# Blockchain Here we describe the data structures in the Tendermint blockchain and the rules for validating them. ## Data Structures The Tendermint blockchains consists of a short list of basic data types: - `Block` - `Header` - `Version` - `BlockID` - `Time` - `Data` (for transactions) - `Commit` and `Vote` - `EvidenceData` and `Evidence` ## Block A block consists of a header, transactions, votes (the commit), and a list of evidence of malfeasance (ie. signing conflicting votes). ```go type Block struct { Header Header Txs Data Evidence EvidenceData LastCommit Commit } ``` Note the `LastCommit` is the set of votes that committed the last block. ## Header A block header contains metadata about the block and about the consensus, as well as commitments to the data in the current block, the previous block, and the results returned by the application: ```go type Header struct { // basic block info Version Version ChainID string Height int64 Time Time NumTxs int64 TotalTxs int64 // prev block info LastBlockID BlockID // hashes of block data LastCommitHash []byte // commit from validators from the last block DataHash []byte // MerkleRoot of transaction hashes // hashes from the app output from the prev block ValidatorsHash []byte // validators for the current block NextValidatorsHash []byte // validators for the next block ConsensusHash []byte // consensus params for current block AppHash []byte // state after txs from the previous block LastResultsHash []byte // root hash of all results from the txs from the previous block // consensus info EvidenceHash []byte // evidence included in the block ProposerAddress []byte // original proposer of the block ``` Further details on each of these fields is described below. ## Version The `Version` contains the protocol version for the blockchain and the application as two `uint64` values: ```go type Version struct { Block uint64 App uint64 } ``` ## BlockID The `BlockID` contains two distinct Merkle roots of the block. The first, used as the block's main hash, is the MerkleRoot of all the fields in the header (ie. `MerkleRoot(header)`. The second, used for secure gossipping of the block during consensus, is the MerkleRoot of the complete serialized block cut into parts (ie. `MerkleRoot(MakeParts(block))`). The `BlockID` includes these two hashes, as well as the number of parts (ie. `len(MakeParts(block))`) ```go type BlockID struct { Hash []byte PartsHeader PartSetHeader } type PartSetHeader struct { Total int32 Hash []byte } ``` See [MerkleRoot](./encoding.md#MerkleRoot) for details. ## Time Tendermint uses the [Google.Protobuf.WellKnownTypes.Timestamp](https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/docs/reference/csharp/class/google/protobuf/well-known-types/timestamp) format, which uses two integers, one for Seconds and for Nanoseconds. ## Data Data is just a wrapper for a list of transactions, where transactions are arbitrary byte arrays: ``` type Data struct { Txs [][]byte } ``` ## Commit Commit is a simple wrapper for a list of votes, with one vote for each validator. It also contains the relevant BlockID: ``` type Commit struct { BlockID BlockID Precommits []Vote } ``` NOTE: this will likely change to reduce the commit size by eliminating redundant information - see [issue #1648](https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/issues/1648). ## Vote A vote is a signed message from a validator for a particular block. The vote includes information about the validator signing it. ```go type Vote struct { Type byte Height int64 Round int BlockID BlockID Timestamp Time ValidatorAddress []byte ValidatorIndex int Signature []byte } ``` There are two types of votes: a _prevote_ has `vote.Type == 1` and a _precommit_ has `vote.Type == 2`. ## Signature Signatures in Tendermint are raw bytes representing the underlying signature. See the [signature spec](./encoding.md#key-types) for more. ## EvidenceData EvidenceData is a simple wrapper for a list of evidence: ```go type EvidenceData struct { Evidence []Evidence } ``` ## Evidence Evidence in Tendermint is implemented as an interface. This means any evidence is encoded using its Amino prefix. There is currently only a single type, the `DuplicateVoteEvidence`. ``` // amino name: "tendermint/DuplicateVoteEvidence" type DuplicateVoteEvidence struct { PubKey PubKey VoteA