atProtocol

The wire protocol over TCP/IP and TLS

Specification

The atSDK abstracts away the need to understand or even know about the underlying atProtocol, so for most this section can be ignored. But if you want to know what is happening on the wire or you want to decode the protocol exchanges with something like WireShark this is the place for you.

Note everything is TLS encrypted but you can ask the atSDK to dump the TLS keys and then Wireshark can decode the packets to this level. Even then the data itself is encrypted with keys that only the owner of the atSign's communicating have.

The White paper

For background on the atProtocol this whitepaper was the original design spec and has been updated overtime.

atDirectory

The atDirectory provides a lookup of where an atServer for an atsign is running. This is similar to a DNS server.

When asking an atDirectory for the lookup of a particular atSign the atDirectory should respond with a null if the name does not exist and if the name exists the DNS name or address of the atServer and the IP port number for that atSign should be returned.

Response:

<host>:<port>

The atDirectory only has one verb - @exit and all other inputs are considered to be lookup requests.

atServer

An atServer is where an atSign user's personal data should be stored. One interacts with an atServer using the verbs exposed by the protocol.

An atServer should have 4 major sub components:

Key Store
Commit Log
Access Log
Notification Log

Verbs described in the document should be used to create, update, delete, and retrieve information from the above sub components.

1. Key Store

Key store is a place where user data in an atServer should be saved as key and value pairs. Apart from the value, an atSign user should be able to add certain metadata for a key.

Key

A key in the atProtocol can be formed by using any alphanumeric and special characters (UTF-8) excluding "@", ":" and a white space (" "). A key in an atServer can be any of the following 5 types:

Public Key
- A public key is a key which can be looked up by any atSign owner.
- A public key should be part of the scan verb result.
- Format of the public key should be public::<@sign>.
Example:
public:location@alice
The owner of the atServer should be allowed to update or delete the value of a public key.
Private Key
- A private key is a key which cannot be looked up any atSign user other than the one created it.
- A private key should not be returned in a scan verb result.
- Format of the private key should be privatekey::<@sign>.
Example:
privatekey:pk1@alice
The owner of the atServer should be allowed to update or delete the value of a private key.
User key
- A user key can only be looked up by an atSign owner with whom the data has been shared.
- A user key should be part of the scan verb result only for the user who created it and the specific user it has been shared with.
- Format of the key shared with someone else should be <Shared with @sign>::<Created by @sign>
Example:
@bob:phone@alice
Note: Above Key should be part of scan verb result for only @alice and @bob The owner of the atServer should be allowed to update or delete the value of a user key.
Internal Key
- Internal keys start with an underscore(_) and are not displayed in scan results. Internal keys can be looked up only by the owner of the atServer.
Cached Key
- A cached key is a key that was originally created by another atSign user but is now cached on the atServer of another user's atSign as he/she was given permission to cache it.
- A cached key should be listed in the scan verb result for the atSign user who cached it.
- Format of the key shared with someone else should be cached:<Shared with @sign>::<Created by @sign>
Example:
cached:@bob:phone@alice
The user who has cached the key should not be allowed to update the cached key. An atSign owner who has created and shared the key should be allowed to update a cached key, and if the "autoNotify" config parameters is set to true, the updated value should be notified (please refer to the notify verb) and the cached key updated with the new value. If the user who originally shared the keys set the CCD (Cascade delete) to true, the cached key will be deleted when the original key is deleted.

Value

Text or binary values can be saved in an atServer. The size of the value saved in an atServer is bound by the config parameter "maxBufferSize".

A user should be made aware of this limitation by using the stats verb. If a binary value is being saved on an atServer, the "isBinary" attribute on the metadata should be set to true by the convention.

Reference Value
An atServer should support referencing another key's value.
A reference value should be in the format "atsign://".
For example, 'phone@bob(key)' is 1234 (value). Now another key called altPhone@bob can refer to phone@bob by referencing it as altPhone@bob = atsign://phone@bob.
When the user does a lookup on the key that contains a reference, the atServer should return a fully resolved value.
Metadata
Metadata of a key should describe the following properties of the value being inserted.

Meta Attribute

Auto create?

