HackMDZcash Regtest ZIP definition
What is this document?
This is a poor dev's ZIP draft for a ZIP on Regtest mode on Zcash Full Nodes implementations.
It should describe at least the current state of Regtest on Zcashd so that it can be implemented on Zebra.
After Zcash deprecation new features shall be added to Regtest definition. At this very moment (Feb 2025) we just need Parity between Zcashd and Zebra for development purposes.
Terminology
The key words "MUST", "REQUIRED", "MUST NOT", "SHOULD", and "MAY" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 [1] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals.
The terms "Mainnet" and "Testnet" in this document are to be interpreted as defined in the Zcash protocol specification [2].
Abstract
At minimum, Regtest is a testing mode inherited from the Bitcoin node. It is a way to have a consensus node on a local network with a private state that a developer can drive at its will to reproduce certain situations deterministically and see how the code reacts to them. Regtest, as it was implemented on Zcashd, is similar to a “testnet” but without miners and remote peers.
Motivation
It is necessary to define Regtest mode so that different implementations of Zcash Full Nodes provide the same capabilities so that testing infrastructure can be interoperable. Regtest mode was inherited from Bitcoin functionality and never defined in a ZIP due to resource constraints and priorities. Differences between Zebra and Zcashd Regtest implementations found by developers involved in Zcashd deprecation motivated this ZIP as a way to document existing assumptions, expectations and functionalites of Regtest as well as new features that focus specifically on Zcash features.
Requirements
The scope of this ZIP is to define the behavior of a Zcash full-node
when set up to run in Regtest mode. It focuses on highlighting and specifying the difference in behavior, values, expectations and assumpions in comparison to Testnet. It uses the Zcash protocol and existing ZIPs as guiding principles for the document structure. It also documents pre-existing and previously undocumented requirements, constants and values that are present in the Zcashd 6.1.0 implementation and zcash_protocol crate 0.4.3[3]. This ZIP should be useful for Core Developers working on full node implementations but also a handbook for developers and QA testers to make use and take advantage of Regtest functionality to ensure test coverage of their codebases and a high quality assurance to Zcash users.
Non-requirements
This ZIP does not attempt to address how Regtest should be implemented. Details on full-node architecture, implementation details, software distribution are out of scope of this document.
Specification
Configuration Parameters
Regtest nodes and Network connections
Nodes that start on Regtest mode should never connect to any external peers. Localhost connections MUST be enforced. Attempts to
configure a Regtest setup in a way that violate this principle should cause a FatalError informing the developer of the problem
an pointing to the relevant documentation.
Global Effects on Network Upgrades
Regtest mode must allow Network Upgrades to occur at configurable arbitrary block heights in a way that all one of more of
them can be activated at once at a given height. Effects from network upgrades activating MUST be guaranteed to occur in the
intended order as it is defined on its Testnet or Mainnet implementation. This means that there is a hard requirement
that guarantees a chronological order of NU's event so that it is not possible to enable a NU prior to one of its predecessors. Example: a configuration such as NU1 -> NU3 -> NU2 should raise a critical error and fail the execution of the Regtest environment. The rationale
of this is to avoid unfeasible chain states. (TODO: check with Daira-Emma if this is really necessary or whether the ability to do such a mess with activation heights is actually a testing feature and not a bug.)
Effects of Regtest mode by ZIP
Behevior for ZIP-155
Peer-to-peer communications on Regtest MUST be restricted to localhost nodes. See "Regtest nodes and Network connections"
Behaviour for ZIP-200 Network Upgrade Mechanism
Regtest nodes should implement a way to configure parameters such as Network Upgrade activation heights and their respective consensus branch IDs. For convenience these should be defined on this ZIP and to be used in all libraries that enable Regtest testing. Configuration should
favor that such values can be altered and/or added if necessary, for example to develop a new Network Upgrade. Regtest client libraries SHOULD accommodate to such flexibility.
Behavior for ZIP-208 Shorter Block Target Spacing
In Regtest mode, block generation is dictated by whomever is ordering the node to generate one or more new blocks at will. Difficulty adjustments to enforce a blocktime MAY be ignored if
the node has been set with that intention. Values referred by ZIP-208 such as BlossomActivationHeight shall be populated with whatever value the regtest mode was configured with. Regtest allows
developers to set their own Network Upgrade activation heights and
references to Blossom activation should be replaced with the value
present in the node configuration.
Behavior for ZIP-301 Zcash Stratum Protocol
Regtest nodes MUST never expose connections or connect to public networks or other machines on a private network.
