Topics

📚 Comprehensive topic documentation for ascii-chat

📚 Comprehensive topic documentation for ascii-chat

This page organizes documentation by functional modules, matching the architectural structure of the codebase. Each section corresponds to a module group defined by group annotations in the source code.

The authored documentation is organized under Topic Categories. Use that index for focused runtime guides, operational notes, validation material, research, and tooling; use the sections below for source-oriented architecture.

📖 How to use Topics

Start with Topic Categories for the curated index of all authored guides and notes. The sections below are the source-oriented architecture map; each topic page connects its design notes to the relevant files and symbols.

🛠️ Utilities

🛠️ Core utility functions for string manipulation, paths, IP parsing, and formatting

• Utility Functions
• MCP rendering server

📦 Data Structures

📦 High-performance data structures for memory and packet management

• Owned Buffers
• Ring Buffer
• Packet Queue
• uthash library

🔌 Abstraction Layers

🔌 Cross-platform abstraction for threading, sockets, and system APIs

• Platform Abstraction Layer
• systemd integration
• Webcam Capture
• Keyboard input
• Terminal presentation
• Important terminal notices

🔐 Cryptography

🔐 End-to-end encryption and secure communication

• Cryptography
• Handshake Protocol
• Key Management
• Connection security policy
• Authenticated packet records and rotation - Packet authentication, replay protection, and key rotation

📹 Video

📹 Video capture, ASCII conversion, and frame layout

• Video
• Face Follow
• Video Frames
• Grid Layout
• Palettes

🔊 Audio Processing

🔊 Audio capture, playback, and multi-client mixing

• Audio
• Audio channels
• Audio reliability and validation
• FFTW spectral audio processing
• Mixer

⚙️ Core Infrastructure

⚙️ Core functionality including error handling, logging, and configuration

• Main
• Common
• Error Handling
• Logging
• Options
• Configuration
• Runtime settings
• OpenTelemetry
• Shared statistics collection

🖥️ User Interface

Terminal presentation, input routing, widgets, and interactive screens.

• UI Architecture
• Terminal UI (TUI)
• Keyboard Shortcuts

🌐 Network

🌐 Network I/O, packet protocol, and audio/video streaming

• Network
• Connection ownership and execution
• Native event-driven I/O
• Transport backpressure and media admission
• Network copy reduction
• Measured host selection and handoff
• ACIP over QUIC
• QUIC and WebTransport
• Network runtime and connection ownership
• Event-driven I/O
• ACIP over QUIC
• Transport backpressure
• Compression
• Packet Types
• Audio/Video Networking

💻 Client Application

💻 Client application for connecting to servers and streaming media

• Client
• Shared connection ownership
• Open media during a session
• Shared session TUI
• Client Main
• Client Connection
• Client Protocol
• Client Capture
• Client Display
• Client Audio
• Client Keepalive
• Client Crypto

🖥️ Server Application

🖥️ ascii-chat server implementation and architecture

• Server
• Recording session audio and ASCII video
• Server Main
• Server Client
• Server Protocol
• Server Stream
• Server Render
• Server Stats
• Server Crypto

🔧 Development & Debugging

🔧 Build system, testing infrastructure, and debugging utilities

• Dependencies
• Build System
• Testing
• Debugging
• Keymask public-key art
• Zalgo terminal effect
• Sync inspector activity
• Sync primitive inspector
• Portable SIMD builds
• Shared ASCII terminal emission
• CMake workflows
• Dependency builds
• Continuous integration
• Windows build performance
• Shared native and browser test patterns
• Browser WASM bindings and standalone renderer
• ACIP packet preparation validation
• Discovery session authentication keys
• Discovery host designation
• Lock Debugging

🧰 Tooling

Source-to-source transformation tools for debugging and code quality.

• Defer Statements - 🔄 Go/Zig-style defer statements for automatic cleanup
• Panic Instrumentation - 🚨 Per-statement logging for crash debugging