bisq/apitest/docs/api-beta-test-guide.md

Bisq API Beta Testing Guide

This guide explains how Bisq Api beta testers can quickly get a test harness running, watch a regtest trade simulation, and use the CLI to execute trades between Bob and Alice.

Knowledge of Git, Java, and installing bitcoin-core is required.

System Requirements

Hardware: A reasonably fast development machine is recommended, with at least 16 Gb RAM and 8 cores. None of the headless apps use a lot of RAM, but build times can be long on machines with less RAM and fewer cores. In addition, a slow machine may run into race conditions if asynchronous wallet changes are not persisted to disk fast enough. Test harness startup and shutdown times may also not happen fast enough, and require test harness option adjustments to compensate.

OS: Linux or Mac OSX

Shell: Bash

Java SDK: Version 10, 11, or 12

Bitcoin-Core: Version 0.19 or 0.20

Git Client

Clone and Build Source Code

Beta testing can be done with no knowledge of how git works, but you need a git client to get the source code.

Clone the Bisq master branch into a project folder of your choice. In this document, the root project folder is called api-beta-test.

$ git clone https://github.com/bisq-network/bisq.git api-beta-test

Change your current working directory to api-beta-test, build the source, and download / install Bisq’s pre-configured DAO / dev / regtest setup files.

$ cd api-beta-test
$ ./gradlew clean build :apitest:installDaoSetup -x test    # if you want to skip Bisq tests
$ ./gradlew clean build :apitest:installDaoSetup            # if you want to run Bisq tests

Running Api Test Harness

If your bitcoin-core binaries are in your system PATH, start bitcoind in regtest-mode, Bisq seednode and arbitration node daemons, plus Bob & Alice daemons in a bash terminal with the following bash command:

$ ./bisq-apitest --apiPassword=xyz
        --supportingApps=bitcoind,seednode,arbdaemon,alicedaemon,bobdaemon
        --shutdownAfterTests=false

If your bitcoin-core binaries are not in your system PATH, you can specify the bitcoin-core bin directory with the -–bitcoinPath=<path> option:

$ ./bisq-apitest --apiPassword=xyz
        --supportingApps=bitcoind,seednode,arbdaemon,alicedaemon,bobdaemon
        --shutdownAfterTests=false
        --bitcoinPath=<bitcoin-core-home>/bin

If your bitcoin-core binaries are not statically linked to your BerkleyDB library, you can specify the path to it with the –-berkeleyDbLibPath=<path> option:

$ ./bisq-apitest --apiPassword=xyz
        --supportingApps=bitcoind,seednode,arbdaemon,alicedaemon,bobdaemon
        --shutdownAfterTests=false
        --bitcoinPath=<bitcoin-core-home>/bin
        --berkeleyDbLibPath=<lib-berkleydb-path>

Alternatively, you can specify any or all of these bisq-apitest options in a properties file located in apitest/src/main/resources/apitest.properties.

In this example, a beta tester uses the apitest.properties below, instead of ./bisq-cli options.

supportingApps=bitcoind,seednode,arbdaemon,alicedaemon,bobdaemon
apiPassword=xyz
shutdownAfterTests=false
bitcoinPath=/home/beta-tester/path-to-my-bitcoin-core/bin

Start up the test harness with without command options:

$ ./bisq-apitest

If you edit apitest.properties, do not forget to re-build the source. You do not need to do a full clean and build, or run tests. The following build command should finish quickly.

$ ./gradlew build :apitest:installDaoSetup -x test

You should see the test harness startup bitcoin-core and other Bisq daemons in your console, run a bitcoin-cli getwalletinfo command, and generate a regtest btc block.

After the test harness tells you how to shut it down by entering ^C, the test harness is ready to use.

Running Trade Simulation Script

Warning: again, it is assumed the beta tester has a reasonably fast machine, or the scripted wait times -- for the other side to perform his step in the protocol, and for btc block generation and asynchronous processing of new btc blocks by test daemons -- may not be long enough.

System Requirements

Same as described at the top of this document, but your bitcoin-core’s bitcoin-cli binary must be in the system PATH. (The script generates regtest blocks with it.)

Description

The regtest trade simulation script apitest/scripts/trade-simulation.sh is a useful introduction to the Bisq Api. The bash script’s output is intended to serve as a tutorial, showing how the CLI can be used to create payment accounts for Bob and Alice, create an offer, take the offer, and complete a trade protocol. (The bash script itself is not intended to be as useful as the output.) The output is generated too quickly to follow in real time, so let the script complete before studying the output from start to finish.

