vm

Spaces Virtual Machine (SpacesVM)

Authenticated, Hierarchical Key-Value Store w/EIP-712 Compatibility, State Expiry, and Fee-Based Metering

Metal Subnets and Custom VMs

Metal is a network composed of multiple sub-networks (called [subnets][Subnet]) that each contain any number of blockchains. Each blockchain is an instance of a Virtual Machine (VM), much like an object in an object-oriented language is an instance of a class. That is, the VM defines the behavior of the blockchain where it is instantiated. For example, [Coreth (EVM)][Coreth] is a VM that is instantiated by the [C-Chain]. Likewise, one could deploy another instance of the EVM as their own blockchain (to take this to its logical conclusion).

MetalGo Compatibility

[v0.0.15] MetalGo@v1.9.6-v1.9.7

Introduction

Just as [Coreth] powers the [C-Chain], SpacesVM can be used to power its own blockchain in an Metal [Subnet]. Instead of providing a place to execute Solidity smart contracts, however, SpacesVM enables authenticated, hierarchical storage of arbitrary keys/values using any [EIP-712] compatible wallet.

Authenticated

All modifications of storage require the signature of the owner of a "space".

Hierarchical

Owners can modify any key in their "space" (ex: owner/*), however, no one else can.

Arbitrary Key/Value Storage

As long as a key is ^[a-z0-9]{1,256}$, it can be used as an identifier in SpacesVM. The max length of values is defined in genesis but typically ranges between 64-200KB. Any number of values can be linked together to store files in the > 100s of MBs range (as long as you have the SPC to pay for it).

[EIP-712] Compatible

The canonical digest of a SpacesVM transaction is [EIP-712] compliant, so any Web3 wallet that can sign typed data can interact with SpacesVM.

[EIP-712] compliance in this case, however, does not mean that SpacesVM is an EVM or even an EVM derivative. SpacesVM is a new Metal-native VM written from scratch to optimize for storage-related operations.

How it Works

Claim

Interacting with the SpacesVM starts with a ClaimTx. This reserves your own "space" and associates your address with it (so that only you can make changes to it and/or the keys in it).

Reserved Spaces

Spaces of length 66 (0x + hex-encoded EVM-style address) are reserved for address holders. Only the person who can produce a valid signature for a given address can claim these types of spaces.

Set/Delete

Once you have a space, you can then use SetTx and DeleteTx actions to add/modify/delete keys in it. The more storage your space uses, the faster it will expire.

Content-Addressable Keys

To support common blockchain use cases (like NFT storage), the SpacesVM supports the storage of arbitrary size files using content-addressable keys. You can try this out using spaces-cli set-file <space> <filename>.

Lifeline

When your space uses a lot of storage and/or you've had it for a while, you may need to extend its life using a LifelineTx. If you don't, your space will eventually become inaccessible and all data stored within it will be deleted by the SpacesVM.

Community Space Support

It is not required that you own a space to submit a LifelineTx that extends its life. This enables the community to support useful spaces with their SPC.

Resolve

When you want to view data stored in SpacesVM, you call Resolve on the value path: <space>/<key>. If you stored a file at a particular path, use this command to retrieve it: spaces-cli resolve-file <path> <destination filepath>.

Transfer

If you want to share some of your SPC with your friends, you can use a TransferTx to send to any EVM-style address.

Move

If you want to share a space with a friend, you can use a MoveTx to transfer it to any EVM-style address.

Space Rewards

50% of the fees spent on each transaction are sent to a random space owner (as long as the randomly selected recipient is not the creator of the transaction).

One could modify the SpacesVM to instead send rewards to a beneficiary chosen by whoever produces a block.

Fees

All interactions with the SpacesVM require the payment of fees (denominated in SPC). The VM Genesis includes support for allocating one-off SPC to different EVM-style addresses and to allocating SPC to an airdrop list.

Nearly all fee-related params can be tuned by the SpacesVM deployer.

Usage

If you are interested in running the VM, not using it. Jump to Running the VM.

[tryspaces.xyz]

The easiest way to try out SpacesVM is to visit the demo website [tryspaces.xyz].

spaces-cli

Install

git clone https://github.com/ava-labs/spacesvm.git;
cd spacesvm;
go install -v ./cmd/spaces-cli;

Usage

SpacesVM CLI

Usage:
  spaces-cli [command]

Available Commands:
  activity     View recent activity on the network
  claim        Claims the given space
  completion   generate the autocompletion script for the specified shell
  create       Creates a new key in the default location
  delete       Deletes a key-value pair for the given space
  delete-file  Deletes all hashes reachable from root file identifier
  genesis      Creates a new genesis in the default location
  help         Help about any command
  info         Reads space info and all values at space
  lifeline     Extends the life of a given space
  move         Transfers a space to another address
  network      View information about this instance of the SpacesVM
  owned        Fetches all owned spaces for the address associated with the private key
  resolve      Reads a value at space/key
  resolve-file Reads a file at space/key and saves it to disk
  set          Writes a key-value pair for the given space
  set-file     Writes a file to the given space
  transfer     Transfers units to another address

Flags:
      --endpoint string           RPC endpoint for VM (default "https://api.tryspaces.xyz")
  -h, --help                      help for spaces-cli
      --private-key-file string   private key file path (default ".spaces-cli-pk")
      --verbose                   Print verbose information about operations

Use "spaces-cli [command] --help" for more information about a command.

spaces-cli set-file spaceslover ~/Downloads/computer.gif -> patrick/6fe5a52f52b34fb1e07ba90bad47811c645176d0d49ef0c7a7b4b22013f676c8
spaces-cli resolve-file spaceslover/6fe5a52f52b34fb1e07ba90bad47811c645176d0d49ef0c7a7b4b22013f676c8 computer_copy.gif
spaces-cli delete-file spaceslover/6fe5a52f52b34fb1e07ba90bad47811c645176d0d49ef0c7a7b4b22013f676c8

Golang SDK

// Client defines spacesvm client operations.
type Client interface {
	// Pings the VM.
	Ping() (bool, error)
	// Network information about this instance of the VM
	Network() (uint32, ids.ID, ids.ID, error)

	// Returns the VM genesis.
	Genesis() (*chain.Genesis, error)
	// Accepted fetches the ID of the last accepted block.
	Accepted() (ids.ID, error)

	// Returns if a space is already claimed
	Claimed(space string) (bool, error)
	// Returns the corresponding space information.
	Info(space string) (*chain.SpaceInfo, []*chain.KeyValueMeta, error)
	// Balance returns the balance of an account
	Balance(addr common.Address) (bal uint64, err error)
	// Resolve returns the value associated with a path
	Resolve(path string) (exists bool, value []byte, valueMeta *chain.ValueMeta, err error)

	// Requests the suggested price and cost from VM.
	SuggestedRawFee() (uint64, uint64, error)
	// Issues the transaction and returns the transaction ID.
	IssueRawTx(d []byte) (ids.ID, error)

	// Requests the suggested price and cost from VM, returns the input as
	// TypedData.
	SuggestedFee(i *chain.Input) (*tdata.TypedData, uint64, error)
	// Issues a human-readable transaction and returns the transaction ID.
	IssueTx(td *tdata.TypedData, sig []byte) (ids.ID, error)

	// Checks the status of the transaction, and returns "true" if confirmed.
	HasTx(id ids.ID) (bool, error)
	// Polls the transactions until its status is confirmed.
	PollTx(ctx context.Context, txID ids.ID) (confirmed bool, err error)

	// Recent actions on the network (sorted from recent to oldest)
	RecentActivity() ([]*chain.Activity, error)
	// All spaces owned by a given address
	Owned(owner common.Address) ([]string, error)
}

Public Endpoints (/public)

spacesvm.ping

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.ping",
  "params":{},
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"success":<bool>}

spacesvm.network

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.network",
  "params":{},
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"networkId":<uint32>, "subnetId":<ID>, "chainId":<ID>}

spacesvm.genesis

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.genesis",
  "params":{},
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"genesis":<genesis file>}

spacesvm.suggestedFee

Provide your intent and get back a transaction to sign.

