight from the space's local state, joined or not. |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 163 | `space_hierarchy` pages through the server's view for browsing rooms you |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 164 | haven't joined, and holds its place between pages |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 165 | |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 166 | `own_profile` and `user_profile` read profiles. name and avatar changes are |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 167 | commands, and uploading an avatar gets the same byte cap as any upload |
960ac0721079 | atagen | 2026-09-25 00:24 UTC | 168 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 169 | ## notifications and room data |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 170 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 171 | the notification client is built lazily and shares the engine's sync service. |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 172 | sdk ui types stay behind the boundary |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 173 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 174 | `rooms` normalises on demand with bounded concurrency and sorts by latest event, |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 175 | then name, then id. `RoomsChanged` is an invalidation, coalesced so one sync |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 176 | touching fifty rooms is one event |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 177 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 178 | ## verification |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 179 | |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 180 | `Accept`, `Confirm`, `Reject` and `Cancel`. a request another device sends |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 181 | shows up as `Incoming` and waits for `Accept`, or `Cancel` to turn it down. one |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 182 | is only taken up while nothing else is in flight. reject tells the other side |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 183 | the emoji didn't match. the watchers subscribe before they look at the current |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 184 | state, since the sdk only reports what changes after you ask. the watcher and |
5a52012c9b1d | atagen | 2026-09-24 23:45 UTC | 185 | the action paths claim the terminal event, so a racing |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 186 | cancel can't turn `Done` into `Cancelled` |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 187 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 188 | ## public model |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 189 | |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 190 | owned ruma ids and typed data wherever there's a stable shape, `Raw` where |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 191 | arbitrary content has to survive. anything expected to grow is |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 192 | `#[non_exhaustive]`. `Engine::from_client` stays public for people who built |
31ce2453c82f | atagen | 2026-09-24 13:07 UTC | 193 | their own client |