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@d-buckner/ensemble-collaboration

Collaboration CRDT package for the Ensemble actor framework. Provides real-time collaboration capabilities using Automerge CRDTs with WebRTC P2P and WebSocket fallback transports.

Features

  • 🔄 CRDT-based collaboration - Automatic conflict resolution via Automerge
  • 🌐 WebRTC-first strategy - Low-latency P2P connections with WebSocket fallback
  • 🎭 Actor-based architecture - Clean separation of concerns with four specialized actors
  • 📦 Type-safe - Full TypeScript support with generic document types
  • 🔌 Framework agnostic - Works with any transport layer

Architecture

The package provides four specialized actors:

WebSocketActor + WebRTCActor (transport implementations)
              ↓
        PeerMessagingActor (state tracker & router)
              ↓
     CollaborationActor<TDoc> (CRDT management)
  • CollaborationActor - Generic CRDT document manager that users extend
  • PeerMessagingActor - Tracks peer connections and routes messages to appropriate transport
  • WebSocketActor - Socket.IO client for signaling and fallback transport
  • WebRTCActor - WebRTC P2P transport for low-latency data channels

Installation

npm install @d-buckner/ensemble-collaboration @d-buckner/ensemble-core

Peer Dependencies

npm install @automerge/automerge socket.io-client

Quick Start

import { CollaborationActor, PeerMessagingActor, WebSocketActor, WebRTCActor } from '@d-buckner/ensemble-collaboration';
import { createActorToken, ActorSystem, action } from '@d-buckner/ensemble-core';

// 1. Define your document type
interface TodoDoc {
  todos: Array<{ id: string; text: string; done: boolean }>;
}

// 2. Extend CollaborationActor with domain actions
class TodosActor extends CollaborationActor<TodoDoc> {
  static readonly initialState: TodoDoc = {
    todos: []
  };

  constructor() {
    super(TodosActor.initialState);
  }

  @action
  addTodo(text: string): void {
    this.setState(draft => {
      draft.todos.push({
        id: `todo-${Date.now()}`,
        text,
        done: false
      });
    });
  }

  @action
  toggleTodo(id: string): void {
    this.setState(draft => {
      const todo = draft.todos.find(t => t.id === id);
      if (todo) {
        todo.done = !todo.done;
      }
    });
  }
}

// 3. Register actors and start system
const WebSocketToken = createActorToken<WebSocketActor>('websocket');
const WebRTCToken = createActorToken<WebRTCActor>('webrtc');
const PeerMessagingToken = createActorToken<PeerMessagingActor>('peerMessaging');
const TodosToken = createActorToken<TodosActor>('todos');

const system = new ActorSystem();

system.register({
  token: WebSocketToken,
  actor: WebSocketActor,
});

system.register({
  token: WebRTCToken,
  actor: WebRTCActor,
});

system.register({
  token: PeerMessagingToken,
  actor: PeerMessagingActor,
  dependencies: { websocket: WebSocketToken, webrtc: WebRTCToken }
});

system.register({
  token: TodosToken,
  actor: TodosActor,
  dependencies: { connection: PeerMessagingToken }
});

await system.start();

// 4. Initialize WebSocket connection
const websocket = system.getClient(WebSocketToken);
websocket?.actions.initialize({
  url: 'http://localhost:3001',
  roomId: 'demo-room'
});

React Integration

import { useActor } from '@d-buckner/ensemble-react';

function TodoList() {
  const { state, actions } = useActor(TodosToken);

  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Collaboration Todos</h1>
      {state.todos.map(todo => (
        <div key={todo.id}>
          <input
            type="checkbox"
            checked={todo.done}
            onChange={() => actions.toggleTodo(todo.id)}
          />
          {todo.text}
        </div>
      ))}
      <button onClick={() => actions.addTodo('New task')}>
        Add Todo
      </button>
    </div>
  );
}

How It Works

Document as State

The CRDT document IS the actor state directly. No wrapper objects:

// ✅ Clean API
state.todos

// ❌ Not this
state.document.todos

Transparent CRDT

Users call setState() like any actor, but changes automatically sync with peers:

@action
addTodo(text: string): void {
  // Looks like normal setState, but goes through Automerge
  this.setState(draft => {
    draft.todos.push({ id: `todo-${Date.now()}`, text, done: false });
  });
  // Automatically synced with all peers!
}

Effect-Driven Sync

All peer communication happens via effects - no public sync methods:

