Creating an application in Go

Guide Assumptions

This guide is designed for beginners who want to get started with a Tendermint Core application from scratch. It does not assume that you have any prior experience with Tendermint Core.

Tendermint Core is Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) middleware that takes a state transition machine - written in any programming language - and securely replicates it on many machines.

Although Tendermint Core is written in the Golang programming language, prior knowledge of it is not required for this guide. You can learn it as we go due to it's simplicity. However, you may want to go through Learn X in Y minutes Where X=Go (opens new window) first to familiarize yourself with the syntax.

By following along with this guide, you'll create a Tendermint Core project called kvstore, a (very) simple distributed BFT key-value store.

Built-in app vs external app

To get maximum performance it is better to run your application alongside Tendermint Core. Cosmos SDK (opens new window) is written this way. Please refer to Writing a built-in Tendermint Core application in Go guide for details.

Having a separate application might give you better security guarantees as two processes would be communicating via established binary protocol. Tendermint Core will not have access to application's state.

1.1 Installing Go

Please refer to the official guide for installing Go (opens new window).

Verify that you have the latest version of Go installed:

Copy $ go version go version go1.15.x darwin/amd64

Make sure you have $GOPATH environment variable set:

Copy echo $GOPATH /Users/melekes/go

1.2 Creating a new Go project

We'll start by creating a new Go project.

Copy mkdir kvstore cd kvstore

Inside the example directory create a main.go file with the following content:

Copy package main import ( "fmt" ) func main() { fmt.Println("Hello, Tendermint Core") }

When run, this should print "Hello, Tendermint Core" to the standard output.

Copy go run main.go Hello, Tendermint Core

1.3 Writing a Tendermint Core application

Tendermint Core communicates with the application through the Application BlockChain Interface (ABCI). All message types are defined in the protobuf file (opens new window). This allows Tendermint Core to run applications written in any programming language.

Create a file called app.go with the following content:

Copy package main import ( abcitypes "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/abci/types" ) type KVStoreApplication struct {} var _ abcitypes.Application = (*KVStoreApplication)(nil) func NewKVStoreApplication() *KVStoreApplication { return &KVStoreApplication{} } func (KVStoreApplication) Info(req abcitypes.RequestInfo) abcitypes.ResponseInfo { return abcitypes.ResponseInfo{} } func (KVStoreApplication) SetOption(req abcitypes.RequestSetOption) abcitypes.ResponseSetOption { return abcitypes.ResponseSetOption{} } func (KVStoreApplication) DeliverTx(req abcitypes.RequestDeliverTx) abcitypes.ResponseDeliverTx { return abcitypes.ResponseDeliverTx{Code: 0} } func (KVStoreApplication) CheckTx(req abcitypes.RequestCheckTx) abcitypes.ResponseCheckTx { return abcitypes.ResponseCheckTx{Code: 0} } func (KVStoreApplication) Commit() abcitypes.ResponseCommit { return abcitypes.ResponseCommit{} } func (KVStoreApplication) Query(req abcitypes.RequestQuery) abcitypes.ResponseQuery { return abcitypes.ResponseQuery{Code: 0} } func (KVStoreApplication) InitChain(req abcitypes.RequestInitChain) abcitypes.ResponseInitChain { return abcitypes.ResponseInitChain{} } func (KVStoreApplication) BeginBlock(req abcitypes.RequestBeginBlock) abcitypes.ResponseBeginBlock { return abcitypes.ResponseBeginBlock{} } func (KVStoreApplication) EndBlock(req abcitypes.RequestEndBlock) abcitypes.ResponseEndBlock { return abcitypes.ResponseEndBlock{} } func (KVStoreApplication) ListSnapshots(abcitypes.RequestListSnapshots) abcitypes.ResponseListSnapshots { return abcitypes.ResponseListSnapshots{} } func (KVStoreApplication) OfferSnapshot(abcitypes.RequestOfferSnapshot) abcitypes.ResponseOfferSnapshot { return abcitypes.ResponseOfferSnapshot{} } func (KVStoreApplication) LoadSnapshotChunk(abcitypes.RequestLoadSnapshotChunk) abcitypes.ResponseLoadSnapshotChunk { return abcitypes.ResponseLoadSnapshotChunk{} } func (KVStoreApplication) ApplySnapshotChunk(abcitypes.RequestApplySnapshotChunk) abcitypes.ResponseApplySnapshotChunk { return abcitypes.ResponseApplySnapshotChunk{} }

