HaloKeymind/docs/filter_tool.md

Filter policy playground

Build a forwarding policy, see its readable definition, and simulate how a repeater handles a packet. Rules match received packet facts, then apply actions such as dropping, scoping, rate-limiting, or retrying a flood.

Everything runs locally in this browser. Channel keys, packet facts, and policy drafts are not uploaded anywhere.

Engine design preview

This page targets the new policy-engine idea, not today's FPF7 file or existing set flood.* commands. Its readable policy language, JSON, and Base64 bundle are a prototype for design testing. Current firmware cannot install these policies yet.

Build a policy

Start with an example or build a rule, then test the draft against packet facts in the simulator below. The examples draw from Flood Filtering and Moderation.

Remote login and direct routes

This policy only decides whether a relay retransmits a flood. Direct packets and local delivery are unaffected. Rules matching the login/admin family can still reduce multi-hop remote-login reach, so the analyzer flags them.

Example policies Choose one to load its full rules into the builder and draft.

Read each summary as when all conditions match, do the actions. A match alone does not stop forwarding.

Payload selectors

type= value	Matches
grp_data	Only the named payload type; see every exact type below
any	Every payload type
class:group	GRP_TXT and GRP_DATA
class:login	REQ, RESPONSE, TXT_MSG, ANON_REQ, and PATH
class:other	Every remaining payload type that is not group or login

Other conditions and actions

Field	Meaning
hops=	Received hop count: all, 3+, 2-6, or 3
channel=	* means no channel condition; a name or key authenticates one group channel
rx.scope=	Original incoming transport scope
path=	Path prefix, blacklist, bucket, or loop match
tempradio=	Temporary-radio state
do drop	Do not retransmit
do scope=	Set the outgoing transport scope
do rate=	Apply a per-minute rate and burst
do timing=	Select fast, normal, or slow scheduling

There is no class:txt. Use type=grp_txt for channel text or type=txt_msg for peer text.

Set #BlackHole86 scope on all #rgdata group traffic when type=class:group hops=all channel=#rgdata do scope=#BlackHole86 timing=fast Add #BlackHole86 scope to unscoped #rgdata data when type=grp_data hops=all channel=#rgdata rx.scope=none do scope=#BlackHole86 timing=fast Replace #usa with #BlackHole86 on #rgdata data when type=grp_data hops=all channel=#rgdata rx.scope=scope:usa do scope=#BlackHole86 timing=fast Rate-limit packets whose path starts with 860C when type=any hops=all path=prefix:860C do rate=10/min burst=10 Drop selected flood types at their hop limits when type=control hops=1+ do drop
when type=req hops=3+ do drop; same for type=grp_data
when type=response hops=9+ do drop; same for type=anon_req and type=path Rate-limit Public messages from “Noisy User” when type=grp_txt hops=all channel=public sender="Noisy User" do rate=5/min burst=5 Drop packets whose path matches the passive blacklist when type=any hops=all path=blacklist do drop Drop OTA outside temporary-radio mode and distant #wardriving when type=ota hops=all tempradio=inactive do drop
when type=any channel=#wardriving hops=5+ do drop Set #BlackHole86 scope on login and bucket-matched other traffic when type=class:login hops=all do scope=#BlackHole86 timing=fast
when type=class:other hops=all path=bucket:2 do scope=#BlackHole86 timing=slow

