Skip to content
New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

Sign up for GitHub

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

Tech writing review #684

Merged
merged 1 commit into from
Jan 26, 2023
Merged

Tech writing review #684

Changes from all commits
Commits
Show all changes
1 commit
Select commit
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension
Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
153 changes: 40 additions & 113 deletions docs/monthly/2023-01-monthly.md
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -5,87 +5,47 @@ authors: ch1bo
tags: [monthly]
---

This report summarizes the work on Hydra since December 2022 and also serves as
a preparation & write-up of the monthly review meeting, in which we update major
stakeholders of the project on recent developments and gather their feedback on
our proposed plan forward each month.
This report summarizes the work on Hydra since December 2022 and serves as preparation for the monthly review meeting, where the teams update major project stakeholders on recent developments to gather their feedback on the proposed plan forward.

## Roadmap

Looking at our [roadmap](https://github.com/orgs/input-output-hk/projects/21)
just a few things to report this month:
Looking at the [roadmap](https://github.com/orgs/input-output-hk/projects/21), just a few things to report this month:

- Regroomed [Create updated specification for coordinated head protocol
#448](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/448) to :yellow_heart:,
as we made good progress on the specification
as good progress was made on the specification

- Marked [Align implementation with HeadV1 protocol specification
#452](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/452) as :red_circle:,
because we experienced scope creep and have not progressing as fast as we
expected on this.
+ We plan on breaking this up into smaller chunks of work which are addressing
and explaining a short-coming in the implementation each.
as the team experienced scope creep and has not progressed as fast as expected.
+ The plan is to break this initiative into smaller tasks to address and explain implementation challenges.

![](./img/2023-01-roadmap.png)
<small><center>
Latest roadmap with only minor changes. Need to reflect latest objectives into it.
The latest roadmap with minor changes, which needs a reflection of the latest objectives.
</center></small>

## Development

[Issues closed since last report](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues?q=is%3Aclosed+sort%3Aupdated-desc+closed%3A2022-12-23..2023-01-24)

This month we have been working on:
This month, the team worked on:

- **First write-up of Hydra spec online**: As already mentioned last time, we
have been aggregating the latest definitions of on- and off-chain semantics
into a new technical specification. The latest version can be found [still on
overleaf](https://www.overleaf.com/project/6389ba5edbcf7a51fda1328f), while we
are looking at integrating it into the core hydra repository. Should you have
feedback, please send it our way through one of the [communication
channels](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/blob/master/SUPPORT.md).

- **Closed more gaps in Head Contract**: We addressed two more gaps in our
on-chain scripts based on discussions on the specification.

+ All validators are authenticated now and ensure contract continuity by checking
for the state tokens in the output (or getting burned).

+ Abort now fully reimburses all committed UTxO, even if two parties would
have committed the exact same output (quite theorethical attack vector).

This work is captured by
[#452](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/452), but this work
item is taking quite a bit longer than we expected. Also, the fact it's a
single feature item and it lacks a bit rationale on why some things are
required, so we intend to break this down into smaller pieces over the next
days & weeks.

- **Mutation test framework improvements**: While closing gaps in our contracts,
we realized that some of our [mutation
tests](https://hydra.family/head-protocol/haddock/hydra-node/tests/Hydra-Chain-Direct-Contract-Mutation.html)
were correctly tripping validators and making transactions invalid, but not
always for the right reason. In fact, some of our mutations were "too harsh"
and making the transaction even not even pass phase-1 validation. We addressed
this by introducing a first (naiive) way to assert the right cause of failure
by checking strings in the validator log.
[#679](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/pulls/679)

- **Add HeadId in API & TUI** to make it easier of identifying heads. We added
not only the unique `headId` to approriate server outputs and the TUI
[#678](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/pull/678), but also added
`seq`uence numbers and `timestamp` to produced outputs
[#618](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/pull/618). This was wished by
users and makes integrating with the `hydra-node` easier / possible.

- **Hydra explorer experiment**: Some of us used the holiday season to conduct
some experiments on summarizing Hydra Heads observed on a network. This is
only a quick hack, but already demonstrates the value of a hydra explorer as a
tool to measure adoption by open heads on a given network. Naturally it would
reuse code from the `hydra-node` and challenge the architecture used in it for
tracking multiple heads. Also, it will drive discussion about versioning of
`hydra-plutus` and how we could track multiple versions of the Hydra protocol
on the chain (hashes/addresses change in each version).
- **First write-up of Hydra spec online**. As mentioned previously, the team has been aggregating the latest definitions of on- and off-chain semantics into a new technical specification. The latest version can still be found [on Overleaf](https://www.overleaf.com/project/6389ba5edbcf7a51fda1328f), before its integration into the core Hydra repository. Should you have feedback, please send it our way through one of the [communication channels](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/blob/master/SUPPORT.md).

