Project Name:
Sia Developer Documentation
Name of the organization or individual submitting the proposal:
Jack Wang
Describe your project.
Sia’s v2 hardfork is a transformative upgrade, breaking new ground in terms of the network’s performance, scalability, and usability. This sets the stage for a new wave of applications built on top of Sia’s fast, cheap, secure, and decentralized cloud storage. However, to realize this, we need to bridge the gap between Sia’s capabilities and developers’ knowledge, both within the Sia community and among the broader Web3 ecosystem.
For Sia to reach its full potential as infrastructure for a decentralized world, developers need to easily understand what Sia does and how to build with it. This is where my work comes in.
In this grant, I propose to create and populate a Build section in the official Sia documentation. I propose to fill it with the following content:
Sia Go SDK Documentation
I will create clear and comprehensive documentation of the Sia Go SDK. The documentation will feature thorough explanations and code examples for every feature, resulting in a resource that’s useful and understandable for both human and LLM readers. This will upgrade and replace the existing examples repo.
Example Web App
I will create a simple web application that uses Sia for data storage. The goal is to provide a clear and simple example of how to use the SDK and build on top of Sia. Currently, I am considering including at least the following functionality:
- Logging in with your wallet
- Uploading a file
- Browsing through uploaded files
- Downloading a file
The scope of this application may evolve based on both feedback to this proposal and my growing understanding of what’s possible with the SDK. I aim to highlight the most important and common use cases that a developer may encounter when integrating with Sia.
App Walkthrough
As part of the documentation, I will present a walkthrough of the architecture of the application, focusing on the Sia integrations and SDK usage. I will clearly explain the design so that developers may use it as a template for creating their own apps.
Video Tutorial
I will also create a video tutorial walking through the design of the example app and the Sia integrations. This video tutorial will be clear, engaging, and informative, walking the developer through what they need to know to create a similar application.
For some similar material that I’ve created, please see this tutorial on a Solana escrow program, as well as over 20 hours of live education for the Urbit platform.
Concluding Thoughts
I view this first step towards creating the necessary support for developers to build a thriving ecosystem of applications on Sia. However, I am open to thoughts and feedback from the team and community, and I’m flexible on iterating the terms of this grant. My goal with this grant is to use my skills of technical communication and education in whatever way that is most useful for growing Sia’s developer community.
Who benefits from your project?
This work can benefit any software developer that is interested in building apps with decentralized, user-owned data storage. By giving them a gentler, easier onramp to the Sia platform, they’ll be more likely stick around and contribute. In turn, this will benefit the Sia Foundation and the Sia community at large by creating a larger and more vibrant developer ecosystem.
How does the project serve the Foundation’s mission of user-owned data?
This work accelerates the development of applications built on top of Sia’s network of user-owned data.
We cannot provide grants to residents of jurisdictions under increased FATF monitoring, those that have active OFAC sanctions, or those that fail our bank compliance tests. We also cannot provide grants if your payment bank account is located in those same locations. Please review the following list.
Are you a resident of any jurisdiction on that list?
No.
Will your payment bank account be located in any jurisdiction on that list?
No.
Grant Specifics
Amount of money requested and justification with a reasonable breakdown of expenses:
$10,000 USD for developer salary.
Timeline with measurable objectives and goals. REQUIRED: Milestones with which to judge your progress. Milestones should be easy for the Grants Committee to understand and evaluate as your project moves through its term. The Committee reserves the right to accept, modify, or reject proposed milestones to ensure they represent thoughtful and reasonable project evaluation checkpoints. Further payments may be withheld for missed milestones.
Milestone 1: SDK Documentation
Estimated time: 2 weeks
Milestone 2: Example Web App
Estimated time: 2 weeks
Milestone 3: Web App Documentation
Estimated time: 1 week
Milestone 4: Video Tutorial
Estimated time: 1 week
Total estimated time is ~6 weeks, though this may be somewhat shorter or longer depending on what I learn and encounter while working.
Potential risks that will affect the outcome of the project:
I’m noting that “Simplify Onboarding for Developers” is on the 2025 roadmap for the Sia Foundation. It’s possible that upcoming changes could affect how the SDK functions or best practices for developing applications on Sia. I am open to feedback, including changing this proposal in whatever way best serves the team’s goals. My goal here is ultimately to do whatever is best for attracting and retaining developers to build on top of Sia.
Development Information
Will all of your project’s code be open-source?
Yes
Leave a link where code will be accessible for review.
I will create a PR to the official documentation repo. Work in progress will be available at tamlut-modnys (Jack) · GitHub
Do you agree to submit monthly progress reports?
Yes.
Contact info
Email:
Redacted for spam prevention, but will provide upon request.
Any other preferred contact methods:
DM through this forum, or Discord at jackw3835