Getting started with the @platform

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Documentation

As the heart of the @platform, we developed the @protocol in Dart, a powerful language that can be used to develop mobile apps with Flutter, Google’s increasingly popular UI software framework. If you are new to Flutter or Dart, no problem! Many of our first developers knew nothing about these languages coming in. For guidance on Flutter installation and development, please visit flutter.dev. Regardless of your coding knowledge, we recommend that you begin with “Getting Started.”

Getting Started

We’re excited to help you get your very own @platform environment up and running! As a prerequisite, you will need Flutter/Dart installed on your machine. If you haven’t already, please follow the “Getting started” steps on flutter.dev before you proceed.

Important note: Flutter works best with Android Studio, but you can also use Intellij or Visual Studio Code as your IDE.

Step 1: Welcome to the @protocol

Our Co-Founder and CTO, Colin Constable, has a message for you!

Welcome to the @protocol

Step 2: Set up your virtual environment


Install Docker & docker-compose

Docker Engine overview | Docker Documentation

Configure Network Adapter

Note: Please ensure that you have Docker up and running before you proceed.


Open the Terminal window and enter this command. This permanently puts the Virtual IP address in place. You only need to run this once! 

            
              curl -L atsign.dev/curl/rc.local -o setvip.sh
              sudo ip addr add 10.64.64.64/32 dev lo
              sudo nano /etc/rc.local

If the file “/etc/rc.local” is empty, then add the contents of the file “setvip.sh” to /etc/rc.local”. If rc.local already has content, then add the line “ip addr add 10.64.64.64/32 dev lo” above any lines that say “exit 0”. This will ensure that the virtual IP is in place even after a reboot. Ensure the permissions are correct with the following command. 

            
              sudo chmod 744 /etc/rc.local

Start up the Virtual Environment

Make a new directory called “ve” and run the curl command inside of it: 

            
              cd ~ 
              mkdir ve
              cd ve
              curl -L atsign.dev/curl/virtualenv-compose-vip.yaml -o docker-compose.yaml

Now you are ready to spin up the docker containers:

            
              docker-compose up -d

Okay, you're up. Now you can check the http://localhost:9001/.

And if you want to upgrade the images, simply: 

            
              docker-compose down
              docker-compose pull
              docker-compose up -d

Update Windows 10

Use Windows Update to make sure you are on the latest version of Windows 10.

Ensure you BIOS is enabled for virtualization, Google to see how to do this for your PC hardware

Install Docker Desktop

Docker Desktop for Mac and Windows | Docker

Loopback adapter


Note: Please ensure that you have Docker up and running before you proceed.


Install the Microsoft loopback adapter and configure it. The video showing how to do that is here:

Loopback driver install Windows 10

Start up the at_virtual_enviroment

Run cmd and enter the following commands. You can run cmd by using the windows key and the r key then typing cmd. 
            
            mkdir ve
            cd ve
            curl -L atsign.dev/curl/virtualenv-compose-vip.yaml -o docker-compose.yaml

Now you are ready to spin up the docker containers:

            
              docker-compose up -d

Okay, you're up. Now you can check the http://localhost:9001/.

And if you want to upgrade the images, simply: 

            
          docker-compose down
          docker-compose pull
          docker-compose up -d

Install Docker Desktop

Docker Desktop for Mac and Windows | Docker

Configure Network Adapter

Note: Please ensure that you have Docker up and running before you proceed.


Open the Terminal window and enter this command. This permanently puts the Virtual IP address in place. You only need to run this once! 

            
              sudo curl -L atsign.dev/curl/atloop.plist -o /Library/LaunchDaemons/atloop.plist && \

Once you enter the above command, an arrow “>” should show up to enter the next line:

            
              sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/atloop.plist

The command line may ask you to enter your password. Go ahead and fill it in if this happens.

Start up the Virtual Environment

Make a new directory called “ve” and run the curl command inside of it:

            
            mkdir ve
            cd ve
            curl -L atsign.dev/curl/virtualenv-compose-vip.yaml -o docker-compose.yaml

Now you are ready to spin up the docker containers:

            
              docker-compose up -d

Okay, you're up. Now you can check the http://localhost:9001/.

