Last updated 4 weeks ago
Various improvements to the Koios (elastic, open-source, scalable and distributed query layer for Cardano blockchain) tools detailed in proposal
This is the total amount allocated to Koios Evolution: Enhancements, Infra Support & Maintenance. 2 out of 6 milestones are completed.
1/6
Develop Koios Lite
Cost: ₳ 75,000
Delivery: Month 4 - Feb 2024
2/6
Create AI platform plugins
Cost: ₳ 60,000
Delivery: Month 7 - May 2024
3/6
Ongoing gRest Development Activities
Cost: ₳ 120,000
Delivery: Month 9 - Jul 2024
4/6
Infrastructure
Cost: ₳ 60,000
Delivery: Month 10 - Aug 2024
5/6
Ongoing Support
Cost: ₳ 20,000
Delivery: Month 11 - Sep 2024
6/6
Catalyst Project Report
Cost: ₳ 65,000
Delivery: Month 12 - Oct 2024
No dependencies.
Project will be fully open source.
Koios Evolution is a comprehensive endeavor to advance the current ecosystem, supplementing it with powerful features and a progressive architecture.
Below is a broad category of development activities that will be funded together with the proposal:
Since the first catalyst proposal (round 6) where Koios was funded for initial public infrastructure, usage of Koios data from blockchain has increased vastly - used across wallets, explorers, dApps as well as marketplaces. Accordingly, there are newer requirements, optimisations, new branch of tools - that help not only improve performance and resource usage, but also help sustainability of exponentially increasing chain history.
Usage of Koios query layer has been quite varied - some have preferred local cluster of instances, some have relied on public instances, etc. Accordingly, there is a wide spectrum of combination of queries desired, and while doing so - we also need to try and cater for compatibility with professional API query layers.
In addition, we ourselves start expanding product/feature development for various use cases powered by Koios (an example that will definitely be worked upon being a plugin for ChatGPT users to consume)
Above mentioned value additions will help indirectly all the user-facing tools across domains that are powered by Koios behind-the-scenes.
While we have already listed quite specific outcomes that will be delivered, we believe the measurement of ‘success’ of those will be directly visible with releases including those features, as well as ongoing interactions on our github repository.
In addition, at higher level - Koios will be able to provide metrics using below:
1) Adoption:
The number of developers, instance providers, consumers (be it via products , integrations or anonymised data access) for Koios Lite Node. A higher adoption rate indicates that our solution is meeting the community's needs.
2) Completion of above listed outcomes:
Each point mentioned above will be converted into github project and trackable publicly in real-time on https://github.com/cardano-community/koios-artifacts/projects
3) Traffic Volume:
The amount of traffic handled by Koios Lite Node applications. An increase in traffic volume indicates that our solution is contributing to the Cardano network's scalability and efficiency.
We continue to collect qualitative feedback from users to learn about their experiences with the Koios gRest as well as Koios lite wrt ease of setup, performance, and overall impact on their development process. This will allow us to continuously improve the solution and keep it relevant and useful to the community.
The Koios Lite Node will boost Cardano's productivity in the short term by making it easier for developers to build and scale applications. In the long run, it will help Cardano grow by attracting more developers to the ecosystem and encouraging a wider range of applications and services.
To maximise the impact of the Koios project on the Cardano ecosystem, we continue to widely and transparently share its outputs and results.
Every new tool/product consuming Koios often brings their unique patterns which are studied on our ends to improve the feature set as well as bring in - as well as end up benefiting all other projects too by automatically building their efficiency. Furthermore, the knowledge gained from this project continues to inspire new projects aimed at improving the Cardano infrastructure.
Our team is made up of seasoned IT professionals with a track record of completing high-quality projects in the Cardano ecosystem. We created the original Koios node, which is now widely used and trusted in the community. This demonstrates our in-depth knowledge of the Cardano infrastructure as well as our ability to create solutions that meet the needs of its users.
In terms of trust and accountability, we have always approached our work in a transparent and open manner. All of our code is open source and can be found on GitHub. We communicate with the community on a regular basis about our progress and actively seek feedback to ensure that our solutions meet the needs of the community.
We have a clear and detailed budget plan for the project that outlines how the funds will be used in terms of fund management. To ensure transparency and accountability, we will provide regular updates on the expenditure of funds. Any budget changes will be communicated to the community in advance and justified based on the project's needs.
We are also committed to completing the Koios Lite Node project on time and within budget. We have a detailed project plan with clear milestones and deliverables, and we will keep you updated on our progress toward these objectives on a regular basis. The community will be able to hold us accountable for keeping our promises.
Our project's key objectives are as follows:
Create Koios Lite: Our goal is to provide a new approach to run instances while maintaining a current view of the chain while tightly integrating with gRest for a historical view of the chain. This will aid in the onboarding of new instance providers by balancing requests to cater to various needs and resources. This target will be validated by tracking the successful development and deployment of Koios Lite, as well as the number of new instance providers we can onboard.
Ongoing gRest Development Activities: As more projects are introduced to the ecosystem, the need to query data from the chain grows. We intend to accommodate these modifications through development, rigorous performance testing, coordination, and project discussions. The effective integration of new projects and the performance of gRest will confirm the viability of this goal.
Infrastructure: We intend to continue serving several public instances across networks (a part of this proposal will help fund those costs) until Koios is self-sufficient. This goal's success will be assessed by the durability of our infrastructure and the transition to self-sufficiency.
