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Version: IOTA

High Level API Specification

Introduction

This document specifies a user-friendly API used in the client libraries. The main implementation is in Rust, which will receive automatically compiled client libraries in other languages via C or WebAssembly bindings. There are many crates to support developers who want to create foreign function interfaces with native bindings.

Builder

The data structure to initialize the instance of the Higher level client library. It is always called first when starting a new interaction with the library.

Rust Standard

This is the standard approach to do initialization in Rust. Different languages might use different methods, such as directly calling an initialization function.

Parameters

network

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
devnet&strOptional, the network type can be "devnet" or "mainnet". If you don not provide a node url is provided, default nodes will be used for the specified network. Nodes that are not in this network will be ignored.

node

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
None&strThe URL of the node you want to connect to; format: https://node:port

primary_node

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
None&str, auth_name_pwd: Option<(&str, &str)>The URL of a node to always you want to connect to first, if multiple nodes are available.
(optional) You can use a JWT and or name and password for basic authentication; format: https://node:port, Some("JWT"), Some("name", "password")

primary_pow_node

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
None&str, auth_name_pwd: Option<(&str, &str)>The URL of a node to always you want to connect to first when submitting a message with remote PoW, if multiple nodes are available. This will override primary_node in that case**.
(optional) You can use a JWT or name and password for basic authentication; format: https://node:port, Some("JWT"), Some("name", "password")

permanode

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
None&str, auth_name_pwd: Option<(&str, &str)>The URL of a permanode.
(optional) You can use a JWT or name and password for basic authentication; format: https://node:port, Some("JWT"), Some("name", "password")

node_auth

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
None&str, Option
, Option<(&str, &str)>
The URL of a node to connect to with.
(optional)You can use a JWT and or name and password for basic authentication; format: https://node:port, Some("JWT"), Some("name", "password")

nodes

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
None&[&str]A list of nodes to connect to. You can add nodes are using the https://node:port format.
The amount of nodes specified in quorum_size is randomly selected from this node list to check for quorum based on the quorum threshold.
If quorum_size is not given the full list of nodes is checked.

node_sync_interval

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
Duration::from_secs(60)std::time::DurationThe interval in milliseconds to check for node health and sync.

node_sync_disabled

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
falseboolIf disabled unhealthy nodes will also be used.

node_pool_urls

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
None&[String]A list of node_pool_urls from which nodes are added.
The amount of nodes specified in quorum_size is randomly selected from this node list to check for quorum based on the quorum threshold.
If quorum_size is not given the full list of nodes is checked.

quorum

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
falseboolDefines if quorum should be used for the requests
quorum_size
RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
3usizeDefines how many nodes should be used for quorum

quorum_threshold

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
66usizeDefines the % of nodes that need to return the same response to accept it

request_timeout

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
Duration::from_secs(30)std::time::DurationThe amount of seconds a request can be outstanding to a node before it is considered timed out

api_timeout

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
Api::GetInfo: Duration::from_secs(2)),
Api::GetHealth: Duration::from_secs(2),
Api::GetPeers: Duration::from_secs(2),
Api::GetMilestone: Duration::from_secs(2),
Api::GetTips: Duration::from_secs(2),
Api::PostMessage: Duration::from_secs(2),
Api::PostMessageWithRemotePow: Duration::from_secs(30),
Api::GetOutput: Duration::from_secs(2)
HashMap<[Api],
std::time::Duration>
The amount of milliseconds a request to a specific API endpoint can be outstanding to a node before it is considered timed out.
local_pow
RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
TrueboolIf not defined it defaults to local PoW to offload node load times

tips_interval

RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
15u64Time interval during PoW when new tips get requested.
mqtt_broker_options
RequiredDefault ValueTypeDefinition
True,
Duration::from_secs(30),
True
BrokerOptionsIf not defined the default values will be used

::: note Minimum Nodes

There must be at least one node to build the instance successfully.

