every.channel/evolution/proposals/ECP-0057-direct-publish-session-reconnect.md

ECP-0057: Direct-Publish Session Reconnect + Busy Listing Semantics

Status: Draft

Problem

ec-node direct-publish (direct WebRTC + CMAF over DataChannel) is currently a 1:1 stream.

Two concrete issues hurt reliability:

1. Directory entries can remain visible while a session is already connected, causing new viewers to click "Watch" and silently fail.
2. If a viewer disconnects (reload, laptop sleeps, etc), the publisher has no way to accept a new viewer without restarting the process.

Proposal

• Make direct-publish a session loop:
  • Create a fresh PeerConnection offer.
  • Announce it to the directory.
  • Wait for one answer.
  • Stream until send fails / ffmpeg ends.
  • Restart with a new offer.
• Once a session is connected, stop refreshing announcements and quickly expire the directory entry (so the directory reflects joinable streams only).

This preserves the current 1:1 nature while making reconnection and "send a link" behavior much more robust.

Non-Goals (For Now)

• True 1:many fanout / relaying for direct streams.
• Multi-viewer, simultaneous subscriptions to the same publisher connection.