x/orbiter
Orbiter is a cross-chain routing infrastructure built with the Cosmos SDK to enable seamless cross-chain composability between different chains connected with Noble.
Description
The orbiter module provides an abstraction layer on top of multiple bridging solutions to guarantee users a frictionless interface to transfer coins between multiple chains. Thanks to its instant-finality and real-world asset issuance capabilities, Noble can be used as a permissionless router to transfer funds from any chain connected with Noble to any other chain, via the orbiter.
Cross-chain composability is achieved on top of any general message passing protocol via transfer of funds enshrined with metadata.
The composability flow is defined by the 3-steps logic:
- Funds with a payload are transferred to Noble.
- Actions like swaps or fee payments, if specified, are handled on Noble.
- Funds are routed to another chain, or internally, based on information provided in the payload.
An example application is a user who has USDC on Solana and wants to have USDN on Hyperliquid. The orbiter module allows the user to send USDC to Noble Core via CCTP, swap USDC for USDN through the Swap module, and finally send the received funds to Hyperlane. Everything, within a single transaction.
Definitions
Payload components:
- Action: Represents a generic state transition logic that can be executed on the Noble chain through information contained in a cross-chain payload.
- Forwarding: Defines the information required to execute a cross-chain transfer from Noble to a destination chain through a specific bridging protocol.
Identifiers:
- Action ID: the identifier for an action.
- Protocol ID: the identifier for a bridge protocol.
- Counterparty ID: the identifier of a chain for a specific bridge protocol.
- Cross-chain ID: the unique identifier of the tuple (protocol ID, counterparty ID).
Supported Protocols & Actions
The Orbiter module supports a subset of the bridge protocols available in Noble Core. Protocol support varies depending on whether they handle incoming or outgoing transfers. The list of protocols and actions will be updated when new bridges and Noble actions will be supported.
As a special case for the forwarding operation, received funds can be transferred internally on Noble to another account.
Bridge Protocols
| Protocol | Incoming | Outgoing | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| IBC | ✅ | ❌ | Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol |
| CCTP | ❌ | ✅ | Circle Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol |
| Hyperlane | ❌ | ✅ | Hyperlane Protocol |
Actions
| Action | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fee | ✅ | Fee deduction |
| Swap | ❌ | Incoming token swap |
Installation
git clone https://github.com/noble-assets/orbiter.git
cd orbiter
git checkout <TAG>
make build
Tests
Tests for the module can be executed via the Makefile. To run unit tests:
make test-unit
End-to-end tests are based on interchaintest to verify full system functionality. They require Docker running and a local image of the simulation application:
make local-image
make test-e2e
If you want to run a specific test case:
go test -v ./e2e/... -run <TEST_NAME>
Architecture
See architecture.
Integration
See integration