Document the V3 transport architecture and remaining roadmap

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

bitchat/Services/BLE/BLELocalIdentityStateStore.swift

@@ -5,6 +5,20 @@ struct BLELocalIdentitySnapshot: Equatable, Sendable {
     let peerID: PeerID
     let peerIDData: Data
     let nickname: String
+    /// Runtime-toggled capability bits (e.g. the internet-gateway toggle)
+    /// ORed into `PeerCapabilities.localSupported` for every announce.
+    let runtimeCapabilities: PeerCapabilities
+    /// Rendezvous cell advertised while bridging; rides announces only
+    /// while the `.bridge` capability is enabled.
+    let bridgeGeohash: String?
+
+    var advertisedCapabilities: PeerCapabilities {
+        PeerCapabilities.localSupported.union(runtimeCapabilities)
+    }
+
+    var advertisedBridgeGeohash: String? {
+        runtimeCapabilities.contains(.bridge) ? bridgeGeohash : nil
+    }
 }
 
 /// Lock-backed local identity state shared by the transport's message,
@@ -12,8 +26,8 @@ struct BLELocalIdentitySnapshot: Equatable, Sendable {
 ///
 /// `peerID` and its binary wire representation must change as one unit during
 /// panic rotation. A snapshot also gives announce construction one consistent
-/// view of the nickname and identity instead of reading three independently
+/// view of the nickname, identity, and advertised capabilities instead of
-/// mutable properties across queues.
+/// reading independently mutable properties across queues.
 final class BLELocalIdentityStateStore: @unchecked Sendable {
     private let lock = NSLock()
     private var state: BLELocalIdentitySnapshot
@@ -25,7 +39,9 @@ final class BLELocalIdentityStateStore: @unchecked Sendable {
         state = BLELocalIdentitySnapshot(
             peerID: peerID,
             peerIDData: Data(hexString: peerID.id) ?? Data(),
-            nickname: nickname
+            nickname: nickname,
+            runtimeCapabilities: [],
+            bridgeGeohash: nil
         )
     }
 
@@ -38,7 +54,9 @@ final class BLELocalIdentityStateStore: @unchecked Sendable {
             state = BLELocalIdentitySnapshot(
                 peerID: state.peerID,
                 peerIDData: state.peerIDData,
-                nickname: nickname
+                nickname: nickname,
+                runtimeCapabilities: state.runtimeCapabilities,
+                bridgeGeohash: state.bridgeGeohash
             )
         }
     }
@@ -48,8 +66,48 @@ final class BLELocalIdentityStateStore: @unchecked Sendable {
             state = BLELocalIdentitySnapshot(
                 peerID: peerID,
                 peerIDData: Data(hexString: peerID.id) ?? Data(),
-                nickname: state.nickname
+                nickname: state.nickname,
+                runtimeCapabilities: state.runtimeCapabilities,
+                bridgeGeohash: state.bridgeGeohash
             )
         }
     }
+
+    /// Flips a runtime capability bit. Returns whether anything changed.
+    @discardableResult
+    func setCapability(_ capability: PeerCapabilities, enabled: Bool) -> Bool {
+        lock.withLock {
+            var capabilities = state.runtimeCapabilities
+            if enabled {
+                capabilities.insert(capability)
+            } else {
+                capabilities.remove(capability)
+            }
+            guard capabilities != state.runtimeCapabilities else { return false }
+            state = BLELocalIdentitySnapshot(
+                peerID: state.peerID,
+                peerIDData: state.peerIDData,
+                nickname: state.nickname,
+                runtimeCapabilities: capabilities,
+                bridgeGeohash: state.bridgeGeohash
+            )
+            return true
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Sets the bridged rendezvous cell. Returns whether anything changed.
+    @discardableResult
+    func setBridgeGeohash(_ cell: String?) -> Bool {
+        lock.withLock {
+            guard cell != state.bridgeGeohash else { return false }
+            state = BLELocalIdentitySnapshot(
+                peerID: state.peerID,
+                peerIDData: state.peerIDData,
+                nickname: state.nickname,
+                runtimeCapabilities: state.runtimeCapabilities,
+                bridgeGeohash: cell
+            )
+            return true
+        }
+    }
 }

