fix(tsconnect): stop reporting a deliberate shutdown as a panic

The exit handler called onExit("Unexpected shutdown") whenever the Go
runtime exited. That was upstream's wording from when nothing could stop
the runtime, so every exit really was a panic. This fork added shutdown(),
so a clean teardown now reports itself as a crash to the panic handler
createIPN() hands to its callers.

Split the two cases. Before the IPN reaches the caller an exit is a
startup failure, and rejecting hands it back as an error rather than as a
side-channel callback. After that the caller holds the only shutdown
path, so report the exit without claiming it was unexpected.

Found in review of webnet/webnet#188.

Co-Authored-By: claude-opus-5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

cmd/tsconnect/src/app/index.ts

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import "../wasm_exec"
 import wasmUrl from "./main.wasm"
 import { sessionStateStorage } from "../lib/js-state-store"
 import { renderApp } from "./app"
+import { startIPN } from "../lib/start-ipn"
 
 async function main() {
   const app = await renderApp()
@@ -13,23 +14,25 @@ async function main() {
     fetch(`./dist/${wasmUrl}`),
     go.importObject
   )
-  // The Go process should never exit, if it does then it's an unhandled panic.
-  go.run(wasmInstance.instance).then(() =>
-    app.handleGoPanic("Unexpected shutdown")
-  )
 
   const params = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search)
   const authKey = params.get("authkey") ?? undefined
 
-  const ipn = newIPN({
+  // The Go process should never exit, if it does then it's an unhandled panic.
-    // Persist IPN state in sessionStorage in development, so that we don't need
+  const ipn = await startIPN(
-    // to re-authorize every time we reload the page.
+    go,
+    wasmInstance.instance,
+    {
+      // Persist IPN state in sessionStorage in development, so that we don't
+      // need to re-authorize every time we reload the page.
       stateStorage: DEBUG ? sessionStateStorage : undefined,
       // authKey allows for an auth key to be
       // specified as a url param which automatically
       // authorizes the client for use.
       authKey: DEBUG ? authKey : undefined,
-  })
+    },
+    (reason) => app.handleGoPanic(reason)
+  )
   app.runWithIPN(ipn)
 }
 

cmd/tsconnect/src/lib/start-ipn.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+// Copyright (c) Tailscale Inc & contributors
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+
+/**
+ * Starts a Go runtime and returns the single IPN it owns.
+ *
+ * The runtime does not publish its bridge on a global. It reads the name of a
+ * callback from its environment and invokes it once the bridge is ready, so
+ * this resolves on an explicit signal rather than on the Go scheduler having
+ * run far enough. The name is generated per runtime, so several runtimes can
+ * start in one page without racing each other.
+ */
+export async function startIPN(
+  go: Go,
+  instance: WebAssembly.Instance,
+  config: IPNConfig,
+  onExit: (reason: string) => void
+): Promise<IPN> {
+  const name = `__tsconnectInit_${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2)}`
+  const globals = globalThis as Record<string, unknown>
+
+  const ready = new Promise<[NewIPN, Terminate]>((resolve) => {
+    globals[name] = (newIPN: NewIPN, terminate: Terminate) => {
+      delete globals[name]
+      resolve([newIPN, terminate])
+    }
+  })
+
+  go.env[INIT_CALLBACK_ENV] = name
+
+  // An exit before the IPN reaches the caller is a startup failure, and throwing
+  // hands it back as a rejection. Afterwards the caller holds the only shutdown
+  // path, so an exit is either that shutdown or a panic; report it either way,
+  // because the IPN is dead in both cases.
+  let handedOver = false
+  const exited: Promise<never> = go.run(instance).then(() => {
+    delete globals[name]
+    if (handedOver) onExit("Go runtime exited")
+    // Always reject: before the handover this is what fails the race below,
+    // and after it the race has settled, so nothing observes the rejection.
+    throw new Error(
+      handedOver
+        ? "Go runtime exited"
+        : "Go runtime exited before the IPN was ready"
+    )
+  })
+
+  const [newIPN, terminate] = await Promise.race([ready, exited])
+  try {
+    const ipn = await newIPN(config)
+    handedOver = true
+    return ipn
+  } catch (err) {
+    // Nothing was built, so nothing can shut the runtime down. Exit it here and
+    // wait for it, or the page keeps a blocked runtime for a failed startup.
+    terminate()
+    await exited.catch(() => {})
+    throw err
+  }
+}
+
+type NewIPN = (config: IPNConfig) => Promise<IPN>
+type Terminate = () => void
+
+/** Must match initCallbackEnv in wasm_js.go. */
+const INIT_CALLBACK_ENV = "TSCONNECT_INIT_CALLBACK"

cmd/tsconnect/src/pkg/pkg.ts

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 /// <reference path="../types/wasm_js.d.ts" />
 
 import "../wasm_exec"
+import { startIPN } from "../lib/start-ipn"
 import wasmURL from "./main.wasm"
 
