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3box-js

This is a library which allows you to set, get, and remove private and public data associated with an ethereum account. It can be used to store identity data, user settings, etc. by dapps that use a web3 enabled browser. The data will be retrievable as long as the user has access to the private key for the used ethereum account. The data is encrypted and can not be read by any third party that the user hasn't authorized. There is one shared space for data which all authorized dapps access by default, then there are spaces which dapps have to request explicit consent to access.

Getting Started

Installation

Install 3box in your npm project:

$ npm install 3box

Usage

Import 3Box into your project

Import the 3box module

const Box = require('3box')

Import using the dist build in your html code

<script type="text/javascript" src="../dist/3box.js"></script>

Or optionally by loading remote copy from unpkg CDN.

<!-- The most recent version  -->
<script src="https://unpkg.com/3box/dist/3box.js"></script>
<!-- The most recent minified version  -->
<script src="https://unpkg.com/3box/dist/3box.min.js"></script>
<!-- Load specific versions by specifying the version as follows -->
<script src="https://unpkg.com/3box@<version>/dist/3box.js"></script>

Profiles API

Get the existing public profile of an address (or DID)

3Box allows users to create a public profile for their Ethereum address. In your dapp you might have multiple ethereum addresses that you would like to display a name, image, and other basic social metadata for. The getProfile method allows you to fetch the public profile of any ethereum address (if it has one). This is a static method so you can call it directly from the Box object.

const profile = await Box.getProfile('0x12345abcde')
console.log(profile)

Update (get, set, remove) public and private profile data

3Box allows applications to create, read, update, and delete public and private data stored in a user's 3Box. To enable this functionality, applications must first open the user's 3Box by calling the openBox method. This method prompts the user to authenticate (sign-in) to your dapp and returns a promise with a threeBox instance. You can only update (set, get, remove) data for users that have authenticated to and are currently interacting with your dapp. Below ethereumProvider refers to the object that you would get from web3.currentProvider, or window.ethereum.

1. Authenticate users to begin new 3Box session

Calling the openBox method will open a new 3Box session. If the user's ethereum address already has a 3Box account, your application will gain access to it. If the user does not have an existing 3Box account, this method will automatically create one for them in the background.

const box = await Box.openBox('0x12345abcde', ethereumProvider)

2. Sync user's available 3Box data from the network

When you first open the box in your dapp all data might not be synced from the network yet. You should therefore add a listener using the onSyncDone method. This will allow you to know when all the user's data is available to you. We advise against setting any data before this sync has happened. However, reading data before the sync is complete is fine and encouraged - just remember to check for updates once this callback is fired!

box.onSyncDone(yourCallbackFunction)

3. Interact with 3Box profile data

You can now use the box instance object to interact with public and private data stored in the user's profile. In both the public and the private data store you use a key to set a value.

// use the public profile
// get
const nickname = await box.public.get('name')
console.log(nickname)
// set
await box.public.set('name', 'oed')
// remove
await box.public.remove('name')

// use the private store
// get
const email = await box.private.get('email')
console.log(email)
// set
await box.private.set('email', 'oed@email.service')
// remove
await box.private.remove('email')

Spaces API (Storage)

Open a space

A space is a named section of a users 3Box. Each space has both a public and a private store, and for every space you open the user has to grant explicit consent to view that space. This means that if your dapp uses a space that no other dapp uses, only your dapp is allowed to update the data and read the private store of that particular space. To open a space called narwhal you simply call:

const space = await box.openSpace('narwhal')

Get, set, and remove space data

Interacting with data in a space is done in the same way as interacting with box.public and box.private (see here). For example:

const config = await space.private.get('dapp-config')

Threads API (Messaging)

Add message threads to your app

Threads are a shared datastore that enable decentralized communication between users, by allowing one or more users to post messages in a sequence. This functionality is great for adding commenting, chat, messaging, feed, and stream features to your application. Threads are saved within a space and users that join a thread (with the same name, in the same space) will be able to communicate in that thread.

