EIP 1193: Ethereum Provider JavaScript API Source

AuthorFabian Vogelsteller, Ryan Ghods, Marc Garreau, Victor Maia
Discussions-Tohttps://ethereum-magicians.org/t/eip-1193-ethereum-provider-javascript-api/640
StatusDraft
TypeStandards Track
CategoryInterface
Created2018-06-30
Requires 155, 695, 1102, 1474

Summary

This EIP formalizes an Ethereum Provider JavaScript API for consistency across clients and applications. The provider is designed to be minimal and is intended to be available on window.ethereum for cross environment compatibility.

API

Send

Ethereum API methods can be sent and received:

ethereum.send(method: String, params?: Array<any>): Promise<any>;

Promise resolves with result or rejects with Error.

See the available methods.

Events

Events are emitted using EventEmitter.

notification

All subscriptions from the node emit on notification. Attach listeners with:

ethereum.on('notification', listener: (result: any) => void): this;

To create a subscription, call ethereum.send('eth_subscribe', []) or ethereum.send('shh_subscribe', []).

See the eth subscription methods and shh subscription methods.

connect

The provider emits connect on connect to a network.

ethereum.on('connect', listener: () => void): this;

You can detect which network by sending net_version:

const network = await ethereum.send('net_version');
> '1'

close

The provider emits close on disconnect from a network.

ethereum.on('close', listener: (code: Number, reason: String) => void): this;

The event emits with code and reason. The code follows the table of CloseEvent status codes.

chainChanged

The provider emits chainChanged on connect to a new chain.

ethereum.on('chainChanged', listener: (chainId: String) => void): this;

The event emits with chainId, the new chain returned from eth_chainId.

networkChanged

The provider emits networkChanged on connect to a new network.

ethereum.on('networkChanged', listener: (networkId: String) => void): this;

The event emits with networkId, the new network returned from net_version.

accountsChanged

The provider emits accountsChanged if the accounts returned from the provider (eth_accounts) changes.

ethereum.on('accountsChanged', listener: (accounts: Array<String>) => void): this;

The event emits with accounts, an array of the accounts’ addresses.

Examples

const ethereum = window.ethereum;

// A) Set provider in web3.js
var web3 = new Web3(ethereum);
// web3.eth.getBlock('latest', true).then(...)


// B) Use provider object directly
// Example 1: Log last block
ethereum
  .send('eth_getBlockByNumber', ['latest', 'true'])
  .then(block => {
    console.log(`Block ${block.number}:`, block);
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.error(
      `Error fetching last block: ${error.message}.
       Code: ${error.code}. Data: ${error.data}`
    );
  });

// Example 2: Log available accounts
ethereum
  .send('eth_accounts')
  .then(accounts => {
    console.log(`Accounts:\n${accounts.join('\n')}`);
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.error(
      `Error fetching accounts: ${error.message}.
    Code: ${error.code}. Data: ${error.data}`
    );
  });


// Example 3: Log new blocks
let subId;
ethereum
  .send('eth_subscribe', ['newHeads'])
  .then(subscriptionId => {
    subId = subscriptionId;
    ethereum.on('notification', result => {
      if (result.subscription === subscriptionId) {
        if (result.result instanceof Error) {
          const error = result.result;
          console.error(
            `Error from newHeads subscription: ${error.message}.
             Code: ${error.code}. Data: ${error.data}`
          );
        } else {
          const block = result.result;
          console.log(`New block ${block.number}:`, block);
        }
      }
    });
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.error(
      `Error making newHeads subscription: ${error.message}.
       Code: ${error.code}. Data: ${error.data}`
    );
  });


// Example 4: Log when accounts change
const logAccounts = accounts => {
  console.log(`Accounts:\n${accounts.join('\n')}`);
};
ethereum.on('accountsChanged', logAccounts);
// to unsubscribe
ethereum.removeListener('accountsChanged', logAccounts);

// Example 5: Log if connection ends
ethereum.on('close', (code, reason) => {
  console.log(`Ethereum provider connection closed: ${reason}. Code: ${code}`);
});

Specification

Errors

If the Ethereum Provider request returns an error property then the Promise MUST reject with an Error object containing the error.message as the Error message, error.code as a code property on the error and error.data as a data property on the error.

If an error occurs during processing, such as an HTTP error or internal parsing error, then the Promise MUST reject with an Error object.

If the request requires an account that is not yet authenticated, the Promise MUST reject with Error code 4100.

Events

The provider SHOULD extend from EventEmitter to provide dapps flexibility in listening to events. In place of full EventEmitter functionality, the provider MAY provide as many methods as it can reasonably provide, but MUST provide at least on, emit, and removeListener.

notification

All subscriptions received from the node MUST emit the subscription property with the subscription ID and a results property.

connect

If the network connects, the Ethereum Provider MUST emit an event named connect.

close

If the network connection closes, the Ethereum Provider MUST emit an event named close with args code: Number, reason: String following the status codes for CloseEvent.

chainChanged

If the chain the provider is connected to changes, the provider MUST emit an event named chainChanged with args chainId: String containing the ID of the new chain (using the Ethereum JSON-RPC call eth_chainId).

networkChanged

If the network the provider is connected to changes, the provider MUST emit an event named networkChanged with args networkId: String containing the ID of the new network (using the Ethereum JSON-RPC call net_version).

accountsChanged

If the accounts connected to the Ethereum Provider change at any time, the Ethereum Provider MUST send an event with the name accountsChanged with args accounts: Array<String> containing the accounts’ addresses.

web3.js Backwards Compatibility

If the implementing Ethereum Provider would like to be compatible with web3.js prior to 1.0.0-beta38, it MUST provide the method: sendAsync(payload: Object, callback: (error: any, result: any) => void): void.

Error object and codes

If an Error object is returned, it MUST contain a human readable string message describing the error and SHOULD populate the code and data properties on the error object with additional error details.

Appropriate error codes SHOULD follow the table of CloseEvent status codes, along with the following table:

Status code Name Description
4001 User Rejected Request The user rejected the request.
4100 Unauthorized The requested method and/or account has not been authorized by the user.
4200 Unsupported Method The requested method is not supported by the given Ethereum Provider.

Sample Class Implementation

class EthereumProvider extends EventEmitter {
  constructor() {
    // Call super for `this` to be defined
    super();

    // Init storage
    this._nextJsonrpcId = 0;
    this._promises = {};

    // Fire the connect
    this._connect();

    // Listen for jsonrpc responses
    window.addEventListener('message', this._handleJsonrpcMessage.bind(this));
  }

  /* Methods */

  send(method, params = []) {
    if (!method || typeof method !== 'string') {
      return new Error('Method is not a valid string.');
    }

    if (!(params instanceof Array)) {
      return new Error('Params is not a valid array.');
    }

    const id = this._nextJsonrpcId++;
    const jsonrpc = '2.0';
    const payload = { jsonrpc, id, method, params };

    const promise = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
      this._promises[payload.id] = { resolve, reject };
    });

    // Send jsonrpc request to Mist
    window.postMessage(
      { type: 'mistAPI_ethereum_provider_write', message: payload },
      targetOrigin
    );

    return promise;
  }

  /* Internal methods */

  _handleJsonrpcMessage(event) {
    // Return if no data to parse
    if (!event || !event.data) {
      return;
    }

    let data;
    try {
      data = JSON.parse(event.data);
    } catch (error) {
      // Return if we can't parse a valid object
      return;
    }

    // Return if not a jsonrpc response
    if (!data || !data.message || !data.message.jsonrpc) {
      return;
    }

    const message = data.message;
    const { id, method, error, result } = message;

    if (typeof id !== 'undefined') {
      const promise = this._promises[id];
      if (promise) {
        // Handle pending promise
        if (data.type === 'error') {
          promise.reject(message);
        } else if (message.error) {
          promise.reject(error);
        } else {
          promise.resolve(result);
        }
        delete this._promises[id];
      }
    } else {
      if (method && method.indexOf('_subscription') > -1) {
        // Emit subscription notification
        this._emitNotification(message.params);
      }
    }
  }

  /* Connection handling */

  _connect() {
    // Send to Mist
    window.postMessage(
      { type: 'mistAPI_ethereum_provider_connect' },
      targetOrigin
    );

    // Reconnect on close
    this.once('close', this._connect.bind(this));
  }

  /* Events */

  _emitNotification(result) {
    this.emit('notification', result);
  }

  _emitConnect() {
    this.emit('connect');
  }

  _emitClose(code, reason) {
    this.emit('close', code, reason);
  }

  _emitNetworkChanged(networkId) {
    this.emit('networkChanged', networkId);
  }

  _emitAccountsChanged(accounts) {
    this.emit('accountsChanged', accounts);
  }

  /* web3.js Provider Backwards Compatibility */

  sendAsync(payload, callback) {
    return this.send(payload.method, payload.params)
      .then(result => {
        const response = payload;
        response.result = result;
        callback(null, response);
      })
      .catch(error => {
        callback(error, null);
        // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
        console.error(
          `Error from EthereumProvider sendAsync ${payload}: ${error}`
        );
      });
  }
}

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