Description

createdOn

Yes

Date and time when the key has been created.

createdBy

Yes

atSign that has created the key

updatedOn

Yes

Date and time when the key has been last updated.

sharedWith

atSign of the user with whom the key has been shared. Can be null if not shared with anyone.

ttl

Time to live in milliseconds.

expiresOn

Yes

A Date and Time derived from the ttl (now + ttl). A Key should be auto deleted once it expires.

ttb

Time to birth in milliseconds.

availableFrom

Yes

A Date and Time derived from the ttb (now + ttb). A Key should be only available after availableFrom.

isCached

True if the key can be cached by another atSign user.

ttr

Time in milliseconds after which the cached key needs to be refreshed. Ttr of -1 indicates that the key can be cached forever.

refreshAt

A Date and Time derived from the ttr. The time at which the key gets refreshed.

ccd

Indicates if a cached key needs to be deleted when the atSign user who has originally shared it deletes it.

isBinary

True if the value is a binary value.

isEncrypted

True if the value is encrypted

2. Commit Log

An atServer should record any create, update and delete operations in a commit log. The Commit Log should record these operations with a unique commit id so that users of the atServer can lookup operations that happened on or after a given commit id.

An atServer should provide a way to compact the Commit Log based on time and size.

3. Access Log

An atServer should record the following user actions: user login, user authentication, and lookup. The Access Log should record these operations so that users of the atServer can retrieve various statistics such as the most visited atSign or most visited keys.

An atServer should provide a way to compact the Access Log based on time and size.

4. Notification Log

An atServer should record any notifications that have been received and sent. Please check the notify verb specification for details on how a notification should be sent.

An atServer should provide a way to compact the Notification Log based on time and size.

Standard Keys

An atServer should have the following standard keys:

Key

Description

public:publickey@

Public key used by other atSigns for encryption.

public:signing_publickey@

Public key used on a pol handler to verify a signed challenge

@signing_privatekey@

Private key used to sign a challenge on a pol request

:shared_key@

Symmetric key used to encrypt/decrypt self atSign data

Configuration Parameters

An atServer should honor the following configuration parameters.

Key

Valid Values

Description

autoNotify

true/false

If set to true, an atServer should automatically notify another atSign user when a key has been shared with them. Please refer to the notify verb spec for details.

bufferLimit

Number of bytes

Maximum size of a value for a key that can be transferred to an atServer

inbound_max_limit

An Integer

Maximum number of inbound connections that an atServer can accept

outbound_max_limit

An Integer

Maximum number of outbound connections that an atServer can make to another atServer

inbound_idle_time_millis

Time in milliseconds

Maximum time the inbound connection can be active

outbound_idle_time_millis

Time in milliseconds

Maximum time the outbound connection can be active.

Block List

A user of the atServer should be able to decide who is allowed to connect to an atServer. The config verb should be used to configure this. Once added, an atServer should honor the list at the time of accepting new connections from an atSign owner using the from verb.

Verbs

The `from` verb

Synopsis:

The from verb is used to tell an atServer whom you claim to be.

Syntax:

Following regex represents the syntax of the from verb:

r'^from:(?<@sign>@?[^@\s]+$)'

Example:

from:alice

Response:

If the user who is trying to connect is the owner of the atServer, then the from verb should respond with the following response.

data:<sessionId@atSign:uuid>

e.g:

data:_4af24c03-d732-48f8-a9a2-570e8fb6a01c@alice:d6cac849-9c29-42b0-b0c5-493db62728b9

If the user who is trying to connect is not the owner of the atServer, then the from verb should respond with the following response.

proof:<sessionid>@<@sign>:<UUID>

If the user is not allowed to connect to the atServer, then it should respond back with the following error and close the connection to the server.

error:AT0013-Connection Exception

Description:

The from verb is used to tell the atServer what atSign you claim to be. With the from verb, one can connect to one's own atServer or someone else's atServer. In both cases, the atServer responds back with a challenge to prove that you are who you claim to be. This is part of the authentication mechanism of the atProtocol.

This authentication mechanism varies based on whether you are connecting to your own atServer (cram) or someone else's atServer (pol).

Options:

Option Required Description

Option	Required	Description
`<@sign>`	Yes	The atSign you are claiming to be

<@sign>

Yes

The atSign you are claiming to be

Required: Yes

Description: atSign with which you are connecting to an atServer.

The `cram` verb

Synopsis:

The cram verb is used to boostrap authenticate one's own self as an owner of an atServer. It is intended to be used once until a set of PKI keys are cut on the owner's mobile device and from then on we use the pkam verb.

Syntax:

The following regex represents the syntax of the cram verb:

r'^cram:(?<digest>.+$)'

Example:

cram:<digest>

Response:

If the user gets the challenge right, the prompt should change to the atSign of the user.

