#830 [Contracts] Implement Keep-Alive Ping Ledger Updates FIXED

[Kappa16]

Findings

After reviewing the InheritX codebase, the issue was located in the Soroban smart contract:

contracts/inheritance-contract/src/lib.rs

The project is building a Stellar/Soroban-based digital inheritance protocol where a plan owner locks assets and periodically sends a proof-of-life ping. That ping keeps the inheritance plan alive by resetting the inactivity timer.

The existing ping function already did most of the required work:

pub fn ping(env: Env, owner: Address) -> Result<(), Error> {
    owner.require_auth();

    let key = DataKey::Plan(owner.clone());
    if !env.storage().persistent().has(&key) {
        return Err(Error::PlanNotFound);
    }

    let mut plan: Plan = env.storage().persistent().get(&key).unwrap();
    plan.last_ping = env.ledger().timestamp();

    env.storage().persistent().set(&key, &plan);
    Self::extend_plan_ttl(&env, &key);

    Ok(())
}

It already:

• Required authorization from the owner using owner.require_auth().
• Checked that the inheritance plan exists.
• Updated the last_ping field.
• Saved the updated plan.
• Extended the plan storage TTL.

However, the issue acceptance criteria also required:

Emits a contract event detailing the keep-alive ping.

That event emission was missing.

---

Fix Features Added

The fix adds a Soroban event after a successful keep-alive ping.

Updated implementation:

let mut plan: Plan = env.storage().persistent().get(&key).unwrap();
let current_timestamp = env.ledger().timestamp();
plan.last_ping = current_timestamp;

env.storage().persistent().set(&key, &plan);
Self::extend_plan_ttl(&env, &key);
env.events()
    .publish((symbol_short!("ping"), owner), current_timestamp);

Feature 1 — Keeps Owner Authorization

The ping still requires the plan owner to authorize the call:

owner.require_auth();

This means unauthorized addresses cannot successfully ping another user’s inheritance plan.

---

Feature 2 — Updates last_ping Correctly

The function now captures the ledger timestamp once:

let current_timestamp = env.ledger().timestamp();

Then uses that exact value to update the plan:

plan.last_ping = current_timestamp;

This ensures the persisted last_ping matches the event timestamp exactly.

---

Feature 3 — Preserves Plan TTL Bump

The existing TTL extension behavior is preserved:

Self::extend_plan_ttl(&env, &key);

So each successful ping keeps the plan’s persistent storage entry alive.

---

Feature 4 — Emits Keep-Alive Event

The fix adds the missing contract event:

env.events()
    .publish((symbol_short!("ping"), owner), current_timestamp);

The emitted event contains:

Event Part	Value
Topic 1	ping
Topic 2	plan owner address
Data	updated last_ping timestamp

This allows off-chain services, indexers, monitoring tools, or frontend components to track proof-of-life activity.

---

Feature 5 — Added Regression Tests

I added tests in:

contracts/inheritance-contract/src/test.rs

The tests verify that:

1. Calling ping updates last_ping.
2. Calling ping emits the expected contract event.
3. Calling ping without owner authorization is rejected.

---

Summary

The root issue was that the ping entrypoint did not emit a keep-alive event. The fix adds that event while preserving the existing authorization, timestamp update, and TTL bump behavior. This fully satisfies the issue acceptance criteria.

CLOSE #830

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[Kappa16]

PLEASE REVIEW

[ONEONUORA]

Great job @Kappa16
Thank you for your contribution