TraceNetwork

TraceNetwork turns a stack of ZeroTrace devices into a coordinated fleet. One operator drives every device from a single webui — synchronized script execution, remote file/config admin, fleet-wide WiFi scanning, and animated light shows across the chain.

Devices discover each other automatically over ESP-NOW (no router required), encrypted with AES-128-GCM keyed off a shared passphrase. Range is single-hop, around 200 m line of sight (less indoors).

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What you get

• Synchronized script execution. Fire the same HID payload on every selected device within ~10–20 ms of each other — useful when you've planted units in multiple places and want them to act in unison.
• Remote admin. List, push, pull, and delete files; read and write config; run and stop scripts on any agent — all from one webui without touching the planted hardware.
• Identify. Blink any device's LED in a configured color so you can physically locate it in a room of identical units.
• Fleet WiFi scan. Aggregate WiFi scan results from every device. Place agents in different rooms for full-coverage RF mapping that no single device could see.
• Light shows. Synchronized animated lighting across the fleet — Solid, Pulse, Strobe, Rainbow, Chase, Cylon. Custom color picker. Sync button to re-anchor devices that drift apart.
• traceBroadcast script command. Publish events fleet-wide from inside any HID or BLE script.
• Header status badge. A glance tells you if heartbeats are arriving, stale, or erroring; click for a per-source breakdown.

Security

• All TraceNetwork traffic (heartbeats, commands, file transfers, light show, broadcasts) is encrypted with AES-128-GCM.
• The 128-bit key is derived from the configured passphrase via HKDF-SHA256.
• Per-packet 12-byte nonces include sender MAC + a monotonic sequence + 2 random bytes (replay protection).
• Devices with a mismatched passphrase produce traffic whose tag doesn't verify — receivers drop it silently. Mismatched fleets are mutually invisible.

Constraints

• Single-hop only. Mesh forwarding isn't supported; agents must be in direct ESP-NOW range of the controller (~200 m line of sight).
• WiFi channel 1. TraceNetwork pins to channel 1. If your device's wifi_sta connects to an upstream AP on a different channel, ESP-NOW may drop packets.
• File transfer ~30–60 KB/s. Fine for scripts, slow for big logs.
• Opt-in. Disabled by default — when off, ESP-NOW never starts and there's zero overhead.