We are happy to announce that we have started working on a Raiden Light Client and a first reference implementation, the Raiden dApp. Both are work in progress and, as of today, can be found in the open source Raiden Light Client repository. We invite you to have a look at the code, give feedback and contribute! Currently, the Light Client SDK and dApp can only be used in testnet environments (e.g. on the Rinkeby testnet).

The need for a light client

The Raiden Light Client SDK aims to make a dApp developer’s life easier by enabling…

easy interaction with the Raiden Network through a dApp.

dApp users to make token transfers using their consumer wallets like Status, imToken or Metamask.

token transfers with Raiden using low end devices, which would not be capable of running a full Raiden node.

Introducing the Raiden Light Client SDK

The Raiden Light Client SDK is going to be a Raiden Network compatible client written in JavaScript/Typescript. The light client will be able to run in web3-enabled browsers, wallets and Node.js environments.

The goal of the Raiden Light Client SDK is to provide an easy-to-use framework, which can be integrated by any JavaScript developer. The SDK will simplify the process of embedding and using the Raiden Network for token transfers in any decentralized application.

The Raiden Light Client SDK will contain all low level machinery to interact with the Ethereum blockchain and the Raiden Network. Targeting browsers and Node.js as initial platforms allows it to reach the majority of current and in-development dApps, as well as to work as a common language reference implementation for ports and re-implementations in other future languages and environments.

Architecture of the Raiden Light Client

Introducing the Raiden dApp

The Raiden dApp is a reference implementation of the Raiden Light Client SDK, which can be used with web3 enabled browsers and mobile wallets (e.g. Metamask, imToken, Status, Opera).

The Raiden dApp can be considered as a first “dApp user” of the SDK. It’s a wallet-like web single page application (SPA) built on top of Vue.js, vuex and vuetify as UI framework, which uses Material Design as the design guideline.

Sneak peak of the Raiden dApp UI

Development status

Both the Light Client SDK as well as the Raiden dApp are work in progress. Currently, you can open, top-up, close and settle channels, but you cannot make token transfers yet. However, you can already have a look at the basic documentation of the API.

Roadmap and timeline

We are working in bi-weekly iterations. Priorities are managed within the product backlog.

We are currently working towards milestone 0, where the SDK and dApp will be able to send tokens, but will not yet be able to receive tokens.

Contributions welcome!

Contributions are what make the open source community such an amazing space! We highly encourage developers to contribute, to provide feedback and to build on top of the SDK.

To get started, please have a look at the Raiden Light Client Development Guide.

The Raiden Team