logos-delivery/simulations/mixnet/chat-ui

Testing logos-chat-ui against the local mixnet sim

Run two logos-chat-ui clients that exchange end-to-end messages through the 5-node mix sim (Sphinx routing + RLN spam protection + exit-node delivery).

The two clients adopt the two provisioned chat memberships the sim already generates (peer-IDs …1Qx… and …RABscN, the same identities run_chat_mix*.sh use), via CHAT_NODEKEY. RLN keystores are peer-ID-derived, so fixing the nodekey makes the right rln_keystore_<peerId>.json resolve.

Prerequisites

• Nix (the chat-ui builds via nix run).
• This sim built + provisioned (run from simulations/mixnet/):

make -C ../../ wakunode2      # build the mix node binary
./build_setup.sh             # generate rln_tree.db + 7 keystores

build_setup.sh regenerates rln_tree.db + all keystores from setup_credentials.nim. This sim is configured with cover traffic disabled and userMessageLimit = 100 (matches the chat's RLN default).

1. Start the 5 mix nodes

Each in its own terminal, bootstrap first:

./run_mix_node.sh            # bootstrap (tcp/60001)
./run_mix_node1.sh           # tcp/60002
./run_mix_node2.sh           # tcp/60003
./run_mix_node3.sh           # tcp/60004
./run_mix_node4.sh           # tcp/60005

Wait for MixRlnSpamProtection started + Node setup complete on each.

2. Start the two chat-ui clients

cd chat-ui
./run_chat_ui.sh A           # ClientA on tcp/60010
./run_chat_ui.sh B           # ClientB on tcp/60011

Each opens a GUI window. The bottom status bar should show MIX 5/4 (mix pool full) with the send button enabled.

To iterate on a local chat-ui checkout instead of the pushed branch:

CHAT_UI="$HOME/Code/logos-chat-ui" ./run_chat_ui.sh A

3. Exchange messages

1. In ClientA: click My Bundle and copy the intro bundle.
2. In ClientB: + new → paste A's bundle + a first message → create.
3. Send messages each way — they route A↔B through the mixnet.

How the config flows

run_chat_ui.sh sets env that logos-chat-ui reads into the chat config:

env	meaning
CHAT_MIX_NODES	the 5 mix nodes (multiaddr:curve25519pubkey) — hardcoded, the chat does no mix-peer discovery
CHAT_STATIC_PEER	bootstrap node (relay the chat connects to)
CHAT_CLUSTER_ID / CHAT_SHARD_ID	2 / 0 (must match the mix nodes)
CHAT_NODEKEY	adopt a provisioned chat identity so its RLN keystore resolves
CHAT_MIX_REQUIRED	force Required (mix) mode

Notes / limitations

• Load: 5 mix nodes at log-level=TRACE (the default in config*.toml) write multi-GB logs and can starve a desktop machine. For real testing prefer fleet nodes; locally, lower log-level if the UI feels sluggish.
• Static membership only: the two chat slots are fixed. Adding more clients means adding their peer-IDs to setup_credentials.nim + re-running build_setup.sh.
• No mix discovery on the client: all mix nodes must be in CHAT_MIX_NODES.