DaemonTransport Abstraction Layer

Target branch: main. Author: arnoo.gao. Date: 2026-06-12. Status: Design v4 — review. Design-first per repo workflow: this doc lands before the implementation PR.

0. TL;DR

DaemonClient hardcodes REST+SSE. Third-party integrations wanting ACP WebSocket must fork the provider stack (~8 files). This proposal adds a DaemonTransport interface with fetch + subscribeEvents methods, plus auto-detection and runtime fallback, enabling pluggable transports with zero breaking changes.

Total change: ~1300 lines in a single implementation PR. Existing consumers untouched — new DaemonClient({ baseUrl, token }) = current behavior.

1. Background

1.1 Current architecture

DaemonClient({ baseUrl, token })
  └─ this._fetch = globalThis.fetch     ← hardcoded
  └─ subscribeEvents → GET /session/:id/events → parseSseStream → DaemonEvent

67 public methods, each constructing REST URLs and branching on HTTP status codes. fetch is already injectable via DaemonClientOptions.fetch, but subscribeEvents has inline SSE-specific logic (content-type check, SSE parsing, connect-phase timeout) that cannot be swapped via fetch injection alone.

1.2 The problem for third parties

When a third party (e.g., agent-web) builds an AcpSessionProvider to use WebSocket instead of REST+SSE:

• If they replace DaemonSessionProvider: components that read DaemonStoreContext (e.g., TerminalView) lose their context → crash.
• If they keep both providers: two event sources, two stores, desync.
• If they inject events into the SDK store: DaemonSessionProvider also subscribes to SSE internally → duplicate events.

Root cause: changing the transport requires replacing the provider, because DaemonClient’s subscribeEvents is hardcoded to SSE.

1.3 Target

DaemonClient({ transport: new AcpWsTransport(url, token) })
  └─ transport.fetch → maps URL+verb to JSON-RPC over WS
  └─ transport.subscribeEvents → demux WS notifications → DaemonEvent

One provider, one store, transport is an internal detail. Third parties pass transport to DaemonClient; everything else works unchanged.

2. Design

2.1 Interface

interface DaemonTransportFetchOptions {
  timeout?: number; // 0 = no timeout. undefined = transport default.
}
 
interface DaemonTransportSubscribeOptions {
  lastEventId?: number;
  maxQueued?: number;
  signal?: AbortSignal;
  connectTimeoutMs?: number;
}
 
interface DaemonTransport {
  /**
   * Send a request and return a Response.
   *
   * Contract:
   * - Response MUST support .json(), .text(), .ok, .status,
   *   .headers.get(), .body?.cancel()
   * - .status MUST be an accurate HTTP status code
   *   (200, 201, 202, 204, 404, etc.)
   * - Error bodies MUST preserve the daemon's structured shape
   * - Callable without prior setup; transport handles init internally
   *   (lazy-init / init-once deferred pattern)
   * - Throws DaemonTransportClosedError when connection is dead
   * - When init.signal aborts: for prompt requests, transport MUST
   *   cancel the in-flight prompt on the wire (WS: send session/cancel
   *   RPC; HTTP: abort fetch). For ordinary requests, abort only
   *   rejects/cancels the pending request without side effects.
   *   Pending response rejects with AbortError.
   */
  fetch(
    url: string,
    init: RequestInit,
    opts?: DaemonTransportFetchOptions,
  ): Promise<Response>;
 
  /**
   * Subscribe to session events.
   *
   * Contract:
   * - Events with id MUST have monotonic integer ids; synthetic/terminal
   *   frames (e.g., stream_error) MAY omit id (DaemonEvent.id is optional)
   * - MUST deliver ALL event types (session + workspace) in one stream
   * - Aborting signal MUST stop only this generator, NOT the connection
   * - When the connection dies, all pending generators MUST throw
   *   DaemonTransportClosedError (transport maintains generator refs)
   * - MUST apply connectTimeoutMs to connect phase only
   * - Transport MUST declare whether lastEventId replay is supported;
   *   if not, consumer MUST use session/load for full resync on reconnect
   */
  subscribeEvents(
    sessionId: string,
    opts: DaemonTransportSubscribeOptions,
  ): AsyncGenerator<DaemonEvent>;
 
  /** Transport identity for exhaustive switching. */
  readonly type: 'rest' | 'acp-http' | 'acp-ws';
 
  /** Whether this transport supports Last-Event-ID based replay on reconnect.
   *  When false, consumer MUST use session/load for full resync. */
  readonly supportsReplay: boolean;
 
  /** False after connection drop or dispose(). */
  readonly connected: boolean;
 
  /** Idempotent teardown. */
  dispose(): void;
}
 
class DaemonTransportClosedError extends Error {}

2.2 Why two methods (fetch + subscribeEvents), not just fetch

subscribeEvents has fundamentally different wire semantics per transport:

Forcing these through a fetch-shaped hole requires SSE re-encoding/decoding (WS → fake SSE text → parseSseStream → DaemonEvent) — wasteful and fragile.

