Project Close-Out Report

Engaged in diverse Discord communities and forums through the promotion of the demo application and its npm package.# Project Close-Out Report **Project Name:** Open Source NFT and Wallet Authentication Framework for Cardano\ **Project URL:** [https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/11/cardano-open-developers/open-source-nft-and-wallet-auth-framework-for-cardano](https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/11/cardano-open-developers/open-source-nft-and-wallet-auth-framework-for-cardano) ## Project Number **Project Number:** 1100213 ## Project Manager **Project Manager:** Cem Karaca ## Date Project Started **Start Date:** 07.04.2024 ## Date Project Completed **Completion Date:** 01.02.2025 ## Challenge KPIs & How They Were Addressed - **Adoption & Usage** - **NPM Weekly Downloads:** 115 - **GitHub Cloners:** 13 unique clones - **GitHub Views:** 12 total views, 3 unique visitors - While we aimed for higher adoption, the numbers indicate low **External Engagement.** Since the completion of the project, downloads of our package have experienced a substantial decline, reaching a low of four downloads per week. However, these figures have been steadily improving and are currently trending upward. - Despite efforts in maintaining framework usability and documentation, **visibility and awareness remain challenges**. The lack of external dependencies and minimal interaction from other developers suggest a need for stronger outreach and community engagement. - **Security & Compliance** - Implemented message signing for wallet authentication. - Verified NFT ownership through Blockfrost API. - Ensured SSO metadata standardization for authentication security. - **Community Engagement** - Collaborated with Andrew Westberg and the Gimbalabs community for refining authentication standards. - Despite these collaborations, direct developer engagement with the repository and framework usage appears **lower than anticipated**. More outreach strategies are needed to foster adoption. ## Project KPIs & How They Were Addressed - **Technical Development** - Successfully implemented **wallet-based authentication** and **NFT-based authentication**. - Developed and integrated **SSO metadata standard**. - Delivered a **functional demo application** showcasing authentication features. - **Framework Usability** - **GitHub Engagement:** 3 unique visitors, 13 cloners (indicating low external interest). - **NPM Package Usage:** 115 downloads per week (potentially mostly internal usage). - While regular updates and documentation improvements were made, external adoption has been lower than expected. - **Scalability & Performance** - Successfully supported **Mainnet and Testnet wallets**. - Optimized API calls for asset validation. - **Sustainability & Future Growth** - Open-source contribution framework established. - Future plans to **add more APIs for redundancy, add more ready-to-use functions for authentication**. ## Key Achievements - Developed an authentication framework for Cardano-based dApps. - Implemented **wallet and NFT-based authentication** with flexible policy settings. - Created an **SSO metadata standard** for decentralized identity verification. - Delivered a **fully functional demo application** showcasing authentication features. - Engaged with **Cardano developers and experts** to refine authentication mechanisms. ## Key Learnings - **Metadata standardization is essential** for decentralized authentication. - **Security validation through wallet message signing** is critical for authentication security. - **Developer documentation and onboarding** are key to adoption. - **Community engagement is crucial** but requires stronger efforts in outreach and visibility. - **Simply building an open-source framework is not enough; adoption strategies must be prioritized.** ## Next Steps for the Product/Service - Enhance **developer documentation and onboarding** to simplify integration. - Seek **additional funding** to explore and develop more features such as multi-signature authentication. - **Develop an outreach plan** to actively promote the framework in developer communities, including: - **Publishing blog posts and tutorials** showcasing use cases and integration examples. - **Sharing the project in Cardano development communities** (Discord, Twitter, Reddit, Catalyst forums). - **Hosting live demos or webinars** to engage with developers and answer questions. - **Creating GitHub issues labeled 'Good First Issue'** to encourage contributions. - **Tracking and analyzing NPM and GitHub engagement metrics** to improve awareness strategies. ## Additional Metrics & Clarifications **Quantitative Metrics:** - **Adoption Rate:** - **Current Adoption:** No external dApps have yet integrated our framework. - **Reason for Absence:** Despite thorough technical implementation and active marketing efforts across various Cardano communities, external adoption has not occurred. Community engagement was limited to general positive feedback ("thumbs up") without active integration efforts. Furthermore, we believe that the recent inactivity within the Cardano community has contributed to the absence of external integrations. - **GitHub Repository Analytics:** - **Stars:** 2 - **Forks:** 1 - **Pull Requests:** 5 (all internal team contributions) - **External Contributions:** None - The analytics show low external engagement, highlighting the need for improved visibility. - **NPM Package Downloads (Weekly):** ![output](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/By4mRrnsJe.png) - Indicates fluctuating interest with a general upward trend, suggesting potential latent interest despite low active community engagement. - **User Feedback:** - **Surveys/Forums:** No external user feedback has been collected. - **Reason for Absence:** With no external integrations or active users outside the internal team, formal user feedback collection was not feasible. Establishing initial external adoption is a priority before gathering meaningful user feedback. **Qualitative Metrics:** - **Case Studies:** - No case studies available at this time. - **Reason for Absence:** As no external integrations or deployments have been recorded, we currently lack case studies showcasing the framework's impact. Developing demonstrable use cases will be prioritized in future outreach efforts. - **Community Discussions:** - Participated in variety of Discord communities and forums via marketing the demo app and the npm package. - Feedback indicated initial curiosity but limited active follow-through by external developers, mostly receiving passive support ("thumbs up") without substantial action. - Since the community has been very inactive recently, we did not get the expected level of discussions or meaningful engagement. ### Future Actions for Improvement: - Actively pursue community engagement through comprehensive documentation and clear onboarding guides. - Conduct outreach through community channels, showcasing practical use cases and integration tutorials. - Solicit explicit user feedback and develop success stories to boost credibility and foster wider adoption. These additions directly address the established metrics and outline explicit reasons for current gaps and strategic next steps. ## Final Thoughts/Comments This framework has demonstrated the feasibility of **decentralized authentication** using NFTs and wallets. However, while the technical aspects were successfully implemented, the current adoption rate suggests that **visibility, community engagement, and onboarding require more focus**. Moving forward, we aim to enhance awareness, improve accessibility for developers, and encourage external contributions to increase adoption. ## Links to Relevant Project Sources & Documents - **GitHub Repository:** [GitHub Link](https://github.com/littlefish-foundation/littlefish-nft-auth-framework) - **Demo App:** [Demo App](https://boilerplate-e.vercel.app) - **Demo App Repository:** [Github Link](https://github.com/littlefish-foundation/boilerplate-e) - **NPM Package and SSO Metadata Standard Document:** [NPM Package](https://www.npmjs.com/package/littlefish-nft-auth-framework) - **Minting Guide:** [Link](https://hackmd.io/@emirolgun/rJRT_jie1e) ## Link to Close-Out Video **Video URL:** [YouTube Link](https://youtu.be/AiGJ_OOUMUw)