Kpa-clawbot c7ab5f3eb9 fix(#1366): channels view shows latest message time — backend emits LatestSeen, not FirstSeen (#1368)
Red commit: 702d82eb5e (CI: see Actions
tab for fix/issue-1366)

## What
Channel view emits the max observation timestamp (`tx.LatestSeen`)
instead of the analyzer's first-observation time (`tx.FirstSeen`) as the
rendered `timestamp` field. A new `first_seen` field is exposed
alongside for debug surfaces. `sender_timestamp` continues to be
returned in the JSON response but is intentionally NOT used as the
rendered time (client clocks are unreliable).

## Root cause

Two parallel call sites both emitted the wrong field:

- `cmd/server/store.go` — `GetChannelMessages` (~line 4807): set
`entry.Data["timestamp"] = strOrNil(tx.FirstSeen)` for every new dedup
entry. `tx.FirstSeen` is the analyzer's first-ever observation time of a
`transmissions.hash` row; for heartbeat-style packets (e.g. `BlorkoBot
🤖` posting the same status line periodically), the hash is stable, so
FirstSeen stays pinned at the very first observation while the message
keeps retransmitting hours later. Operator sees "old" message timestamps
for live messages.
- `cmd/server/db.go` — `GetChannelMessages` (~line 1757): same problem
against the SQLite-backed query path. Used `nullStr(fs)` (where `fs` is
`t.first_seen`) for the `timestamp` field.

### Repro from staging
Same packet, same hash `aba4f0493249de57`, sender `BlorkoBot 🤖`:
- `/api/channels/%23test/messages` → `timestamp: "2026-05-25T15:53:20Z"`
(FirstSeen, 7h+ in the past)
- `/api/packets?hash=aba4f0493249de57` → `first_seen:
"2026-05-25T22:53:19Z"` (latest obs), `observation_count: 84`

The packets view used max-obs correctly; the channels view did not. 7h
gap matches operator screenshot.

## TDD red → green

Red: `cmd/server/channels_message_order_1366_test.go` — three tests:
- `TestChannelMessages_TimestampUsesLatestSeen`: seeds a CHAN tx with
observations 7h apart, asserts returned `timestamp` ≈ latest observation
epoch (±1s). Fails under FirstSeen with Δ=−25200s.
- `TestChannelMessages_TimestampNotSenderTimestamp`: seeds a CHAN tx
whose decoded `sender_timestamp` is year-2000 (bad RTC). Asserts the
rendered `timestamp` parses to current year — guards against the
tempting "just use sender_timestamp" alt-fix that would let bad client
clocks corrupt the view.
- `TestChannelMessages_TimestampIsUTCZ`: asserts the emitted string is
unambiguously UTC (suffix `Z` or `+00:00`) so browsers don't apply a
local-zone shift.

Green commit changes:
- `store.go`: emit `tx.LatestSeen` (with FirstSeen fallback if no obs);
add `first_seen` field.
- `db.go`: join `o.timestamp` per-observation, track max epoch per tx,
emit RFC3339 UTC at the end; add `first_seen` field.

`sender_timestamp` remains in the response — unchanged shape, frontend
never read it for the rendered time (verified: only `msg.timestamp` is
consumed in `public/channels.js:1902`).

## Manual verification (post-merge)

1. Deploy to staging.
2. Curl `/api/channels/%23test/messages?limit=5` and
`/api/packets?hash=<recent>`. The channel `timestamp` field MUST equal
the packets `first_seen` (max obs) for the same hash, NOT lag it.
3. Send a fresh GRP_TXT via a MeshCore client into a watched channel.
Within 15s, refresh the Channels view at `/channels`. The new message
MUST render at the bottom with the correct (current) time.

## Why not `sender_timestamp`?

It's a per-client field, decoded from the payload. Many MeshCore
firmware builds run without RTC/NTP/GPS and report bogus values.
Trusting it for display would propagate bad client clocks into the
analyzer UI — the analyzer is the source of truth for UTC, not the
client.

Fixes #1366

---------

Co-authored-by: CoreScope Bot <bot@corescope>
Co-authored-by: bot <bot@kpa-clawbot.dev>
Co-authored-by: openclaw-bot <bot@openclaw.local>
2026-05-25 17:45:32 -07:00

CoreScope

Go Server Coverage Go Ingestor Coverage E2E Tests Frontend Coverage Deploy

High-performance mesh network analyzer powered by Go. Sub-millisecond packet queries, ~300 MB memory for 56K+ packets, real-time WebSocket broadcast, full channel decryption.

