Steer is a decentralized computing protocol designed to address the infrastructure and data challenges of building, securing, and deploying decentralized web3 backends.
With Steer, anyone can...
- Write cross-chain apps in 20+ programming languages using Steer's application engines.
- Connect them to secure data sources off or on-chain using Steer's data marketplace,
- Execute transactions on any blockchain using Steer's infrastructure.
- Automate liquidity management, trading strategies, payments, rewards, airdrops, etc.
- Manage assets.
- Create oracles.
The Steer architecture has a design with a two-layer consensus system. This system provides modularity, security, and ease of use. Below is an overview of the main components:
Applications and data connectors.
An app is a set of instructions consisting of off-chain logic paired with an application engine. These apps are then packaged into WebAssembly (WASM) bundles that are loaded into the Steer protocol. Applications can be written in any of the many popular languages that can be compiled into WASM. These apps are then executed by Keeper nodes, which are moderators of the Steer network.
WASM provides a high level of security at the application level. Each WebAssembly module is executed in a "sandbox" separated from the host execution environment using error isolation techniques. This means:
Applications are generally executed deterministically with limited exceptions.
Data connectors, like apps, are compiled in WASM, which provides a similar level of security. However, the distinguishing feature of data connectors is their ability to provide strong security measures at the data level, whether it is off-chain or on-chain data.
Application engines are important proven Steer contracts that users select when deploying their applications to the Steer system. App engines have parameters that must be configured before deploying an application. These settings help ensure runtime-level security. With built-in security checks and anomaly detection mechanisms, Steer ensures that application execution is secure.
Once the application is deployed, it is safely retrieved by each node in the Steer network for execution. Each node performs the various actions required to execute the app off-chain, followed by a vote on the actions, and finally, once consensus is reached, execution on-chain.
An application is a set of instructions consisting of logic off-chain paired with a store or contract on-chain. These apps are then converted into bundles that are loaded into the Steer protocol. These applications are then executed by Keeper nodes, which are moderators of the Steer network.
Vault is a contract that indirectly stores the business logic and assets that the connected application will manage. Each application in Steer is paired with a vault. A Vault can be created by anyone for a selected pair of assets. From a smart contract perspective, the Vault is mapped to the token ID of the application it implements. For example, if a Uniswap v3 liquidity management application is loaded, it is the Uniswap v3 application engine. Based on the app engine, a vault is configured on the steer contracts.
The Steer Protocol focuses on flexibility and extensibility, allowing developers to create a wide range of applications, including apps for automated liquidity management on Uniswap V3, loan payments on MakerDAO, Oracle updates for data-driven non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Ethereum, interest reinvestment on Aave, and asset management on Set Protocol. These are just a few examples, and the possibilities of applications that can be built on the Steer protocol are truly limitless.
For starters, Steer supports the creation of applications for Uniswap v3 focused on liquidity management, for which Steer has created engines that provide complexity, security and execution for those creating a yield generation application on Uniswap v3. These App Engines are designed to perform specific tasks or functions to help simplify and automate various processes.
The Uniswap v3 Steer engine helps manage liquidity in Uniswap v3 pools. It allocates or deposits liquidity in specific ranges defined by custom applications to be loaded into v3 pools. These apps contain the basic logic of how the Steer engine should choose which ranges to focus on.
