SIP-22: MetaMask URL scheme Source

Author Christian Montoya, Hassan Malik
Status Draft
Created 2024-09-13

Table of Contents

Abstract

This SIP describes a URL scheme for extension navigation. The described URL will allow for navigation to Snaps entry points and elsewhere within the MetaMask extension. This scheme can potentially be used by Snap methods in the future to navigate the user to a location in-client and trigger the entry point.

Motivation

While some Snap entry points are reactive, meaning they can be triggered by a method, others can only be triggered by a user navigating to the location where that entry point is displayed. In order for a Snap to programmatically navigate a user to that entry point, the Snap needs a way to identify that location. The location is identified by a URL scheme, and an in-client link pointing to this location is called a deep link.

Specification

Language

The key words “MUST”, “MUST NOT”, “REQUIRED”, “SHALL”, “SHALL NOT”, “SHOULD”, “SHOULD NOT”, “RECOMMENDED”, “NOT RECOMMENDED”, “MAY”, and “OPTIONAL” written in uppercase in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119

URL Scheme

URL syntax is defined with a scheme, authority, path, and with optional (query and fragment) portions. This SIP defines a new scheme: metamask:, the syntax is defined below:

metamask://[authority]/[path]

Where:

  • [authority] refers to either client or snap (in the current case, client can mean either the extension or mobile version of MetaMask)
  • [path] refers to the entire path which depending on the authority can be different
    • For the client authority, the following paths are available:
      • / - links to the client’s home page
    • For the snap authority, the path starts with the snap ID and has the following paths available to it:
      • /home - leads to the snap’s home page (which is its settings page if it doesn’t have a home page)

[!NOTE]

  1. In the future, fragments can potentially be used for navigation to specific portions of a page and params can be provided from a calling method for exports such as onHome.
  2. This URL scheme assumes parity between client locations.

Examples

The proposed URL for the Starknet Snap home page:

metamask://snap/npm:@consensys/starknet-snap/home

The URL for navigating to the client’s home page:

metamask://client/

A Snap will be able to navigate to these links using the SIP-7 Link component.

Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.

Citation

Please cite this document as:

Christian Montoya, Hassan Malik, "SIP-22: MetaMask URL scheme [DRAFT]," Snaps Improvement Proposals, no. 22, September 2024. [Online serial]. Available: https://github.com/MetaMask/SIPs/blob/master/SIPS/sip-22.md