All other 66 methods work through fetch because they follow request→response semantics regardless of transport.

2.3 Why fetch-level, not method-dispatch

DaemonClient’s 67 methods contain per-method HTTP branching:

• prompt(): 202 vs 200 status check
• deleteWorkspaceAgent(): 204 vs 404 with body inspection
• respondToPermission(): 200 vs 404 for race detection
• 6 methods bypass fetchWithTimeout by calling _fetch directly

A method-dispatch interface (request<T>(method, params)) forces duplicating all this logic in every transport. Fetch-level keeps DaemonClient unchanged.

2.4 DaemonClient changes (~40 lines)

export interface DaemonClientOptions {
  baseUrl: string;
  token?: string;
  fetch?: typeof globalThis.fetch; // Kept
  fetchTimeoutMs?: number; // Kept
  transport?: DaemonTransport; // NEW — optional override
}

Internal changes:

• Constructor: this.transport = opts.transport ?? new RestSseTransport(...)
• fetchWithTimeout: delegate to this.transport.fetch(url, init, { timeout })
• 6 direct this._fetch sites (prompt, promptNonBlocking, recapSession, btwSession, shellCommand, subscribeEvents): replace with this.transport.fetch(url, init, { timeout: 0 })
• subscribeEvents: exhaustive switch on this.transport.type:
  • 'rest': delegate to this.transport.subscribeEvents(sessionId, opts)
  • default: same delegation (each transport handles its own wire format)
• Remove private _fetch field (replaced by transport)

2.5 Provider injection point

DaemonWorkspaceProvider and DaemonSessionProvider both construct DaemonClient internally. To let third parties inject a transport without bypassing the provider:

// DaemonWorkspaceProvider — add optional transport prop
interface DaemonWorkspaceProviderProps {
  baseUrl: string;
  token?: string;
  transport?: DaemonTransport; // NEW — forwarded to DaemonClient
  // ...existing props
}
 
// DaemonSessionProvider — inherit from workspace context
// No transport prop needed; reads from workspace context

When transport is provided, the provider passes it to DaemonClient:

new DaemonClient({ baseUrl, token, transport: props.transport });

When omitted: current behavior (REST+SSE). ~5 lines of provider change.

2.5 RestSseTransport (~80 lines)

Wraps globalThis.fetch + extracts current SSE logic from DaemonClient.subscribeEvents:

class RestSseTransport implements DaemonTransport {
  readonly type = 'rest' as const;
  readonly supportsReplay = true; // SSE supports Last-Event-ID
  readonly connected = true; // REST is stateless
 
  constructor(
    private readonly baseUrl: string,
    private readonly token: string | undefined,
    private readonly _fetch: typeof globalThis.fetch,
  ) {}
 
  fetch(url, init, opts?) {
    return this._fetch(url, init);
  }
 
  async *subscribeEvents(sessionId, opts) {
    // Current DaemonClient.subscribeEvents logic moved here:
    // - build URL from this.baseUrl + sessionId
    // - set Authorization header from this.token
    // - connect-phase timeout from opts.connectTimeoutMs
    // - fetch → validate content-type → parseSseStream → yield
  }
 
  dispose() {} // no-op
}

2.6 ACP transport internals

AcpWsTransport (~400-600 lines):

• Lazy-init: first fetch call opens WS + sends initialize
• URL→JSON-RPC mapping table: /session/:id/prompt → {method: "session/prompt", params: {sessionId: id, ...body}}
• Request multiplexer: Map<id, {resolve, reject}> for pending requests
• subscribeEvents: filter shared notification stream by sessionId
• connected: tracks WS readyState
• supportsReplay: false (WS has no Last-Event-ID; consumer must session/load)
• Synthesizes Response objects with correct .status/.json()/.text()

AcpHttpTransport (~800-1000 lines):

• Lazy-init: first fetch call sends POST /acp {initialize}
• Manages conn-scoped + session-scoped SSE streams internally
• Same URL→JSON-RPC mapping + request correlation
• supportsReplay: true (session SSE supports Last-Event-ID)

2.7 Transport auto-detection

Server advertises supported transports in GET /capabilities:

{
  "transports": ["rest+sse", "acp-http+sse", "acp-ws"],
  ...existing capabilities fields...
}

SDK provides a one-shot static factory:

// Probe once before React render, never switches mid-session
const transport = await DaemonTransport.negotiate(baseUrl, token);
// Returns best available: acp-ws > acp-http > rest (fallback)

Implementation:

1. GET /capabilities → read transports array
2. If acp-ws in list → try WS upgrade; on success return AcpWsTransport
3. If WS fails or not in list → try acp-http; on success return AcpHttpTransport
4. Fallback → RestSseTransport

No existing API affected: GET /capabilities adds a new field (additive), existing consumers ignore unknown fields.

