Connection Handshake

The tx commands can be used to establish a connection between two clients.

sequenceDiagram
    autonumber
    participant A as ibc-1
    participant B as ibc-0
    Note over A, B: No connection
    A->>B: ConnectionOpenInit
    Note over B: connection: connection-0
    Note over B: counterparty: none
    B->>A: ConnectionOpenTry
    Note over A: connection: connection-1
    Note over A: counterparty: connection-0
    A->>B: ConnectionOpenAck
    note over B: connection: connection-0
    note over B: counterparty: connection-1
    B->>A: ConnectionOpenConfirm
    Note over A, B: Connection open

Table of Contents

• Connection Init
• Connection Try
• Connection Ack
• Connection Confirm

Connection Init

Use the conn-init command to initialize a new connection on a chain.

DESCRIPTION:
Initialize a connection (ConnectionOpenInit)

USAGE:
    hermes tx conn-init --dst-chain <DST_CHAIN_ID> --src-chain <SRC_CHAIN_ID> --dst-client <DST_CLIENT_ID> --src-client <SRC_CLIENT_ID>

OPTIONS:
    -h, --help    Print help information

REQUIRED:
        --dst-chain <DST_CHAIN_ID>      Identifier of the destination chain
        --dst-client <DST_CLIENT_ID>    Identifier of the destination client
        --src-chain <SRC_CHAIN_ID>      Identifier of the source chain
        --src-client <SRC_CLIENT_ID>    Identifier of the source client

Example

Given that two clients were previously created with identifier 07-tendermint-0 on chain ibc-0 and identifier 07-tendermint-1 on chain ibc-1, we can initialize a connection between the two clients.

First, let's initialize the connection on ibc-0:

hermes tx conn-init --dst-chain ibc-0 --src-chain ibc-1 --dst-client 07-tendermint-0 --src-client 07-tendermint-1

Success: OpenInitConnection(
    OpenInit(
        Attributes {
            height: Height {
                revision: 0,
                height: 73,
            },
            connection_id: Some(
                ConnectionId(
                    "connection-0",
                ),
            ),
            client_id: ClientId(
                "07-tendermint-0",
            ),
            counterparty_connection_id: None,
            counterparty_client_id: ClientId(
                "07-tendermint-1",
            ),
        },
    ),
)

A new connection has been initialized on ibc-0 with identifier connection-0.

Note that the counterparty_connection_id field is currently empty.

Connection Try

Use the conn-try command to establish a counterparty to the connection on the other chain.

DESCRIPTION:
Relay the connection attempt (ConnectionOpenTry)

USAGE:
    hermes tx conn-try [OPTIONS] --dst-chain <DST_CHAIN_ID> --src-chain <SRC_CHAIN_ID> --dst-client <DST_CLIENT_ID> --src-client <SRC_CLIENT_ID> --src-connection <SRC_CONNECTION_ID>

OPTIONS:
        --dst-connection <DST_CONNECTION_ID>
            Identifier of the destination connection (optional) [aliases: dst-conn]

    -h, --help
            Print help information

REQUIRED:
        --dst-chain <DST_CHAIN_ID>
            Identifier of the destination chain

        --dst-client <DST_CLIENT_ID>
            Identifier of the destination client

        --src-chain <SRC_CHAIN_ID>
            Identifier of the source chain

        --src-client <SRC_CLIENT_ID>
            Identifier of the source client

        --src-connection <SRC_CONNECTION_ID>
            Identifier of the source connection (required) [aliases: src-conn]

Example

Let's now create the counterparty to connection-0 on chain ibc-1:

hermes tx conn-try --dst-chain ibc-1 --src-chain ibc-0 --dst-client 07-tendermint-1 --src-client 07-tendermint-0 --src-connection connection-0

Success: OpenTryConnection(
    OpenTry(
        Attributes {
            height: Height {
                revision: 1,
                height: 88,
            },
            connection_id: Some(
                ConnectionId(
                    "connection-1",
                ),
            ),
            client_id: ClientId(
                "07-tendermint-1",
            ),
            counterparty_connection_id: Some(
                ConnectionId(
                    "connection-0",
                ),
            ),
            counterparty_client_id: ClientId(
                "07-tendermint-0",
            ),
        },
    ),
)

A new connection has been created on ibc-1 with identifier connection-1.

