Polkadot-API 2025 Q1 Update

Ecosystem
1

Hey there! :wave:

Traditions are meant to be continued, so following my previous updates (Post 1, Post 2, Post 3), here’s the Polkadot-API 2025 Q1 update!

We delivered (again!)

Throughout this period, we’ve kept the community informed with ongoing technical and social updates in our Forum Thread. Transparency is key, and we made sure everyone stayed in the loop. Here’s a quick recap of what we’ve been up to!

:rocket: polkadot-api Library Updates

:bulb: Transaction Enhancements

This quarter, we focused on expanding PAPI’s compatibility across more chains, with key improvements including:

  • Signer enhancements (More details):

  • Support for Ethereum-like chains (e.g., Moonbeam) using ECDSA secp256k1 signatures.

  • Handling of exotic extrinsics, like Hydration-based ones.

  • Custom Signed Extensions: Now supporting chains requiring custom signed extensions, such as Avail.

  • New API: txFromCallData: Allows transaction creation directly from pre-prepared call data, a long-requested feature!

:satellite: Provider Enhancements

We’ve made major improvements to both of our first-class providers: smoldot and websocket—especially the latter—along with enhancements to Polkadot-SDK compatibility helpers.

Key updates:

  • Multi-endpoint support: The provider now automatically rotates endpoints in case of disconnections, misbehavior, etc., ensuring seamless operation.

  • Enhanced protocol introspection.

  • Better handling of flawed endpoints—we even published a detailed post about it.

  • Overall reliability improvements across providers.

:writing_hand: New Signers

This quarter saw the release of three new signers:

  • Ledger Signer (@polkadot-api/ledger-signer): A direct bridge between PAPI and Ledger devices, removing the need for a PJS-based wallet extension.

  • Multisig & Proxy Signers: Enables apps to support signing with various account types beyond standard public-key accounts.

:fountain_pen: ink! Support

We’ve added first-class support for ink! smart contracts, allowing typed interactions with them. Check out the docs for more details!

:warning: Unsafe API

A frequent request before launching this feature was the ability to initialize a PAPI client without generating descriptors, bypassing the default runtime type safety and compatibility checks of typedApi. This enables dynamic connections to arbitrary chains. You can read more about it in our docs.

Additionally, we introduced UMD export support, making it easier to use tools like unpkg.com. Check an example in our repo.

:pushpin: Maintenance & Support

At the start of this period, we underestimated the time needed for general maintenance and community support. With increased adoption of the polkadot-api library—thanks to its improved stability and rapid response to ecosystem teams—our workload grew significantly. As a result, we had to adjust our priorities and make some strategic changes.

:wrench: More Technical Updates

:chopsticks: Chopsticks Support

We contributed several PRs to the Chopsticks repo, all of which have now been merged! These updates introduce JSON-RPC API spec support, enabling PAPI dApps and scripts to integrate seamlessly with Chopsticks environments. Huge thanks to the Chopsticks team for their quick turnaround—collaboration at its best!

:construction_worker_man: PAPI Console: A Next-Gen Developer Tool

At the sub0 conference in Bangkok, we proudly introduced the PAPI Console—the first end-user tool built by the polkadot-api team. Developed during our spare time alongside ongoing work on the PAPI libraries, this project was a true passion effort.

The PAPI Console is designed to make the developer experience more intuitive and efficient. We’d love for you to try it out and share your feedback—it’s invaluable as we continue refining the tool. You can submit suggestions directly through our GitHub repository.

:rocket: It’s live now! Explore it at dev.papi.how and see what it can do!

From now on, we will spend some time maintaining it and adding requested features, while keeping our main focus on PAPI’s main library.

PS: Missed our sub0 presentation? No worries! The recording is available on YouTube, featuring a deep dive into the motivation, development journey, and a live demo of the PAPI Console. Don’t miss it!

:hammer_and_wrench: PAPI SDKs: Bringing Business Logic to PAPI

The Polkadot-API SDKs are a suite of libraries built on top of Polkadot-API, designed to incorporate business logic and simplify common blockchain workflows. These SDKs take an opinionated approach to abstract away frequently used interactions, such as voting in referenda or interacting with smart contracts, making development more efficient.

:rocket: Current SDKs & Progress:

  • ink! SDK: The initial version has already been released!

  • Governance SDK: Covers Referenda, ConvictionVoting, Bounties, and ChildBounties pallets. A beta version is now available.

  • Additionally, we developed a Bounties dApp to streamline bounty and child bounty management.

  • We shared an in-depth breakdown in this post: Introducing Polkadot-API Governance SDK & Bounties.

:mag: Exploring XCM SDK Challenges:

We also investigated an XCM SDK, uncovering some issues in polkadot-sdk code and runtime implementations for relay and system chains. Our findings led to identifying key problems:

To help address these, we submitted multiple PRs, which are now in progress:

We’ll continue refining the existing SDKs while keeping an eye on future enhancements. Stay tuned for more updates! :rocket:

:mortar_board: Polkadot Blockchain Academy Goes Off-Chain!

This February, we’ll be hard at work preparing the PBA dApps track—a brand-new curriculum for the Q1 2025 PBA Campus in Lucerne, Switzerland! :switzerland:

We’re excited to teach this module in person, helping onboard and empower talented developers to build within the Polkadot ecosystem. Our goal is to continue raising the bar for our developer community, and we can’t wait to share our knowledge and expertise! :rocket:

:ballot_box: Upcoming OpenGov Proposal

We’re gearing up to publish our fourth OpenGov proposal! :tada: This proposal seeks funding for the development and maintenance of polkadot-api, covering the advancements detailed in the previous sections. It will span eleven months, from February 2025 to December 2025.

Stay tuned, and we’d love to have your support! Your backing has been instrumental in driving progress, and together, we can continue building and enhancing the ecosystem. Let’s keep pushing forward! :rocket:

That’s all for now! Thanks for following along, and stay tuned for more updates! :rocket:

9 Likes