Creating a Neuro-Feature token on credit using AgentAPI

This article describes how you can use the Agent API to create Neuro-Feature™ tokens on credit. It assumes you already have an account, and a wallet created. The wallet will receive the tokens created, as well as receive the credits required to pay for any token creation fees required. If you do not have an account with a wallet, check out the recipe Creating a wallet using Agent API.

The process is as follows:

• A smart contract template is created and approved. The purpose of the template is to define how tokens are created, and their legal context.
• A smart contract is created based on the approved template.
• Neuro-Credits™ are bought, to generate sufficient eDaler® in the wallet to create the tokens.
  • Invoices with reminders are sent to the e-mail registered for the account.
  • Payment of invoices can be done at a later stage (before the due-date) on the links provided in the e-mails.
• The contract is signed. This casues a series of events:
  • The token generation process to start (if contract successfully approved, and not failed).
  • Funds required to create the token or tokens are withdrawn from the wallet.
  • The created token or tokens are received in the wallet.

Creating a smart contract template for token creation

The creation of smart contract templates is done outside of the scope of the Agent API. It is typically a development process, where token developers generate the template in some form of tool, such as LegalLab, and publish the templates on Neurons. Once the templates have been approved by the Neuron® operators, they can be the basis of creating smart contracts using the Agent API. When creating a smart contract based on a template, you can change the parties that sign, and the parameter values, within the valid ranges defined by the template, but you cannot change the underlying definition of the token, or any human-readable sections or validation rules of the smart contract template.

Note: The LegalLab repository contains many examples of templates for creating Neuro-Feature™ tokens. These can be used for development purposes, and for testing the concepts described in this article.

Creating a smart contract for token creation, based on a template

When automating the creation of smart contracts based on a smart contract template, you typically need the following information:

• A Contract ID for the template.
• What Roles are defined in the template, and how many are needed of each for the contract to become valid.
• What Parameters exist, and their types and valid value ranges.

This information is readily available from the template itself, and it may vary from template to template. It can also be provided by the developer of the template. But there are some roles and parameters that will occur frequently, if they are not hard-coded into the contract template itself. They are provided here, for reference:

Common Roles
Role	Use	Description
Creator	Required	The creator of the token. The party that signs the contract as a Creator pays the fees required to create the token or tokens. This would be the Agent API client, in the example of this article.
Owner	Optional	If the template allows the owner to be different from the creator, the party that signs as Owner will receive the created tokens in their wallet.
TrustProvider	Required	This role is reserved for the Neuron® itself. The Trust Provider is the party that permits the creation and hosting of the token, and assures the integrity of the token, as well as protects the confidentiality and privacy of the associated information.
Valuator	Optional	A party that attests to the initial value stated for the contract.
Assessor	Optional	A party that has provided necessary input in the creation of the token.
Certifier	Optional	A privileged role albeit external role of a token. They can certify to the correctness, legality, contents or context of the token. They can also be given special privileges with control over the life-cycle of the token (meaning, if the token definition permits it, they can kill the token if compliance quirements are not met).
Witness	Optional	A witness to the signature and creation of the tokens.

Common Parameters
Parameter	Use	Type	Description
Value	Optional	Numeric	The initial value of the token.
Currency	Optional	String	The currency of the token.
CommissionPercent	Optional	Numeric	The number of percent of the value that needs to be paid by the creator, for the creation of the token or tokens.

Note: There may be other parameters available that are required, depending on the type of token that is to be created. Check with the creator of the token definition to get a detailed list of parameters required to be set.

Getting token creation attributes

The Currency and CommissionPercent parameters that will be accepted by the Neuron®, as well as the Legal Identity identifier for the TrustProvider Role, can be retrieved by calling the GetCreationAttributes resource using the Agent API. After retrieving these values, you can preset the parameter values accordingly.

Buying Neuro-Credits™

When you know the amount of eDaler® that is required to create a token, or the tokens, you can generate eDaler® on credit, by buying Neuro-Credits™. You can also generate more eDaler® than the token creation requires, and use it for multiple operations, to save on invoicing fees. Use the following resources in the AgentAPI to manage eDaler® in the wallet:

• To get the current balance of the wallet, call the GetBalance resource.

• To generate eDaler® in the wallet, you buy eDaler®. To see options available for buying eDaler®, call the GetServiceProvidersForBuyingEDaler resource. It will present configured options available for your choice of country and currency. Some of these providers are contract-based (i.e. they are initated by signing a smart contract with relevant information), and some are initiated by collecting information from the user via an external web page.

  • If you already know what service provider you want to use, like in the case for using Neuro-Credits™, you can skip this part. The Service Provider ID in this case is TAG.Payments.NeuroCredits, the Service ID is TAG.Payments.NeuroCredits.NeuroCreditsService, and the ID of the smart contract template for initiating the process is 2cdbfa69-6c21-82d9-880e-301af77b53f6@legal.paiwise.tagroot.io (at the time of writing; you might want to double-check this regularly).

  • To initiate the process of buying eDaler®, you can call the InitiateBuyEDaler if the service collects information from external web pages. If the process is started via smart contracts (like in the case for Neuro-Credits™) you simply create and sign a smart contract based on the template provided for the service.