Vote VoteB Vote } ``` See the [pubkey spec](./encoding.md#key-types) for more. ## Validation Here we describe the validation rules for every element in a block. Blocks which do not satisfy these rules are considered invalid. We abuse notation by using something that looks like Go, supplemented with English. A statement such as `x == y` is an assertion - if it fails, the item is invalid. We refer to certain globally available objects: `block` is the block under consideration, `prevBlock` is the `block` at the previous height, and `state` keeps track of the validator set, the consensus parameters and other results from the application. At the point when `block` is the block under consideration, the current version of the `state` corresponds to the state after executing transactions from the `prevBlock`. Elements of an object are accessed as expected, ie. `block.Header`. See the [definition of `State`](./state.md). ### Header A Header is valid if its corresponding fields are valid. ### Version ``` block.Version.Block == state.Version.Block block.Version.App == state.Version.App ``` The block version must match the state version. ### ChainID ``` len(block.ChainID) < 50 ``` ChainID must be less than 50 bytes. ### Height ```go block.Header.Height > 0 block.Header.Height == prevBlock.Header.Height + 1 ``` The height is an incrementing integer. The first block has `block.Header.Height == 1`. ### Time ``` block.Header.Timestamp >= prevBlock.Header.Timestamp + state.consensusParams.Block.TimeIotaMs block.Header.Timestamp == MedianTime(block.LastCommit, state.LastValidators) ``` The block timestamp must be monotonic. It must equal the weighted median of the timestamps of the valid votes in the block.LastCommit. Note: the timestamp of a vote must be greater by at least one millisecond than that of the block being voted on. The timestamp of the first block must be equal to the genesis time (since there's no votes to compute the median). ``` if block.Header.Height == 1 { block.Header.Timestamp == genesisTime } ``` See the section on [BFT time](../consensus/bft-time.md) for more details. ### NumTxs ```go block.Header.NumTxs == len(block.Txs.Txs) ``` Number of transactions included in the block. ### TotalTxs ```go block.Header.TotalTxs == prevBlock.Header.TotalTxs + block.Header.NumTxs ``` The cumulative sum of all transactions included in this blockchain. The first block has `block.Header.TotalTxs = block.Header.NumberTxs`. ### LastBlockID LastBlockID is the previous block's BlockID: ```go prevBlockParts := MakeParts(prevBlock) block.Header.LastBlockID == BlockID { Hash: MerkleRoot(prevBlock.Header), PartsHeader{ Hash: MerkleRoot(prevBlockParts), Total: len(prevBlockParts), }, } ``` The first block has `block.Header.LastBlockID == BlockID{}`. ### LastCommitHash ```go block.Header.LastCommitHash == MerkleRoot(block.LastCommit.Precommits) ``` MerkleRoot of the votes included in the block. These are the votes that committed the previous block. The first block has `block.Header.LastCommitHash == []byte{}` ### DataHash ```go block.Header.DataHash == MerkleRoot(Hashes(block.Txs.Txs)) ``` MerkleRoot of the hashes of transactions included in the block. Note the transactions are hashed before being included in the Merkle tree, so the leaves of the Merkle tree are the hashes, not the transactions themselves. This is because transaction hashes are regularly used as identifiers for transactions. ### ValidatorsHash ```go block.ValidatorsHash == MerkleRoot(state.Validators) ``` MerkleRoot of the current validator set that is committing the block. This can be used to validate the `LastCommit` included in the next block. Note the validators are sorted by their address before computing the MerkleRoot. ### NextValidatorsHash ```go block.NextValidatorsHash == MerkleRoot(state.NextValidators) ``` MerkleRoot of the next validator set that will be the validator set that commits the next block. This is included so that the current validator set gets a chance to sign the next validator sets Merkle root. Note the validators are sorted by their address before computing the MerkleRoot. ### ConsensusHash ```go block.ConsensusHash == state.ConsensusParams.Hash() ``` Hash of the amino-encoding of a subset of the consensus parameters. ### AppHash ```go block.AppHash == state.AppHash ``` Arbitrary byte array