ESPSomfy-RTS/docs/PROTOCOL.md

Socket protocol 2

Why the protocol looks like this: ADR 0005. Terms: GLOSSARY.md.

The table of types, fields, error codes and feeds is defined once, in src/ProtoSchema.h. The device sends it to every client as the schema, and test/fixtures/proto2/schema.json is a copy recorded by the e2e suite (pytest test/e2e --record). This page describes how the protocol works, not every field.

Connection

• ws://host/ws on port 80. Under Secured the upgrade needs ?apikey=<token> from /login; without a valid one it is refused with 401 (ADR 0006).
• An upgrade whose Origin header doesn't name the Host it was sent to is refused with 401 too, in either mode, so another site's page can't open the socket. Clients that aren't browsers send no Origin.
• Optional ?schema=<hash>: the client already has the schema with that hash and doesn't need it again.
• At most 5 clients. A sixth is closed as soon as it connects.
• Text messages of at most 4 KB. A message may be sent as several frames, and a frame larger than one TCP segment (about 1.4 KB) reaches the device in pieces anyway; the device puts it back together. It does that for one message at a time across all clients: while it is, another client's long message is answered with busy, and the client sends it again. A message that hasn't arrived in full within 10 s is given up, and its client is told with a bad request. These refusals have no id, since the message couldn't be read. A binary encoding, if one comes, would be asked for at the upgrade (for example ?enc=bin) and use binary frames.

Envelope

Every frame, in both directions, is one JSON object:

{"v":2,"t":129,"id":17,"d":{"s":3,"p":40}}

Key	Meaning
v	protocol version, 2
t	message type, a number from the schema
id	only on a client message that wants a reply, and on that reply
d	the payload, with keys from the schema's field dictionary

Within d:

• keys are one or two characters, from one dictionary shared by every type;
• booleans are 1 and 0;
• a field at its default is left out: a client fills it in from the schema;
• lists and objects use the same dictionary for the keys inside them.

The keys of hello (fw, sh) and of the schema itself (T, F, E, Q) never change, since a client needs them before it has a schema.

Message types

Range	Sender	Types
1–15	control	hello 1, reply 2, next 3, sync 4, syncEnd 5, subscribe 6, unsubscribe 7
16–127	client ops	commands: shadeCommand 16, groupCommand 17, tiltCommand 18, repeatCommand 19, setPositions 20, setSensor 21, setMyPosition 22, unpairShade 23, setRollingCode 24, sendRemoteCommand 25; edits: 26–44 (addRoom … groupSortOrder); reads: getNextRoom 45, getNextShade 46, getNextGroup 47, groupOptions 48; settings and the device: getSettings 49, saveSettings 50, scanWifi 51, beginFrequencyScan 52, endFrequencyScan 53, reboot 54
128–255	device events	shadeState, shade, shadeRemoved, group, groupState, groupRemoved, room, roomRemoved, roomOrder, shadeOrder, groupOrder, shadeCommanded, memory, wifi, ethernet, frame, frequencyScan, repeaters, settingsChanged, wifiNetworks

A number is never reused. A retired type stays reserved.

Connect sequence

1. The device sends hello: {"fw":"<firmware>","sh":"<schema hash>"}.
2. The device sends the first sync frame straight away. Unless the client passed the matching ?schema=, the sync starts with the schema:
   • T: types, as [number, name]
   • F: fields, as [key, name, kind, default], kind being b bool, i integer, n number, s string, l list, o object
   • E: error codes, as [number, name]
   • Q: feeds, as [number, name]
3. Then the device: header (limits, starting address, what a new shade gets, server id, hostname, model, chip, whether it has an OTA slot, firmware, connection type), rooms, shades, groups, repeaters and status (memory, and WiFi or Ethernet). A frame is at most 4 KB, an item is never split across frames, and several sections can share one.
4. The client sends next after each sync frame, and the device answers with the following one. With no next for 30 s the device closes the socket.
5. syncEnd follows the last sync frame.

The client can send sync at any time to get the shade model and status again (without the schema).

Events go out to every client from the moment it connects, so they can arrive during the sync, and even before the schema. A client keeps any frame it can't decode yet until it has the schema. Each sync frame is formatted from the live model, so an item in a later frame already holds every change before it. A client treats sync items and events alike: insert or update by id, and ignore removing an id it doesn't have.

Events

Event	When	Payload
shadeState	a shade moved or its state changed	id, position, target, direction, favorite, tilt, flags, rolling code
shade	a shade was added or a setting changed (edit, pairing, linked remote, group, its room deleted)	the whole shade, as in the sync
group, groupState	the same for a group: its settings or linked shades, or its flags and direction
room	a room was added or saved	the whole room
*Removed	a shade, group or room was deleted	its id
roomOrder, shadeOrder, groupOrder	the sort order changed	is: the ids in order
repeaters	a repeater was linked or unlinked	the list
shadeCommanded	a remote or the device commanded a shade	id, address, command, source, rolling code, source address
memory, wifi, ethernet	every 30 s, WiFi only when the signal moved
settingsChanged	another client saved settings	section
wifiNetworks	a WiFi scan this client asked for is done; to that client only	networks, each with ssid, channel, strength, macAddress

Commands

Every op carries an id and gets one reply. The ops do what the HTTP routes of the same name did before 4.0.0, with these arguments:

Op	Payload	Does
shadeCommand	shadeId; command or target; optional repeat, stepSize	sends the command, or moves the shade to the position 0–100
tiltCommand	shadeId; command or target	the same for the tilt
groupCommand	groupId, command; optional repeat, stepSize	sends the command as the group
repeatCommand	shadeId or groupId, command; optional repeat, stepSize	repeats the last frame when it was this command, or sends it
setPositions	shadeId; position, tiltPosition or both	sets where the shade is thought to be; nothing goes on air
setSensor	shadeId or groupId; sunny, windy or both; optional repeat	sends a sensor frame
setMyPosition	shadeId; myPos, myTiltPos or both	sets the favorite
unpairShade	shadeId	sends Prog and clears paired
setRollingCode	shadeId, lastRollingCode	sets the next rolling code; nothing goes on air
sendRemoteCommand	remoteAddress, command, lastRollingCode; optional encKey, repeats	sends one frame as a remote that isn't one of the shades

• An op reads only the fields that were sent. Unlike what the device sends, a field left out of an op is not its schema default: it is not given, so setPositions with only position leaves the tilt as it is. A client sends every field it means, defaults included.
• command is a command's name, in any case: My, Up, Down, MyUp, MyDown, UpDown, MyUpDown, Prog, SunFlag, Flag, StepUp, StepDown, Toggle, Sensor, Favorite, Stop, or the spelling shadeCommanded reports (Step Up, My+Up).
• repeat left out means the shade's or the group's own repeats.
• Where they differ from the routes:
  • The keys come from the dictionary: setMyPosition takes myPos and myTiltPos (the route: pos, tilt); setRollingCode and sendRemoteCommand take lastRollingCode (the routes: rollingCode, rcode); sendRemoteCommand takes remoteAddress (the route: address).
  • groupCommand, repeatCommand and sendRemoteCommand need a command, where the routes send My without one.
  • setMyPosition takes a tilt on its own and keeps the lift favorite, where the route needs a lift position.
• A field of the wrong kind, a value out of range, or both of two alternatives, is a bad request, and desc names the field.
• The reply comes once the command has gone to the radio, or was refused: not found (no shade or group with that id), radio unavailable (the radio is paused, as during a frequency scan, or didn't take it), busy (the device's command queue is full, or setMyPosition on a shade that is moving) or bad request (setPositions with only a tilt, for a shade without one). It carries no state: the shade's shadeState events follow as it moves.
• sendRemoteCommand is answered as soon as the radio has taken the frame, not after the ops queued before it, and with radio unavailable when the radio is full rather than waiting for room.

Edits

Each edit op is the edit route of the same name: addRoom, addShade, addGroup, saveRoom, saveShade, saveGroup, deleteRoom, deleteShade, deleteGroup, linkRemote, unlinkRemote, linkToGroup, unlinkFromGroup, linkRepeater, unlinkRepeater, setPaired, roomSortOrder, shadeSortOrder, groupSortOrder.

• The payload holds what the route's request does, under the dictionary's keys: a room's, shade's or group's fields as in the sync, and its id to save, delete or link it. linkRemote takes remoteAddress and lastRollingCode; linkRepeater takes remoteAddress; setPaired needs paired. A sort order takes ids, the ids in their new order.
• As with the commands, only the fields that were sent are applied. A key that isn't in the dictionary, a field the edit doesn't set, or a value of the wrong kind, is a bad request before anything is queued. A shade's save doesn't set paired, linkedRemotes or flags (light is its own field, and setSensor sets the sun and wind), and a group's doesn't set sunSensor, which comes from its shades.
• One edit runs at a time, whichever client or route sent it: while one is waiting, another gets busy.
• The reply comes once the edit is applied and saved. An add's reply carries the new item's id (roomId, shadeId or groupId). A refused edit has the route's reason in desc: not found for an id that doesn't exist, otherwise a bad request, with the reason's number in validation for a shade whose settings don't add up.
• The edit's events follow: the whole item for an add or save, *Removed for a delete, the new order for a sort order, repeaters for a repeater.

Reads

What an edit form needs before it is sent, worked out by the device as the edit would be:

Op	Payload	Reply
getNextRoom		the roomId a new room gets
getNextShade, getNextGroup		the shadeId or groupId a new one gets, a remoteAddress no shade or group uses, and the radio's bitLength and proto
groupOptions	groupId	the group's id, and in ids the shades it doesn't have yet

When every slot is taken the reply is a bad request; groupOptions for a group that doesn't exist is not found.

