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PRC-5 - Paima Inverse Projection Interface for ERC-1155

Use case​

List your in-game stackable items - gold, materials, potions - as ERC-1155 tokens on any L1, with live metadata from your game.

Summary​

Many in-game items aren't unique - crafting materials, gold, potions, ticket counts. ERC-721 (and PRC-3) treats every token as one-of-a-kind. PRC-5 mirrors PRC-3's mechanism using ERC-1155 so the same item type can have any amount, with batch operations and metadata that describe quantities.

The game stays the source of truth; the L1 ERC-1155 token is a tradeable claim on game state whose metadata is fetched dynamically from the game's RPC.

Specification​

Every PRC-5 compliant contract MUST implement IInverseProjected1155, which extends IERC1155MetadataURI and an agnostic version of ERC-4906 (IERC4906Agnostic).

interface IUri {
    /// URI for token type `id`. If `{id}` is present, clients substitute the actual type ID.
    function uri(uint256 id) external view returns (string memory);
}

interface IInverseProjected1155 is IERC1155MetadataURI, IERC4906Agnostic {
    event SetBaseExtension(string oldBaseExtension, string newBaseExtension);
    event SetBaseURI(string oldUri, string newUri);

    /// Burn `value` of `id` from sender. Reverts on insufficient balance.
    function burn(uint256 id, uint256 value) external;

    /// Burn batch - same semantics, multiple ids/values at once.
    function burnBatch(uint256[] memory ids, uint256[] memory values) external;

    /// Owner-only setters. Emit the corresponding event.
    function setBaseURI(string memory _URI) external;
    function setBaseExtension(string memory _newBaseExtension) external;

    /// Variant: caller provides their own RPC base.
    function uri(uint256 id, string memory customBaseUri) external view returns (string memory);

    /// Variant: caller provides an on-chain source implementing IUri.
    function uri(uint256 id, IUri customUriInterface) external view returns (string memory);
}

interface IERC4906Agnostic {
    event MetadataUpdate(uint256 _tokenId);
    event BatchMetadataUpdate(uint256 _fromTokenId, uint256 _toTokenId);
}

Base URI shape​

https://{rpcBase}/inverseProjection/{standard}/{purpose}/

With standard = "prc5", e.g. https://rpc.mygame.com/inverseProjection/prc5/gold/.

Token identifiers MUST start with a CAIP-2 chainIdentifier. For Ethereum mainnet: eip155:1, giving https://rpc.mygame.com/inverseProjection/prc5/gold/eip155:1/....

Initialisation modes​

1. App-Layer Initiated​

The user first asks the game to register a projection for <chainId, address, amount>. The game returns a unique userTokenId and records the initialAmount. The user then mints on the L1 referencing that id.

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Interface for app-initiated projection:

interface IInverseAppProjected1155 is IInverseProjected1155 {
    event Minted(
        uint256 indexed tokenId,
        address indexed minter,
        uint256 indexed userTokenId,
        uint256 value
    );

    /// Last `userTokenId` issued for a user (0 if never). Useful for checking sync or producing the next id.
    function currentNonce(address user) external view returns (uint256);

    /// Mint `value` of a freshly-allocated token to msg.sender. Reverts if msg.sender is a contract not
    /// implementing IERC1155Receiver-onERC1155Received. Emits `Minted`.
    function mint(uint256 value, bytes memory data, bytes memory verificationData) external returns (uint256);
    function mint(uint256 value, bytes memory data) external returns (uint256);
}

The recommended tokenURI is {baseURI}{userAddress}/{userTokenId}/{initialAmount}, e.g.:

https://rpc.mygame.com/inverseProjection/prc5/gold/eip155:1/0x1946.../1/1000

Partial-initialisation handling​

When the user signs the app-layer transaction but never completes the L1 mint (or vice versa), the on-chain amount can disagree with the game-side initialAmount. Applications SHOULD ask the user to sign both transactions before submitting either, and SHOULD treat the resulting state as the canonical reconciliation point:

  • If the L1 amount < game-side initialAmount, the game unlocks the difference back to the user.
  • If a burn event arrives for a userTokenId the game never issued, the game MAY treat it as already-handled (but must be careful with out-of-order burns).
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Endpoint error cases​

  1. Token ids the game hasn't issued yet → 404 (don't serve dummy data).
  2. Invalid mints (see Mint Validity) → 404.

2. Base-Layer Initiated​

The user mints directly on the L1, supplying initialData describing the projection. The contract's own monotonic tokenId is the identifier ({chainIdentifier}/{tokenId}.json).

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interface IInverseBaseProjected1155 is IInverseProjected1155 {
    event Minted(uint256 indexed tokenId, uint256 value, string initialData);

    /// Mint `value` of a freshly-allocated token to msg.sender, emitting `initialData` for the game to consume.
    function mint(uint256 value, bytes memory data, string calldata initialData) external returns (uint256);
}

Endpoint error cases​

  1. Token ids the game hasn't seen yet → 404 (the game-node lags the L1 by some delay).
  2. Invalid initialData (definition is app-specific) → 404.

Mint validity​

Marketplace features like collection offers and floor-sweeping work only if invalid mints are visibly marked. PRC-5 requires every token to carry a validity attribute:

{ "attributes": [{ "trait_type": "validity", "value": "valid" }] }
  • valid - game-state matches the mint claim.
  • invalid - mint exists but isn't honoured by this version of the game.

Tracking invalid mints​

Regardless of which initialisation path is used, the state transition that processes an inverse projection MUST NOT fail for any reason other than signature mismatch. A mint that's invalid for one variant of the game must still increment that variant's userTokenId counter - otherwise, parallel variants assign different ids to the same valid mint and interoperability breaks.

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Rationale​

PRC-5 mirrors PRC-3's design decisions:

  • No IPFS metadata - tokenURI returns the game's live RPC response.
  • tokenURI overloads - callers may pass a custom RPC base or an on-chain IUri to avoid trusting the project's hosted node.
  • ERC-4906 events callable by anyone - anybody can force marketplaces to refresh their caches when the game advances.
  • chainIdentifier enforced on-chain - a contract deployed on chain A cannot pretend to mint tokens for chain B.

Key differences from vanilla ERC-1155:

  • mint is callable by anyone, anytime - supply is unbounded by design.
  • verificationData is supported on app-initiated mints when the app layer is verifiable (e.g. a ZK rollup).

Trade-offs​

  • App-initiated - no L1 finality wait, batch-friendly, supports verifiable game state. Costs more gas and requires coordinated signing.
  • Base-initiated - no app-layer transaction needed, lower gas. Must wait for L1 finality and may need to reject mints that became invalid in the interim.

Reference implementation​

All contracts and interfaces live in the EffectStream codebase: packages/chains/evm-contracts/src/contracts/token.

Security considerations​

  • Honest RPC - same assumption as PRC-3 and most existing dApps. Users with stronger requirements can run their own node and supply their own RPC via the tokenURI overloads.
  • App-layer finality - if the app layer can roll back, mint metadata can change or become invalid. Marketplaces can be forced to refresh via the ERC-4906 events (callable by anyone).