Progress And Errors

Encode, Decode, TimeCapsule, and Rekey use processing overlays to show active backend status. These overlays are intended to make long-running local operations understandable instead of leaving users waiting without context.

Progress reporting is especially useful for large archives, PQC preparation, TimeCapsule checks, and preview preparation.

Live Progress Overlays

Progress can report stages such as:

• deriving keys
• preparing PQC
• reading metadata
• checking release time
• streaming encrypted payload
• preparing preview files
• finalizing archive

The exact stages depend on the workflow and selected protection options.

Workflow Context

Encode may show payload streaming, compression-related preparation, PQC setup, and final archive output.

Decode may show metadata reading, credential checks, external keyfile handling, TimeCapsule release checks, and preview preparation.

Rekey may show archive inspection, credential validation, and access-layer rebuild.

TimeCapsule may show future time validation, provider checks, and archive creation steps.

Friendly Errors

The backend maps low-level failures into user-facing messages for common cases:

• wrong password or keyphrase
• missing .avkkey
• wrong .avkkey password
• TimeCapsule still locked
• clock mismatch
• PQC runtime unavailable
• corrupted archive
• permission problems
• network errors

The goal is to tell the user what action is needed without exposing unnecessary implementation details.

Cancellation

Decode supports cancellation. The backend attempts to stop active work and remove partial preview data.

Cancellation is best-effort because the backend may already be inside a local file, crypto, or cleanup step when the request arrives.

Cleanup After Errors

Interrupted operations can leave temporary work behind. Avikal includes startup cleanup and Settings-based preview cleanup to remove registered temporary artifacts and stale preview sessions where possible.