DevCreds: Verifiable Developer Badges for Cardano

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

DevCreds: Verifiable Developer Badges for Cardano

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

85000

[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?

Hiring skilled developers or finding the right collaborators in the Cardano ecosystem is time-consuming and uncertain. CVs are self-reported and offer no cryptographic proof of actual contributions

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

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

Yes

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

We’ll leverage SSI framework: Veridian’s open APIs and sandbox - the Cardano Foundation provides a secure testing environment where we can test issuing and verifying of those credentials in isolation. We will also use the Veridian Open source wallet and fork it for storing those credentials.

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

Yes

License and Additional Information

MIT

[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.

We will publish all DevCreds components (issuer backend, badge schemas, verifier SDK, dashboard) under the MIT License. MIT is a permissive license that maximizes adoption and reuse across the Cardano ecosystem, including commercial and academic contexts. It allows other Catalyst projects to fork, adapt, or integrate DevCreds without legal or licensing friction, ensuring the widest possible impact.

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

The GitHub repository will be public from the first commit. Each milestone will require public commits, tagged releases, and linked repository evidence. Documentation, schema definitions, and SDK examples will be published in the same repository, and all updates will be announced through Catalyst channels (mainly X and Linkedin) and our website (blockialabs.com).

How will you provide high quality documentation?

We will deliver:

• A developer guide with step-by-step instructions for setting up the app.

• API reference (OpenAPI/Swagger) for the issuer backend.

• Schema registry with clear JSON examples and conditions.

• Verifier SDK documentation with usage examples, code snippets, and integration tutorials.

• Recorded demo videos showing issuer setup, credential issuance, and verification in pilot environments.

All docs will be published in the same GitHub repo, continuously updated, and follow the structure proven in our prior Catalyst deliveries (e.g., DigiFarm).

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

What it is

Cardano DevCreds is an open-source developer verification tool. It converts a developer’s public GitHub activity into a signed Verifiable Credential (VC) stored in their Veridian wallet. The credential is evidence-linked, privacy-first, and instantly checkable through a lightweight verifier SDK.

1. How it works

Consent & data capture

• Developer signs in via GitHub OAuth.

• No code ingestion, no profile scraping.

Claims generation

• Collects metrics: merged PRs, reviews, issues, repos, top languages, Cardano-related commits (Plutus, Hydra, Mithril, etc.).

• Every claim contains URLs or commit SHAs for direct evidence.

Credential issuance

• Claims signed as ACDC credential tied to a KERI DID.

• Issued directly into the Veridian wallet.

• Default 12-month validity; renewable for freshness.

• On-chain anchoring on Cardano mainnet of DID and VC events for timestamp proof.

Verification

• Any project or recruiter integrates the lightweight verifier SDK.

• Checks issuer DID, signature, expiry, revocation; displays clean summary + evidence links.

1. Privacy and control

• Opt-in only.

• Developer controls when/where it’s shared.

• No central database.

1. Architecture

• Backend: Claims Builder, Issuer API (signing, revocation), Status Endpoint.

• Identity: KERI/ACDC + Cardano new SSI Veridian wallet integration.

• Client tools: Lightweight verifier SDK, demo webapp.

• Infra: Containerized, CI/CD, MIT licensed.

In short:

DevCreds turns developer contributions into verifiable, portable proof - issued to their Veridian wallet, evidence-linked, privacy-preserving, and instantly checkable - to make Cardano teams faster, smarter, and more confident in who they work with.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

DevCreds directly improves the Cardano developer ecosystem by making contribution history verifiable, portable, and bias-resistant.

By issuing ACDC credentials tied to real GitHub activity and anchoring them to Cardano, teams, Catalyst reviewers, and OSS projects gain a fast, trust-minimized way to evaluate technical contributors.

Ecosystem benefits:

• Catalyst due diligence – Reviewers can confirm a team’s technical claims in seconds, reducing evaluation time and increasing fairness.

• Cofounder & hiring decisions – Startups and OSS maintainers can verify skills before collaboration begins.

• Vendor validation – Companies can prove which named engineers shipped which features in past work.

• Reusable open-source stack – Other Cardano projects can fork the issuer and schema set to create their own credential programs

• Identity adoption - real, useful Veridian wallet credentials that showcase newest SSI Cardano DID/VC stack in action.

[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?

We have already co-delivered funded Catalyst projects (e.g., DigiFarm Fund 12–13 milestones) where our role was building workflows, data processing, and on-chain publishing. These are publicly documented with accepted proofs of achievement and linked video evidence. This experience demonstrates our ability to scope, build, and deliver on time under Catalyst oversight.

