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Entrypoints

The entrypoints of a contract represent the different ways that it can be called, similar to a method or function in many programming languages or an endpoint of an API. A contract can have any number of internal functions, but only the functions designated as entrypoints can be called by outside consumers and other contracts.

Contracts must have at least one entrypoint, and they can have as many as needed. For example, the following contract provides four entrypoints. The increment and decrement entrypoints increase or decrease a value in storage, the reset entrypoint sets the value to 0, and the default entrypoint increases the value by 1.

export namespace IncDec {
type storage = int;
type result = [list<operation>, storage];
// Four entrypoints
@entry
const increment = (delta : int, store : storage) : result =>
[[], store + delta];
@entry
const @default = (_u : unit, store : storage) : result =>
increment(1, store)
@entry
const decrement = (delta : int, store : storage) : result =>
[[], store - delta];
@entry
const reset = (_p : unit, _s : storage) : result =>
[[], 0];
};

To call an entrypoint, pass the name of the entrypoint with an initial capital and the parameter. For example, this run dry-run command calls the increment entrypoint in the previous contract:

ligo run dry-run -m IncDec gitlab-pages/docs/tezos/contracts/src/entrypoints/incdec.jsligo 'Increment(5)' '4'

The response shows an empty list of transactions to run next and the new state of the storage:

( LIST_EMPTY() , 9 )

Note that even though the entrypoint name starts with a lower-case letter, the command uses an initial upper-case letter to call it.

Parameters​

LIGO entrypoints always receive two parameters:

  • A parameter passed by the caller
  • The current value of the contract storage

The caller provides only the first parameter; the LIGO framework provides the current value of the contract storage.

The caller-provided parameter can be of any type, including:

  • Unit, to indicate no information
  • A primitive data type such as integer or string
  • A complex data type such as a tuple or list

Although technically speaking the entrypoint receives only one parameter from the caller, it can behave as though it receives multiple parameters by setting a complex type as the parameter type and destructuring the parameter into multiple variables. For example, this entrypoint accepts a parameter that consists of an integer, a string, and a Boolean:

type complexParam = [
int,
string,
bool,
];
type storage = [int, string];
type return_type = [list<operation>, storage];
@entry
const dosomething = (param: complexParam, storage: storage): return_type => {
const [intParam, stringParam, boolParam] = param;
if (boolParam) {
return [[], [intParam, stringParam]];
}
return [[], storage];
}

Return values​

LIGO entrypoints must return a tuple that contains these values:

  • A list of operations to run after the entrypoint completes, such as calls to other smart contracts or transfers of tez to accounts
  • The new value of the contract storage, even if the entrypoint did not change it

Unlike functions and API endpoints, entrypoints do not return a value directly to the caller. To return data from a smart contract, you can use one of these methods:

  • Use views to return data to smart contracts or off-chain applications
  • Use events to return data to off-chain applications
  • Include a callback parameter that sends information to another smart contract by calling one of its entrypoints

Logic​

An entrypoint may run logic based on:

  • The contract storage
  • The parameters that senders pass
  • Transaction context values such as Tezos.get_amount and Tezos.get_sender
  • The table of constants

Entrypoints cannot access information outside of Tezos, such as calling external APIs. If an entrypoint needs information from outside Tezos it must use oracles; see Oracles on docs.tezos.com and Using and trusting Oracles on opentezos.com.

Storing and sending tez​

Smart contracts are a type of account and can store and send tez. By default, contracts accept any tez sent to them.

If you don't want an entrypoint to accept tez, check how much tez was included with the transaction and fail the transaction if it is more than zero, as in this example:

type parameter = unit;
type storage = unit;
type result = [list<operation>, storage];
@entry
const no_tokens = (action: parameter, storage: storage): result => {
if (Tezos.get_amount() > 0tez) {
return failwith("This contract does not accept tokens.");
} else {
return [[], storage];
};
};

To send tez, create a transaction with Tezos.transaction and return it in the list of operations at the end of the entrypoint, as in this example:

type storage = unit;
type return_value = [list<operation>, storage];
@entry
const give5tez = (_: unit, storage: storage): return_value => {
let operations: list<operation> = [];
if (Tezos.get_balance() >= 5tez) {
const receiver_contract = match(Tezos.get_contract_opt(Tezos.get_sender())) {
when(Some(contract)): contract;
when(None): failwith("Couldn't find account");
};
operations = [Tezos.Next.Operation.transaction(unit, 5tez, receiver_contract)];
}
return [operations, storage];
}

Access control​

This example shows how Tezos.get_sender can be used to deny access to an entrypoint:

const owner: address = "tz1KqTpEZ7Yob7QbPE4Hy4Wo8fHG8LhKxZSx";
@entry
const owner_only = (action: parameter, storage: storage): result => {
if (Tezos.get_sender() != owner) { return failwith("Access denied."); }
else { return [[], storage]; };
};
note

The entrypoint in the previous example uses Tezos.get_sender instead of Tezos.get_source to prevent a security flaw. For more information, see the Security tutorial.

