[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Anvil - Weld: Massive Updates and Seamless Cardano for dApps

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

79000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

6

[Proposal Summary] Translation Information

Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated

No

Original Language

en

[Proposal Summary] Problem Statement

What is the problem you want to solve?

Weld is a widely used tool on Cardano but needs updates, bug fixes, and dependency upgrades. dApp teams continually re-implement transaction building and lack a pluggable, testable provider pattern.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://github.com/Cardano-Forge/weld
,
• https://ada-anvil.io/
,
• https://dev.ada-anvil.io/

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

No dependencies

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

Yes

License and Additional Information

Open source (Apache-2.0).

[Theme Selection] Theme

Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal

Developer Tools

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Mention your open source license and describe your open source license rationale.

Anvil has selected the Apache-2.0 license for its open-source protocol to maximize adoption and long-term sustainability.

Apache-2.0 is a permissive license that allows developers and enterprises to freely use, modify, and integrate the protocol. It provides explicit patent protection and contributor safeguards, reducing legal risks. Lower barrier to adoption while ensuring legal clarity, Apache-2.0 creates the optimal balance between openness and enterprise readiness, helping Anvil’s protocol scale as a foundational standard within the Cardano ecosystem.

How do you make sure your source code is accessible to the public from project start, and people are informed?

We plan on building in the open, on Github, from Milestone 1 of the proposal.

Repository will be created as part of our initial milestones, and we will start to socialize that through Catalyst and our official Social Media accounts.

How will you provide high quality documentation?

Anvil takes pride in our documentation and the lengths we go to to provide examples that developers from all skill levels can navigate and understand.

Our first open sourced project Weld is commonly cited as being easy to use and well documented. https://github.com/Cardano-Forge/weld

We have several positive messages about ease of use of our documentation for our Anvil API https://dev.ada-anvil.io/

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

Weld is a widely used open-source wallet connector and dApp tooling library. This proposal funds Weld vNext: minor maintenance and bug fixes, introducing a pluggable TxBuilderProvider abstraction, integrating a first-party provider for Anvil API, and shipping a CI-powered conformance suite for safe provider contributions. Outcomes: simpler, safer transaction building across projects; faster dApp development; higher-quality community PRs.

Problem & Context

Weld is widely used but needs minor upgrades, bug fixes, and dependency updates.

dApp teams repeatedly re-implement transaction building and lack a pluggable, testable provider pattern.

Solution & Scope

• Minor upgrades and updates to keep Weld current (dependency updates, bug fixes, docs).
• Introduce a provider-based transaction builder abstraction ("tx building provider").
• Implement an API as first-party provider to showcase pattern. If we cannot find an API to work with us we will use the Anvil API to demonstrate.
• Add GitHub Actions CI test suite to validate external PRs for provider correctness and safety.

What we will deliver

• Weld core upgrades: dependency updates, bug fixes, improved examples and docs.
• New TxBuilderProvider interface with docs and examples.
• First provider: proven api integration.
• CI validation: automated provider compliance checks and PR review gates.
• Documentation: migration guide, provider authoring guide, cookbook recipes.

Success metrics (KPIs)

• 3+ external provider PRs merged within 3 months of release.
• 10+ projects adopt TxBuilderProvider in 6 months.
• 90% CI pass rate for provider PRs; median PR review time <7 days.

Risks & mitigations

• Minor API changes in wallets → maintain versioned adapters, clear deprecation policy.
• Security of provider PRs → mandatory CI checks, maintainer review, test vectors.
• Fragmentation of provider APIs → publish a stable provider spec and conformance tests.

Assumptions & Constraints

• Node.js LTS (current) and TypeScript ≥ 5.x as baseline; ESLint/Prettier enforced.
• No private or custodial infrastructure operated by this project; providers are client- or self-hosted.
• Provider implementations MUST pass conformance tests before merge; unsafe patterns are blocked by Anvil maintainer review.
• Package follows SemVer; breaking changes come with migration guides and deprecation windows.

Licensing & governance

• Open source (Apache-2.0).
• Open RFCs, roadmap in repo; monthly progress updates; maintainer review gates and CI status badges; SemVer and deprecation policy documented.

Auditability & Openness

• Reproducible builds and tagged releases; changelog maintained per release.
• CI badges for unit/e2e tests, lint, typecheck, and provider conformance.
• Example apps and fixtures published for deterministic end-to-end tests.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

Weld is a universal wallet connector library designed to make managing Web3 wallet connections seamless and intuitive. With a focus on flexibility and developer experience, Weld stands out among wallet connectors due to its innovative features.

As of right now, Weld is supporting Cardano, Ethereum, Many Ethereum L2s, Bitcoin, and Solana wallets. We are preparing for the next wave of universal users who want simple applications that can support all wallets.

