Bounty: $300 for Fixing js-libp2p Compatibility Issues in react-native-tcp-socket

[palmtown]

Background
js-libp2p is the JavaScript implementation of the libp2p networking stack, enabling peer-to-peer communication with modular transport, discovery, and security protocols. Integrating it with React Native is critical for decentralized applications, allowing mobile clients to connect to peer networks without relying on centralized servers.

Currently, react-native-tcp-socket, which serves as a TCP transport layer in React Native, faces compatibility issues with js-libp2p. Fixing these issues will not only enable seamless connectivity for libp2p-based applications on mobile but also improve react-native-tcp-socket by bringing it closer to Node.js's net implementation, ensuring long-term maintainability and broader adoption.

Bounty Details
I am offering $300 to the developer who successfully creates a PR addressing the following:

Tasks

1. Solve react-native-tcp-socket issue #183: Implement support for the options parameter in the net.createServer method to align with Node.js's net module.
2. Fix connection failures when a React Native client dials a relay: Ensure that React Native clients can successfully establish connections with relays without encountering errors such as UnexpectedEOFError (see Exhibit 2 below).

Acceptance Criteria (AC)
✅ Issue #183 is resolved.
✅ A React Native client can successfully dial a bootstrap/relay/peer without connection failures.
✅ A pull request (PR) is created with the fixes.

If you need assistance testing, I am happy to help by setting up a reproducible repository.

Exhibit 2: Connection Failure Log
libp2p:tcp:socket:error encrypting inbound connection from /ip4/X.X.X.X/tcp/58057 failed UnexpectedEOFError: unexpected end of input
at Object.read (file:///home/nodejs/libp2p/node_modules/it-byte-stream/dist/src/index.js:94:31)
at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:105:5)
at async Object.read (file:///home/nodejs/libp2p/node_modules/it-length-prefixed-stream/dist/src/index.js:45:37)
at async read (file:///home/nodejs/libp2p/node_modules/@libp2p/multistream-select/dist/src/multistream.js:22:17)
at async Module.readString (file:///home/nodejs/libp2p/node_modules/@libp2p/multistream-select/dist/src/multistream.js:33:17)
at async Module.handle (file:///home/nodejs/libp2p/node_modules/@libp2p/multistream-select/dist/src/handle.js:63:26)
at async DefaultUpgrader._encryptInbound (file:///home/nodejs/libp2p/node_modules/libp2p/dist/src/upgrader.js:458:42)
at async DefaultUpgrader._performUpgrade (file:///home/nodejs/libp2p/node_modules/libp2p/dist/src/upgrader.js:173:21)
at async DefaultUpgrader.upgradeInbound (file:///home/nodejs/libp2p/node_modules/libp2p/dist/src/upgrader.js:99:13) {
code: 'ERR_UNEXPECTED_EOF'

How This Helps the Future of react-native-tcp-socket
By resolving these issues, react-native-tcp-socket will better align with Node.js's net module, making it a more reliable and future-proof solution for TCP networking in React Native. This improvement is essential for decentralized applications, Web3 projects, and any use case requiring peer-to-peer communication on mobile.

If you're up for the challenge, submit your PR and claim the bounty! 🚀 Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions.

@achingbrain
@abuvanth

[palmtown]

Update: For anyone interested in taking on this bounty, I can make payments via Bitcoin, USDT, Zelle, or CashApp. Let me know if you have any questions!

[omarsoufiane]

@palmtown we can help you streamline your bounty and make it visible to more developers, can you reach out to me via email (yours is not visible on your profile)?

[palmtown]

@omarsoufiane

Thanks for reaching out. Note that I sent you an email. Looking forward to getting this in front of interested developers.

[bountyhub-bot]

🚀 Bounty Alert!

💰 A bounty of $300.00 has been created by palmtown on BountyHub for this issue.

🔗 Claim this bounty by submitting a pull request that solves this issue!

You can also increase the amount of the bounty if you think the issue is worth more.

Good luck, and happy coding! 💻

[Myestery]

Hi @palmtown
I'll like to work on this, can I be assigned?

[palmtown]

Hello @Myestery,

Thanks for your interest in this bounty! I appreciate you looking into it. When you’ve had a chance to review the requirements, could you provide a rough estimate of the timeline? This will help me understand whether we’re looking at days or months for completion.

I’ve sent you a LinkedIn message with my email address for further communication. Looking forward to your thoughts!

[achingbrain]

If it helps someone, the connection failure log line:

libp2p:tcp:socket:error encrypting inbound connection from /ip4/X.X.X.X/tcp/58057 failed UnexpectedEOFError: unexpected end of input

...normally means that the remote closed the connection during opening. The thing to do would be to check the logs on the remote node to find out why it closed the connection.

[Myestery]

If it helps someone, the connection failure log line:

libp2p:tcp:socket:error encrypting inbound connection from /ip4/X.X.X.X/tcp/58057 failed UnexpectedEOFError: unexpected end of input

...normally means that the remote closed the connection during opening. The thing to do would be to check the logs on the remote node to find out why it closed the connection.

okay, this is helpful

[Myestery]

Hello @Myestery,

Thanks for your interest in this bounty! I appreciate you looking into it. When you’ve had a chance to review the requirements, could you provide a rough estimate of the timeline? This will help me understand whether we’re looking at days or months for completion.

I’ve sent you a LinkedIn message with my email address for further communication. Looking forward to your thoughts!

I can send a PR to fix it on or before Monday but I'm currently investigating it

[abuvanth]

let me deep dive

[abuvanth]

for reference - https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/main/lib/net.js

[Myestery]

I created a PR in #210 that should fix this, the tests ensure that the fix is also backward compatible for those who use the library