mnp 3.1: per-account blobs the node cannot read

One row per playlist plus a manifest, so starring a track rewrites that
playlist rather than the whole collection. blob_enc is a BLOB, not
base64 TEXT: these run to hundreds of kilobytes.

user_id comes from the session and never from the message; kind is
validated against a pattern; every cap refuses with a stated reason
rather than truncating.

Additive, so MNP_MIN_SUPPORTED does not move — a 3.0 node answers
"unknown message type" and the client writes to the next one it reaches.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

7 files changed, 774 insertions, 6 deletions

diff --git a/packages/meshbay-common/src/meshbay_common/__init__.py b/packages/meshbay-common/src/meshbay_common/__init__.py
index 027c38a..80e6d92 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-common/src/meshbay_common/__init__.py
+++ b/packages/meshbay-common/src/meshbay_common/__init__.py
@@ -165,5 +165,21 @@ __version__ = "0.14.0"
 # `client.minimum` and the client checks it *before* connecting, and says "this
 # version can no longer connect" rather than showing a handshake refusal nobody
 # can act on.
-MNP_VERSION = "3.0"
+#
+# **3.1 (2026-09-16): per-account blobs the node holds and cannot read.**
+#
+# `user_blob_store` / `_fetch` / `_list` / `_delete`, modelled on
+# `keypair_bundle_*` in every respect including that the node stores and returns
+# an opaque byte string. Playlists are the first payload (docs/playlists.md
+# §8.1); `kind` is validated against a pattern rather than an enum, so the table
+# does not become an arbitrary key/value store for whatever a client feels like
+# writing.
+#
+# **Additive, and MINOR because nothing is required.** A 3.0 peer never sends
+# any of these and loses nothing it had; a 3.0 *node* answers `unknown message
+# type`, and a client that cannot store a playlist on one node stores it on the
+# next one it reaches and keeps its own copy meanwhile (§6.4). `MNP_MIN_SUPPORTED`
+# does not move. That is the difference from 3.0, where the requirement — not the
+# messages — is what made it MAJOR.
+MNP_VERSION = "3.1"
 MHP_VERSION = "0.1"
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-common/src/meshbay_common/protocol.py b/packages/meshbay-common/src/meshbay_common/protocol.py
index f4cd497..8ad36e6 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-common/src/meshbay_common/protocol.py
+++ b/packages/meshbay-common/src/meshbay_common/protocol.py
@@ -141,6 +141,16 @@ class MNP:
     KEYPAIR_BUNDLE_RESP  = "keypair_bundle_resp"   # node → client: encrypted keypair bundle
     #   carries `bundle_enc_recovery` too when the node has one stored
     KEYPAIR_BUNDLE_DELETE = "keypair_bundle_delete"  # client → node: withdraw own backup
+    # Per-account blobs the node holds and cannot read — playlists (MNP 3.1,
+    # docs/playlists.md §8.1). `kind` is "playlists" (the manifest) or
+    # "playlist:<uuid>" (one playlist's tracks); `blob_enc` is msgpack `bin`,
+    # not base64, because these run to hundreds of kilobytes.
+    USER_BLOB_STORE  = "user_blob_store"    # client → node: write one blob
+    USER_BLOB_FETCH  = "user_blob_fetch"    # client → node: read one blob
+    USER_BLOB_LIST   = "user_blob_list"     # client → node: which kinds, at what rev
+    USER_BLOB_DELETE = "user_blob_delete"   # client → node: drop one blob
+    USER_BLOB_RESP   = "user_blob_resp"     # node → client: one blob, or null
+    USER_BLOB_LIST_RESP = "user_blob_list_resp"  # node → client: kinds and revs only
     JOIN_REQUEST         = "join_request"          # client → node: pair/recognise this identity
     JOIN_RESULT          = "join_result"           # node → client: outcome + wrapped GEK
     INVITE_CREATE        = "invite_create"         # operator → node: issue a pairing code
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/transport.js b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/transport.js
index 77bf522..a6b3f52 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/transport.js
+++ b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/transport.js
@@ -267,11 +267,15 @@ window.addEventListener('hashchange', () => {
 // The `v: '0.1'` on every other message in this file is the historical value
 // and is read by nothing; it is left alone deliberately. The range is
 // negotiated once, at the start, not restated per message.
-const MNP_V = '3.0';
-// Raised with it on the 3.0 flag day. A node older than 3.0 cannot grant the
-// lease this client opens for every download and upload, so talking to one
-// would mean every transfer failing for a reason the person cannot act on.
-// Refusing it at the handshake says so once, in a sentence.
+const MNP_V = '3.1';
+// **Not** raised with it, and that is the whole difference between 3.0 and 3.1.
+// 3.0 was a flag day because a node older than it cannot grant the lease this
+// client opens for every download and upload, so talking to one would mean
+// every transfer failing for a reason the person cannot act on. 3.1 only adds
+// `user_blob_*`: a 3.0 node answers "unknown message type" and the client
+// stores its playlists on the next node it reaches, keeping its own copy
+// meanwhile (docs/playlists.md §6.4). Refusing every 3.0 node over a feature
+// that degrades this quietly would be the flag day nobody needed.
 const MNP_V_MIN = '3.0';
 
