---
title: Channel Opening Handshake
sidebar_label: Channel Opening Handshake
sidebar_position: 3
slug: /how-it-works/channel-handshake
---

import HighlightTag from '@site/src/components/HighlightTag';

# Channel Opening Handshake

<HighlightTag type="advanced"/><HighlightTag type="protocol"/>

The channel opening handshake is a 4-step process (see [ICS-004](https://github.com/cosmos/ibc/tree/main/spec/core/ics-004-channel-and-packet-semantics#opening-handshake) to learn more):

1. **Channel Open Init** (source chain)
2. **Channel Open Try** (destination chain)
3. **Channel Open Ack** (source chain)
4. **Channel Open Confirm** (destination chain)

Naturally, this contract only implements the first and third steps of the channel opening handshake, as the second and
fourth steps are handled by the counterparty ICA host module.

```rust reference
https://github.com/srdtrk/cw-ica-controller/blob/v0.4.2/src/ibc/handshake.rs#L15-L46
```

## Channel Open Init

### Authorization

A channel open init message can be sent to any IBC module by any user, and it is up to the module to decide
whether to accept the request or not.

In the case of `cw-ica-controller`, only the contract itself can send a channel open init message. Since the sender of
`MsgChannelOpenInit` is not passed to the contract (or any other IBC module), we enforce this by having a [state
variable](https://github.com/srdtrk/cw-ica-controller/blob/v0.4.2/src/types/state.rs#L41) that keeps track of whether
or not to accept channel open init messages. This variable is only set to true by the contract itself right before
it is about to send a channel open init message in [`InstantiateMsg`](../contract-api/01-instantiate-msg.mdx) or
[`ExecuteMsg::CreateChannel`](../contract-api/02-execute-msg.mdx#createchannel).

```rust reference
https://github.com/srdtrk/cw-ica-controller/blob/v0.4.2/src/contract.rs#L130-L133
```

### Version Metadata and Ordering

Whenever a new channel is created, the submitter of `MsgChannelOpenInit` must propose a version string and ordering.

:::info

Interchain Accounts currently only supports ordered channels. This means that a timed-out packet will close the
channel. In the upcoming `ibc-go` v8.1 release, unordered channels will be supported, which will allow for the
ICA channels to remain open even after a packet times out.

:::

In IBC, the version string is used to determine whether or not the two modules on either side of the channel are
compatible. The two modules are compatible if and only if they both support and agree on the same version string.
Moreover, the version string may carry arbitrary metadata encoded in JSON format. This metadata can be used to
carry key information about the channel, such as the encoding format, the application version, etc.

The format of the version string for ICS-27 is specified [here](https://github.com/cosmos/ibc/tree/main/spec/app/ics-027-interchain-accounts#metadata-negotiation-summary).
The following rust code shows the version metadata struct used to encode the version string:

```rust reference
https://github.com/srdtrk/cw-ica-controller/blob/v0.4.2/src/ibc/types/metadata.rs#L19-L50
```

Since it is the contract itself that submits the `MsgChannelOpenInit`, the contract constructs the version string
based on the `channel_open_init_options` that are passed to it in [`InstantiateMsg`](../contract-api/01-instantiate-msg.mdx) or [`ExecuteMsg::CreateChannel`](../contract-api/02-execute-msg.mdx#createchannel).

```rust reference
https://github.com/srdtrk/cw-ica-controller/blob/main/src/ibc/types/stargate.rs#L25-L57
```

The actual entry point for the `MsgChannelOpenInit` only does validation checks on channel parameters. For example,
it checks that the channel is not already open.

```rust reference
https://github.com/srdtrk/cw-ica-controller/blob/v0.4.2/src/ibc/handshake.rs#L71-L126
```

## Channel Open Ack

Unlike the `MsgChannelOpenInit`, the `MsgChannelOpenAck` is submitted by a relayer, and we do not need to worry about
authorization. This step comes after the `MsgChannelOpenTry` is submitted by the counterparty ICA host module. In the
`Try` step, the counterparty ICA host module may propose a different version string. Therefore, the contract must
validate the version string and channel parameters once again in the `MsgChannelOpenAck`.

:::note

The interchain account address is passed to the contract in this step through the version string. In `Init` step,
`cw-ica-controller` leaves the interchain account address empty, and the counterparty ICA host module fills it in.

:::

After validating the version string, the contract then stores the channel parameters in its state.

```rust reference
https://github.com/srdtrk/cw-ica-controller/blob/v0.4.2/src/ibc/handshake.rs#L128-L188
```