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Building xApps

A xApp (pronounced "zap") is a cross-chain application built on top of the Nomad Protocol.
Nomad sends messages from one chain to another in the form of raw bytes. A xApp that wishes to use Nomad will need to define the rules for sending and receiving messages for its use case.
Each cross-chain application must implement its own messaging interface. By convention, we call the contracts that implement this protocol the application's Router contracts. These Router contracts must:
  • Maintain a permissioned set of the contract(s) on remote chains from which it will accept messages via Nomad — this could be a single owner of the application on one chain; it could be a registry of other applications implementing the same rules on various chains
  • Maintain a permissioned registry of connections via the XappConnectionManager contract (see Connection Management).
  • Encode messages in a standardized format, so they can be decoded by the Router contract on the destination chain
  • Handle messages from remote Router contracts
  • Dispatch messages to remote Router contracts
By implementing these pieces of functionality within a Router contract and deploying it across multiple chains, we create a working xApp using a common language and set of rules. Applications of this kind may use Nomad message passing channels as the cross-chain courier for sending and receiving messages between chains.

Connection Management

The router implements the XappConnectionClient abstract contract. This contract provides convenience functions for working with a XAppConnectionManager.
The XCM is the primary permissioning point for channels. It provides functions by which
  • xApp administrators can enroll or unenroll Replica contracts for inbound messages
  • xApp administrators can enroll or unenroll a Home contract for outbound messages
  • xApp administrators can permission or de-permission watchers
  • watchers can unenroll Replica contracts
When deploying a xApp Router, the xApp administrators must select an existing XappConnectionManager, or deploy their own. The address of the XappConnectionManager must be passed to the router's initialization method.