 // Codes a NODE sends us, in its own vocabulary (meshbay_common/handshake.py's
@@ -2737,6 +2741,66 @@ class MeshBayTransport {
     return msg;
   }
 
+  // ── Per-account blobs (playlists) ──────────────────────────────────────
+  //
+  // MNP 3.1, docs/playlists.md §8.1. The node stores bytes it cannot read and
+  // hands them back; `user_id` is never sent, because the node takes it from
+  // the authenticated session and would be wrong to take it from here.
+  //
+  // `blob_enc` is a Uint8Array and goes on the wire as msgpack `bin`, not
+  // base64: a playlist runs to hundreds of kilobytes and base64 is a third of
+  // every write. None of these needs an entry in the `ack` fallback at the
+  // bottom of _handleMessage — that branch exists for nodes too old to stamp
+  // `req_id`, and no node old enough to skip it knows these messages at all.
+
+  async storeUserBlob(kind, rev, blobEnc) {
+    const msg = await this._sendAndWait({
+      type: 'user_blob_store', v: '0.1',
+      kind, rev, blob_enc: blobEnc,
+    });
+    // A refused store is the size cap or the account quota, and the node says
+    // which. Thrown rather than swallowed: the caller has to be able to tell
+    // the reader that this playlist did not save.
+    if (msg.type === 'error') throw new Error(msg.detail);
+    return msg;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * One blob, or `{ rev: null, blob_enc: null }` when this account has never
+   * written that kind here — which is the ordinary state of a node the reader
+   * has just joined, and must not read as a failure.
+   */
+  async fetchUserBlob(kind) {
+    const msg = await this._sendAndWait({
+      type: 'user_blob_fetch', v: '0.1', kind,
+    });
+    if (msg.type === 'error') throw new Error(msg.detail);
+    return { rev: msg.rev ?? null, blob_enc: msg.blob_enc ?? null };
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Which kinds this node holds, and at what revision — never a payload.
+   *
+   * What a client that has lost its local state needs: playlist ids are
+   * client-generated, so there is nothing to fetch by name until this says
+   * what the names are.
+   */
+  async listUserBlobs() {
+    const msg = await this._sendAndWait({
+      type: 'user_blob_list', v: '0.1',
+    });
+    if (msg.type === 'error') throw new Error(msg.detail);
+    return msg.blobs || [];
+  }
+
+  async deleteUserBlob(kind) {
+    const msg = await this._sendAndWait({
+      type: 'user_blob_delete', v: '0.1', kind,
+    });
+    if (msg.type === 'error') throw new Error(msg.detail);
+    return msg;
+  }
+
   get gekRaw() { return this._gekRaw; }
 
   /**
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/bundle_store.py b/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/bundle_store.py
index 86b8de4..c65b94d 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/bundle_store.py
+++ b/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/bundle_store.py
@@ -63,6 +63,38 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS keypair_bundles (
 );
 """
 
+# Per-account blobs the node holds and cannot read — playlists today
+# (docs/playlists.md §3.3). The same shape as a keypair bundle, with a
+# different payload, so this adds no trust boundary the node was not already
+# on the wrong side of for this same account.
+#
+# Two deliberate differences from keypair_bundles, each a mistake avoided
+# rather than a preference:
+#
+#   `blob_enc` is a BLOB, not base64 TEXT. A keypair bundle is a few hundred
+#   bytes and nobody will ever notice the 33% tax; a playlist is hundreds of
+#   kilobytes, where a third is not a rounding error.
+#
+#   `kind` is a namespace, not an enum: "playlists" is the manifest and
+#   "playlist:<uuid>" is one playlist's tracks. That is what lets one playlist
+#   be rewritten without re-uploading the whole collection, and it costs no
+#   second table. webrtc_server.py validates the shape.
+#
+# blob_enc_recovery is declared now and left NULL — the same column, on the
+# same kind of table, that keypair_bundles needed a PRAGMA migration for one
+# release late. CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS never adds a column.
+_SCHEMA_USER_BLOBS = """\
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS user_blobs (
+    user_id           TEXT NOT NULL,
+    kind              TEXT NOT NULL,
+    rev               INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    blob_enc          BLOB NOT NULL,
+    blob_enc_recovery BLOB,
+    stored_at         TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT (datetime('now')),
+    PRIMARY KEY (user_id, kind)
+);
+"""
+
 
 class BundleStore:
     def __init__(self, db_path: Path):
@@ -75,6 +107,7 @@ class BundleStore:
         await self._db.execute(_SCHEMA_GEK)
         await self._db.execute(_SCHEMA_KEYPAIR)
         await self._db.execute(_SCHEMA_CHAT_EPOCHS)
+        await self._db.execute(_SCHEMA_USER_BLOBS)
         await self._migrate_keypair_recovery()
         await self._db.commit()
 
