Awesome
ssb-tribes
A scuttlebutt plugin for managing encrypted groups. Implements the private group spec which uses the envelope spec.
This is the successor to ssb-private1
.
Example Usage
const SecretStack = require('secret-stack')
const config = require('ssb-config')
const caps = require('ssb-caps')
const stack = SecretStack({ caps })
.use(require('ssb-db2/core'))
.use(require('ssb-classic'))
.use(require('ssb-db2/compat'))
.use(require('ssb-db2/compat/feedstate'))
.use(require('ssb-box2'))
.use(...)
const ssb = stack({
...config,
box2: {
...config.box2,
legacyMode: true
}
})
ssb.tribes.create({}, (err, info) => {
const { groupId } = info
const content = {
type: 'post',
test: 'kia ora, e te whānau',
recps: [groupId] // <<< you can now put a groupId in the recps
}
ssb.tribes.publish(content, (err, msg) => {
// tada msg is encrypted to group!
const cookie = '@YXkE3TikkY4GFMX3lzXUllRkNTbj5E+604AkaO1xbz8=.ed25519'
const staltz = '@QlCTpvY7p9ty2yOFrv1WU1AE88aoQc4Y7wYal7PFc+w=.ed25519'
ssb.tribes.invite(groupId, [cookie, staltz], {}, (err, invite) => {
// two friends have been sent an invite which includes the decryption key for the group
// they can now read the message I just published, and publish their own messages to the group
})
})
})
Behaviour
This plugin provides functions for creating groups and administering things about them, but it also provides a bunch of "automatic" behviour.
- When you publish a message with
recps
usingssb.tribes.publish
it will auto-encrypt the content when:- there are 1-16 FeedIds (direct mesaaging)
- there is 1 GroupId (private group messaging)
- there is 1 GroupId followed by 1-15 FeedId
- NOTE this is currently only recommended for group invite messages as it's easy to leak group info
- When you receive an encrypted message with suffix
.box2
it will attempt to auto-decrypt the content:- on success this value will then be accessible in all database queries/ indexes
- if it fails because it didn't have the key, the message gets passed to the next auto-decrypter to attempt
- if it fails because something is clearly horribly wrong in the encyprtion and it should have worked, it throws an error (check this)
- When you receive an invite to a new group, you will auto-decrypt all messages
- we re-index your whole database, which will reveal new messages you can decrypt
- in the future we will only re-index messages you previously could not decrypt
- keys for groups are stored in a off-chain key-store
- we re-index your whole database, which will reveal new messages you can decrypt
- If you've been given the readKey for a particular message, you can use that
- e.g.
ssb.get({ id, private: true, key: readKey }, cb)
- e.g.
NOTES:
- Work on this project was resourced by Āhau. The name "tribes" was suggested by that project, and the API mostly reflects that. Some internal variables also use "group", as this is following the private group spec. You can read tribe/ group interchangeably.
- Each tribe has a
<GroupId>
(a unique identifier) which can be mapped to that tribe's<GroupKey>
(a shared encryption key). The<GroupId>
is related to the initialisation message for the tribe, but is safe to share (leaks no info about who started the group). The reason we can't use the "public" part of the<GroupKey>
as an id (like<FeedId>
) is that there isn't a public part - it's a symmetric key! <FeedId>
is synonymous with the public key of a particular device (@...sha256
). The private group spec details how we map this to a shared key between you (the author) and that recipient.
Requirements
A Secret-Stack server running the plugins:
ssb-db2/core
>= 7.1.1ssb-classic
ssb-tribes
ssb-db2/compat
ssb-db2/compat/feedstate
ssb-box2
>= 7.4.0ssb-replicate
- (optional) used to auto-replicate people who you're in groups with
The secret stack option config.box2.legacyMode
also needs to be true
.
API
ssb.tribes.publish(content, cb)
A wrapper around ssb.db.create
that makes sure you have correct tangles (if relevant) in your message. Mutates content
. You need to put recipients in content.recps
.
ssb.tribes.create(opts, cb)
Mint a new private group.
where:
opts
Objectopts.addPOBox
Boolean attaches a P.O. Box to the group and publish the keys into the group- default:
false
- default:
cb
Function is a callback with signaturecb(err, data)
wheredata
is an Object with properties:groupId
String - a cipherlink that's safe to use publicly to name the group, and is used inrecps
to trigger enveloping messages to that groupgroupKey
Buffer - the symmetric key used for encryption by the groupgroupInitMsg
Object - a copy of the (enveloped) message used to initialise the group
This method calls group.add
and group.addAuthors
for you (adding you)
ssb.tribes.invite(groupId, [authorId], opts, cb)
Adds an author to a group you belong to.