Self-hosted, open-source MeshCore packet analyzer. Collects MeshCore packets via MQTT, decodes them in real time, and presents a full web UI with live packet feed, interactive maps, channel chat, packet tracing, and per-node analytics.

Performance

The Go backend serves all 40+ API endpoints from an in-memory packet store with 5 indexes (hash, txID, obsID, observer, node). SQLite is for persistence only — reads never touch disk.

Metric Value
Packet queries < 1 ms (in-memory)
All API endpoints < 100 ms
Memory (56K packets) ~300 MB (vs 1.3 GB on Node.js)
WebSocket broadcast Real-time to all connected browsers
Channel decryption AES-128-ECB with rainbow table

See PERFORMANCE.md for full benchmarks.

Features

📡 Live Trace Map

Real-time animated map with packet route visualization, VCR-style playback controls, and a retro LCD clock. Replay the last 24 hours of mesh activity, scrub through the timeline, or watch packets flow live at up to 4× speed.

Live VCR playback — watch packets flow across the Bay Area mesh

📦 Packet Feed

Filterable real-time packet stream with byte-level breakdown, Excel-like resizable columns, and a detail pane. Toggle "My Nodes" to focus on your mesh.

Packets view

🗺️ Network Overview

At-a-glance mesh stats — node counts, packet volume, observer coverage.

Network overview

📊 Node Analytics

Per-node deep dive with interactive charts: activity timeline, packet type breakdown, SNR distribution, hop count analysis, peer network graph, and hourly heatmap.

Node analytics

💬 Channel Chat

Decoded group messages with sender names, @mentions, timestamps — like reading a Discord channel for your mesh.

Channels

📱 Mobile Ready

Full experience on your phone — proper touch controls, iOS safe area support, and a compact VCR bar.

Live view on iOS

And More

  • 11 Analytics Tabs — RF, topology, channels, hash stats, distance, route patterns, and more
  • Node Directory — searchable list with role tabs, detail panel, QR codes, advert timeline
  • Packet Tracing — follow individual packets across observers with SNR/RSSI timeline
  • Observer Status — health monitoring, packet counts, uptime, per-observer analytics
  • Hash Collision Matrix — detect address collisions across the mesh
  • Channel Key Auto-Derivation — hashtag channels (#channel) keys derived via SHA256
  • Multi-Broker MQTT — connect to multiple brokers with per-source IATA filtering
  • Dark / Light Mode — auto-detects system preference, map tiles swap too
  • Theme Customizer — design your theme in-browser, export as theme.json
  • Global Search — search packets, nodes, and channels (Ctrl+K)
  • Shareable URLs — deep links to packets, channels, and observer detail pages
  • Protobuf API Contract — typed API definitions in proto/
  • Accessible — ARIA patterns, keyboard navigation, screen reader support

Quick Start

No build step required — just run:

docker run -d --name corescope \
  --restart=unless-stopped \
  -p 80:80 -p 1883:1883 \
  -v /your/data:/app/data \
  ghcr.io/kpa-clawbot/corescope:latest

Open http://localhost — done. No config file needed; CoreScope starts with sensible defaults.

For HTTPS with a custom domain, add -p 443:443 and mount your Caddyfile:

docker run -d --name corescope \
  --restart=unless-stopped \
  -p 80:80 -p 443:443 -p 1883:1883 \
  -v /your/data:/app/data \
  -v /your/Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile:ro \
  -v /your/caddy-data:/data/caddy \
  ghcr.io/kpa-clawbot/corescope:latest

Disable built-in services with -e DISABLE_MOSQUITTO=true or -e DISABLE_CADDY=true, or drop a .env file in your data volume. See docs/deployment.md for the full reference.

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/Kpa-clawbot/CoreScope.git
cd CoreScope
./manage.sh setup

The setup wizard walks you through config, domain, HTTPS, build, and run.

./manage.sh status       # Health check + packet/node counts
./manage.sh logs         # Follow logs
./manage.sh backup       # Backup database
./manage.sh update       # Pull latest + rebuild + restart
./manage.sh mqtt-test    # Check if observer data is flowing
./manage.sh help         # All commands

Configure

Copy config.example.json to config.json and edit:

{
  "port": 3000,
  "mqtt": {
    "broker": "mqtt://localhost:1883",
    "topic": "meshcore/+/+/packets"
  },
  "mqttSources": [
    {
      "name": "remote-feed",
      "broker": "mqtts://remote-broker:8883",
      "topics": ["meshcore/+/+/packets"],
      "username": "user",
      "password": "pass",
      "iataFilter": ["SJC", "SFO", "OAK"]
    }
  ],
  "channelKeys": {
    "public": "8b3387e9c5cdea6ac9e5edbaa115cd72"
  },
  "defaultRegion": "SJC"
}
Field Description
port HTTP server port (default: 3000)
mqtt.broker Local MQTT broker URL ("" to disable)
mqttSources External MQTT broker connections (optional)
channelKeys Channel decryption keys (hex). Hashtag channels auto-derived via SHA256
defaultRegion Default IATA region code for the UI
dbPath SQLite database path (default: data/meshcore.db)