@@ -180,6 +213,88 @@ class BundleStore:
         await self._db.commit()
         return cur.rowcount > 0
 
+    # ── Per-account blobs (playlists) ────────────────────────────────────
+    #
+    # Opaque throughout: the node stores bytes it cannot read, returns them, and
+    # never looks inside. Every method takes `user_id` from the caller, which
+    # takes it from the authenticated session and never from a message body —
+    # a user_id off the wire would let any member read or overwrite any other
+    # member's blob.
+
+    async def store_user_blob(
+        self,
+        user_id: str,
+        kind: str,
+        rev: int,
+        blob_enc: bytes,
+    ) -> None:
+        """
+        Write one blob, replacing whatever was there.
+
+        Older revisions are not kept. The client is the authority on what the
+        merged state is (docs/playlists.md §6.4) and holds its own copy, so a
+        node keeping history would buy nothing and would mean the node deciding
+        which revision is current — which is exactly what it must not do.
+        """
+        assert self._db
+        await self._db.execute(
+            "INSERT INTO user_blobs (user_id, kind, rev, blob_enc, stored_at) "
+            "VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, datetime('now')) "
+            "ON CONFLICT(user_id, kind) DO UPDATE SET "
+            "  rev = excluded.rev, "
+            "  blob_enc = excluded.blob_enc, "
+            "  stored_at = excluded.stored_at",
+            (user_id, kind, rev, blob_enc),
+        )
+        await self._db.commit()
+
+    async def fetch_user_blob(self, user_id: str, kind: str) -> dict | None:
+        assert self._db
+        async with self._db.execute(
+            "SELECT rev, blob_enc FROM user_blobs WHERE user_id = ? AND kind = ?",
+            (user_id, kind),
+        ) as cursor:
+            row = await cursor.fetchone()
+            if not row:
+                return None
+            return {"rev": row[0], "blob_enc": row[1]}
+
+    async def list_user_blobs(self, user_id: str) -> list[dict]:
+        """
+        Which blobs exist and at what revision — never a payload.
+
+        A client that has lost its local state (a cache clear, a new device)
+        cannot otherwise discover which playlists exist: their kinds carry
+        client-generated UUIDs, and guessing is not a plan.
+        """
+        assert self._db
+        async with self._db.execute(
+            "SELECT kind, rev FROM user_blobs WHERE user_id = ? ORDER BY kind",
+            (user_id,),
+        ) as cursor:
+            return [{"kind": r[0], "rev": r[1]} for r in await cursor.fetchall()]
+
+    async def delete_user_blob(self, user_id: str, kind: str) -> bool:
+        assert self._db
+        cur = await self._db.execute(
+            "DELETE FROM user_blobs WHERE user_id = ? AND kind = ?",
+            (user_id, kind))
+        await self._db.commit()
+        return cur.rowcount > 0
+
+    async def user_blob_total_bytes(self, user_id: str) -> int:
+        """
+        What this account is already using, so a store can refuse to take it
+        over the per-account cap. An unbounded write primitive pointed at
+        somebody else's disk needs a number that is actually checked.
+        """
+        assert self._db
+        async with self._db.execute(
+            "SELECT COALESCE(SUM(LENGTH(blob_enc)), 0) FROM user_blobs "
+            "WHERE user_id = ?", (user_id,)) as cursor:
+            row = await cursor.fetchone()
+            return int(row[0]) if row else 0
+
     # ── Chat epoch keys ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
     async def store_chat_epoch(
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/transport/webrtc_server.py b/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/transport/webrtc_server.py
index af41061..298b3cd 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/transport/webrtc_server.py
+++ b/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/transport/webrtc_server.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import hashlib
 import hmac
 import logging
 import os
+import re
 import struct
 import tempfile
 import time
@@ -146,6 +147,32 @@ log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 CHUNK_SIZE = 1024 * 1024
 MAX_MSG = 64 * 1024 * 1024
 
