ICP Kotlin Kit to interact with the IC

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A comprehensive kotlin package for writing applications that interact with the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP).
IcpKit aims at facilitating the interaction with the ICP blockchain.

For more information about ICP Development, we recommend starting from https://internetcomputer.org/docs/current/references/

Source Code

Contributors

This package has been developed by Thomas Constantin. All code and functionality are the result of my work.

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my gratitude to Konstantinos Gaitanis for his support during the initial project study and other contributions that helped shape this library.

This Package has been built by Bity SA with the help of the DFinity Foundation Developer Grant Program.

License

MIT License is applicable for all Swift Code (see LICENSE).

BLS12381 Rust Library is licensed by Levi Feldman (see LICENSE).

Library Overview

IcpKit will take care of all the encoding, serialisation and cryptography required to communicate with ICP allowing
developers to focus on the real functionality of their app and bootstrapping their development cycle.

Main functionalities

  • Cryptographic methods applicable to ICP such as signing and signature verification.
  • CBOR serialisation
  • Basic ICP Models for transactions, accounts, self-authenticating principals etc.
  • CandidEncoder and CandidDecoder for converting any kotlin class/values to a CandidValue
  • This library provides a set of pre-generated files:
    • DIP20.kt
    • ICRC1.kt
    • ICRC1IndexCanister.kt
    • LedgerCanister.kt
    • NNS_SNS_W.kt
    • NNSICPIndexCanister.kt
    • Tokens.kt

This files can be directly used to interact with canisters on the Internet Computer. These files include the most
commonly needed functionality for operations such as fetching balances, sending ICP or ICP tokens,
and retrieving NFT information.

If you need to interact with other canisters using custom candid files, you can easily add a Gradle task to
generate the necessary bindings from your own candid files. For more details, see the Installation
section.

Installation

Use pre generated files

Add the JitPack repository to your build file

Add in your settings.gradle.kts file:

dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS)
    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
        maven{ url = uri("https://jitpack.io") }
    }
}

Add the dependency

Add in your application build.gradle.kts file:

dependencies {
    implementation("com.github.ThomasConstantinBity:ICP-Kotlin-Kit:Tag")
}

Add BLS12381 rust library

Generate custom files with gradle task

Add in your app build.gradle.kts file:

buildscript {
    repositories {
        maven { url = uri("https://jitpack.io") }
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath("com.github.ThomasConstantinBity:ICP-Kotlin-Kit:Tag")
    }
}

Usage

To enable signature verification, this library requires the BLS12381 Rust library. You’ll need to compile the Rust project located in the rust/bls12381 folder.

Steps:

  1. Navigate to the rust/bls12381 directory.
  2. Compile the Rust project according to your target platform.

Note: You must provide separate libraries for each platform or device you want to support (e.g., Android, iOS).

Android Support

For Android projects, you can use cargo-ndk-android-gradle to simplify the process of building Rust libraries for Android. This tool helps compile Rust libraries into native code that can be used within Android applications.

Make sure to configure the build process for each platform and link the resulting native libraries accordingly.

Use pre generated files

For this example, we’ll use the ICRC1.kt file to demonstrate how to interact with the service.

Service Initialization

First, initialize the service with your canister principal:

val canister: ICPPrincipal = // Define your principal
val service = ICRC1.ICRC1Service(canister)

You can initialize ICPPrincipal by using the principal string
(e.g., ryjl3-tyaaa-aaaaa-aaaba-cai for the ICP Ledger canister).
Alternatively, check the ICPSystemCanisters enum class for predefined canisters.

Once the service is initialized, you can call any of the available functions.

Performing a Simple Query

To perform a query, you can use service.query_name. The service will call the corresponding method on the canister, retrieve the response, and parse it into a Kotlin value or class according to the function’s definition.
For query methods, there are some optional parameters you can pass:

  • Certification: Use ICPRequestCertification.Certified if you want to verify the response’s signature.
    Be aware that this process involves JNI and will be slower due to the additional verification step. Default value: ICPRequestCertification.Unertified.
  • Sender: An interface to implement if the query requires a signature.
  • Polling values: This is relevant for certified requests, as the service needs to poll the canister while awaiting a response.
    Default values:
    • Polling interval: 2 seconds
    • Polling timeout: 2 minutes

Calling a Function That Requires a Signature

Here’s an example of how to call a function that requires a signature:

Implement ICPSigningPrincipal

val sender = object : ICPSigningPrincipal {
    override val principal: ICPPrincipal = this@TmpTest.principal
    override val rawPublicKey: ByteArray = publicKey
    override suspend fun sign(message: ByteArray): ByteArray {
        val hashedMessage = SHA256.sha256(message)
        val signature = EllipticSign(
            messageToSign = hashedMessage,
            privateKey = BigInteger(privateKey)
        )
        signature[64] = (signature[64] + 0x1b).toByte()
        return signature.dropLast(1).toByteArray()
    }
}

Now, you can make a transfer using the service:

val transferArgs = ICRC1.TransferArgs(
    ...
)
val transferResult = service.icrc1_transfer(
    transferArgs = transferArgs,
    sender = sender
)

val blockIndex = when (transferResult) {
    is ICRC1.TransferResult.Err -> throw transferResult.transferError.toDataModel()
    is ICRC1.TransferResult.Ok -> transferResult.bigInteger
}

Generate custom files with gradle task

You can use KotlinFileGenerator class inside gradle tasks. Here is a demo example

tasks.register("parseCandidFiles") {
    val inputFolder = file("./candid_files")
    require(inputFolder.isDirectory)
    inputFolder.listFiles { it -> it.extension == "did" }?.forEach { file ->
        val fileName = file.name.removeSuffix(".did")
        val kotlinFileGenerator = KotlinFileGenerator(
            fileName = fileName,
            packageName = "com.bity.demo_app.generated_files",
            didFileContent = file.readText(Charsets.UTF_8)
        )
        val outputFile = file("./src/main/java/com/bity/demo_app/generated_files/${fileName}.kt")
        outputFile.writeText(kotlinFileGenerator.generateKotlinFile())
    }
}
8 Likes
2

@0xTommy it seems like you forgot to link to the GitHub repository of the ICP Kotlin Kit. also, some links (LICENSES) are empty and the Installation link is probably targeting the section on GitHub.

can you provide the missing link and update the other links? thanks! :slight_smile:

3

If I try to post a link I’m getting the following error: An error occurred: Sorry, you can’t include links in your posts.

4

there might be some rule for new users with few posts, not sure about this right now. strange that it somehow worked on the initial thread (prior to editing :sweat_smile: )

I edited your post accordingly :+1: