Post a Message

Messages

A message is an encapsulating data structure that is being actually broadcast across the network. It is an atomic unit that is either accepted or rejected as a whole.

The simplest message you can broadcast is a message without any particular payload, as shown in the following examples.

Java

You can use the Client.message() to easily send any message over the network. Alternatively, there is a convenient MessageSender helper class with chaining calls that prepares a message instance and broadcasts it over the network.

public static void simpleMessage() {
        try {
            Client iota = node();
            Message message = iota.message().finish();

            System.out.println(
                    "Empty message sent: https://explorer.iota.org/mainnet/message/" + message.id().toString());
        } catch (ClientException e) {
            System.out.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
        }
    }

    

Output example:

{
  message: {
    networkId: '14379272398717627559',
    parentMessageIds: [
      '03ddc83fad172a322fb00fb4e449436e9d1117ff390879100647c650a30c2d52',
      '252798210fa9816f6fd40f1b19095da9f2dc88ae06fc4c0523a928a29d0d782e',
      'a8e4f4cd49227068424ead8da187a48fdaa7ce8ffc4b9ac0ee2d5d3f2fcd7e70',
      'dbbc8044bc624b3378e1dda83ab95f9be468b06a6a9806c76a70353182028cf9'
    ],
    payload: null,
    nonce: '9223372036854784215'
  },
  messageId: '10dbee9cf3c58507725861b34ac711058dc13f709be1a6d21f1dc0af17b06379'
}

• messageId is a unique id that refers to the given message in the network.

Nodejs

You can use the function Client.postMessage(message) to send a message instance over a network. Alternatively, you can use the MessageSender helper class with chaining calls that prepares a message instance and broadcasts it over the network.

async function run() {
    const { ClientBuilder } = require('@iota/client');

    // client will connect to testnet by default
    const client = new ClientBuilder().build();

    const messageId = await client.message().submit();
    console.log(messageId);
}

run()

Output example:

{
  message: {
    networkId: '14379272398717627559',
    parentMessageIds: [
      '03ddc83fad172a322fb00fb4e449436e9d1117ff390879100647c650a30c2d52',
      '252798210fa9816f6fd40f1b19095da9f2dc88ae06fc4c0523a928a29d0d782e',
      'a8e4f4cd49227068424ead8da187a48fdaa7ce8ffc4b9ac0ee2d5d3f2fcd7e70',
      'dbbc8044bc624b3378e1dda83ab95f9be468b06a6a9806c76a70353182028cf9'
    ],
    payload: null,
    nonce: '9223372036854784215'
  },
  messageId: '10dbee9cf3c58507725861b34ac711058dc13f709be1a6d21f1dc0af17b06379'
}

• messageId is a unique id that refers to the given message in the network.

Python

You can use the Client.message() function to prepare a message instance and send it over a network. It accepts wide range of input parameters and can help with any kind of message type you want to broadcast.

import iota_client
client = iota_client.Client()

message = client.message()
print(message)

Output example:

{
   "message_id":"e2daa4c6b012b615becd6c12189b2c9e701ba0d53b31a15425b21af5105fc086",
   "network_id":7712883261355838377,
   "parents":[
      "0e2705ce50fec88f896663d4b7d562e74cbcfdd951ac482b1f03cfa5f27396d7",
      "0f5a0b2041766127c3f3bff2dd653b450b72e364765fcc805a40423c59ed01f9",
      "20635b30aee437575d7e6abdf6629eec80543bee30848b0abdda2200fc11a977",
      "da97cd6cfcbb854b8fd3f064c8459c5c9eae80dbd5ef594a3e1a26dcb8fc078c"
   ],
   "payload":"None",
   "nonce":2305843009213869242
}

• message_id is a unique id that refers to the given message in the network.
• Every message in the Tangle should refer to up to 8 other messages. These are indicated in the parents section.
• No actual payload was given in this example message (payload=None).
• nonce refer to a result of proof-of-work.

Rust

The function Client.postMessage( message: &Message) accepts a message instance as a parameter and sends it over a network.

// Copyright 2021 IOTA Stiftung
// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0

//! cargo run --example 06_simple_message --release

use iota_client::{Client, Result};

/// In this example we will send a message without a payload

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<()> {
    let iota = Client::builder()
        .with_node("https://api.lb-0.h.chrysalis-devnet.iota.cafe")?
        .finish()
        .await?;

    let message = iota.message().finish().await?;

    println!(
        "Empty message sent: https://explorer.iota.org/devnet/message/{}",
        message.id().0
    );
    Ok(())
}

Output example:

{
  message: {
    networkId: '14379272398717627559',
    parentMessageIds: [
      '03ddc83fad172a322fb00fb4e449436e9d1117ff390879100647c650a30c2d52',
      '252798210fa9816f6fd40f1b19095da9f2dc88ae06fc4c0523a928a29d0d782e',
      'a8e4f4cd49227068424ead8da187a48fdaa7ce8ffc4b9ac0ee2d5d3f2fcd7e70',
      'dbbc8044bc624b3378e1dda83ab95f9be468b06a6a9806c76a70353182028cf9'
    ],
    payload: null,
    nonce: '9223372036854784215'
  },
  messageId: '10dbee9cf3c58507725861b34ac711058dc13f709be1a6d21f1dc0af17b06379'
}

• messageId is a unique id that refers to the given message in the network.

Wasm

The function Client.postMessage(message) accepts a message instance as a parameter and sends it over a network. Alternatively, there is a convenient MessageBuilder helper class with chaining calls that prepares a message instance and broadcasts it over the network.

async function run() {
    const { ClientBuilder } = require('@iota/client');

    // client will connect to testnet by default
    const client = new ClientBuilder().build();

    const messageId = await client.message().submit();
    console.log(messageId);
}

run()

Output example:

{
  message: {
    networkId: '14379272398717627559',
    parentMessageIds: [
      '03ddc83fad172a322fb00fb4e449436e9d1117ff390879100647c650a30c2d52',
      '252798210fa9816f6fd40f1b19095da9f2dc88ae06fc4c0523a928a29d0d782e',
      'a8e4f4cd49227068424ead8da187a48fdaa7ce8ffc4b9ac0ee2d5d3f2fcd7e70',
      'dbbc8044bc624b3378e1dda83ab95f9be468b06a6a9806c76a70353182028cf9'
    ],
    payload: null,
    nonce: '9223372036854784215'
  },
  messageId: '10dbee9cf3c58507725861b34ac711058dc13f709be1a6d21f1dc0af17b06379'
}

• messageId is a unique id that refers to the given message in the network.