Your First .nota File

This guide takes you from an empty project to a signed .nota file you can share with anyone. By the end, you will have:

Created a .nota file describing a wallet address.
Signed it with an Ethereum key.
Serialized it to a canonical JSON string.
Handed it to a recipient.
Verified the signature on the recipient side.

No on-chain calls are involved. Everything here runs locally with one dependency: a signer.

Prerequisites

Node.js 20+ (Python 3.10+ or Rust 1.75+ also work; examples here use TypeScript)
An Ethereum private key for signing (a throwaway is fine for the tutorial)

Step 1: Install the SDK

npm init -y
npm install @notareum/sdk ethers

Step 2: Create the file

Create alice.ts:

import { Notareum } from "@notareum/sdk";
import { Wallet } from "ethers";

const signer = new Wallet(process.env.PRIVATE_KEY!);

// Dummy contracts object, no on-chain calls below need real addresses
const contracts = {
  notaToken: "0x" + "00".repeat(20),
  veNota: "0x" + "00".repeat(20),
  validatorStaking: "0x" + "00".repeat(20),
  notaRegistry: "0x" + "00".repeat(20),
  verificationEngine: "0x" + "00".repeat(20),
  slashingManager: "0x" + "00".repeat(20),
  feeManager: "0x" + "00".repeat(20),
  accessManager: "0x" + "00".repeat(20),
};

const ntm = Notareum({ provider: signer.provider!, signer, contracts });

const signed = await ntm.nota
  .create({
    type: "address",
    chainName: "ethereum",
    chainId: 1,
    identifier: await signer.getAddress(),
    name: "Alice's hot wallet",
    description: "Primary personal wallet",
    issuerName: "Alice",
    issuerEntityType: "individual",
  })
  .validate()
  .sign(signer);

const wire = signed.serialize();
console.log(wire);

Run it:

PRIVATE_KEY=0x... npx tsx alice.ts > alice.nota

You now have a file alice.nota on disk. Open it; it’s a JSON document with a resource block describing the wallet, an issuer block identifying Alice, and a signature block holding the ECDSA signature and signer address. The JSON string is safe to send over any channel:

Paste it into an email, a Signal/Telegram/WhatsApp message, or a chat DM.
Encode it as a QR code with any standard library.
Attach the file to a Git commit, a GitHub issue, an IPFS upload.
Serve it from an HTTPS endpoint on your site.

Step 4: Verify on the recipient side

Create bob.ts:

import { Notareum } from "@notareum/sdk";
import { JsonRpcProvider } from "ethers";
import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";

const provider = new JsonRpcProvider("https://rpc.ankr.com/eth");
const ntm = Notareum({ provider, contracts });   // no signer needed

const wire = readFileSync("alice.nota", "utf8");
const nota = ntm.nota.parse(wire);
ntm.nota.validate(nota);     // throws on any mismatch

console.log("Resource:", nota.resource.identifier);
console.log("Signed by:", nota.signature.signer);
console.log("Issuer:", nota.issuer?.name);

Run it:

npx tsx bob.ts

If the signature is valid, Bob sees Alice’s wallet address, signer address, and issuer name. If the file was tampered with, parse() or validate() throws.

What you learned

.nota files are self-contained JSON documents.
Signing is purely local: no gas, no RPC, no protocol state.
Serialization is canonical: every SDK produces byte-identical output.
Validation detects tampering, missing fields, and signature mismatch.

Next: go on-chain

To give Alice’s file a public, revocable on-chain record (so Bob does not need Alice to hand him the file every time), see Registering a Resource.

Getting Started

Protocol

Token

SDKs

Guides

Use Cases

Smart Contracts

Reference

Resources

Your first nota file

Your First .nota File

Prerequisites

Step 1: Install the SDK

Step 2: Create the file

Step 4: Verify on the recipient side

What you learned

Next: go on-chain

​Your First .nota File

​Prerequisites

​Step 1: Install the SDK

​Step 2: Create the file

​Step 3: Share the file

​Step 4: Verify on the recipient side

​What you learned

​Next: go on-chain

Your First .nota File

Prerequisites

Step 1: Install the SDK

Step 2: Create the file

Step 3: Share the file

Step 4: Verify on the recipient side

What you learned

Next: go on-chain