2026-08-12 03:12:30 +00:00
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# next-gen `tractor.ipc` transport backend plans
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Implementation specs for three prospective `.ipc` transport
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backends, written so each can be worked independently (by a
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different model/provider) without design or lib-selection drift.
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**Read [`00_shared_backend_contract.md`](./00_shared_backend_contract.md)
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first** — it is the normative description of what a `tractor`
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transport backend *is* as of `main@83b34884` (the backend
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2026-08-31 16:27:43 +00:00
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duck-type, registration and address-selection wiring, the
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test-harness plumbing, the code-style rules). The three plans
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assume it and document only their own deltas.
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2026-08-12 03:12:30 +00:00
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| plan | issue | dep | size | lands |
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| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
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| [01 — TIPC](./01_tipc_backend.md) | [#378] | **none** (stdlib) | small | first |
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| [02 — QUIC/`iroh`](./02_quic_iroh_backend.md) | [#353] | `iroh` (uniffi FFI) | large | needs a prep PR |
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| [03 — `wg` bindspace](./03_wg_tunnel_bindspace.md) | [#482], [#443] | `pyroute2` | medium, 3 layers | layer A now |
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Headline conclusions:
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- **TIPC is the cheap win.** Verified: `trio.SocketStream` and
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`trio.SocketListener` are address-family agnostic (only
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`SOCK_STREAM` + a trio socket), and CPython ships `AF_TIPC` +
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23 `TIPC_*` constants. So the backend is ~one module of
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2026-08-31 16:27:43 +00:00
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contract boilerplate, zero new deps, and it buys kernel-native
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service primitives: `bind()` publishes, known-address
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`connect()` resolves, and topology events report publication
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changes. Actor-name lookup, registrar state and split-brain-safe
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election remain separate work. (`modprobe tipc` is required;
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hard-gate everything.)
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2026-08-12 03:12:30 +00:00
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- **QUIC's cost is entirely in two adapters**, not in QUIC. The
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`iroh` python bindings are `uniffi`-generated asyncio, but the
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asyncio dependency is confined to *one* future-poll callback —
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a ~40-line `trio` bridge (`TrioToken.run_sync_soon`) replaces
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it. The second cost is that an iroh listener isn't a socket,
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which needs a small, independently-reviewable prep PR to
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`_server.py`/`_types.py`.
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- **WireGuard is not a transport.** It's an iface-layer tunnel,
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so it belongs as a *nested bindspace* (`TunnelledAddress` +
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`open_bindspace()` `@acm`s) wrapping whatever L4 tpt is in
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use — which is also what finally implements the long-spec'd
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`Address.namespace`, and what generalizes to
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`veth`/`vxlan`/`gre`.
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Ordering rationale: plan 01 first as the cheap proof the
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table-registration story generalizes to a genuinely new proto;
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plan 03 layer A is already deployable-today doc/example work;
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plan 02 last (and gated on its prep PR). Plans 01 and 02 both
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want the same `Address.rebind_from_sockname` gate — whichever
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lands first ships it.
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[#378]: https://github.com/goodboy/tractor/issues/378
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[#353]: https://github.com/goodboy/tractor/issues/353
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[#482]: https://github.com/goodboy/tractor/issues/482
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[#443]: https://github.com/goodboy/tractor/issues/443
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