Environment Variables

Variable Description
PORT Override config port
DB_PATH Override SQLite database path

Architecture

                           ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
                           │              Docker Container               │
                           │                                             │
Observer → USB →           │  Mosquitto ──→ Go Ingestor ──→ SQLite DB   │
  meshcoretomqtt → MQTT ──→│                    │                        │
                           │              Go HTTP Server ──→ WebSocket   │
                           │                    │               │        │
                           │              Caddy (HTTPS) ←───────┘        │
                           └────────────────────┼────────────────────────┘
                                                │
                                             Browser

Two-process model: The Go ingestor handles MQTT ingestion and packet decoding. The Go HTTP server loads all packets into an in-memory store on startup (5 indexes for fast lookups) and serves the REST API + WebSocket broadcast. Both are managed by supervisord inside a single container with Caddy for HTTPS and Mosquitto for local MQTT.

MQTT Setup

  1. Flash an observer node with MESH_PACKET_LOGGING=1 build flag
  2. Connect via USB to a host running meshcoretomqtt
  3. Configure meshcoretomqtt with your IATA region code and MQTT broker address
  4. Packets appear on topic meshcore/{IATA}/{PUBKEY}/packets

Or POST raw hex packets to POST /api/packets for manual injection.

Project Structure

corescope/
├── cmd/
│   ├── server/              # Go HTTP server + WebSocket + REST API
│   │   ├── main.go          # Entry point
│   │   ├── routes.go        # 40+ API endpoint handlers
│   │   ├── store.go         # In-memory packet store (5 indexes)
│   │   ├── db.go            # SQLite persistence layer
│   │   ├── decoder.go       # MeshCore packet decoder
│   │   ├── websocket.go     # WebSocket broadcast
│   │   └── *_test.go        # 327 test functions
│   └── ingestor/            # Go MQTT ingestor
│       ├── main.go          # MQTT subscription + packet processing
│       ├── decoder.go       # Packet decoder (shared logic)
│       ├── db.go            # SQLite write path
│       └── *_test.go        # 53 test functions
├── proto/                   # Protobuf API definitions
├── public/                  # Vanilla JS frontend (no build step)
│   ├── index.html           # SPA shell
│   ├── app.js               # Router, WebSocket, utilities
│   ├── packets.js           # Packet feed + hex breakdown
│   ├── map.js               # Leaflet map + route visualization
│   ├── live.js              # Live trace + VCR playback
│   ├── channels.js          # Channel chat
│   ├── nodes.js             # Node directory + detail views
│   ├── analytics.js         # 11-tab analytics dashboard
│   └── style.css            # CSS variable theming (light/dark)
├── docker/
│   ├── supervisord-go.conf  # Process manager (server + ingestor)
│   ├── mosquitto.conf       # MQTT broker config
│   ├── Caddyfile            # Reverse proxy + HTTPS
│   └── entrypoint-go.sh     # Container entrypoint
├── Dockerfile               # Multi-stage Go build + Alpine runtime
├── config.example.json      # Example configuration
├── test-*.js                # Node.js test suite (frontend + legacy)
└── tools/                   # Generators, E2E tests, utilities

For Developers

Test Suite

380 Go tests covering the backend, plus 150+ Node.js tests for the frontend and legacy logic, plus 49 Playwright E2E tests for browser validation.

# Go backend tests
cd cmd/server && go test ./... -v
cd cmd/ingestor && go test ./... -v

# Node.js frontend + integration tests
npm test

# Playwright E2E (requires running server on localhost:3000)
node test-e2e-playwright.js

Generate Test Data

node tools/generate-packets.js --api --count 200

Migrating from Node.js

If you're running an existing Node.js deployment, see docs/go-migration.md for a step-by-step guide. The Go engine reads the same SQLite database and config.json — no data migration needed.

Contributing

Contributions welcome. Please read AGENTS.md for coding conventions, testing requirements, and engineering principles before submitting a PR.

Live instance: analyzer.00id.net — all API endpoints are public, no auth required.

API Documentation: CoreScope auto-generates an OpenAPI 3.0 spec. Browse the interactive Swagger UI at /api/docs or fetch the machine-readable spec at /api/spec.

License

MIT

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