Argus � the BNS public gateway (navigate.st) and its library layer. Serves BCNR names over HTTPS, verifies signed records, mints TLDs.
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Local Dev d19cd6bde7 BNS: commit-reveal for first registrations
A registration shows its name to the mempool before it is mined, and
"first REG wins" gives the name to whoever copies it with a better fee.
A registrant can now publish a hash first (CMT) and reveal a block later:
the REG carries the salt, and counts only if a commit of
sha256(salt, name, certificate lock) is already 1..144 blocks deep.
Someone who learns the name from the reveal has no such commit.

Who wins a contested name: the first valid REG opens a window of six
blocks, and within it the REG with the oldest commit takes the name; a REG
without a commit ranks by its own block. After the window the registration
is final. The addendum first let an older commit win for as long as the
commit lived, which left every registration open for a week and let a
standing commit beat any buyer; and a commit now lives a day, so keeping
one alive costs more than owning the name.

Optional on chipnet, where plain registrations keep working exactly as
before (the live registry reduces to the same index). Required on mainnet,
which starts empty. A registration straight into the covenant commits to
the covenant address, fixing owner and expiry at commit time.

One implementation for the JavaScript reducers; the Android reducer is now
a pure function and agrees with it on every history the tests build.
2026-10-05 22:29:38 +02:00
contracts covenants: close the holes an adversarial review found 2026-10-04 16:53:56 +02:00
setup Ariadne: keep the resolver running on battery 2026-10-03 13:08:13 +02:00
src BNS: commit-reveal for first registrations 2026-10-05 22:29:38 +02:00
test BNS: commit-reveal for first registrations 2026-10-05 22:29:38 +02:00
.gitignore Initial commit — Silent Mode baseline (2026-07-29) 2026-07-29 13:54:34 +02:00
ariadne.config.json BNS: per-TLD on-chain registry, multi-beacon indexer, enforcement gate 2026-08-29 17:11:02 +02:00
BROWSER-PROMPT.md Initial commit — Silent Mode baseline (2026-07-29) 2026-07-29 13:54:34 +02:00
build-web.mjs Initial commit — Silent Mode baseline (2026-07-29) 2026-07-29 13:54:34 +02:00
DESIGN-collision-modes.md Resolver 3438d558: ASCII-clean install.ps1 + multi-TLD NRPT + VPS-first electrum 2026-07-31 23:09:23 +02:00
DESIGN-hosting-pact.md Initial commit — Silent Mode baseline (2026-07-29) 2026-07-29 13:54:34 +02:00
DESIGN-root-tld-cert.md Collision modes (BCNR/ICANN) + root TLD cert + VPS electrum-source indexer 2026-08-02 11:39:00 +02:00
ENGINE.md Initial commit — Silent Mode baseline (2026-07-29) 2026-07-29 13:54:34 +02:00
LICENSE Licenses: MPL-2.0 for Theseus, Ariadne and Hephaestus; Apache-2.0 for Argus; CC BY 4.0 for the documents 2026-09-29 00:18:00 +02:00
namespaces.pdf Initial commit — Silent Mode baseline (2026-07-29) 2026-07-29 13:54:34 +02:00
OPERATIONS-electrum.md Initial commit — Silent Mode baseline (2026-07-29) 2026-07-29 13:54:34 +02:00
package-lock.json BNS: per-TLD on-chain registry, multi-beacon indexer, enforcement gate 2026-08-29 17:11:02 +02:00
package.json Licenses: MPL-2.0 for Theseus, Ariadne and Hephaestus; Apache-2.0 for Argus; CC BY 4.0 for the documents 2026-09-29 00:18:00 +02:00
PROTOCOL.md docs: how a resolver reads a covenant-held name; site bundle rebuilt 2026-10-04 18:14:49 +02:00
README.md Initial commit — Silent Mode baseline (2026-07-29) 2026-07-29 13:54:34 +02:00
ROADMAP.md Initial commit — Silent Mode baseline (2026-07-29) 2026-07-29 13:54:34 +02:00
sia-test.html Initial commit — Silent Mode baseline (2026-07-29) 2026-07-29 13:54:34 +02:00

BNS — Namecoin-style decentralized names on Bitcoin Cash (chipnet)

A working prototype of "Option 3": names are CashTokens name certificates on the BCH chain (no fork, no sidechain), records ride in OP_RETURN, discovery via a beacon address, and the resolver is embedded in a wallet app with a built-in browser pane — the Brave/MetaMask-browser architecture in miniature.

See PROTOCOL.md for the on-chain design and its honest limitations.

Layout

  • src/lib/bns.js — protocol core: payload codec, chain indexer/resolver, tx builders
  • src/wallet-app.js — wallet + embedded resolver + browser UI (npm run wallet → http://localhost:4626)
  • src/register.js / src/update.js / src/resolve.js — CLI equivalents
  • wallets.json — chipnet seed phrases (TESTNET ONLY — never reuse for real funds)
  • src/lib/gen-wallets.js — one-time wallet generation (already run)

Setup

  1. npm install
  2. Fund the wallet with free chipnet tBCH: go to https://tbch.googol.cash/, paste the wallet address (shown in the app sidebar or by node src/lib/gen-wallets.js), pick chipnet, solve the captcha. ~0.001 tBCH funds hundreds of registrations.
  3. npm run wallet and open http://localhost:4626

Standalone resolver daemon (make EVERY browser resolve .bch)

  • src/daemon/bnsd.js — DNS server (answers *.bch from the chain, forwards everything else upstream) + HTTP gateway that serves on-chain sites by Host header. Test unprivileged: node src/daemon/bnsd.js --dns-port 5354 --http-port 8081, then node src/daemon/dig.js hello.bch.
  • setup/install.ps1 — run from an elevated PowerShell. Installs the daemon as a boot-time scheduled task (SYSTEM, auto-restart) and wires the OS to it:
    • default (-Mode nrpt): adds an NRPT rule so only .bch queries reach the daemon; all other DNS is untouched.
    • -Mode full: points every adapter's DNS at 127.0.0.1 (daemon forwards non-.bch upstream, ncdns-style); original servers are saved and restored on uninstall.
  • setup/uninstall.ps1 — reverses everything (rule/adapters/task).

HTTPS for .bch: the "BNS Local Root CA" (created on demand in ca/, keep root-ca.key private) signs per-name certs. The daemon's :443 gateway mints them on the fly for locally-served names; node src/lib/issue-cert.js <name> issues one for a real server (see the coinspectrum.bch nginx vhost). The installer trusts the root machine-wide and enables Firefox's enterprise-roots policy; cert fingerprints are published in "tls" chain records for pinning.

Caveats: browsers with "secure DNS" (DoH) enabled bypass the OS resolver — disable it or add an exception; ports 53/80/443 must be free.

Try it

  • Register hello with inline HTML (a website stored entirely on-chain), then type hello.bch in the address bar — the app resolves it from the blockchain (not DNS) and renders it.
  • Or CLI: node src/register.js hello '{"h":"<h1>Served from the BCH chain</h1>"}' then node src/resolve.js hello