ESP32_Serial_Swiss_Army_Knife/docs/agent/current-state.md

Current project state

This file is working memory. Update it during active work and before handoff; do not treat it as a permanent design record.

Development state

Based on checked-in source plus README.md and docs/roadmap.md:

• Hardware characterization, serial service, session broker, USB CDC, Wi-Fi, HTTPS/WebSocket, SSH serial transport, and local display/control are implemented and documented as target-hardware validated.
• Phase 8A role-based user storage/UART0 administration and Phase 8B role-aware HTTPS/SSH authentication and targeted revocation are documented as target-hardware validated.
• Phase 8C admin SSH is implemented in source and uses the shared esp_console registry. Target-hardware validation is explicitly pending.
• Phase 8D web user administration and Phase 8E browser login/session integration are planned, not implemented.
• Security/production hardening, OTA, BLE evaluation, advanced networking, and optional filesystem features remain future roadmap work.
• Reserved OTA, coredump, NVS-key, and storage partitions do not imply those runtime features are implemented.

Recent memory audit

• Fixed failed-initialization ownership leaks for wolfSSH, partial HTTPS startup, and TinyUSB teardown. Failed teardown now retains ownership and blocks unsafe duplicate initialization.
• Serial-service RX/TX stream payloads (16 KiB and 8 KiB effective capacity) now prefer PSRAM with internal fallback; FreeRTOS controls and UART driver buffers remain internal.
• The 5,360-byte transactional user-database candidate now prefers PSRAM with internal fallback while the live database remains internal. Candidate contents are wiped after each transaction and wiped/freed on initialization or recovery failure.
• UART and admin-SSH completion formatter buffers were reduced from 2 KiB to 1 KiB each; current worst-case output is 890 bytes and overflow remains fail-closed.
• Linked RAM fell from 99,508 to 92,188 bytes (7,320 bytes). PSRAM placement of serial payloads additionally removes about 24 KiB of normal internal-heap pressure on the target.
• pio run passes. A preliminary target run reports significantly more free memory and stable, improved operation after these changes. This is useful evidence but not completion of Phase 8C validation.
• Remaining targeted checks include stored/migrated/recovered user-database mutations, USB enumeration, HTTPS start/stop failure recovery where injectable, SSH initialization/login, completion display, and sustained multi-transport serial traffic while checking memory telemetry.

Clearly incomplete or transitional areas

• Phase 8C hardware-validation matrix remains pending. It includes route separation, shared command serialization, history/completion, prompts, output backpressure, revocation during queued work, deferred SSH lifecycle/reboot actions, and full concurrent transport operation.
• Current HTTPS has no web-based user administration and gives both roles the same status/terminal routes.
• Browser authentication still uses HTTP Basic; integrated login/logout sessions are planned.
• NVS encryption, secure boot/flash encryption review, authentication rate limiting, production certificate/provisioning policy, and OTA are not implemented.

Known inconsistencies

These observations should be checked when touching the relevant area; they are not automatically bugs requiring unrelated cleanup.

• Some source comments still call shared commands UART0-only or call the current local status/control task read-only.
• USER_DATABASE_LOAD_EMPTY is only an initialization/failure sentinel at the checked-in revision: every successful user_database_init() path returns STORED or MIGRATED_LEGACY, so main.c's successful "new empty" log branch is unreachable.
• SSH startup is currently gated on successful web_security initialization even though SSH uses separate host-key material. Needs verification: whether this coupling is intentional recovery policy or an accidental startup dependency.

Items to verify in future work

• Complete the documented Phase 8C target-hardware validation before marking it complete.
• Confirm task-local Newlib standard-stream behavior if ESP-IDF/Newlib configuration changes; admin SSH command output relies on dispatcher-task stream redirection.
• If HTTPD concurrency configuration changes, add locking around the boot-local Basic-authentication cache.

Active Task

• Objective: Keep UART1 configuration independent of USB CDC host line coding, keep Phase 0 RS-232 status under debug, avoid disconnecting Wi-Fi for edits to disabled profiles, and add explicit web/admin-SSH session exit controls.
• Relevant files: src/usb_cdc_transport.{c,h}, src/usb_console.c, src/rs232_hw_test.c, src/console_completion.c, src/wifi_manager.{c,h}, src/web_ui.c, src/admin_ssh_console.{c,h}, src/main.c, related documentation.
• Findings: The USB transport converted cached CDC line coding into serial_config_t and called serial_service_apply_config() after writer acquisition. Root status was a Phase 0 diagnostic that needed to claim the RS-232 port and therefore failed while the production serial service owned it. Every Wi-Fi working-configuration update queued a radio restart, including edits to profiles disabled in both the old and new configurations.
• Decision: Treat CDC line coding as diagnostic metadata only. UART1 configuration remains exclusively controlled by explicit serial commands and their NVS persistence. Keep all Phase 0 RS-232 diagnostics, including signal status, under debug. Treat disabled Wi-Fi profiles as staged configuration: their edits do not restart the radio; enable/disable transitions and changes to enabled station/AP policy retain controlled asynchronous restart behavior. Browser Disconnect pauses reconnect until Reconnect is selected. exit/empty-line Ctrl+D are admin-SSH-only deferred self-disconnect actions; role-user SSH remains binary-transparent.
• Changes completed: Removed the pending line-coding apply path and its counters; retained the latest host setting for usb status. Replaced root status with debug status, updated completion and documentation. Added effective Wi-Fi policy comparison before queueing MESSAGE_COMMAND_APPLY. Added browser Disconnect and admin SSH exit/Ctrl+D session closing through the existing bounded drain path.
• Remaining work: Target-hardware verification: acquire/release USB writer ownership after changing a host terminal's line coding and confirm UART1 remains at the configured framing. Verify debug status works after serial stop and root status is unknown. While connected through Wi-Fi, edit a disabled profile and its secret without a reconnect; then enable it and verify the expected reconnect. Verify browser Disconnect pauses automatic reconnect until Reconnect is selected, and admin SSH exit/empty Ctrl+D close cleanly.
• Risks / things to remember: Host terminal line-coding selectors no longer configure the physical RS-232 port; use serial set/serial save instead. debug status remains ownership-protected and requires UART1 to be stopped. Enabling a profile may disconnect an SSH administrative session. pio run passed after all changes.

Handoff template

• Objective:
• Relevant files:
• Findings:
• Decisions made:
• Changes completed:
• Remaining work:
• Risks / things to remember: