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nara

World Postcards

World Postcards (or Journeys) are messages that travel through naras, accumulating a cryptographic signature chain and “emoji stamps” before returning to their originator.

1. Purpose

Section titled “1. Purpose”
  • Collaborative network-wide activity.
  • Verify multi-hop connectivity and identity.
  • Reward high-reputation (clout) nodes.
  • Create a shared, verifiable message history.

2. Conceptual Model

Section titled “2. Conceptual Model”
  • WorldMessage: The “postcard” (message, originator, hop chain).
  • WorldHop: A single stop (Nara, timestamp, signature, emoji stamp).
  • Routing: Clout-influenced next-hop selection.

Invariants

Section titled “Invariants”
  • Verifiable Chain: Each hop signs the entire cumulative state.
  • Cycle-Free: Visits each Nara at most once before returning home.
  • Termination: Completed when signed by the originator as the final hop.

3. External Behavior

Section titled “3. External Behavior”
  • Initiation: Originator sends message to the online peer with the highest clout.
  • Relay: Nara verifies chain, adds signed hop/stamp, and forwards to next unvisited peer.
  • Observation: Peers record JourneyPass or JourneyComplete events.
  • Timeout: Marked JourneyTimeout if not completed within 5 minutes.

4. Interfaces

Section titled “4. Interfaces”

WorldMessage Structure

Section titled “WorldMessage Structure”
  • id: Unique journey ID.
  • message: Text payload.
  • originator: Starting Nara.
  • hops: Array of WorldHop { nara, timestamp, signature, stamp }.

MQTT Topic

Section titled “MQTT Topic”
  • nara/plaza/journey_complete: Broadcast upon completion to resolve pending states.

5. Algorithms

Section titled “5. Algorithms”

Hop Signing

Section titled “Hop Signing”

SHA256(JSON({id, message, originator, previous_hops, current_nara}))

Journey Routing

Section titled “Journey Routing”
graph TD
    Receive[Receive Journey] --> Verify[Verify Chain]
    Verify -- Valid --> AddHop[Add My Hop + Stamp]
    AddHop --> IsOriginator{Am I Originator?}
    IsOriginator -- Yes --> Complete[Journey Complete]
    IsOriginator -- No --> SelectNext[Choose Next Nara]
    SelectNext --> Candidates{Unvisited Peers?}
    Candidates -- Yes --> Forward[Forward to Highest Clout Peer]
    Candidates -- No --> Return[Return to Originator]
    Return --> Forward

Next Nara Selection

Section titled “Next Nara Selection”
  1. Filter online peers (exclude self, visited, and originator).
  2. Sort by Clout (descending).
  3. If no unvisited candidates, select Originator (if online).
  4. Otherwise, journey is “stuck.”

Rewards & Stamping

Section titled “Rewards & Stamping”
  • Clout: +10 for Originator, +2 for Participants (applied via projections).
  • Stamp Selection: Deterministic emoji based on hop count: pool[len(hops) % 10].

6. Failure Modes

Section titled “6. Failure Modes”
  • Stuck Journey: No online unvisited peers or offline originator.
  • Signature Failure: Invalid chain leads to rejection.
  • Timeout: Exceeds 5-minute window.

7. Security

Section titled “7. Security”
  • Chain Integrity: Cumulative signatures prevent reordering or spoofing.
  • Authenticity: RFC 8032 (Ed25519) signatures from each participant’s soul.

8. Test Oracle

Section titled “8. Test Oracle”
  • TestWorldJourney_ChainVerification: Signature validity checks.
  • TestWorldJourney_NextNaraSelection: Clout-based routing logic.
  • TestWorldJourney_CompletionRewards: Distribution of clout.
  • TestWorldJourney_Timeout: Purging of expired journeys.