The bridge was falling back to mock mode with a confusing 'Cannot read properties of null (reading code)' error. The actual underlying error (ECONNREFUSED, timeout, protocol mismatch) was being swallowed by our error handler that did `(e as Error).message` on a value that was sometimes null. Wrap the kRPC client connect() in per-step try/catch with a formatErr() helper that handles: - null / undefined - strings - Error with .code (NodeJS.ErrnoException) - arbitrary objects (JSON.stringify fallback) Now when the bridge can't reach kRPC you get a real error like 'kRPC RPC TCP connect to 127.0.0.1:50000 failed: code=ECONNREFUSED: connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:50000' instead of the cryptic null-code message. Also fixed the bridge's main() error handler to be null-safe. Discovered while debugging the user's first end-to-end run on Windows: kRPC was reachable (Test-NetConnection succeeded) but the bridge couldn't complete the handshake. With this fix we'll see the real failure mode on the next attempt.
Kerbal RT
A real-time web mirror of a no-warp Kerbal Space Program multiplayer server: mission hub + 3D live solar system map.
Status: Phase 1 — data pipeline working end-to-end. Mock telemetry publisher drives the API, the API stores snapshots, the hub debug page and the live map both consume the WebSocket. Real KSP bridge (Phase 1c) is documented and ready to plug in once you have KSP.
See kerbalrealtime-clone-plan.md for the
full implementation plan.
Stack
| Layer | Tech |
|---|---|
| Hub | Next.js 14 (App Router) + TypeScript |
| Live map | Vite + React + Three.js + TypeScript |
| API | Hono on Node 22 + WebSocket (ws) + Zod |
| Shared | @kerbal-rt/shared-types, @kerbal-rt/orbital-math, @kerbal-rt/ui |
| Data (Phase 1) | Postgres 16 + TimescaleDB, Redis 7, MinIO (S3) |
| Package mgr | pnpm workspaces |
| Linter | Prettier (ESLint coming per-app) |
Layout
.
├── apps/
│ ├── hub/ # Next.js — marketing + calendar + media + /debug
│ ├── live-map/ # Vite + Three.js — 3D solar system viewer
│ ├── api/ # Hono — REST + WS gateway
│ └── tools/
│ └── mock-telemetry/ # Node script that drives the pipeline with fake KSP state
├── packages/
│ ├── shared-types/ # TS types + Zod schemas for every API boundary
│ ├── orbital-math/ # Pure keplerian propagation, occultation, transfers
│ ├── db/ # Postgres+Timescale+Redis wrapper, StateStore interface
│ └── ui/ # Shared React components (Pill, Card, …)
├── ksp/ # KSP-side bridge (Phase 1c) — see ./ksp/README.md
├── infra/ # docker-compose, nginx, grafana, init SQL
└── scripts/ # dev.sh and friends
Quick start
# 1. Install deps
pnpm install
# 2. Run the three apps in parallel
pnpm dev
# hub: http://localhost:3000
# live-map: http://localhost:3001
# api: http://localhost:4000
# Or run them individually
pnpm dev:hub
pnpm dev:map
pnpm dev:api
The
devscript forlive-mapproxies/api/*to:4000, so the live map's WebSocket and REST calls work out of the box.
Tests
pnpm test
Build
pnpm build
Data tier (Phase 1)
The API starts in-memory (in-process StateStore) for development. To wire
up the real data tier:
docker compose -f infra/docker-compose.yml up -d
This brings up:
- TimescaleDB on
:5432(with the full KSP body catalog pre-seeded) - Redis on
:6379 - MinIO on
:9000(S3-compatible object store for media) - pgAdmin on
:5050(only if you start with--profile dev)
CI
GitHub Actions runs format:check → typecheck → test → build on every
push / PR to main. See .github/workflows/ci.yml.
Phases
See kerbalrealtime-clone-plan.md for the
roadmap. Quick map:
- Phase 0 — monorepo, skeletons, docker-compose, CI
- Phase 1a — persistence layer (Postgres+Timescale+Redis) with in-memory fallback
- Phase 1b — mock telemetry publisher + WebSocket fan-out + hub /debug page
- Phase 1c — real kRPC bridge (see
ksp/README.md) - Phase 2 — Live map 3D scene (time controls, focus, eclipses, overpass)
- Phase 3 — Mission calendar, media, crew, YouTube/Twitch embeds
- Phase 4 — Spacenomicon tools (delta-v, transfer calculator, etc.)
- Phase 5 — Admin panel + polish
- Phase 6 — Production deploy
Verifying the Phase 1 pipeline
# Terminal 1: API
cd apps/api && PORT=4000 USE_IN_MEMORY=1 pnpm start
# Terminal 2: mock publisher
cd apps/tools/mock-telemetry && MOCK_API_URL=http://localhost:4000 pnpm start
# Terminal 3: hub
cd apps/hub && PORT=3000 pnpm start
# → open http://localhost:3000/debug to see the live state
For the WebSocket version, open the hub /debug page or use wscat:
npx wscat -c ws://localhost:4000/api/v1/live
License
This project is unaffiliated with Kerbal Space Program, Intercept Games, or Private Division. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.