[Strica] Cardanoscan for AI Agents: onchain data integration

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

[Strica] Cardanoscan for AI Agents: onchain data integration

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

145000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

4

[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?

AI agents lack structured access to Cardano blockchain data. No infrastructure currently exists for them to query Cardano data reliably and safely.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://cardanoscan.io/api
,
• https://modelcontextprotocol.io/examples
,
• https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/mcp

[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?

No

Please provide details on the intellectual property (IP) status of your project outputs, including whether they will be released as open source or retained under another licence.

not open source

[Theme Selection] Theme

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

AI

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Describe what makes your idea innovative compared to what has been previously launched in the market (whether by you or others).

First Fully Managed MCP Service Purpose-Built for the Cardano Ecosystem

While the Cardano ecosystem has many explorers, APIs, and analytics tools, none currently offer a professionally operated, fully managed MCP server integrated into their core services. This project brings AI-native access to Cardano data as a first-class, reliable, and officially supported feature under the Cardanoscan API platform. It fills a clear gap in Cardano’s developer and tooling landscape.

Deep Integration With Cardanoscan’s High-Quality Indexing and Analytics

Unlike standalone prototypes or manually hosted tools, this MCP server is built directly on: Cardanoscan’s deeply indexed blockchain data, enriched analytics, validated metadata, staking and reward datasets, asset metadata, governance information. This gives AI agents access to the most structured, accurate, and reliable dataset available in the Cardano ecosystem, not just raw transactions. This level of data richness for AI is new to Cardano.

Zero Hosting or Operational Burden for Cardano Developers

Cardano builders often face high overhead when integrating blockchain data: running nodes, managing indexers, building data pipelines, securing backend servers, scaling infrastructure. Cardanoscan MCP removes all these burdens. Developers simply use their Cardanoscan API key and immediately gain fully managed AI access to Cardano data without: hosting servers, writing backend code, maintaining infrastructure, handling rate limits or caching, dealing with uptime monitoring.

This is an innovation in accessibility and developer experience within the Cardano ecosystem.

A New Interaction Layer for Cardano Users

Today’s Cardano apps mostly present static data or charts. With MCP integration, new classes of experiences become possible: conversational wallets (“explain my last transactions”), governance assistants (“summarize this proposal in plain English”), stake advisors (“why did my rewards change?”), educational tools (“teach me UTxO using my real transactions”)

This is an entirely new way for users to understand, navigate, and engage with Cardano, not by reading dashboards, but by talking to their data.

Strengthens Cardano’s Tooling Stack for the AI Era

As AI assistants become common interfaces for work and applications, Cardano needs infrastructure that: supports AI agent workflows, provides reliable access to chain data, enables reasoning and explanation, can be used by non-technical users.

This MCP server becomes a foundational layer for the next decade of Cardano tooling, making the chain more accessible, intelligent, and user-friendly.

An Infrastructure-Grade, Long-Term Supported Offering

Unlike community-run integrations or experimental agent tools, this is: a maintained product part of the Cardanoscan API, backed by a reliable operational team, secured, monitored.

Describe what your prototype or MVP will demonstrate, and where it can be accessed.

What the MVP Includes

1. Hosted MCP endpoint inside Cardanoscan API
2. Authentication using existing API keys
3. Core set of Cardano-specific tools:
   1. balance lookup
   2. transaction summaries
   3. stake details
   4. token metadata
   5. UTxO breakdowns
4. Working examples for Claude Code
5. Developer documentation and quick-start guides

What the MVP Demonstrates

1. Real AI → MCP → Cardano data flows
2. Ability for LLMs to correctly interpret Cardano-specific concepts
3. Improved clarity and reduced hallucinations due to structured tool schemas

Where It Will Be Accessible

As part of Cardanoscan API Service : https://cardanoscan.io/api

Documentation: https://docs.cardanoscan.io/

The MVP will be available in free API plan, easy to test, and ready for ecosystem developers.

Describe realistic measures of success, ideally with on-chain metrics.

