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Ambrosus Java/Android SDK

The Ambrosus Java/Android development kit makes it easy for developers to interact with the Ambrosus Network via the Ambrosus Node API. It is designed to encapsulate most of the Ambrosus Network and Node API implementation details and to also allow third-party developers to focus on the underlying business logic implementation of their respective solutions.

When it comes to software requirements, both Java/Android SDK versions require Java 8. Android version is compatible with Android API 19+ (Android 4.4).

This document itself, provides an overview of the core classes and key features of the Java/Android SDK. It functions to introduce the key concepts of the Ambrosus Network, and to also provide a step by step guide to creating, retrieving, and searching for assets and events (among other features). The document begins by explaining how to get started with AmbrosusSDK on different platforms. Next, an overview of the key concepts within the Ambrosus Network is provided (for those in need of a more thorough introduction to the basic concepts of the Ambrosus Network please refer to: Third, the key features of the Java/Android SDK are explained: such features range from retrieving assets and events by ID’s to using custom data models. Finally, to conclude the Ambrosus Viewer is included as a Demo App for prospective developers to make use of.

Getting started

Java 8


repositories {
    maven { url '' }  

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.ambrosus.sdk:core:2.1.0'    



  1. Add staging repository to the project level (root) build.gradle script
allprojects {
    repositories {
        maven {url ''}
  1. Enable support for Java 8 features in app (module) level build.gradle
android {
    compileOptions {
        targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
        sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
  1. Declare dependency:
dependencies {
    implementation 'com.ambrosus.sdk:core-android:2.1.0'
  1. Enable multidex feature according to these instructions.
  2. Add INTERNET permission to your manifest file:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />

Overview of core classes and key concepts


is a core class responsible for communication with AMB-NET. It contains a number of get*(...), find*(...) and push*(...) methods which can be used to retrieve/push data models from/to AMB-NET eg.:

String assetId = "0x88181e5e517df33d71637b3f906df2e27759fdcbb38456a46544e42b3f9f00a2";
Network network = new Network();
NetworkCall<Asset> networkCall = network.getAsset(assetId);

Each of these methods returns an instance of NetworkCall interface. It provides the same behaviour as Call interface from Retrofit library. So you have to perform this network call to get an actual data model of ResultType. You can do it synchronously by calling NetworkCall.execute() method or asynchronously by passing an instance of NetworkCallBack to NetworkCall.enqueue(NetworkCallBack<ResultType>) method. E.g:

//Synchronous execution   
try {
    Asset asset = networkCall.execute();
} catch (Throwable t) {
    throw new RuntimeException(t);

//Asynchronous execution

networkCall.clone().enqueue(new NetworkCallback<Asset>() {
    public void onSuccess(@NonNull NetworkCall<Asset> call, @NonNull Asset asset) {
        //request was performed successfully

    public void onFailure(@NonNull NetworkCall<Asset> call, @NonNull Throwable error) {
        //request failed because of (Throwable error)

On Android, callbacks will be executed on the main thread. On the JVM, callbacks will happen on a thread responsible for network communication.

All samples below will execute network calls synchronously in order to minimize the amount of sample code. It is important to keep in mind that you cannot execute these calls synchronously on the Android main thread because it would lead to


Assets are the primary objects of analysis being monitored or traced over time; a stationary water sensor, a logistics pallet, a crate of milk, a steak, etc. As the ‘nouns’ of the system, Assets can represent an ingredient, product, package of products or any other type of container. Importantly, an Asset functions as a handle of Events and possesses an idData structure containing the following pieces of information:

  • The AMB-ID of the Asset
  • User Address
  • Timestamp
  • Hash of the Data Field


Events are registries of any change of state that has occurred to an Asset. E.g. measured temperature, noted big acceleration or changing pallets. Every Event has an array of JSON objects with information what actually happened. Each item in this array is an object of a some type identified by a string constant. You can get types of all available data objects with Event.getDataTypes() method. You can use Event.getDataObject(String type) to retrieve an object of a certain type.

Private Key

A private key is a hex string representation of a 32 byte sequences. In order to use a private key in the Ambrosus Ecosystem, you must first register an account on the Ambrosus Network. With the private key required to create an Ambrosus Account, you can then start creating assets or events on the network. Additionally, you can also use this private key to create an AuthToken which will allow you to query content of events with restricted access.

Within the Java SDK itself, private keys are used to sign off on the content of Events, Assets and AuthTokens. Meanwhile, AMB-NET verifies these signatures with your public key when you try to push an event/asset to the network or query the content of protected events.

Key features

Retrieve asset/event by ID

String assetId = "0x88181e5e517df33d71637b3f906df2e27759fdcbb38456a46544e42b3f9f00a2";

Asset asset = network.getAsset(assetId).execute();

final String eventId = "0x36fe3d701297e0ede30456241594f19b60c07ae4e629f5a11a944d46567efafe";

Event event = network.getEvent(eventId).execute();

Search for assets/events satisfying provided criteria

You can search for assets/events which match your criteria with Network.findAssets(Query<Asset> query) / Network.findEvents(Query<Event> query) methods. These methods return a NetworkCall instance of which the resultant type is defined as SearchResult or SearchResult<Event> respectively. E.g:

SearchResult<Event> searchResult = network.findEvents(new EventQueryBuilder().build()).execute();

SearchResult class represents a page of search results with up to 100 result data models. You can get a list of these data models with SearchResult.getItems() method:

List<Event> values = searchResult.getItems();

Query<Event> anotherQuery = new EventQueryBuilder()

searchResult = network.findEvents(anotherQuery).execute();

values = searchResult.getItems();

