Last updated 2 months ago
Cardano is risking losing new devs due to missing emerging AI workflows. Transaction building is still the most complex part and documentation is scattered making dev onboarding challenging.
Launch an AI toolkit (MCP) for EvolutionSDK, AI assisted, code complete transaction building with ready to use templates to lower dev onboarding time, boost productivity, and keep Cardano competitive.
This is the total amount allocated to No Witness - Cardano MCP (Model Context Protocol).
Please provide your proposal title
No Witness - Cardano MCP (Model Context Protocol)
Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA
87600
Please specify how many months you expect your project to last
5
Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated
No
Original Language
en
What is the problem you want to solve?
Cardano is risking losing new devs due to missing emerging AI workflows. Transaction building is still the most complex part and documentation is scattered making dev onboarding challenging.
Supporting links
Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?
No
Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'
No dependencies.
Will your project's outputs be fully open source?
Yes
License and Additional Information
Fully open source under MIT license from day one.
Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal
AI
Mention your open source license and describe your open source license rationale.
This project will be fully open source under MIT license from day one. We believe all developer tooling should be open source which helps teams build new products, but also improve and develop tooling by collaboration
How do you make sure your source code is accessible to the public from project start, and people are informed?
Our project will be open source from day on at:
https://github.com/no-witness-labs
We will also be sharing all development and updates regularly on our X account:
How will you provide high quality documentation?
Jonathan, lead developer is taking all the lessons learned from creating Lucid Evolution library and applying them to this project to have high quality documentation having in mind developers transitioning to Cardano as well as those that have been building here for years.
Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem
Cardano developers face challenges with the complexity and time required to build transactions from scratch. Existing tools often lack modularity and composability, making it difficult to integrate external data sources or AI-assisted workflows. This can lead to longer development times and a higher learning curve, especially for beginners.
The proposed solution is the Evolution SDK MCP Toolkit, which incorporates the Model Context Protocol (MCP) — an open protocol that standardizes communication between AI applications and external tools using JSON-RPC 2.0. MCP enables the integration of contextual data, tools, and workflows in a modular fashion.
The toolkit organizes transaction building into three layers
Model: Defines structured representations of Cardano transactions and related data, allowing consistent reuse across projects.
Context: Provides environmental information like network parameters and blockchain state to ensure transaction validity.
Protocol: Contains the logic and rules for composing and submitting transactions, managing dependencies and compliance with Cardano standards.
Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community
At No Witness Labs, we are developing the Evolution SDK MCP Toolkit to lower entry barriers by providing transaction templates and guided workflows, making it easier for new developers to build on Cardano.
Its modular design and AI assisted code suggestions will accelerate development by reducing manual work and minimizing errors.
By implementing the open MCP protocol, our toolkit will promote ecosystem standards and enhance integration between tools and services.
Clear documentation and integration with official Cardano dev platforms will improve developer onboarding and access to learning resources.
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?
No Witness Labs is founded by seasoned blockchain developers with a proven track record of delivering high-quality, impactful open-source tools and protocols in the Cardano ecosystem.
Our co-founder, Jonathan Rodriguez, is the creator and lead maintainer of Evolution SDK—the next generation of the widely adopted Lucid—which has become a cornerstone for off-chain transaction building on Cardano. His work has enabled countless developers to rapidly build, test, and deploy Cardano dApps with improved developer experience and reliability.
Our team collectively has extensive experience building both open-source and production-grade blockchain solutions. Members have contributed to many ecosystem projects and several protocol-level designs including cross-chain bridges, staking systems, and Layer 2 frameworks.
No.Witness Labs operate with transparency and accountability as core principles and all significant of our work are developed open-source, ensuring community visibility, code review, and independent audit potential.
Our deep experience, combined with a proven history of delivering developer-focused infrastructure, ensures that No Witness Labs can execute this project with the highest standards of trust, transparency, and technical excellence.