Regtest support of this ZIP MUST ensure that such requirement is enforced and guaranteed, failing when a configuration
attempts to violate that premise.
Effects on ZIP-316
Revision 0
The HRP for regtest is defined as uregtest. Receivers included inside regtest UAs MUST also be regtest variants of their type.
The example below shows how a regtest UA
Example:
uregtest1....
|
|
-> Sapling -> zregtest1...
|
-> orchard -> uregtest1...
Revision 1
From Address Expiration Metadata section:
When honoring an Address Expiry Time, the reason that a sender SHOULD choose a nExpiryHeight that is expected to occur within 24 hours of the time of transaction construction is to, when possible, ensure that the expiry time is respected to within a day.
Time is fluid on Regtest mode. Given that blocktimes are reduced there is a conflict between expected timespans for address expiration and
the real timestamps of the transactions in a Regtest generated blockchain where a desktop computer can generate a block (or more) per second.
Approaches:
A. Regtest manages a separate clock where the timestamps can appear to be "real" in terms of the average blocktime per second of mainnet (~72 seconds) for scenarios where time is of the essence of the test.
B. Adjust ZIP-316 implementations on regtest so that the expiration window can be adjusted according to Regtest block cadence.
Unified Incoming Viewing Keys encoding.
UIVKs MUST be encoded with the uivkregtest HRP on Regtest.
Unified Full Viewing Keys encoding.
UFVKs MUST be encoded with the uviewregtest HRP on Regtest.
Effects on ZIP-320 (TEX Addresses)
ZIP-320, Defining an Address Type to which funds can only be sent from Transparent Addresses defines an encoding or transparent-source-only addresses with a tex HRP. On Regtest that that value MUST be texregtest.
Effects of Regtest mode on protocol definitions
The following section describes how Regtest mode affects definitions present on the Zcash protocol.
Constants
Coin type:
Regtest reuses Testnet's coin type
/// The regtest cointype reuses the testnet cointype
pub const COIN_TYPE: u32 = 1;
Sapling address encoding
Section 5.6.3.1 of the Zcash protocol says:
For addresses on Mainnet , the Human-Readable Part (as defined in ZIP-173) is “zs”. For addresses on Testnet , the Human-Readable Part is “ztestsapling”.
On Regtest mode this MUST be zregtestsapling
Sapling Incoming Viewing Keys encoding
Section 5.6.3.2 of the Zcash protocol:
For incoming viewing keys on Mainnet, the Human-Readable Part is “zivks”. For incoming viewing keys on Testnet,
the Human-Readable Part is“zivktestsapling”
On Regtest this value MUST be zivkregtestsapling
Sapling Full Viewing Keys encoding
Section 5.6.3.3 of the Zcash protocol:
For full viewing keys on Mainnet, the Human-Readable Part is “zviews”. For full viewing keys on Testnet, the
Human-Readable Part is“zviewtestsapling”
On Regtest this value MUST be zviewregtestsapling
Sapling Spending Keys encoding
Section 5.6.3.4 of the Zcash protocol:
For spending keys on Mainnet, the Human-Readable Part is “secret-spending-key-main”. For spending keys on
Testnet, the Human-Readable Part is “secret-spending-key-test”
On Regtest this value MUST be secret-spending-key-regtest
Sapling Extended Spending Keys encoding
These keys are defined on the Sapling Crypto crate.
On Regtest their HRP encoding MUST be secret-extended-key-regtest
Sapling Extended Viewing Keys encoding
These keys are defined on the Sapling Crypto crate,
On Regtest their HRP encoding MUST be zxviewregtestsapling
Transparent Address Public Key Script Hash B58 prefix
The prefix for a Base58Check-encoded regtest transparent PublicKeyHash MUST be the same as the testnet prefix.
pub const B58_PUBKEY_ADDRESS_PREFIX: [u8; 2] = [0x1d, 0x25];
Transparent Address ScriptHash Base58 Prefix
/// The prefix for a Base58Check-encoded regtest transparent ScriptHash must be the same as the testnet prefix
pub const B58_SCRIPT_ADDRESS_PREFIX: [u8; 2] = [0x1c, 0xba];
Sprout payment address encoding
Section 5.6.3 of the Zcash Protocol defines:
Two bytes [0x16, 0x9A], indicating this version of the raw encoding of a Sprout shielded payment address on
Mainnet. (Addresses on Testnet use [0x16, 0xB6] instead.)
Regtest uses the same prefix as Testnet
