🚩 Challenge #7 : ZKP - Password Verifier

⚠️ Important: Please complete Challenge #6 first if you haven't already, as it contains essential instructions related to all upcoming challenges.

🎫 Build a Password Verifier using Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) on Arbitrum Stylus:

👷‍♀️ In this challenge, you'll build and deploy a smart contract that utilizes Zero-Knowledge Proofs for private password verification. You'll work with ZKP circuits, deploy them to an Arbitrum Stylus dev node, and create a frontend that allows users to generate and verify proofs! 🚀

🌟 The final deliverable is a full-stack application featuring password verification. Deploy your contract to a testnet, then build and upload your app to a public web server.

How ZKP Integration Works

This project leverages Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) to enable private verification of passwords on Arbitrum Stylus. Here's the workflow:

Circuit Design: The ZKP logic is defined in .circom files (e.g., PasswordVerifier.circom) using the Circom language. These circuits encode the rules for verification (e.g., "does the password match the expected hash?") without revealing the inputs.
Proof System Setup: We use the snarkjs library with the Groth16 proving system to generate proving and verification keys. The trusted setup is simulated using a pre-existing pot12_final.ptau file.
Contract Generation: The verification key is exported to a Solidity contract (e.g., PasswordVerifier.sol) that runs on Arbitrum Stylus, allowing on-chain verification of zk-proofs.
Frontend Interaction: The Next.js frontend uses WebAssembly (.wasm) outputs from Circom to generate proofs locally, which are then submitted to the deployed contract for verification.
Arbitrum Stylus Advantage: Stylus' Rust-based environment enables efficient execution of the verifier contract, reducing gas costs compared to traditional EVM-based ZKP verification.

This integration ensures privacy (inputs remain off-chain) and scalability (proof verification is lightweight on-chain).

Checkpoint 0: 📦 Environment Setup 📚

Before starting, ensure you have the following installed:

Clone the Repository

git clone -b stylus-zkp-password-verifier https://github.com/abhi152003/speedrun_stylus.git
cd speedrun_stylus

Install Dependencies

Run the following command to install all necessary dependencies:

yarn install

Checkpoint 1: 🚀 Start Your Dev Environment

Step 1: Start the Nitro Dev Node

Ensure Docker is running on your machine. You can start Docker Desktop if it's not already running.
Navigate to the cargo-stylus folder:
```
cd packages/cargo-stylus
```
Run the run-dev-node.sh script:
```
bash run-dev-node.sh
```
This script:
- Spins up an Arbitrum Stylus Nitro dev node in Docker.
- Deploys the PasswordVerifier.sol contract.
- Generates the ABI for interacting with the contract.

The dev node will be accessible at http://localhost:8547.

Step 2: Start the Frontend

Open a new terminal window to keep the dev node running.
Navigate to the nextjs folder:
```
cd packages/nextjs
```
Start the development server:
```
yarn dev
```

The app will be available at http://localhost:3000/passwordVerifier.

Checkpoint 2: 💫 Explore the Features

Password Verifier

Purpose: Prove that a user knows a secret password (or combination) matching an expected hash without revealing the password itself.
Circuit Logic: The PasswordVerifier.circom circuit takes a private input (the user's password or combination) and a public input (the expected hash). It computes the hash of the password using a hash function (e.g., MiMC or Poseidon, chosen for ZKP compatibility) within the circuit and checks if it equals the expected hash. The circuit outputs a proof if the hashes match, ensuring the password remains confidential.
On-Chain Verification: The generated proof is submitted to PasswordVerifier.sol on the Stylus dev node. The contract verifies the proof using the Groth16 verification key, confirming that the user's input matches the expected hash without exposing the password. This enables secure, private authentication on-chain.

Password Verifier Interface Password verification interface and process flow

Navigate to the "Debug Contracts" tab in the frontend.
This feature interacts with the Password Verifier contract, which was generated from the PasswordVerifier.circom circuit located in packages/circuits.

Circuit generation commands:

circom PasswordVerifier.circom --r1cs --wasm --sym
npx snarkjs groth16 setup PasswordVerifier.r1cs pot12_final.ptau PasswordVerifier_0000.zkey
npx snarkjs zkey contribute PasswordVerifier_0000.zkey PasswordVerifier_final.zkey --name="Contributor" -v
npx snarkjs zkey export verificationkey PasswordVerifier_final.zkey verification_key.json
npx snarkjs zkey export solidityverifier PasswordVerifier_final.zkey PasswordVerifier.sol

Example inputs:
- Combination: 1234
- Expected Hash: 4321
The app generates a zk-proof to verify if the provided combination matches the expected hash.

Checkpoint 3: 🛠 Modify and Deploy Contracts

You can tinker with circuit logic by modifying files in the packages/circuits folder. After making changes, regenerate contracts using these commands:

circom PasswordVerifier.circom --r1cs --wasm --sym
npx snarkjs groth16 setup PasswordVerifier.r1cs pot12_final.ptau PasswordVerifier_0000.zkey
npx snarkjs zkey contribute PasswordVerifier_0000.zkey PasswordVerifier_final.zkey --name="Contributor" -v
npx snarkjs zkey export verificationkey PasswordVerifier_final.zkey verification_key.json
npx snarkjs zkey export solidityverifier PasswordVerifier_final.zkey PasswordVerifier.sol

Deploy new contracts by placing them in packages/cargo-stylus/contracts and running:

bash run-dev-node.sh

🛠️ Debugging Tips

Fixing Line Endings for Shell Scripts on Windows (CRLF Issue)

If you encounter errors like Command not found, convert line endings to LF:

sudo apt install dos2unix
dos2unix run-dev-node.sh
chmod +x run-dev-node.sh

Run the script again:

bash run-dev-node.sh

Checkpoint 4: 🚢 Ship your frontend! 🚁

To deploy your app to Vercel:

vercel

Follow Vercel's instructions to get a public URL.

For production deployment:

vercel --prod

Checkpoint 5: 📜 Contract Verification

You can verify your deployed smart contract using:

cargo stylus verify -e http://127.0.0.1:8547 --deployment-tx "$deployment_tx"

Replace $deployment_tx with your deployment transaction hash.

🏁 Next Steps

Explore more challenges or contribute to this project!

🏃 Head to your next challenge here.