keep-core

README

= keep-core

https://circleci.com/gh/keep-network/keep-core[image:https://circleci.com/gh/keep-network/keep-core.svg?style=svg&circle-token=ec728f5ca814b6cb2db5ffeb7258151b752a207e[CircleCI Build Status]]
https://discord.gg/wYezN7v[image:https://img.shields.io/badge/chat-Discord-blueViolet.svg[Chat with us on Discord]]

The core contracts and reference client implementation behind the Keep network,
a privacy, interoperability, and censorship-resistance toolkit for developers
on Ethereum.

== What's a keep?

The network offers application developers **keeps**, small off-chain data
containers for private storage and computation that can be opened, closed, and
managed by smart contracts autonomously.

Keeps are maintained by stakers, actors who run nodes and have skin in the
game, and collect fees for operating the network. When a new keep is opened,
the requisite number of stakers are chosen via a
link:https://blog.keep.network/whats-in-a-beacon-12c34b0bc078[BLS-based random beacon]
to maintain the keep, using a process called
link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortition[sortition].

The first type of keep launching with the network is the `BondedECDSAKeep`,
allowing smart contracts to generate private keys and sign messages without
endangering key material. ECDSA keeps mean decentralized signing, cross-chain
applications, and new tools for custodial applications — from Solidity. This
capability is used heavily by https://tbtc.network/[tBTC].

To learn more about ECDSA keeps, check out
https://github.com/keep-network/keep-ecdsa[keep-ecdsa].

== Getting Started

A good place to start is the link:docs/[the docs directory].

=== Running a Node

To run your own node in the Keep network, follow the
link:docs/keep-client-quickstart.adoc[`keep-client` quickstart]. Feedback on
this process and the documentation
https://github.com/keep-network/keep-core/issues[is appreciated!]

=== dApp Developers

dApp developers will be most interested in the smart contracts exposing Keep's
on-chain facilities.

The core contracts can be found in the link:solidity/[`solidity/`] directory.
They can be used to request
link:solidity/contracts/IRandomBeacon.sol[miner-resistant random numbers], as
well as creating and managing keeps. To generate new ECDSA key material and
request signatures, the contracts can be found in
link:https://github.com/keep-network/keep-ecdsa/blob/master/solidity/contracts/api/IBondedECDSAKeep.sol[`keep-ecdsa`].

=== Client Developers

Client developers will be most interested in the link:./main.go[reference Keep
Go client] and link:./CONTRIBUTING.adoc[CONTRIBUTORS file], as well as the
link:docs/rfc/[RFCs] and repo directory structure 👇

==== Directory structure

The directory structure used in this repository is very similar to that used in
other Go projects:

```
keep-core/
  Dockerfile
  main.go, *.go
  docs/
  solidity/ <1>
  cmd/ <2>
  pkg/ <3>
    net/
      net.go, *.go <4>
      libp2p/
    chain/
      chain.go, *.go <4>
      ethereum/
        gen/
          gen.go <5>
    relay/
      relay.go, *.go
```
<1> While the Keep network only uses Solidity at the moment, the directory
    structure allows for other contract languages.
<2> Keep client subcommands are implemented here, though they should be minimal and
    deal solely with user interaction. The meat of the commands should exist in
    a package fit for the appropriate purpose.
<3> All additional packages live in `pkg/`.
<4> The high-level interfaces for a package `mypackage` live in `mypackage.go`.
    `net` and `chain` are interface packages that expose a common interface
    to network and blockchain layers. Their subpackages provide particular
    implementations of these common interfaces. Only `cmd/` and the main
    package should interact with the implementations directly.
<5> When a package requires generated code, it should have a subpackage named
    `gen/`. This subpackage should contain a single file, `gen.go`, with a
    `// go:generate` annotation to trigger appropriate code generation. All code
    generation is done with a single invocation of `go generate` at build time.