Remote-Terminal-for-MeshCore/frontend/AGENTS.md

Frontend AGENTS.md

This document is the frontend working guide for agents and developers. Keep it aligned with frontend/src source code.

Stack

• React 18 + TypeScript
• Vite
• Vitest + Testing Library
• shadcn/ui primitives
• Tailwind utility classes + local CSS (index.css, styles.css)
• Sonner (toasts)
• Leaflet / react-leaflet (map)
• meshcore-hashtag-cracker + nosleep.js (channel cracker)

Frontend Map

frontend/src/
├── App.tsx                 # App shell and orchestration
├── api.ts                  # Typed REST client
├── types.ts                # Shared TS contracts
├── useWebSocket.ts         # WS lifecycle + event dispatch
├── messageCache.ts         # Conversation-scoped cache
├── index.css               # Global styles/utilities
├── styles.css              # Additional global app styles
├── hooks/
│   ├── useConversationMessages.ts
│   ├── useUnreadCounts.ts
│   ├── useRepeaterMode.ts
│   └── useAirtimeTracking.ts
├── utils/
│   ├── urlHash.ts
│   ├── conversationState.ts
│   ├── favorites.ts
│   ├── messageParser.ts
│   ├── pathUtils.ts
│   ├── pubkey.ts
│   └── contactAvatar.ts
├── components/
│   ├── StatusBar.tsx
│   ├── Sidebar.tsx
│   ├── MessageList.tsx
│   ├── MessageInput.tsx
│   ├── NewMessageModal.tsx
│   ├── SettingsModal.tsx
│   ├── RawPacketList.tsx
│   ├── MapView.tsx
│   ├── VisualizerView.tsx
│   ├── PacketVisualizer.tsx
│   ├── PathModal.tsx
│   ├── CrackerPanel.tsx
│   ├── BotCodeEditor.tsx
│   ├── ContactAvatar.tsx
│   └── ui/
└── test/
    ├── api.test.ts
    ├── appFavorites.test.tsx
    ├── appStartupHash.test.tsx
    ├── contactAvatar.test.ts
    ├── integration.test.ts
    ├── messageCache.test.ts
    ├── messageParser.test.ts
    ├── pathUtils.test.ts
    ├── radioPresets.test.ts
    ├── repeaterMode.test.ts
    ├── settingsModal.test.tsx
    ├── unreadCounts.test.ts
    ├── urlHash.test.ts
    ├── useConversationMessages.test.ts
    ├── useRepeaterMode.test.ts
    ├── useWebSocket.lifecycle.test.ts
    ├── websocket.test.ts
    └── setup.ts

Architecture Notes

State ownership

App.tsx orchestrates high-level state (health, config, contacts/channels, active conversation, UI flags). Specialized logic is delegated to hooks:

• useConversationMessages: fetch, pagination, dedup/update helpers
• useUnreadCounts: unread counters, mention tracking, recent-sort timestamps
• useRepeaterMode: repeater login/command workflow

Initial load + realtime

• Initial data: REST fetches (api.ts) for config/settings/channels/contacts/unreads.
• WebSocket: realtime deltas/events.
• On WS connect, backend sends health only; contacts/channels still come from REST.

Message behavior

• Outgoing sends are optimistic in UI and persisted server-side.
• Backend also emits WS message for outgoing sends so other clients stay in sync.
• ACK/repeat updates arrive as message_acked events.

WebSocket (useWebSocket.ts)

• Auto reconnect (3s) with cleanup guard on unmount.
• Heartbeat ping every 30s.
• Event handlers: health, contacts, channels, message, contact, raw_packet, message_acked, error, success.

URL Hash Navigation (utils/urlHash.ts)

Supported routes:

• #raw
• #map
• #map/focus/{pubkey_or_prefix}
• #visualizer
• #channel/{channelKey}
• #channel/{channelKey}/{label}
• #contact/{publicKey}
• #contact/{publicKey}/{label}

Legacy name-based hashes are still accepted for compatibility.

Conversation State Keys (utils/conversationState.ts)

getStateKey(type, id) produces:

• channels: channel-{channelKey}
• contacts: contact-{publicKey}

Use full contact public key here (not 12-char prefix).

conversationState.ts keeps an in-memory cache and localStorage helpers used for migration/compatibility. Canonical persistence for unread and sort metadata is server-side (app_settings + read-state endpoints).

Utilities

utils/pubkey.ts

Current public export:

• getContactDisplayName(name, pubkey)

It falls back to a 12-char prefix when name is missing.

utils/pathUtils.ts

Distance/validation helpers used by path + map UI.

utils/favorites.ts

LocalStorage migration helpers for favorites; canonical favorites are server-side.

Types and Contracts (types.ts)

AppSettings currently includes:

• max_radio_contacts
• experimental_channel_double_send
• favorites
• auto_decrypt_dm_on_advert
• sidebar_sort_order
• last_message_times
• preferences_migrated
• advert_interval
• bots

Backend also tracks last_advert_time in settings responses.

Repeater Mode

For repeater contacts (type=2):

1. Telemetry/login phase (POST /api/contacts/{key}/telemetry)
2. Command phase (POST /api/contacts/{key}/command)

CLI responses are rendered as local-only messages (not persisted to DB).

Styling

UI styling is mostly utility-class driven (Tailwind-style classes in JSX) plus shared globals in index.css and styles.css. Do not rely on old class-only layout assumptions.

Security Posture (intentional)

• No authentication UI.
• Frontend assumes trusted network usage.
• Bot editor intentionally allows arbitrary backend bot code configuration.

Testing

cd frontend
npm run test:run
npm run build

When touching cross-layer contracts, also run backend tests from repo root:

PYTHONPATH=. uv run pytest tests/ -v

Editing Checklist

1. If API/WS payloads change, update types.ts, handlers, and tests.
2. If URL/hash behavior changes, update utils/urlHash.ts tests.
3. If read/unread semantics change, update useUnreadCounts tests.
4. Keep this file concise; prefer source links over speculative detail.