HTTPS_CHANGES.md

HTTPS Implementation Changes

Overview

This document explains the changes made to the HTTPS handling in the Wink browser codebase.

Changes Made

1. Simplified Network Manager

   • Removed the custom SSLAdapter implementation that was trying to reinvent functionality already available in the requests library
   • Now using the built-in HTTPS handling from the requests library, which is well-tested and secure
   • Configured a proper retry strategy using requests' Retry class

2. Removed Insecure Fallbacks

   • Removed code that would fall back to verify=False when SSL verification failed
   • This improves security by preventing connections to sites with invalid certificates

3. Updated Dependencies

   • Updated requests to version 2.31.0 for better HTTPS support
   • Added certifi as an explicit dependency for certificate verification
   • Updated urllib3 to a compatible version (>=2.0.7,<3.0)

4. Improved Error Handling

   • Simplified error handling across all HTTP methods
   • More consistent logging of errors

Using the Virtual Environment

For proper isolation of dependencies, we now use a virtual environment:

On Unix/macOS

# Create and set up the virtual environment
./setup_venv.sh

# Activate the virtual environment for manual work
source venv/bin/activate

# When finished
deactivate

On Windows

# Create and set up the virtual environment
setup_venv.bat

# Activate the virtual environment for manual work
venv\Scripts\activate.bat

# When finished
deactivate

Testing Changes

A simple test script (test_network.py) has been created to verify that the simplified HTTPS implementation works correctly. This script:

1. Creates a requests session with a retry strategy
2. Sets up browser-like headers
3. Makes HTTPS requests to example sites
4. Reports success or failure

To run the test:

# With the virtual environment activated
python test_network.py

JavaScript Engine

The JavaScript engine is now using dukpy as requested, which is a lightweight JavaScript engine that doesn't rely on browser technology.