Zot structures

Zot signatures

All signed data in Zot is generated by an RSA signature operation with the initiator's private key. The binary result is then encoded for transport with base64url.

Zot encryption

Encryption is currently performed using AES256CTR. Other algorithms MAY be supported. A 32-octet key and a 16-octet initialisation vector are generated at random. The desired data is then encoded with these generated strings and the result is base64url encoded. An array is then created:

  • data The base64url-encoded encrypted data
  • alg The selected algorithm, in this case the character string ‘aes256ctr’.
  • key The randomly generated key, RSA-encrypted with the recipient's public key, and the base64url-encoded result
  • iv The randomly generated initialisation vector, RSA-encrypted with the recipient's public key, and the base64url-encoded result

Basic Zot packet

Used to initiate a dialogue with another Zot site. This packet MAY be encrypted. The presence of an array element ‘iv’ indicates that encryption has been performed. When sending an ‘auth_check’ packet, this packet MUST be encrypted, using the target site's public key (the site key, as opposed to a sender key).

    {
      ‘type’: ‘notify’,
      ‘sender’:{
        ‘guid’: ‘kgVFf_1_SSbyqH-BNWjWuhAvJ2EhQBTUdw-Q1LwwssAntr8KTBgBSzNVzUm9_RwuDpxI6X8me_QQhZMf7RfjdA’,
        ‘guid_sig’: "PT9-TApzpm7QtMxC63MjtdK2nUyxNI0tUoWlOYTFGke3kNdtxSzSvDV4uzq_7SSBtlrNnVMAFx2_1FDgyKawmqVtRPmT7QSXrKOL2oPzL8Hu_nnVVTs_0YOLQJJ0GYACOOK- R5874WuXLEept5-KYg0uShifsvhHnxnPIlDM9lWuZ1hSJTrk3NN9Ds6AKpyNRqf3DUdz81- Xvs8I2kj6y5vfFtm-FPKAqu77XP05r74vGaWbqb1r8zpWC7zxXakVVOHHC4plG6rLINjQzvdSFKCQb5R_xtGsPPfvuE24bv4fvN4ZG2ILvb6X4Dly37WW_HXBqBnUs24mngoTxFaPgNmz1nDQNYQu91- ekX4-BNaovjDx4tP379qIG3-NygHTjFoOMDVUvs-pOPi1kfaoMjmYF2mdZAmVYS2nNLWxbeUymkHXF8lT_iVsJSzyaRFJS1Iqn7zbvwH1iUBjD_pB9EmtNmnUraKrCU9eHES27xTwD- yaaH_GHNc1XwXNbhWJaPFAm35U8ki1Le4WbUVRluFx0qwVqlEF3ieGO84PMidrp51FPm83B_oGt80xpvf6P8Ht5WvVpytjMU8UG7-js8hAzWQeYiK05YTXk-78xg0AO6NoNe_RSRk05zYpF6KlA2yQ_My79rZBv9GFt4kUfIxNjd9OiV1wXdidO7Iaq_Q’,
        ‘url’: ‘http:\/\/podunk.edu’,
        ‘url_sig’: "T8Bp7j5DHHhQDCFcAHXfuhUfGk2P3inPbImwaXXF1xJd3TGgluoXyyKDx6WDm07x0hqbupoAoZB1qBP3_WfvWiJVAK4N1FD77EOYttUEHZ7L43xy5PCpojJQmkppGbPJc2jnTIc_F1vvGvw5fv8gBWZvPqTdb6LWF6FLrzwesZpi7j2rsioZ3wyUkqb5TDZaNNeWQrIEYXrEnWkRI_qTSOzx0dRTsGO6SpU1fPWuOOYMZG8Nh18nay0kLpxReuHCiCdxjXRVvk5k9rkcMbDBJcBovhiSioPKv_yJxcZVBATw3z3TTE95kGi4wxCEenxwhSpvouwa5b0hT7NS4Ay70QaxoKiLb3ZjhZaUUn4igCyZM0h6fllR5I6J_sAQxiMYD0v5ouIlb0u8YVMni93j3zlqMWdDUZ4WgTI7NNbo8ug9NQDHd92TPmSE1TytPTgya3tsFMzwyq0LZ0b- g- zSXWIES__jKQ7vAtIs9EwlPxqJXEDDniZ2AJ6biXRYgE2Kd6W_nmI7w31igwQTms3ecXe5ENI3ckEPUAq__llNnND7mxp5ZrdXzd5HHU9slXwDShYcW3yDeQLEwAVomTGSFpBrCX8W77n9hF3JClkWaeS4QcZ3xUtsSS81yLrp__ifFfQqx9_Be89WVyIOoF4oydr08EkZ8zwlAsbZLG7eLXY"
        ‘sitekey’:"-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----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-----END PUBLIC KEY-----
"
      },
      ‘recipients’:{
         {
            ‘guid’: ‘lql-1VnxtiO4-WF0h72wLX1Fu8szzHDOXgQaTbELwXW77k8AKFfh-hYr70vqMrc3SSvWN-Flrc5HFhRTWB7ICw’,
            ‘guid_sig’: "PafvEL0VpKfxATxlCqDjfOeSIMdmpr3iU7X-Sysa1h5LzDpjSXsjO37tYZL- accb1M5itLlfnW5epkTa5I4flsW21zSY1A2jCuBQUTLLGV7rNyyBy7lgqJUFvAMRx0TfXzP9lcaPqlM9T1tA6jfWOsOmkdzwofGeXBnsjGfjsO2xdGYe6vwjOU0DSavukvzDMnOayB9DekpvDnaNBTxeGLM45Skzr7ZEMcNF7TeXMbnvpfLaALYEKeQs9bGH- UgAG8fBWgzVAzeBfx_XSR1rdixjyiZGP0kq0h35SlmMPcEjliodOBFwMXqpXFB7Ibp4F6o6te2p2ErViJccQVG8VNKB6SbKNXY6bhP5zVcVsJ- vR-p4xXoYJJvzTN7yTDsGAXHOLF4ZrXbo5yi5gFAlIrTLAF2EdWQwxSGyLRWKxG8PrDkzEzX6cJJ0VRcLh5z6OI5QqQNdeghPZbshMFMJSc_ApCPi9_hI4ZfctCIOi3T6bdgTNKryLm5fhy_eqjwLAZTGP- aUBgLZpb1mf2UojBn6Ey9cCyq-0T2RWyk-FcIcbV4qJ-p_8oODqw13Qs5FYkjLr1bGBq82SuolkYrXEwQClxnrfKa4KYc2_eHAXPL01iS9zVnI1ySOCNJshB97Odpooc4wk7Nb2Fo-Q6THU9zuu0uK_-JbK7IIl6go2qA"
         },
      },
      ‘callback’:‘\/post’,
      ‘version’: ‘1.2’,
      ‘encryption’:{
        ‘aes256ctr’
      },
      ‘secret’:‘1eaa6613699be6ebb2adcefa5379c61a3678aa0df89025470fac871431b70467’,
      ‘secret_sig’: "0uShifsvhHnxnPIlDM9lWuZ1hSJTrk3NN9Ds6AKpyNRqf3DUdz81-Xvs8I2kj6y5vfFtm- FPKAqu77XP05r74vGaWbqb1r8zpWC7zxXakVVOHHC4plG6rLINjQzvdSFKCQb5R_xtGsPPfvuE24bv4fvN4ZG2ILvb6X4Dly37WW_HXBqBnUs24mngoTxFaPgNmz1nDQNYQu91-ekX4-BNaovjDx4tP379qIG3-NygHTjFoOMDVUvs- pOPi1kfaoMjmYF2mdZAmVYS2nNLWxbeUymkHXF8lT_iVsJSzyaRFJS1Iqn7zbvwH1iUBjD_pB9EmtNmnUraKrCU9eHES27xTwD- yaaH_GHNc1XwXNbhWJaPFAm35U8ki1Le4WbUVRluFx0qwVqlEF3ieGO84PMidrp51FPm83B_oGt80xpvf6P8Ht5WvVpytjMU8UG7-js8hAzWQeYiK05YTXk-78xg0AO6NoNe_RSRk05zYpF6KlA2yQ_My79rZBv9GFt4kUfIxNjd9OiV1wXdidO7Iaq_Q"
    }

