Private & Public token contract

In this tutorial we will go through writing an L2 native token contract for the Aztec Network, using the Aztec.nr contract libraries.

This tutorial is intended to help you get familiar with the Aztec.nr library, Aztec contract syntax and some of the underlying structure of the Aztec network.

In this tutorial you will learn how to:

Write public functions that update public state
Write private functions that update private state
Implement access control on public and private functions
Handle math operations safely
Handle different private note types
Pass data between private and public state

We are going to start with a blank project and fill in the token contract source code defined here (GitHub Link), and explain what is being added as we go.

Requirements

You will need to have aztec-nargo installed in order to compile Aztec.nr contracts.

Project setup

Create a new project with:

aztec-nargo new --contract token_contract

Your file structure should look something like this:

.
|--private_voting
|  |--src
|  |  |--main.nr
|  |--Nargo.toml

Inside Nargo.toml paste the following:

[dependencies]
aztec = { git="https://github.com/AztecProtocol/aztec-packages/", tag="aztec-packages-v0.63.1", directory="noir-projects/aztec-nr/aztec" }
authwit={ git="https://github.com/AztecProtocol/aztec-packages/", tag="aztec-packages-v0.63.1", directory="noir-projects/aztec-nr/authwit"}
compressed_string = {git="https://github.com/AztecProtocol/aztec-packages/", tag="aztec-packages-v0.63.1", directory="noir-projects/aztec-nr/compressed-string"}
uint_note = { git="https://github.com/AztecProtocol/aztec-packages/", tag="aztec-packages-v0.63.1", directory="noir-projects/aztec-nr/uint-note" }

We will be working within main.nr for the rest of the tutorial.

How this will work

Before writing the functions, let's go through them to see how this contract will work:

Initializer

There is one initializer function in this contract, and it will be selected and executed once when the contract is deployed, similar to a constructor in Solidity. This is marked private, so the function logic will not be transparent. To execute public function logic in the constructor, this function will call _initialize (marked internal, more detail below).

Public functions

These are functions that have transparent logic, will execute in a publicly verifiable context and can update public storage.

set_admin enables the admin to be updated
[set_minter](#set_minter) enables accounts to be added / removed from the approved minter list
mint_to_public enables tokens to be minted to the public balance of an account
transfer_in_public enables users to transfer tokens from one account's public balance to another account's public balance
burn_public enables users to burn tokens
finalize_mint_to_private finalizes a prepare_private_balance_increase call
finalize_transfer_to_private finalizes a prepare_private_balance_increase call

Private functions

These are functions that have private logic and will be executed on user devices to maintain privacy. The only data that is submitted to the network is a proof of correct execution, new data commitments and nullifiers, so users will not reveal which contract they are interacting with or which function they are executing. The only information that will be revealed publicly is that someone executed a private transaction on Aztec.

transfer enables an account to send tokens from their private balance to another account's private balance
transfer_in_private enables an account to send tokens from another account's private balance to another account's private balance
transfer_to_private transfers a specified amount from an accounts public balance to a designated recipient's private balance. This flow starts in private, but will be completed in public.
transfer_to_public transfers tokens from the private balance of another account, to a (potentially different account's) public balance
mint_to_private enables an authorized minter to mint tokens to a specified address
cancel_authwit enables an account to cancel an authorization to spend tokens
burn_private enables tokens to be burned privately
setup_refund allows users using a fee paying contract to receive unspent transaction fees
prepare_private_balance_increase is used to set up a partial note to be completed in public

Private `view` functions

These functions provide an interface to allow other contracts to read state variables in private:

private_get_name
private_get_symbol
private_get_decimals

Internal functions

Internal functions are functions that can only be called by the contract itself. These can be used when the contract needs to call one of it's public functions from one of it's private functions.

_increase_public_balance increases the public balance of an account when transfer_to_public is called
_reduce_total_supply reduces the total supply of tokens when a token is privately burned
complete_refund used in the fee payment flow. There is more detail on the partial note page.
_finalize_transfer_to_private_unsafe is the public component for finalizing a transfer from a public balance to private balance. It is considered unsafe because from is not enforced in this function, but it is in enforced the private function that calls this one (so it's safe).
_finalize_mint_to_private_unsafe finalizes a private mint. Like the function above, it is considered unsafe because from is not enforced in this function, but it is in enforced the private function that calls this one (so it's safe).