Now I will go through each method explaining when it's called and adding required business logic.

1.3.1 CheckTx

When a new transaction is added to the Tendermint Core, it will ask the application to check it (validate the format, signatures, etc.).

Copy import "bytes" func (app *KVStoreApplication) isValid(tx []byte) (code uint32) { // check format parts := bytes.Split(tx, []byte("=")) if len(parts) != 2 { return 1 } key, value := parts[0], parts[1] // check if the same key=value already exists err := app.db.View(func(txn *badger.Txn) error { item, err := txn.Get(key) if err != nil && err != badger.ErrKeyNotFound { return err } if err == nil { return item.Value(func(val []byte) error { if bytes.Equal(val, value) { code = 2 } return nil }) } return nil }) if err != nil { panic(err) } return code } func (app *KVStoreApplication) CheckTx(req abcitypes.RequestCheckTx) abcitypes.ResponseCheckTx { code := app.isValid(req.Tx) return abcitypes.ResponseCheckTx{Code: code, GasWanted: 1} }

Don't worry if this does not compile yet.

If the transaction does not have a form of {bytes}={bytes}, we return 1 code. When the same key=value already exist (same key and value), we return 2 code. For others, we return a zero code indicating that they are valid.

Note that anything with non-zero code will be considered invalid (-1, 100, etc.) by Tendermint Core.

Valid transactions will eventually be committed given they are not too big and have enough gas. To learn more about gas, check out "the specification" (opens new window).

For the underlying key-value store we'll use badger (opens new window), which is an embeddable, persistent and fast key-value (KV) database.

Copy import "github.com/dgraph-io/badger" type KVStoreApplication struct { db *badger.DB currentBatch *badger.Txn } func NewKVStoreApplication(db *badger.DB) *KVStoreApplication { return &KVStoreApplication{ db: db, } }

1.3.2 BeginBlock -> DeliverTx -> EndBlock -> Commit

When Tendermint Core has decided on the block, it's transferred to the application in 3 parts: BeginBlock, one DeliverTx per transaction and EndBlock in the end. DeliverTx are being transferred asynchronously, but the responses are expected to come in order.

Copy func (app *KVStoreApplication) BeginBlock(req abcitypes.RequestBeginBlock) abcitypes.ResponseBeginBlock { app.currentBatch = app.db.NewTransaction(true) return abcitypes.ResponseBeginBlock{} }

Here we create a batch, which will store block's transactions.

Copy func (app *KVStoreApplication) DeliverTx(req abcitypes.RequestDeliverTx) abcitypes.ResponseDeliverTx { code := app.isValid(req.Tx) if code != 0 { return abcitypes.ResponseDeliverTx{Code: code} } parts := bytes.Split(req.Tx, []byte("=")) key, value := parts[0], parts[1] err := app.currentBatch.Set(key, value) if err != nil { panic(err) } return abcitypes.ResponseDeliverTx{Code: 0} }

If the transaction is badly formatted or the same key=value already exist, we again return the non-zero code. Otherwise, we add it to the current batch.

In the current design, a block can include incorrect transactions (those who passed CheckTx, but failed DeliverTx or transactions included by the proposer directly). This is done for performance reasons.

Note we can't commit transactions inside the DeliverTx because in such case Query, which may be called in parallel, will return inconsistent data (i.e. it will report that some value already exist even when the actual block was not yet committed).

