Files
ng-eventually/docs/simulation.md
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Sylvain Duchesne b1d06b68b9 fix(client): per-entity write round-trip + dedicated inbox anchor
Real-broker validation of the per-document model surfaced round-trip breaks the
fake-ng unit tests missed:
- The inbox anchor was the shim graph itself, making loadShim ~60s; give the
  inbox its own document so anchor resolution is fast and isolated.
- store-registry adjustments so per-entity documents created via the SDK are
  indexed and readable back through the scope fan-out.
docs/simulation.md updated. 89 tests pass; tsc rc=0.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-04 17:26:31 +02:00

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# How this library emulates mature NextGraph on ONE shared wallet
The consumer writes against `@ng-eventually/client` **as if** NextGraph already
shipped per-entity documents in public/protected/private stores, capabilities and
inboxes. It hasn't (see [`nextgraph-current-state.md`](./nextgraph-current-state.md)).
This file is the lib's own engineering doctrine on how it fabricates that mature
face on top of **one single shared wallet / broker**. Everything here is
polyfill-era and disappears at migration ([`migration-guide.md`](./migration-guide.md)).
## The premise: one shared wallet, everything readable
Current NextGraph has **no cross-wallet read** (`OpenRepo` is a TODO at
`engine/verifier/src/verifier.rs:1423`; a foreign NURI raises `RepoNotFound`; a
session only holds its own 3 stores in `self.repos`). So "each user their own
wallet" is blocked at the root — no data ever crosses the boundary between two
wallets.
The lib's answer: **everyone opens the same wallet**. NextGraph sees a single
identity → **everything is physically readable**. "Multi-user" becomes an
application fiction the lib maintains. On top of that one wallet the lib rebuilds,
by emulation, the per-user stores + capabilities + inbox the consumer codes
against.
## Two axes, never conflate them (store ≠ document)
The single most load-bearing distinction. Two **orthogonal** axes the
terminology historically fused:
- **Axis A — which native STORE?** A wallet has 3: `private_store_id`,
`protected_store_id`, `public_store_id`. Historic origin of "mono-store /
multi-store" (use 1 store vs the 3).
- **Axis B — how many DOCUMENTS in a store?** A store contains documents; the
**document (= repo = `@graph`) is the sharing + rights boundary**. The ReadCap
— hence **isolation** — is **PER-DOCUMENT**.
**`docCreate(sessionId, "Graph", "data:graph", "store", undefined)` → the shared
wallet's PRIVATE store.** The trailing `store` arg left `undefined` targets the
private store (this is what `store-registry.ts`'s `createDoc()` does). So every
document the shim creates physically lives in ONE store (private), and the
`public|protected|private` scope is a **LOGICAL LABEL** tracked in RDF by the
shim — **not** a NextGraph store. Therefore what a consumer's "multi-store" flag
switches on is really **multi-DOCUMENT with logical scope labels**, never
multi-store. Do not read `Scope` (`types.ts`) as a physical store — it is the
logical label the registry attaches.
> Why `undefined` and not a real store? Because `doc_create` **cannot target a
> non-private native store** today: `StoreRepo` is not JS-constructible (verified
> — see the parked `getNativeStore` note in
> [`migration-guide.md`](./migration-guide.md)). The private store is reachable
> because it opens without `RepoNotFound`.
## The shared-wallet shim (`store-registry.ts`)
Emulates the target infrastructure — where each user owns their own
public/protected/private stores — on top of one shared wallet.
- **One document per (account × scope)** inside the shared wallet, created via the
`docs.docCreate` primitive. The `scope` (`public|protected|private`) is a
logical attribute tracked here, not a physical store.
- **The `sharedWalletShim`** is the mapping `account → its 3 scope-document
NURIs`, persisted as RDF in the shared wallet's **private store** (the anchor,
always known from the session: `RegistrySession.privateStoreId`). That makes
login **cross-device**: another device opening the same wallet reads the same
shim and finds the same accounts. It is the account→document **trust root** —
which is why every untrusted value that reaches its SPARQL is escaped (see
SPARQL hardening below).
