Developing Soroban smart contracts on Stellar requires a deep understanding of soroban-cli, a command-line tool filled with numerous commands, arguments, and frequent changes that can be complex and intimidating, thus making the development process error-prone and cumbersome. Such challenges can slow down development, deter developers from fully exploring the capabilities of Soroban, and thereby limit its adoption.
 

Soroban CLI GUI was born to address these challenges by providing a intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) application that abstracts soroban-cli to simplifying the process of developing Soroban smart contracts. It provided a point-and-click interface to reduce the learning curve and potential for manual errors associated with command-line interactions, thereby making Soroban more accessible to a wider audience of developers and users. After its initial release, it was well received by the developer community with 10+ stars, 25+ downloads, and positive feedbacks in two weeks.
 

Soroban CLI GUI now becomes SORA to reflect its broader scope and enhanced capabilities. Evolving into SORA, the tool transitions beyond merely a GUI for soroban-cli, embodying a comprehensive suite aimed at enriching the Soroban development journey. New features like the Events Page for real-time contract event monitoring, the Lab Page for delving into Soroban's experimental functionalities, and the AI Command Constructor for translating natural language into executable commands, SORA is redefining the ease of Soroban contract development. This evolution is further supported by a Soroban AI Assistant for on-demand guidance, a VS Code Helper Extension for integrated development workflows, and substantial user experience improvements, ensuring that SORA not only simplifies but also elevates the development of Soroban smart contracts.
 

This is the second submission of our project, following the approval of our initial proposal after a budget reduction, as we had applied with an idea rather than an MVP. Now, we present a fully functional project that has shown significant progress in development and user engagement, rebranded as SORA. With this submission, we are seeking its justified budget to further develop and enhance SORA's capabilities, ensuring continuous improvement and maintenance to become a demanded tool for Soroban smart contract development among developers.
 

You can watch the demo in here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qHP7ZM4MlGhPxSExTLoUOV9m_2jbDKet/view?usp=drive_link
 

Sora Benefits
 

• Simplifies the complex process of developing Soroban smart contracts, enhancing the developer experience, making it more accessible to all skill levels.
• Reduces the potential for manual errors in command execution, leading to a smoother development process with actionable error messages and tips.
• Abstracting over soroban-cli through user-friendly forms and interactive elements, enabling developers to efficiently execute commands, build and deploy contracts, with minimal error and without manual CLI interactions.
• Transforms natural language commands into executable Soroban commands with the command constructor, streamlining the development workflow.
• Provides instant, Soroban related query through the Soroban AI Assistant, enhancing learning and problem-solving for developers.
• Integrates seamlessly with VS Code, optimizing the development experience without needing to switch contexts.

The SORA project is set to enhance the Soroban development experience by introducing a suite of user-friendly tools and AI-powered features. The comprehensive roadmap to complete the development includes the following key deliverables:
 

1 - Events Page Implementation:

• Integration of a real-time event monitoring interface.
• Features for filtering and viewing contract events.

2 - Lab Page Development

• Creation of an experimental feature playground for Soroban.
• Tools for token contract creation and XDR operations.

3 - AI Command Constructor Development:

• AI feature to convert natural language into Soroban command actions.
• Enhances the developer experience by simplifying command execution.

4 - Soroban AI Assistant Integration:

• Real-time support for Soroban commands and development guidance.
• Completion with accurate and reliable responses to development queries.

5 - VS Code Helper Extension:

• Integration of Soroban command execution within the VS Code environment.
• Aiming for seamless development workflow and efficiency.

6 - Sora Improvements and Maintenance:

• User experience enhancements based on community feedback.
• Continuous maintenance and updates aligned with soroban-cli.

7 - Testing, Documentation, and Landing Page:

• Comprehensive testing of the features.
• Release of updated documentation and user guides.
• Development of an easy-to-use installation frontend page for SORA.
   

Our first approved submission, the Soroban CLI GUI, had its budget reduced due to the lack of an MVP. The SCF reviewers have stated that they are keeping the budget low for now because it is a research grant, and they have encouraged us to apply again after the project reaches the MVP stage to demonstrate our commitment.
 

Now, we have a fully working product that goes beyond an MVP. It has been released for community use and has gathered appreciation. We have outlined this roadmap to develop the project further, meet the community's requests, and increase Soroban adoption, and we have determined the budget fairly based on the project's roadmap.

Tolga Yaycı - Developer

As a full-stack developer with 2 years of experience, I have refined my skills in software development, with a focus on dApp development in the past year. I have a deep interest in the Web3 space and have applied my skills by creating a number of relevant applications. In addition to my experience, I have developed detailed React and Next.js projects, further enhancing my ability to build robust and scalable web applications.
 