The script takes four options:

-d=<direction>          The trade direciton, BUY or SELL.
-c=<country>            The two letter country code, US, FR, AT, RU, etc.
-f=<fixed-price>        The offer’s fixed price.
    OR  (-f and -m options mutually exclusive, use one or the other)
-m=<margin-from-price>  The offer’s margin (%) from market price.
-a=<btc-amount>         The amount of btc to buy or sell.

Examples

This simulation creates US / USD face-to-face payment accounts for Bob and Alice. Alice (always the trade maker) creates a SELL / USD offer for the amount of 0.1 BTC, at a price 2% below the current market price. Bob (always the taker), will use his face-to-face account to take the offer, then the two sides will complete the trade protocol, checking their trade status along the way, and their BSQ / BTC balances when the trade is closed.

$ apitest/scripts/trade-simulation.sh    -d sell -c us -m 2.00 -a 0.1

In the next example, Bob and Alice create Austrian face-to-face payment accounts. Alice creates a BUY/ EUR offer to buy 0.125 BTC at a fixed price of 30,800 EUR.

$ apitest/scripts/trade-simulation.sh -d buy -c at -f 30800  -a 0.125

Manual Testing

The test harness used by the simulation script described in the previous section can also be used for manual CLI testing, and you can leave it running as you try the commands described below.

The Api’s default server listening port is 9998, and you do not need to specify a –port=<port> option in a CLI command unless you change the server’s –apiPort=<listening-port>. In the test harness, Alice’s Api port is 9998, Bob’s is 9999. When you manually test the Api using the test harness, be aware of the port numbers being used in the CLI commands, so you know which server (Bob’s or Alice’s) the CLI is sending requests to.

CLI Help

Useful information can be found using the CLI’s --help option.

For list of supported CLI commands:

$ ./bisq-cli  --help	(the –password option is not needed because there is no server request)

For help with a specific CLI command:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --help getbalance
OR
$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz  getbalance --help

The position of --help option does not matter. If a supported positional command option is present, method help will be returned from the server. Also note an api password is required to get help from the server.

Working With Encrypted Wallet

There is no need to secure your regtest Bisq wallet with an encryption password when running these examples, but you should encrypt your mainnet wallet as you probably already do when using the Bisq UI to transact in real BTC. This section explains how to encrypt your Bisq wallet with the CLI, and unlock it before performing wallet related operations such as creating and taking offers, checking balances, and sending BSQ and BTC to external wallets.

Encrypt your wallet with a password:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz setwalletpassword --wallet-password=<wallet-password>

Set a new password on your already encrypted wallet:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz setwalletpassword --wallet-password=<wallet-password>
    --new-wallet-password=<new-wallet-password>

Unlock your password encrypted wallet for N seconds before performing sensitive wallet operations:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz unlockwallet --wallet-password=<wallet-password> --timeout=<seconds>

You can override a timeout before it expires by calling unlockwallet again.

Lock your wallet before the unlockwallet timeout expires:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz lockwallet

Checking Balances

Show full BSQ and BTC wallet balance information:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998  getbalance

Show full BSQ wallet balance information:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9999 getbalance --currency-code=bsq

Note: The example above is asking for Bob’s balance (using port 9999), not Alice’s balance.

Show Bob’s full BTC wallet balance information:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9999 getbalance --currency-code=btc

Funding a Bisq Wallet

Receiving BTC

To receive BTC from an external wallet, find an unused BTC address (with a zero balance) to receive the BTC.

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 getfundingaddresses

You can check block explorers for the status of a transaction, and check your Bisq BTC wallet address directly:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 getaddressbalance --address=<btc-address>

Receiving BSQ

To receive BSQ from an external wallet, find an unused BSQ address:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 getunusedbsqaddress

Give the public address to the sender. After the BSQ is sent, you can check block explorers for the status of the transaction. There is no support (yet) to check the balance of an individual BSQ address in your wallet, but you can check your BSQ wallet’s balance to see when the new funds arrive:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9999 getbalance --currency-code=bsq

Sending BSQ and BTC to External Wallets

Below are commands for sending BSQ and BTC to external wallets.

