BackOne/secure_chat_addon_plan_a08dbee2.plan.md

name, overview, todos, isProject

name	overview	todos	isProject
Secure Chat Addon Plan	Cursor plan document for the BackOne Secure Chat addon: a minimal text-only UI addon bundled as `backone-addon-secure-chat`, using WebHub WebSocket signaling (same network/auth as backone-cli) with auto-resolved install paths.	id content status verify-implementation Verify addons/secure-chat source, packaging targets, and main.js navOrder match this plan pending id content status align-debian-deps Align debian/backone-addon-secure-chat/DEBIAN/control Depends with debian/control (add backone-addon-webhub) pending id content status deploy-test Run install-addon-secure-chat + rebuild-manifest + restart backone/webhub and execute test checklist pending	false

Secure Chat Addon Plan

Purpose

Add a Secure Chat BackOne addon (secure-chat) as a separate installable package (backone-addon-secure-chat). It provides a minimal text-only chat UI modeled on addons/chat, sharing the same BackOne core network and auth token as backone-cli, but without attachments or connection-bar chrome.

This document is the Cursor plan reference for the addon (implementation is largely in place).

---

Architecture

flowchart LR
  subgraph ui [SecureChatUI]
    A["addons/secure-chat/frontend/index.js"]
  end
  subgraph shell [AppShell]
    B["addon-loader.js"]
    C["main.js nav"]
    D["webhub-client.js"]
  end
  subgraph signaling [WebHubSidecar]
    E["backone-webhub :9994"]
  end
  subgraph core [BackOneCore]
    F["backone / backone-cli"]
  end
  A -->|subscribe chat_message| D
  A -->|send chat_message| D
  D <-->|WebSocket authtoken| E
  B -->|dynamic import| A
  C -->|mount| A
  F -->|peers networks status| A

Key design choices (current codebase):

Aspect	Secure Chat	Chat P2P
Signaling	WebHub chat_message via BackOneWebHubClient	Same
UI	Text-only, no file input	Text + attachments
Connection bar	Omitted	BackOneCommLayout bar
Message storage	In-memory session only	In-memory session only
Dependencies	comms-core, webhub	comms-core, webhub
Nav order	First (secure-chat)	Second (chat)

Note: An earlier design used a dedicated HTTP route POST/GET /controller/comms/network/{nwid}/secure-chat in AddonHost.cpp. The current implementation uses WebHub instead (aligned with voice/video/chat signaling). No separate C++ comms route is required for secure-chat today.

---

Source layout

addons/secure-chat/
├── addon.json              # manifest (id, requires, frontend, backend metadata)
└── frontend/
    └── index.js            # window.BackOneAddons['secure-chat'] factory

Manifest — addons/secure-chat/addon.json

• id: "secure-chat"
• name: "Secure Chat"
• requires: ["comms-core", "webhub"]
• frontend.entry: /app/addons/secure-chat/index.js
• frontend.navLabel: "Secure Chat"
• backend.websocketEvents: ["secure_chat_message"] (declared; uses shared chat_message over WebHub at runtime)

Frontend — addons/secure-chat/frontend/index.js

Minimal UI pattern (from chat reference):

• Keep: comm-split-layout, BackOnePeerPicker, BackOneNetworkSession, escapeHtml, message meta/time styling, BackOneAuth / core session
• Omit: file attachment input, BackOneCommLayout connection bar, persisted localStorage history

Send path:

BackOneWebHubClient.send({
  type: 'chat_message',
  networkId,
  targetId: selectedPeer.peerId,
  senderName: name,
  body
});

Receive path: BackOneWebHubClient.subscribe('chat_message', handler) — filters by networkId and selected peer.

---

Runtime registration flow

1. backone service loads addons from /usr/lib/backone/addons/ via service/AddonHost.cpp
2. addons/updater/rebuild-addon-manifest.sh writes $BACKONE_HOME/app/addons/manifest.json
3. App shell app-shell/dist/addon-loader.js fetches manifest and import()s each frontend.entry
4. app-shell/dist/main.js builds nav (navOrder: ['secure-chat', 'chat', 'video', 'voice']) and calls mount(panel)
5. app-shell/dist/main.js connects BackOneWebHubClient on init; WebHub sidecar started by backone-webhub.service

---

Bundling and packaging

Make install — make/install-addons.mk

Target	Installs to (Linux defaults)
install-addon-secure-chat	addon.json → /usr/lib/backone/addons/secure-chat/
	index.js → /var/lib/backone/app/addons/secure-chat/

Install paths auto-resolve from pkg/common/platform-paths.sh via pkg/common/resolve-install-path.sh:

• Empty DESTDIR → live system paths (same defaults as backone-cli / updater)
• DESTDIR=/tmp/stage → packaging staging prefix

Debian — debian/control

• Package: backone-addon-secure-chat
• Depends: backone, backone-addon-comms-core, backone-addon-webhub, backone-app-shell
• Rules: debian/rules → install-addon-secure-chat
• Metadata: debian/backone-addon-secure-chat/DEBIAN/

macOS / Windows

• pkg/mac/build-addon-pkgs.sh — backone-addon-secure-chat
• pkg/windows/build-addon-packages.ps1 — backone-addon-secure-chat

Version bump

• ci/scripts/bump_version.sh includes secure-chat in addon version loop

---

Install and deploy

Live install (no DESTDIR):

sudo make install-addon-secure-chat
sudo make install-addon-manifest    # or: sudo backone-updater rebuild-manifest
sudo systemctl restart backone
sudo systemctl restart backone-webhub   # if webhub not running

Package staging:

make install-addon-secure-chat DESTDIR=/tmp/backone-stage
make install-addon-manifest DESTDIR=/tmp/backone-stage

Debian package:

sudo dpkg -i backone-addon-secure-chat_*.deb
sudo backone-updater rebuild-manifest
sudo systemctl restart backone backone-webhub

---

Test checklist

1. Web UI shows Secure Chat nav tab (first in order)
2. Join a BackOne network (same as backone-cli join)
3. Select a peer, send text — message appears locally
4. Peer receives chat_message over WebHub (if second client connected)
5. Regular Chat P2P addon still works (attachments, connection bar)
6. backone-addon-secure-chat absent → empty-state hint mentions package name
7. manifest.json lists secure-chat after install + rebuild-manifest

---

Scope boundaries

In scope

• New secure-chat addon source + backone-addon-secure-chat package
• Minimal UI (chat reference, text-only)
• WebHub real-time signaling
• Make / Debian / macOS / Windows bundle entries
• Auto-resolved install paths via platform-paths.sh

Out of scope

• Client-side E2E encryption (Web Crypto)
• Postgres / file-backed message persistence
• Dedicated /controller/comms/.../secure-chat HTTP API (superseded by WebHub)
• Changes to voice/video addons

---

Known gap (optional follow-up)

debian/backone-addon-secure-chat/DEBIAN/control binary metadata lists backone-addon-comms-core + backone-app-shell but omits backone-addon-webhub; source debian/control includes webhub. Align binary Depends with source control for consistent dpkg dependency resolution.