rkt-web-player/ARCHITECTURE.md

# RKT Web Player Architecture

## 1. Purpose and scope

RKT Web Player is a single-process audio player with a browser-based user
interface. It exposes local music directories as lazily browsed libraries and
can play selected files either on the host machine or on a discovered UPnP or
Sonos renderer.

The application is designed as a personal, stateful desktop or LAN service. A
single server-side player instance owns the active browser location, playlists,
playback state, output selection, and audio backend. All connected browser
windows observe and control that same instance.

## 2. System context

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    User[User] --> Browser[Web browser]
    Browser <-->|HTTP + JSON| Server[RKT Web Player]
    Server -->|Read directories and tags| Files[(Local music files)]
    Server -->|Audio output| Local[Local audio device]
    Server -->|SSDP / UPnP discovery| Network[UPnP and Sonos devices]
    Server -->|HTTP media publication + DLNA control| Network
    Agent[Windows playback agent] -->|Registration, polling and state| Server
    Server -->|Track download| Agent
    Agent -->|Audio output| AgentAudio[Client audio device]
```

The browser is a thin client: it renders a complete server-provided state
snapshot and sends commands back to the server. The server is authoritative;
there is no browser-side persistence or independent playback state.

## 3. Runtime structure

```mermaid
flowchart TB
    Main[main.rkt<br/>configuration and lifecycle]
    Server[private/server.rkt<br/>HTTP adapter]
    Users[private/users.rkt<br/>users, networks and sessions]
    Player[private/player.rkt<br/>application state and commands]
    Library[private/library.rkt<br/>filesystem and metadata]
    UI[public/index.html + styles.css + app.js<br/>browser UI]
    Audio[racket-audio<br/>local backend]
    Discovery[racket-upnp + racket-sonos<br/>device discovery]
    DLNA[racket-audio-dlna<br/>network backend and media server]
    AgentGUI[private/player-agent-gui.rkt<br/>GUI adapter]
    AgentCLI[player-agent-cli.rkt<br/>CLI adapter]
    AgentCore[private/player-agent-core.rkt<br/>polling and audio runtime]

    Main --> Server
    Main --> Player
    Main --> Library
    Server --> Player
    Server --> Users
    Server --> UI
    Player --> Library
    Player --> Audio
    Player --> Discovery
    Player --> DLNA
    AgentGUI --> AgentCore
    AgentCLI --> AgentCore
    AgentCore --> Server
    AgentCore --> Audio
```

### 3.1 Entrypoint and lifecycle

[`main.rkt`](main.rkt) is both the command-line entrypoint and the public Racket
API. It performs the following work:

1. Reads command-line options and optional INI defaults.
2. Combines and de-duplicates configured music paths.
3. Creates immutable library descriptors with `make-music-libraries`.
4. Creates the single mutable player instance with `make-player`.
5. Starts the web server with `serve-player`.
6. Closes the active audio backend through `player-close!` when the server
   exits, using `dynamic-wind` to guarantee cleanup.

The exported `run-web-player` function provides the same lifecycle to programs
that embed the package instead of invoking its command line.

### 3.2 Library subsystem

[`private/library.rkt`](private/library.rkt) isolates filesystem access and
audio metadata extraction. Its principal domain types are:

- `music-library`: a stable generated ID, display name, and absolute root path;
- `browser-entry`: the name, kind, and root-relative path of a visible item;
- `track`: the absolute source file and its display/playback metadata;
- `artwork`: MIME type and bytes read on demand from embedded tags or a
  conventional cover file beside the track.

Library loading is deliberately lazy:

- Startup validates each root and lists only the first library's root
  directory.
- Browsing reads one directory level and does not inspect audio tags.
- Selecting a track for play or addition reads its metadata.
- Selecting a directory for play or addition recursively walks that subtree
  and reads metadata for every supported track.

Directories are shown before tracks and entries are sorted case-insensitively.
Hidden directories and unsupported files are omitted. Metadata failures degrade
to the filename, an empty artist and album, an unknown duration, and the MIME
type inferred from the extension.

The HTTP API never accepts filesystem paths. It accepts library IDs and indexes
from the latest state snapshot; the player resolves these to entries whose
relative paths originated from directory listings below a configured root.

### 3.3 Player and application state

[`private/player.rkt`](private/player.rkt) contains the main application logic.
The mutable `player` structure is the aggregate root for:

- configured libraries and the current browser location;
- in-memory playlist tabs and the selected tab's tracks;
- discovered renderers and the selected renderer;
- registered HTTP playback agents and their pending command queues;
- the lazily created local or network backend;
- transport state, current track, position, duration, audio properties, volume,
  and repeat mode;
- current error, discovery, and shutdown status;
- synchronization primitives and the DLNA publication port.

Commands are expressed as strings with a JSON-compatible payload. The player
validates each command, mutates its state, delegates to a playback backend where
required, and returns a complete JSON-compatible state snapshot. Commands cover
library navigation, playlist/tab editing, output selection, transport, seeking,
volume, and repeat mode.

Playlist tabs exist only in memory. Selecting, deleting, or creating a tab
stops playback. Tracks are de-duplicated by normalized source path when they are
appended.

### 3.4 Playback backends

The player exposes local, UPnP, and Sonos outputs as renderers with a common
logical interface, but dispatches explicitly based on backend kind.

The default `local` renderer uses `racket-audio`. Its backend is created on the
first playback-related command, not at startup. State and end-of-track callbacks
update the player and automatically advance the playlist. The UI's linear
0-100 volume is squared before being sent to the local audio library to provide
a more useful perceived volume curve.

Network outputs use `racket-audio-dlna`. The backend controls the chosen media
renderer and publishes local files over HTTP on the configured DLNA port and
path. Unlike the callback-driven local backend, network playback information is
refreshed by calling the renderer whenever a state snapshot is requested.

Changing the selected renderer closes the existing backend and resets playback
state. The replacement backend remains lazy and is created only when it is
needed.

Registered playback agents form a fourth renderer kind. An agent keeps the
client/server direction unchanged: it registers and polls the server, while the
server never opens a connection to the agent. Server commands have monotonically
increasing IDs and remain queued until acknowledged. Each poll acknowledges the
last completed command and reports playback state. For a play command, the
server creates an opaque media token; the agent downloads that track to a
temporary file and uses `racket-audio` for local playback. A stable 256-bit
application ID and the agent-owned display name are persisted in its local INI
file. The server follows the name advertised by the agent and does not own a
separate name mapping. Registration is default-deny: the application ID must
be present in the server's `[playback-agents]` INI section. Unknown IDs receive
HTTP 403 and cannot register, poll, or download agent media.

The server sends the next playlist item as a prefetch command. The agent keeps
only the current and next downloads and queues the prefetched decoder at EOF,
keeping network and polling latency outside the gapless transition.

### 3.5 Device discovery

Discovery is explicitly initiated from the UI and runs on a separate Racket
thread so that the initial API call can return immediately. It:

1. Queries all visible UPnP devices.
2. Filters media renderers.
3. Reads Sonos group topology when available.
4. Represents each Sonos group as one logical renderer.
5. Removes individual UPnP devices that are already members of those groups.
6. Sorts the resulting outputs by display name and retains local output as the
   first option.

The `discovering` state lets polling clients show progress. Discovery failures
are recorded in the shared player error field.

### 3.6 HTTP and browser layers

[`private/server.rkt`](private/server.rkt) uses Racket's servlet web server. It
serves static assets from [`public/`](public/) and exposes these API endpoints:

| Method | Route | Responsibility |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `GET` | `/api/state` | Return the complete current state; also refresh network-renderer information. |
| `POST` | `/api/discover` | Start asynchronous discovery and return the current state. |
| `POST` | `/api/command/:command` | Execute a command with its JSON request body and return the updated state. |
| `POST` | `/api/agent/register` | Register or refresh a polling playback agent. |
| `POST` | `/api/agent/poll` | Accept agent state and acknowledgements and return its next command. |
| `GET` | `/api/agent/media/:app-id/:token` | Download the track currently assigned to an agent. |
| `GET` | `/api/artwork/:artwork-id` | Return embedded or adjacent artwork for a playlist track. |

JSON responses use `Cache-Control: no-store`; artwork has a private cache
header. Command failures are returned as HTTP 400 JSON responses with an
`error` property. Unauthorized agents receive HTTP 403 with the stable
`agent-not-authorized` error code.

[`public/app.js`](public/app.js) implements a framework-free client. It:

- fetches a full state snapshot once per second;
- temporarily suppresses polling while a browser-initiated command is active;
- immediately renders the state returned by successful commands;
- renders library navigation, playlists, tabs, transport status, and output
  selection;
- implements keyboard actions and playlist drag-and-drop in the browser.

DOM signatures prevent rebuilding unchanged library, tab, and playlist
collections on every poll. Playback status and other small values are updated
on every render.

### 3.7 User authentication

Authentication is enabled by adding Argon2id password hashes under `[users]`.
Requests whose effective client address belongs to a configured local network
bypass login. A forwarded address is accepted only when the direct peer belongs
to `[authentication] trusted-proxies`; the rightmost `X-Forwarded-For` value is
used so an untrusted client cannot prepend a local address.

Successful logins create opaque 256-bit session tokens. Only the token is sent
to the browser in a `Secure`, `HttpOnly`, `SameSite=Strict` cookie; server-side
session state has an idle timeout and is intentionally volatile. Login failures
are rate-limited per effective client address. Agent endpoints are outside user
sessions and retain their separate application-ID authorization.

## 4. Key runtime flows

### 4.1 Browse and play a directory

```mermaid
sequenceDiagram
    participant B as Browser
    participant H as HTTP server
    participant P as Player
    participant L as Library
    participant A as Audio backend

    B->>H: POST /api/command/item-play {index}
    H->>P: player-command!("item-play", data)
    P->>L: Resolve entry and recursively collect tracks
    L-->>P: Tracks with metadata
    P->>P: Stop playback and replace current playlist
    P->>A: Lazily create backend if needed
    P->>A: Play first track
    P-->>H: Full state snapshot
    H-->>B: JSON response
```

### 4.2 Poll network playback state

```mermaid
sequenceDiagram
    participant B as Browser
    participant H as HTTP server
    participant P as Player
    participant D as DLNA renderer

    loop Every second
        B->>H: GET /api/state
        H->>P: player-state->jsexpr
        P->>D: Query transport, position, track and volume
        D-->>P: Current renderer information
        P-->>H: Full state snapshot
        H-->>B: JSON response
    end
```

## 5. Concurrency and consistency

The application uses two semaphores with separate responsibilities:

- `command-lock` serializes commands and shutdown, preventing overlapping state
  transitions and backend operations.
- `state-lock` protects short reads and mutations of the shared player fields
  performed by HTTP requests, audio callbacks, and the discovery thread.

Potentially slow discovery runs outside the state lock. Backend calls are also
generally performed outside it, with their results committed in short locked
sections. A state request is not serialized by `command-lock`; it may observe
the last committed state while a command is performing external I/O, but its
snapshot is internally protected by `state-lock`.

The server module stores the player in a module-level `current-player` variable.
This matches the intended one-player-per-process deployment, but it prevents
multiple independent player instances from being served safely within the same
Racket process.

## 6. Configuration and deployment

The application accepts settings from command-line options and an optional INI
file:

- web listen address, defaulting to `127.0.0.1`;
- web port, defaulting to `8080`;
- DLNA media publication port, defaulting to `8734`;
- named library root paths under `[libraries]` (the legacy semicolon-separated
  setting remains supported);
- allowed 256-bit playback-agent IDs under `[playback-agents]`.
- Argon2id user hashes, local networks, trusted proxies, and session timeout.

Command-line network settings override INI values. Library paths from both
sources are combined and de-duplicated.

There is no database, migration process, user account, or persistent playlist
store. Restarting the process resets playlists, output discovery, transport
state, and all other mutable state.

## 7. Security and operational boundaries

The browser API has optional user authentication but no TLS termination or
per-user player state. Authentication must be enabled before exposing it to an
untrusted network, and a reverse proxy must provide HTTPS because session
cookies are always marked `Secure`. Local-network bypass and forwarded client
addresses are security-sensitive configuration: only known reverse-proxy peers
may be trusted, and the application port should remain firewalled from the
internet.

Playback-agent registration and polling are authorized against a default-deny
INI allowlist. Media URLs additionally contain an opaque per-track token. The
random application ID therefore acts as a shared bearer credential, but must
not be treated as strong authentication when transported over unencrypted HTTP.

The GUI and CLI playback agents share one headless runtime. The GUI only adapts
configuration and state to widgets. Optional tray integration is loaded
dynamically through SDL3, so CLI use and the default GUI installation do not
acquire a mandatory SDL dependency.

The configured library roots define the intended filesystem boundary. Clients
operate on opaque indexes instead of sending paths directly. The DLNA backend
must make a selected local file reachable by the network renderer, so its media
port also needs to be accessible on the relevant trusted network.

There is no durable job queue or retry policy. Discovery and renderer failures
are surfaced as shared UI errors, and renderer state is retried naturally by
subsequent polling requests.

## 8. Testing and extension points

Unit tests embedded in `private/library.rkt` cover root creation, filtering, and
directory ordering. Tests in `private/player.rkt` cover initial state, browser
navigation, repeat mode, playlist-tab operations, unknown commands, and clean
shutdown. The current suite does not exercise real audio devices, network
discovery, DLNA renderers, HTTP routing, or browser behavior.

The main extension points are:

- add media formats through the capabilities exposed by `racket-audio`;
- add a renderer kind by extending discovery, backend creation/cleanup, command
  dispatch, and state refresh in `private/player.rkt`;
- add an API operation by defining its player command first and exposing it
  through the generic command endpoint;
- add persistence behind playlist-tab and player initialization without
  changing the browser's snapshot-oriented protocol;
- replace polling with server-pushed updates while keeping the current state
  snapshot as the synchronization model.

## 9. Architectural constraints and trade-offs

- **Single shared state:** simple coordination and UI synchronization, but no
  multi-user isolation or horizontal scaling.
- **Full-state snapshots:** a small and predictable client protocol, at the cost
  of repeatedly transferring all tracks and browser entries.
- **One-second polling:** robust and dependency-free, but introduces periodic
  traffic and up to one second of display latency.
- **Lazy filesystem and backend initialization:** fast startup and low idle
  resource usage, while the first recursive selection or playback command can
  be comparatively slow.
- **In-memory playlists:** minimal operational complexity, but no recovery after
  restart.
- **Explicit backend branching:** easy to follow for the current small set of
  outputs, but adding renderer types touches several player functions rather
  than one formal backend interface.