Weld breaks down the barriers of development on Cardano already, and we want to add to those capabilities and showcase just how easy

Cardano can be to work with. Anvil is honored to have been funded for this in the past and we feel this proposal is set to have another major impact on the ecosystem.

[Your Project and Solution] Capabilities & Feasibility

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Year after year, we increase our visibility, and notareiety, in the Cardano develoment space.

At Anvil, we have set out to be trailblazers, and diminish the gap between web2 and web3. We create our solutions with every developer in mind and we pride ourselves in the work we do under these community grants. We know our approach is feasible because we have internal consensus as a team.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Core Maintenance & TxBuilderProvider Design

Milestone Outputs

Outputs:

• Perform full audit of Weld repo
• Publish roadmap
• Update dependencies
• Fix outstanding bugs, and perform baseline tests
• Design and document TxBuilderProvider abstraction through an open RFC with initial implementation and examples

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance:

• Roadmap and issues published in repo
• dependencies updated and compiling
• baseline tests passing in CI
• SemVer/deprecation policy documented
• RFC for TxBuilderProvider merged with interface exported and example provider compiling with tests

Evidence of Completion

Completion:

• Link to Github Repository
• Link to Video showing dependcy updates, baseline tests, and interface.
• Link to Documentation for SamVer/depreciation policy

Delivery Month

2

Cost

25000

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

API Provider Integration

Milestone Outputs

Outputs:

• Implement and integrate an API as the first TxBuilderProvider (if we cannot find a participant, we will use the Anvil API)
• Support core flows including send/receive, mint/burn, multi-asset outputs, datums, and metadata.
• Provide updated golden tests for these flows.

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance:

• End-to-end sample app runs successfully against an API
• Golden tests updated
• All core flows pass in CI
• Negative test cases (invalid datum, insufficient fees, edge-case assets) fail as expected, confirming provider safety.

Evidence of Completion

Completion:

• Link to Video demonstrating successful integration of API and completing testing
• Link to Documentation on Test Cases

Delivery Month

3

Cost

19000

Progress

50 %

Milestone Title

CI Conformance Suite for Providers

Milestone Outputs

Outputs:

• Develop and ship GitHub Actions–based CI suite to validate provider PRs with mock networks, golden tests, and fee/cost checks.
• Establish automated compliance gates to ensure quality and safety of external provider contributions.

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance:

• Provider PRs trigger conformance workflow in CI
• Failures block merges automatically
• Badge appears in README
• Lint, coverage, and conformance thresholds enforced in CI
• Workflow reproducibly validates correctness and safety

Evidence of Completion

Completion:

• Link to video showing that provider PRs trigger conformance workflow and failue block merging automatically.
• Link to Documentation of Readme, CI results, workflow validations

Delivery Month

4

Cost

15000

Progress

70 %

Milestone Title

Documentation, Release, and Final Close-out Report/Video

Milestone Outputs

Outputs:

• Publish full documentation set including provider authoring guide, migration guide, and cookbook recipes.
• Improve examples, host tutorials, and polish release.
• Enable community PRs with clear contribution paths.
• Finalize and ship Weld upgrades.
• Close-out Report/Video

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance:

• Provider guide, migration guide, and cookbook recipes live in repo
• All examples compile and run in CI
• At least one external provider PR merged;
• Weld release tagged with changelog and deprecation notices for breaking changes.
• Close-out Report/Video completed

Evidence of Completion

Completion:

• Link to fully updated GitHub Repository
• Link to Google Drive containing Close-out Report/Video

Delivery Month

6

Cost

20000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Budget & Breakdown (79,000 ADA)

• Core upgrades & bug fixes: 18,000 ADA
• Provider abstraction design/implementation: 24,000 ADA
• API provider plug-in: 17,000 ADA
• CI conformance suite: 12,000 ADA
• Docs/tutorials: 5,000 ADA
• Contingency: 2,000 ADA

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?

This proposal delivers excellent value for money by extending an already widely adopted open-source library, Weld, with targeted improvements that directly reduce duplication and friction across Cardano dApp teams.

For 79,000 ADA, the project funds six months of focused work: critical maintenance, a pluggable transaction builder abstraction, an Anvil API integration, and a CI-powered conformance suite that ensures external providers are safe, consistent, and easy to adopt. These upgrades enable faster and safer transaction building across the ecosystem; while also, lowering costs for developers, as teams can rely on reusable providers instead of re-implementing fragile logic. Delivered under Apache-2.0 with clear milestones, strong test coverage, and Anvil’s proven record of successful Catalyst projects, this version of Weld provides long-lasting infrastructure that strengthens developer productivity and ecosystem reliability at a reasonable cost.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes