midnight-proofsproof-generation

name	midnight-proofsproof-generation
description	Use when generating ZK proofs server-side, building proof-as-a-service backends, offloading proof computation from clients, creating proof generation queues, or implementing async proof generation.
metadata	{"author":"aaronbassett"}

Proof Generation

Generate ZK proofs server-side to offload computation from client devices and build scalable proof-as-a-service backends.

When to Use

• Building a backend service that generates proofs for clients
• Offloading proof computation from mobile or low-power devices
• Creating a proof generation queue for high-throughput applications
• Implementing async proof generation with status polling
• Handling proof generation timeouts and errors

Key Concepts

Server-Side vs Client-Side Proving

Aspect	Client-Side	Server-Side
Privacy	Witness data stays local	Witness sent to server (encrypted)
Latency	Limited by device power	Fast dedicated hardware
Scalability	One proof at a time	Parallel proof generation
Use Case	Privacy-critical apps	High-throughput services

Proof Generation Flow

1. Receive Request - Accept witness data and circuit identifier
2. Load Circuit - Retrieve proving key for the circuit
3. Generate Proof - Execute the prover with witness inputs
4. Return Proof - Send proof bytes back to client

// Server-side proof generation overview
async function generateProof(request: ProofRequest): Promise<ProofResponse> {
  const { circuitId, witness } = request;

  // Load circuit proving key
  const provingKey = await loadProvingKey(circuitId);

  // Generate the proof (CPU intensive)
  const proof = await prover.prove(provingKey, witness);

  return { proof, circuitId };
}

Witness Data Handling

Witness data contains private inputs to the circuit. When handling server-side:

• Encrypt in transit - Use TLS and consider additional encryption
• Minimize retention - Delete witness data immediately after proof generation
• Audit logging - Log proof requests (not witness content) for debugging
• Access control - Authenticate and authorize proof requests

References

Document	Description
prover-api.md	Prover SDK setup and API reference
witness-formatting.md	Witness input structure and validation

Examples

Example	Description
rest-endpoint/	Express REST API for proof generation
queue-worker/	Redis queue-based proof worker

Quick Start

1. Set Up Prover Service

import { createProver } from '@midnight-ntwrk/midnight-js-prover';

const prover = await createProver({
  // Path to circuit proving keys
  circuitKeysPath: './circuit-keys',
  // Memory limit for proof generation
  memoryLimit: 4096, // MB
});

2. Create Proof Endpoint

import express from 'express';

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

app.post('/api/prove', async (req, res) => {
  const { circuitId, witness } = req.body;

  try {
    const proof = await prover.prove(circuitId, witness);
    res.json({ success: true, proof: proof.toString('base64') });
  } catch (error) {
    res.status(500).json({
      success: false,
      error: error.message
    });
  }
});

3. Handle Async Requests

// For long-running proofs, use async pattern
app.post('/api/prove/async', async (req, res) => {
  const { circuitId, witness } = req.body;

  // Create job ID
  const jobId = crypto.randomUUID();

  // Queue proof generation
  await proofQueue.add({ jobId, circuitId, witness });

  // Return immediately with job ID
  res.json({ jobId, status: 'queued' });
});

// Poll for status
app.get('/api/prove/status/:jobId', async (req, res) => {
  const job = await proofQueue.getJob(req.params.jobId);

  if (!job) {
    return res.status(404).json({ error: 'Job not found' });
  }

  if (job.status === 'completed') {
    return res.json({ status: 'completed', proof: job.result });
  }

  res.json({ status: job.status });
});

Common Patterns

Request Validation

import { z } from 'zod';

const ProofRequestSchema = z.object({
  circuitId: z.string().min(1),
  witness: z.record(z.unknown()),
  timeout: z.number().optional().default(60000),
});

function validateProofRequest(body: unknown) {
  return ProofRequestSchema.parse(body);
}

Timeout Handling

async function proveWithTimeout(
  circuitId: string,
  witness: WitnessData,
  timeoutMs = 60000
): Promise<Proof> {
  const controller = new AbortController();
  const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), timeoutMs);

  try {
    return await prover.prove(circuitId, witness, {
      signal: controller.signal,
    });
  } finally {
    clearTimeout(timeout);
  }
}

Health Check Endpoint

app.get('/health', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    // Verify prover is ready
    const isReady = await prover.isReady();

    res.json({
      status: isReady ? 'healthy' : 'degraded',
      proverReady: isReady,
      uptime: process.uptime(),
    });
  } catch (error) {
    res.status(503).json({ status: 'unhealthy', error: error.message });
  }
});

Error Categories

enum ProofErrorCode {
  INVALID_WITNESS = 'INVALID_WITNESS',
  CIRCUIT_NOT_FOUND = 'CIRCUIT_NOT_FOUND',
  PROOF_GENERATION_FAILED = 'PROOF_GENERATION_FAILED',
  TIMEOUT = 'TIMEOUT',
  OUT_OF_MEMORY = 'OUT_OF_MEMORY',
}

class ProofError extends Error {
  constructor(
    public code: ProofErrorCode,
    message: string,
    public details?: unknown
  ) {
    super(message);
    this.name = 'ProofError';
  }
}

Performance Considerations

Concern	Mitigation
CPU-intensive proof generation	Use worker threads or separate processes
Memory spikes during proving	Set memory limits, monitor usage
Long request timeouts	Use async job queue pattern
Circuit key loading time	Pre-load keys at startup

Related Skills

• proof-verification - Verify generated proofs
• proof-caching - Cache proof components for performance
• prover-optimization - Tune prover for production workloads

Related Commands

None currently defined.

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