To clarify, let's review some details of the Aztec transaction lifecycle, particularly how a transaction "moves through" these contexts.

Execution contexts

Transactions are initiated in the private context (executed client-side), then move to the L2 public context (executed remotely by an Aztec sequencer), then to the Ethereum L1 context (executed by an Ethereum node).

Step 1. Private Execution

Users provide inputs and execute locally on their device for privacy reasons. Outputs of the private execution are commitment and nullifier updates, a proof of correct execution and any return data to pass to the public execution context.

Step 2. Public Execution

This happens remotely by the sequencer, which takes inputs from the private execution and runs the public code in the network virtual machine, similar to any other public blockchain.

Step 3. Ethereum execution

Aztec transactions can pass messages to Ethereum contracts through the rollup via the outbox. The data can be consumed by Ethereum contracts at a later time, but this is not part of the transaction flow for an Aztec transaction. The technical details of this are beyond the scope of this tutorial, but we will cover them in an upcoming piece.

Unconstrained functions

Unconstrained functions can be thought of as view functions from Solidity--they only return information from the contract storage or compute and return data without modifying contract storage.

Contract dependencies

Before we can implement the functions, we need set up the contract storage, and before we do that we need to import the appropriate dependencies.

Copy required files

We will be going over the code in main.nr here (GitHub link). If you are following along and want to compile main.nr yourself, you need to add the other files in the directory as they contain imports that are used in main.nr.

Paste these imports:

mod types;
mod test;

use dep::aztec::macros::aztec;

// Minimal token implementation that supports `AuthWit` accounts.
// The auth message follows a similar pattern to the cross-chain message and includes a designated caller.
// The designated caller is ALWAYS used here, and not based on a flag as cross-chain.
// message hash = H([caller, contract, selector, ...args])
// To be read as `caller` calls function at `contract` defined by `selector` with `args`
// Including a nonce in the message hash ensures that the message can only be used once.
#[aztec]
contract Token {
    // Libs
    use std::meta::derive;

    use dep::compressed_string::FieldCompressedString;

    use dep::aztec::{
        context::{PrivateCallInterface, PrivateContext},
        encrypted_logs::{
            encrypted_event_emission::encode_and_encrypt_event_unconstrained,
            encrypted_note_emission::encode_and_encrypt_note_unconstrained,
        },
        keys::getters::get_public_keys,
        macros::{
            events::event,
            functions::{initializer, internal, private, public, view},
            storage::storage,
        },
        oracle::random::random,
        prelude::{
            AztecAddress, FunctionSelector, Map, PublicContext, PublicMutable, SharedImmutable,
        },
        protocol_types::{point::Point, traits::Serialize},
    };

    use dep::uint_note::uint_note::UintNote;

    use dep::authwit::auth::{
        assert_current_call_valid_authwit, assert_current_call_valid_authwit_public,
        compute_authwit_nullifier,
    };

    use crate::types::balance_set::BalanceSet;
}

We are importing:

CompressedString to hold the token symbol
Types from aztec::prelude
Types for storing note types

Types files

We are also importing types from a types.nr file, which imports types from the types folder. You can view them here (GitHub link).

note

Private state in Aztec is all UTXOs.

Contract Storage

Now that we have dependencies imported into our contract we can define the storage for the contract.

Below the dependencies, paste the following Storage struct:

storage_struct
#[storage]
struct Storage<Context> {
    admin: PublicMutable<AztecAddress, Context>,
    minters: Map<AztecAddress, PublicMutable<bool, Context>, Context>,
    balances: Map<AztecAddress, BalanceSet<Context>, Context>,
    total_supply: PublicMutable<U128, Context>,
    public_balances: Map<AztecAddress, PublicMutable<U128, Context>, Context>,
    symbol: SharedImmutable<FieldCompressedString, Context>,
    name: SharedImmutable<FieldCompressedString, Context>,
    decimals: SharedImmutable<u8, Context>,
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L70-L90}}

Reading through the storage variables:

admin an Aztec address stored in public state.
minters is a mapping of Aztec addresses in public state. This will store whether an account is an approved minter on the contract.
balances is a mapping of private balances. Private balances are stored in a PrivateSet of UintNotes. The balance is the sum of all of an account's UintNotes.
total_supply is an unsigned integer (max 128 bit value) stored in public state and represents the total number of tokens minted.
public_balances is a mapping of Aztec addresses in public state and represents the publicly viewable balances of accounts.
symbol, name, and decimals are similar in meaning to ERC20 tokens on Ethereum.