Fetching next pages of a search result (pagination support)

When you query for events or assets with Network.findEvents(Query<Event> query) / Network.findAssets(Query<Asset> query) methods sdk will return to you only the first page of the overall search result. This page can contain up to 100 data models. If your search results contain more than 100 data models you can access the subsequent pages using PageQueryBuilder:

Query<Event> query = new EventQueryBuilder().createdBy("0x9A3Db936c94523ceb1CcC6C90461bc34a46E9dfE").build();

SearchResult<Event> firstPage = network.findEvents(query).execute();
if(firstPage.getTotalPages() > 1) {
    PageQueryBuilder<Event> pageQueryBuilder = new PageQueryBuilder<>(firstPage);
    Query<? extends Event> secondPageQuery = pageQueryBuilder.getQueryForPage(firstPage.getPageIndex() + 1);
    SearchResult<Event> secondPage = network.findEvents(secondPageQuery).execute();

Create assets and events

You can create assets and events with the Asset.Builder and Event.Builder classes respectively. E.g:

String privateKey = "<<Put your Private Key (link to private key section) here>>";

Asset asset = new Asset.Builder().createAsset(privateKey);


JsonObject testData = new JsonObject();
testData.addProperty("testKey", "testValue");
testData.addProperty("anotherKey", "anotherValue");

Event.Builder builder = new Event.Builder(asset.getSystemId())
        .addData("custom", testData);

Event event = builder.createEvent(privateKey);

Create event with limited access and query content of this event

You can restrict access to your events data by setting the accessLevel > 0:

Event.Builder builder = new Event.Builder(asset.getSystemId())
        .addData("custom", testData);

Event event = builder.createEvent(privateKey);


After such measures have been taken, it is not possible to get json data from this event until you are authorized as a holder of an account which was used to create the event or as holder of one of its child accounts:

Event privateEvent = network.getEvent(event.getSystemId()).execute();

try {
    List<JsonObject> data = privateEvent.getUserData();
} catch (RestrictedDataAccessException e) {
    //we get this exception because
    //of querying event with accessLevel > 0
    //without providing correct AuthToken for the network

In order to authenticate oneself as an account holder you have to create an AuthToken instance and provide it for the Network class instance. This will allow you to get data for all events with access level within your designated range of [0; your account accessLevel]

AuthToken authToken = AuthToken.create(privateKey, 1, TimeUnit.DAYS);

//now you can get access to event data

Configure Node API endpoint

It's possible to use different network API endpoints. To do this, one must first create an instance of Configuration class, and then set the API endpoint for this instance with url(String url) method. Once this has been done, it is then possible to create an instance of Network class using the following configuration:

Configuration configuration = new Configuration().url("");
Network network = new Network(configuration);
SearchResult<Event> result = network.findEvents(new EventQueryBuilder().build()).execute();

Altogether, you can create several Network instances linked to different API endpoints and use them to query data from different sources.

Using custom data models

You can introduce your own data models by extending the generic Event model class. The Ambrosus development kit contains a set of helper classes: NetworkCallAdapter, SearchRequestAdapter, GenericEventQueryBuilder

These classes might help you to build your own implementation of the Network class which operates with your own data models. You can use AMBNetwork class as a sample of such an implementation. We use this class in our demo apps and it operates with data models that we use for demos: AMBAssetInfo JSON model, AMBEvent

Example: Search for information about item which is marked with “3451080000324” EAN13 barcode.

Assumption: each item on the network has a corresponding Event which contains information about the item in the following json format.

Using the generic Event model:

String ean13barcode = "3451080000324";

//according to assumptions Event with information about item:
Query<Event> query = new EventQueryBuilder()
        //1. should contain data object of "" type
        //2. should contain data object with "identifiers.ean13" array
        //so querying for events which have "identifiers.ean13" array with ean13barcode value
        .byDataObjectField("identifiers.ean13", ean13barcode)

SearchResult<Event> eventSearchResult = network.findEvents(query).execute();
Event item = eventSearchResult.getItems().get(0);

It is also possible to do the same thing using a generic Event model + AssetInfoQueryBuilder and Identifier classes which contain constants from the code above:

Query<AMBAssetInfo> assetInfoQuery = new AssetInfoQueryBuilder()
        .byIdentifier(new Identifier(Identifier.EAN13, ean13barcode))

eventSearchResult = network.findEvents(query).execute();
item = eventSearchResult.getItems().get(0);

Finally, it can also be done with an instance of AMBNetwork class which you can use to query AssetInfo model:

AMBNetwork ambNetwork = new AMBNetwork();
SearchResult<AMBAssetInfo> assetInfoSearchResult = ambNetwork.findAssetInfo(assetInfoQuery).execute();
AMBAssetInfo assetInfo = assetInfoSearchResult.getItems().get(0);

Demo app (Ambrosus Viewer)

The Ambrosus Viewer is an Android application which allows users to scan a Barcode, QR Code, [or other 1D or 2D symbology - in development] and get details about an item moving through an industrial process.

By using the Ambrosus Viewer, any business, customer, or regulatory authority, has the opportunity to learn about the scanned item: its origins, quality controls (if applicable), and other details such as temperature, weight, creation date, and more. When combined into a single string of Events, it is possible to see a timeline detailing all things that have happened to the particular asset in question, from the date of its creation to it arrival at its end destination.

Sample Symbologies

To see details about sample assets with the Ambrosus Viewer, scan any of the following codes from the app:

EAN-13 Sample GTIN Sample QR-Sample
List of assets with 3451080000324 EAN‑13 identifier List of assets with 91239921335467786 GTIN identifier PURE DARK CHOCOLATE BAR 92%
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