:::

Return

If you finalize the builder with finish() it will run the instance in the background. You do not need to worry about handling the return object.

On Initialization

On initialisation, calls the getNodeInfo API. This will check the health of each node in the node list, and put the healthy nodes, which match the PoW settings and network in a synced nodelist.

Node metadataDescription
networkIf this parameter does not match the global builder parameter, you should not add it to the synced nodelist.
powIf the global local_pow parameter is set to false, then you should only use nodes with the PoW feature in the synced nodelist.

Sync Process

When you build Client instance (The instance used for calling the client APIs), the status of each listed node will be checked. If the returned status of the node information is healthy, which means the node is synced, then this node will be pushed into a synced_nodes list. The rust-like pseudocode of the synced_nodes construction process follows. The node syncing process is repeated every 60 seconds by default. You can change this number by specifying the initializer's node_sync_interval argument.

synced_nodes = Vec::new()
for node in node_pool_urls{
status = Client.get_info(node).await?;
if status == healthy{
synced_nodes.push(node)
}
}

General High Level API

Here is the high level abstraction API collection with sensible default values for users easy to use.

message()

A generic send function you can use to easily send a message.

Parameters

Depending on the provided values this function will create a message with:

  • No payload.
  • An indexation payload.
  • A transaction payload.
  • A transaction payload containing an indexation payload.
seed
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
NoneSeed(#seed-1)The seed of the account you are going to spend from. Only needed for transactions
account_index
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
0usizeThe account index responsible for the value in the Bip32Path m/44'/4218'/✘'/0'/0'.
initial_address_index
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
0usizeThe index from where to start looking for balance. Responsible for the value in the Bip32Path m/44'/4218'/0'/0'/✘'.
input
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
NoneUtxoInputUsers can manually select their UtxoInputs, instead of having automatically selected inputs.
input_range
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
0..100RangeIf custom inputs are provided, this custom range will be used to search for the input addresses.
output
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
Noneaddress: &[String],
amount: u64
Address you want to send to and amount to send. The address needs to be Bech32 encoded.
output_hex
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
Noneaddress: &str,
amount: u64
Address you want to send to and amount to send. The address needs to be hex encoded.
index
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
None&[u8] / &strAn optional indexation key for an indexation payload. 1-64 bytes long.
data
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
NoneVec<u8>Optional data for the indexation payload.
parents
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
NoneMessageId1-8 optional parents messageIdto be used.

Return

The Message object we build.

Implementation Details

When implementing this function please make sure that you:

  • Validate inputs, such as address and seed to check that they are correct.
  • Check if the account balance is bigger or equal to the value using method similar to get_balance().
  • Build and validate the message with signed transaction payload accordingly.
  • Get tips using the get_tips() method.
  • Perform proof-of-work locally (if not set to remote).
  • Send the message using the post_messages() method.

get_message()

(GET /api/v1/messages)

Endpoint collection of all GET messages.

Parameters

message_id
RequiredTypeDefinition
messageIdThe message's identifier.
index
RequiredTypeDefinition
&[u8] / &strAn indexation key.

Returns

Depending on the final calling method, users cam get different results according to their needs:

  • metadata(&MessageId): Returns MessageMetadata of the message.
  • data(&MessageId): Returns a Message object.
  • raw(&MessageId): Returns the raw data of given message.
  • children(&MessageId): Returns the list of MessageIds that reference a message by its identifier.
  • index(&[u8] | &str) : Returns the list of MessageIds that have this str as indexation key

find_messages()

Find all messages using the provided message IDs.

Parameters

indexation_keys
RequiredTypeDefinition
[&[u8] / &str]The index key of the indexation payload.
message_ids
RequiredTypeDefinition
MessageIdThe message's identifier.

Returns

A vector of Message Object.

get_unspent_address()

Return a valid unspent public Bech32 encoded address.

