# TNT Development Guide Complete guide for TNT developers and contributors. ## Table of Contents 1. [Architecture Overview](#architecture-overview) 2. [Code Structure](#code-structure) 3. [Building and Testing](#building-and-testing) 4. [Core Components](#core-components) 5. [Adding Features](#adding-features) 6. [Debugging](#debugging) 7. [Performance Optimization](#performance-optimization) 8. [Contributing Guidelines](#contributing-guidelines) --- ## Architecture Overview TNT uses a multi-threaded architecture with a main accept loop and per-client threads. ``` ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Main Thread │ │ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ ssh_server_start() │ │ │ │ └─> ssh_bind_accept() │ │ │ │ └─> Event loop (auth + channel setup) │ │ │ │ └─> pthread_create(client_thread) │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ ┌─────────────────┴─────────────────┐ │ │ ┌───────▼────────┐ ┌────────▼───────┐ │ Client Thread 1│ │ Client Thread N│ │ ┌──────────┐ │ │ ┌──────────┐ │ │ │ Session │ │ ... │ │ Session │ │ │ │ Handler │ │ │ │ Handler │ │ │ └──────────┘ │ │ └──────────┘ │ └────────────────┘ └────────────────┘ │ │ └───────────┬───────────────────────┘ │ ┌──────────▼──────────┐ │ Chat Room │ │ ┌──────────────┐ │ │ │ RW Lock │ │ │ │ Clients[] │ │ │ │ Messages[] │ │ │ └──────────────┘ │ └─────────────────────┘ ``` ### Key Design Principles 1. **Fixed-size buffers** - No dynamic allocation in hot paths 2. **Reader-writer locks** - Multiple readers, single writer 3. **Reference counting** - Prevent use-after-free 4. **Ring buffer** - Fixed-size message history (last 100 messages) --- ## Code Structure ### Source Files ``` src/ ├── main.c - Entry point, signal handling ├── ssh_server.c - SSH server, client threads, authentication ├── chat_room.c - Chat room logic, message broadcasting ├── message.c - Message persistence (RFC3339 format) ├── tui.c - Terminal UI rendering (ANSI escape codes) └── utf8.c - UTF-8 character handling ``` ### Header Files ``` include/ ├── common.h - Common definitions, constants ├── ssh_server.h - SSH server interface ├── chat_room.h - Chat room interface ├── message.h - Message structure and persistence ├── tui.h - TUI rendering functions └── utf8.h - UTF-8 utilities ``` ### Key Data Structures #### `client_t` (ssh_server.h) ```c typedef struct client { ssh_session session; ssh_channel channel; char username[MAX_USERNAME_LEN]; int width, height; // Terminal dimensions client_mode_t mode; // INSERT/NORMAL/COMMAND int scroll_pos; bool connected; int ref_count; // Reference counting pthread_mutex_t ref_lock; } client_t; ``` #### `chat_room_t` (chat_room.h) ```c typedef struct { pthread_rwlock_t lock; // Reader-writer lock struct client **clients; // Dynamic array int client_count; message_t *messages; // Ring buffer int message_count; } chat_room_t; ``` #### `message_t` (message.h) ```c typedef struct { time_t timestamp; char username[MAX_USERNAME_LEN]; char content[MAX_MESSAGE_LEN]; } message_t; ``` --- ## Building and Testing ### Build Targets ```sh make # Standard release build make debug # Debug build with symbols (-g) make asan # AddressSanitizer build make check # Static analysis (cppcheck) make clean # Clean build artifacts make install # Install to /usr/local/bin ``` ### Compiler Flags **Release build:** ``` -Wall -Wextra -O2 -std=c11 -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=700 ``` **Debug build:** ``` -Wall -Wextra -g -O0 -std=c11 -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=700 ``` **ASAN build:** ``` -Wall -Wextra -g -O0 -fsanitize=address -fno-omit-frame-pointer ``` ### Running Tests ```sh make test # Run all tests # Individual tests cd tests ./test_basic.sh # Basic functionality ./test_security_features.sh # Security checks ./test_anonymous_access.sh # Anonymous access ./test_stress.sh # Concurrent connections ``` ### Test Coverage - **Basic**: Server startup, SSH connection, message logging - **Security**: RSA keys, env vars, UTF-8 validation, buffer overflow protection - **Anonymous**: Passwordless access, any username - **Stress**: 10 concurrent clients for 30 seconds --- ## Core Components ### 1. SSH Server (ssh_server.c) **Callback-based API** (libssh 0.9+): ```c /* Authentication callbacks */ static int auth_password(ssh_session session, const char *user, const char *password, void *userdata); static int auth_none(ssh_session session, const char *user, void *userdata); /* Channel callbacks */ static ssh_channel channel_open_request_session(ssh_session session, void *userdata); static int channel_pty_request(ssh_session session, ssh_channel channel, const char *term, int width, int height, int pxwidth, int pxheight, void *userdata); static int channel_shell_request(ssh_session session, ssh_channel channel, void *userdata); static int channel_exec_request(ssh_session session, ssh_channel channel, const char *command, void *userdata); ``` **Event loop:** ```c ssh_event event = ssh_event_new(); ssh_event_add_session(event, session); /* Wait for: auth_success, channel != NULL, channel_ready */ while ((!ctx->auth_success || ctx->channel == NULL || !ctx->channel_ready) && !timed_out) { ssh_event_dopoll(event, 1000); } ``` ### 2. Chat Room (chat_room.c) **Thread-safe broadcasting:** ```c void room_broadcast(chat_room_t *room, const message_t *msg) { pthread_rwlock_wrlock(&room->lock); /* Copy client list with ref counting */ client_t **clients_copy = calloc(...); for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) { clients_copy[i]->ref_count++; } pthread_rwlock_unlock(&room->lock); // Release lock early /* Render outside lock (avoid deadlock) */ for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) { tui_render_screen(clients_copy[i]); client_release(clients_copy[i]); } } ``` **Why this works:** - Copy client list while holding write lock - Increment reference counts - Release lock BEFORE rendering - Render to all clients outside lock - Decrement reference counts (may free clients) ### 3. Message Persistence (message.c) **Log format:** ``` 2024-01-13T10:30:45Z|username|message content ``` **Optimized loading** (backward scan): ```c /* Scan backwards from file end */ fseek(fp, 0, SEEK_END); long file_size = ftell(fp); long pos = file_size - 1; /* Read 4KB chunks backwards */ #define CHUNK_SIZE 4096 while (pos >= 0 && newlines_found < max_messages) { /* Read chunk */ /* Count newlines backwards */ /* Stop when max_messages found */ } ``` **Complexity:** O(last N messages) instead of O(file size) ### 4. TUI Rendering (tui.c) **Flicker-free rendering:** ```c /* Move to top (no clear screen!) */ pos += snprintf(buffer + pos, size - pos, ANSI_HOME); /* Render each line with line clear */ for (each line) { pos += snprintf(buffer + pos, size - pos, "%s\033[K\r\n", line); } ``` **ANSI codes:** - `\033[H` - HOME (move cursor to 0,0) - `\033[K` - EL (erase to end of line) - `\033[2J` - ED (erase display) - **DON'T USE** (causes flicker) ### 5. UTF-8 Handling (utf8.c) **Character width:** ```c int utf8_char_width(const char *str) { unsigned char c = (unsigned char)str[0]; /* ASCII */ if (c < 0x80) return 1; /* CJK ranges (width = 2) */ uint32_t codepoint = /* decode UTF-8 */; if (codepoint >= 0x4E00 && codepoint <= 0x9FFF) return 2; // CJK Unified if (codepoint >= 0x3040 && codepoint <= 0x30FF) return 2; // Hiragana/Katakana if (codepoint >= 0xAC00 && codepoint <= 0xD7AF) return 2; // Hangul return 1; } ``` **Word deletion (Ctrl+W):** ```c void utf8_remove_last_word(char *str) { int i = strlen(str); /* Skip trailing spaces */ while (i > 0 && str[i-1] == ' ') i--; /* Skip non-spaces (the word) */ while (i > 0 && str[i-1] != ' ') i--; str[i] = '\0'; } ``` **Note:** Only recognizes ASCII space as word boundary (not ideal for CJK). --- ## Adding Features ### Adding a New Command 1. **Add to `execute_command()` in ssh_server.c:** ```c if (strcmp(cmd, "newcmd") == 0) { pos += snprintf(output + pos, sizeof(output) - pos, "New command output\n"); } ``` 2. **Update help text in tui.c:** ```c "AVAILABLE COMMANDS:\n" " newcmd - Description of new command\n" ``` 3. **Add test in tests/test_basic.sh:** ```sh echo ":newcmd" | timeout 5 ssh -p $PORT localhost ``` ### Adding a New