Send BSQ:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 sendbsq --address=<bsq-address> --amount=<bsq-amount>

Send BSQ with a withdrawal transaction fee of 10 sats/byte:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 sendbsq --address=<bsq-address> --amount=<bsq-amount>  --tx-fee-rate=10

Send BTC:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 sendbtc --address=<btc-address> --amount=<btc-amount>

Send BTC with a withdrawal transaction fee of 20 sats/byte:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 sendbtc --address=<btc-address> --amount=<btc-amount>  --tx-fee-rate=20

Withdrawal Transaction Fees

If you have traded using the Bisq UI, you are probably aware of the default network bitcoin withdrawal transaction fee, and the custom withdrawal transaction fee user preference in the UI’s setting view. The Api uses these same withdrawal transaction fee rates, and affords a third – as mentioned in the previous section -- withdrawal transaction fee option in the sendbsq and sendbtc commands. The sendbsq and sendbtc commands' --tx-fee-rate=<sats/byte> options override both the default network fee rate, and your custom transaction fee setting during for the execution of those commands.

Using Default Network Transaction Fee

If you have not set your custom withdrawal transaction fee setting, the default network transaction fee will be used when withdrawing funds. In either case, you can check the current (default or custom) withdrawal transaction fee rate:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz gettxfeerate

Setting Custom Transaction Fee Preference

To set a custom withdrawal transaction fee rate preference of 50 sats/byte:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz settxfeerate --tx-fee-rate=50

Removing User’s Custom Transaction Fee Preference

To remove a custom withdrawal transaction fee rate preference, and revert to the network fee rate:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz unsettxfeerate

Creating Test Payment Accounts

Creating a payment account using the Api involves three steps:

1. Find the payment-method-id for the payment account type you wish to create. For example, if you want to create a face-to-face type payment account, find the face-to-face payment-method-id (F2F):

   $ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 getpaymentmethods
   

2. Use the payment-method-id F2F found in the getpaymentmethods command output to create a blank payment account form:

   $ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 getpaymentacctform --payment-method-id=F2F
   

   This getpaymentacctform command generates a json file (form) for creating an F2F payment account, prints the file’s contents, and tells you where it is. In this example, the sever created an F2F account form named f2f_1612381824625.json.

3. Manually edit the json file, and use its path in the createpaymentacct command.

   $ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 createpaymentacct
       --payment-account-form=f2f_1612381824625.json
   

   The server will create and save the new payment account from details defined in the json file.

   Note: You can rename the file before passing it to the createpaymentacct command.

Creating Offers

The createoffer command is the Api's most complex command (so far), but CLI posix-style options are self-explanatory, and CLI createoffer command help gives you specific information about each option.

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 createoffer --help

Examples

The trade-simulation.sh script described above is an easy way to figure out how to use this command. In one of the examples, Alice created a BUY/ EUR offer to buy 0.125 BTC at a fixed price of 30,800 EUR, and pay the Bisq maker fee in BSQ. Alice had already created an EUR face-to-face payment account with id f3c1ec8b-9761-458d-b13d-9039c6892413, and used this createoffer command:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 createoffer
    --payment-account=f3c1ec8b-9761-458d-b13d-9039c6892413
    --direction=BUY
    --currency-code=EUR
    --amount=0.125
    --fixed-price=30800
    --security-deposit=15.0
    --fee-currency=BSQ

If Alice was in Japan, and wanted to create an offer to sell 0.125 BTC at 0.5% above the current market JPY price, putting up a 15% security deposit, the createoffer command to do that would be:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 createoffer
    --payment-account=f3c1ec8b-9761-458d-b13d-9039c6892413
    --direction=SELL
    --currency-code=JPY
    --amount=0.125
    --market-price-margin=0.5
    --security-deposit=15.0
    --fee-currency=BSQ

The trade-simulation.sh script options that would generate the previous createoffer example is:

$ apitest/scripts/trade-simulation.sh -d sell -c jp -m 0.5  -a 0.125

Browsing Your Own Offers

There are different commands to browse available offers you can take, and offers you created.

