Design Rationale
Key design decisions and technical constraints that shaped the ERC-7730 standard.
Core Principles
Human Readability
Developer-Friendly Format
The specification uses a syntax and structure designed for direct readability:
- Implementation patterns documented alongside specification
- Clear examples for common use cases
- Intuitive JSON structure
JSON Data Format
JSON was selected as the primary data interchange format due to:
- • Widespread familiarity
- • Extensive library support
- • Native parsing capabilities
- • Human-readable debugging
Adoption Incentives
The standard incorporates incentives for metadata file creation:
- Wide wallet support for compliant implementations
- Improved user experience as direct result of implementation
Hardware Wallet Constraints
Technical limitations of hardware wallets significantly influenced the specification.
Display Limitations
| Constraint | Design Response |
|---|---|
| Limited screen size | Flattened field structure |
| UI rendering capabilities | Optional complex constructs |
| Memory constraints | Optimized data structures |
Field Structure Decisions
Complex UI constructs like layouts and grouping were made optional. Primary data fields are prioritized for constrained displays with progressive enhancement for more capable wallets.
Complex nested structures are discouraged. The recommended approach converts nested objects to flattened field lists, improving display compatibility across hardware wallet types.
Formatters requiring recursive processing (e.g., calldata) have documented limitations. Alternative patterns are provided for hardware wallet implementations with graceful degradation paths.
