[GH-ISSUE #8474] [RFC] Structured protocol traffic generation/replay — scope decision needed (loopback fixture servers first?) #6621

New issue

Open

opened 2026-11-01 21:12:44 +00:00 by bsakaguchi · 0 comments

bsakaguchi commented

2026-11-01 21:12:44 +00:00

Owner

Originally created by @lostsock1 on GitHub (Nov 1, 2026).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/morluto/rea/issues/8474

Context

REA observes traffic (pcap/pcapng via tshark, HAR/mitmproxy/SAZ/qlog, sigrok recordings) but cannot generate or replay it. Community toolkits list Scapy and boofuzz for exactly this. REA's Evidence algebra already has a controlled-replay authority and capture_browser_scenario already supports caller-run local fixture servers, so the semantic substrate exists — but per CONTRIBUTING's fail-closed integration rule, traffic generation involves network side effects and needs a maintainer scope decision before substantial implementation.

Suggested direction (for scoping, not integration)

Local-first: a replay/generation lane restricted to loopback fixture servers the caller provides (matching the browser-scenario precedent), e.g. replay a structured message sequence against a declared local endpoint and capture the exchange as Evidence with the existing pcap/compare tooling.
Declared-remote generation (authorized targets) is a materially different authority/side-effect class — likely out of scope for REA's "local-only" framing unless maintainers decide otherwise.

Open questions

Is loopback-only generation within scope, or is all traffic generation out of product scope?
Which effects vocabulary applies (mutatesDevice? a new network effect?), and how is authorization declared by the caller?
Producer: BYO scapy/boofuzz pinned like tshark/unblob, or a first-party structured-message builder?

Originally created by @lostsock1 on GitHub (Nov 1, 2026). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/morluto/rea/issues/8474 ## Context REA observes traffic (pcap/pcapng via tshark, HAR/mitmproxy/SAZ/qlog, sigrok recordings) but cannot generate or replay it. Community toolkits list Scapy and boofuzz for exactly this. REA's Evidence algebra already has a `controlled-replay` authority and `capture_browser_scenario` already supports caller-run local fixture servers, so the semantic substrate exists — but per CONTRIBUTING's fail-closed integration rule, traffic generation involves network side effects and needs a maintainer scope decision before substantial implementation. ## Suggested direction (for scoping, not integration) - **Local-first**: a replay/generation lane restricted to loopback fixture servers the caller provides (matching the browser-scenario precedent), e.g. replay a structured message sequence against a declared local endpoint and capture the exchange as Evidence with the existing pcap/compare tooling. - Declared-remote generation (authorized targets) is a materially different authority/side-effect class — likely out of scope for REA's "local-only" framing unless maintainers decide otherwise. ## Open questions 1. Is loopback-only generation within scope, or is all traffic generation out of product scope? 2. Which effects vocabulary applies (`mutatesDevice`? a new network effect?), and how is authorization declared by the caller? 3. Producer: BYO scapy/boofuzz pinned like tshark/unblob, or a first-party structured-message builder?

No milestone

No project

No assignees

1 participant

Notifications

Due date

The due date is invalid or out of range. Please use the format "yyyy-mm-dd".

No due date set.

Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference

morluto/rea#6621

No description provided.

Rows
Columns