# Qortal Hub — agent guide

Desktop/web/mobile client for the Qortal blockchain, plus Reticulum-based
peer-to-peer chat and voice. GPL-3.0. React 19 + TypeScript + Vite 7 + MUI 7,
wrapped by Capacitor into an Electron desktop app and an Android app.

The repo is a single npm project at the root (the renderer) with a **second,
separate npm project in `electron/`** (the Electron main process). They have
their own `package.json` and `node_modules`. Changes to renderer code only reach
the desktop app after a `cap sync`.

## Commands

Root (renderer):

| Command                 | What                                                                     |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `npm run dev`           | Vite dev server on `http://localhost:5173/` — browser only, no Reticulum |
| `npm run build`         | Production build into `dist/`                                            |
| `npm test`              | Vitest watch mode                                                        |
| `npx vitest run <path>` | Run one test file — preferred while iterating                            |
| `npm run coverage`      | Vitest with coverage                                                     |
| `npm run lint`          | ESLint, `--max-warnings 0`                                               |
| `npm run format`        | Prettier over the whole repo                                             |

Desktop (needs Python 3.9+ and Git on PATH):

```bash
npm run build                                # or npm run dev for the web part
npx cap sync @capacitor-community/electron   # REQUIRED after web/native changes
cd electron && npm install && npm run electron:start
```

Packaging lives in `electron/`: `electron:make-win`, `electron:make-mac`,
`electron:make-lin-docker`, `electron:make-arm-docker`. Linux release artifacts
should use the Docker variants so native binaries build against an older glibc.

There is no typecheck script; `tsc` runs via `vite-plugin-checker` during dev.

## Layout

```text
src/
  components/   382 files — UI, grouped by feature (Chat/, Group/, Apps/, QortalLand/, ...)
  lib/          call/, dm/, group-call/, reticulum/, webrtc/ — transport + protocol logic
  hooks/        useReticulumGroupChat, useVoiceCall, useAuth, ...
  atoms/        Jotai global state
  contexts/     React contexts (GroupCallContext, CallSwitchGuardContext, ...)
  i18n/         i18next setup + locales/<lang>/<namespace>.json
  qortal/       Qortal Core API calls, q-app request handling
  qdn/          QDN publish/fetch + encryption
  transactions/ signed blockchain transactions
  background/   POW + background tasks
  utils/        events bus, storage, chat helpers
  test/         Vitest setup + mocks for Electron/native modules
electron/src/   Electron main: reticulum-*.ts, group-call.ts, chat-db.ts, core.ts
electron/resources/presence_bridge.py   Python bridge to the Reticulum daemon
docs/           architecture docs — read these before touching Reticulum or calls
```

### The Reticulum path

```text
Renderer (React)  → window.electronAPI.reticulum*() / window.groupCall.*()
Electron main     → reticulum-daemon.ts, reticulum-bridge.ts, group-call.ts
Python bridge     → presence_bridge.py  (fd3/fd4 binary IPC)
rnsd              → Reticulum Network Stack daemon
```

Reticulum features **do not work in the browser dev server** — they need the
Electron shell. See `docs/reticulum.md` and `docs/group-audio-calls.md`.

## Conventions

**i18n is mandatory.** Every user-visible string goes through i18next — including
`aria-label`, placeholders, tooltips, and error messages. See the `i18n` skill in
`.agents/skills/i18n/` and `docs/i18n_languages.md`. Large parts of
`components/QortalLand/` and the `Reticulum*` chat components are still
hardcoded English and are being migrated; do not copy that pattern.

**State.** Jotai atoms in `src/atoms/` for global state. Cross-component
signalling uses a DOM CustomEvent bus, not a store:

```ts
import {
  executeEvent,
  subscribeToEvent,
  unsubscribeFromEvent,
} from '../utils/events';
```

Always unsubscribe in the effect cleanup.

**Styling.** MUI `sx` with `theme.palette.*` — light and dark themes both ship
(`src/styles/theme-light.ts`, `theme-dark.ts`). Do not hardcode hex colors.

**Formatting.** Prettier: single quotes, semicolons, 80 columns, 2 spaces, es5
trailing commas. Run `npm run format` rather than hand-aligning.

**TypeScript is not strict** — `strict: false`, `noImplicitAny: false`. Don't
assume null-safety is enforced by the compiler; check at runtime.

**Tests.** Vitest + jsdom, ~144 test files colocated next to their subject as
`*.test.ts(x)`. Files under `electron/**` run in the `node` environment instead.
Native and Electron modules are aliased to fakes in `src/test/mocks/` — extend
those rather than mocking ad hoc. Test setup: `src/test/setup.ts`.

## Agent config — skills and commands

**Definitions live in `.agents/`; `.claude/` symlinks to them.** Claude Code
reads only `.claude/`, so the links are what make the config load.

```text
AGENTS.md                          the file you are reading
CLAUDE.md            → AGENTS.md   loaded unconditionally every session

.agents/skills/<name>/SKILL.md     skills — edit here
.agents/skills/<name>/scripts/     tooling a skill owns, run from the repo root
.agents/commands/<name>.md         slash commands — edit here
.agents/settings.json              shared project settings — edit here

.claude/skills        → ../.agents/skills
.claude/commands      → ../.agents/commands
.claude/settings.json → ../.agents/settings.json
.claude/settings.local.json        real file, machine-local permissions — never commit
```

Edit the `.agents/` originals, never the links. Skills load on demand when their
`description` matches the task; commands are invoked as `/<name>`.

Currently present: the `i18n` skill and the `write_tests` command.

The `i18n` skill owns the four locale scripts in
`.agents/skills/i18n/` — `i18n_scan_hardcoded.py`, `i18n_add_keys.py`,
`i18n_apply_translations.py` and `i18n_sort.py`. Invoke them as
`python3 .agents/skills/i18n/<name>.py` from the repo root; they find
`src/i18n/locales/` themselves. They used to live in a top-level `scripts/`
directory, which is gone.

Personal, cross-project equivalents live in `~/.claude/skills/` and
`~/.claude/commands/`.

**`.claude/` is the only discovery path.** `.agents/` and `.github/` are not —
`.github/` belongs to GitHub and Copilot, `.agents/` is a third-party installer
convention. Files there are silently ignored unless a `.claude/` symlink points
at them, which is precisely why the links above exist. Note the near-miss:
`.claude/agents/` (subagent definitions) is real; a top-level `.agents/` is not.

If skills or commands stop loading, check the symlinks first — a fresh clone
will not have them, since `.claude` is git-ignored.

## Git workflow

`develop` is the working branch and the PR target. `master` is stable and
release-tagged. Branch as `feature/...` or `fix/...` from `develop`; releases go
through `release/x.y.z` cut from `master`. Details in `docs/contribution.md`.

Do not commit or push unless asked.

## Gotchas

- Renderer changes are invisible to Electron until `npx cap sync @capacitor-community/electron`.
- First Electron run downloads a Reticulum runtime venv into
  `electron/resources/reticulum-runtime/venv`. If it breaks:
  `cd electron && rm -rf resources/reticulum-runtime/venv && npm run bundle:reticulum-venv`.
- Vite workers are built as ES modules (`worker.format: 'es'`) because the
  audio-decrypt worker dynamically imports WASM — don't switch it to `iife`.
- `src/components/QortalLand/QortalLand.tsx` is ~11k lines. Search within it
  rather than reading it whole.
- Some legacy paths are gated by `src/constants/featureFlags.ts`
  (`isDisabledLegacy`).

## Docs worth reading first

`docs/development.md` · `docs/contribution.md` · `docs/reticulum.md` ·
`docs/group-audio-calls.md` · `docs/i18n_languages.md` ·
`docs/reticulum-chat-sync-architecture.md` · `docs/qortalland-asset-standard.md`