bitchat/Services/BLE/BLEMeshPingTracker.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+import BitFoundation
+import Foundation
+
+struct BLEMeshPingProbe {
+    let peerID: PeerID
+    let sentAt: Date
+    let lifecycleGeneration: UInt64
+    let completion: @MainActor (MeshPingResult?) -> Void
+    let timeout: DispatchWorkItem
+}
+
+/// Engine-confined /ping diagnostics state: outstanding probes keyed by
+/// their unguessable nonce, plus the inbound response budget.
+///
+/// The budget is keyed by the ingress link (the directly connected peer
+/// that delivered the packet), never the packet-claimed sender: pings are
+/// unsigned, so the claimed sender is attacker-controlled and rotating it
+/// would reset the budget, turning a directed unencrypted probe into an
+/// amplification primitive.
+///
+/// Pure state — the transport owns packet I/O, timers, and main-actor
+/// completion delivery around it.
+struct BLEMeshPingTracker {
+    private var pendingProbes: [Data: BLEMeshPingProbe] = [:]
+    private var responseLimiter = SyncResponseRateLimiter(
+        maxResponses: TransportConfig.meshPingInboundMaxPerLink,
+        window: TransportConfig.meshPingInboundWindowSeconds
+    )
+
+    mutating func register(_ probe: BLEMeshPingProbe, nonce: Data) {
+        pendingProbes[nonce] = probe
+    }
+
+    /// Resolves a pong against its outstanding probe. The echoed nonce plus
+    /// the sender check bind the reply to the probed peer.
+    mutating func resolve(nonce: Data, from peerID: PeerID) -> BLEMeshPingProbe? {
+        guard pendingProbes[nonce]?.peerID == peerID else { return nil }
+        return pendingProbes.removeValue(forKey: nonce)
+    }
+
+    /// Removes a timed-out probe so its completion can fire once with nil.
+    mutating func expire(nonce: Data) -> BLEMeshPingProbe? {
+        pendingProbes.removeValue(forKey: nonce)
+    }
+
+    /// Whether an inbound ping delivered by this link is within budget.
+    mutating func shouldRespond(toLink linkPeerID: PeerID, now: Date) -> Bool {
+        responseLimiter.shouldRespond(to: linkPeerID, now: now)
+    }
+
+    /// Drops all probes and restores a fresh response budget (panic wipe).
+    /// Returns the orphaned timeout work items for the caller to cancel.
+    mutating func reset() -> [DispatchWorkItem] {
+        let timeouts = pendingProbes.values.map(\.timeout)
+        pendingProbes.removeAll()
+        responseLimiter = SyncResponseRateLimiter(
+            maxResponses: TransportConfig.meshPingInboundMaxPerLink,
+            window: TransportConfig.meshPingInboundWindowSeconds
+        )
+        return timeouts
+    }
+}

bitchat/Services/BLE/BLEPeerRegistryStore.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+import BitFoundation
+import Foundation
+
+/// Lock-backed shared ownership of the peer registry, readable from any
+/// queue or the main actor without hopping onto a transport queue.
+///
+/// Mutations stay serialized by the transport (they only run on its
+/// queues), so the lock's job is to let the main actor answer questions
+/// like `isPeerConnected` without blocking behind in-flight transport
+/// work. Every `BLEPeerRegistry` mutation is a single whole-transition
+/// method, so a reader between two mutations always observes a valid
+/// pre- or post-state, never a torn one.
+///
+/// Closures passed to `read`/`mutate` run under the (non-recursive) lock
+/// and must not call back into the store.
+final class BLEPeerRegistryStore: @unchecked Sendable {
+    private let lock = NSLock()
+    private var registry = BLEPeerRegistry()
+
+    /// One consistent view across multiple registry reads.
+    func read<T>(_ body: (BLEPeerRegistry) -> T) -> T {
+        lock.withLock { body(registry) }
+    }
+
+    func mutate<T>(_ body: (inout BLEPeerRegistry) -> T) -> T {
+        lock.withLock { body(&registry) }
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Single-question reads
+
+    var isEmpty: Bool { read { $0.isEmpty } }
+    var count: Int { read { $0.count } }
+    var peerIDs: [PeerID] { read { $0.peerIDs } }
+    var connectedCount: Int { read { $0.connectedCount } }
+    var connectedPeerIDs: [PeerID] { read { $0.connectedPeerIDs } }
+    var connectedRoutingData: [Data] { read { $0.connectedRoutingData } }
+    var snapshotByID: [PeerID: BLEPeerInfo] { read { $0.snapshotByID } }
+
+    func info(for peerID: PeerID) -> BLEPeerInfo? {
+        read { $0.info(for: peerID) }
+    }
+
+    func isConnected(_ peerID: PeerID) -> Bool {
+        read { $0.isConnected(peerID) }
+    }
+
+    func isReachable(_ peerID: PeerID, now: Date) -> Bool {
+        read { $0.isReachable(peerID, now: now) }
+    }
+
+    func nickname(for peerID: PeerID, connectedOnly: Bool) -> String? {
+        read { $0.nickname(for: peerID, connectedOnly: connectedOnly) }
+    }
+
+    func fingerprint(for peerID: PeerID) -> String? {
+        read { $0.fingerprint(for: peerID) }
+    }
+
+    func capabilities(for peerID: PeerID) -> PeerCapabilities {
+        read { $0.capabilities(for: peerID) }
+    }
+
+    func capabilitiesWereExplicitlyAdvertised(for peerID: PeerID) -> Bool {
+        read { $0.capabilitiesWereExplicitlyAdvertised(for: peerID) }
+    }
+
+    func advertisedBridgeGeohash() -> String? {
+        read { $0.advertisedBridgeGeohash() }
+    }
+
+    func displayNicknames(selfNickname: String) -> [PeerID: String] {
+        read { $0.displayNicknames(selfNickname: selfNickname) }
+    }
+
+    func transportSnapshots(selfNickname: String) -> [TransportPeerSnapshot] {
+        read { $0.transportSnapshots(selfNickname: selfNickname) }
+    }
+
+    /// Peers advertising `capability` that are reachable now, in one
+    /// consistent view.
+    func reachablePeers(advertising capability: PeerCapabilities, now: Date) -> [PeerID] {
+        read { registry in
+            registry.peers(advertising: capability)
+                .filter { registry.isReachable($0, now: now) }
+        }
+    }
+}

bitchat/Services/BLE/BLEReceivePipeline.swift

@@ -77,6 +77,26 @@ struct BLEReceivePipeline {
     }
 }
 
+/// Lock-backed traffic-level signal: the receive pipeline records packets,
+/// and the radio layer (maintenance and scan-duty adaptation on bleQueue)
+/// reads the level without crossing onto a transport queue.
+final class BLERecentTrafficMonitor: @unchecked Sendable {
+    private let lock = NSLock()
+    private var tracker = BLERecentTrafficTracker()
+
+    func recordPacket(at now: Date) {
+        lock.withLock { tracker.recordPacket(at: now) }
+    }
+
+    func hasTraffic(within seconds: TimeInterval, now: Date) -> Bool {
+        lock.withLock { tracker.hasTraffic(within: seconds, now: now) }
+    }
+
+    func removeAll() {
+        lock.withLock { tracker.removeAll() }
+    }
+}
+
 struct BLERecentTrafficTracker: Equatable {
     private var packetTimestamps: [Date] = []
 

