sendMessage method

Future<String> sendMessage({ required String payload, required String targetId, })

Saves a new outgoing message to the local database as PENDING.

This method does NOT perform any network I/O. The message will be picked up by the background AirpassSyncEngine during the next connect-sync-drop cycle.

Small-message optimization: If the payload + metadata is under kMicroMessageMaxBytes (100 bytes), the sync engine may broadcast it connectionlessly via the BLE endpoint name — no Wi-Fi Direct handshake required.

payload — the message content (text or encoded data). targetId — the target identifier:

• A group ID (e.g., 'protest-2026') for group messages
• A node UUID for direct messages
• '*' for broadcast to all nodes

Returns the generated message ID.

Implementation

Future<String> sendMessage({
  required String payload,
  required String targetId,
}) async {
  final messageId = _uuid.v4();
  final payloadBytes = utf8.encode(payload);

  await _db.createMessage(
    messageId: messageId,
    senderId: _localNodeId,
    targetId: targetId,
    payload: payloadBytes,
    ttl: kAirpassDefaultMaxHops,
  );

  _log(
    'Saved outgoing message $messageId for target "$targetId" (${payloadBytes.length} bytes)',
  );

  // Wake up the background service's scan loop to immediately broadcast the message
  triggerImmediateSync();

  return messageId;
}