Adds the WiFi-to-app sync path and the on-device open REST API implementing the
device paths of api/openapi.yaml, plus persistent config in NVS.
What changed:
- firmware/src/config.{h,cpp}: NVS (Preferences) store - stable device id from MAC,
WiFi SSID/PSK, API bearer token, upload settings. Secrets stay off the SD card.
- firmware/src/net_wifi.{h,cpp}: station join with stored creds; SoftAP provisioning
fallback when no creds / join fails; mDNS openscribe.local; reconnect in loop().
- firmware/src/api_http.{h,cpp}: synchronous WebServer on :80. Routes: GET /device,
GET/PUT /device/config, GET /recordings, GET /recordings/{id}, GET
/recordings/{id}/audio (HTTP Range -> 206 + Content-Range), DELETE /recordings/{id},
POST /record/start|stop. Bearer-token auth on mutating calls (open when no token).
- firmware/src/storage.{h,cpp}: list/read/delete/count helpers + path builders.
- firmware/src/main.cpp: wire config + WiFi + API into setup/loop; bump fw to 0.2.0.
- firmware/platformio.ini: add bblanchon/ArduinoJson@^7 (only new dep).
- state/: ARCHITECTURE, NOTES, TODO updated; security + NTP follow-ups recorded.
Why:
- This is the WiFi transfer channel and the device half of the "completely open API":
clients can list, download (resumable), delete and control without any cloud.
Notes:
- Not compiled locally (no PlatformIO on the dev host) or hardware-verified; CI builds
both board profiles. Security follow-ups logged: API is open when no token is set,
and the SoftAP uses a fixed default passphrase (make user-set at M4/BLE).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
6.3 KiB
6.3 KiB
Architecture
How the system is built and why. Update this when the structure changes; a change is not finished until this reflects it.
Overview
Four parts, connected by an open REST API and a shared recording data model:
[ Device: ESP32-S3 ] [ Self-hosted server ]
mic -> I2S -> ring buffer (PSRAM) FastAPI
-> encoder (WAV) -> microSD +-- ingest (from cloud store / upload)
button/LED/haptic UX +-- faster-whisper (transcribe)
power + charge detect +-- Ollama LLM (summarise)
| BLE (control/provision) +-- object store (MinIO/local) + DB
| WiFi REST API (LAN) `-- open REST API + exports
| WiFi uploader (on charge) --> cloud store -----------^
| |
v v
[ Flutter app: Android + iOS ] <---- open REST API (device + server)
Three sync paths, exactly as specified:
- BLE: control, status, and WiFi provisioning (small data). Portable/battery mode.
- WiFi to app: bulk recording transfer via the device REST API (fast).
- Independent WiFi upload: when on charge / hard-powered the device auto-joins WiFi and pushes recordings to generic cloud storage with no phone present.
Components
firmware (device)
- Responsibility: capture audio, store it, manage power/controls, expose control + data over BLE and WiFi, and upload autonomously when powered.
- Location:
firmware/(PlatformIO, Arduino-ESP32, target ESP32-S3). - Modules (M1 landed: audio, storage, recorder, ux; rest planned per milestone):
audio- I2S/PDM mic capture presenting 16-bit PCM mono (ESP_I2S). [M1]storage- microSD (FAT) streaming WAV writer + sidecar JSON metadata. [M1]recorder- session state machine (idle/recording), file naming, metadata. [M1]ux- button (short-press start/stop) + status LED (haptic later). [M1]power- battery read (ADC), charge/VBUS detect -> mode switch.config- NVS-stored settings (device id, WiFi creds, api token, upload). [M2]net_wifi- WiFi station join/reconnect + SoftAP provisioning fallback + mDNS. [M2]api_http- on-device REST server implementing the device paths. [M2]uploader- S3-compatible / WebDAV client; pushes audio + metadata when powered.ble- GATT: device info, battery, record control, WiFi provisioning, status.ota- firmware update over HTTP.