// CollaborativeActor listens to connection events
@effect('connection.messageReceived')
private handleIncomingMessage({ peerId, message }): void {
  // Automerge handles conflict resolution
  // State updates trigger re-renders
}

Transport Abstraction

PeerMessagingActor handles routing - CollaborationActor doesn't know about transports:

// In CollaborationActor:
this.deps.connection.actions.sendTo(peerId, message);

// PeerMessagingActor automatically:
// - Routes to WebRTC if connected
// - Falls back to WebSocket if WebRTC unavailable
// - Coordinates signaling between transports

API Reference

CollaborationActor

Base class for collaboration actors. Users extend this and add domain actions.

Methods:

  • setState(updater) - Update document (routes through Automerge)

Effects:

  • @effect('connection.messageReceived') - Handle incoming sync messages
  • @effect('connection.peerConnected') - Initialize sync with new peer
  • @effect('connection.peerDisconnected') - Clean up peer sync state

PeerMessagingActor

Tracks peer connections and routes messages to appropriate transport.

State:

  • connectedPeers: string[] - List of connected peer IDs
  • peerTransports: Record<peerId, 'webrtc' | 'websocket'> - Active transport per peer

Actions:

  • sendTo(peerId, message) - Route message to appropriate transport
  • broadcast(message) - Send to all connected peers

Events:

  • peerConnected: string - Peer ready for communication
  • peerDisconnected: string - Peer left
  • transportChanged: { peerId, transport } - Transport switched
  • messageReceived: { peerId, message } - Incoming message (normalized)

WebSocketActor

Socket.IO client for signaling and fallback transport.

Actions:

  • connect() - Connect to server and join room
  • disconnect() - Leave room and disconnect
  • sendSignal(peerId, data) - Send WebRTC signaling
  • sendTo(peerId, message) - Send CRDT message (fallback)

Events:

  • roomJoined: { roomId, peerId, peerIds } - Joined room successfully
  • peerJoined: string - New peer joined
  • peerLeft: string - Peer left
  • signalingMessage: { peerId, data } - WebRTC signaling received

WebRTCActor

WebRTC P2P transport using my peer-pressure library.

Actions:

  • sendTo(peerId, message) - Send via WebRTC data channel

Events:

  • peerConnected: string - WebRTC data channel ready
  • peerDisconnected: string - WebRTC connection closed
  • messageReceived: { peerId, message } - Data from peer
  • signalingData: { peerId, data } - Outbound signaling for peer

License

Apache-2.0

Server Package

The collaboration package includes a server implementation at @d-buckner/ensemble-collaboration/server for Socket.IO-based collaboration backends.

Server Installation

npm install @d-buckner/ensemble-collaboration

The server package is included in the main package and requires socket.io as a dependency.

Quick Start - Standalone Server

import { CollaborationServer } from '@d-buckner/ensemble-collaboration/server';

// Create standalone server on port 3001
const server = await CollaborationServer.standalone(3001, {
  logger: console,
  onPeerJoined: (room, peer) => console.log(`${peer} joined ${room}`),
});

Express Integration

import express from 'express';
import { createServer } from 'http';
import { Server } from 'socket.io';
import { CollaborationServer } from '@d-buckner/ensemble-collaboration/server';

const app = express();
const httpServer = createServer(app);

// User controls Socket.IO configuration
const io = new Server(httpServer, {
  cors: { origin: 'http://localhost:5173' },
  path: '/collab',
});

// We just handle the collaboration protocol
const collaboration = new CollaborationServer(io, {
  logger: console,
  onPeerJoined: (room, peer) => console.log(`${peer} joined ${room}`),
});

// Add REST endpoints
app.get('/stats', (req, res) => {
  res.json(collaboration.getStats());
});

httpServer.listen(3001);

NestJS Integration with Throttling

import { WebSocketGateway, SubscribeMessage, MessageBody, ConnectedSocket } from '@nestjs/websockets';
import { Throttle } from '@nestjs/throttler';
import { UseGuards } from '@nestjs/common';
import { CollaborationGateway } from '@d-buckner/ensemble-collaboration/server';
import type { Socket } from 'socket.io';

@WebSocketGateway()
export class MyCollaborationGateway extends CollaborationGateway {
  constructor() {
    super({
      logger: console,
      onPeerJoined: (room, peer) => console.log(`${peer} joined ${room}`),
    });
  }

