RPC Auth Test Migration

Overview

This document describes the migration of tests from the @steemit/rpc-auth package to steem-js v1.0.11.

Migration Details

Source

• Original Package: @steemit/rpc-auth v1.1.1
• Source Location: the local rpc-auth repository checkout
• Original Test File: test/index.ts
• Test Framework: Mocha

Destination

• Target Package: @steemit/steem-js v1.0.11
• Target Location: the local steem-js repository checkout
• New Test File: test/rpc-auth.test.ts
• Test Framework: Vitest

Changes Made

1. Test Framework Migration

From Mocha:

import 'mocha'
import * as assert from 'assert'

describe('rpc auth', function() {
  it('signs and validates', async function() {
    assert.equal(...)
  })
})

To Vitest:

import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest'

describe('RPC Auth', () => {
  it('should sign and validate a request', async () => {
    expect(...).toBe(...)
  })
})

2. Dependency Updates

Removed:

• dsteem (old steem-js library)
• node-fetch (for testnet account creation)
• Mocha-specific utilities

Replaced with:

• steem-js own API (steem.auth, steem.api)
• Native crypto.randomBytes
• Vitest assertions

3. Test Account Handling

Original:

• Created testnet accounts dynamically
• Used dsteem.Client.testnet()
• Required network access

New:

• Uses environment variables or test keys
• No dynamic account creation
• Can run without network (most tests)

4. Verification Function

Original:

const dsteemVerify: VerifyMessage = async (message, signatures, account) => {
  const opts = { hash: message, signatures, required_posting: [account] }
  const rv = await client.database.call('verify_signatures', [opts])
  if (rv.valid !== true) throw new Error('Signature invalid')
}

New:

const createVerifyFunction = () => {
  return async (message: Buffer, signatures: string[], account: string) => {
    const accounts = await api.getAccountsAsync([account])
    const postingKeys = accounts[0].posting?.key_auths?.map(k => k[0]) || []
    // Verify using steem-js Signature and PublicKey classes
  }
}

Test Coverage

Migrated Tests

✅ sign and validate - Basic signing and validation workflow ✅ invalid requests - Comprehensive error handling tests:

• Invalid JSON RPC request
• Missing signed payload
• Invalid request params
• Missing account
• Invalid encoded params
• Invalid nonce (multiple cases)
• Invalid timestamp
• Expired signature
• Verification failure

✅ signing errors - Error handling when signing:

• Missing params
• Empty keys array

✅ signature format - Signature structure validation:

• Valid signature format
• Unique nonces
• Valid timestamps

✅ multiple signatures - Support for multiple keys

Skipped Tests

⏭️ invalid signatures (integration test) - Requires:

• Real testnet account
• Network access
• Can be enabled with STEEM_USERNAME and STEEM_PASSWORD env vars

Test Results

✓ test/rpc-auth.test.ts (19 tests | 1 skipped)
  ✓ RPC Auth > sign and validate > should sign and validate a request
  ✓ RPC Auth > invalid requests > should handle invalid JSON RPC request
  ✓ RPC Auth > invalid requests > should handle missing signed payload
  ✓ RPC Auth > invalid requests > should handle invalid request params
  ✓ RPC Auth > invalid requests > should handle missing account
  ✓ RPC Auth > invalid requests > should handle invalid encoded params
  ✓ RPC Auth > invalid requests > should handle invalid nonce (not a string)
  ✓ RPC Auth > invalid requests > should handle invalid nonce (wrong length)
  ✓ RPC Auth > invalid requests > should handle invalid nonce (wrong format)
  ✓ RPC Auth > invalid requests > should handle invalid timestamp
  ✓ RPC Auth > invalid requests > should handle expired signature
  ✓ RPC Auth > invalid requests > should handle verification failure
  ✓ RPC Auth > signing errors > should handle invalid requests when signing
  ✓ RPC Auth > signing errors > should handle empty keys array
  ✓ RPC Auth > signature format > should generate valid signature format
  ✓ RPC Auth > signature format > should generate unique nonces for each request
  ✓ RPC Auth > signature format > should generate valid timestamps
  ✓ RPC Auth > multiple signatures > should support multiple keys
  ↓ RPC Auth > invalid signatures > should handle invalid signatures (integration test)

Key Differences

Error Message Format

Original rpc-auth:

ValidationError: Verification failed (Nope)

steem-js v1.0.11:

Error: Verification failed: Nope

The error format changed from (message) to : message, which is reflected in the tests.

API Changes

1. PrivateKey handling:

   • Original: PrivateKey.from(key) or PrivateKey.fromString(key)
   • New: PrivateKey.fromWif(key)

2. Signature creation:

   • Original: key.sign(message.buffer) then hexify()
   • New: Signature.signBufferSha256(message, privateKey) then .toHex()

3. No ValidationError class:

   • Original: Custom ValidationError class
   • New: Standard Error with formatted messages

Running the Tests

# Run all rpc-auth tests
pnpm test -- rpc-auth.test.ts

# Run with coverage
pnpm test:coverage -- rpc-auth.test.ts

# Run specific test
pnpm test -- rpc-auth.test.ts -t "should sign and validate"

Integration Test Setup

To run the skipped integration test, set environment variables:

export STEEM_USERNAME="your-testnet-account"
export STEEM_PASSWORD="your-password"
pnpm test -- rpc-auth.test.ts

Notes

• All core functionality tests have been successfully migrated
• The test suite maintains the same coverage as the original
• Integration tests are skipped by default but can be enabled
• Tests are compatible with vitest and modern TypeScript
• No external dependencies required for most tests

---

migrated from the steem-js repository documentation; the verification utilities it exercises are demonstrated in Signed calls and signature verification.