Vix.cpp P2P HTTP Module

HTTP control surface for Vix P2P runtimes.

The P2P HTTP module exposes a small HTTP control layer on top of the P2P runtime. It lets you inspect, operate, and control a running P2P node through regular HTTP endpoints.

Documentation

Full documentation will be available here:

https://docs.vixcpp.com/modules/p2p-http/

API reference:

https://docs.vixcpp.com/modules/p2p-http/api-reference

What P2P HTTP provides

• HTTP control surface for P2P nodes
• Health check endpoint
• Runtime status endpoint
• Peer connection endpoint
• Peer inspection endpoint
• Logs endpoint
• Admin hook endpoint
• Custom route prefix support
• Optional auth hooks
• Optional middleware integration
• Live runtime log support
• Dashboard-friendly operational API

Public header

#include <vix/p2p_http.hpp>

Or include specific headers when needed:

#include <vix/p2p_http/routes.hpp>
#include <vix/p2p_http/options.hpp>

Basic idea

vix::p2p
  -> P2P runtime

vix::p2p_http
  -> HTTP control plane
  -> status
  -> peers
  -> connect
  -> logs
  -> admin hooks

vix/p2p gives you the runtime. vix/p2p_http gives you the operational control surface.

Register routes

#include <vix.hpp>
#include <vix/p2p.hpp>
#include <vix/p2p_http.hpp>

int main()
{
  vix::App app;

  vix::p2p::P2PRuntime runtime;

  vix::p2p_http::P2PHttpOptions options;
  options.prefix = "/p2p";

  vix::p2p_http::registerRoutes(app, runtime, options);

  app.run(8080);

  return 0;
}

Exposed routes

With the default prefix:

GET  /p2p/ping
GET  /p2p/status
GET  /p2p/peers
GET  /p2p/logs
POST /p2p/connect
POST /p2p/admin/hook

Ping route

curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/p2p/ping

Example response:

{
  "ok": true,
  "pong": true,
  "module": "p2p_http"
}

Status route

curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/p2p/status

The status endpoint exposes runtime-level P2P stats such as peer count, connected peers, handshake counters, connection attempts, failures, backoff skips, and tracked endpoints.

Connect route

curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8080/p2p/connect \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"host":"127.0.0.1","port":9002,"scheme":"tcp"}'

This asks the runtime to connect to a peer endpoint.

Peers route

curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/p2p/peers

The peers endpoint returns known peers, their state, endpoint information, handshake state, security flags, and key fingerprints.

Logs route

curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/p2p/logs

The logs endpoint returns the in-memory P2P HTTP log buffer as plain text.

Custom prefix

vix::p2p_http::P2PHttpOptions options;
options.prefix = "/control";

vix::p2p_http::registerRoutes(app, runtime, options);

Routes become:

GET  /control/ping
GET  /control/status
GET  /control/peers
GET  /control/logs
POST /control/connect
POST /control/admin/hook

Options

vix::p2p_http::P2PHttpOptions options;

options.prefix = "/p2p";
options.enable_ping = true;
options.enable_status = true;
options.enable_peers = true;
options.enable_logs = true;
options.enable_live_logs = true;
options.stats_every_ms = 1000;

Runtime examples

Ping route

vix run examples/p2p_http/01_ping_route_basic.cpp

Then:

curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/p2p/ping

Status route

vix run examples/p2p_http/02_status_route_basic.cpp

Then:

curl http://127.0.0.1:8081/p2p/status

Custom prefix

vix run examples/p2p_http/03_custom_prefix.cpp

Then:

curl http://127.0.0.1:8082/control/ping
curl http://127.0.0.1:8082/control/status

Connect route

Terminal 1:

vix run examples/p2p_http/04_connect_route_basic.cpp --run target

Terminal 2:

vix run examples/p2p_http/04_connect_route_basic.cpp --run api

Then:

curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8083/p2p/connect \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"host":"127.0.0.1","port":9201,"scheme":"tcp"}'

Peers route

vix run examples/p2p_http/05_peers_route_basic.cpp --run api

Then:

curl http://127.0.0.1:8084/p2p/peers

Full dashboard server

vix run examples/p2p_http/10_full_dashboard_server.cpp

Useful endpoints:

GET  /p2p/ping
GET  /p2p/status
GET  /p2p/peers
GET  /p2p/logs
POST /p2p/connect
POST /p2p/admin/hook

Runtime arguments

When using vix run, keep this rule:

--     = compiler or linker flags
--run  = runtime arguments passed to the program

Correct:

vix run examples/p2p_http/04_connect_route_basic.cpp --run api

Wrong:

vix run examples/p2p_http/04_connect_route_basic.cpp -- api

Architecture

vix::App
  -> P2P HTTP routes
  -> P2P runtime
  -> peers
  -> logs
  -> status
  -> control actions

With middleware enabled:

Request
  -> auth hook
  -> heavy route tag
  -> P2P HTTP handler
  -> P2P runtime

Operational notes

• The log buffer is bounded and stored in memory.
• Live stats logging starts only when logs and live logs are enabled.
• POST /connect and GET /peers depend on enable_peers.
• Admin routes should be protected with an auth hook.
• Live logs should be shut down cleanly when the app stops.

Build

Contributors should use the Vix CLI to build this module.

Vix wraps the C++ build workflow with project detection, presets, Ninja builds, clean logs, caching, and focused diagnostics. This keeps the contributor workflow consistent and helps avoid hidden C++ build issues.

Build the project

git clone https://github.com/vixcpp/vix.git
cd vix
vix build

Build all targets

Use this before running the full test suite, install workflows, or release checks:

vix build --build-target all

Clean rebuild

Use this when the local CMake cache or build directory may be stale:

vix build --clean

Release build

vix build --preset release

Tests

Build all targets first, then run tests:

vix build --build-target all
vix tests

Before opening a pull request, use:

vix fmt --check
vix build --build-target all
vix tests

Useful links

• P2P HTTP documentation: https://docs.vixcpp.com/modules/p2p-http/
• P2P HTTP API reference: https://docs.vixcpp.com/modules/p2p-http/api-reference
• P2P documentation: https://docs.vixcpp.com/modules/p2p/
• P2P CLI command: https://docs.vixcpp.com/cli/p2p
• Build command: https://docs.vixcpp.com/cli/build
• Tests command: https://docs.vixcpp.com/cli/tests
• Documentation: https://docs.vixcpp.com/
• Engineering notes: https://blog.vixcpp.com/
• Registry: https://registry.vixcpp.com/
• GitHub: https://github.com/vixcpp/vix

License

MIT License.

See LICENSE for details.