+# Per-account blobs (docs/playlists.md §4.3). These are an unbounded write
+# primitive pointed at somebody else's disk, so every one of them is checked —
+# and every check **refuses**, never truncates. A truncating cap silently loses
+# tracks, which is the one failure the whole playlist design exists to prevent.
+#
+# The numbers are sized against the measured shape: ~300 bytes per track before
+# compression, deflate worth about three on a payload this repetitive. A 1 MB
+# body is therefore roughly ten thousand tracks in one playlist, and the
+# manifest holds names and revisions only.
+USER_BLOB_MANIFEST_MAX = 64 * 1024
+USER_BLOB_BODY_MAX = 1024 * 1024
+USER_BLOB_ACCOUNT_MAX = 8 * 1024 * 1024
+
+# "playlists" is the manifest; "playlist:<id>" is one playlist's tracks. A
+# pattern rather than a set, because the ids are client-generated — but a
+# pattern, not anything at all, or the table becomes a key/value store for
+# whatever a client feels like writing.
+#
+# The character class is deliberately wider than a UUID: the reserved id is the
+# word "favorites" (docs/playlists.md §5.1), so a hex-only pattern refuses the
+# one playlist every account has. It stays narrow enough to carry no structure
+# of its own — no "/", no ".", no second ":" — so a kind can never be read as a
+# path or as anything but one name in one namespace.
+_USER_BLOB_KIND_RE = re.compile(
+    r"^(playlists|playlist:[A-Za-z0-9_-]{1,64})$")
+
 # Chat link-preview results, kept in memory only (draft-v6 §2.7: the node
 # produces enrichment on demand and keeps nothing durable — the asking device
 # caches). Bounded and time-limited so a busy group cannot grow it without end
@@ -682,6 +709,14 @@ class WebRTCPeerSession:
                 self._spawn(self._do_keypair_bundle_store(msg))
             elif mtype == MNP.KEYPAIR_BUNDLE_DELETE:
                 self._spawn(self._do_keypair_bundle_delete())
+            elif mtype == MNP.USER_BLOB_STORE:
+                self._spawn(self._do_user_blob_store(msg))
+            elif mtype == MNP.USER_BLOB_FETCH:
+                self._spawn(self._do_user_blob_fetch(msg))
+            elif mtype == MNP.USER_BLOB_LIST:
+                self._spawn(self._do_user_blob_list())
+            elif mtype == MNP.USER_BLOB_DELETE:
+                self._spawn(self._do_user_blob_delete(msg))
             elif mtype == MNP.STREAM_REQUEST:
                 sem = self._ctx.get("_transcode_sem")
                 log.info("stream: req file=%s credits=%s slots_free=%s prev=%s",
@@ -1136,6 +1171,113 @@ class WebRTCPeerSession:
             "detail": "keypair_bundle_stored",
         })
 
+    # ── Per-account blobs (playlists, docs/playlists.md §8.2) ────────────────
+    #
+    # The node stores bytes it cannot read and hands them back. `self._user_id`
+    # comes from the authenticated session and never from the message: a
+    # `user_id` in the body would let any member of this group read or
+    # overwrite any other member's blob, which is finding C5 one size down.
+
+    def _user_blob_kind(self, msg: dict) -> str | None:
+        """The validated `kind`, or None having already refused."""
+        kind = msg.get("kind")
+        if not isinstance(kind, str) or not _USER_BLOB_KIND_RE.match(kind):
+            self._send({"type": "error", "detail": "Unknown blob kind"})
+            return None
+        return kind
+
+    def _user_blob_store_ok(self):
+        store = self._ctx.get("bundle_store")
+        if not store:
+            self._send({"type": "error", "detail": "Bundle store not available"})
+            return None
+        if not self._user_id:
+            self._send({"type": "error", "detail": "Not authenticated"})
+            return None
+        return store
+
+    async def _do_user_blob_store(self, msg: dict) -> None:
+        store = self._user_blob_store_ok()
+        if not store:
+            return
+        kind = self._user_blob_kind(msg)
+        if not kind:
+            return
+
+        blob = msg.get("blob_enc")
+        if not isinstance(blob, (bytes, bytearray)) or not blob:
+            self._send({"type": "error", "detail": "Missing blob_enc"})
+            return
+        blob = bytes(blob)
+
+        rev = msg.get("rev")
+        if not isinstance(rev, int) or rev < 0:
+            self._send({"type": "error", "detail": "Missing rev"})
+            return
+
+        limit = (USER_BLOB_MANIFEST_MAX if kind == "playlists"
+                 else USER_BLOB_BODY_MAX)
+        if len(blob) > limit:
+            # A stated reason, not a bare error: the client turns this into a
+            # sentence the reader can act on ("this playlist is too large"),
+            # and a refusal nobody can read is a support case.
+            self._send({"type": "error",
+                        "detail": f"Blob too large ({len(blob)} > {limit})"})
+            return
+
+        # What the account already uses, minus whatever this call replaces.
+        used = await store.user_blob_total_bytes(self._user_id)
+        existing = await store.fetch_user_blob(self._user_id, kind)
+        if existing:
+            used -= len(existing["blob_enc"])
+        if used + len(blob) > USER_BLOB_ACCOUNT_MAX:
+            self._send({"type": "error",
+                        "detail": f"Account blob quota exceeded "
+                                  f"({used + len(blob)} > {USER_BLOB_ACCOUNT_MAX})"})
+            return
+
+        await store.store_user_blob(self._user_id, kind, rev, blob)
+        self._audit("user_blob_store", f"{kind} rev={rev} bytes={len(blob)}")
+        self._send({"type": "ack", "v": MNP_VERSION, "detail": "user_blob_stored"})
+
+    async def _do_user_blob_fetch(self, msg: dict) -> None:
+        store = self._user_blob_store_ok()
+        if not store:
+            return
+        kind = self._user_blob_kind(msg)
+        if not kind:
+            return
+        row = await store.fetch_user_blob(self._user_id, kind)
+        self._audit("user_blob_fetch", kind)
+        self._send({
+            "type": MNP.USER_BLOB_RESP, "v": MNP_VERSION, "kind": kind,
+            # A kind this account has never written is `null`, not an error:
+            # "no playlist here yet" is the ordinary state of a fresh node and
+            # the client must not read it as a failure.
+            "rev": row["rev"] if row else None,
+            "blob_enc": row["blob_enc"] if row else None,
+        })
+
+    async def _do_user_blob_list(self) -> None:
+        store = self._user_blob_store_ok()
+        if not store:
+            return
+        blobs = await store.list_user_blobs(self._user_id)
+        self._send({"type": MNP.USER_BLOB_LIST_RESP, "v": MNP_VERSION,
+                    "blobs": blobs})
+
+    async def _do_user_blob_delete(self, msg: dict) -> None:
+        store = self._user_blob_store_ok()
+        if not store:
+            return
+        kind = self._user_blob_kind(msg)
+        if not kind:
+            return
+        removed = await store.delete_user_blob(self._user_id, kind)
+        self._audit("user_blob_delete", kind)
+        self._send({"type": "ack", "v": MNP_VERSION,
+                    "detail": "user_blob_deleted" if removed else "user_blob_absent"})
+
     # ── Pairing and join (H3, M3) ────────────────────────────────────────────
 
