OpenADR 3.0 in Rust

This repository contains an OpenADR 3.0 client (VEN) library and a server (VTN) implementation, both written in Rust. OpenADR is a protocol for automated demand-response in electricity grids, like dynamic pricing or load shedding. The OpenADR alliance is responsible for the standard, which can be downloaded free of charge.

This implementation is still work-in-progress. We aim for a first field-test-ready release in Dec 2024 / Jan 2025.

Thanks to our sponsors ElaadNL and Tweede golf for making this work possible.

Documentation

The documentation of the project is an ongoing effort as part of the first release. The ./openleadr-client and ./openleadr-vtn contain Readmes on how to get started with the client library and server, respectively. Additionally, the client, server, and common data types are published to crates.io and have documentation available on docs.rs. As an addition, #17 aims to produce a detailed OpenAPI specification of the VTN API we provide.

Getting started

First time setup

Your machine needs a recent version of Rust installed. Please refer to the official installation website for instructions for your platform. To apply the database migrations, you also need the sqlx-cli installed. Simply run cargo install sqlx-cli. Additionally, you need postgresql-client installed (version 16 or newer).

Docker compose

For a quick start, this repository contains a docker-compose.yml with the VTN and a Postgres database. To start it, first start the database and run the migrations:

docker compose up -d db # start the DB
cargo sqlx migrate run  # apply the migrations
docker compose up -d    # start all other containers, i.e., the VTN

Afterward, the VTN should be reachable at http://localhost:3000.

For a more detailed guide, please refer to the Readmes in the ./openleadr-client and ./openleadr-vtn directories.

Supported features

This repository contains only OpenADR 3.0, older versions are not supported.

Currently, real-time updates via the webhook mechanism, known as subscriptions in the specification, are not supported. While we currently do not plan to add this ourselves, we warmly welcome any contribution or sponsoring to add it. See the Contributing section if you are interested.

At the moment, the VTN implements its own OAuth provider, but we plan to allow for a third-party OAuth provider as well, see #26.

The client and server do support creating, retrieving, updating, and deleting programs, events, reports, VENs, and resources. Both sides support authentication and authorization handling and optionally allow for a more fine-grained access control than required by the specification.

The VTN stores the data in a Postgres database, but the code base is ready for using other data stores as well in the future. Again, we warmly welcome contributions or sponsoring if you are interested in adding additional storage support.

The VEN is a library for conveniently interacting with the REST API provided by a VTN. We aim for a clean and easy-to-understand API of the library to be used by business or VEN logic. Additionally, we will use the library to create a CLI application for easy testing and prototyping, see #52 for the current progress.

Testing

The Rust tests in this repository cover most of the functionality. We use CodeCov to keep track of the test coverage, and have an outstanding issue #75 to improve the test coverage even further. These tests are executed in GitHub Actions on every pull request. To execute them locally, run:

docker compose up db -d     # start up a Postgres DB in the background
cargo sqlx migrate run # apply the DB scheme
# load default credentials for integration testing of the client library
psql -U openadr -W openadr -h localhost openadr < fixtures/test_user_credentials.sql
cargo test --workspace      # execute the tests

In addition to the tests we developed ourselves, there exists a test suite maintained by the OpenADR alliance. As it is closed source, we cannot integrate this test suite with the CI, unfortunately. Nevertheless, we executed the tests locally to check for incompatibilities. Currently, all except for two of the 168 test cases that are applicable for us pass.

The two failing test cases are a result of that we do the permission management a bit different from the specification. In particular, we do not allow VENs to delete their own reports but instead allow this to the business logic (BL). The two test cases assume the opposite, VENs should be able to delete reports, and BLs should not be able to. See also #11.

The following screenshot shows the test results of the test suite from the OpenADR alliance, executed against commit 5c4e281. The 38 failing tests not mentioned before are testing the subscription feature not supported by this application yet. See also Supported features.

Contributing

We expect you to follow our code of conduct for any contribution.

If you are missing a feature or see unexpected behavior, do not hesitate to open an issue on our GitHub page. If you suspect a security-critical issue, please refer to SECURITY.md.

Additionally, we are happy to see pull requests on this repository as well. We prefer to know when you intend to develop some functionality to make sure that there aren't multiple people working on the same issue. Simply drop a short note to the corresponding issue.

For your commits, please make sure you add a signed-off-by appendix to your commit message, as the LF energy contribution guidelines require that. By doing so, you acknowledge the text in CONTRIBUTING. The easiest way is to add a -s flag to the git commit command, i.e. use git commit -s.

If you are interested in contributing but don't know where to start, check out issues marked as good first issue or help wanted, or simply open an issue and ask for good starting points.

Interoperability

The code in this repository is written in Rust. Nevertheless, you can combine the server, i.e., VTN implementation with a client, i.e., VEN witten in any language you prefer, such as Python, Node.js, or Java. This is simply because the VTN is a stand-alone binary and the interactions with the VEN happen over HTTP.

If your business or client logic is written in Rust, you may be interested in using the client library of this repository as well. It is mainly a thin layer to abstract the HTTP interaction with the VTN. Thus, if your application is written in another language than Rust, it is most likely less work to write a small HTTP abstraction layer yourself than using a language interoperability layer on top of our client library.

Help us make an impact: We're seeking funding!

As of Fall 2024, we are actively seeking EUR 40.000 in funding to take the next crucial steps. Achieving this goal will allow us to:

• Deliver a field-test-ready release by December 2024 / January 2025.
• Ensure ongoing professional development and maintenance throughout 2025.
• Secure the project's long-term viability as a cornerstone for numerous energy projects.

Funding is managed by the Trifecta Tech Foundation (TTF). For more details or to request our sponsorship prospectus, please visit the project's page on the foundation's website.

About Trifecta Tech Foundation

TTF is a Netherlands-based non-profit (501(c)(3) equivalent) dedicated to developing and maintaining open infrastructure software for the public good.

In addition to safeguarding the long-term sustainability of OpenLEADR-rs, TTF also supports open-source projects in time synchronization and data compression. Notably, its Network Time Protocol software is a critical component at Let’s Encrypt, the world’s largest certificate authority.

Current sponsors

• ElaadNL
• Tweede golf