Adoption Metrics (Off-Chain but Measurable)

1. number of projects using MCP Server
2. monthly MCP tool invocation volume
3. stable and positive developer feedback

User Impact Metrics (AI-Driven Behavior)

1. increase in end-users accessing AI-generated explanations
2. improved user understanding of staking, delegation, and governance
3. reduced support load for projects using MCP summaries

On-Chain Indicators of Success

Although MCP operates off-chain, improved accessibility and clarity will likely correlate with:

Increase in active addresses

As users understand on-chain actions better, they transact more confidently.

Increase in delegation and staking participation

Clear, AI-generated explanations of rewards, epochs, and pool choices reduce confusion.

Growth in governance participation

Proposal summaries and natural-language interpretations help more users engage.

Increase in multi-asset use

AI-driven explanations of tokens, NFTs, and metadata improve asset literacy.

More dApp interactions

Users guided by AI are more likely to try and understand new Cardano applications.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

AI agents are increasingly capable of performing context-aware, data-rich tasks. However, access to blockchain data; especially from ecosystems like Cardano is fragmented, technical, and often lacks the tooling needed for modern AI agents. Existing interfaces like GraphQL and REST APIs are designed for developer consumption and not optimized for natural language agents that operate via tool abstraction layers.

To address this, we propose to build an MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server specifically designed to expose structured Cardano blockchain data to AI systems. The MCP framework, developed by Anthropic, provides a standardized protocol through which AI agents can invoke tools securely and meaningfully. This allows agents to access only the data they need, with well-defined permissions and formats.

Architecture and Design Document - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GuhlOIfLCB44GsmKmDI9ivq6DkBaAEXT_klhD4O50VE/edit?usp=sharing

What We’re Building

Cardano MCP Server: A complete MCP server implementation that acts as a proxy and tool provider over the Cardanoscan API. The server will expose high-level tools that are registered with agent systems like VS Code Copilot or Claude Code, allowing agents to query balances, fetch transaction history, lookup wallet metadata, track addresses, and more.

Extensible Tool Layer: Tools exposed via MCP will include structured queries like

• What is the ADA balance for address X
• Fetch transaction details for this transaction ID
• Fetch stake key details and drep delegation status
• Lookup stake pool details
• Explore governance proposals and votes

Integration Examples: Examples to connect the MCP server with: VS Code CoPilot

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

This project directly supports the broader Cardano mission of openness, accessibility, and tooling for the future of finance.

AI-Enabled Cardano Accessibility: With the rapid rise of AI assistants, users increasingly rely on agents like Claude, and VS Code Copilot to answer questions, generate insights, or automate tasks. By building an MCP server that integrates with these agents, we open up Cardano’s public data to a completely new interaction paradigm. Users can ask, “What’s the latest status of my wallet?” or “What’s the stake pool yield history?” and get structured, real-time answers directly through an agent.

Ecosystem Boost for Developers: Developers building wallets, analytics tools, or education platforms can embed our MCP server to provide AI integration to their users. This reduces the need for building APIs from scratch or parsing blockchain data independently. It also strengthens Cardano’s standing as one of the best-supported chains for intelligent tooling.

Onboarding & Education: New users often find blockchain explorers difficult to understand. By leveraging AI with natural language capabilities and structured data tools, we make onboarding much easier. Users can simply ask:

• “How much ADA did I receive in the last transaction?”
• “Explain the last transaction to my wallet”

This lowers the barrier to understanding and interacting with the Cardano 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?

Strica has a long-standing track record of delivering mission-critical tools and infrastructure for the Cardano ecosystem, consistently with transparency, accountability, and technical excellence. Over the past five years, we have shipped and maintained projects that serve both everyday users and the developer community at scale.