Functions

Copy and paste the body of each function into the appropriate place in your project if you are following along.

Constructor

This function sets the creator of the contract (passed as msg_sender from the constructor) as the admin and makes them a minter, and sets name, symbol, and decimals.

constructor
#[public]
#[initializer]
fn constructor(admin: AztecAddress, name: str<31>, symbol: str<31>, decimals: u8) {
    assert(!admin.is_zero(), "invalid admin");
    storage.admin.write(admin);
    storage.minters.at(admin).write(true);
    storage.name.initialize(FieldCompressedString::from_string(name));
    storage.symbol.initialize(FieldCompressedString::from_string(symbol));
    storage.decimals.initialize(decimals);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L92-L105}}

Public function implementations

Public functions are declared with the #[public] macro above the function name.

As described in the execution contexts section above, public function logic and transaction information is transparent to the world. Public functions update public state, but can be used to finalize notes prepared in a private context (partial notes flow).

Storage is referenced as storage.variable.

`set_admin`

After storage is initialized, the contract checks that the msg_sender is the admin. If not, the transaction will fail. If it is, the new_admin is saved as the admin.

set_admin
#[public]
fn set_admin(new_admin: AztecAddress) {
    assert(storage.admin.read().eq(context.msg_sender()), "caller is not admin");
    storage.admin.write(new_admin);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L107-L115}}

`set_minter`

This function allows the admin to add or a remove a minter from the public minters mapping. It checks that msg_sender is the admin and finally adds the minter to the minters mapping.

set_minter
#[public]
fn set_minter(minter: AztecAddress, approve: bool) {
    assert(storage.admin.read().eq(context.msg_sender()), "caller is not admin");
    storage.minters.at(minter).write(approve);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L188-L198}}

`mint_to_public`

This function allows an account approved in the public minters mapping to create new public tokens owned by the provided to address.

First, storage is initialized. Then the function checks that the msg_sender is approved to mint in the minters mapping. If it is, a new U128 value is created of the amount provided. The function reads the recipients public balance and then adds the amount to mint, saving the output as new_balance, then reads to total supply and adds the amount to mint, saving the output as supply. new_balance and supply are then written to storage.

mint_to_public
#[public]
fn mint_to_public(to: AztecAddress, amount: Field) {
    assert(storage.minters.at(context.msg_sender()).read(), "caller is not minter");
    let amount = U128::from_integer(amount);
    let new_balance = storage.public_balances.at(to).read().add(amount);
    let supply = storage.total_supply.read().add(amount);
    storage.public_balances.at(to).write(new_balance);
    storage.total_supply.write(supply);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L200-L212}}

`transfer_in_public`

This public function enables public transfers between Aztec accounts. The sender's public balance will be debited the specified amount and the recipient's public balances will be credited with that amount.

Authorizing token spends

If the msg_sender is NOT the same as the account to debit from, the function checks that the account has authorized the msg_sender contract to debit tokens on its behalf. This check is done by computing the function selector that needs to be authorized, computing the hash of the message that the account contract has approved. This is a hash of the contract that is approved to spend (context.msg_sender), the token contract that can be spent from (context.this_address()), the selector, the account to spend from (from), the amount and a nonce to prevent multiple spends. This hash is passed to assert_inner_hash_valid_authwit_public to ensure that the Account Contract has approved tokens to be spent on it's behalf.

If the msg_sender is the same as the account to debit tokens from, the authorization check is bypassed and the function proceeds to update the account's public_balance.

transfer_in_public
#[public]
fn transfer_in_public(from: AztecAddress, to: AztecAddress, amount: Field, nonce: Field) {
    if (!from.eq(context.msg_sender())) {
        assert_current_call_valid_authwit_public(&mut context, from);
    } else {
        assert(nonce == 0, "invalid nonce");
    }
    let amount = U128::from_integer(amount);
    let from_balance = storage.public_balances.at(from).read().sub(amount);
    storage.public_balances.at(from).write(from_balance);
    let to_balance = storage.public_balances.at(to).read().add(amount);
    storage.public_balances.at(to).write(to_balance);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L214-L228}}

`burn_public`

This public function enables public burning (destroying) of tokens from the sender's public balance.

After storage is initialized, the authorization flow specified above is checked. Then the sender's public balance and the total_supply are updated and saved to storage.

burn_public
#[public]
fn burn_public(from: AztecAddress, amount: Field, nonce: Field) {
    if (!from.eq(context.msg_sender())) {
        assert_current_call_valid_authwit_public(&mut context, from);
    } else {
        assert(nonce == 0, "invalid nonce");
    }
    let amount = U128::from_integer(amount);
    let from_balance = storage.public_balances.at(from).read().sub(amount);
    storage.public_balances.at(from).write(from_balance);
    let new_supply = storage.total_supply.read().sub(amount);
    storage.total_supply.write(new_supply);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L230-L246}}

`finalize_mint_to_private`

This public function finalizes a transfer that has been set up by a call to prepare_private_balance_increase by reducing the public balance of the associated account and emitting the note for the intended recipient.

finalize_mint_to_private
/// Finalizes a mint of token `amount` to a private balance of `to`. The mint must be prepared by calling
/// `prepare_private_balance_increase` first and the resulting
/// `hiding_point_slot` must be passed as an argument to this function.
///
/// Note: This function is only an optimization as it could be replaced by a combination of `mint_to_public`
/// and `finalize_transfer_to_private`. It is however used very commonly so it makes sense to optimize it
/// (e.g. used during token bridging, in AMM liquidity token etc.).
#[public]
fn finalize_mint_to_private(amount: Field, hiding_point_slot: Field) {
    assert(storage.minters.at(context.msg_sender()).read(), "caller is not minter");

    _finalize_mint_to_private(amount, hiding_point_slot, &mut context, storage);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L578-L592}}

`finalize_transfer_to_private`

Similar to finalize_mint_to_private, this public function finalizes a transfer that has been set up by a call to prepare_private_balance_increase by reducing the public balance of the associated account and emitting the note for the intended recipient.

finalize_transfer_to_private
/// Finalizes a transfer of token `amount` from public balance of `from` to a private balance of `to`.
/// The transfer must be prepared by calling `prepare_private_balance_increase` first and the resulting
/// `hiding_point_slot` must be passed as an argument to this function.
#[public]
fn finalize_transfer_to_private(amount: Field, hiding_point_slot: Field) {
    let from = context.msg_sender();
    _finalize_transfer_to_private(from, amount, hiding_point_slot, &mut context, storage);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L509-L518}}

Private function implementations

Private functions are declared with the #[private] macro above the function name like so:

    #[private]
    fn transfer_to_public(

As described in the execution contexts section above, private function logic and transaction information is hidden from the world and is executed on user devices. Private functions update private state, but can pass data to the public execution context (e.g. see the transfer_to_public function).

Storage is referenced as storage.variable.

`transfer_to_public`

This private function enables transferring of private balance (UintNote stored in balances) to any Aztec account's public_balance.

After initializing storage, the function checks that the msg_sender is authorized to spend tokens. See the Authorizing token spends section above for more detail--the only difference being that assert_inner_hash_valid_authwit in the authwit check is modified to work specifically in the private context. After the authorization check, the sender's private balance is decreased using the decrement helper function for the value_note library. Then it stages a public function call on this contract (_increase_public_balance) to be executed in the public execution phase of transaction execution. _increase_public_balance is marked as an internal function, so can only be called by this token contract.

The function returns 1 to indicate successful execution.

transfer_to_public
#[private]
fn transfer_to_public(from: AztecAddress, to: AztecAddress, amount: Field, nonce: Field) {
    if (!from.eq(context.msg_sender())) {
        assert_current_call_valid_authwit(&mut context, from);
    } else {
        assert(nonce == 0, "invalid nonce");
    }

    let from_ovpk_m = get_public_keys(from).ovpk_m;
    // TODO: constrain encryption below - we are using unconstrained here only becuase of the following Noir issue
    // https://github.com/noir-lang/noir/issues/5771
    storage.balances.at(from).sub(from, U128::from_integer(amount)).emit(
        encode_and_encrypt_note_unconstrained(&mut context, from_ovpk_m, from, from),
    );
    Token::at(context.this_address())._increase_public_balance(to, amount).enqueue(&mut context);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L248-L265}}

`transfer`

This private function enables private token transfers between Aztec accounts.