Keybinding 1. **Add to `handle_key()` in ssh_server.c:** ```c case MODE_INSERT: if (key == 26) { /* Ctrl+Z */ /* Handle Ctrl+Z */ return true; } ``` 2. **Update help text in tui.c** 3. **Document in README.md** --- ## Debugging ### Enable Verbose SSH Logging ```sh TNT_SSH_LOG_LEVEL=4 ./tnt ``` Levels: - 0 = No logs - 1 = Warnings (default) - 2 = Protocol - 3 = Packet - 4 = Functions ### Use AddressSanitizer ```sh make asan ASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=1 ./tnt ``` Detects: - Buffer overflows - Use-after-free - Memory leaks - Stack corruption ### Use Valgrind ```sh make valgrind --leak-check=full --show-leak-kinds=all ./tnt ``` ### GDB Debugging ```sh make debug gdb ./tnt (gdb) run (gdb) bt # backtrace on crash (gdb) p var # print variable ``` ### Common Issues **Problem:** Client disconnects immediately **Solution:** Check `handle_pty_request()` - must wait for shell/exec request **Problem:** Rendering flickers **Solution:** Use `\033[K` (line clear) instead of `\033[2J` (screen clear) **Problem:** Race condition / deadlock **Solution:** Check lock order, use reader-writer locks correctly **Problem:** Memory leak **Solution:** Run with ASAN, check reference counting --- ## Performance Optimization ### Hot Paths 1. **Message broadcasting** (`room_broadcast`) - Minimize lock holding time - Render outside lock - Use fixed-size buffers 2. **TUI rendering** (`tui_render_screen`) - Build buffer completely, then single write - No incremental writes - Use `snprintf` (not `strcat`) 3. **Message loading** (`message_load`) - Backward scan from file end - 4KB chunked reads - Early termination ### Profiling ```sh # Compile with profiling make CFLAGS="-pg" # Run ./tnt # Generate report gprof tnt gmon.out > profile.txt ``` ### Benchmarking ```sh # Message throughput time (for i in {1..1000}; do echo "msg $i"; done | ssh -p 2222 localhost) # Concurrent connections ./tests/test_stress.sh # Startup time with large log dd if=/dev/zero of=messages.log bs=1M count=10 time ./tnt ``` --- ## Contributing Guidelines ### Code Style Follow **Linux kernel coding style**: ```c /* Function brace on new line */ int function(int arg) { /* Use tabs (width 8) */ if (condition) { /* Do something */ } /* Single exit point preferred */ return ret; } ``` **Rules:** - Tabs for indentation (8 spaces) - Max 80 columns - No trailing whitespace - `/* C-style comments */` (not `//`) - Functions < 100 lines - Max 3 levels of indentation ### Commit Messages ``` subsystem: short description (max 50 chars) Longer explanation if needed (wrap at 72 chars). Explain WHAT and WHY, not HOW. - Bullet points OK - Reference issues: Fixes #123 Signed-off-by: Your Name ``` Examples: ``` ssh: migrate to callback-based API Replace deprecated message-based API with modern callback-based server implementation. Eliminates message loop complexity. tui: optimize rendering to eliminate flicker Use ANSI HOME + line clear instead of full screen clear. Reduces rendering time from 50ms to <1ms. ``` ### Pull Request Process 1. **Fork and branch** ```sh git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature ``` 2. **Make changes** - Write code - Add tests - Update docs 3. **Test** ```sh make clean make make test make asan # must pass! ``` 4. **Commit** ```sh git commit -s -m "subsystem: description" ``` 5. **Push and PR** ```sh git push origin feature/amazing-feature # Open PR on GitHub ``` ### Code Review Checklist - [ ] Follows Linux kernel code style - [ ] All tests pass (`make test`) - [ ] ASAN clean (`make asan`) - [ ] No compiler warnings - [ ] Documentation updated - [ ] Commit messages follow convention - [ ] No unnecessary complexity - [ ] Thread-safe if touching shared data --- ## Additional Resources - [libssh Documentation](https://api.libssh.org/stable/) - [Linux Kernel Coding Style](https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html) - [ANSI Escape Codes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code) - [UTF-8 Specification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTF-8) --- **Questions?** Open an issue or discussion on GitHub.