> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.ecosphereprime.com/ecosphere/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.ecosphereprime.com/ecosphere/technology/peer-to-peer-data-sharing/hedera-topics.md).

# Hedera Topics

Ecosphere leverages topics to enable trustless, transparent communication, especially in to provide secure, verified, or timestamped messages. 

**1. Creating a Topic**

* To start, Ecosphere creates a topic by submitting a transaction to the Hedera Consensus Service, which will return a unique topic ID.
* The topic settings include topic name, memo, and permissions (e.g., who can submit messages or delete the topic).

**2. Publishing Messages to a Topic**

* Once a topic exists, only authorized users can submit messages to it. Each message is hashed, timestamped, and ordered by Hedera nodes, creating an official record of submission.
* This is particularly useful for applications needing immutable message logs like our Climate Nodes.

**3. Subscribing to a Topic**

* Applications or users can subscribe to a topic to receive messages in real-time. This is Users to keep track of data events or updates as they occur.
* For example, a logistics app might subscribe to a topic where weather updates are published, providing real-time decision making on routing.

By setting up topics and publishing messages to them, Ecosphere leverages Hedera's efficient consensus to achieve verifiable, immutable climate data records for a wide range of applications.