STATUS-URL-DATA
- Status: raw
- Category: Standards Track
- Editor: Felicio Mununga <felicio@status.im>
- Contributors:
- Aaryamann Challani <aaryamann@status.im>
Abstract
This document specifies serialization, compression, and encoding techniques used to transmit data within URLs in the context of Status protocols.
Motivation
When sharing URLs, link previews often expose metadata to the websites behind those links. To reduce reliance on external servers for providing appropriate link previews, this specification proposes a standard method for encoding data within URLs.
Terminology
- Community: Refer to STATUS-COMMUNITIES
- Channel: Refer to terminology in STATUS-COMMUNITIES
- User: Refer to terminology in STATUS-COMMUNITIES
- Shard Refer to terminology in WAKU2-RELAY-SHARDING
Wire Format
syntax = "proto3";
message Community {
// Display name of the community
string display_name = 1;
// Description of the community
string description = 2;
// Number of members in the community
uint32 members_count = 3;
// Color of the community title
string color = 4;
// List of tag indices
repeated uint32 tag_indices = 5;
}
message Channel {
// Display name of the channel
string display_name = 1;
// Description of the channel
string description = 2;
// Emoji of the channel
string emoji = 3;
// Color of the channel title
string color = 4;
// Community the channel belongs to
Community community = 5;
// UUID of the channel
string uuid = 6;
}
message User {
// Display name of the user
string display_name = 1;
// Description of the user
string description = 2;
// Color of the user title
string color = 3;
}
message URLData {
// Community, Channel, or User
bytes content = 1;
uint32 shard_cluster = 2;
uint32 shard_index = 3;
}
Implementation
The above wire format describes the data encoded in the URL. The data MUST be serialized, compressed, and encoded using the following standards:
Encoding
Compression
Serialization
Implementation Pseudocode
Encoding
Encoding the URL MUST be done in the following order:
raw_data = {User | Channel | Community}
serialized_data = protobuf_serialize(raw_data)
compressed_data = brotli_compress(serialized_data)
encoded_url_data = base64url_encode(compressed_data)
The encoded_url_data
is then used to generate a signature using the private key.
Decoding
Decoding the URL MUST be done in the following order:
url_data = base64url_decode(encoded_url_data)
decompressed_data = brotli_decompress(url_data)
deserialized_data = protobuf_deserialize(decompressed_data)
raw_data = deserialized_data.content
The raw_data
is then used to construct the appropriate data structure
(User, Channel, or Community).
Example
Discussions
Proof of concept
Copyright
Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.