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Overview

This tutorial provides practical examples of using Access Control Lists (ACL) to manage permissions for encrypted data in your CoFHE contracts. See ACL Mechanism for explanation of why the ACL mechanism is needed.

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Solidity API

The following functions are available for managing access control:
  1. FHE.allowThis(CIPHERTEXT_HANDLE) - allows the current contract access to the handle
  2. FHE.allow(CIPHERTEXT_HANDLE, ADDRESS) - allows the specified address access to the handle
  3. FHE.allowTransient(CIPHERTEXT_HANDLE, ADDRESS) - allows the specified address access to the handle for the duration of the transaction

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Automatic Transaction-Scoped Allowance

The contract that creates the value for the first time will automatically get ownership of the ciphertext for the duration of the transaction, by using ACL.allowTransient(this) behind the scenes. 
// Contract A
function doAdd(InEuint32 input1, InEuint32 input2) {
    euint32 handle1 = FHE.asEuint32(input1); // Contract A gets temporary ownership of handle1
    euint32 handle2 = FHE.asEuint32(input2); // Contract A gets temporary ownership of handle2
    
    euint32 result = FHE.add(handle1, handle2); // possible because Contract A has ownership of handle1 and handle2
}
This automatic allowance only lasts for the duration of the current transaction. To use encrypted values in future transactions, you must explicitly grant access.

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Persistent Allowance for This Contract

To use the results in other transactions, explicit ownership must be granted with FHE.allow(address) or FHE.allowThis(). 
contract A {
    private euint32 result;
    private euint32 handle1;

    function doAdd(InEuint32 input1, InEuint32 input2) {
        handle1 = FHE.asEuint32(input1);         // Contract A gets temporary ownership of handle1
        euint32 handle2 = FHE.asEuint32(input2); // Contract A gets temporary ownership of handle2

        result = FHE.add(handle1, handle2);      // Contract A gets temporary ownership of result
        FHE.allowThis(result);                   // result is allowed for future transactions
    }

    function doSomethingWithResult() {
        FHE.decrypt(result);      // Allowed
        FHE.add(handle1, result); // ACLNotAllowed (handle1 is not owned persistently)
    }
}
If you don’t call FHE.allowThis() after modifying encrypted values, you won’t be able to use them in future transactions. Always call FHE.allowThis() after operations that modify encrypted state variables.

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Allowance for Decryptions

To decrypt a ciphertext off-chain via the decryption network, the issuer must be allowed on the ciphertext handle via FHE.allow(userAddress). 
contract A {
    private mapping(address => euint256) balances;

    function transfer(InEuint32 _amount, address to) {
        euint32 amount = FHE.asEuint32(_amount);
        
        balances[msg.sender] = balances[msg.sender] - amount;
        balances[to] = balances[to] + amount;

        FHE.allow(balances[msg.sender], msg.sender); // now the sender can decrypt her balance
        FHE.allow(balances[to], to);                 // now the receiver can decrypt his balance

        // enable balance manipulation for future transactions
        FHE.allowThis(balances[msg.sender]);
        FHE.allowThis(balances[to]);
    }
}
When allowing users to decrypt their own encrypted values, use FHE.allow() to grant persistent access. This enables users to decrypt values off-chain using Cofhejs without requiring additional transactions.

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Allow Other Contracts

You can also allow other contracts to use your ciphertexts, either persistently or only for the course of this transaction via FHE.allowTransient(handle, address). 
contract A {
    function doAdd(InEuint32 input1) {
        euint32 handle1 = FHE.asEuint32(input1);       // Contract A gets temporary ownership of handle1

        FHE.allowTransient(handle1, addressB); // Contract B is allowed to use handle1 in this transaction alone
        // or
        FHE.allow(handle1, addressB);          // Contract B is allowed to use handle1 forever
        
        IContractB(addressB).doSomethingWithHandle1(handle1);
    }
}
Use FHE.allowTransient() when you only need to grant access for a single transaction. Use FHE.allow() when you need persistent access across multiple transactions.

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Common Patterns

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Pattern 1: Allow Contract and User

When modifying encrypted values that users need to access: 
function updateBalance(address user, InEuint32 amount) public {
    euint32 encryptedAmount = FHE.asEuint32(amount);
    balances[user] = FHE.add(balances[user], encryptedAmount);
    
    // Allow contract to use in future transactions
    FHE.allowThis(balances[user]);
    
    // Allow user to decrypt/seal their balance
    FHE.allow(balances[user], user);
}

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Pattern 2: Allow Sender

A common pattern is to allow the message sender: 
function submitEncryptedData(InEuint32 data) public {
    euint32 encryptedData = FHE.asEuint32(data);
    storedData[msg.sender] = encryptedData;
    
    FHE.allowThis(storedData[msg.sender]);
    FHE.allowSender(storedData[msg.sender]); // Equivalent to FHE.allow(storedData[msg.sender], msg.sender)
}

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Pattern 3: Global Access

For values that should be accessible to everyone: 
function setPublicValue(InEuint32 value) public onlyOwner {
    publicValue = FHE.asEuint32(value);
    FHE.allowGlobal(publicValue); // Everyone can now access this value
}

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Best Practices

1

Always allow after modifications

After modifying any encrypted state variable, call FHE.allowThis() to ensure the contract can use it in future transactions.
2

Allow users for decryption

If users need to decrypt their own values off-chain, use FHE.allow() or FHE.allowSender() to grant them access.
3

Use transient for single-use access

When passing encrypted values to other contracts for a single operation, use FHE.allowTransient() instead of FHE.allow().

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Next Steps