Calling other contracts​

An entrypoint can create any number of calls to other entrypoints in its contract and to other contracts. However, as described in Operations on docs.tezos.com, these calls happen after the entrypoint code has completed.

To call other entrypoints or contracts, create an operation and return it in the list of operations at the end of the entrypoint, as in this example:

type storage = unit;
type return_value = [list<operation>, storage];
@entry
const callContract = (param: [address, string], storage: storage): return_value => {
const [addr, parameter] = param;
const receiver_contract = match(Tezos.get_contract_opt(addr)) {
when(Some(contract)): contract;
when(None): failwith("Couldn't find contract");
}
const operations = [Tezos.Next.Operation.transaction(parameter, 0tez, receiver_contract)];
return [operations, storage];
}

It's important to remember that the transactions an entrypoint creates do not run until after the entrypoint code has completed. The entrypoint cannot take advantage of any changes that these transactions make. For example, if an entrypoint creates a transaction that sends tez to another contract and then checks its balance again before the end of the entrypoint, the balance is the same as it was at the start of the entrypoint. Its balance changes only when it returns the transaction at the end of the entrypoint code and that transaction runs.

The default entrypoint​

The name default has a special meaning for a Tezos entrypoint. It denotes the default entrypoint that is called unless another is specified. Because default is a reserved keyword in JsLIGO, if you want to create an entrypoint named default, you must escape its name as @default.

For more information about the default entrypoint and its internal behavior, see Implementation details: the default entrypoint on docs.tezos.com.

The main function​

In earlier versions of LIGO, it was possible to write a contract that had a single main function named main that branched according to the parameter passed to it. This way, contracts could behave as though they had multiple entrypoints while having only a single function. While it is still possible to define a single function called main and mark it as the sole entry point using @entry, this is not what most contracts should do.

This feature is deprecated. Future versions of LIGO will not allow the declaration of a single main function. A workaround is given at the end of this section.

A common way to code a contract using a single main function is to use a variant type as its parameter and branch the code according to the parameter. In the following example, the storage contains a counter of type nat and a name of type string. Depending on the parameter of the contract, either the counter or the name is updated.

export type parameter =
| ["Action_A", nat]
| ["Action_B", string];
export type storage = {
counter : nat,
name : string
};
type result = [list<operation>, storage];
const entry_A = (n: nat, store: storage): result =>
[[], {...store, counter: n}];
const entry_B = (s: string, store: storage): result =>
[[], {...store, name: s}];
@entry
const main = (action: parameter, store: storage): result =>
match(action) {
when(Action_A(n)): entry_A(n, store);
when(Action_B(s)): entry_B(s, store)
};

To call a contract that has a single main function instead of separate entrypoints, pass the parameter value without an entrypoint name. For example, this run dry-run command passes the Action_A variant to the contract in the previous example:

ligo run dry-run gitlab-pages/docs/tezos/contracts/src/entrypoints/contract_main.jsligo 'Action_A(5n)' '[5n, "hello"]'

Workaround for the deprecation of the main function​

In most cases, adding [@entry] for CameLIGO or @entry for JsLIGO before the existing main function should suffice. However in cases where it is not possible or desirable to convert an existing contract_main contract to the new @entry format (e.g. generated code or a code review process that forbids making changes to an already-audited file), the deprecation can be circumvented by adding a proxy file which declares a single entry point and calls the existing main function, as follows:

#import "gitlab-pages/docs/tezos/contracts/src/entrypoints/contract_main.jsligo" "C"
namespace Proxy {
@entry
const proxy =
(p: C.parameter, s: C.storage): [list<operation>, C.storage] =>
C.main(p, s)
}

The contract can then be compiled using the following command:

ligo compile contract --library . \
-m Proxy \
gitlab-pages/docs/advanced/src/entrypoints-contracts/contract_main_proxy.jsligo

Notice that to compile a parameter for this contract, now we need to pass the either -e proxy or construct a value using the Proxy constructor:

ligo compile parameter --library . \
-m Proxy -e proxy \
gitlab-pages/docs/advanced/src/entrypoints-contracts/contract_main_proxy.jsligo \
"Action_A(42n)"
ligo compile parameter --library . \
-m Proxy \
gitlab-pages/docs/advanced/src/entrypoints-contracts/contract_main_proxy.jsligo \
"Proxy(Action_A(42n))"