Below is a high level roadmap for the rust-libp2p project. Items are ordered by priority (high to low).
This is a living document. Input is always welcome e.g. via GitHub issues or pull requests.
This is the roadmap of the Rust implementation of libp2p. See also the general libp2p project roadmap.
Table of Contents
- [Experimental QUIC support](#experimental-quic-support)
- [WebRTC support (browser-to-server)](#webrtc-support-browser-to-server)
- [Cross Behaviour communication](#cross-behaviour-communication)
- [Generic connection management](#generic-connection-management)
- [Kademlia efficient querying](#kademlia-efficient-querying)
- [Kademlia client mode](#kademlia-client-mode)
- [Optimize Hole punching](#optimize-hole-punching)
- [Streaming response protocol aka. the ultimate escape hatch](#streaming-response-protocol-aka-the-ultimate-escape-hatch)
- [Improved WASM support](#improved-wasm-support)
- [Handshake optimizations](#handshake-optimizations)
- [Bitswap implementation](#bitswap-implementation)
- [WebTransport](#webtransport)
| Category | Status | Target Completion | Tracking | Dependencies | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connectivity | In progress | Q4/2022 | libp2p#2883 | TLS, libp2p/test-plans#53 |
QUIC has been on the roadmap for a long time. It enables various performance improvements as well as higher hole punching success rates. We are close to finishing a first version with libp2p#2289. We will improve from there. See tracking issue libp2p#2883.
| Category | Status | Target Completion | Tracking | Dependencies | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connectivity | In progress | Q4/2022 | libp2p/specs#412 | libp2p/test-plans#53 |
We are currently implementing WebRTC for browser-to-server connectivity in libp2p#2622. More specifically the server side. This will enable browser nodes to connect to rust-libp2p nodes where the latter only have self-signed TLS certificates. See libp2p/specs#412 for in-depth motivation.
Long term we should enable rust-libp2p running in the browser via WASM to use the browser's WebRTC stack. Though that should only happen after improved WASM support, see below.
| Category | Status | Target Completion | Tracking | Dependencies | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Developer ergonomics | todo | Q1/2023 | libp2p#2680 | libp2p#2832 | Kademlia client mode |
Today NetworkBehaviour implementations like Kademlia, GossipSub or Circuit Relay v2 can not
communicate with each other, i.e. cannot make use of information known by another
NetworkBehaviour implementation. Users need to write the wiring code by hand to e.g. enable
Kademlia to learn protocols supported by a remote peer from Identify.
This roadmap item contains exchanging standard information about remote peers (e.g. supported
protocols) between NetworkBehaviour implementations.
Long term we might consider a generic approach for NetworkBehaviours to exchange data. Though that
would deserve its own roadmap item.
| Category | Status | Target Completion | Tracking | Dependencies | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Developer Ergonomics | todo | Q1/2023 | libp2p#2824 |
Today connection management functionality in rust-libp2p is limited. Building abstractions on top is cumbersome and inefficient. See libp2p#2824. Making connection management generic allows users to build advanced and efficient abstractions on top of rust-libp2p
First draft is in libp2p#2828
| Category | Status | Target Completion | Tracking | Dependencies | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimization | in progress | Q1/2023 | libp2p#2712 |
Users of rust-libp2p like iroh need this for low latency
usage of libp2p-kad. The rust-libp2p maintainers can pick this up unless iroh folks finish the
work before that.
| Category | Status | Target Completion | Tracking | Dependencies | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimization | todo | Q1/2023 | libp2p#2032 | Cross behaviour communication |
Kademlia client mode will enhance routing table health and thus have a positive impact on all Kademlia operations.
| Category | Status | Target Completion | Tracking | Dependencies | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimization | todo | Q1/2023 |
We released hole punching support with rust-libp2p
v0.43.0, see also
libp2p#2052. We are currently collecting data via the
punchr project on the hole punching success rate. See also
call for
action in
case you want to help. Based on this data we will likely find many optimizations we can do to our
hole punching stack.
| Category | Status | Target Completion | Tracking | Dependencies | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Developer ergonomics | todo | Q1/2023 | libp2p#2657 |
rust-libp2p is very opinionated on how to write peer-to-peer protocols. There are many good reasons for this, and I think we should not change directions here. That said, the ultimate escape hatch - allowing users to create a stream and do whatever they want with it - will make it easier for newcomers to get started.
| Category | Status | Target Completion | Tracking | Dependencies | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Developer ergonomics | todo | Q2/2023 | libp2p#2617 | WebRTC browser-to-browser and browser side |
The project supports WASM already today, though the developer experience is cumbersome at best. Properly supporting WASM opens rust-libp2p to hole new set of use-cases. I would love for this to happen earlier. Though (a) I think we should prioritize improving existing functionality over new functionality and (b) we don't have high demand for this feature from the community. (One could argue that that demand follows this roadmap item and not the other way round.)
| Category | Status | Target Completion | Tracking | Dependencies | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimization | todo | Q2/2023 | Security protocol in multiaddr libp2p/specs#353 and early muxer negotiation libp2p#2994 |
Short term, investing into rust-libp2p's QUIC support will likely give us a larger performance win, thus neither of the two optimizations is planned for 2022. While great to have, it has not been requested from any rust-libp2p users.
Long term, given that this will give us a great performance gain, we should definitely tackle it. It also allows us to catch up and thus be consistent with go-libp2p.
| Category | Status | Target Completion | Tracking | Dependencies | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| todo | libp2p#2632 |
I think this is a common component that many users need to build peer-to-peer applications. In addition, it is very performance critical and thus likely challenges many of our existing designs in rust-libp2p.
I would prioritize it below handshake optimization following the convention of improving existing components over introducing new ones. Users have and can implement their own implementations and are thus not blocked on the rust-libp2p project.
| Category | Status | Target Completion | Tracking | Dependencies | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connectivity / optimization | todo | libp2p#2993 | QUIC |
A WebTransport implementation in rust-libp2p will enable browsers to connect to rust-libp2p nodes where the latter only have a self-signed TLS certificate. Compared to WebRTC, this would likely be more performant. It is dependent on QUIC support in rust-libp2p. Given that we will support WebRTC (browser-to-server) this is not a high priority.