Commit instructs the application to persist the new state.

Copy func (app *KVStoreApplication) Commit() abcitypes.ResponseCommit { app.currentBatch.Commit() return abcitypes.ResponseCommit{Data: []byte{}} }

1.3.3 Query

Now, when the client wants to know whenever a particular key/value exist, it will call Tendermint Core RPC /abci_query endpoint, which in turn will call the application's Query method.

Applications are free to provide their own APIs. But by using Tendermint Core as a proxy, clients (including light client package (opens new window)) can leverage the unified API across different applications. Plus they won't have to call the otherwise separate Tendermint Core API for additional proofs.

Note we don't include a proof here.

Copy func (app *KVStoreApplication) Query(reqQuery abcitypes.RequestQuery) (resQuery abcitypes.ResponseQuery) { resQuery.Key = reqQuery.Data err := app.db.View(func(txn *badger.Txn) error { item, err := txn.Get(reqQuery.Data) if err != nil && err != badger.ErrKeyNotFound { return err } if err == badger.ErrKeyNotFound { resQuery.Log = "does not exist" } else { return item.Value(func(val []byte) error { resQuery.Log = "exists" resQuery.Value = val return nil }) } return nil }) if err != nil { panic(err) } return }

The complete specification can be found here (opens new window).

1.4 Starting an application and a Tendermint Core instances

Put the following code into the "main.go" file:

Copy package main import ( "flag" "fmt" "os" "os/signal" "syscall" "github.com/dgraph-io/badger" abciserver "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/abci/server" "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/log" ) var socketAddr string func init() { flag.StringVar(&socketAddr, "socket-addr", "unix://example.sock", "Unix domain socket address") } func main() { db, err := badger.Open(badger.DefaultOptions("/tmp/badger")) if err != nil { fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "failed to open badger db: %v", err) os.Exit(1) } defer db.Close() app := NewKVStoreApplication(db) flag.Parse() logger := log.NewTMLogger(log.NewSyncWriter(os.Stdout)) server := abciserver.NewSocketServer(socketAddr, app) server.SetLogger(logger) if err := server.Start(); err != nil { fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "error starting socket server: %v", err) os.Exit(1) } defer server.Stop() c := make(chan os.Signal, 1) signal.Notify(c, os.Interrupt, syscall.SIGTERM) <-c os.Exit(0) }

This is a huge blob of code, so let's break it down into pieces.

First, we initialize the Badger database and create an app instance:

Copy db, err := badger.Open(badger.DefaultOptions("/tmp/badger")) if err != nil { fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "failed to open badger db: %v", err) os.Exit(1) } defer db.Close() app := NewKVStoreApplication(db)

For Windows users, restarting this app will make badger throw an error as it requires value log to be truncated. For more information on this, visit here (opens new window). This can be avoided by setting the truncate option to true, like this:

Copy db, err := badger.Open(badger.DefaultOptions("/tmp/badger").WithTruncate(true))

Then we start the ABCI server and add some signal handling to gracefully stop it upon receiving SIGTERM or Ctrl-C. Tendermint Core will act as a client, which connects to our server and send us transactions and other messages.

Copy server := abciserver.NewSocketServer(socketAddr, app) server.SetLogger(logger) if err := server.Start(); err != nil { fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "error starting socket server: %v", err) os.Exit(1) } defer server.Stop() c := make(chan os.Signal, 1) signal.Notify(c, os.Interrupt, syscall.SIGTERM) <-c os.Exit(0)

1.5 Getting Up and Running

We are going to use Go modules (opens new window) for dependency management.

Copy go mod init github.com/me/example go get github.com/tendermint/tendermint/@v0.34.0

After running the above commands you will see two generated files, go.mod and go.sum. The go.mod file should look similar to:

Copy module github.com/me/example go 1.15 require ( github.com/dgraph-io/badger v1.6.2 github.com/tendermint/tendermint v0.34.0 )

Finally, we will build our binary:

Copy go build

To create a default configuration, nodeKey and private validator files, let's execute tendermint init. But before we do that, we will need to install Tendermint Core. Please refer to the official guide (opens new window). If you're installing from source, don't forget to checkout the latest release (git checkout vX.Y.Z).