For the fully detailed spec, view the documentation.

WARNING: this is an experimental feature, the API will likely change in the future!

Viewing a Thread

You can get all posts made in a thread without opening a space. This is great for allowing visitors of your site view comments made by other users. This is achieved by calling the getThread method on the Box object.

const posts = await Box.getThread(spaceName, threadName)
console.log(posts)

However if applications want to add interactivity to the thread, such as allowing the user to post in a thread or follow updates in a thread, you will need to open their space to enable additional functionality.

Interacting with a Thread

1. Joining a thread

To post in a thread, a user must first join the thread.

const thread = await space.joinThread('myThread')

2. Posting to a thread

This allows the user to add a message to the thread. The author of the message will be the user's 3Box DID. When a user posts in a thread, they are automatically subscribed to the thread and it is saved in the space used by the application under the key thread-threadName.

await thread.post('hello world')

3. Getting all posts in a thread

This allows applications to get the posts in a thread.

const posts = await thread.getPosts()
console.log(posts)

4. Listening for updates in thread

This allows applications to listen for new posts in the thread, and perform an action when this occurs, such as adding the new message to the application's UI.

thread.onNewPost(myCallbackFunction)

Example Application

You can quickly run and interact with some code by looking at the files in the /example folder. You run the example with the following command:

$ npm run example:start

This runs a simple server at http://localhost:3000/ that serves the static example/index.html file. This allows it easily interact with metamask. You can edit the example/index.html file to try differnt code.

Optimize build for read-only 3Box API

If you only want to fetch profile data from 3Box's profile APIs you can optimize by importing only those functions or the API specific dist file. Since this includes minimal dependencies, file size is ~ 80kb vs 4+mb for the full build.

const { profileGraphQL, getProfile, getProfiles, getVerifiedAccounts } = require('3box/lib/api')

<script src="https://unpkg.com/3box/dist/3box.api.min.js"></script>

Data Standards

Dapps can store data about users that relate to only their dapp. However we encurage dapps to share data between them for a richer web3 experience. Therefore we have created Key Conventions in order to facilitate this. Feel free to make a PR to this file to explain to the community how you use 3Box!

Validate claims

Use the idUtils module to validate claims. See the did-jwt library for more details.

const { idUtils } = require('3box')

const claim = 'eyJ0eX...'
idUtils.verifyClaim(claim)
  .then(valid => console.info('details:', valid)
  .catch(err => console.error('claim verification failed:', err)

API Documentation

Box

Kind: global class

• Box
  • new Box()
  • instance
    • .public
    • .private
    • .verified
    • .spaces
    • .openSpace(name, opts) ⇒ Space
    • .onSyncDone(syncDone)
    • .logout()
  • static
    • .idUtils
      • .verifyClaim ⇒ Object
      • .isMuportDID(address) ⇒ * | boolean
      • .isClaim(claim, opts) ⇒ Promise.<boolean>
    • .getProfile(address, opts) ⇒ Object
    • .getProfiles(address, opts) ⇒ Object
    • .getSpace(address, name, opts) ⇒ Object
    • .getThread(space, name, opts) ⇒ Array.<Object>
    • .listSpaces(address, opts) ⇒ Object
    • .profileGraphQL(query, opts) ⇒ Object
    • .getVerifiedAccounts(profile) ⇒ Object
    • .openBox(address, ethereumProvider, opts) ⇒ Box
    • .isLoggedIn(address) ⇒ Boolean

new Box()

Please use the openBox method to instantiate a 3Box

box.public

Kind: instance property of Box
Properties

box.private

Kind: instance property of Box
Properties

box.verified

Kind: instance property of Box
Properties

box.spaces

Kind: instance property of Box
Properties

box.openSpace(name, opts) ⇒ Space

Opens the space with the given name in the users 3Box

Kind: instance method of Box
Returns: Space - the Space instance for the given space name

box.onSyncDone(syncDone)

Sets the callback function that will be called once when the db is fully synced.

