peardata/docs/PROTOCOL.md

Protocol

Wire contract for PearData P2P RPC. Source of truth: shared/protocol.js, shared/schema.js, shared/metrics.js.

Identity

Constant	Value
Protocol id	peardata/rpc
Protocol version	1
Invite prefix	pd1.
Default role	viewer

Bump PROTOCOL_VERSION on breaking argument/result shapes.

Roles

Role	Rank	Typical access
viewer	1	Read metrics, subscribe, list alerts
operator	2	Ack/silence alerts, run jobs, set alert config
admin	3	Mint invites, revoke peers, export snapshot

Auth modes at handshake: public key (viewer), capability token / pd1. invite, admin seed proof, allowlist.

Methods

Session

Method	Role	Notes
handshake	viewer	Negotiate version + elevate role
ping	viewer	Hot
getServerInfo	viewer	Agent metadata
getAuthStatus	viewer	Peer role / auth mode
setDisplayName	viewer	Label for audit / UI

Node

Method	Role	Result
getNodeInfo	viewer	Hostname, CPUs, charts, sample interval
getHealth	viewer	{ status, score, checks }

Metrics discovery & query

Method	Role	Args	Result
listContexts	viewer	—	Context catalog
getContext	viewer	{ id }	Charts in context
listCharts	viewer	—	agent-style chart map
getChart	viewer	{ id }	Chart summary
queryData	viewer	{ chart, after, before, points, group, tier }	Time series
getWeights	viewer	see below	Metric Correlations / alert weights
queryLogs	viewer*	see below	Anomaly / audit / journal lines
listProcesses	viewer	sort / filter / q / limit	Live Linux /proc process table
getAllMetrics	viewer	{ format: json|prometheus|shell }	Latest export

* queryLogs method role is viewer so anomaly search works for all dialers; audit and journal sources require admin inside the handler.

after / before: absolute unix seconds, or relative (negative = relative to before/now), agent-style.

getWeights

Scores charts for Metric Correlations (or legacy alert weights when no highlight window).

Arg	Notes
method	volume | ks2 | anomaly-rate | value | alerts
after / before	Highlight window
baseline_after / baseline_before	Optional baseline (default 4× preceding highlight)
points, time_group, contexts, charts, dimensions, limit, timeout	Same as REST

REST parity: GET /api/v*/weights. Engine: server/services/weights.js.

queryLogs

Arg	Notes
source	journal (default) | anomaly | audit — desktop prefers journal for admins
q	Case-insensitive substring
since / until	Absolute ms/sec or relative (-1h)
priority / unit	Journal filters
limit / cursor	Cap (≤2000) + pagination offset

Journal is enabled by default on Linux (PEARDATA_JOURNAL=0 to disable). Installer grants systemd-journal to the agent user. REST: GET /api/v*/logs. Engine: server/services/logs.js. UI: user-guide/logs.md.

listProcesses

Arg	Notes
sort	cpu (default) | rss | pid | name | io | threads | age | fds | state
order	desc (default) | asc
filter	all | running | sleeping | zombie | stopped | highcpu | highmem | hasio | kernel | user
q	Substring over pid / name / cmdline / user / cgroup
limit / offset	Cap ≤2000
pid	Optional — return one process with detail fields (fds, exe, cwd, …)

Linux /proc only. Rates need two samples (~450ms cache). REST: GET /api/v*/processes. UI: user-guide/processes.md.

Live subscriptions

Method	Role	Args
subscribeMetrics	viewer	{ charts: string[]|['*'], intervalMs }
unsubscribeMetrics	viewer	—
subscribeAnomalies	viewer	—
unsubscribeAnomalies	viewer	—

Anomalies & alerts

Method	Role	Notes
listAnomalies	viewer	Recent events
listAlerts / getAlert	viewer	State + config
setAlertConfig	operator	Upsert threshold
ackAlert	operator	Clear until next breach
silenceAlert	operator	Disable temporarily

Jobs

Method	Role	Known jobs
listJobs	viewer	—
runJob	operator	collectOnce, snapshot, gcBuffers (prune)
cancelJob	operator	By job id

Data Manager (retention / storage)

Method	Role	Notes
getStorageInfo	viewer	Disk usage, memory rings, warm sample stats, effective retention
getRetentionConfig	viewer	Current policy (retention.json; default warm age 1 year)
setRetentionConfig	admin	Update hot/warm rings, age rotate, disk budget, auto-prune
pruneHistory	admin	{ dryRun?, beforeMs? } — delete warm points past retention

UI: user-guide/settings.md → Data. Job alias: runJob({ name: 'gcBuffers' }) runs the same prune path.

HyperDB / peer links

Method	Role	Notes
getDbInfo	viewer	DB + discovery keys, swarm flag, remotes
listPeerLinks	viewer	Linked peers from HyperDB
linkPeer	admin	Upsert link; open remote bee + optional swarm join
unlinkPeer	admin	Remove link
getFleetHealth	viewer	Parent rollup (when PEARDATA_PARENT=1)
listChildPeers	viewer	Dialed child agents

See STORAGE-HYPERDB.md.

Admin

Method	Role
mintInvite	admin
listPeers	admin
revokePeer	admin
exportSnapshot	admin

Pushes (server → client)

Event	Payload
push:metrics	{ samples: MetricSample[] }
push:anomaly	AnomalyEvent
push:alert	Alert transition
push:health	HealthSnapshot
push:job	JobRecord
push:system	Generic notices

Errors

Handlers throw Error with .code:

Code	Meaning
PERMISSION_DENIED	Role too low
RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED	RPM exceeded
INVALID_ARGS	Schema failure
NOT_CONNECTED	Client-side
CAPABILITY_*	Invite/token issues

Versioning policy

1. Additive methods/fields: no version bump if old clients ignore unknowns.
2. Rename/remove/change meaning: bump PROTOCOL_VERSION; reject or compat-negotiate in handshake.
3. REST API versions (v1/v2/v3) are independent of RPC version but share the store.

Example session

client → handshake { clientName, clientVersion, capability? }
server → { role, protocolVersion, auth }
client → subscribeMetrics { charts: ['*'], intervalMs: 1000 }
server → push:metrics { samples: [...] }   # ~1 Hz
client → queryData { chart: 'system.cpu', after: -300, points: 300 }