Note that the field counterparty_connection_id points to the connection on ibc-0.

Connection Ack

Use the conn-ack command to acknowledge the connection on the initial chain.

DESCRIPTION:
Relay acknowledgment of a connection attempt (ConnectionOpenAck)

USAGE:
    hermes tx conn-ack --dst-chain <DST_CHAIN_ID> --src-chain <SRC_CHAIN_ID> --dst-client <DST_CLIENT_ID> --src-client <SRC_CLIENT_ID> --dst-connection <DST_CONNECTION_ID> --src-connection <SRC_CONNECTION_ID>

OPTIONS:
    -h, --help    Print help information

REQUIRED:
        --dst-chain <DST_CHAIN_ID>
            Identifier of the destination chain

        --dst-client <DST_CLIENT_ID>
            Identifier of the destination client

        --dst-connection <DST_CONNECTION_ID>
            Identifier of the destination connection (required) [aliases: dst-conn]

        --src-chain <SRC_CHAIN_ID>
            Identifier of the source chain

        --src-client <SRC_CLIENT_ID>
            Identifier of the source client

        --src-connection <SRC_CONNECTION_ID>
            Identifier of the source connection (required) [aliases: src-conn]

Example

We can now acknowledge on ibc-0 that ibc-1 has accepted the connection attempt:

hermes tx conn-ack --dst-chain ibc-0 --src-chain ibc-1 --dst-client 07-tendermint-0 --src-client 07-tendermint-1 --dst-connection connection-0 --src-connection connection-1

Success: OpenAckConnection(
    OpenAck(
        Attributes {
            height: Height {
                revision: 0,
                height: 206,
            },
            connection_id: Some(
                ConnectionId(
                    "connection-0",
                ),
            ),
            client_id: ClientId(
                "07-tendermint-0",
            ),
            counterparty_connection_id: Some(
                ConnectionId(
                    "connection-1",
                ),
            ),
            counterparty_client_id: ClientId(
                "07-tendermint-1",
            ),
        },
    ),
)

Note that the field counterparty_connection_id now points to the connection on ibc-1.

Connection Confirm

Use the conn-confirm command to confirm that the connection has been acknowledged, and finish the handshake, after which the connection is open on both chains.

DESCRIPTION:
Confirm opening of a connection (ConnectionOpenConfirm)

USAGE:
    hermes tx conn-confirm --dst-chain <DST_CHAIN_ID> --src-chain <SRC_CHAIN_ID> --dst-client <DST_CLIENT_ID> --src-client <SRC_CLIENT_ID> --dst-connection <DST_CONNECTION_ID> --src-connection <SRC_CONNECTION_ID>

OPTIONS:
    -h, --help    Print help information

REQUIRED:
        --dst-chain <DST_CHAIN_ID>
            Identifier of the destination chain

        --dst-client <DST_CLIENT_ID>
            Identifier of the destination client

        --dst-connection <DST_CONNECTION_ID>
            Identifier of the destination connection (required) [aliases: dst-conn]

        --src-chain <SRC_CHAIN_ID>
            Identifier of the source chain

        --src-client <SRC_CLIENT_ID>
            Identifier of the source client

        --src-connection <SRC_CONNECTION_ID>
            Identifier of the source connection (required) [aliases: src-conn]

Example

Confirm on ibc-1 that ibc-0 has accepted the connection attempt.

hermes tx conn-confirm --dst-chain ibc-1 --src-chain ibc-0 --dst-client 07-tendermint-1 --src-client 07-tendermint-0 --dst-connection connection-1 --src-connection connection-0

Success: OpenConfirmConnection(
    OpenConfirm(
        Attributes {
            height: Height {
                revision: 1,
                height: 239,
            },
            connection_id: Some(
                ConnectionId(
                    "connection-1",
                ),
            ),
            client_id: ClientId(
                "07-tendermint-1",
            ),
            counterparty_connection_id: Some(
                ConnectionId(
                    "connection-0",
                ),
            ),
            counterparty_client_id: ClientId(
                "07-tendermint-0",
            ),
        },
    ),
)

We have now successfully established a connection between the two chains.