- Treasury/
- Proposals/
- #431/
ParaSpell✨ XCM Tools - Maintenance & Server cost coverage Q1 & Q2 2025
Dear Kusama community,
Meet ParaSpell:
A set of powerful XCM Tools ready to elevate your project cross-chain experience.
What is ParaSpell currently working on full-time:
- XCM SDK: The core of ParaSpell - library making your dApp achieve interoperability within seconds. Simple to use, well-documented, and continuously improved by daily refactors for better performance and efficiency.
- XCM API: Everything that XCM SDK offers but without need to install anything or compromise on anything! Getting cross-chain capability in a package-less way was never this easy. Suitable for applications where space is everything. And when response speed also matters you can deploy XCM API to your own server as well!
- XCM Router: Send different asset than you receive. Cross-chain exchanges within one line now possible.
- XCM Analyser: Decode complex XCM junctions or entire XCM Calls with ease. A minimalistic library without heavy dependencies.
- XCM Visualizator: A stunning 3D Universe-like Visualization of XCM. Browse through XCM history, explore selected Parachains, download selected graphs and data, filter accounts engaging in XCM the most, and much more.
- A full tool overview is also available on the new ParaSpell landing page.
The XCM SDK that just works.
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 battle-hardened and well-established XCM SDK.
What the XCM SDK Provides:
- 🥇 First SDK to also support the PAPI package. Supporting both Polkadot API and PolkadotJS. Users can easily choose whether to use PAPI or PJS.
- API Failsafe mechanisms (API endpoint doesn't work? No worries, SDK automatically switches to the next working one!)
- XCM DRY Running (DRY RUN your XCM messages and find out whether they will execute without wasting resources and potentially risking asset loss!)
- Ability to transfer XCM messages from/to 58 different XCM compatible Parachains & Relay chains (Number of compatible chains fluctuates as some of them are added/removed)
- Support for ecosystem bridges such as Polkadot<>Kusama bridge or Polkadot<>Ethereum (Snowbridge)
- All three XCM transfer scenarios in one line (UMP - Para to Relay, DMP - Relay to Para, HRMP - Para to Para)
- Multiple choices for asset selection - id, symbol, multilocation, multiasset selection
- Customizable XCM version (If preselected version stops working, you can select one that works with just one simple parameter)
- Testing on testnet or localhost (You can input custom WS port parameter or even custom Parachain ID)
- There are multiple important Asset queries for the front end, such as getExistentialDeposit, getOriginFeeDetails, getAssetBalance, getTransferrableBalance, and getTransferInfo, which query asset and balance data directly from the chain of your choice.
- Other front-end-related data queries, such as XCM Pallet support queries, Asset support queries, and more (all of these are instant because they are in the SDK map).
- XCM Batch transfers (Send multiple XCM messages at once)
XCM SDK has, since it was introduced 835 days ago (September 25th. 2022) had a total 73477 of downloads on NPMJS
Want to go packageless and save space? We got you
Meet award-winning and 🥇 first XCM API in the ecosystem. XCM API packs every XCM SDK feature and allows you to implement XCM packagelessly.
Unable to decide? A couple of why XCM API might be the right way for your project:
- Built-in Token authentication for DDoS prevention (No authentification required for up to 100 req/min)
- Designed for simple private deployment (Need faster responses? Have servers that are faster? Feel free to deploy API yourself! You can also build business models on top of this when there are other projects needing faster responses. Opportunities are limitless).
- XCM API Offloads your server from computing required to construct calls (You receive constructed message already)
- You save server costs!
- Package-less integration (No need to install anything compared to SDK alternatives)
- Simple to implement (Constructed to be as dev-friendly as possible)
- It is free for everyone to request more requests per minute!
XCM API Served since its launch 482 days ago (September 13th. 2023) a total of 729791 requests and faced 0 downtime
Sending one asset cross-chain and receiving another was never this easy
Behold 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 524 asset exchange pools.
What are some of the highlight capabilities of the XCM Router?
- Largest Liquidity Bridging Tool – Access 524 asset pools in the most extensive liquidity bridging solution in the ecosystem.
