Æther

Status

In Progress 🧪

Component

Developer ToolkitIdentity, Carriers, and AgencyDigital Credential ProtocolsCoordination ProtocolsAgreement ProtocolsFinancial ProtocolsRewards & GivebackMessagingStorageWalletLedger (interoperability)Digital DashboardOSCollaborative GovernanceKindness.idFayaMobile

As above, so below.

Æther is a toolkit and set of protocols for creating and accessing mutable, tamper-proof documents (permissionless or permissioned) that serve as the foundation for a web without silos. Æther’s infrastructure provides a verifiable, censorship-resistant source of truth for important information that is public and interoperable. By migrating critical information from isolated servers into the public commons governed by digital signatures and consensus, Æther enables users and applications to break free from information and infrastructure silos, and enables all apps in the Commons Ecosystem to build in a composable and efficient manner interoperable with the the greater web. Æther does for identities, data, and services what blockchains have done for assets and exchange, and does for interoperability what Chainlink has done for ledgers.

Because participants in a MC2 Universe can create and resolve documents for any type of information without any centralized service or single ledger or chain, Æther unlocks interoperability between all platforms and services across the web. Æther  is ideal for storing information that requires guaranteed trust, cross-platform interoperability, and multi-party consumption, such as for verified actions across diverse communities. This makes Æther perfect for storing decentralized identifiers and their associated metadata, policies for usage of services, access control permissions, data schemas, and other documents that collectively enable wallets and applications to access a dynamic and unbundled ecosystem of interoperable identities, dataverses, and services.

Æther enables:

• Portable, self-sovereign identity
• Interoperable user and application data
• Open web services, without new accounts or logins
• Provable, tamper-evident claims, attestations, and assertions
• Frictionless, border-less payments and exchange

Æther is the best way for developers to manage user data without operating a backend server. The Æther distributed user data network supports keeping public and private data for on-chain and off-chain users. All data is publicly available, but private data can only be decrypted by apps that the user has given explicit permission. We provide MC3 Me, an app that allows users to manage their profile and personal storage drive, as well as a JavaScript SDK that makes it easy for developers to add decentralized identity, auth, profiles, storage, and messaging to their web application.

Developer Tools

Æther.js

Aether-js is a client-side JavaScript library and API that allows applications to integrate with the full functionality of the MC2 Universe data network. The Æther.js API allows apps to read, write, and delete public and private data associated with a user. This library can be used to get profile information about an address, set profile information about an address, and onboard users. The Æther.js API features the ability for users to encrypt their data, and allows applications to store data in an app-specific storage location, called a Space, and in peer-to-peer message feeds, called Threads. The Æther.js API also features a GraphQL endpoint.

Profiles API

The Profiles API is a developer interface for creating and interacting with a user's profile, including getting, setting, and removing data. MC2 Profiles are great for storing and accessing general profile information such as name and image, basic affiliations, basic reputation, and other bits of information that you desire to easily share across all apps that a user accesses with Æther. Public profile information is made available for all to read via the getProfile() method, while encrypted profile information is available only after the user signs a general consent message, which happens every time when logging in.

Spaces API

The Spaces API is a developer interface for creating and interacting with appliation-specific datastores inside of a user's MC2 Universe profile, including getting, setting, and removing data. MC2 Spaces are great for storing and accessing specific, more sensitive information such as app settings and defaults, app-specific content, sensitive information, and other bits of data that developers desire to protect to a greater degree than if it were stored in the general profile where it would be available to all apps. Data within Spaces can still be shared between applications however. Public spaces information is made available for all to read via the getSpace() method, while encrypted spaces information is available only after the user signs a space consent message. Spaces must be explicitly requested by the developer and are not accessed by default upon logging in. This helps protect users' information privacy.

Threads API

The Threads API is a developer interface for creating and interacting with decentralized messaging threads, including creating a thread, posting in a thread, and getting posts in a thread. MC2 Threads are great for storing peer-to-peer messages in a log/feed format between one or multiple users. Use cases for threads include commenting systems, group and direct messaging systems, content-based social media functionalities, and storing lists of items across the MC2 Universe and anywhere else. The current version of the Threads API is still experimental but does support private (encrypted) threads and moderation.

Æther GraphQL API

Aether-graphql is a GraphQL endpoint that allows MC2 developers to write more efficient MC2 getProfile() queries. Developers can ask the API for specific common user profile fields instead of needing to return the entire profile. For example, this is useful when querying for name and image for hundreds or thousands of profiles at once.

Useful for:

• efficiently getting common information from a user's public profile

Aether on Gitlab