feat(chat): app-wide inbox listener so messages arrive without opening the chat

Reception only ran inside an open ChatScreen for a known peer, so a first
message from a new peer was invisible: nothing in local storage -> nothing
in the inbox list -> you never opened the chat -> you never subscribed.

Add InboxService: one long-lived NIP-17 inbox subscription for the whole
app (foreground), persisting every incoming message to MessageStore and
firing a 'changes' signal the inbox list live-reloads on. Reconnects when
the network returns; degrades to nothing offline. Started from main when a
social identity exists.

Make MessageStore.append idempotent (dedup by sender+timestamp+text) and
serialized behind a write lock — the global listener and an open chat's own
subscription now write the same conversation concurrently and relays
re-deliver stored gift wraps on every resubscribe. Tests for both.

Known trade-offs (follow-ups): foreground-only (no push yet); each of
InboxService/ChatScreen/MarketScreen opens its own RelayPool (a shared
connection is a later optimization).

apps/app_seeds/lib/app.dart

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import 'data/variety_repository.dart';
 import 'i18n/strings.g.dart';
 import 'services/auto_backup_service.dart';
 import 'services/coarse_location.dart';
+import 'services/inbox_service.dart';
 import 'services/message_store.dart';
 import 'services/offer_outbox.dart';
 import 'services/onboarding_store.dart';
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ class TaneApp extends StatelessWidget {
     this.messageStore,
     this.profileStore,
     this.profileCache,
+    this.inbox,
     this.showIntro = false,
     this.autoBackup,
     super.key,
@@ -61,6 +63,7 @@ class TaneApp extends StatelessWidget {
           messageStore,
           profileStore,
           profileCache,
+          inbox,
         );
 
   final VarietyRepository repository;
@@ -86,6 +89,9 @@ class TaneApp extends StatelessWidget {
 
   /// Optional cache of peers' published display names.
   final ProfileCache? profileCache;
+
+  /// App-wide inbox listener; drives the messages list's live refresh.
+  final InboxService? inbox;
   final bool showIntro;
 
   /// Drives silent periodic backups off the app lifecycle. Null in widget tests
@@ -104,6 +110,7 @@ class TaneApp extends StatelessWidget {
     MessageStore? messageStore,
     ProfileStore? profileStore,
     ProfileCache? profileCache,
+    InboxService? inbox,
   ) {
     return GoRouter(
       initialLocation: showIntro ? '/intro' : '/',
@@ -131,6 +138,7 @@ class TaneApp extends StatelessWidget {
               social: social,
               settings: socialSettings,
               profileCache: profileCache,
+              inbox: inbox,
             ),
           ),
         if (social != null && socialSettings != null && profileStore != null)

apps/app_seeds/lib/di/injector.dart

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import '../services/auto_backup_store.dart';
 import '../services/export_import_service.dart';
 import '../services/file_picker_file_service.dart';
 import '../services/file_service.dart';
+import '../services/inbox_service.dart';
 import '../services/locale_store.dart';
 import '../services/ocr/label_text_extractor.dart';
 import '../services/ocr/ocr_language.dart';
@@ -167,7 +168,18 @@ Future<void> configureDependencies() async {
   // Optional: absent only if the derivation above failed — then the app runs
   // inventory-only, by design (market/chat/profile hidden).
   if (socialService != null) {
-    getIt.registerSingleton<SocialService>(socialService);
+    getIt
+      ..registerSingleton<SocialService>(socialService)
+      // App-wide inbox listener so private messages arrive (and land in the
+      // inbox list) even when the specific chat isn't open. Started in `main`.
+      ..registerSingleton<InboxService>(
+        InboxService(
+          social: socialService,
+          settings: getIt<SocialSettings>(),
+          store: getIt<MessageStore>(),
+          profileCache: getIt<ProfileCache>(),
+        ),
+      );
   }
 