     def _join_refuse(self, reason: str, audit_detail: str = "") -> None:
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_user_blob_mnp.py b/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_user_blob_mnp.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..296239f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_user_blob_mnp.py
@@ -0,0 +1,256 @@
+"""
+`user_blob_*` over MNP (MNP 3.1, docs/playlists.md §8.1).
+
+The store itself is covered by `test_user_blob_store.py`. What is here is
+everything the handlers add on top, and each one is a refusal:
+
+  - `user_id` comes from the authenticated session and **never** from the
+    message. A `user_id` in the body would let any member of this group read or
+    overwrite any other member's blob — finding C5, one size down.
+  - `kind` is validated against a pattern, so the table does not become an
+    arbitrary key/value store for whatever a client feels like writing.
+  - every cap **refuses, with a stated reason**, and never truncates. A
+    truncating cap silently loses tracks; a bare `error` reaches the reader as
+    a dead button.
+
+The session is built the way `test_admin_ops_mnp.py` builds one — the real
+handler methods against a real store, with `_send` captured.
+"""
+
+import pytest
+from meshbay_common.protocol import MNP
+from meshbay_node.bundle_store import BundleStore
+from meshbay_node.transport.webrtc_server import (
+    USER_BLOB_ACCOUNT_MAX,
+    USER_BLOB_BODY_MAX,
+    USER_BLOB_MANIFEST_MAX,
+    WebRTCPeerSession,
+)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+async def store(tmp_path):
+    s = BundleStore(db_path=tmp_path / "bundles.db")
+    await s.open()
+    yield s
+    await s.close()
+
+
+def _session(store, user_id="alice"):
+    session = WebRTCPeerSession.__new__(WebRTCPeerSession)
+    session._ctx = {"bundle_store": store}
+    session._user_id = user_id
+    session._username = user_id
+    session._group_id = "g" * 32
+    session._remote_ip = ""
+    session.sent = []
+    session._send = session.sent.append
+    session.audited = []
+    session._audit = lambda event, detail="": session.audited.append((event, detail))
+    return session
+
+
+def _last(session):
+    return session.sent[-1] if session.sent else {}
+
+
+# ── the ordinary path ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_store_then_fetch_returns_the_same_bytes(store):
+    s = _session(store)
+    sealed = bytes(range(256))
+    await s._do_user_blob_store(
+        {"kind": "playlists", "rev": 4, "blob_enc": sealed})
+    assert _last(s)["detail"] == "user_blob_stored"
+
+    await s._do_user_blob_fetch({"kind": "playlists"})
+    reply = _last(s)
+    assert reply["type"] == MNP.USER_BLOB_RESP
+    assert reply["kind"] == "playlists"
+    assert reply["rev"] == 4
+    assert reply["blob_enc"] == sealed
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_fetching_something_never_written_is_null_not_an_error(store):
+    """A fresh node has no playlists, and that is not a failure."""
+    s = _session(store)
+    await s._do_user_blob_fetch({"kind": "playlist:abc"})
+    reply = _last(s)
+    assert reply["type"] == MNP.USER_BLOB_RESP
+    assert reply["rev"] is None and reply["blob_enc"] is None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_listing_carries_kinds_and_revisions_only(store):
+    s = _session(store)
+    await s._do_user_blob_store({"kind": "playlists", "rev": 1, "blob_enc": b"m"})
+    await s._do_user_blob_store(
+        {"kind": "playlist:abc", "rev": 9, "blob_enc": b"body-bytes"})
+
+    await s._do_user_blob_list()
+    reply = _last(s)
+    assert reply["type"] == MNP.USER_BLOB_LIST_RESP
+    assert reply["blobs"] == [{"kind": "playlist:abc", "rev": 9},
+                              {"kind": "playlists", "rev": 1}]
+    assert "blob_enc" not in str(reply["blobs"])
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_delete_removes_it_and_says_so_when_there_was_nothing(store):
+    s = _session(store)
+    await s._do_user_blob_store({"kind": "playlist:x", "rev": 1, "blob_enc": b"b"})
+    await s._do_user_blob_delete({"kind": "playlist:x"})
+    assert _last(s)["detail"] == "user_blob_deleted"
+    await s._do_user_blob_delete({"kind": "playlist:x"})
+    assert _last(s)["detail"] == "user_blob_absent"
+
+
+# ── the refusals ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_a_user_id_in_the_message_is_ignored(store):
+    """The one that matters. Alice writes; Mallory asks for Alice's blob by
+    naming her in the body and gets her own empty slot, not Alice's playlist."""