<@sign>@

If the user gets the cram authentication wrong, then it should respond back with the following error and close the connection to the server.

error:AT0401-Client authentication failed

Description:

The cram verb follows the from verb. As an owner of the atServer, you should be able to take the challenge thrown by the from verb and encrypt using the shared key that the server has been bound with. Upon receiving the cram verb along with the digest, the server decrypts the digest using the shared key and matches it with the challenge. If they are the same, then the atServer lets you connect to the atServer and changes the prompt to your atSign.

Options:

Option Required Description

Option	Required	Description
`<digest>`	Yes	encrypted challenge

<digest>

Yes

encrypted challenge

The `pkam` verb

Synopsis:

The pkam verb is used to authenticate one's own self as an owner of an atServer using a PKI style authentication.

Syntax:

Following regex represents the syntax of the pkam verb:

^pkam:(?<signature>.+$)

Response:

If the user gets the challenge right, the prompt should change to the atSign of the user.

<@sign>@

If the user gets the pkam authentication wrong then it should respond back with the following error and close the connection to the server.

error:AT0401-Client authentication failed

Description:

The pkam verb follows the from verb. As an owner of the atServer, you should be able to take the challenge thrown by the from verb and encrypt using the private key of the RSA key pair with what the server has been bound with. Upon receiving the cram verb along with the digest, the server decrypts the digest using the public key and matches it with the challenge. If they are the same then the atServer lets you connect to the atServer and changes the prompt to your atSign.

Options:

Option Required Description

Option	Required	Description
`<digest>`	Yes	encrypted challenge

<digest>

Yes

encrypted challenge

The `pol` verb

Synopsis:

The pol verb is part of the pkam process to authenticate oneself while connecting to someone else's atServer. The term 'pol' means 'proof of life' as it provides a near realtime assurance that the requestor is who it claims to be.

Syntax:

Following regex represents the syntax of the pol verb:

r'^pol$'

Response:

If the user gets the challenge right the prompt should change to the atSign of the user.

<@sign>@

If the user gets the cram authentication wrong then it should respond back with the following error and close the connection to the server.

error:AT0401-Client authentication failed

Description:

The pol verb follows the from verb. 'pol' indicates another atServer that the user who is trying to connect is ready to authenticate themself. For example, if @bob is trying to connect to @alice, @bob would take the key and value from the proof response of the verb and create a public key and value which then can be looked up by @alice. After @alice looks up @bob's atServer @alice's atServer should change the prompt to @bob.

Options:

The `scan` verb

Synopsis:

The scan verb is used to see the keys in an atSign's secondary server.

Syntax:

Following regex represents the syntax of the scan verb:

r'^scan$|scan(:showhidden:(?<showhidden>true|false))?(:(?<forAtSign>@[^:@\s]+))?( (?<regex>\S+))?$'

Response:

data:[<keys>]

Description:

The atServer should return the keys within the atServer if the scan verb executed succesfully.

The atServer will respond accordingly to whether the atSign is authenticated or not.

Options:

Option Required Description

Option	Required	Description
`<showhidden`>	No	If true, will show hidden internal keys
`<forAtSign>`	No	Filter keys that are created by the atSign

<showhidden>

If true, will show hidden internal keys

<forAtSign>

Filter keys that are created by the atSign

The `update` verb

Synopsis:

The update verb is used to insert key/value pairs into a Key Store. An update can only be run by the owner of an atServer on his/her own atServer.

Syntax:

Following regex represents the syntax of the update verb:

r'^update:(?:ttl:(?<ttl>\d+):)?(?:ttb:(?<ttb>\d+):)?(?:ttr:(?<ttr>(-?)\d+):)?(ccd:(?<ccd>true|false):)?((?:public:)|(@(?<for@sign>[^@:\s]-):))?(?<atKey>[^:@]((?!:{2})[^@])+)(?:@(?<@sign>[^@\s]-))? (?<value>.+$)'

Example:

Put a key/value pair into the atServer with key location@bob and value bob's location value. This operation will create a new key if it does not already exist. If it already exists, it will overwrite the existing value.

update:location@bob bob's location value

Put a key/value pair into the atServer with key location@bob and value bob's location value but key expires in 10 minutes. The time to live of this key is 10 minutes.

update:ttl:600000:location@bob bob's location value but key expires in 10 minutes

Put a shared key/value pair into the atServer with key @alice:phone@bob (shared with @alice and shared by @bob) with value bob's phone number shared to @alice.

update:@alice:phone@bob bob's phone number shared to @alice

Response:

The atServer should return the commit id from Commit Log if the update is successful.

data:<CommitId>

If the user provides the invalid update command, then it should respond with the following error and close the connection to the server.

error:AT0003-Invalid Syntax

Description:

The update verb should be used to perform create/update operations on the atServer. The update verb requires the owner of the atServer to authenticate themself to the atServer using from and cram verbs.