   // Registered LAST: the "fully wired" sentinel the guard above checks. Anything

apps/app_seeds/lib/main.dart

@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import 'dart:async';
+
 import 'package:flutter/widgets.dart';
 
 import 'app.dart';
@@ -7,6 +9,7 @@ import 'di/injector.dart';
 import 'i18n/strings.g.dart';
 import 'services/auto_backup_service.dart';
 import 'services/coarse_location.dart';
+import 'services/inbox_service.dart';
 import 'services/locale_store.dart';
 import 'services/message_store.dart';
 import 'services/offer_outbox.dart';
@@ -26,6 +29,11 @@ Future<void> main() async {
   final savedLocale = await getIt<LocaleStore>().saved();
   if (savedLocale != null) LocaleSettings.setLocaleSync(savedLocale);
   final onboarding = getIt<OnboardingStore>();
+  final inbox =
+      getIt.isRegistered<InboxService>() ? getIt<InboxService>() : null;
+  // Start listening for incoming private messages app-wide (foreground), so
+  // they arrive and populate the inbox list even before their chat is opened.
+  if (inbox != null) unawaited(inbox.start());
   runApp(
     TranslationProvider(
       child: TaneApp(
@@ -41,6 +49,7 @@ Future<void> main() async {
         messageStore: getIt<MessageStore>(),
         profileStore: getIt<ProfileStore>(),
         profileCache: getIt<ProfileCache>(),
+        inbox: inbox,
         showIntro: !await onboarding.introSeen(),
         autoBackup: getIt.isRegistered<AutoBackupService>()
             ? getIt<AutoBackupService>()

apps/app_seeds/lib/services/inbox_service.dart

@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+import 'dart:async';
+
+import 'package:commons_core/commons_core.dart';
+import 'package:connectivity_plus/connectivity_plus.dart';
+import 'package:flutter/foundation.dart';
+
+import 'message_store.dart';
+import 'profile_cache.dart';
+import 'social_service.dart';
+import 'social_settings.dart';
+
+/// App-wide inbox listener for private messages (NIP-17).
+///
+/// Without this, a message only arrived while its specific chat screen was
+/// open — so a first message from a new peer was invisible (nothing in local
+/// storage, so nothing in the inbox list, so you never opened the chat, so you
+/// never subscribed). This keeps ONE long-lived subscription for the whole app
+/// while online: it persists every incoming message to the [MessageStore] and
+/// fires [changes] so the inbox list refreshes. Reconnects when the network
+/// returns; degrades to nothing offline (local-first).
+///
+/// Foreground only — background/push delivery is a later concern.
+class InboxService {
+  InboxService({
+    required SocialService social,
+    required SocialSettings settings,
+    required MessageStore store,
+    ProfileCache? profileCache,
+  })  : _social = social,
+        _settings = settings,
+        _store = store,
+        _profileCache = profileCache;
+
+  final SocialService _social;
+  final SocialSettings _settings;
+  final MessageStore _store;
+  final ProfileCache? _profileCache;
+
+  final _changes = StreamController<void>.broadcast();
+  SocialSession? _session;
+  StreamSubscription<PrivateMessage>? _inboxSub;
+  StreamSubscription<List<ConnectivityResult>>? _connSub;
+  bool _started = false;
+  bool _connecting = false;
+
+  /// Fires (with no payload) after a NEW message is persisted — the inbox list
+  /// listens to this to reload. Broadcast, so several screens can listen.
+  Stream<void> get changes => _changes.stream;
+
+  /// Begins listening. Idempotent. Connects now if online, and (re)connects
+  /// whenever the network returns. Safe to call once at app start.
+  Future<void> start() async {
+    if (_started) return;
+    _started = true;
+    try {
+      _connSub = Connectivity().onConnectivityChanged.listen((results) {
+        final offline =
+            results.isEmpty || results.every((r) => r == ConnectivityResult.none);
+        if (offline) {
+          _dropSession();
+        } else {
+          unawaited(_connect());
+        }
+      });
+    } catch (_) {
+      // Platform without connectivity support — just try once below.
+    }
+    await _connect();
+  }
+
+  /// Opens a session and subscribes to the inbox, if not already connected.
+  /// Guarded so overlapping connectivity events can't open two sessions.
+  Future<void> _connect() async {
+    if (_session != null || _connecting) return; // already (being) connected
+    _connecting = true;
+    try {
+      final relays = await _settings.relayUrls();
+      if (relays.isEmpty) return; // offline / unconfigured
+      final session = await _social.openSession(relays);
+      if (!_started) {
+        await session.close(); // stopped while connecting
+        return;
+      }
+      _session = session;
+      _inboxSub = session.messages.inbox().listen(
+        ingest,
+        onError: (_) => _dropSession(), // relay dropped — retry on next change
+      );
+    } catch (_) {
+      // No relay reachable — a later connectivity change retries.
+    } finally {
+      _connecting = false;
+    }
+  }
+
+  /// Persists one incoming [message] (deduped) and, when it's new, fires
+  /// [changes] and best-effort caches the sender's display name. Separated from
+  /// the transport so it can be unit-tested without a relay.
+  @visibleForTesting
+  Future<void> ingest(PrivateMessage message) async {
+    final stored = await _store.append(message.fromPubkey, message);
+    if (!stored) return; // a re-delivered duplicate
+    if (!_changes.isClosed) _changes.add(null);
+    await _cacheName(message.fromPubkey);
+  }
+
+  Future<void> _cacheName(String peerPubkey) async {
+    final cache = _profileCache;
+    final session = _session;
+    if (cache == null || session == null) return;
+    if (await cache.name(peerPubkey) != null) return; // already known
+    try {
+      final profile = await session.profile.fetch(peerPubkey);
+      if (profile != null && profile.name.isNotEmpty) {
+        await cache.setName(peerPubkey, profile.name);
+        if (!_changes.isClosed) _changes.add(null); // re-render with the name
+      }
+    } catch (_) {
+      // best effort — the short key shows meanwhile
+    }
+  }
+
+  void _dropSession() {
+    unawaited(_inboxSub?.cancel());
+    _inboxSub = null;
+    unawaited(_session?.close());
+    _session = null;
+  }
+
+  Future<void> stop() async {
+    _started = false;
+    await _connSub?.cancel();
+    _connSub = null;
+    await _inboxSub?.cancel();
+    _inboxSub = null;
+    await _session?.close();
+    _session = null;
+    if (!_changes.isClosed) await _changes.close();
+  }
+}

