Agora: Verifiable Off-chain compute

Author: NikhilKottoli

applications/Agora.md

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+# Agora
+
+- **Team Name:** Agora
+- **Payment Details:**
+  - **DOT:** 1QvwVTx1G4ZhPjE68zEkZDjcLFkJwTMkgKk8FYWWKmsGjcc
+  - **Payment (USDC) :** 1QvwVTx1G4ZhPjE68zEkZDjcLFkJwTMkgKk8FYWWKmsGjcc 
+- **[Level](https://grants.web3.foundation/docs/Introduction/levels):** 2
+
+## Project Overview :page_facing_up:
+
+### Overview
+
+- **Tagline:** Verifiable Off‑Chain Computation via Commit‑Reveal and XCM.
+- **Brief Description:** Agora is a Polkadot parachain template extended with a verifiable computation marketplace. It enables parachains to outsource off‑chain jobs (API fetches, computations) to a network of staked workers. Results are verified on‑chain using a crypto‑economic commit‑reveal game. Cross‑parachain requests and result delivery use XCM.
+- **Integration:** Agora integrates into the Polkadot ecosystem as a parachain that provides a service (verifiable computation) to other parachains via XCM. It leverages Substrate for the chain logic and Polkadot's shared security.
+- **Interest:** The team is interested in creating this project to solve the problem of trustless off-chain computation and data fetching, enabling a decentralized oracle and computation network within the Polkadot ecosystem without relying on trusted execution environments (TEEs) or centralized providers.
+
+### Project Details
+
+**Mockups/Designs:**
+
+**Video Demo:**
+- [Watch Agora Demo Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V9ne5yBJFs&t=2s)
+- [Watch Agora Walkthrough](https://app.supademo.com/demo/cm6xuj2sr01o8pegv3s411vap)
+
+- App Workflow: `https://drive.google.com/file/d/17Fb2KbcJln9lEmsJ8lFXYMeEEVOkCHt_/view?usp=drive_link`
+- Dashboard: `https://drive.google.com/file/d/16tMUbN2GPYmBoMoPvyiPBAIZ66G6gCDt/view?usp=drive_link`
+- Job submission UI: `https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eOcAyvX3cI-6YfwLqkAY1xymzIUTWI2V/view?usp=drive_link`
+
+**Architecture:**
+- **Runtime:** FRAME-based Substrate runtime including `agora` pallet.
+- **Agora Pallet:** Handles job lifecycle (submit -> commit -> reveal -> finalize), staking, rewards/slashing, and XCM handling.
+- **Off-Chain Worker (OCW):** Handles execution of jobs (API fetches, computation) and submits commits/reveals.
+- **XCM:** Uses `Transact` for cross-chain job submission and HRMP for result delivery.
+
+**Technology Stack:**
+- **Blockchain:** Rust, Substrate, Polkadot SDK.
+- **Frontend:** React, Vite, TailwindCSS, Polkadot JS API.
+- **Scripts:** Node.js, JavaScript.
+
+**Core Components:**
+- `pallets/agora`: The core logic for the computation marketplace.
+- `node`: The collator binary.
+- `ui`: The React-based dashboard for interacting with the marketplace.
+
+**PoC/MVP:**
+- The current repository serves as the MVP, featuring a working local testnet (Zombienet) with XCM enabled, a functional `agora` pallet with commit-reveal mechanism, and a basic UI.
+
+## How We Help DOT
+- Direct DOT Staking Lockup: Each worker must stake minimum 100 DOT to participate. With 500 active workers (realistic for mature network), this permanently locks 50,000+ DOT in staking contracts, reducing circulating supply and creating sustained demand pressure.
+
+- Continuous Bounty Circulation: All job bounties are denominated in DOT for cross-parachain compatibility. With 5,000 jobs/day at average 10 DOT bounty, this creates 50,000 DOT/day (1.5M DOT/month) in continuous circulation through the system, generating constant buying pressure.
+
+- Continuous Bounty Circulation: All job bounties are denominated in DOT for cross-parachain compatibility. With 5,000 jobs/day at average 10 DOT bounty, this creates 50,000 DOT/day (1.5M DOT/month) in continuous circulation through the system, generating constant buying pressure.
+
+- Economic Slashing & Supply Reduction: Dishonest workers face 10% stake slashing, permanently removing DOT from circulation. This deflationary mechanism reduces supply while incentivizing larger stakes for reputation protection.
+
+- Transaction Fee Accumulation: Every cross-parachain job requires DOT for XCM execution fees, and all on-chain operations (commit, reveal, finalize) consume DOT. These fees can be burned or sent to treasury, creating deflationary pressure.
+
+- DOT as Computation Currency: DOT gains real-world utility beyond governance-becoming the universal currency for decentralized computation. This utility premium makes DOT more attractive as a long-term hold, driving price appreciation.
+
+- Positive Feedback Loop: More integrations → More DOT locked → Higher price → More attractive for workers → Better service → More integrations. This self-reinforcing cycle creates sustained upward price pressure.
+
+## Need for This
+
+- Enables Previously Impossible Use Cases: Real-time sports betting dApps, decentralized weather insurance, cross-chain NFT verification-all now economically viable. Each new use case brings new users to the Polkadot ecosystem.
+
+- Pay-Per-Use Economic Model: Developers pay only for what they use instead of expensive subscription models. Makes previously unaffordable use cases viable (real-time data feeds, weather insurance, ML inference), unlocking new dApp categories and bringing in new users.
+
+- Eliminates Single Points of Failure: Replaces centralized oracles with a distributed network of workers using majority consensus. DeFi protocols get higher uptime and protection from oracle manipulation, reducing risk for end users.
