Nacatgunma

Nacatgunma is an experimental blockchain that supports fluid consensus.

1. The blockchain is a DAG (directed acyclic graph), potentially with multiple tips.
2. Anyone can extend the chain by signing a new block that references one or more parents.
3. Anyone can ignore the tips they do not like.
4. The block bodies are arbitrary and may be encrypted.
5. Because the creator of a block signs the block, the contents of that block are implicitly reified in that they include provenance about the creator and the time of creation.
6. Consortia of parties can collaborate on building a tip because they partially trust each other and can consider the reification in their individual trust models.

Semantic blocks

When used with blocks consisting of RDF (resource description framework) quads, this creates a provable, forkable, trust-aware semantic web, where:

• History is preserved.
• Trust is local.
• Forks are first-class citizens.
• Knowledge evolves socially, not algorithmically.
• Machine-readable graphs allow reasoning, merging, and analysis beyond human curation.

The combination of signed RDF graphs + DAG tips + subjective tip choice constitutes a model embraces partial trust and subjectivity rather than forcing global consensus. Use cases involve not just block structure and DAG evolution, but also the social logic around trust, forks, merges, and graph evolution. In essence it provides semantic CRDTs (conflict-free replicated data types) but with subjective acceptance and formal provenance: i.e., provenance-anchored knowledge graphs with subjective evolution.

Specifications

• General specification
• Specialization to RDF bodies
• Using Cardano for Layer 1

Nacatgunma operating on Cardano

• Genesis block and other artifacts
• Nacatgunma Explorer web application (source available at web/).

CLI examples

The CLI nacatgunma supports operations on the blockchain. Build using build.sh.

Build the CLI executable

go build -o nacatgunma main.go

Generate a private key

nacatgunma key generate \
  --key-file private.pem

did:key:z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr

cat private.pem

-----BEGIN ED25519 PRIVATE KEY-----
MC4CAQAwBQYDK2VwBCIEIDwz2pHLuwjP+rIrsLEwWhxoHq5iyZvWGFy/k44sHFCR
-----END ED25519 PRIVATE KEY-----

Resolve the DID for a public key

nacatgunma key resolve \
  --key-did "did:key:z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr" \
  --output-file resolution.json

json2yaml resolution.json

Context:
- https://w3id.org/did-resolution/v1
DIDDocument:
  '@context':
  - https://w3id.org/did/v1
  id: did:key:z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr
  verificationMethod:
  - controller: did:key:z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr
    id: did:key:z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr#z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr
    publicKeyBase58: DNaZJmSsAinjnxjSsaUNj7G8fjJGck6C1gHaiT1xisbU
    type: Ed25519VerificationKey2018
  authentication:
  - did:key:z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr#z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr
  assertionMethod:
  - did:key:z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr#z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr
  capabilityDelegation:
  - did:key:z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr#z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr
  capabilityInvocation:
  - did:key:z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr#z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr
  keyAgreement:
  - controller: did:key:z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr
    id: did:key:z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr#z6LSpeMaM7nxQ7xYbC4wK2nNxZwqDpKQRNcPy2u3E9nvN961
    publicKeyBase58: DyBQpoz6JfEoVohAnPGRdyjMNfnHimSF64BMjh9PemKF
    type: X25519KeyAgreementKey2019
  created: '2025-04-26T08:00:57.983089098-06:00'
  updated: '2025-04-26T08:00:57.983089098-06:00'
DocumentMetadata: null

Build a block header

nacatgunma header build \
  --key-file private.pem \
  --body bafyreiea2su23cm4nbfl3675m442gp5yo5qmghspjikeeeioudyls2jjtm \
  --accept bafyreid32eo34hcksuilttqhoyhssoz36r5umtk6zallvgoxqlehsqltru \
  --header-file header.cbor

bafyreib5fuk4qex34is3pt52ij4jddlnsevkys7jwa6v2lp2qrs2eoq5he

cbordump header.cbor 

{"Issuer": "did:key:z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr", "Payload": {"Body": 42(h'000171122080d4a9ad899c684abdfbfd6739a33fb87760c31e4f4a1442110ea0f0b969299b'), "Accept": [42(h'00017112207bd11dbe1c4a9510b9ce07760f293b3bf47b464d5ec816ba99d782c87941738d')], "Reject": [], "Schema": "DAG-CBOR", "Version": 1, "MediaType": "application/cbor"}, "Signature": h'6801ce78df1867c633fdc4b8a13fd7a5b81c93751ee9c9688e5b35a7f4e74756eefc4e6b22241f13c721fe9185b8a1fa2b41752ae5254f78bcf9025ed837990e'}

Verify a block header

nacatgunma header verify \
  --header-file header.cbor

Verified signature by did:key:z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr

echo $?

