Vector Engine

The engine wraps the core Vector protocol. It implements business logic for some default types of conditional transfers, converts user-facing parameters/events to protocol parameters/events, and exposes a JSON RPC interface that is consumed by the server-node, browser-node or any other node implementation.

Note: because the engine runs behind a JSON RPC interface, it is entirely possible to run the core protocol (incl keys, access to services, etc.) in an isolated environment such as a browser iframe, and then only expose limited functionality for interacting with a user's channel to the outside world. We believe this is the safest way to enable state channel applications that run in the browser.

Contents:

• Developing and Running Tests
• JSON RPC Interface
• Events // TODO

Developing and Running Tests

In ~/vector (root), run:

• make engine to build the protocol
• make test-engine to run the unit tests

JSON RPC Interface

Methods:

• chan_setup
• chan_deposit
• chan_createTransfer
• chan_resolveTransfer
• chan_withdraw
• chan_getChannelState
• chan_getTransferStateByRoutingId
• chan_getChannelStateByParticipants
• chan_getChannelStates

Example Usage

Request

curl --data '{"method":"chan_setup","params":[...],"id":1,"jsonrpc":"2.0"}' -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X POST localhost:8545

Note: remember to populate params and method with the correct fields above.

Response

{
  "id": 1,
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "result": [
    {
        ...
    },
    ...
  ]
}

chan_setup

Creates a channel with a given counterparty.

Params

1. Object - EngineParams.Setup object.
   • counterpartyIdentifier: String - Connext-specific counterparty public identifier.
   • chainId: Number - ChainId of the chain that you want to create a channel on.
   • timeout: String- (optional) Dispute timeout for the channel. // TODO must be greater than MIN_TIMEOUT and lower than 2*DEFAULT_TIMEOUT

Returns

• Object - FullChannelState object.

chan_deposit

Reconciles a deposit that was completed onchain with the offchain channel balance.

NOTE: this method assumes you have first completed the deposit onchain either by sending a tx to contract.depositA if you are Alice in the channel or sending funds directly to the address if you are Bob. See the note on Depositing and Withdrawing to learn more.

Params

1. Object - EngineParams.Deposit object.
   • channelAddress: String - Onchain address of the specific channel that you have deposited to.
   • assetId: String - Address of the asset (ERC20 token or equivalent) that you deposited. Use ethers.constants.AddressZero (i.e. address(0)) for the chain's base asset (e.g. Eth).

Returns

• Object - FullChannelState object.

chan_createTransfer

Creates a conditional transfer with the specified counterparty.

Params

1. Object - EngineParams.ConditionalTransfer object
   • channelAddress: String - Address of channel from which the transfer will be made.
   • conditionType: String - Type of condition which will be used to resolve the transfer. See TransferName,
   • amount: String - Amount to be locked in the transfer by sender.
   • assetId: String - Onchain address of asset (ERC20 or equivalent). Use ethers.constants.AddressZero for the chain's base asset (e.g. Eth).
   • recipient: String - Recipient Connext-specific public identifier
   • details: Object - TransferType-specific params needed to set up the conditions for the transfer. For instance, lockHash for HashlockTransfer. See the schemas to learn more.
   • recipientChainId: Number - (optional) ChainId of recipient for cross-chain transfers. If none is provided, the engine will assume that the recipient chainId is the same as sender chainId.
   • recipientAssetId: String - (optional) AssetId of recipient for transfers that include an in-flight swap of assets. If nothing is provided, the engine will assume that the recipient assetId is the same as sender assetId.
   • timeout: String (optional) Dispute timeout of transfer. Defaults to DEFAULT_TIMEOUT
   • meta: Object (optional) User defined object that can contain transfer metadata, invoice number, message, etc.

Returns

• Object - FullChannelState object.

chan_resolveTransfer

Resolves an existing conditional transfer using logic that finalizes/unlocks it.

Params

1. Object - EngineParams.ResolveTransfer object
   • channelAddress: String - Address of channel which contains the transfer to be resolved.
   • transferId: String - Unique Id associated with this transfer. Can get this by listening for the CONDITIONAL_TRANSFER_CREATED event.
   • conditionType: String - Condition type of this transfer // TODO do we need this?
   • details: Object - TransferType-specific params needed to resolve the conditions for the transfer. For instance, preImage for HashlockTransfer. See the schema to learn more.

Returns

• Object - FullChannelState object.

chan_withdraw

Withdraws funds from the channel to a specified address onchain. Note that the withdraw onchain tx itself may be submitted by the counterparty.

Params

1. Object - EngineParams.Withdraw object.
   • channelAddress: String - Address of channel from which the withdraw will be made.
   • amount: String - Amount to be withdrawn // TODO what units is this in?
   • assetId: String - Onchain address of asset (ERC20 or equivalent). Use ethers.constants.AddressZero for the chain's base asset (e.g. Eth).
   • recipient: String - Onchain address to send funds to.
   • fee: String - (optional) Fee charged by counterparty to submit a withdrawal on your behalf to chain. If the counterparty is submitting your withdrawal and doesn't charge a fee, this is not needed. If they are submitting your withdrawal and do charge a fee, adding an incorrect fee will cause the withdraw call to throw an error.

Returns

• Object - FullChannelState object.
• // TODO do we need to add txHash here?

chan_getChannelState

Gets channel state for a given channelAddress.

Params

1. Object - EngineParams.GetChannelState object.
   • channelAddress: String - Address of channel.

Returns

• Object - FullChannelState object.

chan_getTransferStateByRoutingId

Gets a transfer state for a given routingId. This method is largely only used by the router.

Params

1. Object - EngineParams.GetTransferStateByRoutingId object.
   • routingId: String - Unique Id of transfer routed over multiple channels.

Returns

• Object - FullTransferState object.

chan_getChannelStateByParticipants

Gets channel state for a given alice and bob public identifiers.

Params

1. Object - EngineParams.GetChannelStateByParticipants object.
   • alice: String - Connext-specific public identifier of the channel initiator.
   • bob: String - Connext-specific public identifier of the channel responder.
   • chainId: Number - Id of the chain that the channel is on.

Returns

• Object - FullChannelState object.

chan_getChannelStates

Gets all channel states associated with your public identifier in your store.

Params

None.

Result

• Object[] - Array of FullChannelState objects.