- **Per-entity documents + per-scope index.** `createEntityDoc(username, scope)`
makes a dedicated document for ONE entity (mirrors the target, where each entity
is its own document/repo with a future inbox) and appends its NURI to the
account's **scope index document** — the index doc plays the role of the future
**store-container** (it lists the entity-document NURIs "in" that scope).
`listEntityDocs(scope)` unions the contained NURIs across all accounts — the
read fan-out. Use the returned NURIs as `useShape(shape, { graphs })`.
- **GENERIC by construction.** The registry knows only the three native scopes,
**zero** application entity kind. The consumer maps its entities to a scope and
injects the session + username normalization via `configureStoreRegistry({
getSession, normalizeUser })` (`polyfill.ts`).
The `store≠document` two axes materialize here directly: the registry moves along
axis B (more documents = more isolation), never axis A (it always writes into the
one private store via `docCreate(..., undefined)`).
### SDK-shaped scope resolvers — the consumer holds NO store-id
The consumer must never construct a `did:ng:${store_id}` NURI itself: physical
placement is the lib's job (the whole point of the SDK boundary). Two resolvers
turn a **logical scope** into an **opaque graph NURI** without exposing any
store-id:
- **`resolveScopeGraph(scope)`** — the graph where the current session writes
entities of `scope`, and whose repo `useShape` subscribes to read them back.
Use the returned value as BOTH the read scope (`useShape(shape, nuri)`) and the
`@graph` write target. Placement lives HERE (Axis A): `private` → the private
native store; `public` + `protected` → the **protected** native store, because
`doc_create`/ORM cannot target a non-private/protected native store today (SDK
blocker, [`migration-guide.md`](./migration-guide.md)). At migration each scope
resolves to the user's REAL per-scope store — the change is in this function,
the consumer is unchanged.
- **`resolveInboxAnchor()`** — the anchor where emulated inbox deposits land: a
**DEDICATED inbox document** (a reserved account's public scope document, from
`docCreate` — a real repo NURI, stable across clients), **not** the shared
wallet's private-store root. Why dedicated: the shim (the account→document trust
root) lives in the private-store graph and is scanned on every `loadShim`;
routing every inbox deposit into that SAME graph bloats it without bound
(thousands of deposit triples across sessions), turning `loadShim` into a
multi-second full-graph scan. A separate inbox document keeps the shim graph
small and the deposits isolated. At migration it becomes the host's native
inbox NURI.
Both resolve the native store ids from the **injected session**
(`RegistrySession.protectedStoreId` / `publicStoreId`, alongside the existing
`privateStoreId` anchor). The consumer hands the whole session to the lib at the
ONE injection point (`configureStoreRegistry({ getSession })`) — that is wiring,
not placement logic; everything else in the consumer speaks only in scopes. If
the session omits `protectedStoreId`, the non-private scopes fall back to the
private store rather than emit a broken NURI.
## `RepoNotFound` and the `orm_start_graph` scope rule
A hard constraint inherited from the SDK: to read **and** write entities through
the ORM, the store's repo must be **explicitly opened** in the verifier's
`self.repos` HashMap. `orm_start_graph` with a store's NURI opens that repo;
without it, `orm_frontend_update` fails with `RepoNotFound`.
- **Scope** for `useShape`: the store NURI, e.g. `did:ng:${privateStoreId}` (or,
in the consumer, a per-user store once that migration happens).
- **`@graph`** (write target): the same store NURI.
- **Never use `did:ng:i` as a scope.** It subscribes to the user's whole site via
a special code path (`NuriTargetV0::UserSite`) that **does not open individual
repos** → breaks every write with `RepoNotFound`.
