neo-go/ROADMAP.md

Roadmap for neo-go

This defines approximate plan of neo-go releases and key features planned for them. Things can change if there is a need to push a bugfix or some critical functionality.

Versions 0.7X.Y (as needed)

• Neo 2.0 support (bug fixes, minor functionality additions)

Version 0.100.0 (aligned with C# node 3.5.0 release, ~December 2022)

• 3.5.0 protocol changes
• drop some deprecated code (see below)
• RPC wrappers generator with extended type information

Version 1.0 (2023, TBD)

• stable version

Deprecated functionality

As the node and the protocol evolve some external APIs can change. Usually we try keeping backwards compatibility for some time (like half a year) unless it's impossible to do for some reason. But eventually old APIs/commands/configurations will be removed and here is a list of scheduled breaking changes. Consider changing your code/scripts/configurations if you're using anything mentioned here.

getversion RPC reply Magic and StateRootInHeader fields

"getversion" RPC reply format was extended to contain "protocol" section in version 0.97.3. Since then we have deprecated Magic and StateRootInHeader fields in the Version structure that allows to decode replies from pre-0.97.3 servers while RPC server implementation populates both old and new fields for compatibility with pre-0.97.3 clients.

Version 0.97.3 was released in October 2021 and can't really be used today on public networks, we expect at least 0.99.0+ to be used in production (0.99.2+ for C# 3.4.0 compatibility). Therefore these old fields are scheduled to be removed in version 0.100.0 both client-side and server-side. If any of your code uses them, just use the Protocol section with the same data.

InitialGasDistribution field of getversion RPC reply

An incompatibility with C# node's InitialGasDistribution representation was detected and fixed in version 0.99.0 of NeoGo (June 2022). Some compatibility code was added to handle pre-0.99.0 servers on the client side, however it was not possible to change pre-0.99.0 clients to work with newer servers.

We expect all servers to be migrated to 0.99.0+ by now, therefore compatibility code will be removed in version 0.100.0.

Old RPC client APIs

A huge set of RPC client APIs was deprecated in versions 0.99.2 and 0.99.3 (August-September 2022), including very frequently used ones like SignAndPushInvocationTx, AddNetworkFee, TransferNEP17. A new set of invoker/actor/unwrap/nep17/etc packages was introduced decoupling these functions from RPC client and simplifying typical backend code. Please refer to rpcclient package documentation for specific replacements for each of these APIs and convert your code to using them.

While a lot of the code is already converted to new APIs, old ones still can be used in some code not known to us. Therefore we will remove old APIs not earlier than February-March 2023, with 0.101.0 or 0.102.0 release.

util.FromAddress smart contract helper

util smart contract library has a FromAddress function that is one of the oldest lines in the entire NeoGo code base, dating back to 2018. Version 0.99.4 of NeoGo (October 2022) has introduced a new address package with ToHash160 function, it covers a bit more use cases but can be used as a direct replacement of the old function, so please update your code.

util.FromAddress is expected to be removed around March 2023 (~0.102.0 release).

WSClient Notifications channel and SubscribeFor* APIs

Version 0.99.5 of NeoGo introduces a new set of subscription APIs that gives more control to the WSClient user that can pass specific channels to be used for specific subscriptions now. Old APIs and generic Notifications channel are still available, but will be removed, so please convert your code to using new Receive* APIs.

Removal of these APIs is scheduled for March-April 2023 (~0.102.0-0.103.0 releases).

Prometheus RPC counters

A number of neogo_${method}called Prometheus counters are marked as deprecated since version 0.99.5, neogo_rpc${method}_time histograms can be used instead (that also have a counter).

It's not a frequently used thing and it's easy to replace it, so removal of old counters is scheduled for January-February 2023 (~0.100.X release).

SecondsPerBlock protocol configuration

With 0.100.0 version SecondsPerBlock protocol configuration setting was deprecated and replaced by a bit more generic and precise TimePerBlock (allowing for subsecond time). An informational message is printed on node startup to inform about this, it's very easy to deal with this configuration change, just replace one line.

Removal of SecondsPerBlock is scheduled for May-June 2023 (~0.103.0 release).

Services/node address and port configuration

Version 0.100.0 of NeoGo introduces a multiple binding addresses capability to the node's services (RPC server, TLS RPC configuration, Prometheus, Pprof) and the node itself. It allows to specify several listen addresses/ports using an array of "address:port" pairs in the service's Addresses config section and array of "address:port:announcedPort" tuples in the ApplicationConfiguration's Addresses node config section. Deprecated Address and Port sections of RPC, Prometheus, Pprof subsections of the ApplicationConfiguration as far as the one of RPC server's TLSConfig are still available, but will be removed, so please convert your node configuration file to use new P2P-level Addresses section for the node services. Deprecated Address, NodePort and AnnouncedPort sections of ApplicationConfiguration will also be removed eventually, so please update your node configuration file to use Addresses section for the P2P addresses configuration.

Removal of these config sections is scheduled for May-June 2023 (~0.103.0 release).

P2P application settings configuration

Version 0.100.0 of NeoGo marks the following P2P application settings as deprecated: AttemptConnPeers, BroadcastFactor, DialTimeout, ExtensiblePoolSize, MaxPeers, MinPeers, PingInterval, PingTimeout, ProtoTickInterval. These settings are moved to a separate P2P section of ApplicationConfiguration. The DialTimeout, PingInterval, PingTimeout, ProtoTickInterval settings are converted to more precise Duration format (allowing for subsecond time). Please, update your node configuration (all you need is to move specified settings under the P2P section and convert time-related settings to Duration format).

Removal of deprecated P2P related application settings is scheduled for May-June 2023 (~0.103.0 release).