- Depends on: microSD, I2S mic, LiPo + charge IC (see
hardware/BOM.md). - Why this way: ESP32-S3 has WiFi + BLE 5 + PSRAM + USB in one cheap chip, so all three sync paths and audio buffering fit on one board with off-the-shelf modules.
server (self-hosted AI)
- Responsibility: ingest recordings, transcribe, summarise, store, and serve the open API with exports.
- Location:
server/(FastAPI). - Pipeline: ingest (from cloud store or direct upload) -> store raw audio (object store) -> transcribe (faster-whisper) -> summarise (Ollama LLM) -> index metadata (DB) -> expose REST API + exports (audio, TXT, SRT, VTT, Markdown, JSON).
- Depends on: object storage (MinIO or local FS), a DB (SQLite to start, Postgres later), faster-whisper, Ollama. All self-hostable.
- Why this way: keeps the device cheap and low-power (no on-device AI); all heavy compute runs on hardware the user owns; every step swappable and open.
app (Flutter)
- Responsibility: provision the device, browse the library, play audio, show transcripts and summaries, export/share, manage settings.
- Location:
app/. - Depends on: device BLE + REST API (provisioning/transfer) and server REST API (library, transcripts, summaries).
- Why this way: one codebase for Android + iOS. iOS restricts background BLE, so BLE is used for control/provisioning and WiFi for bulk transfer, which matches the design.
case (3D print)
- Responsibility: enclosure for the chosen board + battery + mic + button + USB + LED.
- Location:
case/(OpenSCAD, parametric). - Why this way: code-defined parametric model re-tunes to exact module dimensions and stays fully open and diffable.
hardware
- Responsibility: BOM, wiring/pinout, build notes. No custom PCB in v1.
- Location:
hardware/.
api
- Responsibility: the single source of truth for the open API (device + server).
- Location:
api/openapi.yaml.
Data and state
Recording metadata (sidecar JSON on device; row in server DB), canonical shape:
{
"id": "rec_20260703T101500Z_ab12",
"device_id": "openscribe-abc123",
"started_at": "2026-07-03T10:15:00Z",
"duration_s": 372.5,
"sample_rate": 16000,
"channels": 1,
"codec": "wav_pcm_s16le",
"size_bytes": 11920000,
"sha256": "…",
"source": "device",
"sync_state": "local | uploaded | ingested | transcribed | summarised",
"transcript_ref": null,
"summary_ref": null
}
- On device: files on microSD (
/recordings/<id>.wav+<id>.json); config + secrets in NVS (never on the SD card in clear). - In transit: audio + metadata JSON uploaded to the configured object store; server ingests from there (or accepts direct upload).
- On server: audio + artefacts (transcript, summary, subtitle files) in the object store; metadata + refs in the DB.
External dependencies
- ESP32-S3 (Espressif), Arduino-ESP32, PlatformIO - mature, free, WiFi + BLE + PSRAM.
- faster-whisper (CTranslate2) - fast self-hosted STT, CPU or GPU.
- Ollama - self-hosted local LLM runtime for summaries.
- MinIO (or any S3-compatible / WebDAV target) - self-hosted object storage.
- FastAPI, Flutter - open, well supported. All chosen to be self-hostable and open; no required proprietary SaaS.
Constraints and trade-offs
- Audio default is WAV PCM 16 kHz mono for simplicity and quality; larger files, so WiFi is the real transfer channel and Opus/ADPCM is a later size optimisation.
- No on-device transcription: keeps the device cheap/low-power; needs the server for AI.
- BLE bulk transfer is slow and iOS-restricted, so BLE only does control/provisioning and hands transfers to WiFi.
- v1 uses off-the-shelf modules (no PCB): easier to build, bigger case than a Plaud.
- Security: device REST API and config writes must be authenticated (token in NVS); independent uploads use scoped object-store credentials. Hardening tracked in TODO.