If a key has been created for another atSign user, the atServer should honor "autoNotify" configuration parameter.

Options:

Option Required Description

Option	Required	Description
`<ttl>`	No	Time to live in milliseconds
`<ttb>`	No	Time to birth in milliseconds
`<ttr>`	No	Time to refresh in milliseconds. ttr > -1 is a valid value which indicates that the user with whom the key has been shared can keep it forever and the value for this key won't change forever.
`<ccd>`	No	A value of "true" indicates that the cached key needs to be deleted when the atSign user who has originally shared it deletes it.
`<for@sign>`	Yes (Not required when the key is a public key or a self key)	atSign of the user with whom the key has been shared
`<@sign>`	Yes	atSign of the owner of the key
`<value>`	Yes	Value for the key

<ttl>

Time to live in milliseconds

<ttb>

Time to birth in milliseconds

<ttr>

Time to refresh in milliseconds. ttr > -1 is a valid value which indicates that the user with whom the key has been shared can keep it forever and the value for this key won't change forever.

<ccd>

A value of "true" indicates that the cached key needs to be deleted when the atSign user who has originally shared it deletes it.

<for@sign>

Yes (Not required when the key is a public key or a self key)

atSign of the user with whom the key has been shared

<@sign>

Yes

atSign of the owner of the key

<value>

Yes

Value for the key

The `update:meta` verb

Synopsis:

The update:meta verb should be used to update the metadata of a key atSign user without having to send or save the value again.

Syntax:

Following is the regex for the update:meta verb

^update:meta:((?:public:)|((?<forAtSign>@?[^@\s]-):))?(?<atKey>((?!:{2})[^@])+)@(?<atSign>[^@:\s]-)(:ttl:(?<ttl>\d+))?(:ttb:(?<ttb>\d+))?(:ttr:(?<ttr>\d+))?(:ccd:(?<ccd>true|false))?(:isBinary:(?<isBinary>true|false))?(:isEncrypted:(?<isEncrypted>true|false))?$

Example:

Update the metadata of key phone@bob setting isBinary:true while keeping all other metadata as it is.

update:meta:phone@bob:isBinary:true

Update the metadata of the shared key @alicephone@bob (shared with @alice & shared by @bob) setting ttl:600000, setting isBinary:true and isEncrypted:true while keeping all other metadata as it is.

update:meta:@alice:phone@bob:ttl:600000:isBinary:true:isEncrypted:true

Response:

The atServer should return the commit id from Commit Log if the update is successful.

data:<CommitId>

If the user provides the invalid update meta command, then it should respond with the following error and close the connection to the server

error:AT0003-Invalid Syntax

Description:

The update:meta verb should be used to perform create/update operations on the atServer. The update:meta verb requires the owner of the atServer to authenticate themself to the atServer using from and cram verbs.

The atServer should allow creation of keys with null values. If a key has been created for another atSign user, the atServer should honor "autoNotify" configuration parameter.

OPTIONS:

Option Required Description

Option	Required	Description
`<ttl>`	No	Time to live in milliseconds
`<ttb>`	No	Time to birth in milliseconds
`<ttr>`	No	Time to refresh in milliseconds
`<ccd>`	No	A value of "true" indicates that the cached key needs to be deleted when the atSign user who has originally shared it deletes it.
`<for@sign>`	Yes (Not required when the key is a public key)	atSign of the user with whom the key has been shared
`<@sign>`	Yes	atSign of the owner

<ttl>

Time to live in milliseconds

<ttb>

Time to birth in milliseconds

<ttr>

Time to refresh in milliseconds

<ccd>

A value of "true" indicates that the cached key needs to be deleted when the atSign user who has originally shared it deletes it.

<for@sign>

Yes (Not required when the key is a public key)

atSign of the user with whom the key has been shared

<@sign>

Yes

atSign of the owner

The `lookup` verb

Synopsis:

The lookup verb should be used to lookup the value shared by another atSign user.