+    alice = _session(store, "alice")
+    await alice._do_user_blob_store(
+        {"kind": "playlists", "rev": 1, "blob_enc": b"alice-private"})
+
+    mallory = _session(store, "mallory")
+    await mallory._do_user_blob_fetch({"kind": "playlists", "user_id": "alice"})
+    assert _last(mallory)["blob_enc"] is None
+
+    await mallory._do_user_blob_store(
+        {"kind": "playlists", "rev": 99, "blob_enc": b"mallory", "user_id": "alice"})
+    await alice._do_user_blob_fetch({"kind": "playlists"})
+    assert _last(alice)["blob_enc"] == b"alice-private"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("kind", [
+    "", "playlist", "playlists2", "../../etc/passwd", "resume_positions",
+    "playlist:", "playlist:../x", "playlist:" + "a" * 65, 42, None,
+])
+async def test_an_unknown_kind_is_refused(store, kind):
+    s = _session(store)
+    await s._do_user_blob_store({"kind": kind, "rev": 1, "blob_enc": b"x"})
+    assert _last(s)["type"] == "error"
+    assert await store.list_user_blobs("alice") == []
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("kind", [
+    "playlists", "playlist:favorites", "playlist:abc-123",
+    "playlist:0f8fad5b-d9cb-469f-a165-70867728950e",
+])
+async def test_the_kinds_the_client_actually_writes_are_accepted(store, kind):
+    s = _session(store)
+    await s._do_user_blob_store({"kind": kind, "rev": 1, "blob_enc": b"x"})
+    assert _last(s).get("detail") == "user_blob_stored"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_an_oversized_body_is_refused_and_nothing_is_written(store):
+    """Refused, not truncated: a truncating cap loses tracks silently, which is
+    the failure playlists exist to prevent."""
+    s = _session(store)
+    await s._do_user_blob_store(
+        {"kind": "playlist:big", "rev": 1, "blob_enc": b"x" * (USER_BLOB_BODY_MAX + 1)})
+    reply = _last(s)
+    assert reply["type"] == "error"
+    assert "too large" in reply["detail"], "the refusal must say why"
+    assert str(USER_BLOB_BODY_MAX) in reply["detail"]
+    assert await store.fetch_user_blob("alice", "playlist:big") is None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_the_manifest_has_a_tighter_cap_than_a_body(store):
+    """It holds names and revisions; a manifest the size of a playlist means
+    something is writing tracks into the wrong blob."""
+    s = _session(store)
+    assert USER_BLOB_MANIFEST_MAX < USER_BLOB_BODY_MAX
+    await s._do_user_blob_store(
+        {"kind": "playlists", "rev": 1,
+         "blob_enc": b"x" * (USER_BLOB_MANIFEST_MAX + 1)})
+    assert _last(s)["type"] == "error"
+
+    await s._do_user_blob_store(
+        {"kind": "playlists", "rev": 1, "blob_enc": b"x" * USER_BLOB_MANIFEST_MAX})
+    assert _last(s).get("detail") == "user_blob_stored"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_the_account_quota_bounds_the_whole_collection(store):
+    """Per-blob caps bound one playlist; only this bounds what one account can
+    put on somebody else's disk."""
+    s = _session(store)
+    body = b"x" * USER_BLOB_BODY_MAX
+    fits = USER_BLOB_ACCOUNT_MAX // USER_BLOB_BODY_MAX
+    for i in range(fits):
+        await s._do_user_blob_store(
+            {"kind": f"playlist:p{i}", "rev": 1, "blob_enc": body})
+        assert _last(s).get("detail") == "user_blob_stored", f"blob {i} refused early"
+
+    await s._do_user_blob_store(
+        {"kind": "playlist:over", "rev": 1, "blob_enc": body})
+    assert _last(s)["type"] == "error"
+    assert "quota" in _last(s)["detail"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_replacing_a_blob_at_the_quota_is_not_refused(store):
+    """The check subtracts what this write replaces. Without that, an account
+    at its limit could never edit a playlist again — only delete one."""
+    s = _session(store)
+    body = b"x" * USER_BLOB_BODY_MAX
+    for i in range(USER_BLOB_ACCOUNT_MAX // USER_BLOB_BODY_MAX):
+        await s._do_user_blob_store(
+            {"kind": f"playlist:p{i}", "rev": 1, "blob_enc": body})
+
+    await s._do_user_blob_store({"kind": "playlist:p0", "rev": 2, "blob_enc": body})
+    assert _last(s).get("detail") == "user_blob_stored"
+    assert (await store.fetch_user_blob("alice", "playlist:p0"))["rev"] == 2
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("msg", [
+    {"kind": "playlists", "rev": 1},                       # no blob
+    {"kind": "playlists", "rev": 1, "blob_enc": b""},      # empty blob
+    {"kind": "playlists", "rev": 1, "blob_enc": "a string"},