In addition to my technical skills, I have also been actively involved in the wider tech community. I have served as a Chainlink Community Advocate, and Founding Chair of Gazi University ACM Student Chapter. These roles have broadened my skills in both software development and community engagement.
 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tolgayayci/

GitHub: https://github.com/tolgayayci

Discord: @tolgayayci
 

Mert Köklü - Developer

With a degree in Computer Science, he worked as the Intelligent Video Analytics Team Leader at an NVIDIA distributor company, developing video analytics solutions for 2 years. After delving into the Web3 ecosystem, he has become a grantee for multiple protocols by contributing innovative projects. As a certified NVIDIA instructor and ambassador for well-known entities like Microsoft and The Graph protocol, he has earned recognition in the tech ecosystem.
 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mertkoklu/

GitHub: https://github.com/justmert

Discord: @mertkkl
 

--
 

Tolga and I co-founded YK Labs, a company specialized in developing applications and solutions within the blockchain ecosystem. We have experience working with well-known protocols such as Filecoin, Dfinity Foundation, Web3 Foundation, and Solana. Our collaborative efforts have led to the creation of 15+ grantee projects across 10+ protocols, earning recognition and experience with our contributions.
 

These are some of our projects:

• Arbitrum Python SDK - https://github.com/justmert/arbitrum-python-sdk
• Arbitrum Stylus VS Code Extension - https://github.com/tolgayayci/stylus-vscode-extension
• Flowana: A protocol aggregator platform - https://flowana.app/
• Awesome Platform: A social platform for discovering and exploring the projects in protocols - https://dev.awesomeaave.org/ (for Aave)

[Deliverable 1: Events Page]
Brief description: Implement Events interface in Sora for users to monitor and filter Soroban contract events.
How to measure completion: Availability of Events Page interface in Sora. It is complete when users can filter events by contract ID and type, with human-readable outputs, and successfully view real-time or historical contract events within the application.
Estimated date of completion: April 8, 2024
Budget: $7,500

[Deliverable 2: Lab Page]
Brief description: Implement Lab interface in Sora for users to explore Soroban's experimental features, including asset wrapping into token contracts and XDR operations.
How to measure completion: Availability of Lab Page interface in Sora. It is complete when users can access and utilize tools for token contract creation and XDR decoding/encoding.
Estimated date of completion: April 16, 2024
Budget: $7,500 

[Deliverable 3: AI Command Constructor]
Brief description: Develop an AI-powered Command Constructor feature within the Sora application's contract actions page. This feature will allow users to input commands in natural language, which the AI will interpret and translate into specific soroban CLI commands. For example, a user can type `build with all features` and the AI Command Constructor will automatically generate the command `soroban contract build --all-features` in the interface. The only thing the user needs will do is execute the constructed command.
How to measure completion: The deliverable is considered complete when the AI Command Constructor can accurately interpret natural language inputs and provide the correct soroban CLI commands within the interface with ability to handle a diverse set of user inputs and cover the scope of soroban contract-related commands.
Estimated date of completion: April 28, 2024
Budget: $10,000

[Deliverable 4: Soroban AI Assistant]
Brief Description: Develop a Soroban AI Assistant into the Sora to provide users with instant support for Soroban commands, usage, examples, and code snippets. The assistant will be trained on the Soroban documentation, GitHub repositories, and soroban-cli documentation to handle a wide range of inquiries related to Soroban smart contract development. How to Measure Completion: Completion is verified when the Soroban AI Assistant can consistently and accurately respond to queries on command usage, provide code examples, offer command syntax help, and retrieve information from the documentation that can guide users through the Soroban contract development process.
Estimated date of completion: May 18, 2024
Budget: $17,500

[Deliverable 5: VS Code Helper Extension]
Brief Description: Develop a VS Code Helper Extension that enhances developer workflow for Soroban Contracts by providing a side window for executing contract commands directly in VS Code. Extension will eliminate the need to switch back and forth between Sora and the VS Code environment, allowing for a more focused and efficient Soroban smart contract development.
How to Measure Completion: Completion is met when the side window operates effectively in VS Code, allowing the execution of contract commands and displaying a functional history panel. The extension must also demonstrate real-time synchronization capabilities with the Sora interface, ensuring consistency across platforms.
Estimated Date of Completion: June 3, 2024
Budget: $14,500

[Deliverable 6: Sora Improvements and Maintenance]
Brief Description: Implement a series of user experience enhancements to the Sora application, aimed at improving interaction and functionality. Can be tracked in https://github.com/tolgayayci/sora/issues
How to Measure Completion: Completion will be measured by the successful integration and functionality of the listed enhancements.
Estimated Date of Completion: June 19, 2024
Budget: $12,500

[Deliverable 7: Testing, Documentation and Landing Page]
Brief Description: Implement unit and integration tests, releasing a documentation page to include the latest features, how-to-use guides and build instructions. Create an landing/installation frontend page to enable easy installation of the Sora. How to Measure Completion: The feature set is fully tested with all tests passing, the documentation frontend page is complete on how-to-use with examples, and the landing/installation frontend page enables easy installation of the Sora. Estimated Date of Completion: June 28, 2024
Budget: $8,000