And if you want to upgrade the images, simply: 

            
          docker-compose down
          docker-compose pull
          docker-compose up -d

Step 3: Start programming!

Congratulations! You’ve set up your virtual environment and can now experiment with the hello_world app. Now you can start building your very own privacy-conscious apps.

When writing code, the only change needed to run in the virtual environment is changing the ROOT_DOMAIN to point to vip.ve.atsign.zone. The production value is root.atsign.org.

Have a play with the Hello World sample application

Clone the at_hello_world repository

To get a feel for what an @platform app looks and runs like, clone the at_hello_world repository to your machine. This repo, which contains both a complete and incomplete version of the at_hello_world app, includes some of the most common @protocol verbs and methods such as get, getKeys, and put. Learning these verbs will solidify your understanding of how to begin developing your own application. For instructions on how to run the Hello_World application, please watch the video below:

Running the at_hello_world application

We’d love to support you as you embark on your app development journey. To connect with other likeminded developers, feel free to join our Discord as well as our @developers Google group. We’ve also compiled various documentation, guides, and samples that you might find helpful.

In the near future you’ll also be able to sign up for our @dev program, which offers certification and commissions for your app. Learn more about our @dev program.

Making your own @platform application

    If you are ready to begin building your own @platform based applications in the virtual environment, simply copy the server_demo_service.dart file as well as the at_conf.dart file from the at_hello_world application. These files provide the necessary helper methods and variables to use the @protocol easily and connect to the local DNS server that the virtual environment provides. In the at_conf.dart file, ensure that the “root” variable is set to vip.ve.atsign.zone and the “namespace” is assigned to a String of your choice. If you want, you can watch the video below to follow along.

    Creating your own @platform project

Using the VE (same for all systems)

You can now use a browser to see the state of the system.

This URL will open a dashboard of all the services running on your local virtual environment:

http://localhost:9001

Should look like this:

Responsive image


This shows the full @platform stack running in a single container. You can also look at the log files of each container and restart anything if you want to. The redisload runs after 10 seconds or so and populates the redis database so you don’t have to.

As you might have seen in the video, we’ve made it easy to identify @platform-related bugs by providing an interface to check on the status of your servers.

For details on your testable @signs, check out: http://localhost:9001/

If anything breaks, you can always hit the Restart all button in the web page or just kill and restart the Docker containers with docker-compose down.

Advanced options

If you are unsure about the instructions below, then you might want to stick with the emulated devices on your machine, as these settings can be tricky.

If you would like to test apps on physical devices and point them to your VE, it is possible to do that with a couple of configuration changes. The VE also includes a DNS masquerading server which can serve DNS and point the DNS address vip.ve.atsign.zone to the hosting PC/MAC/Linux machine. First you need to enable the DNS Masq service in the docker-compose.yaml by uncommenting the needed lines and re running docker-compose up. Then, you need to find the IP address of your machine. This can be achieved with ifconfig/ipconfig or the ip command on linux. Once you know the IP address of your machine, you can configure the DNS masq with that IP address as shown below.

Responsive image


For details on your local DNS Masq server, check out: http://localhost:5380/

Once you have that configured, hit the save button and you can configure your mobile device to “point” to the DNS server running on your host. On Android that is configured in the WiFi settings and on IOS in settings under “configure DNS”.

Test Data

List of Testable @signs:

  • @alice🛠
  • @ashish🛠
  • @barbara🛠
  • @bob🛠
  • @colin🛠
  • @egbiometric🛠
  • @egcovidlab🛠
  • @egcreditbureau🛠
  • @eggovagency🛠
  • @emoji🦄🛠
  • @eve🛠
  • @jagan🛠
  • @kevin🛠
  • @murali🛠
  • @naresh🛠
  • @purnima🛠
  • @sameeraja🛠
  • @sitaram🛠

Additional Notes:

    The at_hello_world app will only work within the virtual environment! That means that you can’t use any @sign beyond the ones we’ve provided. You might be wondering, “What if I want to use my own @sign to authenticate?” Check out the atsign_authentication_helper directory in the at_widget repository (currently on the dev_env branch) to learn more! As an easter egg, there is a version of the hello_world app that uses the QR code reader in the qr_code branch of the at_demos repository.