De-MLS

Decentralized MLS proof-of-concept that coordinates secure group membership through off-chain consensus and a Waku relay.
This repository now ships a native desktop client built with Dioxus that drives the MLS core directly.

What’s Included

• de-mls – core library that manages MLS groups, consensus, and Waku integration
• crates/de_mls_gateway – bridges UI commands (AppCmd) to the core runtime and streams AppEvents back
• crates/ui_bridge – bootstrap glue that hosts the async command loop for desktop clients
• apps/de_mls_desktop_ui – Dioxus desktop UI with login, chat, stewardship, and voting flows
• tests/ – integration tests that exercise the MLS state machine and consensus paths

Quick Start

1. Launch a test Waku relay

Run a lightweight nwaku node that your local clients can connect to:

docker run \
  -p 8645:8645 \
  -p 60000:60000 \
  wakuorg/nwaku:v0.33.1 \
  --cluster-id=15 \
  --rest \
  --relay \
  --rln-relay=false \
  --pubsub-topic=/waku/2/rs/15/1

Take note of the node multiaddr printed in the logs (looks like /ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/60000/p2p/<peer-id>).

2. Set the runtime environment

The desktop app reads the same environment variables the MLS core uses:

export NODE_PORT=60001                # UDP/TCP port the embedded Waku client will bind to             
export PEER_ADDRESSES=/ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/60000/p2p/<peer-id>
export RUST_LOG=info,de_mls_gateway=info                    # optional; controls UI + gateway logging

Use a unique NODE_PORT per local client so the embedded Waku nodes do not collide. PEER_ADDRESSES accepts a comma-separated list if you want to bootstrap from multiple relays.

3. Launch the desktop application

cargo run -p de_mls_desktop_ui

The first run creates apps/de_mls_desktop_ui/logs/de_mls_ui.log and starts the event bridge and embedded Waku client. Repeat steps 2–3 in another terminal with a different NODE_PORT to simulate multiple users.

Using the Desktop UI

• Login screen – paste an Ethereum-compatible secp256k1 private key (hex, with or without 0x) and click Enter.
  On success the app derives your wallet address, stores it in session state, and navigates to the home layout.

• Header bar – shows the derived address and allows runtime log-level changes (error→trace).
  Log files rotate daily under apps/de_mls_desktop_ui/logs/.

• Groups panel – lists every MLS group returned by the gateway.
  Use Create or Join to open a modal, enter the group name, and the UI automatically refreshes the list and opens the group.

• Chat panel – displays live conversation messages for the active group.
  Compose text messages at the bottom; the UI also offers:

  • Leave group to request a self-ban (the backend fills in your address)
  • Request ban to request ban for another user Member lists are fetched automatically when a group is opened so you can pick existing members from the ban modal.

• Consensus panel – keeps stewards and members aligned:

  • Shows whether you are a steward for the active group
  • Lists pending steward requests collected during the current epoch
  • Surfaces the proposal currently open for voting with YES/NO buttons
  • Stores the latest proposal decisions with timestamps for quick auditing

Steward State Machine

• Working – normal mode; all MLS messages are allowed
• Waiting – a steward epoch is active; only the steward may push BATCH_PROPOSALS_MESSAGE
• Voting – the consensus phase; everyone may submit VOTE/USER_VOTE, the steward can still publish proposal metadata

Transitions:

Working --start_steward_epoch()--> Waiting (if proposals exist)
Working --start_steward_epoch()--> Working (if no proposals)
Waiting --start_voting()---------> Voting
Waiting --no_proposals_found()---> Working
Voting --complete_voting(YES)----> Waiting --apply_proposals()--> Working
Voting --complete_voting(NO)-----> Working

Stewards always return to Working after an epoch finishes; edge cases such as missing proposals are handled defensively with detailed tracing.

Development Tips

• cargo test – runs the Rust unit + integration test suite
• cargo fmt --all check / cargo clippy – keep formatting and linting consistent with the codebase
• RUST_BACKTRACE=full – helpful when debugging state-machine transitions during development

Logs for the desktop UI live in apps/de_mls_desktop_ui/logs/; core logs are emitted to stdout as well.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Please include reproduction steps, relevant logs, and test coverage where possible.