⚠️ This repo was moved to https://github.com/ssbc/ssb-bfe-spec. This archival will remain in this GitHub org ssb-ngi-pointer to demonstrate the outcome of the work done by the SSB NGI Pointer team during 2020 and 2021. The SSB NGI Pointer team is no longer active because we completed our grant project.

SSB Binary Field Encodings Specification

Shortname: ssb-bfe-spec

Definition of binary encodings for common types such as message IDs and feed IDs to be used in binary feed formats.

The binary encoding is defined as the concatenation of three parts, often known as T-F-D:

• The type of thing as a UInt8 byte
• The format of the type as a UInt8 byte
• The data as a sequence of UInt8 bytes

Types

Type code	Referencing	In bfe.json
0	Feed ID	feed
1	Message ID	message
2	Blob ID	blob
3	Encryption key	encryption-key
4	Signature	signature
5	Encrypted data	encrypted
6	Generic data	generic
7	Identity	identity

0. Feed ID formats

A feed ID TFD represents the public portion of a cryptographic keypair used to identify a feed, and verify message signatures.

Type code	Format code	Data length	Specification	In bfe.json
0	0	32 bytes	Classic SSB Feed	classic
0	1	32 bytes	Gabby Grove	gabbygrove-v1
0	2	32 bytes	Bamboo	bamboo
0	3	32 bytes	Bendy Butt	bendybutt-v1

Example

Given a sigil-based string encoding of a classic SSB feed:

  @6CAxOI3f+LUOVrbAl0IemqiS7ATpQvr9Mdw9LC4+Uv0=.ed25519
  │└─────────────────────┬────────────────────┘└───┬──┘
 sigil           base64 encoded data            suffix

Its BFE encoding is the following bytes displayed in hexadecimal:

  00 00 e8 20 31 38 8d df f8 b5 0e 56 b6 c0 97 42 1e 9a a8 92 ec 04 e9 42 fa fd 31 dc 3d 2c 2e 3e 52 fd
   │  │ └────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
type  │                    data
     format

1. Message ID formats

A message ID TFD represents the hash that uniquely identifies a message published on a feed. Some message ID formats directly reference the hash algorithm utilized, while others leave it implicit in the specification.

Type code	Format code	Data length	Specification	In bfe.json
1	0	32 bytes	Classic SSB Msg	classic
1	1	32 bytes	Gabby Grove	gabbygrove-v1
1	2	32 bytes	Private Group	cloaked
1	3	64 bytes	Bamboo	bamboo
1	4	32 bytes	Bendy Butt	bendybutt-v1

Example

Given a sigil-based string encoding of a classic SSB message ID:

  %R8heq/tQoxEIPkWf0Kxn1nCm/CsxG2CDpUYnAvdbXY8=.sha256
  │└─────────────────────┬────────────────────┘└──┬──┘
 sigil           base64 encoded data            suffix

Its BFE encoding is the following bytes displayed in hexadecimal:

  01 00 47 c8 5e ab fb 50 a3 11 08 3e 45 9f d0 ac 67 d6 70 a6 fc 2b 31 1b 60 83 a5 46 27 02 f7 5b 5d 8f
   │  │ └────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
type  │                    data
     format

2. Blob ID formats

A blob ID TFD represents the hash that uniquely identifies the blob.

Type code	Format code	Data length	Specification	In bfe.json
2	0	32 bytes	Classic SSB Blob	classic

Example

Given a sigil-based string encoding of a classic SSB blob ID:

  &S7+CwHM6dZ9si5Vn4ftpk/l/ldbRMqzzJos+spZbWf4=.sha256
  │└─────────────────────┬────────────────────┘└───┬─┘
 sigil           base64 encoded data            suffix

Its BFE encoding is the following bytes displayed in hexadecimal:

  02 00 4b bf 82 c0 73 3a 75 9f 6c 8b 95 67 e1 fb 69 93 f9 7f 95 d6 d1 32 ac f3 26 8b 3e b2 96 5b 59 fe
   │  │ └────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
type  │                    data
     format

3. Encryption Key formats

Keys used for encryption

Type code	Format code	Data length	Specification	In bfe.json
3	0	32 bytes	Private Group DM	box2-dm-dh
3	1	32 bytes	Private Group PO box	box2-pobox-dh

4. Signature formats

Type code	Format code	Data length	Specification	In bfe.json
4	0	64 bytes	Classic SSB Signature	msg-ed25519

Example

Given a base64 string encoding of a Classic SSB ed25519 signature:

  nkY4Wsn9feosxvX7bpLK7OxjdSrw6gSL8sun1n2TMLXKySYK9L5itVQnV2nQUctFsrUOa2istD2vDk1B0uAMBQ==.sig.ed25519
  └─────────────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────┘└────┬─────┘
                             base64 encoded signature                                        suffix

Its BFE encoding is the following bytes displayed in hexadecimal:

  04 00 9e 46 38 5a c9 fd 7d ea 2c c6 f5 fb 6e 92 ca ec ec 63 75 2a f0 ea 04 8b f2 cb a7 d6 7d 93 30 b5 ca c9 26 0a f4 be 62 b5 54 27 57 69 d0 51 cb 45 b2 b5 0e 6b 68 ac b4 3d af 0e 4d 41 d2 e0 0c 05
   │  │ └────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
type  │                    data
     format

5. Encrypted data formats

When content is encrypted (in other words, "boxed") in SSB, it is provided as uninterpretable bytes, plus a tag that identifies which algorithm was used for encrypting it, such as box or box2.

Type code	Format code	Data length	Specification	In bfe.json
5	0	Arbitrary	Private Box	box1
5	1	Arbitrary	Private Group	box2

6. Generic data formats

BFE supports encoding data types with no semantics attached to them. They are merely categorized into formats that represent their data type.

Type code	Format code	Data length	Specification	In bfe.json
6	0	Arbitrary	UTF8 String	string-UTF8
6	1	1 byte	Boolean: data byte is 0 for False, 1 for True	boolean
6	2	0 bytes	Null pointer	nil
6	3	Arbitrary	Any sequence of bytes	any-bytes

7. Identity formats

Identities are distinct from feedIds in that they are not a key bound to a single feed/ device, and they are never used for signing of messages.

Type code	Format code	Data length	Specification	In bfe.json
7	0	32	Private Group PO box	po-box