bitchat/Services/MeshTransportCapabilities.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import BitFoundation
+import CoreBluetooth
+import Foundation
+
+/// Optional transport capabilities, discovered with `as?` instead of casting
+/// to a concrete transport class. `Transport` stays the contract every
+/// transport genuinely implements; a capability protocol here is the
+/// contract for one mesh-only feature surface, so app wiring depends on the
+/// feature it needs rather than on `BLEService` itself.
+
+/// Radio-state reporting for transports backed by a local radio.
+protocol BluetoothStateReporting: AnyObject {
+    func getCurrentBluetoothState() -> CBManagerState
+}
+
+/// Panic-mode lifecycle for transports that own durable identity state.
+/// A transport implementing this owns its own restart sequencing:
+/// `completePanicReset` decides whether services come back, so generic
+/// `startServices()` calls after a panic belong only to transports that
+/// don't implement it.
+protocol PanicResettingTransport: AnyObject {
+    /// Quiesces the radio and drains in-flight work ahead of a panic wipe.
+    func suspendForPanicReset()
+    /// Finishes a panic wipe, optionally restarting services.
+    func completePanicReset(restartServices: Bool)
+    /// Rotates the transport identity as part of a panic reset.
+    func resetIdentityForPanic(currentNickname: String, restartServices: Bool)
+}
+
+/// Internet-gateway and geohash-bridge wiring surface (BLE mesh today).
+/// Everything the gateway/bridge/courier services need from the mesh
+/// transport, so their bootstrap wiring never touches the concrete class.
+protocol MeshBridgingTransport: AnyObject {
+    // Runtime-advertised capability bits
+    func setLocalCapability(_ capability: PeerCapabilities, enabled: Bool)
+    func setLocalBridgeGeohash(_ cell: String?)
+    func advertisedBridgeGeohash() -> String?
+
+    // Peers currently advertising bridging roles
+    func reachableGatewayPeers() -> [PeerID]
+    func reachableBridgePeers() -> [PeerID]
+
+    // Gateway carrier packets (mesh <-> Nostr uplink/downlink)
+    @discardableResult
+    func sendNostrCarrier(_ payload: Data, to gatewayPeer: PeerID) -> Bool
+    func broadcastNostrCarrier(_ payload: Data)
+    /// Sink for received carrier packets (set once by app wiring; called on
+    /// the main actor after transport-level checks).
+    var onNostrCarrierPacket: (@MainActor (_ payload: Data, _ from: PeerID, _ directedToUs: Bool) -> Void)? { get set }
+
+    // Bridge courier drops (sealed envelopes carried across the bridge)
+    func sealBridgeCourierEnvelope(_ content: String, messageID: String, recipientNoiseKey: Data) -> CourierEnvelope?
+    @discardableResult
+    func openBridgedCourierEnvelope(_ envelope: CourierEnvelope) -> Bool
+    @discardableResult
+    func deliverBridgedEnvelope(_ envelope: CourierEnvelope, to peerID: PeerID) -> Bool
+    func myNoiseStaticPublicKey() -> Data
+    func verifiedPeersWithNoiseKeys() -> [(peerID: PeerID, noiseKey: Data)]
+    /// Fired (off-main) when a signature-verified announce is processed.
+    var onVerifiedPeerAnnounce: ((_ peerID: PeerID) -> Void)? { get set }
+}

bitchat/Services/Transport.swift

@@ -450,3 +450,6 @@ extension BitchatDelegate {
 }
 
 extension BLEService: Transport {}
+extension BLEService: BluetoothStateReporting {}
+extension BLEService: PanicResettingTransport {}
+extension BLEService: MeshBridgingTransport {}

bitchat/ViewModels/ChatLifecycleCoordinator.swift

@@ -106,8 +106,8 @@ extension ChatViewModel: ChatLifecycleContext {
     }
 
     func refreshBluetoothState() {
-        if let bleService = meshService as? BLEService {
+        if let radio = meshService as? BluetoothStateReporting {
-            updateBluetoothState(bleService.getCurrentBluetoothState())
+            updateBluetoothState(radio.getCurrentBluetoothState())
         }
     }
 

bitchat/ViewModels/ChatViewModel.swift

@@ -1564,8 +1564,8 @@ final class ChatViewModel: ObservableObject, BitchatDelegate, SynchronousMessage
 
