bal-server/docs/03_architecture_and_data_flow.md

Architecture and Data Flow

Quick Reference

• What this file contains: high-level architecture, data flow, state machine, and error handling strategy.
• See also: 01_project_overview.md, 04_modules_detail.md, 05_api_reference.md, 06_database_schema.md

High-Level Architecture

User
 |
 | HTTP POST (raw hex transactions)
 v
+-----------------+
| bal-server      |  (actix-web 4.9.0 + actix-governor, async)
| (src/bin/bal-server.rs) |
+-----------------+
 | SQLite insert (db.rs, Arc<Mutex<Connection>>)
 v
 bal.db (WAL mode)
 | (transactions with status=0, waiting locktime)
 |
 | ZMQ (hashblock)
 v
+-----------------+
| bal-pusher      |  (tokio, ZMQ + RPC + reqwest)
| (src/bin/bal-pusher.rs)
+-----------------+
 | bitcoincore-rpc
 | sendrawtransaction
 v
 Bitcoin Network

Data Flow (Transaction Lifecycle)

1. Submission: A client sends one or more raw hex transactions to the pushtxs endpoint (newline-separated).
2. Validation: The bal-server parses each transaction using bitcoin::Transaction via consensus::deserialize. It checks for the fee output, extracts inputs/outputs, and validates the locktime.
3. Storage: Valid transactions are stored in tbl_tx with status = 0 (waiting). The inputs and outputs are stored in tbl_inp and tbl_out. Batch inserts use UNION ALL SELECT for efficiency.
4. Monitoring: The bal-pusher listens to the ZMQ hashblock topic with a 5-second receive timeout. When a new block is detected, it fetches blockchain info via RPC.
5. Evaluation: The pusher queries the database for transactions with status=0 and compares their locktime against the blockchain's best block height or median time (for timestamp-based locktimes above LOCKTIME_THRESHOLD).
6. Broadcast: If the locktime is satisfied, the pusher sends the transaction via sendrawtransaction and updates the status to 1 (sent) or 2 (failed with error stored in push_err).
7. Statistics: The pusher periodically calculates statistics and sends them to a remote welist server using an Ed25519-signed POST request. The server also exposes stats via the GET /:network/stats endpoint if expose_stats is enabled.

State Machine

[Submitted] -> status=0 (waiting)
      |
      | locktime satisfied
      v
[Push attempt] -> status=1 (sent) or status=2 (failed)

The status field in tbl_tx is an integer:

• 0: Waiting for locktime.
• 1: Successfully sent to the network.
• 2: Failed (e.g., RPC error -25 bad-txns-inputs-missingorspent). Error details stored in push_err.

Error Handling Strategy

The codebase has been hardened with comprehensive error handling:

• bal-server: Uses actix-web's built-in error handling. All unwrap()/expect() calls have been replaced with safe match/if let error propagation, returning appropriate HTTP status codes (400, 404, 500).
• bal-pusher: ZMQ recv uses set_rcvtimeo(5000) with a match/timeout handler. RPC connection failures log errors and retry with a sleep interval instead of panicking. The pusher logs warnings for consecutive ZMQ timeouts (~1 hour threshold).
• db.rs: Database operations use Result types. The open_db function validates paths before opening. WAL mode is set with retry logic.

Logging and Monitoring

The project uses env_logger and log. By default, RUST_LOG=info is set. The bal-pusher sends signed statistics to a remote server. The server exposes a stats endpoint (/<network>/stats) if expose_stats is enabled. The actix-web Logger::default() middleware logs all HTTP requests/responses.