 /**
@@ -30,11 +31,7 @@ export async function createIPN(config: IPNPackageConfig): Promise<IPN> {
     go.importObject
   )
   // The Go process should never exit, if it does then it's an unhandled panic.
-  go.run(wasmInstance.instance).then(() =>
+  return startIPN(go, wasmInstance.instance, config, config.panicHandler)
-    config.panicHandler("Unexpected shutdown")
-  )
-
-  return newIPN(config)
 }
 
 export { runSSHSession } from "../lib/ssh"

cmd/tsconnect/src/types/wasm_js.d.ts

@@ -7,8 +7,6 @@
  */
 
 declare global {
-  function newIPN(config: IPNConfig): IPN
-
   interface IPN {
     run(callbacks: IPNCallbacks): void
     login(): void

cmd/tsconnect/wasm/wasm_js.go

@@ -24,9 +24,11 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"net/netip"
+	"os"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"syscall/js"
 	"time"
 
@@ -42,7 +44,6 @@ import (
 	"tailscale.com/ipn"
 	"tailscale.com/ipn/ipnauth"
 	"tailscale.com/ipn/ipnlocal"
-	"tailscale.com/ipn/ipnserver"
 	"tailscale.com/ipn/localapi"
 	"tailscale.com/ipn/store/mem"
 	"tailscale.com/logpolicy"
@@ -51,7 +52,6 @@ import (
 	"tailscale.com/net/netns"
 	"tailscale.com/net/tsaddr"
 	"tailscale.com/net/tsdial"
-	"tailscale.com/safesocket"
 	"tailscale.com/tailcfg"
 	"tailscale.com/tsd"
 	"tailscale.com/types/logid"
@@ -64,21 +64,62 @@ import (
 // ControlURL defines the URL to be used for connection to Control.
 var ControlURL = ipn.DefaultControlURL
 
+// initCallbackEnv names the JS global holding the callback that this runtime
+// hands its bridge to. The loader generates a name, installs the callback under
+// it, and passes the name in through go.env before starting the runtime.
+//
+// Publishing the bridge through a caller-supplied callback rather than a fixed
+// global means the loader never has to guess when the Go scheduler has run far
+// enough to expose it, and two runtimes in one JS realm cannot collide on the
+// name.
+const initCallbackEnv = "TSCONNECT_INIT_CALLBACK"
+
 func main() {
-	shutdownCh := make(chan struct{})
+	name := os.Getenv(initCallbackEnv)
-	js.Global().Set("newIPN", js.FuncOf(func(this js.Value, args []js.Value) any {
+	if name == "" {
-		if len(args) != 1 {
+		log.Fatalf("%s is not set; this module must be loaded by @webnet/tsconnect", initCallbackEnv)
-			log.Fatal("Usage: newIPN(config)")
-			return nil
 	}
-		return newIPN(args[0], shutdownCh)
+	callback := js.Global().Get(name)
-	}))
+	if callback.Type() != js.TypeFunction {
+		log.Fatalf("globalThis[%q] is not a function", name)
+	}
+
+	shutdownCh := make(chan struct{})
+	var terminateOnce sync.Once
+	terminate := func() { terminateOnce.Do(func() { close(shutdownCh) }) }
+
+	var claimed atomic.Bool
+	newIPNFn := js.FuncOf(func(this js.Value, args []js.Value) any {
+		return makePromise(func() (any, error) {
+			if len(args) != 1 {
+				return nil, errors.New("newIPN takes exactly one argument")
+			}
+			// One IPN per runtime: shutdown exits the shared Go runtime, so a
+			// second IPN here would be torn down by the first one's shutdown.
+			if !claimed.CompareAndSwap(false, true) {
+				return nil, errors.New("this WASM runtime already has an IPN; start another runtime instead")
+			}
+			return newIPN(args[0], terminate)
+		})
+	})
+
+	// A failed newIPN leaves the runtime blocked below with nothing to shut it
+	// down, so the loader gets a way to exit it. Leaving that to the loader
+	// keeps the ordering right: closing shutdownCh here would let main return
+	// before makePromise had delivered the rejection.
+	terminateFn := js.FuncOf(func(this js.Value, args []js.Value) any {
+		terminate()
+		return nil
+	})
+
+	callback.Invoke(newIPNFn, terminateFn)
+
 	// Block until shutdown() is called on the IPN, then let main return so the
 	// Go runtime (and all its goroutines) can be collected by the JS engine.
 	<-shutdownCh
 }
 