Both the private and the protected native stores were verified to open the same
way for ORM+SPARQL (round-trip probe, no `RepoNotFound`). The original arbitration
is preserved in [`decisions/private-store-nuri-scope.md`](./decisions/private-store-nuri-scope.md).
## The `@ng-org` double-proxy `DataCloneError` constraint
**Validated hard constraint, not a style choice.** `docs.ts` calls the **real
injected `ng`** (`getConfig().ng`) DIRECTLY — never the public `ng` proxy
(`makeNg` in `ng-proxy.ts`).
`@ng-org/web`'s `ng` is already an **iframe-RPC proxy** (postMessage marshaling,
see [`nextgraph-current-state.md`](./nextgraph-current-state.md) § integration).
Wrapping it in the lib's own JS `Proxy` (double proxy) breaks `doc_create`'s
postMessage marshaling → `DataCloneError: function ... could not be cloned`.
Reaching the real `ng` held in the config avoids the double-proxy. This was
verified: routing the shim's `doc_create`/SPARQL through the public proxy turned
4 multistore scenarios red; it was reverted. The integration boundary is:
- **Through the lib's public proxy** (validated): `useShape` (ORM + ReadCap
filter), `init`/`initNg`, `login`.
- **Through the real injected `ng`** (`docs.ts` primitives): `doc_create` + all
shim/inbox SPARQL.
`docs.ts` therefore imports **no** `@ng-org` package and must **not** import from
`./ng-proxy`.
## Emulated ReadCap — per document (`caps.ts` + `read-filter.ts`)
In the target the broker only delivers documents the wallet holds a **ReadCap**
for, so `useShape` already returns an authorized subset. Here (single shared
wallet, everything readable) the lib reproduces that with a read-filtered VIEW:
- **`CapRegistry` (`caps.ts`)** models ReadCaps as faithfully as a data layer
can. The access UNIT is the **document = repo NURI** (an item's `@graph`),
**never the item** — because in `nextgraph-rs` a store is just a container repo
and holding its cap does NOT grant the repos it references (no store-level read
inheritance; verified). So the registry is **purely per-document**:
`grantRead` / `grantWrite` / `makePublic` / `open(doc, scope, owner)` /
`canRead` / `canWrite` / `governsRead` / `hasReadPolicy`. The consumer performs
the *acts* of granting (create-public, grant-to-a-connection…) exactly as it
will in the target; the lib injects no policy.
- **`read-filter.ts`** — `makeReadFilteredView` wraps the reactive set in a
`Proxy`: iteration / `size` / `forEach` are filtered by
`caps.canRead(item['@graph'], user)`; everything else (`add`, `delete`, `has`,
`getById`…) forwards to the target, preserving writes and reactivity. An item
with no `@graph`, or in a document under no cap policy, is KEPT (the filter only
restricts documents that *declare* a cap — no regression on ungoverned data).
`filterReadable` is the pure variant.
- **`useShape` (`use-shape.ts`)** applies the view **only if
`caps.hasReadPolicy()`** — otherwise it passes the real set through unchanged
(no regression when the consumer declares no caps).
In a mono-store layout (every item in one repo) this is all-or-nothing on that
document — exactly the native behaviour, and why fine-grained isolation requires
one document per entity (axis B).
### Making the ReadCap ACTIVE — current user + connection-driven grants
The filter only discriminates once the consumer (a) tells the SDK **who is
reading** and (b) declares the access policy on the documents. Both are plain SDK
calls; the consumer never touches the registry internals:
- **`setCurrentUser(id)` (`polyfill.ts`)** — the SDK's "current identity" call.
`useShape`'s filtered view reads it lazily, so the delivered subset always
reflects the identity in effect at read time. Until it is set, the filter has no
principal and (per `canRead(doc, null)`) only public documents pass — which is
why isolation stayed **dormant** while the consumer never made this call.
- **`getCaps().open(doc, scope, owner)`** — declares a document's policy when the
consumer creates it: `public` → world-readable; `protected`/`private` → owner
reads, owner holds the write cap. `open` now also **remembers** `(scope, owner)`
per document so a later connection-driven grant can find the protected ones.
