Cardano Explorer SDK for Developers

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Cardano Explorer SDK for Developers

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

95000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

8

[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?

Developers lack an easy, reusable way to query and analyze Cardano transactions, UTxOs, and metadata. Current tools are fragmented or tied to explorers, slowing dApp development and debugging.

[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

We will use the MIT License, a widely adopted OSI-approved license that is simple, permissive, and ensures anyone can freely use, modify, and contribute to the project, fostering broad adoption.

[Theme Selection] Theme

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

Analytics

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

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

We will use the MIT License, an OSI-approved open source license that is simple and permissive. It allows anyone to freely use, modify, and distribute the SDK, encouraging collaboration and adoption. By removing legal barriers, MIT ensures developers, researchers, and companies can integrate and contribute without restrictions, maximizing the project’s long-term impact on the Cardano ecosystem.

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

Day 1 public repo: Create a GitHub org/repo (MIT) with roadmap, issues, and CI visible from the first commit.

Visibility: Announcement on Cardano Forum, X, Telegram/Discord; submit to VSCode Marketplace (early beta).

Transparency: Weekly progress posts + changelogs, tagged releases, open project board, and public docs site.

How will you provide high quality documentation?

We will maintain an open-source documentation site with setup guides, tutorials, API references, and practical examples. Docs will be updated with every release to stay accurate and developer-friendly. To support different learning styles, we will include video walkthroughs, step-by-step guides, and FAQs, ensuring both new and experienced developers can adopt the SDK quickly and effectively.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

We will create an open-source library that makes it easy for developers to look up and understand Cardano transactions without building their own explorer or writing complex queries. The goal is to give teams a simple, reusable toolkit they can plug into apps, CLIs, dashboards, or backend services.

What it will do:

• Find transactions quickly: Look up by address, policy ID, asset, or transaction hash.
• See what happened: Read inputs, outputs, amounts, and who sent/received.
• Check UTxOs easily: List spendable UTxOs for an address or script.
• Understand metadata: Access and parse common metadata patterns in a friendly way.
• Follow tokens: Track movements of a native asset across transactions.
• Helpful summaries: Return clean, human-readable results for logs, reports, or UIs.

How it will feel to use:

• Straightforward: One or two lines to fetch what you need.
• Copy-paste friendly: Clear examples for the most common tasks.
• Works out of the box: Defaults that “just work,” with options for advanced setups later.
• No lock-in: You can use it in scripts, servers, or integrate into existing tools.

What’s included

• Core functions for transactions, UTxOs, assets, and metadata.
• Ready-made examples (address history, token tracker, tx drill-down).
• Simple docs & guides showing common recipes step by step.
• Optional adapters so teams can choose a data source (e.g., hosted API vs. self-hosted).

Open source & community

• MIT license, public GitHub from day one.
• Transparent roadmap and milestones.
• Welcomes community contributions, issues, and feature requests.

Why this helps Cardano

• Saves time: Teams stop reinventing basic explorer features.
• Improves quality: Easier debugging and clearer visibility into contract behavior.
• Encourages building: Lowers effort for wallets, dApps, research tools, and scripts.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

Our team has hands-on experience in Cardano development, including Plutus, Haskell, and building tools for developers. We have already worked with transaction data, smart contracts, and open-source libraries, giving us the skills to deliver this project with trust and accountability.

To ensure transparency, all work will be shared in a public GitHub repository from the beginning, with regular updates and clear documentation so the community can follow progress.

Feasibility will be validated by:

• Running internal tests on real Cardano testnet transactions.
• Using example scripts to confirm the library returns clear and correct outputs.
• Publishing demo cases that show the library working for common developer needs (like checking UTxOs or tracing a token).

This approach ensures that the project is not only technically possible but also practically useful and trustworthy for the wider Cardano community.

[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?

Our team has hands-on experience in Cardano development, including Plutus, Haskell, and building tools for developers. We have already worked with transaction data, smart contracts, and open-source libraries, giving us the skills to deliver this project with trust and accountability.

To ensure transparency, all work will be shared in a public GitHub repository from the beginning, with regular updates and clear documentation so the community can follow progress.

Feasibility will be validated by:

• Running internal tests on real Cardano testnet transactions.
• Using example scripts to confirm the library returns clear and correct outputs.
• Publishing demo cases that show the library working for common developer needs (like checking UTxOs or tracing a token).

This approach ensures that the project is not only technically possible but also practically useful and trustworthy for the wider Cardano community.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Design & Research

Milestone Outputs

A comprehensive design document that fully defines the SDK’s scope, including transaction lookup, UTxO query, and metadata extraction functions. It will also detail architectural choices, integration points with Cardano APIs, and developer use cases. This document serves as the blueprint for development, guiding both core functionality and future expansion.

Acceptance Criteria

The design document must clearly describe all planned features, their technical benefits for developers, and a realistic implementation roadmap. It must be published in the public GitHub repository to ensure transparency, invite early community feedback, and prove feasibility before any coding begins. Approval depends on clarity, completeness, and visible engagement from the Cardano developer community.

