webcredits

Webcredits is a library for creating decentralized ledgers and payments on the web.

Installation

npm install -g webcredits

Or install via github clone

Config

While web credits will often work out of the box, in the config directory to change settings. See below.

Pre requisites

Webcredits requires a database. While sqlite can be used via the config, it is recommended to use a mysql database, the defualt user is set to 'me'

Example Setup

credit create  # will create the tables in the DB
credit genesis # will seed the ledger with 1 million bits in the coinbase

After the tables are in place, the genesis process must be carried out. The standard population script will put 1 million bits in the coinbase which can then be distributed in tranches to the seed users or robots.

Interacting with Webcredits -- HTTP

credit server --key <key> --cert <cert>

How do I get the --key and the --cert?

You need an SSL certificate you get this from your domain provider or for free from Let's Encrypt!.

If you don't have one yet, or you just want to test webcredits, generate a certificate:

$ openssl genrsa 2048 > ../localhost.key
$ openssl req -new -x509 -nodes -sha256 -days 3650 -key ../localhost.key -subj '/CN=*.localhost' > ../localhost.cert

Then go to

• https://localhost:11077/

Provides a list of ledgers

• https://localhost:11077/ledger

Shows values in a ledger

• https://localhost:11077/balance

Requires a source variable and gives an individual balance

• https://localhost:11077/reputation

Requires a source variable and gives a reputation score

• https://localhost:11077/today

Requires a source variable and gives the credits for a given day

• https://localhost:11077/tx

Requires a source variable and gives a reputation score for that user

• https://localhost:11077/insert

Inserts via POST, required are source, destination and amount

The source is authenticated via WebID TLS

Interacting with Webcredits -- command line

Alternatively calls can be placed via the library or command line.

Commands

balance <URI>                - shows a balance
create                       - creates a database
genesis                      - seeds a wallet
help                         - shows help message
insert <source> <amount> <unit> <destination>
   [description] [timestamp] - inserts a web credit
reputation <URI>             - gets the reputation
server                       - starts an express server
websocket                    - starts a websocket server

Will conform to the values in lib/dbconfig.js

Configuration

config.dialect  = 'mysql';
config.storage  = 'credit.db';
config.host     = 'localhost';
config.database = 'webcredits';
config.username = 'root';
config.password = '';
config.wallet   = 'https://localhost/wallet/test#this';

dialect is the db type

• mysql
• sqlite
• mssql
• mariadb
• postgres

storage is for sqlite defaults to credit.db

• host is host
• database is database name
• username is username
• password is password
• wallet is the wallet that contains the webcredit ledger, api and details

Are supported

More Detailed Explanation

Webcredits is a transferable points scoring system. It can be used to provide feedback to the user, throttle actions and allow "gamification" of apps. The system is secure and compatible with the work of the W3C payments groups, so that real incentives may be eventually used. The first versions of the system will only use test credits of negligible monetary value. However, the same code can be used for production systems using full payments.

Technical Overview

A wallet consists of a ledger and transactions. Each entry in the ledger is a URI and a positive balance.

<URI> "balance"^^xsd:decimal <currency>

Changes are made to the ledger via webcredits.

<source> <amount> <currency> <destination> [comment] [context] [timestamp]

The genesis state is a starting ledger where one balance, usually the "coinbase" is a non zero account with an emission algorithm. Digital signatures may be included with the webcredits to prove who sent them.

The ledgers and credits can be stored in an LDPC or database. Changes to the ledger are made by adding new transactions, either via HTTP POST or by a direct insert to the database.

Model

Ontology

The main ontology is the webcredits system

• https://w3id.org/cc

Discovery

Wallets can be found either from a WebID or from an application configuration using the wallet predicate.

https://w3id.org/cc#wallet

This allows users to launch a wallet app and see their balance, their transaction history, and to make new payments.

Wallet

The wallet is the main holding structure that points to all the other items. A typical wallet may look as follows:

<#this>
    <http://purl.org/dc/terms/description> "My Wallet" ;
    a <https://w3id.org/cc#Wallet> ;
    <https://w3id.org/cc#api> <http://klaranet/wallet/var/api/v1/> ;
    <https://w3id.org/cc#inbox> <inbox/> ;
    <https://w3id.org/cc#tx> <tx/> .

