Missing instructions for --minting-policy-cmd argument in Marlowe Runtime Backend documentation

[manhmarlowe2024]

Summary

The Marlowe Runtime Backend requires running several services, one of which is the marlowe-tx service.

The marlowe-tx service requires a --minting-policy-cmd argument to start, but there are no instructions or examples in the documentation on how to create or obtain the minting policy command. This omission makes it unclear how to configure the service properly.

Steps to reproduce

Documentation: Deploying Marlowe Runtime Backend Services Manually

Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Install cardano-node and cardano-cli executables, then start the cardano node
2. Open a new terminal, install PostgreSQL database and start the postgresql.service
3. Open a new terminal, install nixOS
4. Open a new terminal, start the marlowe-chain-indexer service by using this command. Note that before running this command, you should update the database URI in this file marlowe-cardano/marlowe-chain-sync/sqitch.conf

   sudo apt install sqitch
   
   cd marlowe-chain-sync
   sqitch deploy
   
   nix run .#marlowe-chain-indexer -- \
       --socket-path "$CARDANO_NODE_SOCKET_PATH" \
       --database-uri postgresql://postgres:[email protected]/chain \
       --genesis-config-file /home/ubuntu/cardano/testnet/byron-genesis.json \
       --shelley-genesis-config-file /home/ubuntu/cardano/testnet/shelley-genesis.json \
       --genesis-config-file-hash d4b8de7a11d929a323373cbab6c1a9bdc931beffff11db111cf9d57356ee1937
   
   

5. Open a new terminal, start the marlowe-chain-sync service

   cd marlowe-cardano
   
   nix run .#marlowe-chain-sync -- \
       --socket-path "$CARDANO_NODE_SOCKET_PATH" \
       --database-uri postgresql://postgres:[email protected]/chain \
       --http-port 8081
   

6. Open a new terminal, start the marlowe-indexer service. Note that before running this command, you should update the database URI in this file marlowe-cardano/marlowe-runtime/marlowe-indexer/sqitch.conf

   cd marlowe-cardano/marlowe-runtime/marlowe-indexer
   sqitch deploy
   
   nix run .#marlowe-indexer -- \
       --database-uri postgresql://postgres:[email protected]/chain \
       --http-port 8082
   

7. Open a new terminal, start the marlowe-sync service

   nix run .#marlowe-sync -- \
       --database-uri postgresql://postgres:[email protected]/chain \
       --http-port 8083
   

8. Open a new terminal, start the marlowe-contract service

   nix run .#marlowe-contract -- --http-port 8084
   

9. Open a new terminal, start the marlowe-tx service

   nix run .#marlowe-tx -- --http-port 8085
   

10. See error Missing: --minting-policy-cmd CMD

Expected behavior

The documentation should include:

1. A clear explanation of the purpose of the --minting-policy-cmd argument.
2. Instructions or examples for creating or obtaining the minting policy command.
3. Instructions for using this minting policy command as the argument to start the marlowe-tx service.

System info (please complete the following information):

• OS: Ubuntu Server 64 bit (x86)
• Version: 22.04 LTS
• 4vCPU, 16GB RAM, 120GB SSD
• cardano-cli version: cardano-cli 10.1.1.0 - linux-x86_64 - ghc-8.10 (git rev 36871ba0cd3e86a5dbcfd6878cdb7168bb4e56a1)
• cardano-node version: cardano-node 10.1.3 - linux-x86_64 - ghc-8.10 (git rev 36871ba0cd3e86a5dbcfd6878cdb7168bb4e56a1)
• nix version: nix (Nix) 2.25.3
• Version of Marlowe Runtime backend services:
  • marlowe-chain-indexer 1.0.0
  • marlowe-chain-sync 1.0.0
  • marlowe-indexer 1.0.0
  • marlowe-sync 1.0.0
  • marlowe-contract 1.0.0
  • marlowe-tx version: marlowe-tx 1.0.0

Screenshots and attachments

Additional context

This is the description of the --minting-policy-cmd argument in the marlowe-tx manual: A command which creates the role token minting policy for a contract. It should read the arguments via the command line and output the serialized script binary to stdout.

Providing instructions or examples for the --minting-policy-cmd argument would significantly assist developers in setting up and using the marlowe-tx service. It would also improve the usability and completeness of the Marlowe Runtime documentation.

Thank you for addressing this issue!