+    {"kind": "playlists", "blob_enc": b"x"},               # no rev
+    {"kind": "playlists", "rev": "4", "blob_enc": b"x"},   # rev not a number
+    {"kind": "playlists", "rev": -1, "blob_enc": b"x"},
+])
+async def test_a_malformed_store_is_refused(store, msg):
+    s = _session(store)
+    await s._do_user_blob_store(msg)
+    assert _last(s)["type"] == "error"
+    assert await store.list_user_blobs("alice") == []
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_an_unauthenticated_session_reaches_nothing(store):
+    """`_user_id` is set by the handshake; before it, there is no account to
+    read or write and the handler must not invent one."""
+    s = _session(store, user_id=None)
+    await s._do_user_blob_fetch({"kind": "playlists"})
+    assert _last(s)["type"] == "error"
+    await s._do_user_blob_store({"kind": "playlists", "rev": 1, "blob_enc": b"x"})
+    assert _last(s)["type"] == "error"
+    assert await store.list_user_blobs(None) == []
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_reads_and_writes_are_audited(store):
+    """The node logs that a blob moved, never what was in it — the same line
+    `keypair_bundle_store` already writes."""
+    s = _session(store)
+    await s._do_user_blob_store(
+        {"kind": "playlist:abc", "rev": 2, "blob_enc": b"sealed"})
+    await s._do_user_blob_fetch({"kind": "playlist:abc"})
+    await s._do_user_blob_delete({"kind": "playlist:abc"})
+
+    events = [e for e, _ in s.audited]
+    assert events == ["user_blob_store", "user_blob_fetch", "user_blob_delete"]
+    assert "sealed" not in " ".join(d for _, d in s.audited)
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_user_blob_store.py b/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_user_blob_store.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d1bd41e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_user_blob_store.py
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+"""
+Per-account blobs on the node — the playlist store (docs/playlists.md §3.3, §8.2).
+
+The node holds bytes it cannot read, one row per playlist plus a manifest, and
+hands them back to the account that wrote them. Three things have to hold, and
+only the first is obvious:
+
+  - a blob round-trips through the process, byte for byte, as **bytes** — the
+    column is a BLOB rather than base64 TEXT because these run to hundreds of
+    kilobytes and base64 is a third of every write;
+  - the plaintext is never in the file, which is the whole claim; and
+  - every cap **refuses** rather than truncating. A truncating cap silently
+    loses tracks, which is the failure the whole design exists to prevent.
+"""
+
+import pytest
+from meshbay_node.bundle_store import BundleStore
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_a_blob_round_trips_as_bytes(tmp_path):
+    store = BundleStore(db_path=tmp_path / "bundles.db")
+    await store.open()
+
+    # Every byte value, so a text column or an encoding step anywhere in the
+    # path shows up as a difference rather than surviving by luck.
+    sealed = bytes(range(256)) * 8
+    await store.store_user_blob("u1", "playlists", 3, sealed)
+
+    row = await store.fetch_user_blob("u1", "playlists")
+    assert row == {"rev": 3, "blob_enc": sealed}
+    assert isinstance(row["blob_enc"], bytes)
+    await store.close()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_a_blob_survives_the_process(tmp_path):
+    """Reopened from disk, not read back out of the same connection."""
+    db = tmp_path / "bundles.db"
+    sealed = b"\x00\x01sealed-body\xff"
+
+    store = BundleStore(db_path=db)
+    await store.open()
+    await store.store_user_blob("u1", "playlist:abc-123", 41, sealed)
+    await store.close()
+
+    again = BundleStore(db_path=db)
+    await again.open()
+    assert (await again.fetch_user_blob("u1", "playlist:abc-123"))["blob_enc"] == sealed
+    await again.close()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_one_playlist_is_one_row(tmp_path):
+    """The point of the split: rewriting Favourites must not touch the rest."""
+    store = BundleStore(db_path=tmp_path / "bundles.db")
+    await store.open()
+
+    await store.store_user_blob("u1", "playlists", 1, b"manifest")
+    await store.store_user_blob("u1", "playlist:favorites", 1, b"fav-v1")
+    await store.store_user_blob("u1", "playlist:evening", 1, b"evening-v1")
+
+    await store.store_user_blob("u1", "playlist:favorites", 2, b"fav-v2")
+
+    assert (await store.fetch_user_blob("u1", "playlist:favorites"))["rev"] == 2