Syntax:

The following is the regex of the lookup verb:

lookup:((?<operation>meta|all):)?(?<atKey>(?:[^:]).+)@(?<@sign>[^@\s]+)$

Example:

Look up the value of the key @<you>:phone@alice (the key is created and shared by @alice and lives on their atServer where the key is intentionally shared with you).

lookup:phone@alice

Look up the metadata of the key @<you>:phone@alice (key shared by @alice and shared with you).

lookup:meta:phone@alice

Look up both the value and the metadata of the key @<you>:phone@alice (key shared by @alice and shared with you).

lookup:all:phone@alice

Response:

data: 
{
    "createdBy":"@bob",
    "updatedBy":"@bob",
    "createdAt":"2020-10-21 09:46:48.982Z",
    "updatedAt":"2020-10-21 09:46:48.982Z",
    "availableAt":"null",
    "expiresAt":"null",
    "refreshAt":"2020-10-21 09:46:58.982Z",
    "status":"active",
    "version":0,
    "ttl":null,
    "ttb":null,
    "ttr":10000,
    "ccd":false,
    "isBinary":false,
    "isEncrypted":false
 }

If the operation is to lookup the metadata and the data together then the result should be wrapped in a JSON in the following format:

data:<Value and Metadata in a JSON>

data:
{
    "key":"@alice:country@bob",
    "data":"USA",
    "metaData":
    {
        "createdBy":"@bob",
        "updatedBy":"@bob",
        "createdAt":"2020-10-21 09:46:48.982Z",
        "updatedAt":"2020-10-21 09:46:48.982Z",
        "availableAt":"null",
        "expiresAt":"null",
        "refreshAt":"2020-10-21 09:46:58.982Z",
        "status":"active",
        "version":0,
        "ttl":null,
        "ttb":null,
        "ttr":10000,
        "ccd":false,
        "isBinary":false,
        "isEncrypted":false
    }
}

If the other atServer on which the lookup needs to be performed is down then the atServer should return the following error and keep the connection alive.

error:AT0007-atServer not found.

If the lookup command is not valid, then the atServer should return the following error and close the connection:

error:AT0003-Invalid Syntax

For whatever reasons, If the handshake with another atServer fails, then the atServer should return the following error:

data:AT0008-Handshake failure

If the operation is not specified the atServer should just respond back with the value saved by the user as is.

data:<value>

If the operation is to lookup the metadata only then the result should be wrapped in a JSON in the following format:

data:<Metadata in a JSON>

Description:

The lookup verb should be used to fetch the value of the key shared by another atSign user. If there is a public and user key with the same name then the result should be based on whether the user is trying to lookup is authenticated or not. If the user is authenticated then the user key has to be returned, otherwise the public key has to be returned.

Options:

Option Required Description

Option	Required	Description
`<operation>`	No	`meta` - returns the metadata of the AtKey, `all` - returns both the data and the metadata of the AtKey
`<atKey>`	Yes	the key to be looked up
`<@sign>`	Yes	the atSign owner of the key

<operation>

meta - returns the metadata of the AtKey, all - returns both the data and the metadata of the AtKey

<atKey>

Yes

the key to be looked up

<@sign>

Yes

the atSign owner of the key

The `plookup` verb

Synopsis:

The plookup verb enables to lookup the value of the public key shared by another atSign user.

Syntax:

Following is the regex of the plookup verb:

^plookup:((?<operation>meta|all):)?(?<atKey>[^@\s]+)@(?<@sign>[^@\s]+)$

Example:

Look up the value of the key public:publickey@alice (the key is created and shared by @alice and lives on their atServer where the key is public).

plookup:publickey@alice

Look up the metadata of the public key

plookup:meta:publickey@alice

Look up both the value and the metadata of the public key

plookup:all:publickey@alice

Look up the value and metadata of the public key while bypassing the cache (i.e. the value will be fetched directly from the atServer instead of first checking for a cached key on your secondary).

plookup:bypassCache:true:all:publickey@alice

Response:

The atServer should return the value or metadata or the value and metadata together based on the option specified.

The response structure should be exactly the same as the lookup verb.

If the other atServer on which the lookup needs to be performed is not available, then the atServer should return the following error and keep the connection alive.

error:AT0007- Secondary Server not found.

If the lookup command is not valid, then the atServer should return the following error and close the connection:

error:AT0003-Invalid Syntax

Description:

The plookup verb should be used to fetch the value of the public key shared by another atSign user.

Options:

Option Required Description

Option	Required	Description
`<operation>`	No	`meta` - returns the metadata of the AtKey, `all` - returns both the data and the metadata of the AtKey
`<atKey>`	Yes	the key to be looked up
`<@sign>`	Yes	the atSign owner of the key

<operation>

meta - returns the metadata of the AtKey, all - returns both the data and the metadata of the AtKey

<atKey>

Yes

the key to be looked up

<@sign>

Yes

the atSign owner of the key

The `llookup` verb

Synopsis:

The llookup verb should be used to look up one's own atServer and this should return the value as is (i.e. without any resolution).

Syntax:

The Following is the regex of the llookup verb:

^llookup:((?<operation>meta|all):)?(?:cached:)?((?:public:)|(@(?<for@sign>[^@:\s]-):))?(?<atKey>[^:]((?!:{2})[^@])+)@(?<@sign>[^@\s]+)$

Example:

Lookup the value of a public key that lives on your atServer

llookup:public:publickey@<you>

Lookup both the value and the metadata of a self key that lives on your atServer

llookup:all:phone@<you>

Lookup both the value and the metadata of a shared key (that is shared with @alice and created by @<you>)

llookup:all:@alice:phone@<you>

Response:

The atServer should return the value or metadata or the value and metadata together based on the option specified.

The response structure should be exactly the same as the lookup verb.

If the other atServer on which the lookup needs to be performed is down then the atServer should return the following error and keep the connection alive.

error:AT0007- Secondary Server not found.

If the lookup command is not valid, then the atServer should return the following error and close the connection:

error:AT0003-Invalid Syntax

Description::

The llookup verb should be used to fetch the value of the key in the owners atServer store as is without resolving it. For example if a key contains a reference as a value, the lookup verb should resolve it to a value whereas llookup should return the value as is.

Options:

Option Required Description

Option	Required	Description
`<operation>`	No	`meta` - returns the metadata of the AtKey, `all` - returns both the data and the metadata of the AtKey
`<atKey>`	Yes	the key to be looked up
`<@sign>`	Yes	the atSign owner of the key

<operation>

meta - returns the metadata of the AtKey, all - returns both the data and the metadata of the AtKey

<atKey>

Yes

the key to be looked up

<@sign>

Yes

the atSign owner of the key

The `delete` verb

Synopsis:

The delete verb should be used to delete an atKey in the atServer. Only authenticated atSigns can use the delete verb.

Syntax:

The following is the regex of the delete verb:

^delete(:priority:(?<priority>low|medium|high))?(:cached)?(:((?<publicScope>public)|(@(?<forAtSign>[^:@\s]+))))?:(?<atKey>(([^:@\s]+)|(privatekey:at_secret)))(@(?<atSign>[^:@\s]+))?$'

Example:

delete:@alice:test.namespace@bob

Deletes an atKey named "@alice:test.namespace@bob" from the atServer.

Response:

The atServer should return the commit id.

data:<commitId>

Description:

The delete verb only can be used for AtKeys you own. Deleting a cached key will not delete the original copy of the AtKey. Deleting an AtKey that does not exist will still respond with a commit id.

Options:

Option Required Description

Option	Required	Description
`:cached:`	No	Include `:cached:` if the key you are deleting is cached in your atServer
`:public:`	No	Include `:public:` if the key you are deleting is a public key
`<for@sign>`	No	The key's sharedWith atSign
`<atKey>`	Yes	Key name of the AtKey
`<@sign>`	Yes	The key's sharedBy atSign

:cached:

Include :cached: if the key you are deleting is cached in your atServer

:public:

Include :public: if the key you are deleting is a public key

<for@sign>

The key's sharedWith atSign

<atKey>

Yes

Key name of the AtKey

<@sign>

Yes

The key's sharedBy atSign

The `stats` verb

Synopsis:

The stats verb should be used to get the statistics of an atSign.

Syntax:

Following is the regex of the stats verb

stats(?<statId>:((?!0)\d+)?(,(\d+))-)?

Example:

stats

Response:

If the user gives stats all the statistics will be returned as JSON. Following statistics are provided:

activeInboundConnections
activeOutboundConnections
lastCommitId
secondaryStorageSize
topAtSigns
topKeys

Example:

data: [{"id":"1","name":"activeInboundConnections","value":"1"}, {"id":"2","name":"activeOutboundConnections","value":"0"}, {"id":"3","name":"lastCommitID","value":"1"}, {"id":"4","name":"secondaryStorageSize","value":12560}, {"id":"5","name":"topAtSigns","value":{"@bob":1}}, {"id":"6","name":"topKeys","value":{"publickey@alice":1}}]

Individual statistics can be retrieved using the respective Id.

