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README: document v0.4 symmetric presence chirp design + bump status

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Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Claude Opus 4.7
2026-05-21 01:05:50 -05:00
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README.md
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# tether # tether
Phone ↔ laptop clipboard relay. **v0.1 / MVP.** Phone ↔ laptop clipboard relay. **v0.3 — WebRTC P2P working.**
Today this is an HTTP+SSE broadcast bus. The roadmap is what makes it Today: an HTTP+SSE broadcast bus that also bootstraps WebRTC DataChannels
interesting: WebRTC for true P2P, Sign in with Apple for cross-device between participants. Once paired, clipboard text flows direct
identity, mDNS for same-LAN discovery, end-to-end encryption baked in. peer-to-peer with DTLS encryption — the server never sees the payload.
The roadmap is what makes it interesting: symmetric presence chirps for
self-healing mesh discovery, Sign in with Apple for cross-device
identity, mDNS for zero-config same-LAN discovery, file drop, system
tray UX.
``` ```
phone (web UI) tether-server tether-client phone (web UI) tether-server tether-client
@@ -50,13 +55,37 @@ the buttons.
| Phase | What | Why | | Phase | What | Why |
|---|---|---| |---|---|---|
| **v0.1 (now)** | HTTP+SSE relay, single broadcast bus | Prove the shape end-to-end | | ✅ v0.1 | HTTP+SSE relay, single broadcast bus | Prove the shape end-to-end |
| v0.2 | mDNS service advertisement, QR pairing | Zero-config discovery | | ✅ v0.2 | `/metrics` endpoint, server-side observability | Latency/throughput visibility |
| v0.3 | WebRTC data channel (Pion) — clients negotiate P2P after seeing each other via the server's signaling | True low-latency E2E (DTLS) | | ✅ v0.3 | WebRTC DataChannel (Pion ↔ browser RTCPeerConnection), peer chirps offer until paired | True P2P with mandatory DTLS encryption |
| v0.4 | Sign in with Apple OAuth → stable `sub` ties multiple devices to one trust circle | Identity without account/password | | **v0.4 (next)** | **Symmetric presence chirps** — every participant (peer, browser, future Mac) broadcasts `{type:"presence", from, role, capabilities}` every 10-15s. Lets peers/browsers self-discover, auto-upgrade SSE→RTC, detect dead participants via heartbeat timeout. Pairs N-way (mesh, not star). | Self-healing discovery without the "happen to be open at the right moment" timing trap of v0.3's single-direction chirp |
| v0.5 | OS clipboard hook on client (read + write) — phone copy → laptop paste appears automatically | The actual Universal-Clipboard UX | | v0.5 | mDNS service advertisement + QR pairing | Zero-config same-LAN discovery |
| v0.6 | File drop (large blob over WebRTC), encrypted at-rest history | Snapdrop-like UX bundled in | | v0.6 | Sign in with Apple OAuth → stable `sub` ties multiple devices to one trust circle | Identity without account/password |
| v1.0 | macOS / Windows clients, push notifications when off-network, packaged installers | Product | | v0.7 | OS clipboard hook on client (read + write) — phone copy → laptop paste appears automatically | The actual Universal-Clipboard UX (current v0.3 has *write* on receive; missing the *read* on local change) |
| v0.8 | File drop (large blob over WebRTC), encrypted at-rest history | Snapdrop-like UX bundled in |
| v0.9 | Mouse/keyboard handoff (Synergy-style) using the same authenticated peer set + DataChannel | Universal Control for the rest of us |
| v1.0 | macOS / Windows tray UX, push notifications when off-network, packaged installers | Product |
### Note on v0.4 presence chirps
The current peer's "chirp every 5s while unpaired" only solves
one-direction late-joining. The full pattern is **symmetric**:
```
Every participant emits:
{type: "presence", from: <peerID>, role: "peer" | "browser",
capabilities: ["clipboard", "filedrop", "cursor"], ts: …}
every 10-15s on the bus.
Maintains Map<peerID, lastSeen> table on each side.
- New peer presence seen by browser → wait for offer.
- New browser presence seen by peer → post targeted offer.
- After RTC opens → drop chirp rate to 60s "alive" heartbeats.
- lastSeen > 30s → mark dead, restart discovery.
```
Once that's in, the system becomes properly mesh-shaped — N devices can
all auto-pair, see each other in the UI, drop a file to any one, etc.
## Why E2E by default ## Why E2E by default
@@ -73,14 +102,14 @@ privacy-respecting identity provider that returns a stable per-app
subject ID. Devices that authenticate to the same `sub` are in the same subject ID. Devices that authenticate to the same `sub` are in the same
trust circle automatically. No passwords, no per-app account. trust circle automatically. No passwords, no per-app account.
## What this isn't ## What this isn't (yet)
- Not a Snapdrop clone (no file drop yet) - Not a Snapdrop clone — no file drop (v0.8 roadmap)
- Not KDE Connect (no OS integration yet) - Not KDE Connect — no system-wide integration on the laptop side beyond clipboard (v0.7+)
- Not Pushbullet (no server-side persistence) - Not Pushbullet — server never sees data, no persistence
- Not yet WebRTC (v0.1 is HTTP relay) - Not Universal Control — but the mouse/keyboard handoff is on the roadmap (v0.9)
But the foundation is right. The foundation is right: bus → signaling → WebRTC → mesh → identity.
## License ## License