Support: We aim to provide comprehensive assistance for all Koios projects and tools, particularly those that are open-source and free. The degree of help offered and the comments obtained from users will be used to determine the success of this goal.
Create AI platform plugins: We want to broaden our reach in the AI world by enabling real-time blockchain data from the chain, allowing users to engage with on-chain data, and lowering the learning curve for new entrants to the ecosystem. The achievement of this goal will be determined by the successful development of the plugins and the number of AI platforms with which we can integrate.
Our strategy for attaining these objectives is based on our team's competence in blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, and project management. We will employ Agile approaches to ensure that we can respond to changes while still producing high-quality solutions. We will also interact with the Cardano community to solicit input and verify that our solutions fulfil their requirements.
Our project will be separated into significant milestones, each with its own set of duties, deadline, and success criteria:
Milestone 1: Develop Koios Lite (3 months)
Tasks:
Criteria for Success:
Milestone 2: Create AI platform plugins (3 months)
Tasks:
Install plugins and connect to AI platforms.
Criteria for Success:
Milestone 3: Ongoing gRest Development Activities (12 months)
Tasks:
Criteria for Success:
Milestone 4: Infrastructure (12 months)
Tasks:
Criteria for Success:
Milestone 5: Ongoing Support (12 months)
Tasks:
Criteria for Success:
Our project will be carried out utilising Agile approaches, which will allow us to respond to changes while delivering high-quality results. We will interact with the Cardano community to solicit feedback and verify that our solutions satisfy their requirements. The budget breakdown will show the expected cost for each milestone depending on the resources required.
Milestone 1: Create Koios Lite
Deliverables:
A fully functional Koios Lite system with gRest integration.
The Lite layer will depart from synching historical information (which will continue to be served via gRest branch) and be able to provide instant results for objects with current view of chain.
Intentional outcomes include increased efficiency and lower resource requirements for running instances, which will lead to additional instance providers joining the network.
Metrics: Delivery of Koios Lite alongwith documentation and public instances, API additions & Koios Lite performance metrics.
Milestone 2: Create AI platform plugins
Deliverables include fully functional plugins for various AI systems.
Intended outcomes: Greater AI reachability, allowing users to interact with on-chain data more readily, and lowering the learning curve for new entrants to the ecosystem.
Metrics include the number of AI platforms that have been integrated, as well as user comments on ease of use and functionality.
Milestone 3: Ongoing gRest Development Activities
Deliverables: gRest is often updated to accommodate new projects and changes in the ecosystem.
Intended outcomes: gRest will continue to run smoothly, adapting to the changing needs of the Cardano ecosystem.
Metrics: Catering to various requirements from users, tracked via GitHub projects, also tracking data for existing projects integrated, gRest performance data as well as marked releases with scopes through the year.
Milestone 4: Infrastructure
Deliverables: Stable operation of several public instances across networks, as well as a plan for migrating to self-sufficiency.
Intended outcomes: Reliable service for users, a sustainable model for Koios operation.
Metrics: Uptime and performance metrics for public instances.
Milestone 5: Assistance
Deliverables include regular assistance for users and projects, as well as responses to feedback and inquiries.
Intended outcomes: High user satisfaction, smooth project and tool operation, and continual improvement based on feedback.
Metrics include the number of support tickets resolved, feedback from users and projects, and improvements made in response to input.
Each of these milestones will be tracked using a mix of quantitative and qualitative indicators. We will utilize project management tools to measure progress and ensure we stay on track to fulfil our objectives.
Budget:
We did not want to split the proposal and bump up numbers, but instead - focus on hours we’re spending on Koios (our scope will likely cover more than what’s listed, as we have been doing this for ~free for years).
Koios already is powering large % of projects out there in our ecosystem. By the enhancements mentioned, the value delivery is not only to the strength of this project, but indirectly also to each and every existing/new tool that starts using the elastic query layer.
With the addition of Koios Lite, the bar to entry for an end user is expected to be much lower - which should not only result in strengthening the distribution further, but also help onboard skillsets to decentralise further a larger group for gRest (full instance), resulting in higher participation on development ends.
All the work done by our team has mostly been open-source since day 1, and has been referenced across for other tools as well as to answer queries on social media (forum/stackexchange/github/etc) as ready-to-use example for queries used behind the scenes. Thus, work done on the Koios repositories are also shared across for the Cardano community to benefit from..
Community involvement and Marketing: A portion of the money is set aside for community involvement and marketing efforts. These activities will aid in the promotion of the Koios Lite Node, its adoption, and the development of a more lively and involved community.
In terms of cost justification, our budget is based on the national average income for software professionals as well as normal rates for freelancing work in the blockchain industry. Our budget, we believe, is modest and proportional to the value that Koios provides to the Cardano ecosystem.
NB: Monthly reporting was deprecated from January 2024 and replaced fully by the Milestones Program framework. Learn more here
Our project team is composed of an assortment of people with a variety of talents and expertise. We work in an Agile environment, which allows us to quickly adapt and respond to changes. Here's a quick rundown of our team members:
Michael , Boris , Ola , Priyank , Greg
The roles shared between the members listed above:
Our team's unique expertise and collective passion to improving the Cardano ecosystem will ensure a successful project execution.