transfer
#[private]
fn transfer(to: AztecAddress, amount: Field) {
    let from = context.msg_sender();

    let from_ovpk_m = get_public_keys(from).ovpk_m;

    let amount = U128::from_integer(amount);
    // We reduce `from`'s balance by amount by recursively removing notes over potentially multiple calls. This
    // method keeps the gate count for each individual call low - reading too many notes at once could result in
    // circuits in which proving is not feasible.
    // Since the sum of the amounts in the notes we nullified was potentially larger than amount, we create a new
    // note for `from` with the change amount, e.g. if `amount` is 10 and two notes are nullified with amounts 8 and
    // 5, then the change will be 3 (since 8 + 5 - 10 = 3).
    let change = subtract_balance(
        &mut context,
        storage,
        from,
        amount,
        INITIAL_TRANSFER_CALL_MAX_NOTES,
    );
    storage.balances.at(from).add(from, change).emit(encode_and_encrypt_note_unconstrained(
        &mut context,
        from_ovpk_m,
        from,
        from,
    ));
    storage.balances.at(to).add(to, amount).emit(encode_and_encrypt_note_unconstrained(
        &mut context,
        from_ovpk_m,
        to,
        from,
    ));
    // We don't constrain encryption of the note log in `transfer` (unlike in `transfer_in_private`) because the transfer
    // function is only designed to be used in situations where the event is not strictly necessary (e.g. payment to
    // another person where the payment is considered to be successful when the other party successfully decrypts a
    // note).
    Transfer { from, to, amount: amount.to_field() }.emit(
        encode_and_encrypt_event_unconstrained(&mut context, from_ovpk_m, to, from),
    );
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L267-L308}}

`transfer_in_private`

This private function enables an account to transfer tokens on behalf of another account. The account that tokens are being debited from must have authorized the msg_sender to spend tokens on its behalf.

transfer_in_private
#[private]
fn transfer_in_private(from: AztecAddress, to: AztecAddress, amount: Field, nonce: Field) {
    if (!from.eq(context.msg_sender())) {
        assert_current_call_valid_authwit(&mut context, from);
    } else {
        assert(nonce == 0, "invalid nonce");
    }
    let from_ovpk_m = get_public_keys(from).ovpk_m;

    let amount = U128::from_integer(amount);
    // TODO: constrain encryption below - we are using unconstrained here only becuase of the following Noir issue
    // https://github.com/noir-lang/noir/issues/5771
    storage.balances.at(from).sub(from, amount).emit(encode_and_encrypt_note_unconstrained(
        &mut context,
        from_ovpk_m,
        from,
        from,
    ));
    // TODO: constrain encryption below - we are using unconstrained here only becuase of the following Noir issue
    // https://github.com/noir-lang/noir/issues/5771
    storage.balances.at(to).add(to, amount).emit(encode_and_encrypt_note_unconstrained(
        &mut context,
        from_ovpk_m,
        to,
        from,
    ));
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L374-L408}}

`transfer_to_private`

This function execution flow starts in the private context and is completed with a call to a public internal function. It enables an account to send tokens from its public_balance to a private balance of an arbitrary recipient.

First a partial note is prepared then a call to the public, internal _finalize_transfer_to_private_unsafe is enqueued. The enqueued public call subtracts the amount from public balance of msg_sender and finalizes the partial note with the amount.

transfer_to_private
// Transfers token `amount` from public balance of message sender to a private balance of `to`.
#[private]
fn transfer_to_private(to: AztecAddress, amount: Field) {
    // `from` is the owner of the public balance from which we'll subtract the `amount`.
    let from = context.msg_sender();
    let token = Token::at(context.this_address());

    // We prepare the private balance increase (the partial note).
    let hiding_point_slot = _prepare_private_balance_increase(from, to, &mut context, storage);

    // At last we finalize the transfer. Usage of the `unsafe` method here is safe because we set the `from`
    // function argument to a message sender, guaranteeing that he can transfer only his own tokens.
    token._finalize_transfer_to_private_unsafe(from, amount, hiding_point_slot).enqueue(
        &mut context,
    );
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L428-L445}}

`mint_to_private`

This private function prepares a partial UintNote at the recipients storage slot in the contract and enqueues a public call to _finalize_mint_to_private_unsafe, which asserts that the msg_sender is an authorized minter and finalized the mint by incrementing the total supply and emitting the complete, encrypted UintNote to the intended recipient. Note that the amount and the minter (from) are public, but the recipient is private.

mint_to_private
/// Mints token `amount` to a private balance of `to`. Message sender has to have minter permissions (checked
/// in the enqueud call).
#[private]
fn mint_to_private(
    from: AztecAddress, // recipient of the outgoing: TODO(#9887): this is not great?
    to: AztecAddress,
    amount: Field,
) {
    let token = Token::at(context.this_address());