- **`declareConnections(peers, as?)` (`polyfill.ts`)** — the SDK-shaped
**protected sharing act**, now **AUTHENTICATED / BILATERAL** (`connections.ts`).
Each call declares the CURRENT identity's OWN peers (`as` defaults to
`getCurrentUser()`); the lib records that as a **directed assertion authored by
the current identity** — a session can only ever assert its own side. A protected
read cap is issued between two principals only when **both have asserted the
other** (a materialized two-sided link, `ConnectionRegistry.neighbors` →
`CapRegistry.grantReadToConnections`). Public docs stay world-readable; private
docs stay owner-only. Re-callable; additive + idempotent. The consumer passes
only principals — no document NURI, no store id.
**Why bilateral (adversarial finding).** If a single directed assertion granted
access, any reader could read any owner's protected documents by unilaterally
self-declaring a connection. The two-sided requirement is the emulation of the
target's mutual capability exchange: only a reciprocated link grants the cap. A
unilateral / self-declared connection grants **nothing** (proven in
`test/connections.test.ts` and `test/isolation-active.test.ts` case (b)).
The result is the target's discrimination reproduced end-to-end: **private** →
owner; **protected** → owner + BILATERAL connections; **public** → all. Proven in
`test/isolation-active.test.ts`: (a) an unconnected principal is denied a protected
document, granted it after a two-sided `declareConnections`, and reads the public
document throughout; (b) a unilateral/self-declared connection is denied.
This discrimination is only observable because each entity is **its own document**
(the consumer creates per-entity docs via `createEntityDoc` and `open`s each) — in
a mono-store layout the per-document ReadCap is all-or-nothing.
### Write-guard coverage (honest scope)
The emulated write guard (`ng-proxy.ts`, `sparql_update` override) enforces the
per-document write cap **on the public `ng` proxy only**. In practice the
consumer's write paths (`docs.sparqlUpdate`, ORM `ngSet`) call the **real injected
`ng` directly** — never the public proxy — for the validated `DataCloneError`
reason above. So the guard is **best-effort**: it fires for any write routed
through the public proxy, but the consumer's real write paths bypass it and are
**not** guarded today. This is a deliberate, recorded limitation of the emulation
(the write guard becomes effective only when the broker/verifier enforces caps
natively at migration); the READ side is what makes isolation observably active.
### The per-document ReadCap is now THE isolation path (item-level filter retired)
Isolation is enforced by the **per-document ReadCap** (`caps.ts` + `read-filter.ts`)
alone: the access unit is the DOCUMENT (`@graph` = repo), grants are explicit
(`open` / `grantRead` / `makePublic`) and, for `protected`, driven by the
**bilateral connection registry** (`connections.ts`). Because the consumer now
writes **one document per entity** (`createEntityDoc` + `open` per entity), the
per-document cap discriminates at entity granularity — the target's behaviour.
The old **item-level application-visibility filter** (`isolation.ts`
`applyIsolation`, a `Set`-of-records filter keyed on owner+scope) is **retired**
from the consumer path: the app carries **no** access logic — it declares its
identity and its bilateral connections and trusts the SDK. `isolation.ts` survives
only as the home of the generic `Connections` interface (consumed by
`connections.ts` / `caps.grantReadToConnections`) plus its own unit tests; its
matrix functions are dead scaffolding kept for reference and removed at migration.
There is no longer a second, coexisting app-layer filter to reconcile — the single
axis is the per-document cap, exactly as in the target.
## Emulated inbox + curator (`inbox.ts`)
Current NextGraph does not expose the inbox to the JS SDK (verifier has no
`InboxPost` arm; no wasm sealing helper — see
[`nextgraph-current-state.md`](./nextgraph-current-state.md) § Inbox). Rather than
fork the broker ([`fork-inbox-fallback.md`](./fork-inbox-fallback.md)), the lib
**emulates** the inbox on the shared wallet:
- **Target vs polyfill.** Target: `post` seals a reference into the owner's native
inbox (`ng.inbox_post_link(...)`) and a **separate curator** materializes
deposits into the owned document. Here, everything is readable, so both sides are
emulated in-lib.
