Skip to content

TruthChain v0.2.5 - Consensus Works!

Latest
Latest

Choose a tag to compare

View all tags
@blindxfish blindxfish released this 14 Jul 15:47
· 16 commits to master since this release
0.2.5
15d917a

Release Date: 14 July 2025
Version: 0.2.5
Status: Development Release - Not for Production Use

🎉 What's New in v0.2.5

RECONNECTION ISSUE FIXED

This release represents a significant milestone in TruthChain's development, bringing major stability improvements and fixing critical issues that were preventing proper network operation. Version 0.2.5 is the most stable and reliable release to date.

🚀 Key Features

✅ Fully Implemented & Working

Core Blockchain Infrastructure

  • Complete Wallet System: ECDSA key generation, signing, and secure storage with Base58Check addresses
  • Block & Post Logic: Cryptographic hashing, signing, and verification with secure signature recovery
  • Transfer System: Signed character transfers with validation, state management, and replay protection
  • Local Storage: BoltDB-based persistent storage with mempool persistence
  • HTTP API: Comprehensive local API interface for frontend integration
  • State Manager: Complete wallet states, balances, and nonce tracking

Network Layer

  • Mesh Network: Robust peer-to-peer communication and block synchronization
  • Beacon System: Network discovery and public node announcements
  • Trust-based Peer Management: Dynamic peer scoring and intelligent connection management
  • Block Synchronization: Cross-node block sharing with validation

Consensus System

  • Post Gossip Protocol: Network-wide post distribution before block creation
  • Block Proposal & Voting: Democratic consensus through proposal submission and voting
  • Trust-based Proposer Selection: Nodes with higher trust scores can propose blocks
  • Dynamic Trust Score Management: Trust scores based on node behavior and reliability
  • Forkless Consensus: No posts or burned characters are ever lost

User Experience

  • Interactive Setup Wizard: Guided configuration for new users
  • Network Selection: Mainnet, Testnet, or Local network modes
  • Node Mode Configuration: API, Mesh, Beacon, and Mining modes
  • Wallet Management: Create, import, backup, and restore wallets
  • Bitcoin-style Restart: No crashes, loads existing data automatically

🔧 Critical Fixes in v0.2.5

Time-Based Block Generation ✅ FIXED

  • Issue: Time-based block generation was completely disabled, preventing proper block creation flow
  • Fix: Re-enabled checkTimeBasedBlock() method with comprehensive conditions
  • Impact: Nodes now properly request time-based blocks every 10+ minutes when conditions are met

Consensus Protocol Integration ✅ FIXED

  • Issue: Time-based blocks were bypassing the consensus protocol entirely
  • Fix: Removed legacy time-based block creation logic that bypassed consensus
  • Impact: All blocks now properly go through the consensus protocol with peer approval

Peer Counting Logic ✅ FIXED

  • Issue: Nodes incorrectly counted themselves as peers, causing vote count mismatches
  • Fix: Updated peer counting logic to properly distinguish between voters and peers
  • Impact: Accurate vote approval thresholds and proper consensus operation

Mutex Locking Issues ✅ FIXED

  • Issue: "sync: Unlock of unlocked RWMutex" crashes in RequestTimeBasedBlock()
  • Fix: Corrected mutex locking/unlocking sequence to prevent double unlocks
  • Impact: Stable block request handling without crashes

Chain Tip Validation ✅ FIXED

  • Issue: Fresh nodes with chain tip -1 were rejected during synchronization
  • Fix: Updated chain tip validation to accept -1 as valid for new nodes
  • Impact: New nodes can properly sync with the network from genesis

Message Parsing Robustness ✅ FIXED

  • Issue: JSON unmarshaling errors with "invalid character 'P' after top-level value"
  • Fix: Enhanced mesh manager message processing for multiple JSON objects
  • Impact: Robust message handling without parsing errors

Time Synchronization ✅ FIXED

  • Issue: Race conditions between block builder's internal time and blockchain state
  • Fix: Modified BuildTimeBasedBlock to accept actual latest block timestamp
  • Impact: Consistent time checks across the system

Network Stability ✅ IMPROVED

  • Issue: Crashes in handleGossipMessage due to nil pointer dereferences
  • Fix: Added comprehensive nil checks for msg.Source in all message handlers
  • Impact: Robust message handling without crashes

🌐 Network Modes

Mainnet (Production) - NOT LIVE YET

  • Status: Development complete, awaiting launch
  • Post Threshold: 5 posts per block
  • Network ID: truthchain-mainnet
  • Consensus Rules: Fixed for compatibility
  • Use Case: Production environment (when launched)

Testnet (Development) ✅ READY FOR TESTING

  • Status: Available for testing with improved stability
  • Post Threshold: 3 posts per block
  • Network ID: truthchain-testnet
  • Consensus Rules: Relaxed for testing
  • Use Case: Development and testing

Local (Isolated) ✅ FULLY FUNCTIONAL

  • Status: Fully functional with all features working
  • Post Threshold: 2 posts per block
  • Network ID: truthchain-local
  • Consensus Rules: Minimal for local testing
  • Use Case: Local development and testing

🔧 Node Modes

API Mode ✅ WORKING

  • Purpose: HTTP API server for frontend integration
  • Port: 8080 (default)
  • Features: Post creation, balance checking, transfers, wallet management
  • Status: Fully implemented and functional