Rule builder

Create a policy rule

Reset form

  <h3>Common match settings</h3>
  <div class="filter-form-grid">
    <label>
      Payload type or class
      <select data-field="type">
        <option value="any">Any payload type</option>
        <option value="class:group">Class: group text and data</option>
        <option value="class:login">Class: login/admin family</option>
        <option value="class:other">Class: every other payload</option>
        <option value="req">REQ</option>
        <option value="response">RESPONSE</option>
        <option value="txt_msg">TXT_MSG</option>
        <option value="ack">ACK</option>
        <option value="advert">ADVERT</option>
        <option value="grp_txt">GRP_TXT</option>
        <option value="grp_data">GRP_DATA</option>
        <option value="anon_req">ANON_REQ</option>
        <option value="path">PATH</option>
        <option value="trace">TRACE</option>
        <option value="multipart">MULTIPART</option>
        <option value="control">CONTROL</option>
        <option value="ota">OTA</option>
        <option value="13">Reserved type 13</option>
        <option value="14">Reserved type 14</option>
        <option value="raw_custom">RAW_CUSTOM</option>
      </select>
    </label>
    <label>
      Received hops
      <input data-field="hops" value="all" placeholder="all, 5+, 2-6, or 3">
    </label>
    <label>
      Channel (optional)
      <input data-field="channel" placeholder="*, #rgdata, public, or key">
    </label>
    <label>
      Original incoming scope
      <input data-field="incoming" list="policy-incoming-options" value="any" placeholder="any">
      <datalist id="policy-incoming-options">
        <option value="any"></option>
        <option value="none"></option>
        <option value="scoped"></option>
        <option value="allowed"></option>
        <option value="unknown"></option>
        <option value="scope:usa"></option>
        <option value="region:west"></option>
      </datalist>
    </label>
    <label>
      Path matcher
      <select data-field="path-kind">
        <option value="none">No path condition</option>
        <option value="prefix">Ordered 1/2/3-byte pbyte prefix</option>
        <option value="blacklist">Passive blacklist</option>
        <option value="bucket:1">Path bucket 1</option>
        <option value="bucket:2">Path bucket 2</option>
        <option value="bucket:3">Path bucket 3</option>
        <option value="bucket:4">Path bucket 4</option>
        <option value="bucket:5">Path bucket 5</option>
        <option value="bucket:6">Path bucket 6</option>
        <option value="loop:strict">Own-ID loop: strict</option>
        <option value="loop:moderate">Own-ID loop: moderate</option>
        <option value="loop:minimal">Own-ID loop: minimal</option>
      </select>
    </label>
    <label>
      Ordered pbyte prefix
      <input data-field="path-prefix" placeholder="86, 860C, or 860C,12A4">
    </label>
    <label>
      Decrypted sender (optional)
      <input data-field="sender" maxlength="31" placeholder="Noisy User">
    </label>
    <label>
      Temporary-radio state
      <select data-field="temp-radio">
        <option value="any">Either state</option>
        <option value="inactive">Inactive</option>
        <option value="active">Active</option>
      </select>
    </label>
  </div>

  <h3>Common actions</h3>
  <p class="filter-field-help">
    Choosing a phase-specific action automatically selects a compatible
    phase and ACL owner. Open the advanced section to inspect or override
    those choices.
  </p>
  <div class="filter-form-grid">
    <label>
      Forwarding verdict
      <select data-field="verdict">
        <option value="continue">No verdict change</option>
        <option value="drop">Drop / do not retransmit</option>
      </select>
    </label>
    <label>
      Region-gate decision
      <select data-field="scope-gate">
        <option value="unchanged">Leave global gate unchanged</option>
        <option value="require_allowed">Require original allowed region</option>
        <option value="bypass_global">Bypass global gate for this packet</option>
      </select>
    </label>
    <label>
      Scope rewrite target
      <select data-field="target-kind">
        <option value="none">Do not rewrite scope</option>
        <option value="scope">Regionless public scope</option>
        <option value="region">Configured region</option>
      </select>
    </label>
    <label>
      Target name
      <input data-field="target" placeholder="BlackHole86">
    </label>
    <label>
      Token rate per minute (optional)
      <input data-field="rate" type="number" min="1" max="65534" inputmode="numeric" placeholder="unlimited">
    </label>
    <label>
      Burst tokens
      <input data-field="burst" type="number" min="1" max="65534" inputmode="numeric" placeholder="defaults to rate">
    </label>
    <label>
      Rewrite timing
      <select data-field="timing">
        <option value="inherit">Inherit normal behavior</option>
        <option value="fast">Fast-track rewrite</option>
        <option value="normal">Normal queue timing</option>
        <option value="slow">Slow receive/transmit timing</option>
      </select>
    </label>
    <label>
      Queue priority
      <select data-field="queue">
        <option value="inherit">Inherit</option>
        <option value="high">High</option>
        <option value="normal">Normal</option>
        <option value="low">Low</option>
      </select>
    </label>
    <label>
      Retry path bucket
      <select data-field="retry-bucket">
        <option value="none">No retry action</option>
        <option value="bucket:1">Bucket 1</option>
        <option value="bucket:2">Bucket 2</option>
        <option value="bucket:3">Bucket 3</option>
        <option value="bucket:4">Bucket 4</option>
        <option value="bucket:5">Bucket 5</option>
        <option value="bucket:6">Bucket 6</option>
      </select>
    </label>
    <label>
      Retry attempts
      <input data-field="retry-attempts" type="number" min="1" max="10" inputmode="numeric" placeholder="1">
    </label>
    <label>
      Decision tag (optional)
      <input data-field="tag" maxlength="24" placeholder="blackhole-ingress">
    </label>
  </div>

  <details class="filter-advanced">
    <summary>Advanced execution, ownership, and flood route</summary>
    <p class="filter-field-help">
      Direct packets already carry a supplied path and are intentionally
      outside this engine. The route condition below only distinguishes
      unscoped floods from transport-scoped floods.
    </p>
    <div class="filter-form-grid">
      <label>
        Stable rule ID
        <input data-field="id" value="rule-1" maxlength="32" placeholder="blackhole-rewrite">
      </label>
      <label>
        Processing phase
        <select data-field="phase">
          <option value="scope_gate">1 - Incoming scope gate</option>
          <option value="rewrite">2 - Scope rewrite</option>
          <option value="forward">3 - Forwarding decision</option>
          <option value="content">4 - Decrypted content</option>
          <option value="schedule">5 - Scheduling and retry</option>
        </select>
      </label>
      <label>
        Rule owner / capability
        <select data-field="owner">
          <option value="scope">ACL 4 - Region/scope manager</option>
          <option value="filter">ACL 5 - Filter manager</option>
          <option value="admin">Administrator</option>
          <option value="system">Firmware-managed system rule</option>
        </select>
      </label>
      <label>
        Priority
        <input data-field="priority" type="number" min="0" max="255" inputmode="numeric" value="100">
      </label>
      <label>
        Mode
        <select data-field="mode">
          <option value="active">Active</option>
          <option value="shadow">Shadow - observe only</option>
          <option value="disabled">Disabled</option>
        </select>
      </label>
      <label>
        Rule processing after a match
        <select data-field="stop">
          <option value="none">Continue to later rules</option>
          <option value="phase">Skip later rules in this phase</option>
          <option value="policy">Skip all later policy rules</option>
        </select>
      </label>
      <label>
        Flood route
        <select data-field="route">
          <option value="flood">Either flood route</option>
          <option value="unscoped_flood">Unscoped flood only</option>
          <option value="scoped_flood">Transport-scoped flood only</option>
        </select>
      </label>
    </div>
  </details>

  <div class="filter-live-preview">
    <div>
      <span class="filter-preview-label">Readable policy definition</span>
      <code data-role="live-command"></code>
    </div>
    <p data-role="live-explanation"></p>
    <ul class="filter-inline-warnings" data-role="live-warnings" hidden></ul>
  </div>

  <div class="filter-builder-actions">
    <button class="filter-primary-action" type="button" data-role="save-rule">Add rule to policy</button>
    <button type="button" data-role="copy-live">Copy definition</button>
  </div>
</section>