         // Quiesce the mesh before clearing stores. Identity replacement below
         // deliberately stays stopped until media deletion and marker commit.
-        if let bleService = meshService as? BLEService {
+        if let panicTransport = meshService as? PanicResettingTransport {
-            bleService.suspendForPanicReset()
+            panicTransport.suspendForPanicReset()
         } else {
             meshService.emergencyDisconnectAll()
         }
@@ -1700,8 +1700,8 @@ final class ChatViewModel: ObservableObject, BitchatDelegate, SynchronousMessage
 
         // Replace the BLE identity while keeping the radio stopped. It may
         // reopen only after the durable panic transaction commits.
-        if let bleService = meshService as? BLEService {
+        if let panicTransport = meshService as? PanicResettingTransport {
-            bleService.resetIdentityForPanic(
+            panicTransport.resetIdentityForPanic(
                 currentNickname: nickname,
                 restartServices: false
             )
@@ -1746,18 +1746,19 @@ final class ChatViewModel: ObservableObject, BitchatDelegate, SynchronousMessage
 
         guard panicCompleted else { return false }
 
-        if let bleService = meshService as? BLEService {
+        if let panicTransport = meshService as? PanicResettingTransport {
             // Startup recovery reopens admission but leaves actual service
             // start to the bootstrapper immediately after this method.
-            bleService.completePanicReset(
+            panicTransport.completePanicReset(
                 restartServices: restartServices
             )
         }
 
         if restartServices {
             // All persistent state and media are gone. Bring each service back
-            // only now, under the new identity.
+            // only now, under the new identity — a panic-resetting transport
-            if !(meshService is BLEService) {
+            // owns its own restart sequencing above.
+            if !(meshService is PanicResettingTransport) {
                 meshService.startServices()
             }
 

bitchat/ViewModels/ChatViewModelBootstrapper.swift

@@ -195,9 +195,8 @@ private extension ChatViewModelBootstrapper {
 
         DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 0.1) { [weak viewModel] in
             guard let viewModel,
-                  let bleService = viewModel.meshService as? BLEService else { return }
+                  let radio = viewModel.meshService as? BluetoothStateReporting else { return }
-            let state = bleService.getCurrentBluetoothState()
+            viewModel.updateBluetoothState(radio.getCurrentBluetoothState())
-            viewModel.updateBluetoothState(state)
         }
 
         viewModel.nostrRelayManager = NostrRelayManager.shared
@@ -331,7 +330,7 @@ private extension ChatViewModelBootstrapper {
     func configureGateway() {
         // Gateway mode bridges BLE mesh <-> Nostr; a mock transport (tests)
         // has no carrier packets to bridge.
-        guard let bleService = viewModel.meshService as? BLEService else { return }
+        guard let bleService = viewModel.meshService as? MeshBridgingTransport else { return }
         let gateway = GatewayService.shared
 
         gateway.publishToRelays = { event, geohash in
@@ -410,7 +409,7 @@ private extension ChatViewModelBootstrapper {
     /// transport, the relay manager, location, and the public timeline. Same
     /// closure-injection style as `configureGateway`.
     func configureBridge() {
-        guard let bleService = viewModel.meshService as? BLEService else { return }
+        guard let bleService = viewModel.meshService as? MeshBridgingTransport else { return }
         let bridge = BridgeService.shared
         let idBridge = viewModel.idBridge
 
