The problem
Tlon wanted Zenith, the Ethereum layer-2 that manages Urbit identities, to be usable from inside Urbit. Ships needed a way to inspect on-chain data, submit transactions, and verify responses from other ships.
What Martian built
Working with Laconic Network, Martian produced an installable Urbit software bundle called a desk. It lets ships configure Zenith connections, check balances, send transactions, and subscribe to the on-chain data feed.
We also built a verification service for remote scry, the Urbit pattern for requesting data from another ship. It compares a response with the authenticated version stored on Zenith before returning it to the requesting application.
How Janus works
Janus is a Go relay for transaction and data submissions. A validating galaxy or star runs the service for its sponsored ships. Janus accepts submissions, bundles and signs them, then forwards them through the hierarchy to a Zenith validator.
Result
Documentation, handoff sessions, and end-to-end tests covered the full path from Urbit ships through Janus to Zenith. The tests included dropped network links and faulty payloads.
