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trail-mate/docs/engineering/linux-meshcore-nodeinfo.md
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Trail Mate Dev 6e613e382e Add CM0 Linux support and share device services across platforms
Compose the CM0 fullscreen application and standard Debian package, align the
Cardputer Zero shell, and share protocol, configuration, audio and storage
services with embedded targets through existing platform seams.

Add the paginated on-device TMAP creator using Center's published producer,
private workspace recovery and direct keyboard shortcuts. Preserve unfinished
management work behind its existing opt-in capability.

Include native, ARM and shared-core regression fixtures, integration records,
packaging helpers and dependency/license updates. Keep local build trees,
device credentials, produced packages and validation logs outside version control.

Validation before integration: ESP stack hygiene, Reticulum scope guard, staged
whitespace checks and GitNexus scope audit. Prior device/build evidence and
remaining hardware/package boundaries are recorded in the acceptance documents.
2026-10-29 10:29:29 +08:00

3.4 KiB

Linux MeshCore node information

The Linux mesh adapter uses the production NodeInfo control codec and MeshCoreRuntime::handleIncomingNodeInfoControl for query replies and node projection. This is separate from native signed MeshCore advertisements. Broadcast reannouncement retains its signed advertisement so public-key discovery continues to work. Directed query and information sends use the existing encrypted private carrier; broadcast queries use the configured group channel. Replies reuse the shared runtime's peer/channel selection.

NodeInfo controls terminate in the protocol engine and never enter the ordinary application-data inbox. Existing signature de-duplication suppresses repeated requests. Private information is bound to its authenticated sender: a claimed node ID for another peer cannot update that peer. Information controls do not grant or revoke public-key trust. MQTT input retains network provenance and does not authorize RF or produce measured RSSI/SNR facts.

Fixed control padding

The legacy GD/direct application envelopes have no arbitrary payload-length field. Their ordinary trailing-zero rule cannot safely represent all binary payloads. NodeInfo is an existing fixed-size exception: its query flag and fixed-width names legitimately end in zero bytes. Shared helpers retain the defined control size and reject nonzero bytes after that size. The direct path retains its existing fixed-size key-verification and PATH/ACK exceptions. Other application payloads are unchanged; Linux still rejects ambiguous zero-ended arbitrary sends. No new wire format or protocol version is added.

Linux group and direct codecs use this rule. The ESP group-data ingress uses the same helper; its direct ingress already calls the shared peer-padding helper. The correction adds no ESP frame buffers or protocol objects to its task stack.

Verification

The native NodeInfo fixture passed V1/V2 group encoding, exact zero-tail recovery, padding rejection, encrypted directed query/reply, broadcast query, duplicate suppression, private identity binding, key-state preservation and TX-disable admission. The wire codecs and padding helper are instrumented with ASan/UBSan. Existing group, direct, repeater-adapter and MQTT application regressions passed in the same targeted gate (5/5).

The actual MQTT application fixture additionally requests full node information after signed-key discovery and checks distinct short/long names, network provenance, absence of RF measurements, preservation of discovered keys and reopening the persisted name. Target and package evidence is recorded in the CM0 integration ledger.

Those application assertions passed over both the independent wire relay and Mosquitto 2.0.18 on the host. Four ARM groups passed on the actual CM0: NodeInfo, group, direct and the application MQTT pair. Both Cardputer Zero runtime targets rebuilt, with 19/19 compact tests passing. A previously validated armhf deb containing these changes has SHA-256 8ea6b4213c1359338fac1c53f75b77ffad5cfcf7295f143d0c6b4c05018baf53. Lintian, installation, dpkg -V, original-logo validation and isolated installed startup/timed exit passed. ESP source uses the shared helper, but no additional ESP firmware build or physical peer-device RF test was performed in this pass. See the CM0 acceptance audit for the current artifact.