- Automatic exchange selection based on best outcome - Receive the highest payouts (Manual selection also available)
- Built for DEX Projects in mind - featuring core components from XCM SDK and implemented Parachain open-source DEX SDKs
- Support for Polkadot<>Ethereum bridge (Snowbridge)
XCM ROUTER has since it was introduced 388 days ago (Dec 15th. 2023) had a total of 32273 downloads on NPMJS
Unable to decode complex XCM? Say no more
Developed in collaboration with PolkadotJS (Now implemented in PolkadotJS Extension-UI) XCM-Analyser lets you decode XCM Multilocations into human-readable format while being lightweight with minimalistic dependency list.
What are pros of XCM Analyser?
- Minimalistic library (No heavy dependencies)
- Decoding individual junctions or entire XCM Calls
- Support for JSON or Object syntax
XCM Analyser has, since it was introduced 267 days ago (Apr 15th. 2024) had a total of 5312 downloads on NPMJS
Exploring XCM in stunning, universe-like 3D Visualization was never this straightforward
Discover award-winning and first XCM-Visualization oriented tool in the ecosystem - XCM Visualizator. Built to enhance data science around XCM. Scientists can visualize XCM-related information with ease in remarkable 3D and 2D visualizations.
See the Value Behind the Data:
- Gain insights into network scalability over time with detailed historical analysis
- Identify the most active chains in cross-chain messaging
- Monitor the accounts with the highest cross-chain messaging activity
- Discover the most frequently used channels
- Track the most commonly transferred assets
- Access comprehensive details for any selected chain, including simultaneous multi-chain analysis
- Download your selected chains graph or it's data to directly use them in research articles or next data processing
Implementation made easy with XCM Tools Docs
Explore comprehensive documentation, which covers just about every topic developers will encounter when implementing XCM and XCM Tools into their apps.
Docs had a total of 126 refactor and update deployments on GitHub pages since last 6 months
Play with XCM Tools in Playground
Get hands-on with XCM tools instantly in an interactive playground. No setup is needed — just experiment, see real-time results and explore the full potential of XCM solutions for your projects.
ParaSpell's Team and history:
- By now, we completed 6 Web 3 Foundation grants meant to fund the development of ParaSpell's 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 are also pushing development onwards in other cross-chain topics in the ecosystem. For example, the xcNFT pallet meant to allow users to transfer NFTs through XCM - Link.
- We have been granted trust from the Kusama community multiple times in the following maintenance proposals that helped us further perfect XCM Tools: Maintenance 1, Maintenance 2 and Maintenance 3. Maintenance 2 is also historically 🥇first maintenance-related referenda to receive 100% AYE support for which we are very thankful!
- Some of XCM Tools are partially / fully funded by participation in Hackathons (To maximize self-sufficiency when developing state-of-the-art tools).
- XCM API was co-funded with 🥇first place at the Polkadot Global Series APAC 2023 Hackathon in the XCM Integration track. Here is the final announcement post.
- The XCM Visualizator was fully funded by 🥈second place at the Polkadot Global Series North America 2024 Hackathon in the XCM Integration track. Here is the result announcement
- Knowledge and funds are reinvested into professional research articles 👨🏫 - Promoting Polkadot and ParaSpell in the long run at international research conferences (We occupy the first page when you search “Polkadot XCM” on Google Scholar). Conferences we choose are with higher standards and higher Z-indexes. We were so far able to publish a total of 7 professional research articles and 2 journals:
- Sharing fungible assets across Polkadot Paraverse: IEEE ICECET 2022 - link
- Enhancing XCMP Interoperability Across Polkadot Paraverse: IEEE ICBC 2023 - link
- ParaSpell XCM SDK: A New Protocol for Interoperability in Polkadot Paraverse: IEEE BCCA 2023 - link
- Cross-Chain Payments on Blockchain Networks: An Apartment Booking Use-Case: ACM SAC 2024 - link
- Interlinked Transactions: Revolutionizing Apartment Bookings through Cross-Chain Payments: IEEE BCCA 2024 - link
- Cross-Chain Non-Fungible Assets Sharing on Polkadot: IEEE Brains 2024 - link
- Protocol for unifying cross-chain liquidity on polkadot: Frontiers in Blockchain Journal 2024 - link
- Decentralized Bridge Between Polkadot and Cosmos: ACM SAC 2025 - Accepted, awaiting conference day to be presented.
