Reputation DAO – Project Concept & Applications

What This Is

Reputation DAO is a soulbound, on-chain reputation system built on the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) using Motoko.

🎯 Goal:

Create a transparent, tamper-proof trust layer that lets any community issue, track, and manage reputation points.

🧠 The Core Idea

• Members earn reputation points for contributing value (good actions, reliable work, provable impact) as defined by each organization.

• Reputation points are non-transferable ("soulbound") — they stay attached to the wallet/identity that earned them.

• In case a wallet is lost or compromised, the system offers optional recovery logic.

• To ensure relevance over time, reputation includes a freshness factor:

  repWeight = baseRep * freshnessFactor
  

• All activity is fully on-chain, verifiable by anyone.

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Quickstart

1 initialize backend

--> get your plug principal id --> paste that plug id in main.mo like shown below

stable var owner : Principal = Principal.fromText("<your-principal-id>"); 

# Start local replica
$ dfx start --background --clean 

# Deploy canister
$ dfx deploy --network playground

ps : this playground will only host the backend for 20 mins

2 modify frontend

copy the canister id generated by playground

Reserved canister 'reputation_dao' with id 2uurk-ziaaa-aaaab-qacla-cai with the playground.

--> paste this canister id inside frontend/src/components/canister/reputationDao.ts as canisterid

3

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

See main.mo for method docs and logic.

🔎 Why Build This?

In many communities, trust is:

• Scattered
• Unverifiable
• Centralized

Reputation DAO makes trust on-chain: open, auditable, transparent, and portable.

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🔄 Key Application Flows

This section outlines how Reputation DAO functions in four distinct domains.

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1. 🌐 Online Communities

Use Case: Reward meaningful posts, helpful replies, and verified contributions.

Actors:

• User: Posts or contributes content.
• Moderator (Admin): Authorized to mint reputation.
• Reputation DAO Canister: Manages on-chain data.

Flow:

1. User submits a helpful post.
2. Moderator reviews and approves.
3. Moderator calls:
   awardRep(userPrincipal, 5, "Helpful reply in #tech-support thread")
4. Canister validates and records it.
5. User’s reputation updates publicly.

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2. 💼 Professional Networks

Use Case: Freelancers and teams earn rep for task completion; clients can verify credibility.

Actors:

• Freelancer: Completes work.
• Client (Admin): Awards rep after task verification.
• Frontend Platform: Interfaces with DAO.

Flow:

1. Freelancer completes a task.
2. Client verifies and calls:
   awardRep(freelancerWallet, 10, "Landing page completed on time")
3. Canister updates reputation.
4. Future clients check rep via getBalance().

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3. 🧑‍💻 Open Source & DAOs

Use Case: Contributors earn rep for PRs, bounties, and governance participation.

Actors:

• Contributor: Completes contributions.
• Maintainer / DAO Admin: Awards or revokes rep.
• DAO Frontend: Uses rep for governance/voting.

Flow:

1. Contributor merges PR.
2. Maintainer calls:
   awardRep(contributorPrincipal, 20, "Smart contract PR merged")
3. Reputation updated and recorded.
4. Used in DAO voting.
5. Abuse handled by:
   revokeRep(contributorPrincipal, 20, "PR flagged as plagiarized")

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4. 🎓 Education & Credentials

Use Case: Reputation acts as a verified skills badge or learning progress indicator.

Actors:

• Student: Completes a course or task.
• Instructor (Admin): Verifies and awards rep.
• LMS/Frontend: Displays credentials.

Flow:

1. Student finishes module.
2. Instructor awards:
   awardRep(studentPrincipal, 15, "Completed Blockchain Basics Module")
3. Rep shown on student profile.
4. Recruiters verify via getBalance().
5. Tags (e.g., "blockchain", "frontend") categorize achievements.

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📜 Key Rules

• Soulbound: Reputation cannot be transferred.
• Controlled Minting: Only trusted awarders (e.g., HR manager, team lead) can assign rep.
• Daily Mint Limits: Prevent abuse and inflation.
• System Revocation: Admins/system can revoke fake or farmed rep.
• Public Ledger: All actions are visible and verifiable.

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⚙️ Technical Design

✅ Smart Contract (Canister)

• Written in Motoko
• Stores balances, award logs, daily mint limits

🛠️ Core Methods:

awardRep(user: Principal, amount: Nat, reason: Text)
revokeRep(user: Principal, amount: Nat, reason: Text)
getBalance(user: Principal): Nat
getAwardHistory(user: Principal): [AwardLog]

🖥️ Frontend:

• Web/mobile compatible
• No gas fees for users — backend handles all transactions

🧩 Integration:

• Other dApps or DAOs can fetch rep to:

  • Gate access
  • Modify privileges
  • Weight votes

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🚀 Benefits

• Tamper-proof trust system
• Transparent and verifiable
• Portable across ecosystems
• Fully on-chain and decentralized
• Modular: Easy to extend with perks, tags, or categories

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🧑‍💻 Next Steps for Devs

1. Build Motoko canister

2. Deploy to ICP testnet → then mainnet

3. Connect to any frontend/bot

4. Implement/test award + revoke + balance logic

5. Prepare:

   • Open-source repo
   • MIT/Apache license
   • README + demo video

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✅ Hackathon Deliverables

• [] main.mo + dfx.json (Deployed Canister)
• [] Clear Documentation
• [] Demo Video (Award/Revoke flow)
• [] Defined Rules for Minting, Revoking, Usage

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🧭 Final Summary

Reputation DAO is a modular, transparent, and secure reputation framework for communities, teams, and decentralized organizations.

Built on the ICP stack with Motoko, it transforms human contribution into on-chain credibility that can’t be bought, sold, or faked.