type

The message type: notify, purge, refresh, force_refresh, auth_check, ping or pickup. The content of the packets varies depending on the message type. The notify packet is described here.

callback

A character string that is appended to the URL and identifies the Zot communication endpoint on this system. This is usually the character string ‘/post’.

version

The identifier of the Zot protocol so that future protocol revisions can co-exist.

encryption

Array of supported encryption algorithms, ordered by decreasing preference. If no compatible encryption methods are specified, applications MUST use ‘aes256cbc’.

secret

A 64-character string randomly generated by the sending side.

secret_sig

The RSA signature of the secret, signed with the sender's private key.

sender

An array of four components that provide a portable identity. We can contact the given URL and download a Zot info packet to obtain the sender's public key and use it to verify the sender's guid and the signatures of the sending URL.

  • guid Usually a 64 character base64url encoded string. It is generated when an identity is created and an attempt is made to make it unique, but this is not required.
  • guid_sig The RSA signature of the guid, signed with the sender's private key and base64url-encoded.
  • url The base URL of the location from which this post originated.
  • url_sig The RSA signature of the url, signed with the sender's private key and base64url encoded.
  • sitekey The public key of the website specified in the url

recipients

Only used for private messages. An array of envelope recipients. Each recipient is represented by an array of guid and guid_sig. If recipients are specified, the entire packet is also encapsulated with a negotiated cryptographic algorithm or ‘aes256cbc’ if none could be negotiated.

  • guid The guid of a private recipient.
  • guid_sig The RSA signature of the guid, signed with the recipient's private key and base64url-encoded