    Following is some information required to create a smart contract for buying Neuro-Credits™:

    Defined roles
    Role	Description
    Buyer	The one buying eDaler®, i.e. the Agent API client.
    TrustProvider	The Neuron® itself, giving the credit to the buyer.

    The following parameters need to be provided:

    Required parameters
    Name	Type	Description
    Amount¹	Numeric	Amount of eDaler® to buy.
    Currency²	String	Currency to buy.
    InvoiceFee³	Numeric	A fee for each invoice that is sent.
    Message	String	A text message that will be included in invoices sent to the client, for reference.
    Period³	Duration	The duration of the credit, or the time between installments, if multiple installments are used.
    PeriodInterest³	Numeric	The interest rate of the (remaining) amount, calculated over the period.
    Installments4	Integer	Number of installments desired.

    Some of the parameters are limited in range, and some must be set to a fixed value, depending on the configuration of the Neuro-Credits™ service on the Neuron®. To get these values and ranges, you call the GetServiceProvidersForBuyingEDaler resource:

    1. Amount is restricted to the maximum remaining credit allowed to the client.
    2. Currency must be the same as defined in the wallet of the client.
    3. The fees, period and interest rates are fixed by the service.
    4. The amount of installments allowed may vary on client.

    Note: A smart contract with parameters outside of the authorized ranges will fail the contract.

    The following parameters will be required to exist in the legal identity of the buyer, and will be visible to auditors of the contract, if a personal credit is requested:

    • Full Name
    • Personal Number
    • Full Address
    • Postal Code
    • City
    • Country

    If an organizational credit is requested, the following additional information must be available in the legal identity of the buyer. This information will be visible to auditors of the contract:

    • Organization Name
    • Organization Number
    • Department
    • Role
    • Organization Address
    • Organization Postal Code
    • Organization City
    • Organization Country

    Additional information that may be required include an associated e-mail address and phone number of the client. These will not be engraved into the contract however, for privacy reasons, and only be available to the operators of the service.

    Once the parameter values have been determined, you create the smart contract by calling the CreateContract resource, and then sign it using the SignContract resource. Once everyone has signed the contract except the Trust Provider, the contract is analyzed, and the Neuron® signs as Trust Provider given that all parameters are correct. If information is incorrect or the process fails, the contract will be set to a Failed state, otherwise the contract will be set to a Signed state and the corresponding eDaler® will be generated and placed in the wallet of the client. Al lasynchronous processes generate messages sent to the client, which the client can read by calling the PopMessages resource.

Note: Any changes to the balance of the wallet, or transactions being performed, are notified to the client asycnrhonously (i.e. as they happen). You can use the PopMessages resource to retrieve all such asynchronously sent messages to you.

Getting the human-readable text of a smart contract

The GetContract resource allows you to get the contents of a smart contract (that you have access rights to). If you want to present the contents of the contract to the user, you have to choose if you will render the contents, based on the existing object-model for human-readable text, or if you want the Nueuron® to format it for you. The default is to let the client render the contents in its own way. If you provide a value in the Format argument, in the call to the GetContract resource, you can get the human-readable texts pre-rendered instead in the corresponding format. The following formats are supported (at the time of writing):

Human-readable text formats
Value	Format
Markdown	Texts are returned in Markdown format. Markdown is easy to edit in text editors, and can be transformed to any of a series of other formats.
Html	Text is converted to HTML for insertion into existing HTML (i.e. it does not include HTML, HEAD and BODY tags.)
Text	Contents is converted to plain, unformatted text.
Xaml	XAML is generated for use together with Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).
XamarinXaml	A special dialect of XAML, for use in Xamarin Forms, is returned.
SmartContract	An XML string containing the contents using the smart contract object model is returned.

Signing smart contract to create tokens

When it is time to sign the contract, you call the SignContract resource for each signature you perform. You will sign the contract using the legal identity referred to in the call, and using the associated key. A contract becomes signed when all required signatures have been provided.

When then smart contract is to create a Neuro-Feature™ token, one of the roles is that of a Trust Provider. This role is reserved for the Neuron® itself, and represents the party that will host the token. Typically, a smart contract for token generation includes at least a Creator role, and often (but not always) an Owner role as well (if different from the Creator. If no Owner role is available, the Creator becomes the initial Owner.

When all signatures, except then Trust Provider has signed, the Neuron® validates the contract and signatures, and if all is OK, signs the contract itself. Once the contract has been signed, the token creation process begins. In this step, if the Neuron® detects there are missing funds, or other prohibited content is detected within the token itself, the contract becomes failed, and a message is sent to the creator.

Note: All changes to the contract, and generated token or tokens are notified to the concerned parties asynchronously. Use the PopMessages resource to receive such notification messages.

Transferring ownership of token

Once a token is created and alive, it can be transferred to a new owner. Such a transfer is basically a contract in itself. In this contract, the prospective new owner (or buyer) agrees with the current owner (or seller) to transfer the token from the seller to the buyer, and transfer an agreed amount of eDaler® from the buyer to the seller. The amount of eDaler® transferred is logged on the token itself, and visible to future buyers, and acts as the basis for the current value of the token.

The LegalLab repository contains example contracts for transferring ownership of a token between owners.

Note: The process of creating a transfer contract, and signing it, is the same as creating the token in the first place: You refer to a template when creating the contract, providing the corresponding parameters, and sign the contract accordingly. The Neurons take care of the rest.

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