<section class="filter-panel filter-policy" aria-labelledby="filter-policy-title">
  <div class="filter-panel-heading">
    <div>
      <p class="filter-eyebrow">Policy draft</p>
      <h2 id="filter-policy-title">Rules in execution order</h2>
    </div>
    <button type="button" data-role="clear-policy">Clear policy</button>
  </div>
  <div class="filter-policy-target">
    <label>
      Approximate target budget
      <select data-role="target-profile">
        <option value="stm32">Compact STM32 - 2 KB</option>
        <option value="nrf52" selected>nRF52 - 8 KB</option>
        <option value="esp32">Classic ESP32 - 16 KB</option>
        <option value="esp32_roomy">Roomy ESP32 - 64 KB</option>
      </select>
    </label>
  </div>
  <p class="filter-field-help">
    Rules match the same immutable packet facts. Ordering is phase, then
    descending priority, then stable rule ID. Drop decisions are sticky.
  </p>
  <div class="filter-empty-state" data-role="empty-policy">
    Add a rule or load an example to start exploring.
  </div>
  <ol class="filter-rule-list" data-role="rule-list"></ol>
  <div class="filter-policy-summary" data-role="policy-summary"></div>
  <ul class="filter-inline-warnings" data-role="policy-warnings" hidden></ul>
</section>

Immutable packet simulator

Explain an evaluation

Reset packet

Read a raw MeshCore packet

Paste an on-air packet as hexadecimal. The decoder follows the MeshCore wire format, displays its header, route, pbyte path, and clear payload envelope, then loads only facts actually present on the wire into the simulator.

Runs locally

Raw packet hex 014e912ceebb98918b86772df5dacf1bcba9e4127ffffaa8665596aa3e2903a3b1901fdc53497dfca6b5d7df2d771bea68de

Decode and load packet

Received route Unscoped flood Transport-scoped flood Payload type REQ RESPONSE TXT_MSG ACK ADVERT GRP_TXT GRP_DATA ANON_REQ PATH TRACE MULTIPART CONTROL OTA Reserved type 13 Reserved type 14 RAW_CUSTOM Received hops Channel Received pbyte path Original scope status Unscoped Allowed region Unknown or denied scope Original scope name Resolved region name Decrypted sender Passive blacklist result No match Matched Matching path buckets Own-ID loop result No loop match Strict only Moderate and strict Minimal, moderate, and strict Temporary radio is active

Run policy simulation

Import and explain

Paste readable policy or a saved draft

Accepts one-line policy set ... when ... do ... definitions, playground JSON, or a playground Base64 bundle.

Explain input Load into builder

Export

Move or save this design

Readable policy Policy JSON Playground Base64

Proposed human-readable definition. Current firmware does not accept it yet.

Structured draft used by this page.

Browser-playground interchange only. It is not the final packed firmware codec.

Copy visible export Download JSON

Payload type reference

Use an exact type= value when a rule should match only one payload type. The class column shows which broader selector also matches it.

type= value	Payload	Class
req	Request	class:login
response	Response	class:login
txt_msg	Peer text message	class:login
ack	Acknowledgment	class:other
advert	Node advertisement	class:other
grp_txt	Group-channel text	class:group
grp_data	Group-channel datagram	class:group
anon_req	Anonymous request	class:login
path	Returned path	class:login
trace	Path trace	class:other
multipart	One frame in a multipart sequence	class:other
control	Control or discovery data	class:other
ota	OTA-over-LoRa data	class:other
13	Reserved payload type 13	class:other
14	Reserved payload type 14	class:other
raw_custom	Application-defined raw data	class:other

Proposed evaluation contract

The simulator uses these rules:

1. Only flood retransmission enters the policy. Direct routing and local packet delivery remain outside it.
2. Every matcher reads the same immutable receive-time packet facts.
3. Rules run by phase, descending priority, then stable rule ID.
4. A drop decision is sticky and cannot be undone by a later rule.
5. The first matching scope, timing, queue, and retry action in execution order wins.
6. All matching token-bucket rate constraints remain attached to the decision.
7. stop=phase skips later rules in that phase. stop=policy skips later configurable rules, but never mandatory packet validation or radio safety.
8. Shadow rules report what they would do without changing the decision or stopping other rules.
9. Expensive facts such as channel-key matching, decryption, and path-table lookup are resolved once per packet and reused by every matching rule.

The byte-budget display is deliberately approximate until the packed firmware codec exists. It demonstrates why simple mappings should not reserve a maximum- sized structure for every possible condition and action.