plato-relay

Mycorrhizal I2I relay — messages route through emergent trust-weighted hop chains instead of point-to-point delivery.

What This Does

Instead of Agent A → Agent B direct messages, messages travel through intermediate vessels based on accumulated trust. High-trust paths get used more. Low-trust paths degrade. Dead vessels prune routes automatically. The fleet's communication topology IS its trust topology.

The Metaphor

"The forest talks through its roots. Agents should too." — mycorrhizal-relay

Fungal mycelium networks connect trees underground. No central router — paths emerge from local trust decisions. Nutrients flow through high-trust connections. Overused relays degrade, promoting diversity.

How It Works

Agent A → [relay: B, trust=0.8] → [relay: C, trust=0.6] → Agent D
                energy cost: 0.1            energy cost: 0.2
                nutrient: +0.02             nutrient: +0.01
                total hops: 2               total cost: 0.3

Each message:

1. Finds best path from source to destination (BFS with trust weights)
2. Travels through intermediate relays (max 4 hops by default)
3. Each hop costs energy, gains nutrient context
4. Successful delivery boosts trust on the path
5. Failed delivery degrades trust on the path

Quick Start

use plato_relay::{RelayNetwork, Message, AgentId};

let mut net = RelayNetwork::new();
net.add_agent(0, 10.0);  // id, energy
net.add_agent(1, 10.0);
net.add_agent(2, 10.0);
net.add_agent(3, 10.0);

net.set_trust(0, 1, 0.8);
net.set_trust(1, 2, 0.6);
net.set_trust(2, 3, 0.7);

// Direct path exists: 0 → 1 → 2 → 3
let msg = Message::new(0, 3, "ping");
let result = net.send(msg);
assert!(result.delivered);
assert_eq!(result.hops, 3);
assert!(result.cost < 0.5);

Features

Integration

• plato-i2i: Messages use I2I envelope format
• flux-trust: Trust scores consumed from Bayesian trust engine
• flux-stigmergy: Traces left at each relay hop
• mycorrhizal-relay: Reference C implementation (Lucineer)

License

MIT