CRISP
Running an E3 Program

Running an E3 Program

In this section, we will go through all the steps to run an E3 Program using CRISP. We will run a complete voting round of CRISP and do the following:

  • Request an E3 Voting Round
  • Submit votes through the web interface
  • Compute and verify results

Please make sure you have followed the CRISP Setup guide and started the application before proceeding.

Initialize a New Voting Round

As explained in the previous section, you can launch the CLI from the example root with the following command:

pnpm cli

You can initialize a round using the interactive menu or directly via command-line flags:

Interactive Menu:

  1. Select Initialize new E3 round
  2. Enter the token contract address
  3. Enter the balance threshold for the voting round

Command-Line (Direct):

cargo run --bin cli init --token-address 0xe7f1725E7734CE288F8367e1Bb143E90bb3F0512 --balance-threshold 1000

Command-line flags:

  • --token-address: ERC20 token address for voting eligibility
  • --balance-threshold: Balance threshold for the voting round

You should see output similar to:

[2025-12-16 13:41:37] [commands.rs:77] - Starting new CRISP round with token address: 0xe7f1725E7734CE288F8367e1Bb143E90bb3F0512 and balance threshold: 1000000000000000000
[2025-12-16 13:41:37] [commands.rs:90] - Enabling E3 Program with address: 0x67d269191c92Caf3cD7723F116c85e6E9bf55933
[2025-12-16 13:41:37] [commands.rs:94] - E3 Program enabled. TxHash: 0xa391a4cd2dcc59f4bc6dd1f5ed1c78006dbba4556ea633f4b6a53e2271538682
[2025-12-16 13:41:37] [commands.rs:118] - E3 request sent. TxHash: 0xe7998b9748e3526f6ca992c9bb498beabe4f387b02240a23d0f42a2386d3c305

Set Up MetaMask

Whether you used pnpm dev:up or the manual flow, you will interact with the Hardhat chain running at http://localhost:8545 (chain ID 31337). Configure MetaMask once:

  1. Import the Hardhat deployer key so you have funds available: 
    0xac0974bec39a17e36ba4a6b4d238ff944bacb478cbed5efcae784d7bf4f2ff80
  2. Add a custom network pointing to http://localhost:8545 with symbol ETH and chain ID 31337.

Submit Votes via Web Interface

  1. Navigate to http://localhost:3000 (started by pnpm dev:up)
  2. Connect your MetaMask wallet when prompted
  3. You should see the active voting round seeded by the CLI request
  4. Cast a vote, approve the transaction, and wait for the confirmation toast

Monitor the Process

You can monitor the entire process through the various terminal outputs:

Server logs will show:

  • Vote submissions being received
  • Computation starting when the voting period ends
  • Results being computed and published

Example server output:

[2024-10-22 11:59:12] [handlers.rs:95] - Vote Count: 1
[2024-10-22 11:59:12] [handlers.rs:101] - Starting computation for E3: 0
Prove function execution time: 2 minutes and 37 seconds
[2024-10-22 12:01:49] [handlers.rs:109] - Computation completed for E3: 0
[2024-10-22 12:01:49] [handlers.rs:110] - RISC0 Output: Risc0Output { result: ComputeResult } ...
[2024-10-22 12:01:49] [handlers.rs:111] - Publishing ciphertext...

Ciphernode logs will show:

INFO Extracted log from evm sending now.
INFO evt=CiphertextOutputPublished(e3_id: 0) e3_id=0
INFO evt=DecryptionshareCreated(e3_id: 0, node: 0x90F79bf6EB2c4f870365E785982E1f101E93b906) e3_id=0
INFO evt=PlaintextAggregated(e3_id: 0, src_chain_id: 31337) e3_id=0
INFO evt=E3RequestComplete(e3_id: 0)
INFO Plaintext published. tx=0x320dd95358cc86c2a709b6fec0c6865b43fa063cb61dfcb8a748005d4886f040

Final result logs:

[2024-10-22 12:01:49] [handlers.rs:171] - Handling PlaintextOutputPublished event...
[2024-10-22 12:01:49] [handlers.rs:181] - Vote Count: 1
[2024-10-22 12:01:49] [handlers.rs:182] - Votes Option 1: 0
[2024-10-22 12:01:49] [handlers.rs:183] - Votes Option 2: 1
[2024-10-22 12:01:49] [handlers.rs:187] - PlaintextOutputPublished event handled.

Understanding the Process

The CRISP voting process involves several key steps:

  1. Initialization: A new E3 round is created on the blockchain
  2. Vote Submission: Users submit encrypted votes through the web interface
  3. Computation: After the voting period, RISC Zero computes the results using FHE
  4. Decryption: Ciphernodes collaboratively decrypt the results
  5. Publication: Final results are published to the blockchain and displayed

Troubleshooting

  • Ensure all terminals remain open during the voting process
  • MetaMask connection issues: Check that you're connected to the correct network (Chain ID: 31337)
  • Transaction failures: Verify you have sufficient ETH balance from the Hardhat faucet (the account with the imported deployer key starts funded)
  • Server errors: Monitor the server logs for detailed error messages
  • Ciphernode issues: Ensure all ciphernode processes are running and connected

Next Steps

Once you've successfully run a voting round, you can:

  • Experiment with different voting scenarios: Try multiple votes and different options
  • Modify voting parameters: Adjust the configuration for different use cases
  • Explore the codebase: Understand the implementation details for your own E3 programs
  • Deploy to testnet: Move beyond local development to public testnets

Result

CRISP SetupWhite Paper