- **Closed more gaps in the Head Contract**. The team addressed two more gaps in the on-chain scripts based on discussions on the specification.

+ All validators are authenticated now and ensure contract continuity by checking for the state tokens in the output (or getting burned).

+ Abort now fully reimburses all committed UTXOs, even if two parties would have committed the exact same output (quite a theoretical attack vector).

This work is captured in [#452](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/452), but this work item is taking quite a bit longer than expected. Also, it's a single feature item, lacking some rationale on certain requirements, so we intend to break this down into smaller pieces over the next days and weeks.

- **Mutation test framework improvements**. While closing gaps in the contracts, the team realized that some of the [mutation tests](https://hydra.family/head-protocol/haddock/hydra-node/tests/Hydra-Chain-Direct-Contract-Mutation.html) were correctly tripping validators and making transactions invalid, but not always for the right reason. In fact, some of the mutations were ‘too harsh’ and made the even transaction not even pass phase-1 validation. The team addressed this by introducing a first (naiive) way to assert the right cause of the failure by checking strings in the validator log. [#679](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/pulls/679)

- **Add `headId` in API and TUI to make it easier for identifying heads**. The team added not only the unique `headId` to the appropriate server outputs and the TUI [#678](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/pull/678), but also added sequence numbers and timestamps to produced outputs [#618](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/pull/618). This was asked for by users and simplifies the process of integration with the hydra-node.

- **Hydra explorer experiment**. Some of the team used the holiday season to conduct some experiments on summarizing Hydra Heads observed on a network. This is only a quick hack, but already demonstrates the value of a Hydra explorer as a tool to measure adoption by open heads on a given network. Naturally, it would reuse code from the hydra-node and challenge the architecture used in it for tracking multiple heads. Also, it will drive discussion about the versioning of hydra-plutus and the possibility to track multiple versions of the Hydra protocol on the chain (hashes/addresses change in each version).

![](./img/2023-01-explorer.png)
<small><center>
Expand All @@ -94,77 +54,44 @@ Hydra explorer first experiment UI

## Community

- **Hydra for Voting project**, which got kicked off in December is picking up
steam with deep dives on Catalyst voting and Hydra as technology. Discussions
are currently had in various settings and we're continuing to develop a
picture of what is achievable.

- **Hydra for Auctions litepaper**: We are partnering with MLabs on
exploring how Hydra can improve auction use cases. At this stage, we discussed
multiple approaches how to structure the problem space with various Hydra
topologies and their trade-offs. The full case study was published [on
Essential
Cardano](https://www.essentialcardano.io/article/implementing-auction-projects-using-hydra),
while we plan on upstreaming the findings back into the [use case
section](https://hydra.family/head-protocol/use-cases/nft-auction/) on the
Hydra website from which this project originated.
- **The Hydra for Voting project**, which got kicked off in December is picking up steam with deep dives into Catalyst voting and Hydra technology. Discussions are currently held in various settings and we’re continuing to develop a picture of what is achievable.

- **Hydra for auctions litepaper**. IOG is partnering with MLabs on exploring how Hydra can improve auction use cases. At this stage, the teams discussed multiple approaches on how to structure the problem space with various Hydra topologies and specific trade-offs. The full case study was published [on Essential Cardano](https://www.essentialcardano.io/article/implementing-auction-projects-using-hydra). The teams plan to upstream the findings back into the [use case section](https://hydra.family/head-protocol/use-cases/nft-auction/) on the Hydra website from which this project originated.

