Helium-Mq

A next-generation, privacy-first, ultra-lightweight desktop browser based on a pristine Chromium overlay with native Rust subresource filtering, multi-account container tabs, and sub-50ms command palette.

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🌟 Core Philosophy

Helium-Mq is built on the principle of clean core architecture:

• Zero Commercial Bloat: No cryptocurrency wallets, no BAT tokens, no Web3 daemons, no sponsored New Tab Page wallpaper takeovers, and no cloud AI upsells.
• Pristine Chromium Overlay: Minimal in-tree modifications (<40 patch files / <15 kLOC total diff) using out-of-process Mojo services to guarantee $\le 24$-hour zero-day CVE patching.
• Native Rust Network Filtering: Zero-copy memory-mapped (mmap) subresource filtering inside the Network Service with $\le 20\mu\text{s}$ match latency and $<60\text{ MB}$ memory footprint.
• True Chromium Container Tabs: Multi-account contextual identities (Work, Personal, Banking, Shopping) isolated via Chromium's native StoragePartition without multiple windows.
• Aggressive Memory Compaction: 4-tier lifecycle state machine (Active → Passive → Frozen → Sleeping) maintaining $\le 2.5\text{ GB}$ steady-state RAM across 50 tabs ($\sim 40\text{--}50%$ savings over Chrome/Brave).
• Sub-50ms Command Palette: Instant ⌘K / Ctrl+K omni-search for open tabs, SQLite FTS5 history, bookmarks, actions, and local !bangs.

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🏗️ Architecture Pipeline

Chromium Base (Pristine Overlay)
  ↓
Native Rust Blocker (Zero-copy Network Service Hook)
  ↓
Container Tabs (Chromium StoragePartition)
  ↓
Aggressive Tab Sleeping (4-Tier Lifecycle FSM)
  ↓
Clean UI (Minimal Views Toolbar)
  ↓
Fast Command Palette (Sub-50ms SQLite FTS5)

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📁 Repository Layout

helium-mq/
├── docs/
│   ├── ARCHITECTURE_v1.md       # Complete v1 Essentials Technical Blueprint
│   └── RESEARCH_AND_COMPARISON.md # Deep Architectural Comparison vs Brave/Chrome/Arc
├── tools/
│   ├── sync.sh                  # Upstream sync and patch application harness
│   ├── apply_patches.py         # Quilt-style 3-way patch applier
│   └── export_patches.py        # Automatic git format-patch exporter
└── src/
    └── helium/                  # Unpatched Helium-Mq Core Modules
        ├── buildflags/          # GN buildflag headers
        ├── blocker/             # Native Rust adblock engine & C++ FFI
        ├── containers/          # StoragePartition container registry & helpers
        ├── lifecycle/           # Memory governor & tab lifecycle state machine
        ├── palette/             # Views Command Palette & SQLite FTS5 provider
        └── patches/             # Ordered, budget-controlled patch series

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⚡ Performance Targets (Release-Gating Benchmarks)

Metric	Target Specification	Measurement Protocol
Cold Startup Time	$\le 1.00\text{s}$ (NVMe, Mid-tier x64)	Cold start to First Contentful Paint
Warm Startup Time	$\le 0.45\text{s}$	Warm restart to interactive shell
50-Tab Steady RAM	$\le 2.50\text{ GB}$	50 mixed domains after 15 min idle hibernation
Filter Match Latency	P50 $\le 50\mu\text{s}$ / P99 $\le 500\mu\text{s}$	URL interception timing inside Network Service
Filter Engine Memory	$\le 60\text{ MB}$	Full 130k+ ruleset resident memory footprint
Palette Responsiveness	P99 $\le 50\text{ ms}$	Keystroke to UI paint on 20,000 history items
Zero-Day Patch SLA	$\le 24\text{ hours}$	Time from upstream CVE disclosure to signed build
Network Telemetry	0 bytes	Clean packet capture on fresh launch and idle

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🛠️ Getting Started & Documentation

For complete technical specifications, C++ and Rust code listings, IPC definitions, and implementation roadmaps, consult:

• 📄 v1 Essentials Technical Blueprint
• 📄 Competitive Research & Deep Architecture Review

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📄 License

GPL-3.0 License. Third-party components retain their respective upstream licenses.