Settings

The settings are in five sections. getSettings and saveSettings name one in section:

Section	Fields	The routes it replaces
general	hostname, ssdpBroadcast, ntpServer, posixZone	/modulesettings, /setgeneral
network	connMode; WiFi: ssid, passphrase, roaming, hidden; Ethernet: boardType, phyType, CLKMode, phyAddress, PWRPin, MDCPin, MDIOPin; the address: dhcp, ip, gateway, subnet, dns1, dns2	/networksettings, /setNetwork, /setIP, /connectwifi
mqtt	enabled, pubDisco, protocol, hostname (the broker's), port, username, password, rootTopic, discoTopic	/mqttsettings, /connectmqtt
security	securityType, username, password, pin	/getSecurity, /saveSecurity
radio	bitLength, proto, enabled, TXPin, RXPin, SCKPin, MOSIPin, MISOPin, CSNPin, frequency, rxBandwidth, deviation, txPower, noiseDetection	/getRadio, /saveRadio

• Reading. getSettings replies with the section's fields. A secret is never sent: hasPassphrase, hasPassword and hasPin say whether one is set. network also has hasEthernet, and has the Ethernet fields only on a device with Ethernet. radio also has radioInit.

• connMode is the connection the settings ask for: 1 WiFi, 2 Ethernet, 3 Ethernet with WiFi as the fallback. The header's connType is the connection in use.

• Saving. saveSettings takes the section and the fields to change. As with every op, a field left out stays as it is. A secret sent empty keeps the stored one, except alongside a new ssid or MQTT username, as on the routes.

• Every field is checked before anything is saved:

  • its kind;
  • its range: port 1–65535, txPower -30–12, bitLength 56 or 80, proto 0, 1, 2, 8 or 9, a pin 0–48 (PWRPin and phyAddress may also be -1, for none), frequency 300–928, and so on;
  • a string's length, which is what the setting holds: hostname 31, pin 4, and so on;
  • an address: four numbers 0–255, or "" for none.

  A bad request also comes for a field the section doesn't save (a has* field, radioInit, a field of another section, Ethernet on a device without it), and for a save with no fields.

• One save runs at a time, whichever client sent it: while one is waiting, another gets busy.

• The reply comes once the settings are saved and applied, as their route applies them. A saved time zone takes effect at once, where the route waited for a reboot.

  • rebooting 1 means the device restarts a second later for them. That happens for a new connMode, for a new SSID or passphrase while on WiFi with nobody on the soft AP, and for Ethernet settings while on Ethernet.
  • A security save's reply has the client's new token in apiKey, or none under None.

• The other clients get settingsChanged with the section.

• A security save that leaves the device Secured, or changes its mode, closes every client instead, the one that saved it too, once its reply has gone. Under Secured the tokens may no longer be good, and a client that connected under None had none. The saver connects again with the token from its reply; the others log in when theirs is refused. A save from None to None closes nobody.

• Where a section differs from its routes:

  • /connectwifi refused an SSID the device couldn't hear; the save doesn't check. The check stalled the device for a scan, and a hidden network can't be heard anyway. A client offers the networks from scanWifi.
  • /modulesettings and /networksettings also sent fwVersion and chipModel, which are in the header (fw, chipModel). Their connType is connMode in network, and /networksettings' hostname and ssdpBroadcast are in general.
  • /scanaps also sent the network the device is on: that is the wifi event, and status in the sync.

Op	Payload	Reply
scanWifi		ok at once. When the scan is done, wifiNetworks goes to each client that asked since the last one: the named networks that can be heard, at most 30. A failed scan lists none.
beginFrequencyScan		ok, or radio unavailable when the radio is disabled. The radio sends nothing until the scan ends. Subscribe to the frequencyScan feed to follow it.
endFrequencyScan		ok. A scan nobody ends stops after 5 minutes.
reboot		ok, and the device restarts half a second later.

These ops run on loop() like the rest. endFrequencyScan goes ahead of whatever is waiting in the loop queue: an unpair waits there for the radio to send again, which only the scan's end allows.

Replies

A client message with an id gets exactly one reply with that id, to that client only, whether it is an op or a control message such as next: ok 1 on success, or an error code and a desc for people. Error codes are in the schema: bad request, unknown op, unauthorized, not found, busy, radio unavailable, internal.

A malformed message gets a bad request, with its id when it had one. A type a client may not send gets an unknown op.

Feeds

subscribe and unsubscribe take a feed number in fe: frames (received remote frames, with their pulses) or frequencyScan. Their events go only to clients subscribed to them.

Inside the device

async_tcp reads client frames and answers with fixed frames that hold nothing of the shade model: hello, errors and ok. Everything formatted from the shade model goes out from loop(), which is the only task that reads and writes it (ADR 0002). Sync frames and events share one frame buffer, which belongs to loop().