not approved
Sense - Smart contract Analyzer
Current Project Status
Unfunded
Amount
Received
₳0
Amount
Requested
₳75,431
Percentage
Received
0.00%
Solution

Sense aims to automatically parse and explain smart contract code, making it accessible for non-technical users and saving time for developers.

Problem

The problem is the complexity Haskell / Pluto which could be a barrier for people to start building on Cardano and inaccessibility of understanding for non-technical users.

Value for money
Feasibility
Impact / Alignment

Team

1 member

Sense - Smart contract Analyzer

Please describe your proposed solution.

Solution

Sense is designed to automatically parse the methods of a smart contract from one or several files and provide a clear explanation to end-users who may not be advanced developers. This explanation includes the functionality of the contract, how it works, and any security considerations that have been incorporated into the functionality. This proposal is to expand the tool that already works for solidity contracts to also include Plutus.

Description

Moreover, there are 4 steps that lead us from the proposed problem to the solution

Step 1: Input

Initially, we require the user to give us the address to the smart contract which she likes to analyze. Using the address our system will fetch the corresponding contract and all related contracts. It is also possible to upload the files directly to the system. Additionally, The user can specify which methods she’d like to understand better.

Step 2: Code aggregation and pre-processing

pre-processing can remove any redundant and malicious lines (for example malicious comments), resulting in an optimal code for generating the description

Step 3: Prompt generation

Artificial Intelligence has become the centerpiece of the current decade. Furthermore, the art of prompt engineering is crucial to get optimal results. Sense not only generates an optimal version of the code but it creates segmented structured prompts enhanced for AI models.

Step 4: Result

Lastly, Sense uses the latest state-of-the-art AI models such as OpenAI's GPT models to get comprehensive descriptions of the specified methods.

The user can benefit from this system through 2 different yet simple procedures. First and foremost is our website, users can simply enter their input and enjoy the results. Second to that, is our API, which empowers different applications to provide comprehensive descriptions to their users to further help them understand how a method works, what are the consequences of it, and how secure the action they are taking.

Rational

Blockchain has been one of the fastest-growing subjects in the past few years. Although the development of new tools and libraries has been immense, the community is severely suffering from a lack of documentation and knowledge generalization. Sense can help a wide spectrum of users from non-technical users wanting to ack knowingly to professional developers aiming to learn an overview of a complex project not to mention this tool can prevent lots of missusage and malicious intents just by providing a brief security overview to novices.

How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

The "Sense" project aims to significantly lower the barrier to entry for individuals seeking to understand and interact with smart contracts within the Cardano ecosystem. By automatically parsing and explaining smart contract code, the tool is likely to make the ecosystem more accessible and attractive to both non-technical users and developers.

For non-technical users, it can promote wider adoption of Cardano's blockchain technologies by demystifying smart contract functionality. For developers, it can save time in understanding complex smart contract code, allowing them to focus more on innovation and less on deciphering existing contracts. This efficiency could potentially attract more developers to the ecosystem, expanding the breadth and depth of applications built on Cardano.

Moreover, the additional security check features of Sense can contribute to improving the overall security within the Cardano ecosystem. It could reduce the risk of misuse and malicious intent, promoting trust and confidence among the users.

How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

The success of the "Sense" project can be measured through a combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics:

User Engagement: The frequency of use, time spent on the platform, and the number of smart contracts analyzed can indicate the level of user engagement and satisfaction with the tool.

User Satisfaction: User satisfaction surveys can provide direct feedback on the tool's effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.

Developer Feedback: Feedback from developers, including testimonials and reviews, can provide valuable insight into how well the tool meets their needs in understanding or auditing contracts.

User Adoption: The number of users, both individuals and API consumers, using the platform can provide a clear measure of success.

These metrics will provide a comprehensive view of the project's impact, allowing the team to assess success and guide future development.

Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

Our team is using an agile methodology in which each team member is required to finish a certain amount of story points during each sprint. our two-week sprints are focused on finalizing user stories rather than developing aimlessly.

To show our commitment and progress throughout the project we can provide our sprint planning which concludes sprint goals, user stories, deliverables, and scope of work. On top of that, we’ll provide bi-weekly progress reports concluding a summary, delivered scope, and upcoming work.

