Searchlight

Searchlight is an API that solves maze puzzles by connecting to a maze via WebSockets.

The details of the puzzle this solves can be found at: https://maze.robanderson.dev

What is Searchlight?

Searchlight is designed to programmatically solve the Learn by Doing maze puzzle from the Software Delivery Community at Opencast Software. It connects to a maze, navigates through the maze, and finds the end of the maze with as few moves as possible.

How It Works

When provided with a Maze ID, Searchlight:

1. Connects to the maze WebSocket service at wss://maze.robanderson.dev/ws/{MAZE_ID}
2. Receives information about the current location in the maze
3. Determines the next direction to move based on solving algorithms
4. Sends commands to navigate through the maze
5. Continues until it reaches the end of the maze

Maze Specification

Creating a New Maze

A new maze can be created at https://maze.robanderson.dev/ by clicking the NEW GAME link. Mazes come in three difficulties:

• Small
• Medium
• Large

The maze ID can be found in the URL: https://maze.robanderson.dev/maze/{MAZE_ID}

Using Searchlight

API Endpoint

Searchlight provides a single API endpoint for solving mazes:

• GET /api/mazes/{mazeId}/solution - Solves a maze and returns a summary of the solution

The endpoint returns the following information:

• Maze ID
• Dream job (title and company name)
• Time taken to solve
• Total number of moves
• Total number of resets

Example Usage

# Replace MAZE_ID with your actual maze ID
curl -X GET "http://localhost:5109/api/mazes/MAZE_ID/solution" -H "accept: application/json"

Example Response

{
  "mazeId": "8N3SBQTNZWR26",
  "dreamJob": "Lead Web Engineer at FitFortress Limited",
  "solvedIn": "1.25 seconds",
  "totalMoves": 42,
  "totalResets": 0
}

Testing

Run the tests using:

dotnet test