To see all offers you created with a specific direction (BUY|SELL) and currency (CAD|EUR|USD|...):

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 getmyoffers --direction=<BUY|SELL> --currency-code=<currency-code>

To look at a specific offer you created:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 getmyoffer --offer-id=<offer-id>

Browsing Available Offers

To see all available offers you can take, with a specific direction (BUY|SELL) and currency (CAD|EUR|USD|...):

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 getoffers --direction=<BUY|SELL> --currency-code=<currency-code>

To look at a specific, available offer you could take:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 getoffer --offer-id=<offer-id>

Removing An Offer

To cancel one of your offers:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 canceloffer --offer-id=<offer-id>

The offer will be removed from other Bisq users' offer views, and paid transaction fees will be forfeited.

Editing an Existing Offer

Editing existing offers is not yet supported. You can cancel and re-create an offer, but paid transaction fees for the canceled offer will be forfeited.

Taking Offers

Taking an available offer involves two CLI commands: getoffers and takeoffer.

A CLI user browses available offers with the getoffers command. For example, the user browses SELL / EUR offers:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998  getoffers --direction=SELL --currency-code=EUR

And takes one of the available offers with an EUR payment account ( id fe20cdbd-22be-4b8a-a4b6-d2608ff09d6e) with the takeoffer command:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 takeoffer
    --offer-id=83e8b2e2-51b6-4f39-a748-3ebd29c22aea
    --payment-account=fe20cdbd-22be-4b8a-a4b6-d2608ff09d6e
    --fee-currency=btc

The taken offer will be used to create a trade contract. The next section describes how to use the Api to execute the trade.

Completing Trade Protocol

The first step in the Bisq trade protocol is completed when a takeoffer command successfully creates a new trade from the taken offer. After the Bisq servers prepare the trade, its status can be viewed with the gettrade command:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 gettrade --trade-id=<trade-id>

The trade-id is the same as the taken offer-id, but when viewing and interacting with trades, it is referred to as the trade-id. Note that the trade-id argument is a full offer-id, not a truncated short-id as displayed in the Bisq UI.

You can also view the entire trade contract in json format by using the gettrade command's --show-contract=true option:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 gettrade --trade-id=<trade-id> --show-contract=true

The gettrade command’s output shows the state of the trade from initial preparation through completion and closure. Output columns include:

Deposit Published           YES if the taker fee tx deposit has been broadcast to the network.
Deposit Confirmed           YES if the taker fee tx deposit has been confirmed by the network.
Fiat Sent                   YES if the buyer has sent a “payment started” message to seller.
Fiat Received               YES if the sell has sent a “payment received” message to buyer.
Payout Published            YES if the seller’s BTC payout tx has been broadcast to the network.
Withdrawn                   YES if the buyer’s BTC proceeds have been sent to an external wallet.

Trade status information informs both sides of a trade which steps have been completed, and which step to perform next. It should be frequently checked by both sides before proceeding to the next step of the protocol.

Note: There is some delay after a new trade is created due to the time it takes for a taker’s trade deposit fee transaction to be published and confirmed on the bitcoin network. Both sides of the trade can check the gettrade output's Deposit Published and Deposit Confirmed columns to find out when this early phase of the trade protocol is complete.

Once the taker fee transaction has been confirmed, payment can be sent, payment receipt confirmed, and the trade protocol completed. There are three CLI commands that must be performed in coordinated order by each side of the trade:

confirmpaymentstarted       Buyer sends seller a message confirming payment has been sent.
confirmpaymentreceived      Seller sends buyer a message confirming payment has been received.
keepfunds                   Keep trade proceeds in their Bisq wallets.
    OR
withdrawfunds               Send trade proceeds to an external wallet.

The last two mutually exclusive commands (keepfunds or withdrawfunds) may seem unnecessary, but they are critical because they inform the server that a trade’s state can be set to CLOSED. Please close out your trades with one or the other command.

Each of the CLI commands above takes one argument: --trade-id=<trade-id>:

$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 confirmpaymentstarted --trade-id=<trade-id>
$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 confirmpaymentreceived --trade-id=<trade-id>
$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 keepfunds --trade-id=<trade-id>
$ ./bisq-cli --password=xyz --port=9998 withdrawfunds --trade-id=<trade-id>

Shutting Down Test Harness

The test harness should cleanly shutdown all the background apps in proper order after entering ^C.

Once shutdown, all Bisq and bitcoin-core data files are left in the state they were in at shutdown time, so they and logs can be examined after a test run. All datafiles will be refreshed the next time the test harness is started, so if you want to save datafiles and logs from a test run, copy them to a safe place first. They can be found in apitest/build/resources/main.