- UniSpell: Universal Adapter for Interoperability in Polkadot Paraverse: Cluster Computing Journal 2024 - Awaiting final approval
The team behind the project has been hacking in the Polkadot ecosystem for a while now.
Consisting of 2 members:
- Dušan Morháč: PBA 2023 Buenos Aires Alumni, Building in ecosystem since 2021, LINKEDIN, GITHUB.
- Michael Absolon: Typescript expert with 4 years of professional experience, Building in the ecosystem since 2022, LINKEDIN, GITHUB.
Both team members achieved their Master's degree recently (June 2024) and are working on ParaSpell full-time. Dušan continues to study for a Doctoral degree (To be able to continue research passion and release more research papers for Polkadot and ParaSpell). Michael is registered into for PBA X and in-person PBA Campus 2025.
Aim of this proposal:
The proposal aims to aid server costs and maintenance for the 🥇 first XCM API and XCM Visualizator in the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystem. Maintaining XCM API, XCM ROUTER and XCM Visualizator also include maintaining its core component - XCM SDK. These common good tools along with XCM Analyser, XCM Playground, Documentation and Landing page will be fully maintained for the mentioned period starting on 1st February 2025 and ending on 1st August 2025. This proposal allows all tools to remain completely free for the entire Polkadot and Kusama communities. It also allows ParaSpell team to dedicate time to help other teams that wish to implement XCM Tools.
What are you getting by implementing one of ParaSpell's XCM Tools or more
- Complex free support with implementation (Through a private telegram group between ParaSpell's team and your team (We usually respond within minutes and we are also open to live calls when time plays a role in your project delivery - form to reach out to us can be found on ParaSpell's Landing page))
- 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
- XCM tools allow dApps to be created much faster, so you can enjoy their benefits quicker.
- You can be sure, that dApp implementing XCM tools is safe for XCM as XCM Tools are thoroughly tested and regularly updated. There are multiple ways to lose assets cross-chain.
- You, too, can try XCM Tools via the Playground.
- The XCM Tools team has 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 favourite 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 ParaSpell's XCM Tools. They are purely common good).
Proposal schedule
- Discussion: 7. January. 2025 - 13. January. 2025
- Voting: 14. January. 2025 - 28. January. 2025
Proposal ask
The proposal seeks 45.990$ worth of funding for 6 months of various maintenance tasks, research, and improvement tasks, as well as assistance to other teams. This is divided into 7.665$ per month and 23,95$ per developer work hour (A decrease of 2000$ from the previous proposal because research articles are now fully covered by the faculty where Dušan studies). More information can be found in the full proposal document.
Documents associated with the proposal:
Full proposal (Contains detailed information on how we plan to use funds)
ParaSpell is a project that offers a set of powerful XCM tools to enhance cross-chain experiences for projects. They are currently working on:
- XCM SDK: A library that makes dApps interoperable within seconds.
- XCM API: A package-less way to get cross-chain capabilities.
- XCM Router: Allows sending different assets than received in cross-chain exchanges.
- XCM Analyser: Decodes complex XCM junctions or entire XCM calls.
- XCM Visualizator: A 3D universe-like visualization of XCM.
These tools help with various aspects of cross-chain operations, such as asset transfers, data queries, and network analysis. The ParaSpell team has completed several Web 3 Foundation grants and received community support through maintenance proposals. They have also participated in hackathons and published research articles to promote Polkadot and ParaSpell.
The current proposal aims to fund the maintenance and improvement of these tools for six months, allowing them to remain free for the Polkadot and Kusama communities. By implementing ParaSpell's XCM tools, users can expect complex-free support, prompt issue solving, constant updates, comprehensive documentation, and reliability. Non-developer/dApp users can also benefit from faster dApp creation, safety in cross-chain operations, and the ability to try XCM tools through the Playground.