peerpigeon

v1.1.3

Published

3 months ago

WebRTC-based peer-to-peer mesh networking library with intelligent routing and signaling server

PeerPigeon

WebRTC-based peer-to-peer mesh networking with intelligent routing, encrypted storage, and media streaming.

PeerPigeon is a production-ready library for building decentralized applications with true mesh networking, encrypted distributed storage, and selective media streaming. It handles peer discovery, connection management, and message routing automatically.

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Local Testing Requirement
When testing on localhost, WebRTC connections require media permissions (microphone/camera) due to browser security.
Solution: Click the "Media" tab in the browser example and grant permissions, or see docs/LOCAL_TESTING.md for details.
This is NOT required for production HTTPS deployments.

✨ Key Features

🕸️ True Mesh Networking - Gossip protocol + XOR distance routing (Kademlia-inspired)
🌐 Network Namespaces - Isolated peer networks with automatic global fallback
🗄️ Distributed Storage - Encrypted, CRDT-enabled storage across the mesh
🎥 Selective Streaming - Efficient audio/video streaming with bandwidth management
📦 Binary Messages - Native support for efficient binary data transfer (Uint8Array/ArrayBuffer)
🌊 Stream API - Transfer large files with ReadableStream/WritableStream (memory-efficient, backpressure handling)
🏢 Hub System - Connect multiple signaling servers for global peer discovery
🔗 Hub P2P Mesh - Hubs form WebRTC mesh with XOR routing, auto-migrate from WebSocket to P2P
🔐 End-to-End Encryption - Built-in crypto for secure communication
💰 Cost Optimized - Smart routing reduces server costs by ~95%
📱 Multi-Platform - Browser, Node.js, NativeScript support

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

npm install peerpigeon

Basic Usage

import { PeerPigeonMesh } from 'peerpigeon';

// Create and connect
const mesh = new PeerPigeonMesh({ enableWebDHT: true, enableCrypto: true });
await mesh.init();
await mesh.connect('ws://localhost:3000');

// Send messages
mesh.sendMessage('Hello, mesh!');

// Listen for messages
mesh.on('messageReceived', ({ from, content }) => {
  console.log(`${from}: ${content}`);
});

Run Signaling Server

# Start both hub and HTTP server for testing
npm run dev

# Or run them separately:
npm run dev:hub   # Just the signaling hub
npm run dev:http  # Just the HTTP server

# Custom port
PORT=8080 npm run hub

Local Testing

For localhost testing, you need to grant media permissions:

Open browser example: http://localhost:8080/
Go to Media tab
Click Start Media button
Allow microphone/camera access

See docs/LOCAL_TESTING.md for full details.

📚 Examples

Streaming File Transfer

// Send a file using streams (memory-efficient for large files)
const file = fileInput.files[0];
await mesh.sendFile(targetPeerId, file);

// Receive files
mesh.on('streamReceived', async (event) => {
  const { stream, metadata } = event;
  console.log(`Receiving ${metadata.filename} (${metadata.totalSize} bytes)`);
  
  // Read stream and create blob
  const chunks = [];
  const reader = stream.getReader();
  while (true) {
    const { done, value } = await reader.read();
    if (done) break;
    chunks.push(value);
  }
  const blob = new Blob(chunks, { type: metadata.mimeType });
  
  // Download file
  const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
  const a = document.createElement('a');
  a.href = url;
  a.download = metadata.filename;
  a.click();
});

Binary Messages

// Send binary data to specific peer
const binaryData = new Uint8Array([1, 2, 3, 4, 5]);
await mesh.sendBinaryData(targetPeerId, binaryData);

// Broadcast binary to all peers
const count = await mesh.broadcastBinaryData(binaryData);

// Receive binary messages
mesh.on('binaryMessageReceived', ({ from, data, size }) => {
  console.log(`Received ${size} bytes from ${from}`);
  // data is Uint8Array
});

// Send files
const file = fileInput.files[0];
const buffer = await file.arrayBuffer();
await mesh.sendBinaryData(peerId, new Uint8Array(buffer));

Distributed Storage

// Store encrypted data across the mesh
await mesh.storage.put('myKey', { data: 'value' });

// Retrieve from any peer
const value = await mesh.storage.get('myKey');

// Storage spaces for organization
const chatSpace = mesh.storage.getSpace('chat');
await chatSpace.put('message1', { text: 'Hello!' });

Selective Media Streaming

// Get local media
const stream = await navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia({ 
  video: true, 
  audio: true 
});

// Selective streaming to specific peers
mesh.media.addLocalStream(stream, 'camera');
mesh.media.streamToPeer('peer-id-1', 'camera', { video: true, audio: true });
mesh.media.streamToPeer('peer-id-2', 'camera', { video: false, audio: true }); // Audio only

// Receive streams
mesh.media.on('remoteStreamAdded', ({ peerId, stream, label }) => {
  videoElement.srcObject = stream;
});

Network Namespaces

// Create isolated networks
const gameMesh = new PeerPigeonMesh({ networkName: 'game-lobby-1' });
const chatMesh = new PeerPigeonMesh({ networkName: 'chat-room-5' });

// Peers in different networks won't see each other
await gameMesh.connect('ws://localhost:3000');
await chatMesh.connect('ws://localhost:3000');

Hub System (Multi-Server)

// Server 1 (bootstrap hub on port 3000)
const hub1 = new PeerPigeonServer({ 
  port: 3000, 
  isHub: true 
});
await hub1.start();

// Server 2 connects to hub1
const hub2 = new PeerPigeonServer({ 
  port: 3001, 
  isHub: true,
  bootstrapHubs: ['ws://localhost:3000']
});
await hub2.start();

// Hubs automatically form P2P mesh with XOR routing
// WebSocket connections are closed once P2P mesh is established
// Clients connect via WebSocket, hub-to-hub uses P2P for efficiency

// Peers on hub2 can discover peers on hub1!

New in v1.1: Hubs now form a true P2P mesh network using WebRTC with XOR-based routing. WebSocket connections between hubs are automatically closed once the P2P mesh is established, significantly reducing server load. See docs/HUB_P2P_MESH.md for details.


## 📖 Documentation

### Core Guides
- **[API Documentation](docs/API_DOCUMENTATION.md)** - Complete API reference
- **[CLI Guide](docs/CLI_README.md)** - Command-line interface
- **[Binary Messages](docs/BINARY_MESSAGES.md)** - Efficient binary data transfer
- **[Streaming API](docs/STREAMING_API.md)** - Large file transfers with ReadableStream/WritableStream
- **[Network Namespaces](docs/NETWORK_NAMESPACES.md)** - Isolated peer networks
- **[Selective Streaming](docs/SELECTIVE_STREAMING_GUIDE.md)** - Media streaming optimization

### Hub System
- **[Hub System Overview](docs/HUB_SYSTEM.md)** - Multi-server mesh architecture
- **[Hub Quick Reference](docs/HUB_QUICK_REF.md)** - Quick start guide for hubs
- **[Hub Scripts](docs/HUB_SCRIPTS.md)** - Hub automation scripts
- **[Bootstrap Hubs](docs/BOOTSTRAP_HUBS.md)** - Hub discovery and connection

### Examples
- **[Browser Examples](examples/browser/)** - Web applications
- **[Binary Message Demo](examples/binary-message-demo.html)** - Interactive binary transfer demo
- **[Stream File Transfer Demo](examples/stream-file-transfer-demo.html)** - Large file transfer with progress
- **[Node.js Examples](examples/node/)** - Server-side usage
- **[NativeScript Examples](examples/nativescript/)** - Mobile apps

## 🏗️ Architecture

PeerPigeon uses a modular architecture with smart routing:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ PeerPigeonMesh (Core) │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ • SignalingClient • PeerDiscovery │ │ • ConnectionManager • EvictionManager │ │ • GossipManager • MeshOptimizer │ │ • StorageManager • MediaManager │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ ▼ ▼ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ │ WebSocket │ │ WebRTC │ │ Signaling │ │ DataChannel │ └──────────────┘ └──────────────┘


**Key Components:**
- **XOR Distance Routing** - Kademlia-inspired peer selection
- **Gossip Protocol** - Reliable message propagation
- **Smart Eviction** - Automatically optimizes mesh topology
- **CRDT Storage** - Conflict-free distributed data structures

## 🔧 Advanced Configuration

```javascript
const mesh = new PeerPigeonMesh({
  // Core options
  peerId: 'custom-peer-id',           // Custom peer ID (40-char hex)
  networkName: 'my-network',          // Network namespace (default: 'global')
  allowGlobalFallback: true,          // Allow fallback to global network
  
  // Features (all enabled by default)
  enableWebDHT: true,                 // Distributed hash table
  enableCrypto: true,                 // Encryption & key management
  
  // Connection settings
  maxPeers: 3,                        // Max concurrent connections
  minPeers: 2,                        // Min connections to maintain
  autoConnect: true,                  // Auto-connect on join
  autoDiscovery: true,                // Auto-discover peers
  
  // Topology optimization
  evictionStrategy: true,             // Smart peer eviction
  xorRouting: true                    // XOR distance-based routing
});

🧪 Testing

# Run all tests
npm test

# Browser integration tests
npm run test:browser
npm run test:browser:visual  # With visible browser

# Video streaming tests
npm run test:video
npm run test:video:visual    # With visible browser

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our contributing guidelines and submit pull requests to our GitHub repository.

📄 License

🔗 Links

GitHub: github.com/PeerPigeon/PeerPigeon
npm: npmjs.com/package/peerpigeon
Issues: github.com/PeerPigeon/PeerPigeon/issues

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