- **`post(targetInbox, opts)`** appends a deposit `{ from, payload, ts }` as RDF
into the inbox DOCUMENT (in the shared wallet) via `docs.sparqlUpdate`. Each
deposit is a unique RDF subject → concurrent deposits don't collide. **`from` is
BOUND to the current identity** (`getCurrentUser`) — it is authenticated, not
caller-supplied: omit it to stamp the current user, pass `null` to deposit
ANONYMOUSLY, and a `from` naming ANOTHER principal is **rejected as a spoof**.
This reproduces the protocol's "identified if known, anonymous otherwise" AND
the target's guarantee that a client cannot forge another's sender identity (in
the target the broker seals `from` from the wallet's own key; here the check
closes the spoof the shared wallet would otherwise allow). The emulation stores
`from = null` as *absence of a triple*, so it does not provide the target's
**crypto** anonymity (`from = None` sealed), which only a native inbox would.
Proven in `test/inbox.test.ts` case (c).
- **`read` / `materialize` (alias)** play the **emulated CURATOR**: they read the
deposits back via `docs.sparqlQuery`, JSON-parse each payload, sort by `ts`.
- **`watch(targetInbox, onDeposits, { intervalMs })`** is the emulated watcher: it
polls `read` and fires when the deposit count changes (the polyfill has no
reactive inbox subscription). Fires once immediately; returns an unsubscribe.
GENERIC: the module knows no domain — the consumer supplies the inbox document
NURI and interprets `payload`. At migration `post` becomes the native
`inbox_post_link` and the read side moves to a **separate curator package** (see
the deferred global-index note in the top-level README and
[`decisions/discovery-model.md`](./decisions/discovery-model.md)). The inbox +
watcher is the ONE deposit/materialization mechanism reused for BOTH meeting-point
registration AND submission to a discovery index — same `post` API, same watcher.
## Emulated discovery index + special account (`discovery.ts`)
Discovery is a **surface on top of the inbox**, not a new primitive. **Access ≠
discovery**: a public entity is world-readable *with its NURI*; the discovery
index is how a client learns that NURI **exists** without holding a connection
to its creator (see [`decisions/discovery-model.md`](./decisions/discovery-model.md)).
The model is: ONE global index = an **owned document** (public read), **fed via
ITS inbox**, **materialized by a curator**. Nobody writes the index directly — a
creator DEPOSITS a reference into the index's inbox; the curator ingests deposits
into entries. Materialization is the natural **dedup / moderation point**.
- **The special account (polyfill owner).** "Who owns the global index" is
undecided in the target (NextGraph is mono-user with no global data — a
singleton app is the only glimpsed path). So the polyfill parks ownership on a
**RESERVED SPECIAL ACCOUNT** in the shim — `INDEX_ACCOUNT = "@index"`. It is a
normal shim account (so its 3 scope documents are created on first sight like
any other), but never a real user; it only HOSTS the index document. Its
`public` scope document IS the index document, and its inbox receives the
deposits — a **stable NURI**: every client opening the same shared wallet
resolves the same account → same document, so all clients read/write ONE
shared index.
- **`submitToIndex(ref, opts?)`** — the SDK act "make this discoverable".
Deposits `ref` into the index document's inbox via `inbox.post`. `from` follows
the inbox convention (bound to the current identity; anonymous when `null`).
`ref` is **opaque** here — the consumer serializes whatever locates the entity
(e.g. an entity document NURI + discovery metadata). **PUBLIC-ONLY guard:** when
`opts.doc` names the document being surfaced, a document under a non-public
(protected/private) read policy is **REFUSED** (`caps.governsRead(doc) &&
!caps.canRead(doc, null)`) — the global index is world-readable, so admitting a
governed doc's NURI would leak it past its scope. Proven in
`test/discovery.test.ts` case (d).
