Technical Guide

Getting Started with zPass

Before diving into the code, initialize the Aleo SDK. This allows you to work with Aleo's functions in your application.

import * as aleo from "@aleohq/sdk";
await aleo.initializeWasm();

Explanation:

• @aleohq/sdk: This is the Software Development Kit (SDK) provided by Aleo. It contains all the essential functions to initialize and interact with Aleo's ecosystem.

• initializeWasm(): Initializes the WebAssembly (Wasm) environment, enabling fast and secure execution of code.

Establishing Connection to Aleo VM

For our demo, we'll connect to Aleo's VM (Virtual Machine):

const defaultHost = "<https://vm.aleo.org/api>";
const keyProvider = new aleo.AleoKeyProvider();
const programManager = new aleo.ProgramManager(
  defaultHost,
  keyProvider,
  undefined,
);

Explanation:

• AleoKeyProvider(): A utility to manage the keys used in the process.

• ProgramManager(): Helps in managing the program's lifecycle.

Credential Structure and Verification Programs

Credentials often contain attributes. Here, we have a structure named Credential, which contains attributes like issuer address, subject address, date of birth, nationality, and expiry date. Below are Aleo programs for different hashing methods (keccak, sha3, bhp1024, and poseidon2):

Creating Credentials

Our demo will involve generating a credential off-chain:

Structure of the Credential:

struct Credential:
    issuer (the Issuer's address)
    subject (the Holder's address)
    dob (Date of Birth)
    nationality (Country of Origin)
    expiry (Expiration date of the credential)

In real-world scenarios, a Holder might receive a credential like a passport from an Issuer. This passport could be verified through its native signature, proving its authenticity.

Verifying Credentials

The Verifier checks the credentials using Aleo programs. Reference the provided example of an Aleo program hashing credentials using Poseidon2:

• Poseidon: offchain_verifier.aleo

These programs take the credential as input, hash it, and then use the hash to verify the signature.

Execution & Verification using WebAssembly (Wasm)

Aleo leverages WebAssembly (Wasm) for executing programs in a local environment:

await initializeWasm();

The benefits:

• Privacy: Holders can execute the program locally, ensuring their private inputs remain confidential.

• No Third-Party Trust: Holders don't need to trust a third party to verify their credentials.

Verifying Execution

Finally, the Verifier uses the execution proof to ensure the program ran correctly. This doesn't reveal any credential data but verifies the proper functioning of the Aleo program.

export function verify(executionString, verifyingKeyString, program, functionName) {...}