Piik/docs/reference/engineering.md

Engineering And Interface Boundaries

This is the shared engineering convention for Browser, App and Server work. AGENTS.md owns task authority and hard product constraints; CONTRIBUTING.md owns the delivery workflow. The required ponytail guidance selects the smallest correct implementation. This file owns module responsibilities and interface discipline, not a second copy of the product contracts or wire fields.

Repository Layout

Keep conventional project entry points and tool-discovered configuration at the root. Scope-specific configuration belongs with its owner: src/tsconfig.json checks the Browser, scripts/tsconfig.json checks tooling/tests, and root tsconfig.json only connects those projects.

Location	What belongs here
Root README, contribution and agent files	Project introduction and shared working constraints; detailed documents live in docs/
Root manifests, lockfiles, Vite/Vitest config, index.html	Go/npm entry points and Browser build/test startup; root LICENSE is authoritative
src/client, src/shared	Browser UI/media orchestration and its shared wire types; the same UI serves Hosted and App modes
public/	Static assets shipped with that Browser application
cmd/, internal/	Go executable composition and private application, server, media and diagnostics packages
internal/thirdparty/	Scoped Go dependency repairs with pinned upstream provenance, licenses and tests; removal criteria live beside the source
native/capture, native/fixtures, native/probes	Platform capture implementations, synthetic workloads and standalone capability probes
site/	Independently published static introduction; its assets do not implement product behavior
scripts/	Development checks, browser/media gates, dependency assembly and release packaging/publishing tools
tests/	TypeScript/tooling tests and cross-language fixtures; Go tests stay beside their packages
deploy/	Operator scripts and container, proxy, service and certificate templates
docs/	User guides, contracts, decisions and operations; documentation ownership defines each owner
licenses/	Third-party license texts, pinned notice sources and their redistribution reference
.github/, .githooks/, .agents/, .codex/	Platform automation and scoped agent/tool integration
build/, node_modules/, coverage/	Ignored local output and dependencies; never current product truth

site/ introduces Piik; src/client/ is Piik's interactive application. internal/app/nativecapture adapts the capture contract in Go; native/capture/ implements it using platform APIs. scripts/ prepares and verifies artifacts; deploy/ operates them. Move files with their actual consumers, and update paths and checks together; a smaller root alone does not justify another abstraction.

Module Map

Owner	Responsibility and dependency boundary
cmd/piik-server, cmd/piik-app	Thin entry points: defaults, startup and shutdown; compose the same Go room service
internal/server/app	HTTP, site access, runtime capabilities, static assets and listener lifecycle; room mutations go through signal
internal/server/signal	Authenticated command/effect owner; serializes room, session and route mutations and executes controller decisions
internal/server/room	Room authority, credentials and persistence; caller holds the signaling lock, durable writes precede in-memory changes
internal/server/route	Synchronous room graph and single-operation decisions; returns resource effects to signal, owns no locks or timers, and calls its optional diagnostic sink synchronously
internal/server/sfu, internal/app/mediaedge	Server forwarding and native peer adapters over the shared internal/media/forwarding; Pion/LiveKit own transport and adaptation
internal/app	Local/public-link/Site composition, loopback service, native sessions and App lifecycle; never a second room backend
internal/app/nativecapture, native/capture/*	App-side capture contract and minimal platform adapters; platform-specific capture/encoding stays here
src/client/pages, lib, media, native	Browser orchestration and endpoint adapters; bind current media and retire owned resources
src/client/media/viewer-presentation.ts, ui/media-status.ts	Playback facts and their derived status projection; UI indicators do not create recovery or quality policy
src/client/components, locales, ui	Shared interaction, visual primitives and localized copy; same product interface for Server and App
internal/server/webassets	One built Browser bundle embedded by both binaries; Node/Vite are development tooling

Names follow naming. Architecture decisions explain why these boundaries exist: shared core, embedded media and Browser pooling. Directory names are a map, not a requirement to introduce another layer.