+    assert (await store.fetch_user_blob("u1", "playlist:evening"))["blob_enc"] == b"evening-v1"
+    assert (await store.fetch_user_blob("u1", "playlists"))["blob_enc"] == b"manifest"
+    await store.close()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_an_unwritten_kind_is_absent_not_an_error(tmp_path):
+    """"No playlist here yet" is the ordinary state of a fresh node."""
+    store = BundleStore(db_path=tmp_path / "bundles.db")
+    await store.open()
+    assert await store.fetch_user_blob("u1", "playlists") is None
+    assert await store.list_user_blobs("u1") == []
+    await store.close()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_listing_reports_kinds_and_revisions_and_no_payload(tmp_path):
+    """What a client that lost its local state needs, and nothing more: the
+    kinds carry client-generated UUIDs and cannot be guessed."""
+    store = BundleStore(db_path=tmp_path / "bundles.db")
+    await store.open()
+    await store.store_user_blob("u1", "playlists", 7, b"m")
+    await store.store_user_blob("u1", "playlist:aaa", 2, b"secret-body")
+
+    listing = await store.list_user_blobs("u1")
+    assert listing == [{"kind": "playlist:aaa", "rev": 2},
+                       {"kind": "playlists", "rev": 7}]
+    assert "blob_enc" not in listing[0]
+    await store.close()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_one_account_never_sees_another(tmp_path):
+    """`user_id` comes from the authenticated session; this is what that buys."""
+    store = BundleStore(db_path=tmp_path / "bundles.db")
+    await store.open()
+    await store.store_user_blob("alice", "playlists", 1, b"alice")
+    await store.store_user_blob("bob", "playlists", 1, b"bob")
+
+    assert (await store.fetch_user_blob("alice", "playlists"))["blob_enc"] == b"alice"
+    assert await store.list_user_blobs("bob") == [{"kind": "playlists", "rev": 1}]
+
+    await store.delete_user_blob("alice", "playlists")
+    assert await store.fetch_user_blob("alice", "playlists") is None
+    assert await store.fetch_user_blob("bob", "playlists") is not None
+    await store.close()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_deleting_something_absent_says_so_rather_than_raising(tmp_path):
+    store = BundleStore(db_path=tmp_path / "bundles.db")
+    await store.open()
+    assert await store.delete_user_blob("u1", "playlist:gone") is False
+    await store.store_user_blob("u1", "playlist:gone", 1, b"x")
+    assert await store.delete_user_blob("u1", "playlist:gone") is True
+    await store.close()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_the_account_total_is_what_the_cap_is_checked_against(tmp_path):
+    """The per-blob caps bound one playlist; only this bounds the account, and
+    an unbounded write primitive pointed at somebody else's disk needs it."""
+    store = BundleStore(db_path=tmp_path / "bundles.db")
+    await store.open()
+    assert await store.user_blob_total_bytes("u1") == 0
+
+    await store.store_user_blob("u1", "playlists", 1, b"x" * 100)
+    await store.store_user_blob("u1", "playlist:a", 1, b"y" * 250)
+    assert await store.user_blob_total_bytes("u1") == 350
+
+    # Replacing a blob replaces its contribution rather than adding to it.
+    await store.store_user_blob("u1", "playlist:a", 2, b"y" * 50)
+    assert await store.user_blob_total_bytes("u1") == 150
+
+    await store.delete_user_blob("u1", "playlist:a")
+    assert await store.user_blob_total_bytes("u1") == 100
+    await store.close()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_the_plaintext_is_not_in_the_file(tmp_path):
+    """The same check test_chat_key_storage.py makes for epoch keys, for the
+    same reason: a plaintext column beside the sealed one is the obvious thing
+    to write and would collapse the whole claim, silently."""
+    db = tmp_path / "bundles.db"
+    store = BundleStore(db_path=db)
+    await store.open()
+    await store.store_user_blob(
+        "u1", "playlist:abc", 1, b"SEALED-CIPHERTEXT-ONLY")
+    await store.close()
+
+    raw = db.read_bytes()
+    assert b"SEALED-CIPHERTEXT-ONLY" in raw, (
+        "the sealed bytes should be there — this test is only meaningful if it "
+        "is actually reading the right file")
+    # What must never be: a track title, an artist, a path. The store is handed
+    # ciphertext and stores exactly that; anything readable here would mean the
+    # client sealed nothing or the node unwrapped it.
+    for leak in (b"Un titre", b"tracks", b"artist", b"favorites"):
+        assert leak not in raw, f"{leak!r} is in bundles.db in clear"