Parameters

seed
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
-SeedThe seed we want to use.
account_index
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
0usizeThe account index.
Responsible for the value in the Bip32Path m/44'/4218'/✘'/0'/0'.
initial_address_index
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
0usizeStart index of the addresses to search.
Responsible for the value in the Bip32Path m/44'/4218'/0'/0'/✘'.

Return

Return a tuple with type of (String, usize) as the address and corresponding index in the account.

Implementation Details

Please make sure that you follow these steps when implementing this method:

  • Start by generating addresses with given account index and starting index. We have a default gap limit of 20 at a time.
  • Check for balances on the generated addresses using the find_outputs() method and keep track of the positive balances.
  • Repeat the above step until you find an unspent address.
  • Return the address with corresponding index on the wallet chain.

get_addresses()

Returns a list of addresses from the seed regardless of their validity.

Parameters

seed
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
NoneSeedThe seed you want to search for.
account_index
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
0usizeThe account index.
Responsible for the value in the Bip32Path m/44'/4218'/✘'/0'/0'.
range
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
Nonestd::ops::RangeRange indices of the addresses you want to search for. Default is (0..20)
get_all
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
Get public and change addresses.
Will return Vec<([String], bool)>, where the bool is indicating whether it is a change address

Return

A Vec<[String]>, with the public addresses

get_balance()

Returns the balance for a provided seed and its wallet account index.

Parameters

seed
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
-SeedThe seed you want to search for.
account_index
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
0usizeThe account index.
Responsible for the value in the Bip32Path m/44'/4218'/✘'/0'/0'.
initial_address_index
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
0usizeStart index from which to generate addresses. The default valu is 0.
Responsible for the value in the Bip32Path m/44'/4218'/0'/0'/✘'.
gap_limit
RequiredDefaultTypeDefinition
20usizeThe gap limit specifies how many addresses will be checked each round.
If gap_limit amount of addresses in a row have no balance the function will return.

Return

Total account balance.

Implementation Details

Please make sure to follow these steps when you are implementing this method:

  • Start by generating addresses with given wallet account index and starting index. You will have a default gap limit of 20 at a time.
  • Check for balances on the generated addresses using the find_outputs() method and keep track of the positive balances.
  • Repeat the step above until you find an address with zero balance;
  • Accumulate the positive balances and return the result.

get_address_balances()

Return the balance in iota for the given addresses. You do not need a seed or security level to do this since you are only checking and already know the addresses.

Parameters

addresses
RequiredTypeDefinition
[[String]]List of Bech32 encoded addresses.

Return

A list of tuples with value of AddressBalancePair. The usize is the balance of the address.

Implementation details:

Please make sure to follow these steps when implementing this method:

  • Validate the address semantics.
  • Get the latest balance for the provided address using the find_outputs() method with the addresses as parameter.
  • Return the list of Output which contains corresponding pairs of addresses and balances.

generate_mnemonic()

Returns a random generated Bip39 mnemonic with words from the English word list.

Return

Parsed [String].

mnemonic_to_hex_seed(mnemonic)

Returns the hex encoded seed.

Parameters

mnemonic
RequiredTypeDefinition
[String]A Bip39 mnemonic with words from the English word list.

Return

Parsed [String].

bech32_to_hex()

Returns a parsed hex String from bech32.

Parameters

bech32

RequiredTypeDefinition
[String]Bech32 encoded address.

Return

Parsed [String].

hex_to_bech32()

Returns a parsed bech32 String from hex.

Parameters

hex
RequiredTypeDefinition
[String]Hex encoded address.
bech32_hrp
RequiredTypeDefinition
[Option
]
Optional bech32 hrp.

Return

A parsed [String].

parse_bech32_address()

Returns a valid Address parsed from a String.

Parameters

address
RequiredTypeDefinition
[String]Bech32 encoded address.

Return

A parsed [Address].

is_address_valid()

Parameters

address
RequiredTypeDefinition
[String]Bech32 encoded address.

Return

A boolean showing if the address is valid.

subscriber()

Subscribe to a node event Topic(MQTT).