Kind: instance method of Box

box.logout()

Closes the 3box instance and clears local cache. If you call this, users will need to sign a consent message to log in the next time you call openBox.

Kind: instance method of Box

Box.idUtils

A module to verify & validate claims

Kind: static property of Box

• .idUtils
  • .verifyClaim ⇒ Object
  • .isMuportDID(address) ⇒ * | boolean
  • .isClaim(claim, opts) ⇒ Promise.<boolean>

idUtils.verifyClaim ⇒ Object

Verify a claim and return its content. See https://github.com/uport-project/did-jwt/ for more details.

Kind: static property of idUtils
Returns: Object - The validated claim

idUtils.isMuportDID(address) ⇒ * | boolean

Check whether a string is a muport did or not

Kind: static method of idUtils
Returns: * | boolean - Whether the address is a muport did or not

idUtils.isClaim(claim, opts) ⇒ Promise.<boolean>

Check whether a string is a valid claim or not

Kind: static method of idUtils
Returns: Promise.<boolean> - whether the parameter is an actual claim

Box.getProfile(address, opts) ⇒ Object

Get the public profile of a given address

Kind: static method of Box
Returns: Object - a json object with the profile for the given address

Box.getProfiles(address, opts) ⇒ Object

Get a list of public profiles for given addresses. This relies on 3Box profile API.

Kind: static method of Box
Returns: Object - a json object with each key an address and value the profile

Box.getSpace(address, name, opts) ⇒ Object

Get the public data in a space of a given address with the given name

Kind: static method of Box
Returns: Object - a json object with the public space data

Box.getThread(space, name, opts) ⇒ Array.<Object>

Get all posts that are made to a thread.

Kind: static method of Box
Returns: Array.<Object> - An array of posts

Box.listSpaces(address, opts) ⇒ Object

Get the names of all spaces a user has

Kind: static method of Box
Returns: Object - an array with all spaces as strings

Box.profileGraphQL(query, opts) ⇒ Object

GraphQL for 3Box profile API

Kind: static method of Box
Returns: Object - a json object with each key an address and value the profile

Box.getVerifiedAccounts(profile) ⇒ Object

Verifies the proofs of social accounts that is present in the profile.

Kind: static method of Box
Returns: Object - An object containing the accounts that have been verified

Box.openBox(address, ethereumProvider, opts) ⇒ Box

Opens the 3Box associated with the given address

Kind: static method of Box
Returns: Box - the 3Box instance for the given address

Box.isLoggedIn(address) ⇒ Boolean

Check if the given address is logged in

Kind: static method of Box
Returns: Boolean - true if the user is logged in

KeyValueStore

Kind: global class

• KeyValueStore
  • new KeyValueStore()
  • .log ⇒ Array.<Object>
  • .get(key) ⇒ String
  • .getMetadata(key) ⇒ Metadata
  • .set(key, value) ⇒ Boolean
  • .remove(key) ⇒ Boolean

new KeyValueStore()

Please use box.public or box.private to get the instance of this class

keyValueStore.log ⇒ Array.<Object>

Returns array of underlying log entries. In linearized order according to their Lamport clocks. Useful for generating a complete history of all operations on store.

