Relay connect used to serialize a dead LAN probe (up to 8s per stale address
on mobile, 2-4s on desktop) in front of the relay attempt, then paid a second
WebSocket connect + E2EE handshake because the probe tunnel was thrown away.
- mobile probeConnectionCandidates: race the relay probe against the direct
chain with a 1.5s direct headstart; a live LAN still wins, a dead one no
longer delays startup
- relay probes adopt their tunnel as the runtime tunnel (adoptRelayTunnel)
instead of dialing a fresh one — applies to auto-connect, pairing redeem,
password login, and the desktop host switcher's relay fallback
- relay probe drops the /health round-trip: the E2EE handshake already proves
the server identity, /auth/session alone proves liveness and auth
- desktop restoreDesktopRelayRuntime: same headstart race; a late direct
success hot-switches back (stable runtimeKey); startup probe now passes
expectedServerId so a re-leased LAN address never sees the token
- launch splash shows 'Connecting to device: <label>' with animated dots
under the (still centered) logo, translated in all locales
- editing a saved instance no longer rebuilds it from the URL field alone:
the id is passed through, relay/https candidates are preserved, and a
token-key change migrates the Keychain token instead of orphaning it
Adds OpenChamber Relay — an opt-in way to reach an instance from a phone,
browser, or another desktop from anywhere, with no open inbound ports, no
tunnel, and no shared LAN. The instance dials outbound to a relay; all app
traffic (HTTP, the event stream, terminal, dictation) is multiplexed and
encrypted through a single connection per client, so the relay only ever
forwards opaque ciphertext.
Transport
- End-to-end-encrypted channel over WebCrypto (ECDH P-256 -> HKDF ->
AES-256-GCM) with a capability-negotiated handshake and a small
HTTP/SSE/WebSocket multiplexing protocol. A byte-compatible JS host mirror
is cross-checked by tests.
- Host: outbound connection manager, per-client tunnel dispatcher to the local
server over loopback, reuse of the existing instance identity key, and
management routes. Disabled by default; explicit opt-in.
- Client: plugs into the existing runtime layer (runtime-fetch/-url/-switch/
-auth, event pipeline, terminal, dictation) so features work over the relay
unchanged; direct-URL and Electron realtime-proxy paths are untouched.
Pairing & UX
- Relay section in Settings -> Remote Instances (live status, QR/link pairing,
revocation via the existing client-token list) and the mobile connect flow.
- Frame batching and idle-gated keepalive keep tunnel message volume low
without affecting streaming smoothness.
Security
- The tunnel is transport only; the server authenticates every tunneled
request exactly as for a direct remote client.
fragments only. The relay stores no keys, tokens, or payloads.
Operability
- The endpoint can be pinned to a self-hosted rel
paired clients inherit it from the offer automatically.
- Relay module DOCUMENTATION.md and a relay-trans
invariants that future WebSocket/streaming changes must follow.
The relay transport is complete and tested; the UI for enabling and pairing
is gated behind openchamber_relay_gate and stays
Bohdan Triapitsyn