Contract Map

Boundary	Schema/validation owners
Room HTTP and Browser/Server signaling	src/shared/protocol.ts and internal/server/protocol; HTTP dispatch in internal/server/app, WS dispatch in signal
Site access HTTP	src/client/lib/api.ts and internal/server/app/json.go; cookies and access behavior belong to rooms/access
Browser/App discovery and control	src/client/native/wire.ts, internal/app/loopback/protocol.go, internal/app/nativecontrol/wire.go
App/capture sidecar	internal/app/nativecapture and each platform capture adapter; probe/commands and encoded-frame envelope are distinct formats
Configuration and persistence	internal/server/config, internal/app/config, internal/server/room/database.go; operator semantics in configuration
Release and update metadata	Existing packaging scripts, src/client/lib/release-update.ts, cmd/piik-server/release.go; identity/compatibility in versioning, operations in deployment

The shared tests/fixtures/wire-samples.json is consumed by TypeScript and Go fixture tests. It covers room requests and signaling; it is not a universal schema for all HTTP, Native or capture traffic. Change the actual two ends and the relevant existing fixture/check together. Do not create another handwritten field list in documentation, parallel DTO hierarchy or schema generator without a demonstrated reduction in ownership or drift.

Runtime Lifecycles

Read each runtime as acquisition, the authoritative commit that makes its work visible, and the retirement that ends it. Revalidate the acquiring identity after every await or callback; presentation derives from the committed fact instead of mirroring it.

Runtime	Acquire	Commit	Retire
Browser Host share	pages/HostPage.tsx captures one source and creates its peers and route	current generation plus the owning identity: local-offer epoch, publisher slot revision, source-switch and quality-change tokens	disposeResources stops owned tracks, disposes peers and sends stop-sharing; a replaced source retires through retiringStreamRef
Browser Viewer route	pages/ViewerPage.tsx binds one parent peer (Browser or Native) and its relay children	parent, connection and message identity, then playback facts	a new viewer generation retires the old binding; relay children follow activateChildren revisions
Browser relay fanout	webrtc/viewer-relay.ts prepares a child before it is needed	activateChildren(revision, childPeerIds) commits the prepared set	replaced or emptied sets disconnect the child peers they own
Browser local encoding pool	webrtc/host-peer.ts attaches a pool carrier when capture and APIs support it (ADR-0014)	the carrier binding owns its pooled producer while attached	source change or disposal releases the carrier; unsupported APIs keep ordinary senders
App native session	the loopback service admits native control sessions and the Web UI selects the native path	session identity plus the explicit media-path choice	session end, share end or process exit retires that edge and its capture sidecar
Server room authority	signal authenticates one Host or Viewer command	room writes durably before the in-memory commit; the signaling lock serializes mutations	explicit replacement or deletion, grant rotation or revocation, or process exit for memory-mode rooms
Server route and SFU	signal feeds route one serial child operation; sfu/admission.go accepts one bounded publication	one committed graph per controller and the forwarding publication	superseded assignments retire inside the same operation; deactivate retires the publication

Source Index

Start a change at the owning entry point, then follow the interfaces listed above rather than searching the tree.

Change	Start at
Host workflow, share lifecycle, notices	src/client/pages/HostPage.tsx, src/client/pages/host-page-notices.ts
Viewer workflow, playback, status projection	src/client/pages/ViewerPage.tsx, src/client/media/viewer-presentation.ts, src/client/ui/media-status.ts
Browser peer and route mechanics	src/client/webrtc/host-peer.ts, viewer-peer.ts, viewer-relay.ts, src/client/media/host-sfu-route.ts, viewer-sfu-route.ts, route-transition.ts
Capture, profiles and sender parameters	src/client/media/quality.ts, src/client/media/browser-encoding-pool.ts, browser-encoding-output.ts
SFU endpoints	src/client/sfu/publisher.ts, subscriber.ts, peer.ts, internal/server/sfu
Localized copy and failure facts	src/client/locales, src/client/ui/copy.ts, src/client/ui/media-failure.ts
Native bridge, capture and media edges	src/client/native, internal/app/loopback, internal/app/nativecontrol, nativehost, nativeviewer, nativecapture
Room authority, persistence and graph	internal/server/signal, internal/server/room, internal/server/route
Shared wire contract	src/shared/protocol.ts, internal/server/protocol, tests/fixtures/wire-samples.json
Diagnostics and logging	src/client/lib/debug.ts, internal/diagnostics, configuration
Configuration and deployment	internal/server/config, internal/app/config, configuration, deployment

