#newt $NEWT
One command in the @NewtonProtocol documentation may be more important than it first appears.
opa test
At first I assumed it was simply a developer convenience. The more I read the documentation, the more I realized it changes when authorization can be trusted.
Most smart contract authorization logic is effectively tested after deployment. Even with audits and testnets, the final environment is still the blockchain itself.
Newton takes a different approach.
Because Policies are written in Rego as deterministic functions, they can be unit tested with opa test before any Policy is deployed, before any operator evaluates it, and before any blockchain transaction depends on it.
That shifts authorization closer to traditional software engineering.
Instead of asking, "Did this rule work on-chain?", developers can first ask, "Does this rule produce the correct decision for every expected input?"
Only after that does simulation with newt_simulatePolicy and deployment become part of the workflow.
It is a small detail in the documentation, but it reflects a larger design philosophy behind $NEWT .
Authorization is not treated as configuration that happens to run on a blockchain.
Inside #Newt , authorization is treated as software that deserves automated testing before anyone is asked to trust it.
One command in the @NewtonProtocol documentation may be more important than it first appears.
opa test
At first I assumed it was simply a developer convenience. The more I read the documentation, the more I realized it changes when authorization can be trusted.
Most smart contract authorization logic is effectively tested after deployment. Even with audits and testnets, the final environment is still the blockchain itself.
Newton takes a different approach.
Because Policies are written in Rego as deterministic functions, they can be unit tested with opa test before any Policy is deployed, before any operator evaluates it, and before any blockchain transaction depends on it.
That shifts authorization closer to traditional software engineering.
Instead of asking, "Did this rule work on-chain?", developers can first ask, "Does this rule produce the correct decision for every expected input?"
Only after that does simulation with newt_simulatePolicy and deployment become part of the workflow.
It is a small detail in the documentation, but it reflects a larger design philosophy behind $NEWT .
Authorization is not treated as configuration that happens to run on a blockchain.
Inside #Newt , authorization is treated as software that deserves automated testing before anyone is asked to trust it.