Compressed NFT processing

Introduction

Compressed NFT (cNFT) is a specialized digital asset format that optimizes data storage. Data compression algorithms reduce file sizes while preserving each asset’s uniqueness. This process saves server space and lowers data storage and transmission costs. In addition, Merkle trees minimize storage requirements and enhance the efficiency of cNFT collections.

Features

• Resource savings: Merkle trees store only essential data, reducing gas costs and network load.
• Improved scalability: Efficient contracts can handle large NFT volumes without performance loss.
• Optimized data storage: Keeping minimal on-chain information boosts system responsiveness and saves space.
• Enhanced security: Merkle trees enable fast data integrity checks and robust asset protection.
• Cost reduction: Shift minting costs to end users and create “virtual” on-chain items only when needed.

Supporting compressed NFT in wallets and marketplaces

Current limitations
Most popular wallets and marketplaces do not display unclaimed cNFTs or NFTs from collections that are not official partners. For example, the Telegram wallet and the Getgems marketplace index only the first 200 items for unofficial collections, which poses challenges for larger collections.

Attack scenario
A malicious actor could create hundreds of thousands of NFTs at minimal cost, forcing marketplaces to store all related data—even if the attacker does not host the items but generates them on demand.

Potential solution
Provide a dedicated interface where users can claim their cNFTs. Once claimed, NFTs are indexed and displayed in wallets and marketplaces as standard NFTs, ensuring better visibility and accessibility.

Configuration and deployment guide

NFT collection and item preparation

Before deployment, you need to prepare the metadata and images for your NFTs.

Metadata preparation

• Collection metadata
  Create a collection.json file that includes the required fields as specified in the NFT token data standard.
  Example:

  {
      "name": "<collection name>",
      "description": "<collection description>",
      "image": "<link to the image (e.g. https://yourdomain.com/logo.png)>"
  }

• NFT item metadata
  For each NFT, create a separate JSON file (e.g., 0.json, 1.json, etc.) with the required fields as specified in the NFT token data standard.
  Example:

  {
      "name": "<item name>",
      "description": "<item description>",
      "image": "<link to the image (e.g. https://yourdomain.com/0.png)>"
  }

Resource preparation

• Images: Prepare images for the collection (for example, logo.png for the avatar) and for each NFT (for example, 0.png, 1.png, etc.).
• JSON files: Host your collection.json and NFT JSON files on a publicly accessible server or repository. Ensure each file has a unique URL.

Note: All images and JSON files must be directly accessible via their URLs.

TON Connect manifest preparation

Create a TON Connect manifest JSON file to describe your application during the wallet connection process.
Example:

{
  "url": "<app url>",
  "name": "<app name>",
  "iconUrl": "<app icon url>"
}

Note: Ensure that this file is publicly accessible via its URL.

Owner list preparation

Prepare an owners.txt file that lists the addresses of NFT owners, one per line. The first address corresponds to item index 0, the second to item index 1, and so on.
Example:

UQDYzZmfsrGzhObKJUw4gzdeIxEai3jAFbiGKGwxvxHinf4K
UQCDrgGaI6gWK-qlyw69xWZosurGxrpRgIgSkVsgahUtxZR0

Infrastructure preparation

Set up a server to host your API and the interface for claiming NFTs. Also, obtain a domain for accessing the API. In this example, a local test deployment is run on a home machine using ngrok to create a public URL.

Claiming API and interface setup

1. Clone the repository
   Clone the project containing all necessary source files:

   git clone https://github.com/nessshon/cnft-toolbox 

2. Install dependencies
   Install Docker, Docker Compose, and ngrok, and ensure they are properly configured on your machine.

3. Create a Telegram bot
   Create a Telegram bot and obtain its API token.

4. Expose your API
   Use ngrok to create a public URL for testing:

   ngrok http 8080 

   For production: Set up a custom domain and configure Nginx to proxy requests to your API on port 8080. This involves:

   • Registering a domain and pointing it to your server.
   • Configuring Nginx to proxy requests to your API on port 8080.

5. Create a .env file
   Duplicate the env.example file to .env and update it with your specific configuration. The table below describes each key:

   Key	Description	Example	Notes
   PORT	Port on which the API will run.	8080
   ADMIN_USERNAME	Admin username for accessing restricted functionalities.	admin
   ADMIN_PASSWORD	Admin password for accessing restricted functionalities.	password
   DEPTH	Depth for the NFT collection (max items = 2^DEPTH; maximum DEPTH is 30).	20
   IS_TESTNET	Specify if you are connecting to the TON testnet (true) or mainnet (false).	true or false
   POSTGRES_PASSWORD	Password for PostgreSQL authentication.	secret
   POSTGRES_DB	Name of the PostgreSQL database.	merkleapi
   POSTGRES_URI	Full connection URI for PostgreSQL.	postgresql://postgres:secret@db:5432/merkleapi
   BOT_TOKEN	Token for your Telegram bot (from @BotFather).	123456:ABC-DEF1234ghIkl-zyx57W2v1u123ew11	Used for the NFT claiming interface.
   API_BASE_URL	External domain of your API.	https://example.ngrok.io	Replace with your public URL (e.g., via ngrok).
   TONCONNECT_MANIFEST_URL	URL for the TON Connect manifest file.	https://example.com/tonconnect-manifest.json	Replace with the public URL of your manifest file.
   COLLECTION_ADDRESS	Address of the NFT collection.		Fill this in after deploying the collection.