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.suggestedFee",
  "params":{
    "input":<chain.Input (tx abstractor)>
  },
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"typedData":<EIP-712 compliant typed data for signing>,
>>> "totalCost":<uint64>}

{
  "type":<string>,
  "space":<string>,
  "key":<string>,
  "value":<base64 encoded>,
  "to":<hex encoded>,
  "units":<uint64>
}

claim    {type,space}
lifeline {type,space,units}
set      {type,space,key,value}
delete   {type,space,key}
move     {type,space,to}
transfer {type,to,units}

spacesvm.issueTx

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.issueTx",
  "params":{
    "typedData":<EIP-712 compliant typed data>,
    "signature":<hex-encoded sig>
  },
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"txId":<ID>}

1) spacesvm.claimed {"space":"patrick"} => Yes/No
2) spacesvm.suggestedFee {"input":{"type":"claim", "space":"patrick"}} => {"typedData":<EIP-712 Typed Data>, "cost":<total fee>}
3) sign EIP-712 Typed Data
4) spacesvm.issueTx {"typedData":<from spacesvm.suggestedFee>, "signature":<sig from step 3>} => {"txId":<ID>}
5) [loop] spacesvm.hasTx {"txId":<ID>} => {"accepted":true"}

spacesvm.hasTx

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.hasTx",
  "params":{
    "txId":<transaction ID>
  },
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"accepted":<bool>}

spacesvm.lastAccepted

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.lastAccepted",
  "params":{},
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"height":<uint64>, "blockId":<ID>}

spacesvm.claimed

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.claimed",
  "params":{
    "space":<string>
  },
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"claimed":<bool>}

spacesvm.info

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.info",
  "params":{
    "space":<string>
  },
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"info":<chain.SpaceInfo>, "values":[<chain.KeyValueMeta>]}

{
  "owner":<hex encoded>,
  "created":<unix>,
  "updated":<unix>,
  "expiry":<unix>,
  "units":<uint64>,
  "rawSpace":<ShortID>
}

{
  "key":<string>,
  "valueMeta":{
    "created":<unix>,
    "updated":<unix>,
    "txId":<ID>, // where value was last set
    "size":<uint64>
  }
}

spacesvm.resolve

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.resolve",
  "params":{
    "path":<string | ex:jim/twitter>
  },
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"exists":<bool>, "value":<base64 encoded>, "valueMeta":<chain.ValueMeta>}

spacesvm.balance

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.balance",
  "params":{
    "address":<hex encoded>
  },
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"balance":<uint64>}

spacesvm.recentActivity

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.recentActivity",
  "params":{},
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"activity":[<chain.Activity>,...]}

{
  "timestamp":<unix>,
  "sender":<address>,
  "txId":<ID>,
  "type":<string>,
  "space":<string>,
  "key":<string>,
  "to":<hex encoded>,
  "units":<uint64>
}

claim    {timestamp,sender,txId,type,space}
lifeline {timestamp,sender,txId,type,space,units}
set      {timestamp,sender,txId,type,space,key,value}
delete   {timestamp,sender,txId,type,space,key}
move     {timestamp,sender,txId,type,space,to}
transfer {timestamp,sender,txId,type,to,units}
reward   {timestamp,txId,type,to,units}

spacesvm.owned

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.owned",
  "params":{
    "address":<hex encoded>
  },
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"spaces":[<string>]}

Advanced Public Endpoints (/public)

spacesvm.suggestedRawFee

Can use this to get the current fee rate.

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.suggestedRawFee",
  "params":{},
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"price":<uint64>,"cost":<uint64>}

spacesvm.issueRawTx

<<< POST
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "spacesvm.issueRawTx",
  "params":{
    "tx":<raw tx bytes>
  },
  "id": 1
}
>>> {"txId":<ID>}

Running the VM

To build the VM (and spaces-cli), run ./scripts/build.sh.

Joining the Spaces Demo

If you'd like to validate the [Spaces Subnet Demo] on Fuji, please follow the following steps:

You can find the genesis used for the Spaces Demo in networks/42/*.

Download and Build SpacesVM

git clone https://github.com/ava-labs/spacesvm.git;
cd spacesvm;
./scripts/build.sh

Running the above commands will generate a binary and save it at ~/spacesvm/build/sqja3uK17MJxfC7AN8nGadBw9JK5BcrsNwNynsqP5Gih8M5Bm.