Copy rm -rf /tmp/example TMHOME="/tmp/example" tendermint init I[2019-07-16|18:20:36.480] Generated private validator module=main keyFile=/tmp/example/config/priv_validator_key.json stateFile=/tmp/example2/data/priv_validator_state.json I[2019-07-16|18:20:36.481] Generated node key module=main path=/tmp/example/config/node_key.json I[2019-07-16|18:20:36.482] Generated genesis file module=main path=/tmp/example/config/genesis.json

Feel free to explore the generated files, which can be found at /tmp/example/config directory. Documentation on the config can be found here (opens new window).

We are ready to start our application:

Copy rm example.sock ./example badger 2019/07/16 18:25:11 INFO: All 0 tables opened in 0s badger 2019/07/16 18:25:11 INFO: Replaying file id: 0 at offset: 0 badger 2019/07/16 18:25:11 INFO: Replay took: 300.4s I[2019-07-16|18:25:11.523] Starting ABCIServer impl=ABCIServ

Then we need to start Tendermint Core and point it to our application. Staying within the application directory execute:

Copy TMHOME="/tmp/example" tendermint node --proxy_app=unix://example.sock I[2019-07-16|18:26:20.362] Version info module=main software=0.32.1 block=10 p2p=7 I[2019-07-16|18:26:20.383] Starting Node module=main impl=Node E[2019-07-16|18:26:20.392] Couldn't connect to any seeds module=p2p I[2019-07-16|18:26:20.394] Started node module=main nodeInfo="{ProtocolVersion:{P2P:7 Block:10 App:0} ID_:8dab80770ae8e295d4ce905d86af78c4ff634b79 ListenAddr:tcp://0.0.0.0:26656 Network:test-chain-nIO96P Version:0.32.1 Channels:4020212223303800 Moniker:app48.fun-box.ru Other:{TxIndex:on RPCAddress:tcp://127.0.0.1:26657}}" I[2019-07-16|18:26:21.440] Executed block module=state height=1 validTxs=0 invalidTxs=0 I[2019-07-16|18:26:21.446] Committed state module=state height=1 txs=0 appHash=

This should start the full node and connect to our ABCI application.

Copy I[2019-07-16|18:25:11.525] Waiting for new connection... I[2019-07-16|18:26:20.329] Accepted a new connection I[2019-07-16|18:26:20.329] Waiting for new connection... I[2019-07-16|18:26:20.330] Accepted a new connection I[2019-07-16|18:26:20.330] Waiting for new connection... I[2019-07-16|18:26:20.330] Accepted a new connection

Now open another tab in your terminal and try sending a transaction:

Copy curl -s 'localhost:26657/broadcast_tx_commit?tx="tendermint=rocks"' { "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": "", "result": { "check_tx": { "gasWanted": "1" }, "deliver_tx": {}, "hash": "CDD3C6DFA0A08CAEDF546F9938A2EEC232209C24AA0E4201194E0AFB78A2C2BB", "height": "33" }

Response should contain the height where this transaction was committed.

Now let's check if the given key now exists and its value:

Copy curl -s 'localhost:26657/abci_query?data="tendermint"' { "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": "", "result": { "response": { "log": "exists", "key": "dGVuZGVybWludA==", "value": "cm9ja3My" } } }

"dGVuZGVybWludA==" and "cm9ja3M=" are the base64-encoding of the ASCII of "tendermint" and "rocks" accordingly.

Outro

I hope everything went smoothly and your first, but hopefully not the last, Tendermint Core application is up and running. If not, please open an issue on Github (opens new window). To dig deeper, read the docs (opens new window).