This publishes a message that both this new author AND the group can see, and contains the info
needed to get the new person started (the groupKey
and root
).
where:
groupId
String - is a cloaked id for a group you're a part of[authorId]
Array - is a collection of the feed ids of authors you're going to invite- NOTE: you are limited to inviting at most 15 authors per call of this method
opts
Object - is of form{ text }
which allows you to (optionally) post some welcoming or intruducing message along with the invte.cb
Function - is a callback with signaturecb(err, invite)
This method calls group.addAuthors
for you (adding that person to the group register for you)
ssb.tribes.addNewAuthorListener(fn)
Listens for when new authors are added to a tribe, and fires a given function
fn
Function - a function to call when a new author is added to the tribe. The function receives:groupId
String - the id of the tribenewAuthors
Array - array of new authors added to the tribe
ssb.tribes.excludeMembers(groupId, [authorId], cb)
Excludes an author from a group you belong to. This publishes a message that both this new author AND the group can see. NOTE :warning: this only politely asks the author to leave the group, we don't rotate keys (yet)
where:
groupId
String - is a cloaked id for a group you're a part of[authorId]
Array - is a collection of the feed ids of authors you're going to excludecb
Function - is a callback with signaturecb(err, exclusion)
ssb.tribes.list(cb)
Returns a list of all known group IDs. By default this excludes subgroups
Alternatively ssb.tribes.list({ subtribes: true }, cb)
will give you all group IDs (including those of subtribes)
ssb.tribes.get(groupId, cb)
Returns group metadata for a given group:
key
- the decryption key for the groupscheme
- the scheme the key is associated with (e.g. DM, group)root
- the initial message which started the group
ssb.tribes.listAuthors(groupId, cb)
Lists all the authors (feedIds) who you know are part of the group with id groupId
ssb.tribes.subtribe.create(groupId, opts, cb)
A convenience method which:
- mints a group
- publishes a
link
in the parent group which advertises the existence of the subGroup - mints a
poBoxId
for that group so that the parent group member can send messages to the subGroup - then creates a
link
inside the existing group (linking group + subGroup)
where:
groupId
String - the id of the parent group this subGroup will be linked toopts
Objectopts.addPOBox
Boolean attaches a P.O. Box to the group and publish the keys into the group- default:
false
- default:
opts.admin
Booelan adds meta-data to the link flagging it as the admin subgroup
cb
Function is a callback with signaturecb(err, data)
wheredata
is an Object with properties:groupId
String - a cipherlink that's safe to use publicly to name the subGroup, and is used inrecps
to trigger enveloping messages to that groupgroupKey
Buffer - the symmetric key used for encryption by the subGrouppoBoxId
Buffer - the asymetric key used to encrypt messages sent from outside of the subGroupgroupInitMsg
Object - a copy of the (enveloped) message used to initialise the subGroup
This method calls ssb.tribes.create
ssb.tribes.subtribe.get(groupId, cb)
alias of ssb.tribes.get
API (Extras)
These endpoints give you access to additional features, such as:
- registering groups:
ssb.tribes.register(groupId, info, cb)
- linking your feed to a group
ssb.tribes.link.create({ group, name }, cb)
- linking subGroups to a group
ssb.tribes.link.createSubGroupLink({ group, subGroup, admin }, cb)
- finding groups/ subGroups
ssb.tribes.findByFeedId(feedId, cb)
ssb.tribes.findSubGroupLinks(groupId, cb)
ssb.tribes.subtribe.findParentGroupLinks(subGroupId, cb)
- P.O. Box tools
ssb.tribes.poBox.create(opts, cb)
ssb.tribes.addPOBox(groupId, cb)
ssb.tribes.poBox.get(groupId, cb)
- self-DM keys
ssb.tribes.ownKeys.list(cb)
: returns a list of self-DM keyinfo. Always a length of 1 (only a list for historical reasons). The keyinfo has the format{ key: Buffer, scheme: String }
.ssb.tribes.ownKeys.register(key)
: sets the self-DM key (buffer).
- managing people applying to join to a group
- deprecated, please use ssb-tribes-registration
- for the old docs, see here
ssb.tribes.register(groupId, info, cb)
Registers a new group that you have learnt about.
NOTE: mainly used internally
where:
groupId
String - is a cloaked group id (seeprivate-group-spec/group-id/README.md
)info
Object - contains data of form{ key, scheme }
where:key
String - a 32 byte symmetric key for the group (as abase64
encoded string)scheme
String (optional) - a description of the key management scheme this key is part of
cb
[ Function - a callback with signaturecb(err: Error, success: Boolean)
ssb.tribes.poBox.create(opts, cb)
Creates a P.O. Box key-pair, which is like a one-way group messaging setup with a public and private curve25519 keypair.
opts
Object - currently unused but still requiredcb
Function is a callback with signaturecb(err, data)
wheredata
is an Object with properties:poBoxId
String - a cipherlink that can be used inrecps
by anyone, to send messages only those with the secret key can openpublic
Buffer - the public part of the keypairsecret
Buffer - the secret part of the keypair
ssb.tribes.addPOBox(groupId, cb)
Creates a P.O. Box key-pair, and publishes a message announcing those to a group. This will be heard by group members, allowing them to open messages sent to that P.O. Box
groupId
String - group to add P.O. Box tocb
Function is a callback with signaturecb(err, poBoxId)
ssb.tribes.poBox.get(groupId, cb)
Get the keypair that's attached to a group
groupId
String - group that has a P.O. Boxcb
Function is a callback with signaturecb(err, { poBoxId, key })
ssb.tribes.link.create({ group, name }, cb)
Creates a message of type link/feed-group
which links your feedId to a valid group. (i.e. you can only create links between your feedId and profiles at the moment)
Arguments:
group
GroupId - the id of the private group you're creating a link with (linking your scuttlebutt feed with that group)name
String (optional) - this adds your nickname for the groupcb
Function - callback with signature(err, link)
wherelink
is the link message
Note:
- this link will be encrypted to the group you're linking to (i.e. link will have
recps: [groupId]
)
ssb.tribes.link.createSubGroupLink({ group, subGroup, admin }, cb)
Creates a message of tyoe link/group-subGroup
which links a group to a subGroup
Arguments:
group
GroupId - the id of the parent private groupsubGroup
GroupId - the id of the subGroup you're linking togroup
admin
Boolean - when set to true, this flag is used to tell when a subgroup is the admin-only subgroup for the groupcb
- Function - call with signature(err, link)
wherelink
is the link message Note:- this link will be encrypted to the parent group (i.e. link will have
recps: [group]
)
ssb.tribes.findByFeedId(feedId, cb)
Find groups which have linked with a feedId (see ssb.tribes.link.create
).
feedId
FeedId is a stringcb
function is a callback with signaturecb(err, data)
wheredata
is an Array of items of form:{ groupId: GroupId, recps: Recps, // an array of recipients who know about this link (should just be the group) states: [ { head: MsgId, state: { name: null|String } } ] }
NOTE: the strange format with states is to leave easy support for multiple editors (of a link to a group) in the future
ssb.tribes.findSubGroupLinks(groupId, cb)
Find subGroups which have linked with a groupId (see ssb.tribes.link.createSubGroupLink
).
groupId
GroupId is a string representing thegroupId
of the parent groupcb
function is a callback with signaturecb(err, data)
wheredata
is an Array of items of form:[{ linkId: MsgId, groupId: GroupId, subGroupId: GroupId, admin: Boolean, recps: Recps, // an array of recipients who know about this link (should just be the group) }]
ssb.tribes.subtribe.findParentGroupLinks(subGroupId, cb)
Find subGroups which have linked with a groupId (see ssb.tribes.link.createSubGroupLink
).
subGroupId
GroupId is a string representing thegroupId
of the subGroupcb
function is a callback with signaturecb(err, data)
wheredata
is an Array of items of form:[{ linkId: MsgId, groupId: GroupId, // the parent group subGroupId: GroupId, recps: Recps, // an array of recipients who know about this link (should just be the group) }]
TODO
- add the latest known "sequence" at time of add-member, so we know if we need to reindex!