Evidence of Completion

A GitHub repository containing the uploaded design document, roadmap, and open project board will serve as proof of completion. In addition, a Catalyst community update or Medium blog post will be published to explain the vision, design reasoning, and next steps. Screenshots of public feedback, GitHub issue discussions, and comments on the shared roadmap will also be included as evidence of openness and validation.

Delivery Month

1

Cost

15000

Progress

20 %

Milestone Title

Core Functions

Milestone Outputs

Development of the first working version of the library with essential transaction querying functions. Features include retrieving UTxOs by address, fetching transactions by ID, reading metadata, and providing clean, reusable API calls for developers. All functions must run on Cardano testnet.

Acceptance Criteria

Internal testing confirms that functions return correct and consistent results when applied to multiple testnet scenarios. The library must install easily and execute queries without complex setup, proving it is practical for developers to use immediately.

Evidence of Completion

Evidence: GitHub release v0.1 with open-source code, setup instructions, and example calls. Internal test logs uploaded showing function outputs, plus a recorded demo video walking through the test cases and results.

Delivery Month

3

Cost

25000

Progress

50 %

Milestone Title

Examples & Documentation

Milestone Outputs

Ready-to-use example scripts showing how to integrate the library in real-world use cases, such as checking wallet balances, tracking token movements, or pulling transaction metadata. Comprehensive documentation (with tutorials, setup guides, and FAQs) created to make onboarding easy.

Acceptance Criteria

Internal testing confirms that example scripts run successfully without modification on testnet. Documentation must be clear and beginner-friendly, ensuring that even developers new to Cardano can replicate results and apply them in their projects.

Evidence of Completion

Updated GitHub repository with detailed README, tutorial files, and example scripts. Screenshots, internal logs, and a recorded video walkthrough demonstrating successful execution of examples uploaded as proof of usability.

Delivery Month

5

Cost

25000

Progress

70 %

Milestone Title

Community Release & Feedback

Milestone Outputs

Official stable release of the library with all tested functions, examples, and documentation. Community outreach through workshops, online demo sessions, or webinars is conducted to gather feedback and ensure the library aligns with developer needs. Adjustments made based on feedback.

Acceptance Criteria

The library is publicly available and functional for external developers, with improvements added based on received input. At least one public workshop/demo must be conducted to showcase the tool and capture real feedback for next iterations.

Evidence of Completion

Public GitHub release v1.0 with changelog, a Catalyst close-out report summarizing outputs, a video recording of the community demo/workshop, and GitHub issues or feedback logs documenting improvements made after user testing.

Project close out video and report

Delivery Month

8

Cost

25000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Milestone 1 – Design, Research & Architecture (Months 1–2)

Project Lead (planning, architecture, repo setup): 6,000 ADA

Backend Dev (researching APIs, preparing architecture): 5,000 ADA

Documentation Lead (initial structure & roadmap clarity): 2,000 ADA

QA Specialist (designing test strategy & verification checklist): 2,000 ADA

Subtotal: 15,000 ADA

Milestone 2 – Core Functionality: Transaction & UTxO Explorer (Months 3–4)

Project Lead (core dev & oversight): 7,000 ADA

Backend Dev (build UTxO/transaction queries, metadata extraction): 10,000 ADA

QA Specialist (internal testing & validation of functions): 3,000 ADA

Contingency: 5000 ADA

Subtotal: 25,000 ADA

Milestone 3 – Templates, Examples & Documentation (Months 5–6)

Documentation Lead (tutorials, guides, code walkthroughs): 7,000 ADA

Backend Dev (integration of example contracts & queries): 6,000 ADA

Project Lead (oversight & developer experience review): 5,000 ADA

QA Specialist (testing templates/examples): 2,000 ADA

Contingency: 5000 ADA

Subtotal: 25,000 ADA

Milestone 4 – Community Demo, Feedback & Final Release (Months 7–8)

Project Lead (coordination, final polish): 6,000 ADA

Backend Dev (final improvements based on feedback): 6,000 ADA

Documentation Lead (final updates, video demo & tutorials): 5,000 ADA

QA Specialist (final verification, evidence collection): 3,000 ADA

Community Coordinator (demo session, feedback collection): 5,000 ADA

Contingency: 5000 ADA

Subtotal: 30,000 ADA

✅ Total Requested: 95,000 ADA

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

The requested 95,000 ADA represents strong value for the Cardano ecosystem because it funds the development of a reusable, open-source library that saves developers time, reduces complexity, and accelerates dApp creation. Instead of each team building their own tools to parse transactions, explore UTxOs, or handle metadata, this library provides a standardized, reliable foundation for all.

The cost covers clear milestones (design, core functionality, templates, and community release), with transparent outputs at each stage: documented code, tutorials, and internal tests published on GitHub. Every ADA invested results in open infrastructure that remains free and accessible for future builders, multiplying its impact far beyond the project team.

By allocating funds across research, development, documentation, and testing, the budget ensures not only working code but also high-quality resources for adoption. The contingency allocation protects against risk without overspending. Overall, this project delivers maximum utility to developers and long-term ecosystem growth for a modest cost.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes