rustunnel/droid-wiki/how-to-contribute/patterns-and-conventions.md

# Patterns and conventions

## Error handling

The project uses a layered error strategy:

- `thiserror` enums for domain-specific errors (`TlsError`, `AuthError`, `TunnelError`, `HostError`, `Socks5Error`, `FrameError`). These live in `src/errors.rs` and `src/socks5.rs` / `src/framing.rs`.
- `anyhow` for application-level propagation. CLI commands return `anyhow::Result` and `main` exits with `process::exit(exit_code)`.
- All errors are designed to be actionable and fail-closed. There are no silent degradation paths to insecure modes.

## Secret handling

- The `Redacted` wrapper in `src/redact.rs` must be used before logging any secret.
- `Redacted::inner()` and `into_inner()` are marked `#[allow(dead_code)]` to discourage use, but available for file writes.
- `is_sensitive()` detects PEM private key blocks. `is_auth_token()` detects long alphanumeric strings.
- `is_connection_key()` detects strings starting with `rtun1.`.

## Async patterns

- Tokio's multi-threaded runtime is used on both listener and connector sides.
- `tokio::spawn` is used for per-connection and per-stream tasks.
- `tokio::select!` with `biased;` prioritizes shutdown signals over new connections.
- `watch::channel` is used for publishing the active `StreamMux` to the SOCKS5 proxy (supports reconnect).
- `mpsc::channel` and `oneshot::channel` are used for stream data and CONNECT_REPLY coordination.

## Constant-time comparison

Auth token comparison in `src/tunnel.rs` uses a manual constant-time XOR loop to prevent timing attacks:

```rust
fn constant_time_compare(a: &str, b: &str) -> bool {
    let a_bytes = a.as_bytes();
    let b_bytes = b.as_bytes();
    if a_bytes.len() != b_bytes.len() {
        return false;
    }
    let mut result: u8 = 0;
    for (x, y) in a_bytes.iter().zip(b_bytes.iter()) {
        result |= x ^ y;
    }
    result == 0
}
```

## Frame reader partial read discipline

`FrameReader` in `src/framing.rs` never consumes bytes from the buffer until a complete frame (header + payload) is available. This prevents corruption when TCP segments arrive in arbitrary chunks.

## TLS material as enum

Both `ServerTlsMaterial` and `ClientTlsMaterial` are enums with `Paths` and `Pem` variants. This lets the listener and connector accept either file paths (from CLI args) or embedded PEM strings (from connection keys).

## Insecure mode

`--insecure-skip-tls-verify` exists for DPI/intercepted environments only. When enabled, the listener skips client certificate verification and the connector skips server certificate verification. This is logged at `warn` level.