• The api is where you can make RESTful calls for balances and transactions
• The inbox is where you can POST new credits
• The tx is where processed transactions are (optionally) stored

Databases

For large scale processing a database can be used. Initially supported databases are:

• sqlite
• mySql

Example schemas

CREATE TABLE Credit (
  `@id` TEXT,
  `source` TEXT,
  `amount` REAL,
  `currency` VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT 'https://w3id.org/cc#bit',
  `destination` TEXT,
  `timestamp` TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
  `context` TEXT,
  `description` TEXT,
  `wallet` TEXT
);
 
CREATE TABLE Ledger (
  `source` TEXT,
  `amount` REAL,
  `currency` VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT 'https://w3id.org/cc#bit',
  `wallet` TEXT
);
 
CREATE TABLE Genesis (
  `source` TEXT,
  `amount` REAL,
  `currency` VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT 'https://w3id.org/cc#bit',
  `wallet` TEXT
);
 

The default currency is the 'bit' equal to one millionth of a bitcoin.

Controller

Reading

It is possible to access balances and credits directly from the database.

A RESTful API is also provided for convenience to the database.

Writing

It is possible to write records to the database, tho this is not recommended. Better is to use the javascript API.

JavaScript API

The javascript API provides a function insert.js that will

• insert a credit into the data store
• get a canonical ID for a data structure
• check no balance goes below zero
• alter the ledger of the source and destination

    insert.js <source> <amount> <currency> <destination> [comment] [timestamp] [wallet]

Views

Virtual Wallet

The first client used is an open source client side JS project called virtual wallet:

• https://virtualwallet.org/

API

http://webcredits.github.io/webcredits/doc/global.html

Functions

setupDB(dialect, storage) ⇒ Object

setup database

getConfig() ⇒ Object

gets the current config

createTables(sequelize, callback)

create tables

getCredit(credit, sequelize, config, callback) ⇒ Object

get credit

createDB(config, callback)

createDB function

getBalance(source, sequelize, config, callback)

get balance

genesisInit(config, callback)

genesis initialization

genesis(config, callback)

genesis

balance(source, sequelize, config, callback)

get balance

getReputation(sequelize)

get reputation

today(credit, sequelize, config, callback)

Today's credits

reputation(config)

reputation function

insert(credit, sequelize, config, callback)

Insert into webcredits

setupDB(dialect, storage) ⇒ Object

setup database

Kind: global function
Returns: Object - sequelize db object

Param	Type	Description
dialect	string	type of db mysql
storage	string	file used for sqlite, default ./credit.db

getConfig() ⇒ Object

gets the current config

Kind: global function
Returns: Object - The config

createTables(sequelize, callback)

create tables

Kind: global function

Param	Type	Description
sequelize	Object	db object
callback	Object	callback

getCredit(credit, sequelize, config, callback) ⇒ Object

get credit

Kind: global function
Returns: Object - the web credit if exists

Param	Type	Description
credit	Object	the web credit
sequelize	Object	the DB connection
config	Object	the config
callback	Object	callback

createDB(config, callback)

createDB function

Kind: global function

Param	Type	Description
config	Object	config
callback	Object	callback

getBalance(source, sequelize, config, callback)

get balance

Kind: global function

Param	Type	Description
source	String	the source
sequelize	Object	sequelize object
config	Object	config
callback	function	callback

genesisInit(config, callback)

genesis initialization

Kind: global function

Param	Type	Description
config	Object	config
callback	function	callback

genesis(config, callback)

genesis

Kind: global function

Param	Type	Description
config	Object	config
callback	function	callback

balance(source, sequelize, config, callback)

get balance

Kind: global function

Param	Type	Description
source	String	the source
sequelize	Object	sequelize object
config	Object	config
callback	function	callback

getReputation(sequelize)

get reputation

Kind: global function

Param	Type	Description
sequelize	Object	db object

today(credit, sequelize, config, callback)

Today's credits

Kind: global function

Param	Type	Description
credit	Object	a web credit
sequelize	Object	db connection
config	Object	config
callback	function	callback

reputation(config)

reputation function

Kind: global function

Param	Type	Description
config	Object	[description]

insert(credit, sequelize, config, callback)

Insert into webcredits

Kind: global function

Param	Type	Description
credit	Object	a web credit
sequelize	Object	db connection
config	Object	config
callback	function	callback