Mini Blockchain

🚀 Rust-based Blockchain Command-line Tool

This repository contains a simple blockchain demonstration implemented in Rust. The project showcases core Rust principles through a minimal command-line application and integrates an MCP server to expose blockchain functionality over the network.

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Rust (latest stable version)
• Cargo

Building and Running

To create and run the project using Cargo, execute the following commands in the terminal:

cargo new blockchain_app
cd blockchain_app && cargo run

⚠️ Important Note

If you cloned this repository, simply navigate to the project folder and run cargo run.

✨ Features

• Blockchain Implementation: The application implements a basic blockchain where each block includes an index, timestamp, data, previous hash, and current hash.
• Menu-driven CLI: Allows users to add new blocks, print the current blockchain, and verify its integrity.
• MCP Server Integration: Enables external clients to interact with the blockchain via JSON commands.

📦 Installation

1. Ensure you have Rust and Cargo installed on your system.
2. Clone the repository or create a new project using cargo new.
3. Navigate to the project directory and run cargo run.

💻 Usage Examples

Basic Usage

When you run the application, the CLI presents the following options:

1. Add Block: Enter data to create a new block.
2. Print Blockchain: Display all blocks in the blockchain.
3. Verify Blockchain: Confirm that each block is correctly linked.
4. Exit: Close the application.

Advanced Usage

The project includes an MCP server running alongside the CLI. It listens on 127.0.0.1:7878 and allows external clients to interact with the blockchain via JSON commands.

Available MCP Commands

• latest_block: Retrieve the latest block in the blockchain.
  • Example:

    echo '{"command": "latest_block"}' | nc 127.0.0.1 7878
    

  • Sample Output:

    {"status":"ok","message":"Latest block retrieved","block":{"index":0,"timestamp":"2025-02-26T10:06:59.931506+00:00","data":"Genesis Block","previous_hash":"0","hash":"f465878acf7be88a124fd7ebc9a3640793612023828d9af8ad237eefd4a1a22e"}}
    

• add_block: Add a new block with the provided data.
  • Example:

    echo '{"command": "add_block", "data": "sample transaction"}' | nc 127.0.0.1 7878
    

  • Sample Output:

    {"status":"ok","message":"Block added successfully"}
    

How to Use

1. Start the blockchain application.
2. Open another terminal and connect to the MCP server:

   nc 127.0.0.1 7878
   

3. Enter one of the above commands and press Enter.

Code Examples

# Add a new block
echo '{"command": "add_block", "data": "test data"}' | nc 127.0.0.1 7878

# Retrieve the latest block
echo '{"command": "latest_block"}' | nc 127.0.0.1 7878

🔧 Technical Details

Blockchain Structure

Each block in the blockchain includes the following components:

• Index: The position of the block in the chain.
• Timestamp: The creation time recorded in ISO 8601 format.
• Data: The content provided by the user.
• Previous Hash: The SHA-256 hash of the previous block.
• Current Hash: The SHA-256 hash calculated from the block content.

Technologies Used

• Rust: A system programming language focused on safety and performance.
• sha2: Used for calculating SHA-256 hashes.
• chrono: Used for precise timestamps in UTC time.
• serde and serde_json: Used for JSON serialization (in MCP communication).

📄 License

No license information provided.