amethyst/nestsClient/plans/2026-05-07-framespergroup-production-rerun.md

Plan: re-run HCgOY field tests against current production

Status: specced — pickup ready (needs prod-rig access). Cross-ref: nestsClient/plans/2026-05-07-framespergroup-reconciliation.md documents the conflict between the cliff plan's value (5) and HCgOY's value (50). This plan settles which is current truth.

What we're trying to settle

Production currently runs NestMoqLiteBroadcaster.DEFAULT_FRAMES_PER_GROUP = 50 based on HCgOY two-phone field tests at commit 6e4df4a (2026-05-05) which observed:

framesPerGroup	streams/sec @ 50 fps	observed cliff window
1	50	~3 s
5	10	~13 s
10	5	~16 s
50	1	not reached
100	0.5	never observed

Interop tests pin 5 because the local --auth-public "" minimal relay setup hits a different cliff (per-stream byte volume) at framesPerGroup = 50.

The production deployment may have changed since 2026-05-05:

• nostrnests may have updated their moq-relay version
• their resource limits may have shifted
• the upstream kixelated/moq may have addressed one or both cliffs

We don't know without re-running. Cliff value at framesPerGroup = 5 may now be unbounded — if so, both rigs can converge on 5 and the test pin matches the prod default.

Test setup

Rig A — interop env (already exists)

./gradlew :nestsClient:jvmTest --tests HangInteropTest -DnestsHangInterop=true runs against local moq-relay 0.10.25 --auth-public "" --tls-generate localhost. Long-broadcast scenario long_broadcast_60s_tone_round_trips is the existing 60-second sustained-stream test pinned at framesPerGroup = 5.

To probe other values, parameterize the helper:

// HangInteropTest.kt — runSpeakerToHangListen helper
private suspend fun runSpeakerToHangListen(
    speakerSeconds: Int,
    framesPerGroup: Int = 5,  // ← new parameter
    // ...existing params
): HangListenOutput { ... }

Then add scenarios long_broadcast_60s_framesPerGroup_50 etc. that pin different values. Expected outcomes today (per the 2026-05-01 cliff plan):

• framesPerGroup = 5 — passes (current pin)
• framesPerGroup = 10 — passes
• framesPerGroup = 50 — fails (per-stream byte volume cliff at the local minimal relay)

Rig B — production deployment (needs maintainer access)

This is the gap. Rerunning the HCgOY two-phone field test pattern needs:

• Two physical Android devices
• A nostrnests room (production endpoint wss://nostrnests.com/v0/ws per NestsConnect.kt)
• The diagnostic-build of Amethyst that emits the cliff-detector trace logs (see commit 6e4df4a's logcat run from 18:37:43..18:38:08)

The maintainer should run the same test pattern at:

• framesPerGroup = 5 (current test value)
• framesPerGroup = 10
• framesPerGroup = 25 (untested, midpoint)
• framesPerGroup = 50 (current prod value)
• framesPerGroup = 100 (full group; the cliff plan's fpg-all reference)

For each, broadcast for 120 s and observe:

• Total streams forwarded by the relay
• Time-to-cliff if any (when the listener-side flow-control snapshot stops incrementing peerInitiatedUni)
• Audio dropouts (perceptual + sample-count)

Decision matrix after data lands

Rig A passes at	Rig B passes at	Decision
5, 10	5, 10, 25, 50, 100	Keep prod 50; test pins 5 (current state)
5, 10, 50	5, 10, 25, 50, 100	Both rigs converge → unify on 50, test pin matches prod
5, 10	50, 100 only (5 still cliffs)	Current state is correct; document permanently as "two cliffs in one binary"
5 only	50, 100 only (5 still cliffs)	The two cliffs are real; consider per-environment config
5, 10, 50	50, 100 only (5 still cliffs)	Test rig fixed; production cliff still hits at 5. Test pin doesn't catch prod regression — bigger problem.

The "decision" column drives the production-side change (or non-change) to DEFAULT_FRAMES_PER_GROUP.

What lands as code

After Rig B data is in:

1. Update kdoc on NestMoqLiteBroadcaster.DEFAULT_FRAMES_PER_GROUP citing the new run's logcat dates / commit.
2. If the values converge, change the default to match. Update the test-side framesPerGroup = 5 pin to match the new default — keep both rigs aligned.
3. If values still diverge, document it explicitly as a known environment-dependent value. Consider exposing framesPerGroup as a per-deployment config (currently only exposed as a constructor parameter — wire to a config knob if product wants per-deployment tuning).
4. Update nestsClient/plans/2026-05-07-framespergroup-reconciliation.md's "Recommendation" section with the data-driven outcome.

Acceptance criteria

• A logcat dump from Rig B with framesPerGroup = 5 for ≥ 60 s showing whether the cliff still hits at ~13 s.
• Decision logged in the framesPerGroup reconciliation doc.
• If a value change lands, the test-side pin and production default agree.

Out of scope

• The local interop env's per-stream byte cliff at framesPerGroup = 50. That's a separate thread; addressing it would require either a different relay configuration or patching moq-relay itself.