TCP and UDP Socket API

[olizilla]

• What An API to provide interfaces to raw UDP sockets, TCP Client sockets and TCP Server sockets.
• Why: To allow us to build out p2p protocols without having to work around the assumptions of HTTP or centralised authorities.
• Workaround: Difficult. Provide support from an external app, and use connectNative api to share information with a WebExtension.
• Status Needs a champion
  • w3c: Stalled - https://www.w3.org/TR/tcp-udp-sockets/

  Members of this Working Group have agreed not to progress the TCP UDP Sockets API specification further as a Recommendation track document, electing instead to publish it as an informative Working Group Note under a permissive license with a view to enabling it to form the basis of further work by others, e.g. in a W3C Community Group.

  • Firefox P3 - https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1247628#c53

  I think ideal steps would be:
  1. Create a new bug something like "WebExtensions API for client TCP sockets" (i.e., no UDP no server sockets)
  2. Make a proposal for how an extension uses this API and when and how users of such extensions are notified and grant permission (i.e., do they get a prompt when an extension is installed? Every time a socket is connected? Just the first time an extension connects to a specific address/port?)
  Once we have consensus on that, the implementation won't be completely trivial but it should be pretty straightforward.

  • Chromium ? - "Add support for TCP & UDP sockets in the network service and convert consumers" https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=721401&q=TCP%20UDP&colspec=ID%20Pri%20M%20Stars%20ReleaseBlock%20Component%20Status%20Owner%20Summary%20OS%20Modified

[lidel]

• Potential Prior Art:
  • Chrome "Apps" had internal support for chrome.socket API since v24.
    • Starting with Chrome 33, this API is deprecated in favor of the sockets.udp, sockets.tcp and sockets.tcpServer APIs.

[olizilla]

• libdweb TCP socket experiment: TCP Socket mozilla/libdweb#5
• libdweb UDP socket experiement: UDP Socket API mozilla/libdweb#4

[lgrahl]

What is the goal here? Being able to access UDP/TCP APIs from within a page's JS or just as part of an extension?

[lidel]

A realistic goal would be to add it as a WebExtension API, like in libdweb experiments.