Capability to Deliver

Team expertise: Our team covers SSI/VC architecture (Panche Isajeski), backend/API development (Goran Gavrovski), user experience (Stefan Dellstrom), and go-to-market (Alan Radi). Collectively, we have shipped production systems in fintech, blockchain, and digital identity.

Technical foundation: DevCreds builds on the Veridian/KERI stack, which already provides DID creation, ACDC credential issuance, schema registry, and lightweight verification SDKs. This minimizes custom development risk: we extend Veridian with GitHub integration, badge schemas, and Cardano anchoring.

Delivery readiness: Badge schemas are already prototyped, Veridian APIs are documented, and GitHub OAuth + metrics computation can be built with existing public APIs. The architecture is modular: issuer backend, credential registry, and verifier SDK.

This combination - proven Catalyst delivery, existing Veridian infrastructure, transparent on-chain anchors, and open-source publication-ensures high feasibility, low delivery risk, and maximum accountability to the Cardano community.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Issuer Setup & Schema Definition (Veridian/KERI)

Milestone Outputs

• Create Issuer DID in Veridian via KERI inception event.
• Deploy issuer backend with API endpoints for schema publishing and credential issuance stubs.
• Build issuer dashboard (web app) for managing badge schemas.
• Publish 6 ACDC schemas (Shipper, Reviewer, Release Impact, Consistency, Cardano Builder, CIP Contributor).
• Anchor Issuer DID and all 6 schema SAIDs to Cardano in a transaction under issuer’s policy ID.

Acceptance Criteria

• Issuer DID resolvable in Veridian public registry with valid inception event.
• All 6 schemas visible in Veridian schema explorer with:
  • Schema name & version
  • Creator DID
  • JSON schema definition
• Cardano transaction confirms issuer DID and schema SAIDs anchoring (single txn or batched).
• Dashboard accessible via public URL, allowing schema loading and selection.

Evidence of Completion

• Public Veridian registry links for issuer DID and all 6 schemas.
• GitHub repo (MIT license) with issuer backend + dashboard code.
• Cardano transaction hash anchoring issuer DID & schema SAIDs.
• Loom video: DID creation - schema publishing - dashboard usage

Delivery Month

2

Cost

25000

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

Developer Onboarding & GitHub Integration

Milestone Outputs

• Create and register GitHub OAuth app (read-only scopes) for DevCreds issuer.
• Integrate OAuth flow into issuer dashboard for developer login.
• On successful GitHub connection, create Developer DID in Veridian (≥10 developers).
• Compute contribution metrics for last 12 months:
  • Merged PR count
  • Substantive PR reviews (≥15 words, excluding bots)
  • Active months
  • Distinct allowlisted Cardano repos
  • CIP PR merges
• Apply anti-gaming safeguards:
  • Per-repo commit caps
  • Ignore trivial commits
  • Enforce rolling 12-month window
• Anchor each Developer DID SAID to Cardano (≥10 txns) with mapping to GitHub username hash.

Acceptance Criteria

• ≥20 developer DIDs visible in Veridian, each anchored to a GitHub account.

• Each DID SAID posted on Cardano (≥20 transactions) with mapping to GitHub username hash.

• Contribution metrics (PRs, reviews, repos, active months) validated against GitHub API.

• Auth flow fully functional from GitHub login to Veridian DID issuance.

Evidence of Completion

Veridian Explorer links to ≥20 developer DIDs and inception events.

Cardano transaction hashes for all ≥20 DID SAIDs, published in milestone report.

Metrics JSON exports per DID (signed + timestamped) and archived in repo.

GitHub API call logs for PRs/reviews showing exact source data.

Dashboard screenshots of DID creation and metric preview for multiple developers.

Loom video demo of OAuth - DID creation - metrics capture - wallet display.

Open source repo (issuer backend + dashboard + metrics service), tagged for milestone.

Delivery Month

4

Cost

22000

Progress

60 %

Milestone Title

Credential Issuance

Milestone Outputs

Issue ≥20 ACDC developer credentials (at least 1 per DID from Milestone 2).

Each credential includes:

• Verified GitHub contribution metrics (PRs, reviews, repos, active months).

• Badge tier (Bronze/Silver/Gold) assigned per schema thresholds.

• Conditions hash for recomputability.

Credentials are cryptographically signed by the Issuer DID.

Credentials delivered directly into developers’ Veridian wallets.

Anchor each credential SAID to Cardano as metadata (≥20 transactions) under the issuer’s policy ID.

Acceptance Criteria

All ≥20 credentials strictly validate against the 6 published schemas from M1.