## Themes for 2023

After kicking off planning in a
[workshop](./2022-11-monthly.md#cardano-summit--workshop) and reflecting on
[what we achieved in
2023](https://cardanofoundation.org/en/news/hydra-head-protocol-an-open-source-solution-for-scalability/),
we have progressed in fleshing out relevant themes and objectives for this year
to position Hydra as a sustainable open-source project in the age of Voltaire:
After kicking off planning in a [workshop](http://ncoding.at:3000/head-protocol/monthly/2022-11#cardano-summit--workshop) and reflecting on [what Hydra achieved in 2023](https://cardanofoundation.org/en/news/hydra-head-protocol-an-open-source-solution-for-scalability/), the team has progressed in fleshing out relevant themes and objectives for this year to position Hydra as a sustainable open-source project in the age of Voltaire:

- **A mainnet mature application**
+ **Why?** We (the core contributors) should be able to use the protocol on the mainnet ourselves, it should be maintainable and mature enough to lock some ADA in a Hydra Head using a reference DApp (e.g. hydraw). By creating & growing this DApp ourselves we will [dogfood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_your_own_dog_food) features and hence improve usability as well.
+ **How to measure?** Number of heads on mainnet `> 0` and core contributors feel confident to lock at least `100₳` in a Hydra Head on mainnet.
+ **Why?** The core contributors should be able to use the protocol on mainnet, so it should be maintainable and mature enough to lock some ada in a Hydra Head using a reference DApp (eg, hydraw). By creating and growing this DApp, the team will [dogfood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_your_own_dog_food) features and hence improve additional usability.
+ **How to measure?** A number of heads on mainnet > 0 and core contributors feel confident to lock at least 100₳ in a Hydra Head on mainnet.
+ **Next steps:**
- Publish Hydra Head V1 specification
- Close gaps in implementation and release 0.9.0
- Create a request for proposals (RFP) to audit spec & implementation
- Create a request for proposals (RFP) to audit the specification and its implementation

- **Increase adoption**
+ **Why?** We want to showcase what is possible with Hydra through benchmarks
and lighthouse projects, enable use cases and reducing friction to use
Hydra. Also, ensuring interoperability through open standards and reference
implementations.
+ **Why?** The team wants to showcase what is possible with Hydra through benchmarks and lighthouse projects, enabling use cases and reducing friction to use Hydra. Also, ensuring interoperability through open standards and reference implementations.
+ **How to measure?** Number of third-party created heads on any network `> 0`
+ **Next steps:**
- Build a basic Head explorer to measure adoption
- Build a basic Hydra Head explorer to measure adoption
- Benchmark off-chain performance (of a selected scenario)
- Demonstrate Hydra for Payments to potential users
- Support Hydra for Voting project
- Hydra for Auctions project exploring a delegated voucher auction

- **Sustainable open-source-development**
+ **Why?** We want to make Cardano grow & be scalable also in the long run.
Hence this project should not be owned by a single entity, but by the
community and the Cardano network itself. We need to make contributions to
it possible and ultimately it should be easy to become a contributor.
+ **How to measure?** Number of contributors on github
+ **Why?** The team wants to scale Cardano in the long run. Hence this project should not be owned by a single entity, but by the community and the Cardano network itself. It is thus essential to make contributions to the project possible and ultimately it should be easy to become a contributor.
+ **How to measure?** Number of contributors on GitHub
+ **Next steps:**
- Open up our monthly reviews
- Open up monthly reviews
- Add tutorials to the website
- Publish & maintain a use case centric roadmap and feature map
- Publish and maintain a use case centric roadmap and feature map

## Conclusion

The monthly review meeting accompanying this month was the first public one
where we invited not only stakeholders from IOG and the CF, but also partners of
our latest projects. This was the first step to a more open and transparent
development process.

We did show some classic demos, like our hydraw application - which we have been
running on the same Hydra Head for 4 weeks now - and some new developments on
the hydra explorer and minor improvements to hydra-node API and TUI.

It was very interesting to bring the various teams together as we exchanged
ideas and thoughts on our individual roadmaps for the new year. We also shared
the relevant themes & objectives of the Hydra project for 2023 (as also listed
above) and will now make sure to take reflect these steps into our concrete
[roadmap](https://github.com/orgs/input-output-hk/projects/21) such that it will
contain [marketable features](https://www.agilealliance.org/glossary/mmf/)
bringing us closer to these goals.
This monthly review was the first public one with not only stakeholders from IOG and the CF, but also partners of the latest projects. This was the first step to a more open and transparent development process.

The teams showed some classic demos – like the ‘hydraw’ application which has been running on the same Hydra Head for four weeks now – and some new developments on the Hydra explorer and minor improvements to hydra-node API and TUI.

It was very interesting to bring various teams together to exchange ideas and thoughts on the individual roadmaps for the new year. The teams also shared the relevant themes and objectives of the Hydra project for 2023 (as also listed above) and will now make sure to reflect these steps into this concrete [roadmap](https://github.com/orgs/input-output-hk/projects/21) such that it will contain [marketable features](https://www.agilealliance.org/glossary/mmf/) bringing us closer to these goals.