Introduction

Welcome to the Sonic Name Service!

Sonic Name Service (SNS) is a fully modular, extensible, and on-chain naming protocol built for the Sonic network. Inspired by ENS but purpose-built for speed, composability, and scalability, SNS enables users and developers to register .s domains that resolve across wallets, dApps, and smart contracts.

Each .s domain is represented as an ERC721 NFT, ensuring true ownership, transferability, and integration with existing Web3 infrastructure. The protocol’s architecture is built around a lightweight Ledger, a flexible Registrar (Caster), and a suite of optional modules for referrals, resellers, renewals, blacklists, and subdomains — all working together through clean, minimal interfaces.

SNS is designed from day one to be:

• 🧩 Composable — Each module (e.g. FeeRouter, RenewalEngine, ResellerHub) is deployable and replaceable without touching core logic.

• ⚡ Gas-optimized — Packed storage, minimal calldata, and a short TLD .s reduce every byte of cost.

• 🧪 Tested and Transparent — Deployed with full coverage and modern testing (Viem + Hardhat), and readable by anyone.

• 🔒 Secure and Permissioned — Role-based access controls are enforced on all write actions.

• 🔁 Upgradeable by Design — While core contracts are immutable, logic lives in modules that can evolve independently.

• 🧠 Developer-first — Interfaces and libraries are structured for easy contract-to-contract use and off-chain resolution tooling.

Why .s?

Unlike verbose alternatives (e.g. .sonic, .network, .xyz), .s minimizes calldata, storage, and UI clutter. In fact, .s is one of the shortest possible valid TLDs — saving bytes in every transaction and every EVM call. This is not just a branding choice — it’s a performance optimization.

How it works

At the heart of SNS is a name-to-token mapping, where:

• Each domain (e.g. rex.s) maps to a tokenId (keccak256(name)),

• Metadata is stored on-chain in a packed format inside the Ledger,

• Ownership of the token is canonical — this is the root controller of the domain,

• Subdomains (app.rex.s) are stored and resolved separately using SubdomainHub.

The SNS system follows the principle of clean separation of concerns: resolution logic, metadata, fees, access control, and registry state are all isolated and replaceable.

License and Open-Source Vision

SNS is currently released under a source-available license:

SPDX-License-Identifier: BUSL-1.1
Copyright (c) 2025 Sonic Name Service
Source-available for audit, integration, and visibility only.
Forking, modification, or commercial use requires written permission.

This allows auditability, developer integration, and transparency — while protecting the protocol’s core mechanics during early growth. SNS is committed to fully open-sourcing under a license such as Apache 2.0 in the future, once the ecosystem and governance mechanisms have matured.

What’s inside this documentation

This GitBook provides:

• 🔍 A complete guide to the SNS contract architecture

• 📦 Technical specs for all modules and storage layouts

• 🛠 Integration examples for dApps, wallets, and registrars

• 🧪 Testing tips and security considerations

• 🧭 A roadmap of future modules and governance

Whether you’re building a wallet integration, writing a registrar frontend, or extending the SNS protocol itself, this guide is designed to help you understand and contribute confidently.