Requires one of:

  • topic(): Add a new Topic to the list.
  • topics(): Add a vector of Topic to the list.
  • subscribe(): Subscribe to the given topics with the callback, which will be called every time when the topic is detected.
  • unsubscribe(): Unsubscribes from all subscriptions.
  • disconnect(): Disconnects the broker. This will clear the stored topic handlers and close the MQTT connection.

Returns

An Ok(()) result if the call was successful.

retry()

Retries (promotes or reattaches) a message for the provided messageId if the node suggests it. As the confirmation throughput of the node is expected to be quite high, you should not need to use this function often.

Parameters

message_id
RequiredTypeDefinition
messageIdThe identifier of message.

Returns

A tuple with the newly promoted or reattached (MessageId, Message).

Implementation Details

Please make sure to follow these steps when implementing this method:

  • You should only allow unconfirmed messages to retry. The method will validate the confirmation state of the provided messages. If a message id of a confirmed message is provided, the method will return an error.
  • The method will also validate if a retry is necessary. This can be done by leveraging the /messages/{messageId}/metadata endpoint (already available through get_message). See this implementation for reference.
  • Use reattach or promote accordingly.

retry_until_included()

Retries (promotes or reattaches) a message for provided messageId until it is included (referenced by a milestone). The default interval is 5 seconds and the max number of attempts is 40. As the confirmation throughput of the node is expected to be quite high, you should not need to use this function often.

Parameters

message_id
RequiredTypeDefinition
[&MessageId]The identifier of message.
interval
RequiredTypeDefinition
Option<u64>The interval in which we retry the message.
max_attempts
RequiredTypeDefinition
Option<u64>The maximum of attempts we retry the message.

Returns

An array of tuples with the newly reattached (MessageId, Message).

consolidate_funds()

You can use this function to consolidate all funds from a range of addresses to the address with the lowest index in that range.

Parameters

seed
RequiredTypeDefinition
SeedThe seed you want to search for.
account_index
RequiredTypeDefinition
usizeThe account index.
Responsible for the value in the Bip32Path m/44'/4218'/✘'/0'/0'.
address_range
RequiredTypeDefinition
RangeRange from which to generate public and internal addresses from which to consolidate the funds.
Responsible for the value in the Bip32Path m/44'/4218'/0'/0'/✘'.

Returns

The address in which the funds got consolidated.

reattach()

Depends on find_messages, get_message and post_message.

Reattaches a message. The method will validate if a reattachment is necessary using the get_message method. If a reattachment is not necessary, the method will error out and will not allow unnecessary reattachments.

Parameters

message_id
RequiredTypeDefinition
messageIdThe identifier of message.

Returns

A tuple with the newly reattached (MessageId, Message).

promote()

Depends on find_messages, get_message and post_message.

Reattaches a message. The method will validate if a reattachment is necessary using the get_message method. If a promotion is not necessary, the method will error out and will not allow unnecessary promotions.

Parameters

message_id

RequiredTypeDefinition
messageIdThe identifier of message.

Returns

A tuple with the newly promoted (MessageId, Message).

Full Node API

The full node APIs of Bee and Hornet will still be public. Users who are familiar with these relative low level Restful APIs can still call them directly if they are confident in their usage.

Active Development

Given that both Bee and Hornet APIs are still in active development, the following items and signatures may change in the future.

get_health()

(GET /health)

Returns the health of the node, which can be used for load-balancing or uptime monitoring.

Parameters

None.

Returns

Boolean to indicate if node is healthy.

get_peers()

(GET /peers)

Get information about the peers of the node.

Parameters

None.

Returns

pub struct PeerDto {
pub id: String,
#[serde(rename = "multiAddresses")]
pub multi_addresses: Vec<String/>,
pub alias: Option<String/>,
pub relation: RelationDto,
pub connected: bool,
pub gossip: Option<GossipDto/>,
}

get_info()

(GET /api/v1/info)

Returns information about the node.

Parameters

None

Returns

A Response Object similar to:

pub struct NodeInfoWrapper {
pub nodeinfo: NodeInfo,
pub url: String,
}
pub struct NodeInfo {
pub name: String,
pub version: String,
pub is_healthy: bool,
pub network_id: String,
pub latest_milestone_index: usize,
pub min_pow_score: f64,
pub messages_per_second: f64,
pub referenced_messages_per_second: f64,
pub referenced_rate: f64,
pub latest_milestone_timestamp: u64,
pub confirmed_milestone_index: usize,
pub pruning_index: usize,
pub features: Vec<String/>,
}

get_tips()

(GET /tips)

Returns two non-lazy tips. If the node can only provide one tip, tip1 and tip2 will be identical.

Parameters

None.

Returns

A tuple with two [MessageId]s:

(MessageId, MessageId)

post_message()

(POST /message)

Submits a message. The node will take care of any missing fields and attempt to build the message. On success, the message will be stored in the Tangle. This endpoint will return the identifier of the message.

Parameters

message
RequiredTypeDefinition
MessageThe message object.

Returns

The messageId of the message object.

get_output()

(GET /outputs)

Get the producer of the output, the corresponding address, amount and spend status of an output. This information can only be retrieved for outputs which are part of a confirmed transaction.

Parameters

output_id
RequiredTypeDefinition
UtxoInputIdentifier of the output.

Returns

An OutputMetadata that contains information about the output.

get_address()

(GET /addresses)

Parameters

address
RequiredTypeDefinition
[String]The address to search for.

Returns

Depending on the final calling method, you can get different outputs you need:

  • balance(): Returns the confirmed balance of the address.
  • outputs([options]): Returns the UtxoInput array (transaction IDs with corresponding output index).

find_outputs()

Find all outputs based on the requests criteria.

Parameters

output_id
RequiredTypeDefinition
[UtxoInput]The identifier of output.
addresses
RequiredTypeDefinition
[[String]]The Bech32 encoded address.

Returns

A vector of OutputMetadata.

get_milestone()

(GET /milestones)

Get the milestone by the given index.

Parameters

index
RequiredTypeDefinition
u32Index of the milestone.

Returns

An [Milestone] object.

get_milestone_utxo_changes()

(GET /milestones/{}/utxo-changes)

Get all UTXO changes of a given milestone.

Parameters

index
RequiredTypeDefinition
u32Index of the milestone.

Returns

MilestoneUTXOChanges {
index: 1,
created_outputs: [],
consumed_outputs: [],
}

get_receipts()

(GET /receipts)

Get all receipts.

Returns

Vec<ReceiptDto/>

get_receipts_migrated_at()

(GET /receipts/{migratedAt})

Get all receipts for a given milestone index.

Returns

Vec<ReceiptDto/>

get_treasury()

(GET /treasury)

Get the treasury amount.

Returns

pub struct TreasuryResponse {
#[serde(rename = "milestoneId")]
milestone_id: String,
amount: u64,
}

get_included_message()

(GET /transactions/{transactionId}/included-message)

Get the included message of the transaction.

Parameters

transaction_id
RequiredTypeDefinition
TransactionIdThe id of the transaction.

Returns

struct Message {
parents: Vec<MessageId/>,
payload: Option<Payload/>,
nonce: u64,
}

Objects

The objects used in the API aim to provide a secure way to handle certain data structures specified in the IOTA stack.