0

Export a block header as JSON

nacatgunma header export \
  --header-file header.cbor \
  --output-file header.json

json2yaml header.json

Payload:
  Version: 1
  Accept:
  - /: QmXUuPakG4UHBs7BBQKS6o3vKeZJkRy7yTY4Pu1iGSr2PY
  Reject: null
  Body:
    /: QmXUuPakG4UHBs7BBQKS6o3vKeZJkRy7yTY4Pu1iGSr2PY
  Schema: DAG-CBOR
  MediaType: application/cbor
Issuer: did:key:z6Mkrpqbu1hJWGHCuTa9Z9SDaCp8VJa82dLYhhCWYiyye6Nr
Signature: /Up9zvN/8Nf9uR0kcC5PSgLR+c4nYx2GL4XVKYR5hh3fsGsvwECGnw0E5kee9ZDj2oZlLy826bKcPQV+C4DxBw==

Create a block body from RDF N-quads

nacatgunma body rdf \
  --rdf-file body.nq \
  --base-uri http://example.org/person \
  --body-file body.cbor

bafyreiea2su23cm4nbfl3675m442gp5yo5qmghspjikeeeioudyls2jjtm

cbordump body.cbor

{"@id": "g1", "@graph": [{"@id": "#1234", "name": "Alice", "knows": {"@id": "#5678"}}, {"@id": "#5678", "name": "Bob"}], "@context": {"name": "http://schema.org/name", "knows": "http://schema.org/knows"}}

Export a block body as JSON

nacatgunma body export \
  --body-file body.cbor \
  --output-file body.json

json2yaml body.json

'@context':
  knows: http://schema.org/knows
  name: http://schema.org/name
'@graph':
- '@id': '#1234'
  knows:
    '@id': '#5678'
  name: Alice
- '@id': '#5678'
  name: Bob
'@id': g1

Store a block on IPFS

nacatgunma ipfs store \
  --key-file private.pem \
  --body-file body.cbor \
  --accept bafyreid32eo34hcksuilttqhoyhssoz36r5umtk6zallvgoxqlehsqltru

bafyreib5fuk4qex34is3pt52ij4jddlnsevkys7jwa6v2lp2qrs2eoq5he

Fetch a block from IPFS

nacatgunma ipfs fetch \
  --header-cid bafyreib5fuk4qex34is3pt52ij4jddlnsevkys7jwa6v2lp2qrs2eoq5he \
  --header-file h.cbor \
  --body-file b.cbor

Fetch the whole block chain from IPFS

nacatgunma ipfs chain \
  --tip-cid bafyreidyikafj5fablrtd526tjlsnxgk6nw3wr4mrsronbo5wceihes6b4 \
  --header-dir onchain/headers \
  --body-dir onchain/bodies \
  --progress 

2025/05/31 09:04:44 Fetched and verified block header: bafyreidyikafj5fablrtd526tjlsnxgk6nw3wr4mrsronbo5wceihes6b4                   
2025/05/31 09:04:44 Block body previously fetched: bafybeieuxid7jfvcqs2kv74t5fcwgdw26ja4cexe6hwpkuhbrcudaj5nfm                       
2025/05/31 09:04:44 Fetched and verified block header: bafyreiarhfqkfmkku2hkk5dfzdxmborrhfqjs264r3f3gnweqoldh7lsxa                   
2025/05/31 09:04:44 Block body previously fetched: bafybeif7ztnhq65lumvvtr4ekcwd2ifwgm3awq4zfr3srh462rwyinlb4y                       
2025/05/31 09:04:44 Fetched and verified block header: bafyreiampkqrvb7xkgfnvs5ca6y4oashcyevrezl4xnboige7wymflpcc4                   
. . .
```console


### Fetch the tip from Cardano

```bash
nacatgunma cardano tips \
  --node-socket preprod.socket \
  --network-magic 1 \
  --script-address $(cat onchain/script-0.testnet.address)

[
  {
    "TxId": "c37f280000dac5f5e1c1b36413f786403170fc21c4e186625a7906a1d0fc2445#0",
    "ScriptCredential": true,
    "CredentialHash": "30135f08305143796de4276083cc54e47fbcafb176df6b58ab309446",
    "HeaderCid": "bafyreignmx5htp2z4dzzqvty5bzpyw72yueqas7jzcw2qjfje7rakshzna"
  }
]

Generate Cardano datum, redeemer, and metadata

nacatgunma cardano inputs \
  --header-cid bafyreignmx5htp2z4dzzqvty5bzpyw72yueqas7jzcw2qjfje7rakshzna \
  --script \
  --credential-hash 30135f08305143796de4276083cc54e47fbcafb176df6b58ab309446 \
  --datum-file datum.json \
  --redeemer-file redeemer.json \
  --metadata-file metadata.json

json2yaml datum.json

list:
- constructor: 1
  fields:
  - bytes: 30135f08305143796de4276083cc54e47fbcafb176df6b58ab309446
- bytes: 01711220cd65fa79bf59e0f3985678e872fc5bfac509004be9c8ada824a927e20548f968

json2yaml redeemer.json

int: 58312

json2yaml metadata.json

'58312':
  blockchain: https://github.com/functionally/nacatgunma
  header:
    ipfs: bafyreignmx5htp2z4dzzqvty5bzpyw72yueqas7jzcw2qjfje7rakshzna

Note that these files can be generated individually using the following commands:

• nacatgunma cardano datum
• nacatgunma cardano redeemer
• nacatgunma cardano metadata