We are the creators and maintainers of:

• Cardanoscan – A trusted and widely used Cardano blockchain explorer, relied on for real-time, accurate blockchain data by users, projects, and developers worldwide.
• Typhon Wallet – A feature-rich, user-friendly Cardano wallet supporting ADA, native tokens, NFTs, staking, and governance, designed for both newcomers and power users.
• Cardano Ledger Live Integration – Implemented ADA, native token, and staking support in Ledger Live, enabling millions of Ledger users to securely manage Cardano assets.
• We are also active open-source contributors, with multiple well-maintained repositories on our GitHub (https://github.com/StricaHQ) including:
  • @stricahq/bip32ed25519 – A BIP32-Ed25519 key derivation library widely used in Cardano tooling.
  • @stricahq/typhonjs – A comprehensive Cardano SDK powering Typhon Wallet and available for integration into third-party applications.
  • @stricahq/ouroboros-network-js – Cardano ouroboros networking library for node communication.
  • @stricahq/cardano-codec – A library to decode Cardano CBOR data types.
  • @stricahq/cardanoscan-js – API services SDK providing high-quality Cardano blockchain data for dapps, analytics platforms, and AI integrations.
  • CIP Contributions – Direct participation in Cardano Improvement Proposals, influencing ecosystem standards.

Our work consistently adheres to open standards, best practices, and thorough testing. These efforts have earned us the trust of the community, demonstrated by years of successful product delivery, continuous feature development, and widespread adoption. This proven track record of execution, combined with our public code repositories and transparent development process, demonstrates our ability to deliver meaningful, lasting results for the Cardano ecosystem.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Cardano Address & Transaction Data Integration

Milestone Outputs

1. Cardano Address data integration into MCP Server with the following data points,
   1. Address Balance
   2. Associated Staking Address
2. Cardano Transaction data integration into MCP Server with the following data points,
   1. Transaction Fees
   2. Consumed and Output UTXOs
   3. Any certificates
   4. Withdrawal or other tx fields
   5. Script-related data points
   6. Voting-related data fields from the tx
   7. And other transaction meta information

Acceptance Criteria

1. VS Code can connect to the Cardanoscan MCP Server and query address data as per the output defined
2. VS Code can connect to the Cardanoscan MCP Server and query transaction data as per the output defined

Evidence of Completion

1. Since the project is in development, a short video demo will be produced to show the functionality for output 1
2. Since the project is in development, a short video demo will be produced to show the functionality for output 2

Delivery Month

2

Cost

43500

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

Staking Address & Stake Pool Data Integration into MCP Server

Milestone Outputs

1. Cardano Staking Address data integration into MCP Server with the following data points,
   1. Staking Balance
   2. Available Rewards Balance
   3. Staking Delegation status
   4. DRep Delegation Status
2. Cardano Stake Pool data integration into MCP Server with the following data points,
   1. Stake Pool Name, ID
   2. Stake Pool Owners
   3. Stake Pool cost parameters
   4. Stake Pool Status and more

Acceptance Criteria

1. VS Code can connect to the Cardanoscan MCP Server and query staking address data as per the output defined
2. VS Code can connect to the Cardanoscan MCP Server and query stake pool data as per the output defined

Evidence of Completion

1. Since the project is in development, a short video demo will be produced to show the functionality for output 1
2. Since the project is in development, a short video demo will be produced to show the functionality for output 2

Delivery Month

1

Cost

43500

Progress

60 %

Milestone Title

Cardano Governance Data Integration

Milestone Outputs

1. Cardano Governance Action data integration into MCP Server with the following data points,
   1. Governance action details
   2. Voting status
2. Cardano constitution data integration into MCP Server with the following data points,
   1. Constitution data
   2. Current constitution committee information
3. Cardano DRep data integration into MCP Server with the following data points,
   1. dRep meta information
   2. Recent votes
   3. Drep registration Status

Acceptance Criteria

1. VS Code can connect to the Cardanoscan MCP Server and query Governance Action data as per the output defined
2. VS Code can connect to the Cardanoscan MCP Server and query Constitution data as per the output defined
3. VS Code can connect to the Cardanoscan MCP Server and query Cardano dReps data as per the output defined

Evidence of Completion

1. Since the project is in development, a short video demo will be produced to show the functionality for output 1
2. Since the project is in development, a short video demo will be produced to show the functionality for output 2
3. Since the project is in development, a short video demo will be produced to show the functionality for output 3

Delivery Month

1

Cost

36250

Progress

90 %

Milestone Title

Mainnet deployment & Project Close Out

Milestone Outputs

1. MCP Server deployed to mainnet and available as part of the Cardanoscan API Service
2. X Announcement made from the Cardanoscan official handle
3. MCP Server details listed on the Cardanoscan API website and documentation
4. Project close out report
5. Project close out video demo

Acceptance Criteria

1. Mainnet MCP Server can be connected from VS Code agent
2. X announcement made from the official handle
3. Cardanoscan API Service and documentation site updated with MCP Server details
4. project close report produced
5. project close out video produced

Evidence of Completion

1. Mainnet MCP Server endpoint provided
2. Link to X announcement
3. Link to Cardanoscan API Service website and documentation site
4. link to close out report
5. link to close out video

Delivery Month

1

Cost

21750

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

• Cardanoscan MCP Server Setup & Transaction/Address Data Integration
  • Work:
    • Build MCP Server integration with Cardanoscan.
    • Integration of Cardano Address data (balance, associated staking address).
    • Integration of Cardano Transaction data (fees, UTXOs, certificates, withdrawals, script data, voting fields, and other transaction metadata).
  • Cost: 43500 ADA - 2 months.
• Staking Address & Stake Pool Data Integration
  • Work:
    • Integration of Cardano Staking Address data (staking balance, rewards balance, delegation status, DRep delegation status).
    • Integration of Cardano Stake Pool data (name, ID, owners, cost parameters, status, and related details).
  • Cost: 43500 ADA - 1 month.
• Governance, Constitution, and DRep Data Integration
  • Work:
    • Integration of Governance Action data (details, voting status).
    • Integration of Cardano Constitution data (constitution details, current committee information).
    • Integration of DRep data (recent votes, registration status).
  • Cost: 36250 ADA - 1 month.
• Deployment & Project Closure
  • Work:
    • Deploy MCP Server on mainnet with public URL.
    • Prepare and publish project close-out report.
    • Record and publish final demo video.
  • Cost: 21750 ADA - 1 month

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

The total funding requested reflects the high-leverage impact of building a general-purpose, AI-accessible data service for Cardano. The costs primarily cover:

• Engineering time for research, development, and integration
• DevOps for hosting and monitoring infrastructure
• Documentation and examples
• Ongoing community support

For the community, this delivers:

• A scalable data access layer optimised for AI use
• Significant reduction in time and cost for other projects to integrate AI functionalities
• A new channel for user engagement and education via AI
• Lower onboarding friction for new users interacting with the Cardano blockchain
• Strengthened Cardano presence in emerging AI tool ecosystems

[Self-Assessment] Self-Assessment Checklist

I confirm that evidence of prior research, whitepaper, design, or proof-of-concept is provided.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal includes ecosystem research and uses the findings to either (a) justify its uniqueness over existing solutions or (b) demonstrate the value of its novel approach.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal demonstrates technical capability via verifiable in-house talent or a confirmed development partner (GitHub, LinkedIn, portfolio, etc.)

Yes

I confirm that the proposer and all team members are in good standing with prior Catalyst projects.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal clearly defines the problem and the value of the on-chain utility.

Yes

I confirm that the primary goal of the proposal is a working prototype deployed on at least a Cardano testnet.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal outlines a credible and clear technical plan and architecture.

Yes

I confirm that the budget and timeline (≤ 12 months) are realistic for the proposed work.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal includes a community engagement and feedback plan to amplify prototype adoption with the Cardano ecosystem.

Yes

I confirm that the budget is for future development only; excludes retroactive funding, incentives, giveaways, re-granting, or sub-treasuries.

Yes

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

I Agree

Yes