6. Start the API and database
   Run the following command to start the API and database:

   docker-compose up -d db api 

7. Migrate the database
   Create the required tables in the database:

   docker-compose exec api /ctl migrate 

8. Add owners
   Place your owners.txt file (containing owner addresses) into the api folder, then run:

   docker-compose exec api /ctl add /api/owners.txt 

9. Rediscover items
   In your browser, navigate to <API_URI>/admin/rediscover and log in using your ADMIN_USERNAME and ADMIN_PASSWORD. If successful, you will see ok in the browser. After a short time (depending on the number of items), a file (e.g., 1.json) appears in the api/apidata/upd folder.

10. Generate an update
    Run the following command to generate an update:

    docker-compose exec api /ctl genupd <path-to-update-file> <collection-owner> <collection-meta> <item-meta-prefix> <royalty-base> <royalty-factor> <royalty-recipient> <api-uri-including-v1> 

    Replace the placeholders as follows:

    • <path-to-update-file>: Path to the update file created in step 9 (e.g., api/apidata/upd/1.json).
    • <collection-owner>: Address of the NFT collection owner.
    • <collection-meta>: Full URL to the collection metadata file (e.g., https://yourdomain.com/collection.json).
    • <item-meta-prefix>: Common prefix for item metadata (for example, if item 0 has metadata at https://yourdomain.com/0.json, use https://yourdomain.com/).
    • <royalty-base>: Numerator for royalties (for example, 10 for 10% if royalty-factor is 100).
    • <royalty-factor>: Denominator for royalties (for example, 100).
    • <royalty-recipient>: Address receiving royalties (this can be the same as <collection-owner>).
    • <api-uri-including-v1>: Public API URL with the /v1 postfix (for example, if you used https://yourapi.com/admin/rediscover to generate the update file, use https://yourapi.com/v1 here).

11. Invoke the ton:// deeplink
    After generating the update, a ton:// link appears in the console logs. Follow the link and confirm the transaction. For convenience, you can paste the link into a QR code generator and scan the QR code with the Tonhub wallet (on testnet or mainnet).

12. Set the collection address
    In your browser, navigate to <API_URI>/admin/setaddr/<collection-address>, replacing <collection-address> with the address observed during the deployment step.

13. Wait for confirmation
    Monitor the container API logs until you see a message indicating a committed state.

    docker-compose logs api 

14. Deployment complete!

Run the Telegram bot for NFT claiming interface

1. Update the .env file
   Add the COLLECTION_ADDRESS obtained during deployment to your .env file.

2. Start the Telegram bot
   Run the following command to start the bot:

   docker-compose up -d redis bot 

3. Interact with the bot
   Open Telegram, navigate to your bot, and follow its instructions to claim NFTs or perform other actions.

4. Done!

Updating owners

Follow these steps to update the list of owners and integrate the changes into your NFT collection:

1. Prepare the new owners file
   Create a new-owners.txt file with the new owner addresses and place it in the api folder.

2. Add new owners
   Run:

   docker-compose exec api /ctl add /api/new-owners.txt 

3. Rediscover items
   In your browser, navigate to <API_URI>/admin/rediscover and log in with your ADMIN_USERNAME and ADMIN_PASSWORD.

4. Locate the update file
   After rediscovering, locate the new update file in the api/apidata/upd folder (for example, 2.json if the previous update was 1.json).

5. Generate an update
   Run:

   docker-compose exec api /ctl genupd <path-to-update-file> <collection-address> 

   Replace <path-to-update-file> with the new update file’s path (e.g., api/apidata/upd/2.json) and <collection-address> with the NFT collection address.

6. Invoke the ton:// deeplink
   Follow the generated ton:// link and confirm the transaction. You may also generate a QR code from the link and scan it with the Tonhub wallet.

7. Wait for confirmation
   Monitor the container API logs until you see a message indicating a committed state.

   docker-compose logs api 

8. Done!

Conclusion

The Compressed NFT standard transforms the creation and management of NFT collections by offering a scalable, cost-effective solution for mass NFT production. By addressing the limitations of existing standards, this approach paves the way for broader adoption and innovative applications of NFT technology in community building and marketing campaigns.

See also

• Understanding compressed NFT on the TON blockchain
• Compressed NFT standard implementation
• Reference augmenting API implementation
• NFT collection metadata example
• NFT item metadata example
• Compressed NFT toolbox

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