Signature verification succeeds using Issuer DID’s public key.

Each credential’s SAID is retrievable from Cardano explorer and matches the Veridian credential record.

≥20 developers confirm receipt of credentials in their Veridian wallets.

Evidence of Completion

JSON exports of all ≥20 credentials (sensitive fields redacted, signed copies included).

Cardano transaction hashes showing ≥20 credential SAIDs anchored on-chain.

Screenshots of credentials visible in developers’ Veridian wallets.

Loom video demo: full issuance flow (Issuer dashboard - credential creation - wallet receipt - Cardano explorer proof).

GitHub repo (issuer service + credential templates), tagged with milestone release.

Delivery Month

6

Cost

20000

Progress

80 %

Milestone Title

Verifier SDK & Final

Milestone Outputs

Develop and release a Verifier SDK (JavaScript) capable of:

• Fetching developer credential JSON.

• Validating ACDC signature with Issuer DID public key.

• Recomputing conditions hash to ensure badge authenticity.

• Displaying badge tier (Bronze/Silver/Gold) and metrics in UI.

Run a public pilot campaign performing ≥50 successful verifications.

Publish full SDK + Issuer backend documentation: developer guide, API specs, schema references, and integration examples.

Acceptance Criteria

SDK validates and renders badges in <3 seconds client-side on commodity hardware.

SDK repository is publicly available under MIT license, including tests and examples.

Documentation is sufficient for external developers to fork issuer + verifier setup without support.

Evidence of Completion

GitHub repository with Verifier SDK (MIT license), automated test suite, and documentation.

Verification logs/screenshots showing ≥50 successful verifications.

Loom walkthrough of SDK installation, credential verification.

Integration guide published in the repo wiki and tagged release.

Final Closeout report

Final Video published on Youtube for the end to end tool

Delivery Month

8

Cost

18000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

This budget is milestone-based and resource-driven. Each allocation covers developer effort, testing, documentation, and Cardano costs. All outputs are open source under MIT and delivered progressively with public evidence.

Breakdown by Milestone

M1 – Issuer Setup & Schema Definition (₳22,000)

• 1 backend engineer (2 months) – issuer API + schema publishing

• 1 frontend engineer (1 month) – issuer dashboard

• Hosting & infra (mainnet + Cardano tx fees)

• Documentation (schema guide, DID registry instructions)

M2 – Developer Onboarding & GitHub Integration (₳25,000)

• 1 backend engineer (1.5 months) – GitHub OAuth + metrics engine

• QA & testing (0.5 month) – anti-gaming safeguards validation

• Cardano tx fees for ≥10 developer DID anchors

• Community support: onboarding ≥10 real contributors

M3 – Credential Issuance (₳20,000)

• 1 backend engineer (2 months) – credential issuance flow

• 1 frontend engineer (1 month) – wallet integration & UI

• Cardano tx fees for ≥10 credential anchors under issuer policy

• Documentation (issuance workflow, verification instructions)

M4 – Verifier SDK & Public Pilot (₳18,000)

• 1 SDK engineer (1.5 months) – JS verifier SDK

• QA & testing (0.5 month) – ≥20 verifications in pilots

• Documentation (dev guide, API spec, integration examples)

• Community engagement for pilot rollout

Additional Notes

No proprietary software or hardware - 100% open source.

Loom video walkthroughs, GitHub repos, and Cardano transaction hashes will prove milestone delivery.

Any unexpected shortfall (infra, hosting) will be covered by Blockia Labs to guarantee delivery.

Total: ₳85,000

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

The requested budget of ₳85,000 over 8 months is tightly scoped to deliver a complete, production-ready DevCreds system - from issuer setup to public pilot - using existing open-source frameworks (Veridian/KERI) to minimize development overhead.

Why it’s cost-effective

• Reuse of existing infrastructure – Leveraging Veridian’s DID/ACDC stack avoids building identity and credential framework from scratch.

• Clear, bounded scope – Four milestones with precise deliverables and acceptance criteria ensure no budget creep.

• Small, senior team – Work is handled by a compact team of experienced blockchain engineers and product specialists, reducing coordination costs.

• Immediate utility – Outputs are not just prototypes; they are deployable components (issuer backend, dashboard, SDK) usable by any Cardano project.

• Reusability – Other teams can fork the issuer and verifier code to run their own badge programs, multiplying the ecosystem impact without additional Catalyst funding.

Given the outputs - a live issuer, anchored credentials, SDK, integrations, and open-source release - the cost per deliverable is highly competitive compared to typical blockchain dev tool projects of similar scope.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes