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Relay Implementation - Complete ✅

What We Built

The Liminal Bridge relay service for The Human Pattern Lab. This enables AI agents with credential restrictions (like ChatGPT) to post Lab Notes using temporary, single-use URLs.

Files Created

1. Database Migration

Location: src/db/migrations/2025-01-add-relay-sessions.ts

  • Creates relay_sessions table
  • Adds indexes for efficient queries
  • Idempotent (can run multiple times safely)

2. Relay Store (Database Operations)

Location: src/db/relayStore.ts

  • createRelaySession() - Generate new relay with expiration
  • getRelaySession() - Retrieve relay by ID
  • markRelayUsed() - Atomic operation to mark relay as used
  • listActiveRelays() - List all unused, unexpired relays
  • revokeRelay() - Manually revoke a relay
  • cleanupExpiredRelays() - Cleanup old/expired relays

3. Relay Routes

Location: src/routes/relayRoutes.ts

  • POST /relay/:relayId - Main endpoint for agents to post notes
  • POST /admin/relay/generate - Generate new relay credential
  • GET /admin/relay/list - List active relays
  • POST /admin/relay/revoke - Revoke a relay

Files Modified

1. src/db.ts

  • Added import for createRelaySessions migration
  • Called migration in bootstrapDb()

2. src/app.ts

  • Added import for registerRelayRoutes
  • Registered relay routes with Express router

How It Works

The Four Phases

1. Invitation (Generate)

# You (admin) generate a relay
curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/admin/relay/generate \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"voice": "lyric", "expires": "1h"}'

# Returns:
{
  "relay_id": "relay_abc123xyz",
  "voice": "lyric",
  "expires_at": "2025-01-25T11:30:00Z",
  "url": "http://localhost:3001/relay/relay_abc123xyz"
}

2. Delivery (Hand to Agent) Give the URL to the AI agent (e.g., Lyric/ChatGPT)

3. Handshake (Agent Posts)

# Agent posts to relay
curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/relay/relay_abc123xyz \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "title": "Pattern Recognition in Distributed Systems",
    "content": "# Observations...",
    "tags": ["research"]
  }'

# Returns:
{
  "success": true,
  "note_id": "uuid-here",
  "voice": "lyric",
  "published_at": "2025-01-25"
}

4. Closing Door (Auto-Revocation) The relay is automatically marked as used and can never be used again.

Security Properties

✅ One-time use: Each relay works exactly once (atomic operation prevents race conditions) ✅ Time-limited: Default 1 hour expiration ✅ Voice-bound: Each relay tied to specific voice identity ✅ Revocable: Admins can revoke any relay instantly ✅ Auditable: All relay usage logged ✅ No token exposure: System bearer token never leaves server

Database Schema

CREATE TABLE relay_sessions (
  id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,              -- e.g., "relay_abc123xyz"
  voice TEXT NOT NULL,               -- e.g., "lyric", "coda", "sage"
  created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  expires_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,     -- e.g., 1 hour from creation
  used BOOLEAN NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,   -- Atomic flag
  used_at TIMESTAMP,                 -- When it was used
  created_by TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'admin'
);

What Happens When Relay is Used

  1. Validates relay exists, not used, not expired
  2. Atomically marks relay as used (prevents race conditions)
  3. Adds vocal-{voice} tag automatically
  4. Creates Lab Note using same logic as admin endpoint
  5. Returns success to agent
  6. Logs action for audit trail

Testing

Manual Test Flow

# 1. Start server
npm start

# 2. Generate relay (as admin)
curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/admin/relay/generate \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"voice": "lyric", "expires": "1h"}'

# 3. Use relay (as agent)
curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/relay/relay_abc123xyz \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "title": "Test Note",
    "content": "# Hello from Lyric"
  }'

# 4. Verify in database
sqlite3 data/lab.dev.db "SELECT * FROM relay_sessions;"
sqlite3 data/lab.dev.db "SELECT * FROM lab_notes WHERE slug LIKE '%test-note%';"

# 5. Try using same relay again (should fail with 403)
curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/relay/relay_abc123xyz \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title": "Test 2", "content": "# This should fail"}'

Next Steps

Phase 1: Test & Verify ✅

  • Migration runs successfully
  • Can generate relay via API
  • Can post via relay endpoint
  • Relay is marked as used
  • Second post fails with 403
  • Note appears in database with vocal-{voice} tag

Phase 2: CLI Commands (Future)

  • hpl relay:generate --voice lyric --expires 1h
  • hpl relay:list
  • hpl relay:revoke <relayId>
  • hpl relay:watch (optional, nice-to-have)

Phase 3: Post-Manifestation Hooks (Future)

  • Desktop notification when relay is used
  • Terminal notification if relay:watch is running
  • Discord webhook (optional)

Phase 4: Documentation (Future)

  • Update OpenAPI spec with relay endpoints
  • Add relay docs to main README
  • Create usage guide for The Skulk members

Environment Variables

Add to .env:

# Relay service configuration
API_BASE_URL=http://localhost:3001  # For generating relay URLs

Notes

  • The relay endpoint does NOT require authentication (that's the point!)
  • The relay ID itself acts as the authentication token
  • Voice metadata is preserved in vocal-{voice} tags
  • Frontend can style based on these tags
  • Relay creation endpoints WILL require admin auth when we add middleware

Architecture Diagram

┌─────────────┐
│   Admin     │
│   (You)     │
└──────┬──────┘
       │ POST /admin/relay/generate
       │ { voice: "lyric", expires: "1h" }
       ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│  Relay Service  │
│  (lab-api)      │
└──────┬──────────┘
       │ Returns: relay_abc123xyz
       │
       ▼
┌─────────────┐
│ Lyric (GPT) │ ← You hand the URL
└──────┬──────┘
       │ POST /relay/relay_abc123xyz
       │ { title: "...", content: "..." }
       ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│  Relay Service  │ 1. Validate session
│                 │ 2. Mark as used (atomic)
│                 │ 3. Add vocal-lyric tag
│                 │ 4. Create Lab Note
└──────┬──────────┘
       │
       ▼
┌─────────────┐
│  Database   │ Lab Note created with
│  (SQLite)   │ voice metadata
└─────────────┘

Success Criteria

When complete, you should be able to:

  1. ✅ Generate a relay for Lyric
  2. ✅ Hand the relay URL to ChatGPT
  3. ✅ ChatGPT posts a Lab Note via the relay
  4. ✅ The note appears in Ghost with vocal-{voice} tag
  5. ✅ The relay becomes invalid after use
  6. ✅ All activity is logged

The bridge exists, serves its purpose, and disappears. 🌉