XCM ROUTER, XCM API & XCM SDK 5 months of maintenance and server cost coverage proposal

Dear Kusama community,

 Meet ParaSpell:

A set of common good XCM tools.

This is the current state of tools:

There are three tools from which - one is core for the other two. Each tool can be installed independently.

• XCM SDK: Core component for both API and Router. Meant to unify the cross-chain experience on Polkadot and become a layer 2 protocol that allows for seamless integration of XCM into your dApps. XCM SDK groups all 50 integrated XCM-compatible Parachain XCM Pallets into one uniform package and allows you to generate cross-chain calls with just one line.
• XCM API: (LightSpell⚡️): Meant to ease the integration of XCM interoperability into your dApp, offload your dApp from heavy computing and save you costs. LightSpell implements XCM SDK into simple API endpoints.
• XCM Router: (SpellRouter☄️): Meant to allow you to create XCM calls where you receive different assets than assets you send (Eg. Send -> DOT from Polkadot, receive ASTR on Astar)—all in just one call.

The core and the only XCM SDK you will ever need

Created, when there were no other SDKs for XCM in the ecosystem. At the sole beginning of Polkadot. Born from a wild idea, to unify the XCM experience in the ecosystem. Meet our battle-hardened and well-established XCM SDK.

The abilities you gain by using XCM SDK:

• Ability to transfer XCM messages from/to 50 different XCM compatible Parachains (Number of compatible chains fluctuates as some of them are added/removed)
• Support for all three XCM transfer scenarios (UMP - Para to Relay, DMP - Relay to Para, HRMP - Para to Para)
• Testing on testnet or localhost (You can input custom API parameter or even custom Parachain ID)
• Useful asset queries, XCM pallet queries, minimal deposit queries and more!
• Ability to use a keep-alive kind of XCM transfer which checks the balance of the account on the destination chain and determines if the amount you send is sufficient.

XCM SDK has since the last 4 months of maintenance had a total of 7.287 downloads on NPMJS

Want to go packageless and save space? We got you

Meet our award-winning and first XCM API in the ecosystem. XCM API packs every XCM SDK and XCM-Router feature and allows you to implement XCM packagelessly.

The advantages of LightSpell⚡️ XCM API for developers:

• Simplified XCM message construction via unified patterns
• XCM API reduces call construction time to seconds
• Built-in user error prevention for seamless operation
• Built-in Token authentication for DDoS prevention
• Easy to use tech stack: Typescript, Nest.js, ParaSpell XCM-SDK
• Completely free with an MIT license
• Also designed for simple private deploy
• XCM API handles complex logic and you are only required to provide basic details to create calls (Junctions and other complex details are auto-filled for you)
• API Offloads your server from heavy computing required to construct calls (You receive constructed message already)
• API saves you server costs (Because of the reason mentioned above)
• API features Package-less integration (No need to install anything compared to SDK alternatives)
• API is simple to implement (Constructed to be as dev-friendly as possible)
• API is already live on the following link: https://api.lightspell.xyz

XCM API Served since its launch 142 days ago (September 13th. 2023) a total of 126.782 requests and faced 0 downtime

Sending one asset cross-chain and receiving another was never this easy

Meet our latest state-of-the-art technology called XCM-Router. It is easy to implement and has plenty of awesome features like automatic exchange chain selection! Featuring 579 asset exchange pools makes it the largest liquidity routing tool in the Polkadot. Try it out via playground!

You gain the following advantages by implementing SpellRouter☄️:

• The ability to transfer assets cross-chain via XCM while being able to exchange them for another asset all within one call.
• Offlift users from the complexity of moving assets to another chain in order to exchange tokens just to send them to another chain later
• Developers able to hide asset exchange complexity and skip multiple implementation steps
• Developers save the time required for complex research
• Complex logic hidden in simple one-line calls

Eager to find out how XCM Router works? Check out the sequential diagram below. (This example uses XCM Router implemented in XCM API)

XCM ROUTER has since it was introduced 49 days ago (Dec 15th. 2023) had a total of 1.826 downloads on NPMJS

Implementation made easy with our docs

Meet our comprehensive documentation covering just about every topic developers will meet with when implementing XCM and our tools into their dAPPs.

Docs had a total of 109 refactor and update deployments on GitHub pages since their launch

Our team and history:

• By now we completed 5 Web 3 Foundation grants meant to fund the development of our common good tools. This goes to show our dedication to the topic and the community. They can be observed here: Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, Phase 4 and Phase 5.
• We have been granted trust from the Kusama community twice in the following grant proposals that helped us further perfect our tools: Maintenance 1 and Maintenance 2 in which we have 1 last month to cover (February).
• Our latest achievement is getting 🥇first place at the Polkadot Global Series APAC 2023 Hackathon in the XCM Integration track with XCM API. Here is the final announcement post.

The team behind the project has been hacking in the Polkadot ecosystem for a while now. The team consists of 2 members:

• Dušan Morháč: Recent PBA 2023 Buenos Aires Alumni, Building in ecosystem since 2021, LINKEDIN, GITHUB
• Michael Absolon: Typescript expert with 3 years of professional experience, Building in the ecosystem since 2022, LINKEDIN, GITHUB

Aim of this proposal:

The proposal aims to aid server costs and maintenance for the 🥇 first XCM API and XCM ROUTER in the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystem. Maintaining XCM API and XCM ROUTER also includes maintaining its core component - XCM SDK. These common good tools will be fully maintained for the mentioned period starting on 1st March and ending on 1st August. This proposal allows all three tools to remain completely free for the entire Polkadot and Kusama community. It also allows our team to dedicate time to help other teams that wish to implement our tools.

What are you getting by implementing one of our tools or more

• Complex support with implementation (Feel free to open an issue in any repo)
• Prompt issue solving if any occurs (Feel free to open an issue in any repo)
• Constant updates for every package (We strive to bring new features for each tool)
• Comprehensive documentation for each tool
• Reliability (Checked each month for changes in Pallets or compatible Parachains)
• Guarantee, that everything is free for everyone. The ParaSpell✨ team aims to deliver only the common good, be completely open-source and free with no hidden costs or subscriptions.

What are you getting as a non-developer/dApp user by supporting this proposal

• Our products allow dApps to be created much faster, so you can enjoy their benefits quicker.
• You can be sure, that dApp implementing our tool is safe for XCM as our tools are thoroughly tested and regularly updated. There are multiple ways to lose assets cross-chain.
• You too can try our products via the Playgrounds we build API Playground, Router Playground or try out the deployed version of Playground.
• We have been in the ecosystem for a while now and we are hardcore ecosystem fans. We will continue maintaining the tools even if we are short of funding (Just at a slower pace). So you do not have to deal with your dApp suddenly disabling your favorite feature. This is because we primarily build and maintain these tools to make life easier for everyone - not for profits (There is no business model or hidden fees in any of our tools. They are purely common good).

Proposal schedule

• Discussion: 2. Feb. 2024 - 8. Feb. 2024
• Voting: 9. Feb. 2024 - 22. Feb. 2024

Proposal ask

The proposal seeks 30.000$ worth of funding for 5 months of various maintenance tasks and assistance to other teams. This is divided into 6.000$ per month and 25$ per work hour. More information can be found in the full proposal document.

Documents associated with this proposal:

Full proposal (Contains detailed information on how we plan to use funds)

One pager

Documentation for XCM ROUTER, XCM API & XCM SDK

Forum post prior to this discussion