Documentation
Lens SDK

Lens SDK

Overview

The Lens SDK is a comprehensive, robust, and enterprise-grade software development kit designed for building sophisticated, decentralized content distribution and federation networks. Leveraging the power of the Peerbit P2P framework, the Lens SDK provides a complete, layered architecture for creating sovereign, interoperable, and resilient content applications.

This SDK is engineered for developers and organizations seeking to build applications where data integrity, user ownership, and decentralized collaboration are paramount. It abstracts the complexities of peer-to-peer networking, database synchronization, and cryptographic identity, offering a clean, high-level API for rapid and secure development.

Core Philosophy

The design of the Lens SDK is guided by several foundational principles:

  1. Data Sovereignty: Users and communities maintain ultimate control over their own data and digital spaces. Each Site program instance is a sovereign entity, governed by its own rules and administrators.

  2. Structured Federation: Inter-application communication is not arbitrary. It is a structured and permissioned process based on explicit “subscriptions.” This model ensures that data sharing is intentional and secure, preventing unsolicited data injection and creating a network built on trust.

  3. Modular and Layered Architecture: The SDK enforces a strict separation of concerns, from the low-level P2P program logic to the high-level service API. This layered design enhances security, simplifies maintenance, and promotes scalable development practices.

  4. Verifiable Provenance: All data created and shared through the network is cryptographically signed and stamped with the address of its originating Site. This provides an immutable and verifiable audit trail for all content, ensuring its authenticity can always be confirmed.

Key Features

  • Turnkey Decentralized Application (Site Program): The SDK includes a powerful and feature-complete P2P program, the Site. It provides out-of-the-box support for content releases, categories, featured items, and moderation tools.

  • Flexible Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): A sophisticated, secure, and extensible permission system. It provides a clear hierarchy of default roles (Admin, Moderator, Member) and allows for the creation of custom roles with fine-grained permissions for precise control over content creation, management, and site administration.

  • Automated Federation and Synchronization: A sophisticated FederationManager handles all aspects of inter-site communication, including:

    • Historical Data Sync: Automatically back-fills content when a new subscription is established.
    • Live Pub/Sub Updates: Ensures real-time data synchronization between federated sites.
    • Stateful Connection Management: Intelligently manages the lifecycle of federated connections, including automated data cleanup upon unsubscription.

  • High-Level Service API (LensService): A developer-friendly interface that serves as the sole entry point for application integration. It provides a stable, promise-based API that abstracts away all underlying P2P complexity.

  • Extensible Schemas: All data structures are defined with strongly-typed schemas, ensuring data consistency and integrity across the network while remaining extensible for future requirements.

Who Should Use This SDK?

The Lens SDK is ideal for developers and organizations building:

  • Decentralized Content Platforms: For independent creators, journalists, or artists who require censorship-resistant publishing tools.
  • Community-Owned Forums and Archives: Where members collaboratively contribute to and govern a shared repository of knowledge or data.
  • Federated Social Media Applications: Applications that allow users to run their own nodes while still participating in a larger, interconnected social graph.
  • Enterprise Data Sharing Networks: Secure, private networks for sharing versioned data and artifacts between trusted corporate partners.

Getting Started

To begin working with the Lens SDK, we recommend reviewing the following sections:

  1. Core Concepts: A detailed explanation of the Site program, Federation, and the architectural principles of the SDK.
  2. Quick Start: A step-by-step tutorial to get a basic application up and running.
  3. API Reference: Comprehensive documentation for the LensService, its methods, and data types.