+
+- Dramatically Lowers Development Costs: Parachain teams integrate computation/oracle services in days instead of months. Saves significant development costs per parachain, enabling faster time-to-market and more resources for core features.
+
+- Democratizes Worker Participation: Anyone with a modest stake and standard server can earn passive income as a worker node operator. No expensive specialized hardware required-removes barriers that limit participation in TEE-based systems.
+
+- Transparent & Verifiable: All data sources and consensus decisions are visible on-chain. End users can verify oracle data themselves, building trust that centralized solutions cannot match. Transparency drives adoption in DeFi where trust is critical.
+
+- XCM-Native Integration: Parachains integrate via simple XCM calls-no complex bridges, wrapping, or trust assumptions. Reduces integration time from weeks to hours, enabling rapid ecosystem expansion and seamless cross-parachain collaboration.
+
+- XCM-Native Integration: Parachains integrate via simple XCM calls-no complex bridges, wrapping, or trust assumptions. Reduces integration time from weeks to hours, enabling rapid ecosystem expansion and seamless cross-parachain collaboration.
+
+
+### Ecosystem Fit
+
+- **Fit:** Agora fits as a utility parachain providing decentralized computation and oracle services to other parachains.
+- **Target Audience:** Parachain developers needing off-chain data/compute, DeFi protocols requiring oracles, and users wanting to run worker nodes.
+- **Needs Met:** Trustless access to off-chain data and computation without centralized intermediaries.
+- **Differentiation:** Unlike TEE-based solutions (e.g., Phala), Agora uses crypto-economic verification (commit-reveal), which avoids hardware dependencies. Unlike centralized oracles, it is decentralized and permissionless.
+
+## Team :busts_in_silhouette:
+
+### Team members
+
+- Suyash D Nahar
+- Nikhil Kottoli
+
+### Contact
+
+- **Contact Name:** Suyash D Nahar
+- **Contact Email:** [email protected]
+- **Contact Name:** Nikhil Kottoli
+- **Contact Email:** [email protected]
+
+### Team Code Repos
+
+- https://github.com/suyash101101/Agora
+
+### Team LinkedIn Profiles
+
+- https://www.linkedin.com/in/suyash101/
+- https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhil-kottoli-92552128a/
+
+## Development Status :open_book:
+
+- **Code:** [https://github.com/suyash101101/Agora](https://github.com/suyash101101/Agora)
+- **Demo Video:** [Watch Agora Demo Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V9ne5yBJFs&t=2s)
+- **Walkthrough:** [Watch Agora Walkthrough](https://app.supademo.com/demo/cm6xuj2sr01o8pegv3s411vap)
+
+## Development Roadmap :nut_and_bolt:
+
+### Overview
+
+- **Total Estimated Duration:** 4 months
+- **FTE:** 2
+- **Total Costs:** 30,000 USD
+- **DOT %:** 50%
+
+### Milestone 1 - Core Functionality & Local Testnet
+
+- **Estimated duration:** 2 months
+- **FTE:** 2
+- **Costs:** 15,000 USD
+
+| Number | Deliverable | Specification |
+| -----: | ----------- | ------------- |
+| **0a.** | License | MIT-0 / Apache 2.0 |
+| **0b.** | Documentation | Inline docs for `agora` pallet and a guide on running the local Zombienet setup. |
+| 1. | Code Revamp | Revise the hackathon implementation and resolve minor defects within the `agora` pallet. |
+| 2. | Ecosystem Survey | Reach Out to parachains and ask them for desired additional features. |
+| 3. | Professional UI | Improve and make a professional React-based UI dashboard. |
+| 4. | Deployment | Deploy Agora as a parathread on a public Polkadot test network and exposing a stable public RPC endpoint. |
+
+### Milestone 2 - OCW & Automation
+
+- **Estimated Duration:** 2 months
+- **FTE:** 2
+- **Costs:** 15,000 USD
+
+| Number | Deliverable | Specification |
+| -----: | ----------- | ------------- |
+| **0a.** | Dockerfile | Dockerize the application |
+| **0b.** | Docker Compose | A Compose configuration for running the parachain and its dependencies |
+| **0c.** | Docker Documentation | Document the full Docker workflow, including build, run, logs, and network setup for local and CI environments. |
+| **0d.** | Docker Testing Guide |Provide a test guide for validating the Dockerized parachain, including integration and networking checks. |
+| 0e. | Article | Blog post explaining the architecture and use cases. |
+| 1. | OCW | Improve and make robust Off-Chain Worker (OCW) logic for automatic job execution and verification. |
+| 2. | Agora Client Pallet | Build a minimal Agora Client pallet that other parachains can plug into their runtime to send XCM job requests and receive results with no additional integration work. |
+| 3. | Reputation & Security | Rework the reputation and slashing logic to compound penalties for dishonest workers and increase slashing rates |
+| 4. | Tests | unit tests for all modules and End-to-end integration test that simulates a full local job_commit, reveal, finalize then consensus, rewards, and slashing across multiple workers |
+
+## Future Plans
+
+- Mainnet deployment as a parachain.
+- Expansion of job types (e.g., more complex ML inference).
+- Integration with more parachains.
+
+## Additional Information :heavy_plus_sign:
+
+
+- This project was 1st place in "Build Resilient Apps with Polkadot Cloud" Hackathon.
+https://devpost.com/software/agora-bkfo60