-func newIPN(jsConfig js.Value, shutdownCh chan struct{}) map[string]any {
+func newIPN(jsConfig js.Value, terminate func()) (map[string]any, error) {
 	netns.SetEnabled(false)
 
 	var store ipn.StateStore
@@ -133,13 +174,13 @@ func newIPN(jsConfig js.Value, shutdownCh chan struct{}) map[string]any {
 		EventBus:      sys.Bus.Get(),
 	})
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("wgengine.NewUserspaceEngine: %w", err)
 	}
 	sys.Set(eng)
 
 	ns, err := netstack.Create(logf, sys.Tun.Get(), eng, sys.MagicSock.Get(), dialer, sys.DNSManager.Get(), sys.ProxyMapper())
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("netstack.Create: %v", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("netstack.Create: %w", err)
 	}
 	sys.Set(ns)
 	ns.ProcessLocalIPs = true
@@ -176,20 +217,17 @@ func newIPN(jsConfig js.Value, shutdownCh chan struct{}) map[string]any {
 	// initDriveForRemote must be called before NewLocalBackend (SubSystem is set-once).
 	driveFS := initDriveForRemote(sys)
 
-	srv := ipnserver.New(logf, logid, sys.Bus.Get(), sys.NetMon.Get())
 	lb, err := ipnlocal.NewLocalBackend(logf, logid, sys, controlclient.LoginEphemeral)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("ipnlocal.NewLocalBackend: %v", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("ipnlocal.NewLocalBackend: %w", err)
 	}
 	if err := ns.Start(lb); err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("failed to start netstack: %v", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("starting netstack: %w", err)
 	}
 	wireTaildropFileOps(lb, jsConfig.Get("fileOps"))
-	srv.SetLocalBackend(lb)
 
 	jsIPN := &jsIPN{
 		dialer:      dialer,
-		srv:         srv,
 		lb:          lb,
 		ns:          ns,
 		controlURL:  controlURL,
@@ -197,7 +235,7 @@ func newIPN(jsConfig js.Value, shutdownCh chan struct{}) map[string]any {
 		hostname:    hostname,
 		logID:       logid,
 		funnelPorts: make(map[uint16]*funnelListenerEntry),
-		shutdownCh:  shutdownCh,
+		terminate:   terminate,
 	}
 	lb.SetTCPHandlerForFunnelFlow(jsIPN.handleFunnelTCP)
 
@@ -377,12 +415,11 @@ func newIPN(jsConfig js.Value, shutdownCh chan struct{}) map[string]any {
 		}),
 	}
 	wireDriveJS(jsIPN, driveFS, m)
-	return m
+	return m, nil
 }
 
 type jsIPN struct {
 	dialer     *tsdial.Dialer
-	srv        *ipnserver.Server
 	lb         *ipnlocal.LocalBackend
 	ns         *netstack.Impl
 	controlURL string
@@ -393,10 +430,7 @@ type jsIPN struct {
 	funnelMu    sync.Mutex
 	funnelPorts map[uint16]*funnelListenerEntry
 
-	// ln is the safesocket listener created by run(); stored here so shutdown
+	terminate    func() // unblocks main() so the Go runtime can exit
-	// can close it and unblock srv.Run.
-	ln           net.Listener
-	shutdownCh   chan struct{} // closed by shutdown() to unblock main()
 	shutdownOnce sync.Once
 }
 
@@ -588,18 +622,6 @@ func (i *jsIPN) run(jsCallbacks js.Value) {
 		}
 	}()
 
-	ln, err := safesocket.Listen("")
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("safesocket.Listen: %v", err)
-	}
-	i.ln = ln
-
-	go func() {
-		err := i.srv.Run(context.Background(), ln)
-		if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, net.ErrClosed) {
-			log.Fatalf("ipnserver.Run exited: %v", err)
-		}
-	}()
 }
 
 func (i *jsIPN) login() {
@@ -617,16 +639,17 @@ func (i *jsIPN) logout() {
 	}()
 }
 
+// shutdown tears down the backend and lets main return, which exits the whole
+// Go runtime. Callers should await the runtime's exit rather than the promise
+// returned here: terminating races with makePromise resolving, so the promise
+// may never settle.
 func (i *jsIPN) shutdown() js.Value {
 	return makePromise(func() (any, error) {
 		i.shutdownOnce.Do(func() {
 			if i.lb != nil {
 				i.lb.Shutdown()
 			}
-			if i.ln != nil {
+			i.terminate()
-				i.ln.Close()
-			}
-			close(i.shutdownCh)
 		})
 		return nil, nil
 	})

safesocket/safesocket_js.go

@@ -5,22 +5,15 @@ package safesocket
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"fmt"
 	"net"
-	"sync/atomic"
 
 	"github.com/akutz/memconn"
 )
 
 const memName = "Tailscale-IPN"
 
-// memSeq ensures each IPN instance in the same WASM process gets a distinct
-// memconn address, so concurrent instances do not conflict on the registry.
-var memSeq atomic.Int64
-
 func listen(path string) (net.Listener, error) {
-	name := fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", memName, memSeq.Add(1))
+	return memconn.Listen("memu", memName)
-	return memconn.Listen("memu", name)
 }
 
 func connect(ctx context.Context, _ string) (net.Conn, error) {