v0.9.6: InfoNet hashchain, Wormhole gate encryption, mesh reputation, 16 community contributors

Gate messages now propagate via the Infonet hashchain as encrypted blobs — every node syncs them
through normal chain sync while only Gate members with MLS keys can decrypt. Added mesh reputation
system, peer push workers, voluntary Wormhole opt-in for node participation, fork recovery,
killwormhole scripts, obfuscated terminology, and hardened the self-updater to protect encryption
keys and chain state during updates.

New features: Shodan search, train tracking, Sentinel Hub imagery, 8 new intelligence layers,
CCTV expansion to 11,000+ cameras across 6 countries, Mesh Terminal CLI, prediction markets,
desktop-shell scaffold, and comprehensive mesh test suite (215 frontend + backend tests passing).

Community contributors: @wa1id, @AlborzNazari, @adust09, @Xpirix, @imqdcr, @csysp, @suranyami,
@chr0n1x, @johan-martensson, @singularfailure, @smithbh, @OrfeoTerkuci, @deuza, @tm-const,
@Elhard1, @ttulttul

start-backend.js

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-const { execSync } = require("child_process");
+const { spawn } = require("child_process");
 const path = require("path");
 const fs = require("fs");
 
@@ -13,8 +13,35 @@ if (!fs.existsSync(venvBin)) {
   process.exit(1);
 }
 
-console.log(`[*] Starting backend with: ${venvBin}`);
-execSync(`"${venvBin}" -m uvicorn main:app --reload`, {
+const backendArgs = ["-m", "uvicorn", "main:app", "--timeout-keep-alive", "120"];
+if (["1", "true", "yes"].includes(String(process.env.BACKEND_RELOAD || "").toLowerCase())) {
+  backendArgs.push("--reload");
+}
+
+console.log(`[*] Starting backend with: ${venvBin} ${backendArgs.join(" ")}`);
+const backendProc = spawn(venvBin, backendArgs, {
   cwd: backendDir,
   stdio: "inherit",
+  env: process.env,
+});
+
+const cleanupAll = () => {
+  if (backendProc && !backendProc.killed) {
+    backendProc.kill();
+  }
+};
+
+process.on("exit", cleanupAll);
+process.on("SIGINT", () => {
+  cleanupAll();
+  process.exit(0);
+});
+process.on("SIGTERM", () => {
+  cleanupAll();
+  process.exit(0);
+});
+
+backendProc.on("exit", (code) => {
+  cleanupAll();
+  process.exit(code ?? 0);
 });