Research: KDE Connect Protocol Implementation

[gloomcheng]

Parent Epic

Part of #6 (Mobile Notification Sync via KDE Connect Protocol)

Objective

Deep dive into the KDE Connect protocol to prepare for implementation.

Research Areas

1. Protocol Specification

• Packet format (NetworkPacket JSON structure)
• Device discovery mechanism (UDP broadcast on ports 1714-1764)
• Pairing flow (kdeconnect.pair packets)
• TLS encryption setup

2. Notifications Plugin

• kdeconnect.notification packet format
• kdeconnect.notification.reply reply mechanism
• kdeconnect.notification.action action execution

3. Platform Differences

• Linux: DBus integration approach
• macOS: Direct protocol implementation requirements
• Windows: To be researched

Findings Summary

Packet Format

{
  "id": 1704067200000,
  "type": "kdeconnect.notification",
  "body": {
    "id": "notification_id",
    "appName": "LINE",
    "title": "John Doe",
    "text": "Hello!",
    "isClearable": true,
    "requestReplyId": "reply_123"
  }
}

Discovery

• UDP broadcast on ports 1714-1764
• Identity packet with capabilities
• TLS handshake on port 1716

DBus Interface (Linux)

Service: org.kde.kdeconnect
Path: /modules/kdeconnect/devices/{id}/notifications
Interface: org.kde.kdeconnect.device.notifications
Signals: notificationPosted, notificationRemoved, notificationUpdated

Deliverables

• Protocol documentation summary
• DBus interface specification
• Code structure proposal
• Proof of concept (next issue)

References

• https://valent.andyholmes.ca/documentation/protocol.html
• https://github.com/KDE/kdeconnect-kde
• https://github.com/KDE/kdeconnect-android