returned by the application after executing and commiting the previous block. It serves as the basis for validating any merkle proofs that comes from the ABCI application and represents the state of the actual application rather than the state of the blockchain itself. The first block has `block.Header.AppHash == []byte{}`. ### LastResultsHash ```go block.ResultsHash == MerkleRoot(state.LastResults) ``` MerkleRoot of the results of the transactions in the previous block. The first block has `block.Header.ResultsHash == []byte{}`. ## EvidenceHash ```go block.EvidenceHash == MerkleRoot(block.Evidence) ``` MerkleRoot of the evidence of Byzantine behaviour included in this block. ### ProposerAddress ```go block.Header.ProposerAddress in state.Validators ``` Address of the original proposer of the block. Must be a current validator. ## Txs Arbitrary length array of arbitrary length byte-arrays. ## LastCommit The first height is an exception - it requires the LastCommit to be empty: ```go if block.Header.Height == 1 { len(b.LastCommit) == 0 } ``` Otherwise, we require: ```go len(block.LastCommit) == len(state.LastValidators) talliedVotingPower := 0 for i, vote := range block.LastCommit{ if vote == nil{ continue } vote.Type == 2 vote.Height == block.LastCommit.Height() vote.Round == block.LastCommit.Round() vote.BlockID == block.LastBlockID val := state.LastValidators[i] vote.Verify(block.ChainID, val.PubKey) == true talliedVotingPower += val.VotingPower } talliedVotingPower > (2/3) * TotalVotingPower(state.LastValidators) ``` Includes one (possibly nil) vote for every current validator. Non-nil votes must be Precommits. All votes must be for the same height and round. All votes must be for the previous block. All votes must have a valid signature from the corresponding validator. The sum total of the voting power of the validators that voted must be greater than 2/3 of the total voting power of the complete validator set. ### Vote A vote is a signed message broadcast in the consensus for a particular block at a particular height and round. When stored in the blockchain or propagated over the network, votes are encoded in Amino. For signing, votes are represented via `CanonicalVote` and also encoded using amino (protobuf compatible) via `Vote.SignBytes` which includes the `ChainID`, and uses a different ordering of the fields. We define a method `Verify` that returns `true` if the signature verifies against the pubkey for the `SignBytes` using the given ChainID: ```go func (vote *Vote) Verify(chainID string, pubKey crypto.PubKey) error { if !bytes.Equal(pubKey.Address(), vote.ValidatorAddress) { return ErrVoteInvalidValidatorAddress } if !pubKey.VerifyBytes(vote.SignBytes(chainID), vote.Signature) { return ErrVoteInvalidSignature } return nil } ``` where `pubKey.Verify` performs the appropriate digital signature verification of the `pubKey` against the given signature and message bytes. ## Evidence There is currently only one kind of evidence, `DuplicateVoteEvidence`. DuplicateVoteEvidence `ev` is valid if - `ev.VoteA` and `ev.VoteB` can be verified with `ev.PubKey` - `ev.VoteA` and `ev.VoteB` have the same `Height, Round, Address, Index, Type` - `ev.VoteA.BlockID != ev.VoteB.BlockID` - `(block.Height - ev.VoteA.Height) < MAX_EVIDENCE_AGE` # Execution Once a block is validated, it can be executed against the state. The state follows this recursive equation: ```go state(1) = InitialState state(h+1) <- Execute(state(h), ABCIApp, block(h)) ``` where `InitialState` includes the initial consensus parameters and validator set, and `ABCIApp` is an ABCI application that can return results and changes to the validator set (TODO). Execute is defined as: ```go Execute(s State, app ABCIApp, block Block) State { // Fuction ApplyBlock executes block of transactions against the app and returns the new root hash of the app state, // modifications to the validator set and the changes of the consensus parameters. AppHash, ValidatorChanges, ConsensusParamChanges := app.ApplyBlock(block) return State{ LastResults: abciResponses.DeliverTxResults, AppHash: AppHash, LastValidators: state.Validators, Validators: state.NextValidators, NextValidators: UpdateValidators(state.NextValidators, ValidatorChanges), ConsensusParams: UpdateConsensusParams(state.ConsensusParams, ConsensusParamChanges), } } ```