@@ -545,7 +544,7 @@ private extension ChatViewModelBootstrapper {
     /// manager, the mesh transport's sealing/opening primitives, the courier
     /// store, and the message router's deposit path.
     func configureBridgeCourier() {
-        guard let bleService = viewModel.meshService as? BLEService else { return }
+        guard let bleService = viewModel.meshService as? MeshBridgingTransport else { return }
         let courier = BridgeCourierService.shared
 
         courier.bridgeEnabled = { BridgeService.shared.isEnabled }

bitchatTests/Services/BLEMeshPingTrackerTests.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+import BitFoundation
+import Foundation
+import Testing
+@testable import bitchat
+
+struct BLEMeshPingTrackerTests {
+    private func makeProbe(peerID: PeerID) -> BLEMeshPingProbe {
+        BLEMeshPingProbe(
+            peerID: peerID,
+            sentAt: Date(timeIntervalSince1970: 1_000),
+            lifecycleGeneration: 1,
+            completion: { _ in },
+            timeout: DispatchWorkItem {}
+        )
+    }
+
+    @Test func resolveReturnsProbeOnlyForTheProbedPeer() {
+        var tracker = BLEMeshPingTracker()
+        let nonce = Data([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8])
+        let probed = PeerID(str: "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa")
+        tracker.register(makeProbe(peerID: probed), nonce: nonce)
+
+        // A pong claiming the right nonce from the wrong peer must not
+        // consume the probe.
+        let wrongPeer = tracker.resolve(nonce: nonce, from: PeerID(str: "bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb"))
+        #expect(wrongPeer == nil)
+        let rightPeer = tracker.resolve(nonce: nonce, from: probed)
+        #expect(rightPeer != nil)
+        // Consumed exactly once.
+        let secondResolve = tracker.resolve(nonce: nonce, from: probed)
+        #expect(secondResolve == nil)
+    }
+
+    @Test func expireConsumesTheProbeSoResolveCannotFireTwice() {
+        var tracker = BLEMeshPingTracker()
+        let nonce = Data([9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9])
+        let probed = PeerID(str: "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa")
+        tracker.register(makeProbe(peerID: probed), nonce: nonce)
+
+        let firstExpire = tracker.expire(nonce: nonce)
+        #expect(firstExpire != nil)
+        let secondExpire = tracker.expire(nonce: nonce)
+        #expect(secondExpire == nil)
+        let resolveAfterExpire = tracker.resolve(nonce: nonce, from: probed)
+        #expect(resolveAfterExpire == nil)
+    }
+
+    @Test func inboundBudgetIsPerLinkAndBounded() {
+        var tracker = BLEMeshPingTracker()
+        let now = Date(timeIntervalSince1970: 2_000)
+        let linkA = PeerID(str: "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa")
+        let linkB = PeerID(str: "bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb")
+
+        var allowedOnA = 0
+        for _ in 0..<(TransportConfig.meshPingInboundMaxPerLink + 5) {
+            if tracker.shouldRespond(toLink: linkA, now: now) { allowedOnA += 1 }
+        }
+        #expect(allowedOnA == TransportConfig.meshPingInboundMaxPerLink)
+        // One saturated link must not consume another link's budget.
+        let allowedOnB = tracker.shouldRespond(toLink: linkB, now: now)
+        #expect(allowedOnB)
+    }
+
+    @Test func resetDropsProbesRestoresBudgetAndHandsBackTimeouts() {
+        var tracker = BLEMeshPingTracker()
+        let now = Date(timeIntervalSince1970: 3_000)
+        let link = PeerID(str: "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa")
+        let nonce = Data([4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4])
+        tracker.register(makeProbe(peerID: link), nonce: nonce)
+        for _ in 0..<TransportConfig.meshPingInboundMaxPerLink {
+            _ = tracker.shouldRespond(toLink: link, now: now)
+        }
+        let saturated = tracker.shouldRespond(toLink: link, now: now)
+        #expect(!saturated)
+
+        let timeouts = tracker.reset()
+
+        #expect(timeouts.count == 1)
+        let resolveAfterReset = tracker.resolve(nonce: nonce, from: link)
+        #expect(resolveAfterReset == nil)
+        let allowedAfterReset = tracker.shouldRespond(toLink: link, now: now)
+        #expect(allowedAfterReset)
+    }
+}

docs/BLE-ARCHITECTURE-V3.md

@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+# BLE Transport Architecture V3
+
+The plan of record for restructuring `BLEService` from an 8.3k-line god
+object into a layered mesh stack. ARCHITECTURE_V2 rebuilt the app layer
+above the transport and deliberately deferred the transport itself; this
+document covers that remainder: what already landed, the target shape, and
+the order for the rest.
+
+## Why the satellite strategy stalled
+
+V2's transport approach was to peel pure policies and closure-driven
+handlers out of `BLEService` while the class kept coordinating. The ~30
+pure policy structs were a clear win. The five big handler extractions
+were not: each needed an "environment" of 20–30 closures that weakly
+capture the service and hop queues back into its state. Logic left, but
+state ownership and synchronization never moved, so extraction paid a
+plumbing tax that grew as fast as the logic shrank — the five
+`make*HandlerEnvironment()` factories alone were ~1.5k lines. The file
+held ~60 mutable fields across four concurrency domains whose ownership
+lived in comments, and every new feature added Transport requirements,
+state maps, and switch cases to the same class.
+
+Two chronic costs came straight from that structure: queue-order
+deadlocks (the July 9 main↔bleQueue ABBA freeze), and timing-dependent
+tests (correctness only observable through real queues and real time).
+
+## Target shape
+
+A packet-radio stack with one rule per layer about state and threads:
+
+1. **`BLELinkLayer`** — the only CoreBluetooth import. Owns both managers,
+   scanning/advertising, duty cycle, connection scheduling, MTU, write
+   and notification backpressure buffers, state restoration. Speaks
+   `LinkEvent` up (link up/down, bytes in, writable) and `LinkCommand`
+   down (send bytes on link, scan/advertise policy). Knows nothing about
+   packets, peers, or Noise. bleQueue-confined. A `SimulatedLinkLayer`
+   implementing the same port gives multi-node tests real topologies with
+   no radios and no wall-clock waits.
+2. **Mesh engine** — one serial queue owning all protocol state: wire
+   codec, fragmentation, dedup, relay policy, peer registry, topology,
+   gossip sync, Noise orchestration. Synchronous single-writer logic; the
+   pure policy satellites slot in unchanged. Endgame: the engine core
+   becomes `handle(event, now) -> [Effect]` (sans-I/O), which makes the
+   whole mesh property-testable and fuzzable in simulation.
+3. **Feature modules** — courier, board, prekeys, private media, file
+   transfer, voice, diagnostics, groups, verify/vouch each own their
+   state and register for their message types. A new feature is a new
+   module, not edits to the engine.
+4. **App boundary** — a small `Transport` core both transports genuinely
+   implement, plus capability protocols discovered with `as?`
+   (`MeshBridgingTransport` etc.), replacing the ~90-requirement
+   god-protocol and its inert defaults.
+
+### Concurrency contract
+
+State is owned one of three ways:
+
+- **Engine-confined** — mutated only on the serial engine queue
+  (`mesh.message`). Cross-thread callers use `onEngine`.
+- **bleQueue-confined** — link-layer state next to CoreBluetooth objects
+  (link store, write/notification buffers, link-auth maps).
+- **Lock-backed store** — state with legitimate cross-domain readers
+  (peer registry, local identity/capabilities, traffic monitor). Writes
+  still come from one domain; the lock exists so readers never block on
+  a queue. Every mutation is a single whole-transition method, so
+  readers never observe torn state.
+
+Sync-edge order (deadlock freedom by construction, debug-enforced in
+`onEngine`):
+
+```
+main / test threads ──sync──▶ engine ──sync──▶ bleQueue
+                                  └──sync──▶ noise / identity queues (leaves)
+```
+
+Nothing may sync-wait in the reverse direction: bleQueue and the crypto
+queues reach the engine only via `async`, and nothing sync-dispatches to
+main. Two subtleties worth knowing:
+
+- A closure executed inside a noise-manager critical section entered
+  *from* an engine slot may touch engine state directly (the blocked
+  slot makes it exclusive) but must never sync-re-enter the engine —
+  that is a self-deadlock.
+- bleQueue critical sections (e.g. the verified-announce link rebind)
+  must receive engine-derived values as arguments rather than fetching
+  them through `onEngine`.
+
+## What landed in this pass
+
+- **Lock-backed peer state** (`BLEPeerRegistryStore`): every main-actor
+  Transport read (`isPeerConnected`, nicknames, snapshots, capability
+  queries) reads a lock, not a queue. Runtime capability bits moved into
+  `BLELocalIdentityStateStore` beside the identity they ride announces
+  with.
+- **bleQueue owns the link buffers**: `pendingPeripheralWrites`,
+  `pendingNotifications`, `pendingWriteBuffers` are bleQueue-confined
+  (their producers and drains already ran there); the notification drain
+  no longer invokes CoreBluetooth from a transport queue.
+- **One serial engine queue**: the concurrent message queue and the
+  collections queue it guarded state with are one serial domain; every
+  barrier flag and per-field ownership comment deleted; ~98 cross-queue
+  hops removed. `onEngine` documents and debug-enforces the sync-edge
+  order — and its trap caught two latent inversions during migration
+  (the announce-rebind path and the noise session-generation closures).
+- **Capability ports**: gateway/bridge/courier wiring, the panic
+  lifecycle, and radio-state reads go through `MeshBridgingTransport`,
+  `PanicResettingTransport`, and `BluetoothStateReporting`; no app code
+  casts to `BLEService` anymore.
+- **First feature-owned state**: `BLEMeshPingTracker` holds the /ping
+  probe map and per-link response budget as pure state with unit tests —
+  the template for peeling the remaining features.
+
+Full suite green throughout (1,953 tests), identical wall-clock — BLE
+throughput is nowhere near what one serial queue sustains.
+
+## Remaining roadmap (in order)
+
+1. **Feature peeling.** Move each feature's state maps and handlers into
+   a module in the `BLEMeshPingTracker` mold: private media (six
+   generation-keyed maps + policy resolution — its main-actor reads
+   become a lock-backed store inside the module), courier, prekeys,
+   board, voice, file transfer, groups. The engine keeps a registry of
+   handled message types instead of a giant switch. Each module lands as
+   its own PR with its state's invariants unit-tested.
+2. **Transport protocol split.** Continue what the capability ports
+   started: `Transport` shrinks to lifecycle + identity + snapshots +
+   basic messaging; files/voice/courier/board/diagnostics/verification
+   become capability protocols; `NostrTransport` drops its inert stubs;
+   coordinators declare the capability they need instead of receiving
+   the whole god-protocol (~48 call sites across 14 files).
+3. **Link-layer extraction.** With the file slimmed, move the CB
+   delegates, scheduling, duty cycle, and buffers behind
+   `LinkEvent`/`LinkCommand` ports. Decide the link-auth boundary here:
+   `noiseAuthenticatedLinkOwners` and the rebind containment rules are
+   mesh security state that currently lives on bleQueue for atomicity
+   with bindings — the port design must keep "binding + auth check" one
+   critical section or make bindings engine-owned.
+4. **Sans-I/O engine core + simulator.** Make the engine formally
+   `handle(event) -> [Effect]`, feed it from a `SimulatedLinkLayer`, and
+   move the multi-node E2E suite onto deterministic simulation (no
+   `waitUntil`, no timing hygiene battles). Property tests become
+   possible: relay-storm bounds, partition-heal convergence, dedup
+   soundness under duplicate floods.
+
+## What this is not
+
+No wire changes: packet formats, signing (padding is signed), the
+peerID identity binding, and courier tag construction are untouched —
+see the wire-landmines notes before assuming any of that is local.