SignatureVerificationStrategy

Overview

The SignatureVerificationStrategy validates Arweave transaction signatures to ensure data authenticity and ownership. This strategy provides cryptographic proof that the data was created by the claimed wallet address and hasn't been tampered with since signing.

Important

Verification methods require that the gateway being used has the relevant transaction data indexed locally. Gateways cannot proxy out verification requests to other sources, as this would compromise the security and reliability of the verification process. If a gateway doesn't have the required data indexed, verification will fail.

How It Works

Fetch Metadata: Retrieve transaction metadata from trusted gateways
Reconstruct Signature Data: Build the signature data using the received content
Verify Signature: Validate the signature matches the claimed owner's public key
Check Ownership: Confirm the transaction was signed by the claimed wallet
Result: Pass or fail based on signature validation

Configuration

Basic Usage

import { SignatureVerificationStrategy } from '@ar.io/wayfinder-core'

const strategy = new SignatureVerificationStrategy({
  trustedGateways: [new URL('https://arweave.net')],
})

Advanced Configuration

const strategy = new SignatureVerificationStrategy({
  trustedGateways: [
    new URL('https://arweave.net'),
    new URL('https://permagate.io'),
  ],
  maxConcurrency: 2, // Process multiple requests concurrently
  logger: customLogger, // Optional custom logger
})

Parameters

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Parameter	Type	Default	Description
trustedGateways	URL[]	Required	Array of trusted gateway URLs for transaction metadata
maxConcurrency	number	1	Maximum number of concurrent requests to gateways
logger	Logger	defaultLogger	Custom logger instance for debugging
classifier	DataClassifier	GqlClassifier	Data classifier to determine transaction type (ANS-104 vs regular)

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Integration Examples

With Wayfinder

import { Wayfinder, SignatureVerificationStrategy } from '@ar.io/wayfinder-core'

const wayfinder = new Wayfinder({
  gatewaysProvider: gatewaysProvider,
  verificationSettings: {
    enabled: true,
    strategy: new SignatureVerificationStrategy({
      trustedGateways: [new URL('https://arweave.net')],
    }),
    strict: true,
  },
})

// Verification happens automatically
const response = await wayfinder.request('ar://transaction-id')
const data = await response.text()

With Event Monitoring

const wayfinder = new Wayfinder({
  gatewaysProvider: gatewaysProvider,
  verificationSettings: {
    enabled: true,
    strategy: new SignatureVerificationStrategy({
      trustedGateways: [new URL('https://arweave.net')],
    }),
    events: {
      onVerificationSucceeded: (event) => {
        console.log('✅ Signature verification passed:', {
          txId: event.txId,
        })
      },
      onVerificationFailed: (error) => {
        console.error('❌ Signature verification failed:', {
          error: error.message,
        })
      },
    },
  },
})

Standalone Usage

const strategy = new SignatureVerificationStrategy({
  trustedGateways: [new URL('https://arweave.net')],
})

// Manual verification
try {
  await strategy.verifyData({
    data: dataBuffer,
    txId: 'transaction-id',
  })
  console.log('Signature verification passed!')
} catch (error) {
  console.error('Signature verification failed:', error.message)
}

Data Types Supported

The SignatureVerificationStrategy automatically handles two types of Arweave data:

ANS-104 Data Items

Bundled transactions (data items within bundles)
Uses ANS-104 signature verification
Supports nested data items

Regular Transactions

Standard Arweave transactions
Uses traditional Arweave signature verification
Direct transaction signatures

The strategy automatically classifies the transaction type and applies the appropriate verification method.

Use Cases

Content Authentication

Verify that content was created by a specific wallet:

const strategy = new SignatureVerificationStrategy({
  trustedGateways: [new URL('https://arweave.net')],
})

const wayfinder = new Wayfinder({
  gatewaysProvider: gatewaysProvider,
  verificationSettings: {
    enabled: true,
    strategy,
    strict: true, // Block unverified content
  },
})

Document Integrity

Verify legal or important documents:

const strategy = new SignatureVerificationStrategy({
  trustedGateways: [
    new URL('https://arweave.net'),
    new URL('https://permagate.io'),
  ],
  maxConcurrency: 2, // Use multiple gateways for reliability
})

Development vs Production

// Development - single gateway, more logging
const devStrategy = new SignatureVerificationStrategy({
  trustedGateways: [new URL('https://arweave.net')],
  logger: debugLogger,
})

// Production - multiple gateways for reliability
const prodStrategy = new SignatureVerificationStrategy({
  trustedGateways: [
    new URL('https://arweave.net'),
    new URL('https://permagate.io'),
  ],
  maxConcurrency: 2,
})

Best Practices

Use Multiple Trusted Gateways: Increases reliability for transaction metadata
Set Appropriate Concurrency: Balance between performance and gateway load
Monitor Verification Events: Track success rates and failure reasons
Handle Network Failures: Implement proper error handling for gateway requests
Validate Transaction Format: Ensure transaction metadata is well-formed
Use Reputable Gateways: Choose gateways with reliable transaction indexing

Comparison with Other Strategies

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Aspect	Signature Verification	Hash Verification	Data Root Verification
Security	Very High	High	Highest
Performance	Fast	Fastest	Slower
Complexity	Medium	Low	High
Network Overhead	Medium	Low	High
Ownership Verification	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No
Best For	Financial or legal documents	High-throughput applications	Production applications

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The SignatureVerificationStrategy is ideal when you need to verify not just data integrity, but also the authenticity and ownership of the content. It provides cryptographic proof that the content was actually signed by the claimed wallet address.