@alice@stats:1
data: [{"id":"1","name":"activeInboundConnections","value":"1"}]

The `sync` verb

Synopsis:

The sync verb enables to synchronize the keys between the local atServer and remote atServer.

Syntax:

Following is the regex:

sync:(?<from_commit_seq>[0-9]+$|-1)

Response:

The sync verb returns a json array of the commit entries from the given commit id to the current commit id. Further, The sync verb accepts -1 as argument which returns all the commit entries.

data:[{"atKey":"@bob:phone@alice","operation":"+","opTime":"2020-10-26 11:57:43.732","commitId":0,"value":"12345","metadata":{"ttr":"36000000","ccd":"false"}},
{"atKey":"@bob:shared_key@alice","operation":"-","opTime":"2020-10-26 09:44:54.382219Z","commitId":1}]

The `notify` verb

Synopsis:

The notify verb enables us to notify the atSign user of some data event.

Syntax:

The Following is the regex for the notify verb

notify:((?<operation>update|delete):)?(ttl:(?<ttl>\d+):)?(ttb:(?<ttb>\d+):)?(ttr:(?<ttr>(-)?\d+):)?(ccd:(?<ccd>true|false):)?(@(?<forAtSign>[^@:\s]-)):(?<atKey>[^:]((?!:{2})[^@])+)@(?<atSign>[^@:\s]+)(:(?<value>.+))?

Example:

notify:update:ttr:-1:@{RECIPIENT}:{KEY}.{NAMESPACE}@{SENDER}:{BASE64ENCODED_CYPHERTEXT}

Example:

Notify @alice that you have a shared key @alice:test@<you> with an updated value waiting for them to lookup.

notify:update:@alice:test@<you>

Notify @alice that you have a shared key @alice:test@<you> that was deleted.

notify:delete:@alice:test@<you>

Notify @alice with a message my sample message to bob.

notify:messageType:text:@<you>:my sample message to bob

Response:

When a key is notified successfully, returns data:{ID} e.g.

data:fccf2ddc-9316-4302-a11b-3dd214857431

Description:

When an atSign owner notifies the key to another atSign owner, an entry has to be created in received notifications list on the user who has shared the key and an entry has to be created in sent notifications list on the user to whom the key is to be notified. When auto notify is set to true, when a key is created/updated and deleted notification is triggered to another atSign user.

The `notify:list` verb

Synopsis:

Notify list returns a list of notifications.

Syntax:

Following is the regex

notify:(list (?<regex>.-)|list$)

Example:

notify:list

Response:

If the user is the owner, returns a list of received notifications. If a user is pol authenticated user, returns a list of sent notifications

data:[{"id":"0e5e9e89-c9cb-423b-8972-8c5487215990","from":"@alice","to":"@bob","key":"@bob:phone@alice","value":12345,"operation":"update","epochMillis":1603714122636}]

The `notify:remove` verb

Synopsis:

Notify remove removes a notification from the notification log.

Syntax:

Following is the regex

notify:(remove:(?<notificationId>[^:]+$))

Example:

Remove a notification that you received that has id 0e5e9e89-c9cb-423b-8972-8c5487215990.

notify:remove:0e5e9e89-c9cb-423b-8972-8c5487215990

Response:

If successful, returns

data:success

Description:

Deletes a notification from the notificaiton log. Note that this is different from notify:delete, which sends a notification relating to the deletion of a key.

Options:

Option Required Description

Option	Required	Description
`<notificationId>`	Yes	The id of the notification

<notificationId>

Yes

The id of the notification

The `monitor` Verb

Synopsis:

The monitor verb streams received notifications.

Syntax:

Following is the regex

^monitor$|^monitor ?(?<regex>.-)?)$

Example:

monitor

monitor @bob

Response:

Returns a stream of notifications.

@alice@monitor
notification: {"id":"773e226d-dac2-4269-b1ee-64d7ce93a42f","from":"@bob","to":"@alice","key":"@alice:phone@bob","value":null,"operation":"update","epochMillis":1603714720965}

Description:

The monitor verb accepts an optional parameter to filter the notifications by passing filter criteria as regex to monitor verb.

