argus/ROADMAP.md

BNS Roadmap — from prototype to a permissionless web stack

Silent Mode (a Deviant division). Hub: D:\Dev\SilentMode\README.md. Products: Theseus Navigator (browser), publisher app, resolver daemon, Argo (host network, crewed by Argonauts), Argonautica (discovery).

The four moving parts (see DESIGN-hosting-pact.md, PROTOCOL.md): chain for ownership, storage for bulk, gossip for liveness, pool for incentives. Phases are ordered by dependency, not calendar; tracks 5 (browser) and 2 can run in parallel with everything.

Phase 0 — Prototype (DONE, July 2026)

Names as CashTokens name certificates on BCH chipnet; OP_RETURN records; beacon discovery; resolver daemon + NRPT/adapter installer; HTTPS via local root CA with on-chain fingerprint pinning; wallet app with embedded browser; real sites served three ways (own server via ip record, reverse proxy, Sia storage via s3d with server-side authority + 6h auto-sync); subdomain namespaces (deviant.bch); dilution-pool design written.

Phase 1 — Harden the name layer (protocol v2)

• Expiry + renewals (anti-squatting garbage collection; Kalodner 2015)
• Graduated pricing: short/dictionary names cost more (ENS lesson)
• Commit-reveal registration (front-running protection, Namecoin's name_new)
• CashScript covenant registry: consensus-enforced uniqueness (novel on BCH)
• Constrained CA (X.509 name constraints limited to .bch) + short-lived leaf certs
• Mainnet port (config only: network + electrum servers + real BCH)

Phase 2 — Distribution (reach other machines)

• Firefox extension (Mozilla-signed, self-distributed): intercepts .bch, routes via resolver/gateway — no DNS surgery, no DoH conflict
• Chromium extension (store review)
• Signed Windows installer; macOS/Linux daemon ports
• LAN mode: daemon answers with host-LAN IP so phones/TVs resolve .bch
• Android: resolver+gateway as an app (sideload APK first)

Phase 3 — Publisher app ("the missing UX")

One window: pick folder → pick name → pay → site is live. Under the hood:

• Sia Storage SDK (or s3d) for storage; BNS txs for the name
• Auto-sync scheduling (generalize the coinspectrum systemd timer)
• BCH-denominated plans (Architecture A): user pays BCH; app funds storage via Sia's market; BCH surplus funds the serving layer
• This is where ordinary users enter; everything before it is plumbing

Phase 4 — Argonautica: dynamic discovery (live sites without servers)

• Chain record gains the owner's signing pubkey
• Site updates = feed of author-signed records (ZeroNet/Nostr pattern); resolvers verify signatures and apply updates — no chain tx per update
• Multi-author records (comments, reactions) as CRDT merges (add-wins sets)
• Law to respect: gossip only for conflict-free facts; anything "exactly-one" stays on the chain

Phase 5 — Argo: the hosting pact (dilution pool, Architecture B)

• v0: coordinator audits + pays openly on chipnet; hosts run our host agent; per-host-unique erasure shards (sybil resistance); stake bonding
• v1: possession proofs (block-hash challenge → Merkle proof) verified by a CashScript covenant; coordinator only attests serving quality
• v2: watchtower attestation replaces coordinator; open-join equilibrium replication fully market-driven
• Result: BCH-native host network; Sia becomes one backend among several

Track 5 (parallel) — Theseus Navigator, the independent browser

See BROWSER-PROMPT.md — built in its own session/repo (D:\Dev\BnsBrowser), consuming this repo's resolver core as a library. theseus.bch is registered and should eventually serve the browser's own homepage over BNS itself.

Standing risks

• Chromium ignores NRPT → extension/full-mode/browser are the mitigations
• s3d instances don't share object indexes → one authority instance per account
• .bch collision with a future ICANN gTLD → long-term: IETF special-use reservation (the .onion path)
• Root CA key custody until name constraints land