    // We prepare the partial note to which we'll "send" the minted amount.
    let hiding_point_slot = _prepare_private_balance_increase(from, to, &mut context, storage);

    // At last we finalize the mint. Usage of the `unsafe` method here is safe because we set the `from`
    // function argument to a message sender, guaranteeing that only a message sender with minter permissions
    // can successfully execute the function.
    token
        ._finalize_mint_to_private_unsafe(context.msg_sender(), amount, hiding_point_slot)
        .enqueue(&mut context);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L555-L576}}

`cancel_authwit`

This private function allows a user to cancel an authwit that was previously granted. This is achieved by emitting the corresponding nullifier before it is used.

cancel_authwit
#[private]
fn cancel_authwit(inner_hash: Field) {
    let on_behalf_of = context.msg_sender();
    let nullifier = compute_authwit_nullifier(on_behalf_of, inner_hash);
    context.push_nullifier(nullifier);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L365-L372}}

`burn_private`

This private function enables accounts to privately burn (destroy) tokens.

After initializing storage, the function checks that the msg_sender is authorized to spend tokens. Then it gets the sender's current balance and decrements it. Finally it stages a public function call to _reduce_total_supply.

burn_private
#[private]
fn burn_private(from: AztecAddress, amount: Field, nonce: Field) {
    if (!from.eq(context.msg_sender())) {
        assert_current_call_valid_authwit(&mut context, from);
    } else {
        assert(nonce == 0, "invalid nonce");
    }
    let from_ovpk_m = get_public_keys(from).ovpk_m;
    // TODO: constrain encryption below - we are using unconstrained here only becuase of the following Noir issue
    // https://github.com/noir-lang/noir/issues/5771
    storage.balances.at(from).sub(from, U128::from_integer(amount)).emit(
        encode_and_encrypt_note_unconstrained(&mut context, from_ovpk_m, from, from),
    );
    Token::at(context.this_address())._reduce_total_supply(amount).enqueue(&mut context);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L410-L426}}

`setup_refund`

This private function may be called by a Fee Paying Contract (FPC) in order to allow users to pay transaction fees privately on the network. This function ensures that the user has enough funds in their account to pay the transaction fees for the transaction, sets up partial notes for paying the fees to the fee_payer and sending any unspent fees back to the user, and enqueues a call to the internal, public complete_refund function to be run as part of the public execution step.

setup_refund
#[private]
fn setup_refund(
    fee_payer: AztecAddress, // Address of the entity which will receive the fee note.
    user: AztecAddress, // A user for which we are setting up the fee refund.
    funded_amount: Field, // The amount the user funded the fee payer with (represents fee limit).
    nonce: Field, // A nonce to make authwitness unique.
) {
    // 1. This function is called by fee paying contract (fee_payer) when setting up a refund so we need to support
    // the authwit flow here and check that the user really permitted fee_payer to set up a refund on their behalf.
    assert_current_call_valid_authwit(&mut context, user);

    // 2. Since user is the logical sender of all the notes we get user's ovpk and use that in all of them.
    let user_ovpk = get_public_keys(user).ovpk_m;

    // 3. Deduct the funded amount from the user's balance - this is a maximum fee a user is willing to pay
    // (called fee limit in aztec spec). The difference between fee limit and the actual tx fee will be refunded
    // to the user in the `complete_refund(...)` function.
    let change = subtract_balance(
        &mut context,
        storage,
        user,
        U128::from_integer(funded_amount),
        INITIAL_TRANSFER_CALL_MAX_NOTES,
    );
    storage.balances.at(user).add(user, change).emit(encode_and_encrypt_note_unconstrained(
        &mut context,
        user_ovpk,
        user,
        user,
    ));

    // 4. We prepare the partial notes
    // TODO(#9887): In each `_prepare_private_balance_increase` call we fetch the user's ovpk_m 2 more times. This is
    // very inefficient.
    let fee_payer_point_slot =
        _prepare_private_balance_increase(user, fee_payer, &mut context, storage);
    let user_point_slot = _prepare_private_balance_increase(user, user, &mut context, storage);

    // 5. Set the public teardown function to `complete_refund(...)`. Public teardown is the only time when a public
    // function has access to the final transaction fee, which is needed to compute the actual refund amount.
    context.set_public_teardown_function(
        context.this_address(),
        comptime { FunctionSelector::from_signature("complete_refund(Field,Field,Field)") },
        [fee_payer_point_slot, user_point_slot, funded_amount],
    );
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L648-L695}}