Milestone Title
Core MCP Server & SDK Integration
Milestone Outputs
Acceptance Criteria
Evidence of Completion
Delivery Month
1
Cost
20000
Progress
30 %
Milestone Title
Evolution-SDK Documentation for MCP
Milestone Outputs
Acceptance Criteria
Evidence of Completion
Delivery Month
3
Cost
30000
Progress
60 %
Milestone Title
User-Friendly Conversational Transactions
Milestone Outputs
Acceptance Criteria
Evidence of Completion
Delivery Month
4
Cost
20000
Progress
80 %
Milestone Title
Community Release & Onboarding
Milestone Outputs
Acceptance Criteria
Evidence of Completion
Delivery Month
4
Cost
10000
Progress
90 %
Milestone Title
Project Closeout & Impact Report
Milestone Outputs
Acceptance Criteria
Evidence of Completion
Delivery Month
5
Cost
7600
Progress
100 %
Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources
The total budget for the proposed project is estimated at 88,000 ADA, equivalent to 83,200 USD at the current ADA price of 0.95 USD. This plan is designed to efficiently deliver the project within 4 - 6 months, ensuring quality while addressing all cost considerations.
Senior Developer:
Hiring one senior developer is essential for the successful completion of the project within the specified timeframe. His expertise will be crucial for delivering high-quality code.
Senior developers' rate: Range from 80-120 USD per hour.
Estimated Total Cost in ADA (3 months):
80 USD/hour: For one developer working full-time (40 hours per week for 4 months), the total cost per developer would be 51,200 USD, equivalent to 54,000 ADA.
Mid-level Developer
Intermediate developers' rate: Range from 40-80 USD per hour.
Estimated Total Cost in ADA (4 months):
40 USD/hour: For one developer working full-time (40 hours per week for 5 months), the total cost per developer would be 32.000 USD, equivalent to 33,600 ADA.
Thus, hiring two developers at the 80 USD/hour rate and 40 USD/hour rate will collectively cost approximately 87,600 ADA over the full project duration.
How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?
• There are multiple direct and more important long-term benefits this budget of 100,000 ADA for the MCP (Model Context Protocol) brings to the Cardano ecosystem:
• Accelerated Developer Onboarding: By offering AI-assisted, code-complete transaction templates and comprehensive documentation, the toolkit significantly reduces onboarding time. This translates directly into cost savings for projects, and all entities dealing with a problem of onboarding new developers in our ecosystem.
• Increased Development Efficiency: Modular and composable architecture of the MCP toolkit drastically reduces development cycles. Automation and AI-assisted workflows decrease manual coding tasks, and speed up project delivery.
• Long-Term Ecosystem Growth: The toolkit’s open-source nature under the MIT license ensures that the value extends far beyond the initial investment. By lowering the barrier to entry, the project will attract and retain more developers within the Cardano ecosystem, facilitating organic growth and increased innovation in decentralized applications.
• Standardization and Interoperability: MCP promotes a standardized protocol (JSON-RPC 2.0) to integrate AI applications seamlessly with Cardano development workflows. Establishing standards improves interoperability across various tools and projects, significantly reducing future integration costs.
• Competitive Advantage: The integration of AI-driven workflows positions Cardano to effectively compete with other blockchain ecosystems that are rapidly adopting AI tools.
Terms and Conditions:
Yes
Jonathan Rodriguez - Senior Blockchain Developer
Jonathan Rodriguez is a distinguished Cardano Smart Contract Developer with a wealth of experience in auditing and optimizing key protocols within the Cardano ecosystem, including Minswap V2, IBC protocol (Cardano Foundation), Optim Finance, Lenfi V2, Genius Yield, and Wanchain Bridge.
His deep technical expertise in smart contracts is further evidenced by his development of the Lucid Evolution framework and his authorship of CIP-128. Jonathan is also a co-creator of the Cardano Design Patterns Libraries, which serve as valuable resources for the wider developer community.
Beyond his technical development work, Jonathan has made significant contributions to the Cardano network's resilience, playing a pivotal role in mitigating a DDOS attack.
His efforts in the Cardano community extend to delivering over five successful Project Catalyst proposals, which have added important open-source tools and innovations to the ecosystem.
Jonathan's role as a Smart Contract Developer and lecturer for the "Cardano Solutions Architect" course at Emurgo Academy demonstrates his commitment to shaping the next generation of blockchain developers.
Vu Dinh Hoang
Software and blockchain engineer with extensive experience building high-performance trading systems and decentralized applications.
Over the past several years, Vu contributed to the Cardano ecosystem through Catalyst-funded projects, governance features, and open-source contributions to libraries such as Lucid Evolution, Plu-ts, Cardano-js-sdk, and Aiken.
His work spans performance optimization for large-scale trading platforms, smart contract development in Plutarch, Haskell, and Helios, and security audits for protocols like Charli3 and USDA.
Vu has a proven track record in designing scalable, secure, and production-grade blockchain solutions, with a strong focus on Cardano innovation.