Files
meshcore-spec/versions/v0.1.0/15-identity.md
T
swaitsandClaude Opus 4.7 f83d4088e3 spec: link corpus references to GitHub, version-aware
Every "Test vectors: \`corpus/...\`" mention in the spec is now a
markdown link pointing at the corresponding file or directory on
GitHub. Each version build resolves its links to the correct git
ref:

  - /latest/ -> https://github.com/swaits/meshcore-spec/tree/main/corpus/...
  - /v0.1.0/ -> https://github.com/swaits/meshcore-spec/tree/v0.1.0/corpus/...
  - future /vX.Y.Z/ -> /tree/vX.Y.Z/corpus/...

Two changes:

1. src/*.md (18 files): the inline-code corpus paths in each
   "Cross-References" section are now markdown links. Directories
   point at /tree/main/corpus/..., individual .json files point at
   /blob/main/corpus/.... CHANGELOG and other non-corpus main links
   are intentionally left pointing at main — the canonical history
   lives there regardless of which version you're reading.

2. justfile: `cut-version` now also runs a sed over the snapshot's
   *.md files replacing /tree/main/corpus -> /tree/<VERSION>/corpus
   and /blob/main/corpus -> /blob/<VERSION>/corpus. So a freshly-cut
   version is self-consistent.

versions/v0.1.0/* regenerated by re-running
`just cut-version v0.1.0` after the new src/ links + recipe sed
landed.

Tagging the release commit (`git tag v0.1.0`) is now REQUIRED — not
"optional" — because the rendered /v0.1.0/ pages reference
/tree/v0.1.0/corpus/... on GitHub. Without the tag the links 404.
cut-version's output now says so.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-05-12 10:35:09 -06:00

93 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown

# MeshCore Protocol Specification
## Section 15: Identity
### Overview
Every MeshCore node has an Ed25519 key pair. The 32-byte public key serves as
the node's identity. Hashes used in routing are truncated prefixes of the public
key. Shared secrets for encryption are computed via ECDH key exchange using
X25519 (Ed25519 keys transposed to Curve25519).
### Key Types
| Type | Size | Description |
|------|------|-------------|
| Public Key | 32 bytes (PUB_KEY_SIZE) | Ed25519 public key |
| Private Key | 64 bytes (PRV_KEY_SIZE) | Ed25519 private key (seed + public) |
| Signature | 64 bytes (SIGNATURE_SIZE) | Ed25519 signature |
| Shared Secret | 32 bytes (PUB_KEY_SIZE) | ECDH shared secret |
### Hash Derivation
A node's routing hash is simply a prefix of its public key:
```
hash = pub_key[0..hash_size-1]
```
Where `hash_size` is 1, 2, or 3 bytes depending on the protocol version and
path encoding (see [Section 3](03-path.md)).
For V1, `PATH_HASH_SIZE` is 1, meaning a node's hash is the first byte of its
public key. This gives only 256 unique hash values, so hash collisions are
common and expected. The protocol handles this by attempting decryption with all
peers matching a given hash.
### Hash Matching
To check if a hash matches a node's identity:
```
match = memcmp(hash, pub_key, hash_size) == 0
```
### Ed25519 Signing
Used for advertisement signatures (see [Section 5](05-payload-advert.md)):
1. Construct the message to sign (e.g., pub_key || timestamp || app_data).
2. Sign using the Ed25519 private key.
3. The 64-byte signature is included in the advertisement payload.
Verification:
1. Extract the public key and signature from the payload.
2. Reconstruct the message.
3. Verify the signature using Ed25519 verification.
4. Receivers MUST discard the packet if verification fails.
### ECDH Key Exchange (X25519)
To compute a shared secret between two nodes:
1. Convert the Ed25519 keys to X25519 (Curve25519) format.
2. Perform X25519 Diffie-Hellman: `shared_secret = X25519(my_private, their_public)`.
3. The resulting 32-byte shared secret is used for:
- AES-128 key: `shared_secret[0..15]`
- HMAC-SHA256 key: `shared_secret[0..31]`
### Identity Serialization
Identities can be serialized for storage:
- **Public Identity**: 32 bytes (public key only)
- **Local Identity**: 64 bytes (private key) + 32 bytes (public key) = 96 bytes
Hex representation uses uppercase characters with 2 hex digits per byte.
### Cross-References
- [Section 3: Path](03-path.md) — Hash size in path encoding
- [Section 5: Advertisement](05-payload-advert.md) — Signature usage
- [Section 14: Cryptography](14-crypto.md) — Shared secret usage
- Test vectors: [`corpus/crypto/ed25519/`](https://github.com/swaits/meshcore-spec/tree/v0.1.0/corpus/crypto/ed25519/), [`corpus/crypto/ecdh/`](https://github.com/swaits/meshcore-spec/tree/v0.1.0/corpus/crypto/ecdh/)
### Reference Implementation
- `Identity` class in `src/Identity.h` — Public key and verification
- `LocalIdentity` class in `src/Identity.h` — Key pair, signing, ECDH
- `Identity::copyHashTo()` — Hash derivation (prefix copy)
- `Identity::isHashMatch()` — Hash comparison
- `LocalIdentity::calcSharedSecret()` — ECDH key exchange