2.8 Runtime fallback (WS → REST on disconnect)

When a non-REST transport disconnects mid-session:

AcpWsTransport (connected=true)
  │
  ├── WS drops (network, server restart, idle timeout)
  │
  ├── connected = false
  ├── All pending fetch() calls → reject with DaemonTransportClosedError
  ├── All subscribeEvents generators → throw DaemonTransportClosedError
  │
  └── Consumer (Provider / third party) detects disconnect:
        1. Create new RestSseTransport (guaranteed to work if daemon is up)
        2. Create new DaemonClient({ transport: newTransport })
        3. For each active session: session/load to re-attach
        4. Resume event subscription

Key constraint: runtime fallback is consumer-driven, not transport-internal. The transport does not silently switch protocols — it fails loudly (DaemonTransportClosedError) and the consumer decides whether to rebuild.

Rationale:

• WS teardown destroys all owned sessions server-side (registry.delete → conn.destroy). A silent switch would hide this data loss.
• session/load re-attaches to the existing bridge session (transcripts preserved), but the prompt in flight is aborted. The consumer must handle this explicitly (retry or surface to user).
• No Last-Event-ID resume across transports yet (Phase 4). Events between disconnect and reconnect may be lost. The consumer should request a full state resync via session/load (which replays history).

AutoReconnectTransport (~150 lines, optional wrapper):

class AutoReconnectTransport implements DaemonTransport {
  constructor(
    private baseUrl: string,
    private token: string,
    private preferred: 'acp-ws' | 'acp-http' | 'rest',
  ) {}
 
  // On DaemonTransportClosedError from inner transport:
  // 1. Try to re-create preferred transport
  // 2. If preferred fails, fallback to REST
  // 3. Re-initialize connection
  // Caller still needs to session/load — this wrapper only
  // handles transport-level reconnect, not session-level.
}

This wrapper is opt-in. Existing consumers who don’t want auto-reconnect simply catch DaemonTransportClosedError and handle it themselves.

Impact on existing functionality: zero. All auto-detection and fallback code is additive and opt-in. new DaemonClient({ baseUrl, token }) without transport = current REST behavior, no auto-detection, no fallback logic.

3. Breaking change audit

Verdict: zero breaking changes

Per-consumer impact

4. Design decisions

5. Alternatives considered

5.1 Custom fetch injection (no new interface)

Pass a WS-based fetch via existing DaemonClientOptions.fetch.

Rejected: subscribeEvents validates content-type: text/event-stream and uses parseSseStream. A custom fetch must re-encode WS frames as SSE text, then the SDK decodes them back — wasteful encode-decode roundtrip. Also, capabilities() and initialize have different response shapes requiring a format mapping layer.

5.2 Full formal interface (4 PRs, ~2750 lines)

Error taxonomy → Interface → AcpHttp → AcpWs as separate PRs.

Rejected: over-engineered. Error taxonomy is unnecessary (ACP transports can map to HTTP-equivalent status codes). Separate PRs increase review context-switch cost for a single cohesive abstraction.

5.3 Dual provider with BridgeContext

Parallel AcpSessionProvider + ChatBridgeContext + SessionBridgeContext.

Rejected: causes store desync, requires ~8 files, cannot work without SDK changes.

6. Implementation plan (single PR)

All changes land in one PR. Estimated ~1300 lines total.

Backward compatibility: new DaemonClient({ baseUrl, token }) without transport = identical REST+SSE behavior. All existing tests pass unchanged.

7. Verification

1. Backward compat: npm run test across sdk-typescript and webui — zero test changes needed. new DaemonClient({ baseUrl, token }) = identical behavior.
2. RestSseTransport extraction: bit-for-bit equivalent SSE behavior confirmed by existing test suite.
3. AcpWsTransport: integration test connecting to real daemon via WS. Verify:
   • subscribeEvents yields same DaemonEvent shapes as REST SSE
   • prompt 202/200 branching works with synthesized Response
   • permission vote round-trips correctly
   • connected transitions to false on WS drop
   • abort signal on prompt → WS sends session/cancel RPC
4. AcpHttpTransport: same verification as WS but over HTTP+SSE.
5. Auto-detect: negotiate() returns best transport; fallback to REST on WS failure.
6. Runtime fallback: AutoReconnectTransport catches DaemonTransportClosedError, rebuilds transport, consumer calls session/load for resync.
7. Provider: DaemonWorkspaceProvider with transport prop — ChatView + TerminalView both read from single store.
8. End-to-end: Third-party passes transport={new AcpWsTransport(url, token)} to DaemonWorkspaceProvider. All SDK hooks and transcript store work unchanged.

8. Risks