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multiformats / multicodec

Compact self-describing codecs. Save space by using predefined multicodec tables.
MIT License
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Add a code for ed25519 secret key. #355

Closed AaronGoldman closed 3 months ago

AaronGoldman commented 3 months ago

I propose we add codes for ed25519-secret.

name tag code status description
ed25519-secret key 0xde draft Ed25519 secret key
ed25519-pub key 0xed draft Ed25519 public key

0xde since it is the opposite of 0xed.

Reason Working with multi-key makes short convenient unambiguous keys trivial. eg. The key z6Mkg7Uz4NKdLrMHKXu2t3Moeu9TE7bapb2PMdxJn1JjjuX1 can be included in identifiers like did key. did:key:z6Mkg7Uz4NKdLrMHKXu2t3Moeu9TE7bapb2PMdxJn1JjjuX1 is generated from seed z625wgYZKAw6AYFT3MiZf9UmJAA26F1sXTwXroGLuj8v4bo8 The multiformat 0xde which is followed by exactly 32 bytes of seed. would allow an equally terse unambiguous URI safe secret key representation.

because of the multiformat prefix a library could read z6Mkg7Uz4NKdLrMHKXu2t3Moeu9TE7bapb2PMdxJn1JjjuX1 or z625wgYZKAw6AYFT3MiZf9UmJAA26F1sXTwXroGLuj8v4bo8 to produce the verification key. But only z625wgYZKAw6AYFT3MiZf9UmJAA26F1sXTwXroGLuj8v4bo8 would produce the signing key.

did:key has been one of the most compelling uses of multiformats and I think a complimentary 48 char way of storing the secret key would be valuable.

rvagg commented 3 months ago

We have ed25519-priv already, 0x1300. What do you mean by "secret" in this context, are you talking about the private key, or a seed for a private key, or something else?

AaronGoldman commented 3 months ago

I was looking at an old table.csv thanks for reading the doc for me. 🤦‍♂️