Options:

Option Required Description

Option	Required	Description
`<regex>`	No	The regex to filter the notificaitons during the monitor session

<regex>

The regex to filter the notificaitons during the monitor session

Beta verbs

The `info` Verb

Synopsis:

The info verb provides runtime information about the atServer.

Regex: ^info(:brief)?$

Examples:

info

data:{"version":"3.0.28","uptimeAsWords":"1 hours 35 minutes 29 seconds","features":[{"name":"noop:","status":"Beta","description":"The No-Op verb simply does nothing for the requested number of milliseconds. The requested number of milliseconds may not be greater than 5000. Upon completion, the noop verb sends 'ok' as a response to the client.","syntax":"^noop:(?<delayMillis>\\d+)$"},{"name":"info:","status":"Beta","description":"The Info verb returns some information about the server including uptime and some info about available features. ","syntax":"^info(:brief)?$"}]}

info:brief

data:{"version":"3.0.28","uptimeAsMillis":5855295}

The `noop` Verb

Synopsis:

The noop verb does nothing for up to 5 seconds before returning a data:ok response.

Regex: ^noop:(?<delayMillis>\\d+)$

Examples:

noop:123

After 123ms:

data:ok

noop:5001

error:AT0022-Exception: noop:<durationInMillis> where the duration maximum is 5000 milliseconds

Error Codes

Error Code

Error Message

Description

AT0001

Server exception

Exception occurs when there is an issue while starting the server.

AT0002

DataStore exception

Exception occurs during keystore operations (GET/PUT/DELETE).

AT0003

Invalid syntax

Exception occurs if we give any invalid command to the server.

AT0004

Socket error

Exception occurs when socket connection to secondary cannot be established.

AT0005

Buffer limit exceeded

This exception occurs when input/output message size reaches the maximum limit configured in the server.

AT0006

Outbound connection limit exceeded

Exception occurs when the number of open connections to other atServers reaches the maximum limit configured.

AT0007

atServer not found

Exception occurs when an atServer tries to connect to another atServer which is not available in the atDirectory or not yet instantiated.

AT0008

Handshake failure

This exception is for any exception during the handshake process of two atServers.

AT0009

UnAuthorized client in the request

UnAuthorized Exception will occur when an unsuccessful handshake happens between two atServers.

AT0010

Internal server error

This is for any server related errors.

AT0011

Internal server exception

This exception is used for any server related exceptions.

AT0012

Inbound connection limit exceeded

This exception will occur when the number of active clients reaches the maximum limit configured.

AT0401

Client authentication failed

This exception occurs when client authentication fails or client tries to execute any verb which needs authentication before successful authentication.

AT0013

Connection Exception

This will occur when a blocked user tries to connect to the atServer.

AT0014

Unknown AtClient exception

This exception will be thrown while performing any operations(Get/update/delete) using AtClient SDK.

AT0015

Key not found

This exception will be thrown when the key is not available for encryption/decryption.

AT0021

Unable to connect to atServer

This exception will occur when we are unable to connect to an atServer.

AT0022

noop: where the duration maximum is 5000 milliseconds

A noop command has been issued with a duration outside of 0-5000ms

Glossary

atProtocol (Pronounced, at protocol) atSign (Pronounced, at sign) atSign is a unique name that a user gets when enrolled with atsign.com atDirectory atServer Verb Public Key Private Key Shared Secret Default Keys Key Value Metadata Commit Log Access Log

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Last updated 2 months ago

Specification

The White paper

atDirectory

atServer

1. Key Store

Key

Value

2. Commit Log

3. Access Log

4. Notification Log

Standard Keys

Configuration Parameters

Block List

Verbs

The from verb

The cram verb

The pkam verb

The pol verb

The scan verb

The update verb

The update:meta verb

The lookup verb

The plookup verb

The llookup verb

The delete verb

The stats verb

The sync verb

The notify verb

The notify:list verb

The notify:remove verb

The monitor Verb

Beta verbs

The info Verb

The noop Verb

Error Codes

The `from` verb

The `cram` verb

The `pkam` verb

The `pol` verb

The `scan` verb

The `update` verb

The `update:meta` verb

The `lookup` verb

The `plookup` verb

The `llookup` verb

The `delete` verb

The `stats` verb

The `sync` verb

The `notify` verb

The `notify:list` verb

The `notify:remove` verb

The `monitor` Verb

The `info` Verb

The `noop` Verb