ERC-1328 - WalletConnect URI Format

Created	2018-08-15
Status	Final
Category	ERC
Type	Standards Track
Authors

Abstract

This standard defines how the data to connect some application and a wallet can be encoded with a URI. This URI can then be shown either as a QR code or as a link.

Specification

Syntax

WalletConnect request URI with the following parameters:

request       = "wc" ":" topic [ "@" version ][ "?" parameters ]
topic         = STRING
version       = 1*DIGIT
parameters    = parameter *( "&" parameter )
parameter     = key "=" value
key           = STRING
value         = STRING

Semantics

Required parameters are dependent on the WalletConnect protocol version:

For WalletConnect v1.0 protocol (version=1) the parameters are:

key - symmetric key used for encryption
bridge - url of the bridge server for relaying messages

For WalletConnect v2.0 protocol (version=2) the parameters are:

symKey - symmetric key used for encrypting messages over relay
methods - jsonrpc methods supported for pairing topic
relay-protocol - transport protocol for relaying messages
relay-data - (optional) transport data for relaying messages
expiryTimestamp - (optional) unix epoch in seconds when pairing expires

Example

# 1.0
wc:8a5e5bdc-a0e4-4702-ba63-8f1a5655744f@1?bridge=https%3A%2F%2Fbridge.walletconnect.org&key=41791102999c339c844880b23950704cc43aa840f3739e365323cda4dfa89e7a

# 2.0
wc:7f6e504bfad60b485450578e05678ed3e8e8c4751d3c6160be17160d63ec90f9@2?relay-protocol=irn&symKey=587d5484ce2a2a6ee3ba1962fdd7e8588e06200c46823bd18fbd67def96ad303&methods=[wc_sessionPropose],[wc_authRequest,wc_authBatchRequest]"&expiryTimestamp=1705934757

Rationale

This proposal moves away from the JSON format used in the alpha version of the WalletConnect protocol because it suffered from very inefficient parsing of the intent of the QR code, thereby making it easier to create better QR code parsers APIs for wallets to implement. Also by using a URI instead of JSON inside the QR-Code the Android Intent system can be leveraged.

Backwards Compatibility

Versioning is required as part of the syntax for this URI specification to allow the WalletConnect protocol to evolve and allow backwards-compatibility whenever a new version is introduced.

Security Considerations

URIs should be shared between user devices or applications and no sensitive data is shared within the URI that could compromise the communication or would allow control of the user's private keys.