Hey!
Yep, I definitely remember our previous conversation — and I agree with you on the bigger picture.
There’s a clear plan for a second phase, where I’d offer a hosted backend built on top of the same multi-user abstraction layer I’m already building for the MVP. This backend acts as a lightweight proxy to renterd, allowing multiple users to share a single node securely.
Once that’s in place, I’d simply deploy it publicly and integrate in-app payments (via App Store / Play Store) — so users who don’t want to self-host can just tap “Subscribe” and everything works out of the box, without sacrificing privacy or UX.
Behind the scenes, it’s still using Sia, encryption, and renterd — but the onboarding is one tap, no setup required.
That said, the majority of the work in this grant is focused on building the product itself: the app, syncing logic, client-side encryption, and a great cross-platform UI. The renterd integration is already partly abstracted and won’t block future upgrades to S5 or other storage backends.
So I see this grant as delivering something practical and usable now, with a clear path toward improved infrastructure later — and a flexible architecture that will grow with the ecosystem.
Appreciate you keeping the long-term view in mind — definitely aligned with where Sia is heading.
Hey, Just wanted to drop a quick follow-up after chatting with pcfreak on Discord (big thanks for the tips on tools, grants, and Sia tech!). It got me thinking about how renterd might seem like it’s not fully equipped for the bigger plans I have down the road for DecaNotes, like distributed access, workspaces, or note-sharing, kinda like Obsidian or Notion. Pcfreak mentioned checking out OrbitDB, Helia, waiting for a more stable S5, or maybe Sia’s indexd for those features. These could save a ton of time instead of building custom stuff on top of renterd for specific needs.
That said, for this first grant phase, I’m keeping it simple. The MVP is all about a clean, user-friendly mobile app with Markdown note creation, encryption, syncing, and server choice (default or self-hosted) using renterd and a Go server. It’s designed to be super easy for anyone, even non-techy folks, to jump in and start using Sia’s network, boosting its usage.
For future phases, I’ll definitely look into OrbitDB, Helia, S5, or indexd to level up features like workspaces or sharing via public nodes. I’ll outline those ideas in later proposals if there’s interest. But for now, it’s all about minimalism, ease of use, and getting more people on board with Sia.
Let me know if you have any questions or want to dive deeper!
I think I agree with Derick here. Building this on S5 is probably a better choice then directly on renterd. It also already has filesystem capabilities already baked in right now (if you run on a prerelease v1 branch) which would save you the work of having to do that yourself.
That said, I’m all for more high quality markdown editors! Just wanna make sure this is going in a maintainable direction.
Yes, agree, that is why i will integrate as they will be mature, i dont wanna over engineer or waste time on tools, that already implemented. User-System and system folders already implemented, but its small part of code, without deep and complex RBAC system, i want focus more on product and core functionality.
@StringNick Thanks for your proposal to The Sia Foundation Grants Program.
The committee is ready to approve your proposal but has a couple of questions first.
We typically don’t approve marketing expenses. While you list Marketing under your budget, the itemized list doesn’t really appear to actually be marketing but rather documentation and setup resources. Is this what you were referring to as marketing expenses, or are there other non-listed items that would qualify as marketing?
Can you please elaborate on why testing comes to $1,250? Your listed items sum to $124, so some info on where the extra $1,000 is allocated would be helpful.
Let us know and we’ll get back to you with a final decision!
Hey, @steve glad to hear it.
Thank you for the clarification — yes, you’re absolutely right. The “marketing” line in the budget refers solely to documentation-related efforts: preparing user guides, setting up the open-source GitHub repository, and writing instructions for self-hosting the backend. There are no other marketing-related expenses planned (e.g., paid ads, outreach, PR, etc.). I can adjust the label to “Documentation and Open-Source Setup” if that’s clearer.
Yeah, those are approximate costs — the $1,250 includes store fees ($124) plus time for manual testing on different devices, fixing edge cases (like syncing/encryption bugs), and getting the app store-ready. In reality, the work might go a bit over budget based on my estimates, but if any hours free up from other parts (like testing, docs, or design), I’ll put them toward core development anyway.
And i have miss match in total budget, i fixed it.
A significant part of the Markdown engine’s editor and renderer has been implemented, along with a large set of tests for the renderer. Since the timeline was extended, I also decided to add more functionality and developed a custom-built Markdown editor (this part was implemented without prior grant allocation).
What’s next?
Fix the remaining bugs in each component of the Markdown renderer.
Add functionality for saving to renterd.
Implement saving via Helia, which will enable easy integration (reference).
P.S.
A preview video will be uploaded this week. A large update and an additional report will also be published within the week.
sorry, its not a full report, dont review it, i will finish big part on this week and send it with video demo + with more clarification that follow style guide for reporting.
Hi @StringNick, you’re welcome to post your progress here for your own reference, but please note, as we’ve been stalled in issuing a contract, we do not consider you officially onboarded. Therefore, we were not expecting progress reports from you for July & August. Please check your email for your onboarding next steps.
This is a reminder that your September progress report is now late.
Progress reports are expected to be posted by the end of the 2nd day of the next month, in this instance your September progress report was due on October 2nd.
Please be sure to follow the Progress Report Template and submit your progress report so we may continue funding your grant.
Regards,
Kino on behalf of the Sia Foundation and Grants Committee
Hi @StringNick - as detailed in your agreement, you were required to report on your progress for the work completed up to October by October 2 here in reply to your original proposal.
Please follow our monthly progress report template and post this report as soon as possible, otherwise your payment may be delayed.
Due to complications with official documentation processing in my country of residence, progress tracking has been somewhat more challenging than anticipated.
Following discussions with Sia ecosystem participants and recommendations from developers who have built and are currently building projects on Sia, it became clear that developing a self-hosted Go solution would essentially be pointless, especially with the upcoming release of indexd. The better approach is to integrate renterd directly, with IPFS Helia as an alternative connection option, which will enable integration with future project being developed by @pcfreak30 (Small Grant: Lume Web - IPFS Portal), that allow end user just pay for remote storage, without any complex self-hosted deployments.
Major Accomplishments This Month
1. Complete Markdown Editor Implementation
Block-based Editor Architecture: Implemented a sophisticated block-based markdown editor with real-time rendering
Fix UI bugs in advanced components (video, tables, etc.)
Performance optimization
Add Helia IPFS support
Deploy to App Store and Play Market
This roadmap represents the next critical phase in bringing DecaNotes from a functional prototype to a production-ready application available to users worldwide through major app stores.ч
Progress resumed after earlier paperwork delays; the current cycle focused on solidifying the editor UX, hardening the plugin layer, and closing out extended-Markdown support.
Tests
Implemented many tests, you can run it through bun run test
Next Steps
Helia remains out-of-scope for Expo/React Native (native bindings missing), so the follow-up milestone will target a direct Pinner.xyz API integration instead.
Expand collaborative features: introduce workspaces, explore a web build, and address the open bug list (tables, video blocks, assorted UI glitches).
Community & Support
GitHub issues are enabled with issue/feature-request templates—new bugs or enhancement ideas are welcome via the tracker: Sign in to GitHub · GitHub
Pinner.xyz integration, workspace support, web build, and bug fixes will be captured as GitHub issues for community visibility as the roadmap progresses.
P.S.: Release assets and distribution flow for App Store / Play Store submissions; storefront links and the video demo will follow in the few hours/day.
Thank you for your final progress report and congratulations on completing your grant!
The Team will reach out to you shortly regarding the wind-down of your grant.
Regards,
Kino on behalf of the Sia Foundation and Grants Committee
And since this is the final report for your grant, reference the Monthly Grant Report Template | Sia (at the bottom) for the missing items that will also need to be included.
You can tag me in a reply to let me know when it’s fully ready for review.
Completed. Reformatted per Development Guide/Monthly Template for technical review, with explicit deliverables, reproducible build/run steps, verification, and artifacts.
Hi @StringNick - this is the final notice for your October final report.
As discussed over email, the above report is still not compliant with the format required in the Development Guidelines and your timeline will need to be updated given the delay with posting your app to Apple and Play Stores.
Please post your full and complete report by 9am ET tomorrow (November 4th), to be able to still receive your technical review during this review cycle, otherwise this will add to delays to payment.