`prepare_private_balance_increase`

TODO: update from prepare_transfer_to_private

This private function prepares to transfer from a public balance to a private balance by setting up a partial note for the recipient. The function returns the hiding_point_slot. After this, the public finalize_transfer_to_private must be called, passing the amount and the hiding point slot.

prepare_private_balance_increase
/// Prepares an increase of private balance of `to` (partial note). The increase needs to be finalized by calling
/// some of the finalization functions (`finalize_transfer_to_private`, `finalize_mint_to_private`).
/// Returns a hiding point slot.
#[private]
fn prepare_private_balance_increase(to: AztecAddress) -> Field {
    let from = context.msg_sender();
    _prepare_private_balance_increase(from, to, &mut context, storage)
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L447-L456}}

Internal function implementations

Internal functions are functions that can only be called by this contract. The following 3 functions are public functions that are called from the private execution context. Marking these as internal ensures that only the desired private functions in this contract are able to call them. Private functions defer execution to public functions because private functions cannot update public state directly.

`_increase_public_balance`

This function is called from transfer_to_public. The account's private balance is decremented in transfer_to_public and the public balance is increased in this function.

increase_public_balance
#[public]
#[internal]
fn _increase_public_balance(to: AztecAddress, amount: Field) {
    let new_balance = storage.public_balances.at(to).read().add(U128::from_integer(amount));
    storage.public_balances.at(to).write(new_balance);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L745-L752}}

`_reduce_total_supply`

This function is called from burn. The account's private balance is decremented in burn and the public total_supply is reduced in this function.

reduce_total_supply
#[public]
#[internal]
fn _reduce_total_supply(amount: Field) {
    // Only to be called from burn.
    let new_supply = storage.total_supply.read().sub(U128::from_integer(amount));
    storage.total_supply.write(new_supply);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L754-L762}}

`complete_refund`

This public function is intended to be called during the public teardown at the end of public transaction execution. The call to this function is staged in setup_refund. This function ensures that the user has sufficient funds to cover the transaction costs and emits encrypted notes to the fee payer and the remaining, unused transaction fee back to the user.

complete_refund
#[public]
#[internal]
fn complete_refund(fee_payer_slot: Field, user_slot: Field, funded_amount: Field) {
    // TODO(#7728): Remove the next line
    let funded_amount = U128::from_integer(funded_amount);
    let tx_fee = U128::from_integer(context.transaction_fee());

    // 1. We check that user funded the fee payer contract with at least the transaction fee.
    // TODO(#7796): we should try to prevent reverts here
    assert(funded_amount >= tx_fee, "funded amount not enough to cover tx fee");

    // 2. We compute the refund amount as the difference between funded amount and tx fee.
    let refund_amount = funded_amount - tx_fee;

    // 3. We construct the note finalization payloads with the correct amounts and hiding points to get the note
    // hashes and unencrypted logs.
    let fee_payer_finalization_payload =
        UintNote::finalization_payload().new(&mut context, fee_payer_slot, tx_fee);
    let user_finalization_payload =
        UintNote::finalization_payload().new(&mut context, user_slot, refund_amount);

    // 4. At last we emit the note hashes and the final note logs.
    fee_payer_finalization_payload.emit();
    user_finalization_payload.emit();
    // --> Once the tx is settled user and fee recipient can add the notes to their pixies.
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L715-L742}}

`_finalize_transfer_to_private_unsafe`

This public internal function decrements the public balance of the from account and finalizes the partial note for the recipient, which is hidden in the hiding_point_slot.

This function is called by the private function transfer_to_private to finalize the transfer. The transfer_to_private enforces the from argument, which is why using it unsafe is okay.

finalize_transfer_to_private_unsafe
#[public]
#[internal]
fn _finalize_transfer_to_private_unsafe(
    from: AztecAddress,
    amount: Field,
    hiding_point_slot: Field,
) {
    _finalize_transfer_to_private(from, amount, hiding_point_slot, &mut context, storage);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L520-L530}}

`_finalize_mint_to_private_unsafe`

Similar to _finalize_transfer_to_private_unsafe, this public internal function increments the private balance of the recipient by finalizing the partial note and emitting the encrypted note. It also increments the public total supply and ensures that the sender of the transaction is authorized to mint tokens on the contract.

finalize_mint_to_private_unsafe
#[public]
#[internal]
fn _finalize_mint_to_private_unsafe(
    from: AztecAddress,
    amount: Field,
    hiding_point_slot: Field,
) {
    // We check the minter permissions as it was not done in `mint_to_private` function.
    assert(storage.minters.at(from).read(), "caller is not minter");
    _finalize_mint_to_private(amount, hiding_point_slot, &mut context, storage);
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L594-L606}}

View function implementations

View functions in Aztec are similar to view functions in Solidity in that they only return information from the contract storage or compute and return data without modifying contract storage. These functions are different from unconstrained functions in that the return values are constrained by their definition in the contract.

Public view calls that are part of a transaction will be executed by the sequencer when the transaction is being executed, so they are not private and will reveal information about the transaction. Private view calls can be safely used in private transactions for getting the same information.

`admin`

A getter function for reading the public admin value.

admin
#[public]
#[view]
fn get_admin() -> Field {
    storage.admin.read().to_field()
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L156-L162}}

`is_minter`

A getter function for checking the value of associated with a minter in the public minters mapping.

is_minter
#[public]
#[view]
fn is_minter(minter: AztecAddress) -> bool {
    storage.minters.at(minter).read()
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L164-L170}}

`total_supply`

A getter function for checking the token total_supply.

total_supply
#[public]
#[view]
fn total_supply() -> Field {
    storage.total_supply.read().to_integer()
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L172-L178}}

`balance_of_public`

A getter function for checking the public balance of the provided Aztec account.

balance_of_public
#[public]
#[view]
fn balance_of_public(owner: AztecAddress) -> Field {
    storage.public_balances.at(owner).read().to_integer()
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L180-L186}}

Unconstrained function implementations

Unconstrained functions are similar to view functions in Solidity in that they only return information from the contract storage or compute and return data without modifying contract storage. They are different from view functions in that the values are returned from the user's PXE and are not constrained by the contract's definition--if there is bad data in the user's PXE, they will get bad data back.

`balance_of_private`

A getter function for checking the private balance of the provided Aztec account. Note that the Private Execution Environment (PXE) (GitHub link) must have ivsk (incoming viewing secret key) in order to decrypt the notes.

balance_of_private
pub(crate) unconstrained fn balance_of_private(owner: AztecAddress) -> pub Field {
    storage.balances.at(owner).balance_of().to_field()
}

^{_{Source code: noir-projects/noir-contracts/contracts/token_contract/src/main.nr#L765-L769}}

Compiling

Now that the contract is complete, you can compile it with aztec-nargo. See the Sandbox reference page for instructions on setting it up.

Run the following command in the directory where your Nargo.toml file is located:

aztec-nargo compile

Once your contract is compiled, optionally generate a typescript interface with the following command:

aztec codegen target -o src/artifacts

Next Steps

Token Bridge Contract

The token bridge tutorial is a great follow up to this one.

It builds on the Token contract described here and goes into more detail about Aztec contract composability and Ethereum (L1) and Aztec (L2) cross-chain messaging.

Optional: Dive deeper into this contract and concepts mentioned here

Review the end to end tests (Github link) for reference.
Commitments (Wikipedia link)
Nullifiers
Public / Private function calls.
Contract Storage
Authwit

Requirements​

Project setup​

How this will work​

Initializer​

Public functions​

Private functions​

Private view functions​

Internal functions​

Execution contexts​

Unconstrained functions​

Contract dependencies​

Types files​

Contract Storage​

Functions​

Constructor​

Public function implementations​

set_admin​

set_minter​

mint_to_public​

transfer_in_public​

Authorizing token spends​

burn_public​

finalize_mint_to_private​

finalize_transfer_to_private​

Private function implementations​

transfer_to_public​

transfer​

transfer_in_private​

transfer_to_private​

mint_to_private​

cancel_authwit​

burn_private​

setup_refund​

prepare_private_balance_increase​

Internal function implementations​

_increase_public_balance​

_reduce_total_supply​

complete_refund​

_finalize_transfer_to_private_unsafe​

_finalize_mint_to_private_unsafe​

View function implementations​

admin​

is_minter​

total_supply​

balance_of_public​

Unconstrained function implementations​

balance_of_private​

Compiling​

Next Steps​

Token Bridge Contract​

Optional: Dive deeper into this contract and concepts mentioned here​