Mesh Mode ✅ WORKING

  • Purpose: Peer-to-peer network communication and consensus
  • Port: 9876 (default)
  • Features: Block sync, post propagation, peer discovery, consensus voting
  • Status: Fully implemented and functional with improved stability

Beacon Mode ✅ WORKING

  • Purpose: Network discovery and public announcements
  • Requirements: Public IP and domain
  • Features: +50% character reward bonus (when mainnet is live)
  • Status: Implemented but not active on mainnet

Mining Mode ✅ WORKING

  • Purpose: Uptime-based character mining
  • Requirements: 80% uptime over 24 hours
  • Features: Automatic character rewards every 10 minutes
  • Status: Implemented but not active on mainnet

📡 API Reference

Available API Endpoints:

Method Endpoint Description Status
GET /status Node and blockchain status ✅ Working
GET /health Health check ✅ Working
GET /info Node information ✅ Working
GET /wallets/{address} Wallet information ✅ Working
GET /wallets/{address}/balance Wallet balance ✅ Working
GET /wallets/{address}/backup Download wallet backup ✅ Working
POST /posts Create a new post ✅ Working
GET /posts/pending Get pending posts ✅ Working
POST /transfers Send characters ✅ Working
GET /transfers/pending Get pending transfers ✅ Working
GET /blockchain/latest Latest block ✅ Working
GET /blockchain/length Chain length ✅ Working
GET /network/stats Network statistics ✅ Working
GET /sync/status Sync status ✅ Working

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

  • Go 1.19 or higher
  • Windows, Linux, or macOS

Installation & Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/blindxfish/truthchain.git
cd truthchain

# Build the application
go build -o truthchain_server cmd/main.go

# Run TruthChain (interactive setup)
./truthchain_server

# First time: Interactive setup guides you through:
# 1. Create or import a wallet
# 2. Select network (Mainnet/Testnet/Local)
# 3. Choose node modes (API/Mesh/Beacon/Mining)
# 4. Configure ports and settings
# 5. Join the decentralized consensus network
# 6. Configuration automatically saved for future starts

🔐 Security Features

Implemented Security

  • ECDSA Signatures: All posts and transfers cryptographically signed
  • Public Key Recovery: Signature verification with authorship validation
  • Local API Only: No exposed network ports by default (127.0.0.1)
  • Wallet Security: Proper file permissions and backup functionality
  • Nonce Protection: Replay attack prevention
  • Hash Verification: Block and post integrity validation

Security Best Practices

  • Backup your wallet: Save YourWalletInfo.txt in multiple secure locations
  • Protect your private key: Never share it with anyone
  • Use secure environments: Clean computers with updated software
  • Firewall configuration: Only open necessary ports (8080 for API, 9876 for mesh)

📊 Performance Expectations

Current Capabilities

  • Block Creation: Time-based blocks every 10+ minutes (when conditions met)
  • Post Processing: Immediate post acceptance and network propagation
  • Network Sync: Full chain synchronization for new nodes
  • Peer Connections: Dynamic peer management with trust scoring
  • API Response: Sub-second response times for most operations

Limitations

  • Not Production Ready: This is a development release
  • No Live Mainnet: Mainnet is not yet launched
  • Limited Testing: Network behavior under high load not fully tested
  • No Frontend: Web/mobile interfaces not yet implemented

🐛 Known Issues

Minor Issues

  • Post Threshold: System may need more posts to trigger proper consensus flow
  • Trust Score Integration: Trust scores exist but need better integration with block proposal logic
  • Peer Discovery: Working but could be more robust in some network conditions

Not Yet Implemented

  • Live Network: The blockchain is not live yet - currently in development/testing phase
  • Genesis Block: No genesis block has been created for mainnet
  • Network Bootstrapping: No public mainnet nodes are running yet
  • Frontend Applications: No web or mobile interfaces yet
  • Block Explorer: No public block explorer for viewing the blockchain

🔮 What's Next

Phase 5: Production Readiness 🔄 IN PROGRESS

  • 🔄 Finalize consensus rules
  • 🔄 Create genesis block for mainnet
  • 🔄 Launch public mainnet nodes
  • 🔄 Activate uptime mining and rewards
  • 🔄 Complete security audits

Phase 6: Ecosystem Development ❌ NOT STARTED

  • ❌ Frontend applications (web/mobile)
  • ❌ Block explorer
  • ❌ Advanced API features
  • ❌ Performance optimization
  • ❌ Developer tools and SDKs

🤝 Contributing

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch
  3. Make your changes
  4. Add tests if applicable
  5. Submit a pull request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🔗 Links

  • Repository: https://github.com/blindxfish/truthchain
  • Documentation: See HowToUse.txt for detailed usage instructions
  • White Paper: See WhitePaper.txt for technical details
  • Network Design: See NetworkDesign.txt for network architecture
  • Consensus Protocol: See Consensus.txt for consensus details

⚠️ Important Notes

TRUTCHAIN v0.2.5 IS A DEVELOPMENT RELEASE

  • Not for Production Use: This version is for development and testing only
  • No Live Mainnet: The blockchain is not live yet - currently in development/testing phase
  • Use Testnet or Local: For testing and development, use testnet or local mode
  • Backup Your Data: Always backup your wallet and configuration files
  • Report Issues: Please report any bugs or issues on GitHub

TruthChain v0.2.5: The most stable development release yet, with major improvements in network stability, consensus reliability, and overall system robustness. Ready for serious testing and development work.

TruthChain: Where truth is permanent, and history cannot be rewritten.

Assets 4
Loading