Move Binary

Once the SpacesVM binary is built, you'll need to move it to MetalGo's plugin directory (within the --build-dir) so it can be run by your node. When building from source, this defaults to ~/metalgo/build/plugins. This build directory is structured as:

build-dir
|_metalgo_
    |_plugins
      |_evm

To put the SpacesVM binary in the right place, run the following command (assuming the metalgo and spacesvm repos are in the same folder):

mv ./spacesvm/build/sqja3uK17MJxfC7AN8nGadBw9JK5BcrsNwNynsqP5Gih8M5Bm ./metalgo/build/plugins;

Add Subnet to Whitelist

Next, you'll need to provide the whitelisted-subnets argument by modifying your config file or providing an argument on startup (which tells your node to connect to the Spaces Subnet Demo). Ai42MkKqk8yjXFCpoHXw7rdTWSHiKEMqh5h8gbxwjgkCUfkrk is the subnet id for Spaces Subnet.

Example Config File:

{
  "network-id":"fuji",
  "health-check-frequency":"2s",
  "log-display-level":"INFO",
  "log-level":"INFO",
  "whitelisted-subnets":"Ai42MkKqk8yjXFCpoHXw7rdTWSHiKEMqh5h8gbxwjgkCUfkrk"
}

Example Node Args:

--whitelisted-subnets=Ai42MkKqk8yjXFCpoHXw7rdTWSHiKEMqh5h8gbxwjgkCUfkrk --network-id=fuji

Restart Node

Once you've performed the following steps, you'll need to restart your MetalGo node for the changes to take effect.

If you completed the steps successfully, you'll see the node print out:

INFO [01-25|16:47:04] chains/manager.go#246: creating chain:
    ID: 2AM3vsuLoJdGBGqX2ibE8RGEq4Lg7g4bot6BT1Z7B9dH5corUD
    VMID:sqja3uK17MJxfC7AN8nGadBw9JK5BcrsNwNynsqP5Gih8M5Bm
INFO [01-25|16:47:04] api/server/server.go#203: adding route /ext/bc/2JVSBoinj9C2J33VntvzYtVJNZdN2NKiwwKjcumHUWEb5DbBrm/events
INFO [01-25|16:47:04] api/server/server.go#203: adding route /ext/bc/2JVSBoinj9C2J33VntvzYtVJNZdN2NKiwwKjcumHUWEb5DbBrm
INFO [01-25|16:47:04] api/server/server.go#203: adding route /ext/bc/2JVSBoinj9C2J33VntvzYtVJNZdN2NKiwwKjcumHUWEb5DbBrm/wallet
INFO [01-25|16:47:04] <2AM3vsuLoJdGBGqX2ibE8RGEq4Lg7g4bot6BT1Z7B9dH5corUD Chain> snow/engine/snowman/transitive.go#67: initializing consensus engine
INFO [01-25|16:47:04] <2AM3vsuLoJdGBGqX2ibE8RGEq4Lg7g4bot6BT1Z7B9dH5corUD Chain> snow/engine/snowman/bootstrap/bootstrapper.go#225: Starting bootstrap...
INFO [01-25|16:47:04] <P Chain> snow/engine/snowman/bootstrap/bootstrapper.go#458: waiting for the remaining chains in this subnet to finish syncing
INFO [01-25|16:47:04] api/server/server.go#203: adding route /ext/bc/2AM3vsuLoJdGBGqX2ibE8RGEq4Lg7g4bot6BT1Z7B9dH5corUD/public
INFO [01-25|16:47:04] <2AM3vsuLoJdGBGqX2ibE8RGEq4Lg7g4bot6BT1Z7B9dH5corUD Chain> snow/engine/common/bootstrapper.go#235: Bootstrapping started syncing with 2 vertices in the accepted frontier
INFO [01-25|16:47:05] <2AM3vsuLoJdGBGqX2ibE8RGEq4Lg7g4bot6BT1Z7B9dH5corUD Chain> snow/engine/snowman/bootstrap/bootstrapper.go#419: bootstrapping fetched 69 blocks. Executing state transitions...
INFO [01-25|16:47:06] <2AM3vsuLoJdGBGqX2ibE8RGEq4Lg7g4bot6BT1Z7B9dH5corUD Chain> snow/engine/common/queue/jobs.go#181: executed 69 operations
INFO [01-25|16:47:06] <2AM3vsuLoJdGBGqX2ibE8RGEq4Lg7g4bot6BT1Z7B9dH5corUD Chain> snow/engine/snowman/transitive.go#354: bootstrapping finished with 2DUxceCx71L5TLTeLpKUQxSBVm8vTKPmFs2usAyRnusUzs4Q4M as the last accepted block

If you didn't put the SpacesVM binary in the right place, you'll see something like:

INFO [01-26|05:54:19] chains/manager.go#246: creating chain:
    ID: 2AM3vsuLoJdGBGqX2ibE8RGEq4Lg7g4bot6BT1Z7B9dH5corUD
    VMID:sqja3uK17MJxfC7AN8nGadBw9JK5BcrsNwNynsqP5Gih8M5Bm
ERROR[01-26|05:54:19] chains/manager.go#270: error creating chain 2AM3vsuLoJdGBGqX2ibE8RGEq4Lg7g4bot6BT1Z7B9dH5corUD: error while looking up VM: there is no ID with alias sqja3uK17MJxfC7AN8nGadBw9JK5BcrsNwNynsqP5Gih8M5Bm

Become a Fuji Validator

Once your node is up and running with the SpacesVM, you'll need to [become a Fuji Validator]. This is the exact same flow as Mainnet except you only need to stake 1 AVAX instead of 2000 AVAX.

Recall, only validators on the Primary Network (in this case Fuji) can become validators of subnets.

Submit a Validator Request

Once you've completed the above steps and your node is fully bootstrapped, submit a [Spaces Demo Validator Request] to be considered as a validator (everyone will be approved).

The Spaces Subnet Demo is a Permissioned Subnet and requires explicit approval from the creator to validate. In the near future, it will be possible to create permissionless subnets that anyone can join.

If you have any questions, reach out to @_patrickogrady on Twitter!

Running a local network

scripts/run.sh automatically installs [metalgo], sets up a local network, and creates a spacesvm genesis file. To build and run E2E tests, you need to set the variable E2E before it: E2E=true ./scripts/run.sh 1.7.11

See tests/e2e to see how it's set up and how its client requests are made.

# to startup a local cluster (good for development)
cd ${HOME}/go/src/github.com/ava-labs/spacesvm
./scripts/run.sh 1.7.11

# to run full e2e tests and shut down cluster afterwards
cd ${HOME}/go/src/github.com/ava-labs/spacesvm
E2E=true ./scripts/run.sh 1.7.11

# inspect cluster endpoints when ready
cat /tmp/metalgo-v1.7.11/output.yaml
<<COMMENT
endpoint: /ext/bc/2VCAhX6vE3UnXC6s1CBPE6jJ4c4cHWMfPgCptuWS59pQ9vbeLM
logsDir: ...
pid: 12811
uris:
- http://localhost:56239
- http://localhost:56251
- http://localhost:56253
- http://localhost:56255
- http://localhost:56257
COMMENT

# ping the local cluster
curl --location --request POST 'http://localhost:61858/ext/bc/BJfusM2TpHCEfmt5i7qeE1MwVCbw5jU1TcZNz8MYUwG1PGYRL/public' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "spacesvm.ping",
    "params":{},
    "id": 1
}'
<<COMMENT
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","result":{"success":true},"id":1}
COMMENT

# resolve a path
curl --location --request POST 'http://localhost:61858/ext/bc/BJfusM2TpHCEfmt5i7qeE1MwVCbw5jU1TcZNz8MYUwG1PGYRL/public' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "spacesvm.resolve",
    "params":{
      "path": "coolperson/twitter"
    },
    "id": 1
}'
<<COMMENT
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","result":{"exists":true, "value":"....", "valueMeta":{....}},"id":1}
COMMENT

# to terminate the cluster
kill 12811