Final-Year-Project/docs/STREAMING_SIMPLIFICATION_ROLLOUT_AND_ROLLBACK.md

Streaming Simplification Rollout And Rollback

Rollout intent

SIMPLE_STREAMING enables the new WebRTC-only control path:

• direct stream:requested fan-out to the camera
• no media-provider session requirement for request/accept/end
• no stream:frame relay in the backend gateway
• web client uses only WebRTC offer/answer/candidate signaling

Migration notes

1. Native mobile is not yet on the WebRTC path.
2. MobileApp/package.json does not include a native WebRTC dependency such as react-native-webrtc.
3. MobileApp/README.md documents that the mobile app still relies on legacy stream:frame relay.
4. Because of this, SIMPLE_STREAMING defaults to false.
5. Web and backend are prepared for the simplified path now.

Safe enablement sequence

1. Deploy backend and web changes with SIMPLE_STREAMING=false.
2. Validate legacy mobile behavior still works.
3. Validate web camera/client behavior with SIMPLE_STREAMING=true in a controlled environment.
4. Add native mobile WebRTC support before changing the default flag value.

Runtime checks when enabling

1. Request a stream from a web client to a web camera.
2. Confirm the camera receives stream:requested.
3. Confirm stream:started is emitted after accept.
4. Confirm WebRTC offer/answer/candidate exchange succeeds.
5. Confirm stream:ended tears down both sides cleanly.
6. Confirm no stream:frame messages appear in gateway logs.

Rollback checklist

1. Set SIMPLE_STREAMING=false.
2. Restart backend instances.
3. Verify /streams/request creates start_stream commands again.
4. Verify mobile frame-relay streaming resumes.
5. Re-run web and mobile smoke checks on the legacy path.

Known blocker

Native mobile parity is blocked until a supported RN WebRTC stack is added and wired into MobileApp/src/app-context.tsx.