These reports will be publicly available for all interested parties to review.

Moreover, we’re aiming to have at least 1 early adaptor using our APIs by the end of phase one and over 200 users using our platform to further understand smart contracts.

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

The team's prior experience in successfully implementing this tool for Solidity contracts attests to their technical expertise and project management capabilities. Having navigated a similar path before, they understand the challenges and requirements associated with such a project, which places them in a strong position to deliver with high levels of trust and accountability.

Additionally, the team's use of agile methodologies, which emphasizes iterative development and regular reassessment of priorities, ensures that they remain responsive to emerging issues and feedback, enhancing the project's overall trustworthiness.

In summary, the team's relevant experience, combined skill set, transparent approach, and use of agile methodologies strongly support their capability to deliver this project with high levels of trust and accountability.

What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The main goals of the "Sense" project are:

To make smart contracts more accessible and understandable: By parsing and explaining smart contract code, Sense aims to make it easier for non-technical users to interact with smart contracts and save developers time when analyzing complex code. This will be validated by user feedback, user adoption rates, and usage metrics.

To improve the security of interactions with smart contracts: Sense aims to highlight security considerations within smart contract code, which can potentially prevent misuse and malicious actions. This will be validated by the number of security issues identified and mitigated due to the tool, and user feedback on the effectiveness of these security checks.

To promote wider adoption of the Cardano ecosystem: By making it easier to understand and interact with smart contracts on the Cardano blockchain, Sense can potentially drive more widespread adoption of Cardano. This will be validated by growth in the number of users, the number of smart contracts analyzed, and user feedback.

The feasibility of the project's approach will primarily be validated through real-world usage and feedback. If users find the tool helpful, if it saves developers time, and if it helps to identify and mitigate security issues, these will be strong indicators that the project's approach is feasible.

In addition, the team's prior experience in implementing a similar tool for Solidity contracts provides evidence of their ability to deliver this project effectively, further supporting the feasibility of their approach.

Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Phase 1: Embrace Cardano → 4 Weeks

  • Add support for Cardano Scan in addition to the existing Ethereum scan
  • Code aggregation and pre-processing for Plutus
  • Prompt generation for Plutus

Phase 2: Cross-examination → 4 Weeks

  • Back-end development and integration
  • Prompt generation optimization
  • Code aggregation optimization
  • Documentation, use cases, and case studies
  • API Release
  • Early adaptors’ feedback

Phase 3 and Beyond: Expansion → (out/beyond proposal scope)

  • Front-end development and integration
  • Prompt generation for nested and sequential method calls
  • Method sequence suggestion based on the user’s description of the required action
  • Other chains

Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Phase 1: Embrace Cardano (4 weeks)

Deliverables and Outputs:

  • Support for Cardano Scan: This involves adding a feature to the existing system that can fetch smart contract data from the Cardano blockchain, alongside the current Ethereum scan.
  • Code Aggregation and Pre-processing for Plutus: This step will entail creating a system to gather Plutus code from various sources and pre-process it for analysis, optimizing the code for AI prompt generation.
  • Prompt Generation for Plutus: The team will develop AI-generated prompts that can provide a comprehensive explanation of Plutus smart contracts, making them easier to understand for users.

Intended Outcomes:

The key outcome for this phase is the successful extension of Sense to support Cardano smart contracts. It will also provide a foundation for the subsequent phases.

Phase 2: Cross-examination (4 weeks)

Deliverables and Outputs:

  • Back-end Development and Integration: This task involves building and integrating the back-end systems necessary to support the tool's functionality.
  • Prompt Generation Optimization: The team will tailor the prompts to the plutus language furthermore refine and enhance the AI prompt generation process based on the learnings from Phase 1, aiming to improve the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the generated prompts.
  • Code Aggregation Optimization: Based on insights gained in Phase 1, the team will optimize the process of code aggregation, improving the efficiency and accuracy of this step.
  • Documentation, Use Cases, and Case Studies: These resources will help users understand how to use the tool effectively and illustrate its potential applications.
  • Early Adaptors’ Feedback: The team will collect feedback from early adopters, providing invaluable user insights to inform further optimization and development of the tool.

Intended Outcomes:

The goal of this phase is to refine the tool based on real-world usage and feedback, enhancing its functionality and user experience. By the end of this phase, Sense should be well-integrated, optimized, and ready for wider user adoption, demonstrating its potential to make smart contract analysis more accessible and efficient.

Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Budget Breakdown

  • Plutus smart contract engineering 60$/hour x 20h/week x 4 weeks (1 months) = $4,800
  • Prompt Engineer 80$/hour x 20h/week x 8 weeks (2 months) = $12,800
  • Backend development 40$/hour x 40h/week x 4 weeks (2 months) = $6,400

Requested funds in USD

Total: $24,000

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Sepehr (Bussiness Lead)

Software engineer with over 6 years of experience in the IT industry. With an entrepreneurial background, co-founded an Instagram BI startup called Neolyze and is actively involved in its development and product roadmap. Over the past 2 years, has been exploring the blockchain industry through various projects such as Aragon, Ergo, and TogetherCrew.

Github: <https://github.com/sepehr2github>

Linkedin: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/sepehr-sanaee/>

Xtchi (Marketing Lead)

Digital strategist with +15 years of experience helping organizations in different industries: auto, banking, retail, social impact, among others.Special focus in the last 7 years in public goods organizations to help them innovate and engage with their constituents (governments and NGOs)

Since 2021 involved in the DAO ecosystem, currently building Microflow, previously core contributor at mClub DAO, Futurx and Boske

Mehrdad (Product Lead)

Previously, Co-founded a social media analytics system called Neolyze. With over 5 years of experience as a back-end developer, I've managed multiple projects at different web2 (CBI Global) and web3 (RnDAO, TogetherCrew) organizations for the past two years. Github: https://github.com/mehrdadmms

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehrdad-mms/

Fabrice (Software Engeenier)

Solutions-oriented Software Engineer with 4+ years of experience in various areas of the development stack (web, mobile, and desktop). Currently exploring the new opportunities in blockchain and Web3 (specifically DAO tooling) with Aragon and Microflow.

GitHub: https://github.com/Fabricevladimir

Tjitse van der Molen (AI Specialist)

Computational/Systems Neuroscientist, received his MSc in Systems Biology and Statistics and is working towards a PhD in Dynamical Neuroscience. Over the past 2 years, has been involved in various web3 related projects ranging from Community health analysis for TogetherCrew to providing mental health awareness workshops for the Clay Nation community. Uses AI on a daily basis for both his neuroscientific research and his web3 related work. This includes developing and training his own deep learning models as well as utilizing the OpenAI API to build various LLM powered tools.

Linkedin: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjitse-van-der-molen-b34bbb142>

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

The total budget requested for the "Sense" project is $24,000. This is broken down into three main cost categories: Plutus smart contract engineering ($4,800), prompt engineering ($12,800), and backend development ($6,400). These costs are determined based on typical hourly rates for these roles ($60/hour for Plutus smart contract engineering, $80/hour for prompt engineering, and $40/hour for backend development) and the estimated number of hours required for each role over the project's timeframe.

The costs are proportional to industry standards, taking into account the specialized skills required for each role, especially in the field of blockchain and AI, which are both high-demand and high-skill sectors. Also, the nature of this project, which involves complex smart contract analysis and sophisticated AI model use, warrants the engagement of highly skilled individuals, justifying the cost.

In terms of value for money, the "Sense" project promises substantial benefits for the Cardano ecosystem, including improving accessibility and understanding of smart contracts, saving time for developers, enhancing security, and potentially driving wider adoption of Cardano.

Considering the high costs associated with security breaches in the blockchain space and the potential for this tool to prevent such issues, the cost of the project can be seen as a valuable investment in the ecosystem's security.

Furthermore, by fostering understanding and accessibility, the tool can stimulate activity in the Cardano ecosystem, leading to more DApps being developed and more transactions being made. This increase in ecosystem activity can, in turn, enhance the value of the Cardano network as a whole.

Given these benefits, the project costs represent a reasonable and potentially highly rewarding investment for the Cardano ecosystem.

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