- **`readIndex()`** — the EMULATED CURATOR. Reads every submission, **dedups by
serialized `ref`** (the moderation point: a duplicate submission surfaces
once), returns entries sorted by `ts`. `watchIndex(onEntries, opts?)` is the
emulated watcher (polls `readIndex`).
**This REPLACES the cross-account fan-out** (`store-registry.ts`
`listEntityDocs('public')` / `resolveReadGraphs`) as the app-facing discovery
path: the app submits public entities to the index and reads the index, instead
of fanning out over every account's public documents. The fan-out survives only
as an **internal lib fallback** — kept for the per-scope listing it also powers
(e.g. `resolveReadGraphs`), never the app's discovery route.
GENERIC: `discovery.ts` knows no application domain — the consumer defines the
`ref` shape and its meaning. At migration the special account disappears:
ownership moves to the decided global-index owner, `submitToIndex` becomes the
native `inbox_post_link` on the index's inbox, and `readIndex` queries the real
materialized index document. The consumer surface (`submitToIndex` / `readIndex`)
is designed to survive that swap unchanged.
## Emulated write guard (`ng-proxy.ts`)
The public `ng` proxy overrides `sparql_update` to enforce an emulated **write
cap**: a write is refused unless the current user holds the target document's
WRITE cap. Passthrough (no regression) unless a WRITE policy exists AND that
specific document (the `anchor` arg) is governed by it — ungoverned docs (the
mono-store default, no cap declared) flow through unchanged. Mirrors the target
broker/verifier, which refuses a write without the document's write cap.
## Faux login (`accounts.ts`)
The real NextGraph login (redirect to the broker, opening the single SHARED
wallet) is perceived as a **technical access barrier**, not a login (see login
flow in [`decisions/shared-wallet-login-flow.md`](./decisions/shared-wallet-login-flow.md)).
THIS layer is the **perceived** login:
- The user picks a **username** (no password — declarative), persisted in
`localStorage` so the "session" survives reloads and lands on the same account
when the shared wallet re-opens.
- `login()` / `logout()` are **FAUX**: they only read/write the username in
storage. They must **NEVER** call NextGraph (no `session_stop` / `wallet_close`)
— the shared wallet stays open underneath. The real logout lives elsewhere
(hidden in the consumer's settings/debug), because it forces a new redirect.
- **Framework-agnostic**: no React, no DOM beyond an optional injected
`AccountStorage` (a `window.localStorage`, a test fake, or `null` for SSR). The
React `Context`/`Provider` stays in the consumer. `normalizeUsername`
(case-insensitive, optional leading `@` stripped, trimmed) is the pure
normalizer, reusable as the shim key normalizer.
## SPARQL injection hardening (`sparql.ts`)
Every module that builds SPARQL by interpolation (inbox, store-registry) routes
untrusted values through `sparql.ts` first, because a `"` closes a literal and a
`>` closes an IRI, letting an injected value wreck the shim graph (the account →
document trust root):
- **`escapeLiteral`** — for LITERAL position (`"..."`): escapes backslash,
double-quote, C0 whitespace. Lossless (literals legitimately carry arbitrary
text — JSON payloads, display names).
- **`escapeIri`** — for UNTRUSTED values embedded into an IRI (`<PREFIX:${…}>`,
e.g. a username minted into an account-subject IRI): percent-encodes every
IRI-hostile character so any username (spaces, unicode, punctuation) stays
usable while breakout is impossible.
- **`assertNuri`** — for trusted-SHAPED NURIs coming back from `ng`
(`did:ng:...`): validates and throws on IRI-breaking chars rather than emitting
a malformed/injected query.
These are re-exported from `@ng-eventually/client` so the consumer reuses the same
escaping when it builds SPARQL.