WireFish Avalonia dogfood plan

name: WireFish Avalonia dogfood overview: Bootstrap novolis-avalonia with reusable no-XAML controls and chrome-light layout primitives, then add a live-capture dogfood app in novolis-dogfooding that dogfoods Novolis.Transports.WireFish with a WireShark-inspired three-pane analyzer UI on stock Fluent theme. todos:

• id: bootstrap-avalonia

content: Scaffold novolis-avalonia (slnx, Directory.*, Novolis.Avalonia.Layout + Controls, TUnit tests) status: completed

• id: shared-controls

content: Implement AnalyzerWorkspace, HexDumpView, TreeDetailsView, PacketTableView, FilterBar on Fluent theme status: completed

• id: wirefish-app

content: Add novolis-dogfooding/apps/WireFishViewer with Host+Avalonia bootstrap and MainWindow composition status: completed

• id: capture-bridge

content: Implement CaptureSessionService, UiPacketCaptureHandler, PacketRow/PacketDetailBuilder, lazy Start/Stop + BPF status: completed

• id: governance-docs

content: Add wave-9-wirefish-dogfood brief, update dogfooding apps README and novolis-avalonia README status: completed isProject: false

Context

User choices: live-capture MVP (no offline .pcap yet); Fluent default theme with minimal custom chrome.

Target architecture

flowchart TB
  subgraph dogfood [novolis-dogfooding/apps/WireFishViewer]
    AppHost[Program + Generic Host]
    MainWin[MainWindow]
    UiHandler[UiPacketCaptureHandler]
    Session[CaptureSessionService]
  end

  subgraph avalonia [novolis-avalonia]
    Controls[Novolis.Avalonia.Controls]
    Layout[Novolis.Avalonia.Layout]
  end

  subgraph transports [novolis-transports]
    WireFish[Novolis.Transports.WireFish]
  end

  AppHost --> MainWin
  AppHost --> WireFish
  UiHandler --> Session
  WireFish --> UiHandler
  MainWin --> Controls
  MainWin --> Layout
  Session --> WireFish

Separation rule

• `novolis-avalonia`: domain-agnostic UI (split panes, hex dump, tree details, filter bar, DataGrid column helpers). No DevicePacket, SharpPcap, or WireFish types.
• `WireFishViewer` app: capture session, IPacketHandler, row models, protocol-tree building from PacketDotNet, BPF/device wiring.

Follow the no-XAML convention from `novolis-templates` Avalonia solution and the Generic Host + `IHostedService` bootstrap from `Program.cs`.

Phase 1 — Bootstrap novolis-avalonia

Mirror standard Novolis repo layout (`frank-naming-and-structure.md`):

novolis-avalonia/
  Novolis.Avalonia.slnx
  src/Novolis.Avalonia.Controls/
  src/Novolis.Avalonia.Layout/
  tests/Novolis.Avalonia.Controls.Tests/
  Directory.Build.props, Directory.Packages.props, global.json
  .novolis/packages.json

Packages (central versions in `Directory.Packages.props`):

• Avalonia 12.0.2 (align with templates)
• Avalonia.Desktop, Avalonia.Themes.Fluent, Avalonia.Fonts.Inter
• Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting (for optional shared host helpers later — keep Controls free of hosting if possible)

Novolis.Avalonia.Layout (generic)

Novolis.Avalonia.Controls (generic)

Explicitly not in avalonia repo: packet parsing, BPF validation, capture device enumeration tied to SharpPcap.

Phase 2 — Dogfood app WireFishViewer

Add `novolis-dogfooding/apps/WireFishViewer/` and register in `Novolis.Dogfooding.slnx`.

Project references:

..\..\submodules\novolis-avalonia\src\Novolis.Avalonia.Controls\...
..\..\submodules\novolis-avalonia\src\Novolis.Avalonia.Layout\...
..\..\submodules\novolis-transports\src\Novolis.Transports.WireFish\...
..\..\submodules\novolis-messaging\src\Novolis.Messaging.Channels\...

App structure:

apps/WireFishViewer/
  Program.cs              # Host + Avalonia lifetime (template pattern)
  App.cs
  MainWindow.cs           # Composes AnalyzerWorkspace
  Capture/
    CaptureSessionService.cs   # start/stop, applies WireFishOptions
    UiPacketCaptureHandler.cs  # IPacketHandler → UI thread
    PacketRow.cs                 # list columns
    PacketDetailBuilder.cs       # PacketDotNet → DetailTreeNode + hex bytes
  ViewModels/ (optional thin classes, no separate package)

WireShark-inspired UX (MVP)

Capture lifecycle

WireFish starts capture in IHostedService at host start. For Start/Stop UX:

1. Default: AllowNoCaptureDevices = true; do not call AddNovolisWireFish until user clicks Start (register capture pipeline lazily), or
2. Register WireFish at startup but gate PacketCaptureService with a custom ICaptureGate / options flag.

Recommended: lazy registration on first Start — avoids capturing before UI is ready and matches WireShark mental model.

UiPacketCaptureHandler:

• CanHandle → always true (or filter in app if display filter added later)
• HandleAsync → Dispatcher.UIThread.Post append to bounded ObservableCollection<PacketRow> (cap e.g. 10_000 rows, drop oldest)
• Never block capture thread on UI work

// Conceptual bridge (app code)
services.AddNovolisWireFish(b => b.AddPacketHandler<UiPacketCaptureHandler>(), o => {
    o.CaptureAllDevices = false;
    o.DeviceNames.Add(selectedInterface);
    o.BpfFilter = bpf;
    o.AllowNoCaptureDevices = true;
});

Phase 3 — Governance and docs

Add brief `novolis-governance/docs/extraction-briefs/wave-9-wirefish-dogfood.md` modeled on `wave-9-doom-dogfood.md`:

• In: avalonia layout controls, WireFishViewer app, TUnit tests for PacketDetailBuilder / row formatting
• Out: .pcap import/export, display filters, follow-stream, dissector plugins, security scan panels
• Done when: dotnet run --project apps/WireFishViewer from dogfooding; README note for Npcap on Windows

Update `novolis-dogfooding/apps/README.md` with run instructions.

Refresh `novolis-avalonia/README.md` from template stub to describe Controls/Layout packages.

Phase 4 — Tests and CI

Dogfooding CI: ensure dotnet build on solution includes new app; WireFish live capture remains manual (no Npcap in CI) — app must start and show empty state with warning.

Optional small WireFish library tweak (only if needed)

If lazy Start/Stop cannot be done cleanly without touching transports, add a minimal public hook in Novolis.Transports.WireFish (e.g. ICaptureController or expose start/stop on options) — prefer app-side host recycle first to avoid expanding transport API in MVP.

Risks and mitigations

Delivery order

1. Scaffold novolis-avalonia solution + Layout/Controls + unit tests
2. WireFishViewer shell (mock rows) proving layout
3. WireFish + UiPacketCaptureHandler live path
4. Governance brief + README + dogfooding slnx entry