apps/app_seeds/lib/services/message_store.dart

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import 'dart:async';
 import 'dart:convert';
 
 import 'package:commons_core/commons_core.dart';
@@ -25,6 +26,13 @@ class MessageStore {
   MessageStore(this._store);
 
   final SecretStore _store;
+
+  /// Serializes [append]'s read-modify-write. Several sources now write the same
+  /// conversation concurrently (the app-wide inbox listener and an open chat's
+  /// own subscription), so without this two near-simultaneous messages could
+  /// read the same history and the second write would clobber the first.
+  Future<void> _writeTail = Future.value();
+
   static const _prefix = 'tane.social.chat.';
 
   /// Index of peers we have a conversation with (the keystore is key/value with
@@ -53,9 +61,25 @@ class MessageStore {
   }
 
   /// Appends [message] to the conversation with [peerPubkey] (trimming to the
-  /// cap) and records the peer in the conversation index.
+  /// cap) and records the peer in the conversation index. Idempotent: a relay
-  Future<void> append(String peerPubkey, PrivateMessage message) async {
+  /// re-delivers stored gift wraps on every (re)subscribe, so an identical
-    final next = [...await history(peerPubkey), message];
+  /// message (same sender, timestamp and text) is dropped instead of duplicated.
+  /// Returns true only when the message was newly stored.
+  Future<bool> append(String peerPubkey, PrivateMessage message) {
+    // Chain onto the write tail so concurrent appends run one at a time.
+    final result = _writeTail.then((_) => _appendLocked(peerPubkey, message));
+    _writeTail = result.then((_) {}, onError: (_) {});
+    return result;
+  }
+
+  Future<bool> _appendLocked(String peerPubkey, PrivateMessage message) async {
+    final existing = await history(peerPubkey);
+    final isDup = existing.any((m) =>
+        m.fromPubkey == message.fromPubkey &&
+        m.text == message.text &&
+        m.at.millisecondsSinceEpoch == message.at.millisecondsSinceEpoch);
+    if (isDup) return false;
+    final next = [...existing, message];
     final capped =
         next.length > _cap ? next.sublist(next.length - _cap) : next;
     await _store.write(
@@ -70,6 +94,7 @@ class MessageStore {
       ]),
     );
     await _rememberPeer(peerPubkey);
+    return true;
   }
 
   /// Conversations, most-recently-active first (for the messages inbox).

apps/app_seeds/lib/ui/chat_list_screen.dart

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
 import 'package:go_router/go_router.dart';
 
 import '../i18n/strings.g.dart';
+import '../services/inbox_service.dart';
 import '../services/message_store.dart';
 import '../services/profile_cache.dart';
 import '../services/social_service.dart';
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ class ChatListScreen extends StatefulWidget {
     this.social,
     this.settings,
     this.profileCache,
+    this.inbox,
     super.key,
   });
 
