7139dc43a6
- Credentials now encrypted with ChaCha20-Poly1305 using node key - Auto-detects plaintext JSON for migration from existing installs - Added did:dht auto-refresh background task (every 2 hours) - Documented pkarr evaluation findings Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
45 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
45 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
# Pkarr Crate Evaluation for did:dht Enhancement
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## Summary
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**Recommendation: Switch to pkarr when did:dht work resumes.**
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Pkarr (v5.0.3, 550K downloads) provides a higher-level abstraction over Mainline DHT specifically for decentralized DNS-like records, which is exactly what did:dht needs.
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## Current Implementation
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Archy's `core/archipelago/src/network/did_dht.rs` (~211 lines):
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- Uses `mainline` crate directly for BEP-44 mutable items
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- Stores DID Documents as **JSON** (not DNS packets as spec requires)
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- Custom 1-hour in-memory TTL cache
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- No relay fallback
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## Pkarr Advantages
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| Feature | Archy Current | Pkarr |
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|---------|---------------|-------|
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| BEP-44 signing | Yes (via mainline) | Yes (integrated) |
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| DNS packet encoding | No (stores JSON) | Yes (RFC 1035 compliant) |
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| Relay fallback | No | Yes |
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| Spec compliance | Partial | Full (DNS packets) |
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| Caching | Custom 1-hour TTL | Pluggable with built-in cache |
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### Key Difference: DNS Packet Encoding
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The did:dht spec requires DID Documents to be stored as DNS packets (RFC 1035), not JSON. Our current implementation works for node-to-node resolution (both sides understand our JSON format), but is non-standard. Pkarr handles DNS packet encoding automatically via `SignedPacket` and `SignedPacketBuilder`.
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### Relay Fallback
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Pkarr includes relay server support for nodes behind restrictive NATs or firewalls. Our current implementation has no fallback when DHT connectivity fails.
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## Migration Estimate
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- Replace `did_dht.rs` with pkarr API calls
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- Add `pkarr = "5.0.3"` to Cargo.toml
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- Estimated: 1-2 hours implementation + testing
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- No breaking changes to RPC interface
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## Decision
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Keep current implementation for now (it works). Switch to pkarr when actively developing did:dht features, as it brings spec compliance and relay fallback with less custom code.
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