Kind: instance property of KeyValueStore
Returns: Array.<Object> - Array of ordered log entry objects
Example

const log = store.log
 const entry = log[0]
 console.log(entry)
 // { op: 'PUT', key: 'Name', value: 'Botbot', timeStamp: '1538575416068' }

keyValueStore.get(key) ⇒ String

Get the value of the given key

Kind: instance method of KeyValueStore
Returns: String - the value associated with the key, undefined if there's no such key

keyValueStore.getMetadata(key) ⇒ Metadata

Get metadata for for a given key

Kind: instance method of KeyValueStore
Returns: Metadata - Metadata for the key, undefined if there's no such key

keyValueStore.set(key, value) ⇒ Boolean

Set a value for the given key

Kind: instance method of KeyValueStore
Returns: Boolean - true if successful

keyValueStore.remove(key) ⇒ Boolean

Remove the value for the given key

Kind: instance method of KeyValueStore
Returns: Boolean - true if successful

Space

Kind: global class

• Space
  • new Space()
  • .public
  • .private
  • .joinThread(name, opts) ⇒ Thread
  • .subscribeThread(name)
  • .unsubscribeThread(name)
  • .subscribedThreads() ⇒ Array.<String>

new Space()

Please use box.openSpace to get the instance of this class

space.public

Kind: instance property of Space
Properties

space.private

Kind: instance property of Space
Properties

space.joinThread(name, opts) ⇒ Thread

Join a thread. Use this to start receiving updates from, and to post in threads

Kind: instance method of Space
Returns: Thread - An instance of the thread class for the joined thread

space.subscribeThread(name)

Subscribe to the given thread, if not already subscribed

Kind: instance method of Space

space.unsubscribeThread(name)

Unsubscribe from the given thread, if subscribed

Kind: instance method of Space

space.subscribedThreads() ⇒ Array.<String>

Get a list of all the threads subscribed to in this space

Kind: instance method of Space
Returns: Array.<String> - A list of thread names

Thread

Kind: global class

• Thread
  • new Thread()
  • .post(message) ⇒ String
  • .getPosts(opts) ⇒ Array.<Object>
  • .onNewPost(newPostFn)

new Thread()

Please use space.joinThread to get the instance of this class

thread.post(message) ⇒ String

Post a message to the thread

Kind: instance method of Thread
Returns: String - The postId of the new post

thread.getPosts(opts) ⇒ Array.<Object>

Returns an array of posts, based on the options. If hash not found when passing gt, gte, lt, or lte, the iterator will return all items (respecting limit and reverse).

Kind: instance method of Thread
Returns: Array.<Object> - true if successful

thread.onNewPost(newPostFn)

Register a function to be called for every new post that is received from the network. The function takes one parameter, which is the post. Note that posts here might be out of order.

Kind: instance method of Thread

Verified

Kind: global class

• Verified
  • new Verified()
  • .DID() ⇒ String
  • .github() ⇒ Object
  • .addGithub(gistUrl) ⇒ Object
  • .twitter() ⇒ Object
  • .addTwitter(claim) ⇒ Object
  • .email() ⇒ Object
  • .addEmail(claim) ⇒ Object

new Verified()

Please use box.verified to get the instance of this class

verified.DID() ⇒ String

Returns the verified DID of the user

Kind: instance method of Verified
Returns: String - The DID of the user

verified.github() ⇒ Object

Verifies that the user has a valid github account Throws an error otherwise.

Kind: instance method of Verified
Returns: Object - Object containing username, and proof

verified.addGithub(gistUrl) ⇒ Object

Adds a github verification to the users profile Throws an error if the verification fails.

Kind: instance method of Verified
Returns: Object - Object containing username, and proof

verified.twitter() ⇒ Object

Verifies that the user has a valid twitter account Throws an error otherwise.

Kind: instance method of Verified
Returns: Object - Object containing username, proof, and the verifier

verified.addTwitter(claim) ⇒ Object

Adds a twitter verification to the users profile Throws an error if the verification fails.

Kind: instance method of Verified
Returns: Object - Object containing username, proof, and the verifier

verified.email() ⇒ Object

Verifies that the user has a verified email account Throws an error otherwise.

Kind: instance method of Verified
Returns: Object - Object containing username, proof, and the verifier

verified.addEmail(claim) ⇒ Object

Adds an email verification to the users profile Throws an error if the verification fails.

Kind: instance method of Verified
Returns: Object - Object containing username, proof, and the verifier