@@ -26,6 +28,9 @@ class ChatListScreen extends StatefulWidget {
   final SocialSettings? settings;
   final ProfileCache? profileCache;
 
+  /// App-wide inbox listener; the list reloads whenever it reports a change.
+  final InboxService? inbox;
+
   @override
   State<ChatListScreen> createState() => _ChatListScreenState();
 }
@@ -33,11 +38,20 @@ class ChatListScreen extends StatefulWidget {
 class _ChatListScreenState extends State<ChatListScreen> {
   List<ChatSummary>? _items;
   final Map<String, String> _names = {};
+  StreamSubscription<void>? _changesSub;
 
   @override
   void initState() {
     super.initState();
     _load();
+    // Live-refresh when the app-wide inbox listener persists a new message.
+    _changesSub = widget.inbox?.changes.listen((_) => _load());
+  }
+
+  @override
+  void dispose() {
+    _changesSub?.cancel();
+    super.dispose();
   }
 
   Future<void> _load() async {

apps/app_seeds/test/services/inbox_service_test.dart

@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import 'package:commons_core/commons_core.dart';
+import 'package:flutter_test/flutter_test.dart';
+import 'package:tane/services/inbox_service.dart';
+import 'package:tane/services/message_store.dart';
+import 'package:tane/services/social_service.dart';
+import 'package:tane/services/social_settings.dart';
+
+import '../support/test_support.dart';
+
+/// The app-wide inbox listener persists incoming messages and announces changes,
+/// so the inbox list refreshes even when the specific chat isn't open. Driven
+/// through the [InboxService.ingest] seam so no relay/network is involved.
+void main() {
+  const seedHex =
+      '000102030405060708090a0b0c0d0e0f101112131415161718191a1b1c1d1e1f';
+
+  late MessageStore store;
+  late InboxService inbox;
+
+  setUp(() async {
+    store = MessageStore(InMemorySecretStore());
+    inbox = InboxService(
+      social: await SocialService.fromRootSeedHex(seedHex),
+      settings: SocialSettings(InMemorySecretStore()),
+      store: store,
+    );
+  });
+
+  tearDown(() => inbox.stop());
+
+  PrivateMessage msg(String from, String text, int atMs) => PrivateMessage(
+      fromPubkey: from,
+      text: text,
+      at: DateTime.fromMillisecondsSinceEpoch(atMs));
+
+  test('an incoming message is persisted into its conversation', () async {
+    await inbox.ingest(msg('alice', 'got seeds?', 1000));
+    final convos = await store.conversations();
+    expect(convos.single.peerPubkey, 'alice');
+    expect(convos.single.lastText, 'got seeds?');
+  });
+
+  test('a new message announces a change; a duplicate stays silent', () async {
+    final changes = <void>[];
+    final sub = inbox.changes.listen(changes.add);
+
+    await inbox.ingest(msg('alice', 'hola', 1000));
+    await inbox.ingest(msg('alice', 'hola', 1000)); // relay re-delivery
+    await Future<void>.delayed(Duration.zero); // let the broadcast flush
+
+    expect(changes, hasLength(1)); // only the first, new one fired
+    expect(await store.history('alice'), hasLength(1));
+    await sub.cancel();
+  });
+}

apps/app_seeds/test/services/message_store_test.dart

@@ -46,6 +46,19 @@ void main() {
     expect(convos.last.lastText, 'back A');
   });
 
+  test('append is idempotent: a re-delivered message is not duplicated',
+      () async {
+    // Same sender + timestamp + text = the same gift wrap redelivered by a
+    // relay on resubscribe. It must not pile up.
+    expect(await store.append('peer', msg('peer', 'hola', 1000)), isTrue);
+    expect(await store.append('peer', msg('peer', 'hola', 1000)), isFalse);
+    expect(await store.history('peer'), hasLength(1));
+
+    // A genuinely different message (later timestamp) still lands.
+    expect(await store.append('peer', msg('peer', 'hola', 2000)), isTrue);
+    expect(await store.history('peer'), hasLength(2));
+  });
+
   test('history is capped to the most recent 200', () async {
     for (var i = 0; i < 210; i++) {
       await store.append('peer', msg('me', 'm$i', i));