Implementation Rules

• Reuse a current owner, standard API or mature dependency before adding a mechanism. Extract around a responsibility shared by real callers; file size alone does not justify wrappers, a generic manager or a framework. Remove superseded paths in the same change; retain no unused legacy copy. Keep test-only state seeding and setup in test harnesses. Do not export mutable resources solely for tests; preserve the production construction path when verifying defaults or restoration.
• Review dependency direction for source/type imports as well as runtime imports. Shared types belong to a common owner. A type-only cycle is an ownership concern; it does not by itself establish a runtime or performance defect.
• State has one writer and a clear lifetime. Separate permission, capability, connection readiness, requested settings, applied settings and observation. Derive presentation from facts; do not synchronize parallel booleans or let a cached failure outlive its evidence. Cumulative observations need a valid baseline for the resource generation they describe; missing measurements are not zero. Serialized recovery reads current committed intent when it executes rather than replaying a queued snapshot.
• The operation that acquires a connection, clone, listener or queue owns its retirement. After an await/callback, and inside cleanup, validate the original operation/resource identity before changing current state. Cancellation, failure, missing observation and success must retain distinct meanings. A caller deadline does not cancel a dependency that ignores it. Keep late work bounded and serialize its cleanup; verify the dependency's actual lifetime.
• Keep decisions separate from effects. Respect documented lock ordering and revalidate after unlocked work. Local native capability never grants room authority; the shared Go service remains authoritative. Injected callbacks still execute in their caller's context; include their blocking I/O in the caller's lock and latency analysis.
• Validate input at the boundary, keep domain error meanings stable, and map them into shared localized UI. Versioning determines which extensions are compatible; an optional field is not automatically compatible. Retained media state carries failure facts; the presentation layer resolves localized copy during render. Keep raw exceptions in diagnostics. Transient event notices may resolve once when the event occurs. Values with a defined canonical form, such as HTTP origins, use one shared normalizer before storage and comparison. Verify the actual producer and consumer together instead of weakening an authorization comparison.
• Deployment configuration describes available services; room preferences request allowed behavior. The server enforces the policy even when a client requests more. The UI retains the same controls and explains locked choices. See configuration; avoid a second flag with the same job.
• Browser/App/Server share visual language and status projection. A new page, locale or deployment does not invent a new palette, status model or user-role metaphor.
• Keep package comments about current responsibilities and invariants. Historical migration paths belong in ADR/research unless they explain a surviving constraint. Support Windows, macOS and Linux; new text files use LF and new filenames use ASCII, with format exceptions in .gitattributes. Scripts use stable executable paths; physical confidence stays explicit in verification status.
• Retained tools declare their direct package dependencies. Documented TypeScript tools join the normal type-check entry point; a transitive dependency or a one-off manual check is not an owned toolchain contract. Shipped templates use reserved example values. Checks provision isolated resources or require explicit targets; they must not depend on a maintainer's workstation, private deployment or machine-specific infrastructure names.

Ablation And Review

Judge a change by verified user value against implementation, maintenance, compatibility, runtime and failure cost. After a material module, remove any new state, dependency, branch or abstraction that the accepted behavior does not need. A small performance gain does not justify permanent complexity; do not reduce viewing quality or requested functionality merely to save lines.

A concrete reduction in duplicated writers, cross-module dependencies or repeated edit sites can justify structural refactoring without a reproduced runtime failure. Name that gain and its regression risk. A completed audit is bounded evidence, not a claim that every current module boundary is optimal.

Before changing production recovery or state, trace the real request producers and their guards. A test that bypasses disabled controls or writes private state does not alone establish a reachable product defect. Reference scans, including hits from tests and previews, are leads rather than proof of product use or absence. Follow the actual producer-to-consumer path and check the changed boundary; isolated helper tests can miss a mismatch between the two ends.

Trace acquisition, use, commit and retirement, including replacement and failure. For async ownership, check A starting, B replacing it, then A completing or cleaning up. Where compatibility is promised or being established for public release, check actual old/new readers as well as the happy path. Ordinary private changes do not require support for stale private clients. Run proportionate checks through the standard entry points. This discipline does not authorize an unrelated repository rewrite or a new test suite for every helper.