  @Throttle({ default: { limit: 100, ttl: 10000 } })
  @UseGuards(WsThrottlerGuard)
  @SubscribeMessage('join-room')
  async handleJoinRoom(@MessageBody() data: any, @ConnectedSocket() client: Socket) {
    return super.handleJoinRoom(client, data);
  }

  @Throttle({ default: { limit: 100, ttl: 10000 } })
  @UseGuards(WsThrottlerGuard)
  @SubscribeMessage('webrtc-signal')
  async handleWebRTCSignal(@MessageBody() data: any, @ConnectedSocket() client: Socket) {
    return super.handleWebRTCSignal(client, data);
  }

  @Throttle({ default: { limit: 100, ttl: 10000 } })
  @UseGuards(WsThrottlerGuard)
  @SubscribeMessage('sync-message')
  async handleSyncMessage(@MessageBody() data: any, @ConnectedSocket() client: Socket) {
    return super.handleSyncMessage(client, data);
  }
}

Server API

CollaborationServer

Constructor:

new CollaborationServer(io: SocketIOServer, options?: CollaborationServerOptions)

Options:

  • interceptor?: MessageInterceptor - Custom rate limiting/validation
  • generatePeerId?: () => string - Custom peer ID generator
  • logger?: Logger - Logger instance (default: console)
  • onRoomCreated?: (roomId) => void - Room creation hook
  • onRoomDestroyed?: (roomId) => void - Room destruction hook
  • onPeerJoined?: (roomId, peerId) => void - Peer joined hook
  • onPeerLeft?: (roomId, peerId) => void - Peer left hook

Methods:

  • getStats(): ServerStats - Get server statistics
  • getRooms(): RoomInfo[] - Get all rooms
  • getRoom(roomId): RoomInfo | null - Get specific room info
  • shutdown(): Promise<void> - Graceful shutdown

Static Methods:

  • CollaborationServer.standalone(port, options): Promise<CollaborationServer> - Create standalone server

Message Interceptor (Custom Rate Limiting)

import { MessageInterceptor, MessageContext } from '@d-buckner/ensemble-collaboration/server';

class CustomRateLimiter implements MessageInterceptor {
  private requests = new Map<string, number[]>();

  async intercept(context: MessageContext): boolean {
    const key = context.socket.id;
    const now = Date.now();
    const window = 10000; // 10 seconds

    if (!this.requests.has(key)) {
      this.requests.set(key, []);
    }

    const timestamps = this.requests.get(key)!;
    const recentRequests = timestamps.filter(t => now - t < window);

    if (recentRequests.length >= 100) {
      context.socket.emit('exception', {
        code: 429,
        message: 'Rate limit exceeded',
      });
      return false; // Block the message
    }

    recentRequests.push(now);
    this.requests.set(key, recentRequests);
    return true; // Allow the message
  }
}

// Use it
const server = new CollaborationServer(io, {
  interceptor: new CustomRateLimiter(),
});

Server Protocol

The server handles these Socket.IO events:

Client → Server:

  • join-room { roomId } - Join a collaboration room
  • leave-room - Leave current room
  • webrtc-signal { to, data } - WebRTC signaling relay
  • sync-message { to, message } - CRDT sync message (fallback transport)

Server → Client:

  • room-peers { peerId, peers } - Room joined successfully with peer list
  • peer-joined peerId - New peer joined room
  • peer-left peerId - Peer left room
  • webrtc-signal { from, data } - WebRTC signaling from peer
  • sync-message { from, message } - CRDT message from peer

Live Demo

A complete working React demo is available in demos/react/collaboration/:

  • Real-time collaborative todo list - Multiple browser clients syncing in real-time
  • WebSocket transport - Server-side message relay with room management
  • Automerge CRDT - Automatic conflict resolution
  • Full TypeScript - Type-safe collaboration with domain-specific actions

Quick start:

# From the collaboration package directory
npm run demo

This runs both the collaboration server and React demo client with colored output.

Manual setup:

# Terminal 1: Start the collaboration server
npm run demo:server

# Terminal 2: Start the React client (opens at http://localhost:5173)
npm run demo:client

# Open multiple browser tabs to see real-time sync

The demo shows how to:

  • Extend CollaborationActor with domain-specific actions
  • Set up WebSocket server with room management
  • Configure actor dependencies and lifecycle
  • Integrate with React for reactive UI updates
⚡