Address

An Ed25519 address which can be encoded in either Bech32 or Hex. Bech32 is preferred and used in most functions.

pub enum Address {
Ed25519(Ed25519Address),
}

AddressBalancePair

pub struct AddressBalancePair {
/// Address, bech32 encoded
pub address: String,
/// Balance in the address
pub balance: u64,
/// If dust is allowed on the address
pub dust_allowed: bool,
}

Api

pub enum Api {
/// `get_health` API
GetHealth,
/// `get_info`API
GetInfo,
/// `get_tips` API
GetTips,
/// `post_message` API
PostMessage,
/// `post_message` API with remote pow
PostMessageWithRemotePow,
/// `get_output` API
GetOutput,
/// `get_milestone` API
GetMilestone,
}

BrokerOptions

pub struct BrokerOptions {
#[serde(default = "default_broker_automatic_disconnect", rename = "automaticDisconnect")]
pub(crate) automatic_disconnect: bool,
#[serde(default = "default_broker_timeout")]
pub(crate) timeout: std::time::Duration,
#[serde(rename = "maxReconnectionAttempts", default)]
pub(crate) max_reconnection_attempts: usize,
}

Message

The message object returned by various functions. Based on the RFC for the Message object. The following is a brief overview of how each of the components in a Message type will look like:

struct Message {
parents: Vec<MessageId/>,
payload: Option<Payload/>,
nonce: u64,
}

enum Payload {
Transaction(Box<Transaction/>),
Milestone(Box<Milestone/>),
Indexation(Box<Indexation/>),
}

struct Transaction {
pub essence: TransactionPayloadEssence,
pub unlock_blocks: Vec<UnlockBlock/>,
}

struct Milestone {
essence: MilestoneEssence,
signatures: Vec<Box<[u8]>>,
}

struct Indexation {
index: String,
data: Box<[u8]>,
}

struct TransactionPayloadEssence {
pub(crate) inputs: Box<[Input]>,
pub(crate) outputs: Box<[Output]>,
pub(crate) payload: Option<Payload/>,
}

enum Input {
UTXO(UtxoInput(OutputId)),
}

struct OutputId {
transaction_id: TransactionId,
index: u16,
}

enum Output {
SignatureLockedSingle(SignatureLockedSingleOutput),
}

struct SignatureLockedSingleOutput {
address: Address,
amount: u64,
}

enum UnlockBlock {
Signature(SignatureUnlock),
Reference(ReferenceUnlock),
}

enum SignatureUnlock {
Ed25519(Ed25519Signature),
}

struct Ed25519Signature {
public_key: [u8; 32],
signature: Box<[u8]>,
}

struct ReferenceUnlock(u16);

MessageId

A 32 bytes array which can represent as hex string.

struct MessageId([u8; MESSAGE_ID_LENGTH]);

MessageMetadata

pub struct MessageMetadata {
/// Message ID
pub message_id: String,
/// Message IDs of parents
pub parents: Vec<String/>,
/// Solid status
pub is_solid: bool,
/// Should promote
pub should_promote: Option<bool/>,
/// Should reattach
pub should_reattach: Option<bool/>,
/// Referenced by milestone index
pub referenced_by_milestone_index: Option<u32>,
/// Ledger inclusion state
pub ledger_inclusion_state: Option<String/>,
}

Milestone

A milestone metadata.

pub struct MilestoneMetadata {
/// Milestone index
pub milestone_index: u32,
/// Milestone ID
pub message_id: String,
/// Timestamp
pub timestamp: u64,
}

OutputMetadata

The metadata of an output.

pub struct OutputMetadata {
/// Message ID of the output
pub message_id: Vec<u8>,
/// Transaction ID of the output
pub transaction_id: Vec<u8>,
/// Output index.
pub output_index: u16,
/// Spend status of the output
pub is_spent: bool,
/// Corresponding address
pub address: Address,
/// Balance amount
pub amount: u64,
}

Seed

An IOTA seed with its inner structure omitted. You can create this type by passing a String. It will verify and return an error if it is not valid.

pub enum Seed {
/// Ed25519 variant
Ed25519(Ed25519Seed)
}

Topic

A string with the exact MQTT topic to monitor. It can have one of the following variations:

milestones/latest
milestones/confirmed

messages
messages/referenced
messages/indexation/{index}
messages/{messageId}/metadata
transactions/{transactionId}/included-message

outputs/{outputId}

addresses/{address}/outputs
addresses/ed25519/{address}/outputs