The Alien Worlds software stack comprises multiple smart contracts on the blockchain. These contracts manage the security-critical logic and are paired with browser-based user interfaces. Users interact with these interfaces as their user-friendly portal to access blockchain logic. However, bridging these two domains is a crucial layer of data processing and persistence: the API tools. So, why are API tools essential? The blockchain is tightly constrained in processing power and storage due to the distributed nature of blockchain technology and logically, can only execute with data already in the blockchain’s data storage. On the opposite end of the software stack, the browser interface is limited to executing logic within the temporary memory of a browser window on a user's device. With these limitations, the capability to make rich and compelling user experiences is massively reduced. The API provides unconstrained processing power, data enrichment, and integrations into any available web-connected systems, unlocking the potential for captivating, informative, and entertaining user experiences.
The Alien Worlds API tools consist of many components that can be used, modified, and assembled to construct any number of use cases that the community could imagine. If the tools are unable to achieve a desired goal as they are now, all the code is open source and documented to make it easy for developers to leverage them to achieve their goals without needing to start from scratch. You also might find this video overview helpful.
Though the API tools are designed to cater to the current requirements of the Alien Worlds UI, they also provide a foundation for future community-led extensions, thanks to the function-specific libraries that constitute the toolkit. The libraries are composed together into two API instances. One provides data related to the game UI and another provides data for the DAOs. The reason to keep them separate is that the DAOs could exist independently from the core game logic. But there are common logic components shared between both for optimal re-use of code.
Currently, there are six DAOs, each catering to a specific planet. Over the coming months, there will be more introduced to manage various aspects of the metaverse with potentially many more community DAOs in the future.
While each DAO may have its unique motivations and personality, there are likely core commonalities shared among them. These API tools are built in such a way that many DAOs can be tracked and indexed within the same API instances and consumers can fetch data about each by simply providing the DAO ID as a key to distinguish between each one when querying from the API. This significantly empowers the community by lowering the entry barriers for any enthusiastic, prospective DAO. Being able to quickly tap into existing tools lets the group stay on mission and easily leverage a community of builders. With that in mind, our focus is to provide reusable building blocks that the wider community can contribute to and easily build upon without needing to reinvent the wheel.
Current DAO API
The current DAO API includes some core data points/features including:
Candidate Information: Retrieves detailed information about DAO candidates, including fields such as account, requested pay, vote power, rank, profile data, and agreed DAO terms version.
Custodians Information: Provides details on the elected custodians of a specific DAO, including custodian profile data, such as account, agreed pay, vote power when they were elected, agreed DAO terms version, and other relevant details for an active custodian.
DAOs List: Retrieves a list of DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organisation) details, encompassing DAO ID, owner, title, token symbol data, and metadata around the DAO - social links, website, and various smart contract accounts used in the running operation of the DAO on-chain.
DAO Profile: Offers a summary of profiles associated with a specific DAO, including the count of profiles and details like account, action name, description, and more.
Candidate Voter History: Fetches the history of voters for DAO candidates with data such as voter, voting power, action, vote timestamp, and transaction ID. This could be used by candidates to campaign or other incentivise their loyal voters to keep voting for them.
Voting History: Gathers the voting history from the perspective of members within the DAO, detailing DAO ID, voter, vote timestamp, candidate, candidate vote power, and action. This treasure trove of election data would be enviable for politicians outside of the blockchain space to tap into the time-series data of voters between and across the regular weekly election cycles.
Potential API Enhancements
If we had all the time and resources in the world, there would be many ideas we could incorporate into the API tools. While resources might be limited for individuals, collectively, as a decentralized community, we can achieve significant milestones. Here are some suggestions for the use and extension of the API:
Push Notifications: Users could be notified about pivotal events in the DAOs, which demand their immediate action. For instance, a DAO candidate might fall out of the top 5, prompting them to campaign for reentry, or a new DAO proposal might need their attention for endorsement.
MSIG DAO Proposal Endpoint: Proposals for candidates are currently sourced directly from the chain and encoded in a chain-specific binary format. Although this is requisite for the blockchain, it poses challenges for standard users. Enhancing the API tools to decode and display these proposal details would benefit the community, paving the way for diverse UI constructions atop the DAOs.
Referendum API: A smart contract on the Wax blockchain allows DAO members to table referendum proposals open to voting by all DAO members. This differs from the extant proposals managed by the custodians, as all DAO members get a direct say on the referendum proposals. However, just like the MSIGs, these proposals are encoded for the blockchain and would greatly benefit from decoding to be more community-accessible.
Extended Proposals API: An innovative type of proposal for the DAOs to consider is "Extended Proposals." These would resemble the current MSIG proposals, with elected custodians at the helm. They would come with added features, ensuring protection for contributors working on long-term projects. The secured upfront terms, escrowed payment amounts, and included arbitration mechanisms would be notable highlights. While pivotal security components are managed on-chain, an API would enhance accessibility, urging the community to adopt and sustain these tools.
Teleport API: As of now, we lack an API to probe and search teleport transactions between Wax and other blockchains. The exclusive means to transition tokens between blockchains is our teleport UI. An API catering to this need would foster the creation of unique use cases leveraging the Teleport service.
API Stitching: One common utilization of APIs across tech domains involves amalgamating multiple data sources into a single cohesive unit. For instance, the DAO profile could be enriched to fetch the latest social media buzz about that specific DAO, integrating tweets from Twitter's API (Now X), and presenting them coherently with the native DAO profile data.
Expanding the DAO’s Outreach Beyond Blockchain: Every blockchain technology inherently remains confined within its blockchain parameters. While this seems evident, the broader implications might be overlooked. An API could serve as a gateway, converting on-chain DAO decisions into tangible real-world actions, be it posting tweets, flashing messages on billboards, or interfacing with myriad systems (for reference, visit https://ifttt.com/explore).
AI Extensions: We are at a nascent stage of AI development in the tech arena. Novel tools leveraging AI emerge almost daily, many of which offer APIs for seamless integration. The potential is boundless regarding how the API tools can be augmented with the aid of these AI tools, promising a richer experience for both the DAO and the broader Alien Worlds community.
In essence, as we stand on the cusp of technological evolution, it is imperative to remain adaptable and innovative. The proposed API enhancements are just the tip of the iceberg, with a vast ocean of possibilities awaiting exploration by our dedicated and ever-expanding community.