ARC-0040: Accessing block metadata inside programs

[evan-schott]

---

arc: 0040
title: Accessing block metadata inside programs
authors: @evan-schott @d0cd
discussion: ARC-0040: Accessing block metadata inside programs
topic: Protocol
status: Draft
created: 2024-04-02

---

Specification

Add support for the following opcodes in Aleo: block.round, cumulative.weight, cumulative.proof_target, coinbase.target, proof.target, coinbase.target, block.timestamp, coinbase.timestamp, block.hash, and network.id. The goal is for all block metadata to be accessible inside the finalize scope of deployed programs. Example: block.timestamp 10u32 will return the timestamp of block 10.

References

Here is an example implementation of network.id.

[Delaw258]

nothing here

[zklim]

Yes definitely, using timestamp is more accurate than block heights to do time base calculations imo. Not sure about use-case of others yet.

[PNWBNW]

This would be awesome, along with having a bot that pays attention to UNIX, NIST, UNSO, ensuring minimal tolerance.
Creating dynamic block timestamps rather than just static.

[lxtrvn]

Yes this should already have been prt of the sytem.