Warp Contracts Roadmap 2023
Warp has announced its 2023 roadmap with a primary focus on solidifying its Warp SDK’s position as a leading smart contract platform on Arweave. Warp’s goal is to provide a smart contract stack that is not only user-friendly and well-documented for Web3 developers, but also familiar for Web2 developers. All while maintaining the core values of decentralisation.
Via their roadmap, they have provided specifics for the first half of 2023, taking their users behind the scenes and revealing their game plan for the near future.
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Warp Contracts 2023 Roadmap
The Warp H1 2023 roadmap is broken down into six key sections:
- L1 transactions (Syncer)
- L2 transactions (Sequencer)
- Contracts Enhancements
- DRE & Aggregate Node Development
- Developer Docs
- SonAR (Explorer)
1. L1 transactions (Syncer)
Warp introcudes its new L1 Syncer. The Warp Syncer is a tool used to efficiently synchronise Warp Contracts with the base Arweave layer. It downloads transactions from Arweave nodes and filters them for SmartWeave contracts, parsing and saving interactions to the database. The goal is to enhance the syncing process and boost the security of the SmartWeave environment and when combined with the upgraded Sequencer, it offers a more resilient and secure approach to merging L1 and L2 (Sequencer) transactions within a single contract.
Status: Testing in progress
For more information regarding the technical specifications of Warp Syncer, click here.
2. L2 transactions (Sequencer)
Arweave has a modular infrastructure, and Warp Sequencer has become a key component of it.
Instead of posting data directly to the Arweave mainnet, transactions are routed to the Warp Sequencer, where a unique key is generated for each transaction. Using the Bundlr Network, transactions can be settled instantly, providing end-users immediate access to the data and near-instant finality. The Warp Sequencer also allows for the submission of free contract interactions, traceability of the owner/signer of the transaction, and allows the inclusion of Verifiable Random Functions (VRF) in a contract’s code.
Warp now aims to make significant improvements to its efficiency and decentralisation through further features such as:
Dedicated Warp transaction Bundles – Warp-specific bundles, with guaranteed finality within a certain block height.
- Status: Implemented
- Check out an example here.
SourceType Contract Manifest – SourceType manages interactions loaded in contract evaluation by Warp SDK. The SourceType.WARP_SEQUENCER speeds up the retrieval of sequencer-specific transactions.
- Status: Implemented
- For more information regarding the technical specifications of Contract Manifest, click here.
Async Bundling – The objective of asynchronous bundling is to improve the efficiency and scalability of Warp’s process of sending bundles.
- Status: In progress
- For more information regarding the technical specifications of Async Bundling, click here.
Decentralisation via dedicated sub-chain – The decentralisation of the Warp Sequencer is a vital concern for us. Our goal is to empower everyone to operate a node and validate the sequencing process.
- Status: Research and Development phase
3. Contract Enhancements
Warp Contracts aims to provide a fully functional stack for decentralised applications (dApps) to compete with Web2 services.
So far, Warp has introduced various valuable tools to complement their SDK’s core performance functions, such as Warp Contracts standards, a user-friendly Command Line Interface (CLI), plugins and other features. However, they plan to expand the functionalities in the first half of 2023 to provide more robust and user-friendly Warp Contracts deployment and maintenance methods. These functionalities include:
Contracts deployment via Nested Bundles
- Status: Implemented.
- For more information regarding the technical specifications of Warp Nested Bundles, click here.
KV Storage
- Status: Implemented for flat contracts. Internal contract calls coming soon.
- For more information regarding the technical specifications of KV Storage, click here.
Internal Writes Refactor
- Status: Implemented
- For more information regarding the technical specifications of Internal Writes, click here.
Rust Contract Maintenance – Optimizing performance and porting features from JS such as KV storage.
- Status: In progress
- For more information regarding the technical specifications of Warp WASM support for Rust click here.
Atomic NFT deployment method.
- Status: Implemented
- For more information regarding the technical specifications of Atomic Asset Deployment method, click here.
Support for transmitting input from an interaction transaction to the transaction’s data field.
- Status: In progress
- For more information regarding the method schema, click here.
4. D.R.E. and Aggregate Node Development
The development of Warp D.R.E. (Delegated Resolution Environment) and Aggregate Nodes is crucial for scaling the Arweave ecosystem. The D.R.E. allows for computational delegation for high-interaction and/or unsafe contracts, while the Aggregate Node provides insights into aggregate information of contract states.
After completing the initial testing phase, Warp plans to make D.R.E. nodes available for public participation, effectively increasing their numbers and, as a result, improving the decentralisation of the network – and in turn – its performance.
Additionally, Warp has taken the SmartWeave ability to add indexes to every transaction to the next level, by introducing a new tag named “Indexed-By”, which allows adding up to 5 custom indexes to a transaction.
“Indexed-By” transactions can be downloaded as a complete list of interactions – that include the freely defined tags – from the Aggregate Node. This improves data pooling and the overall developer experience for the deployment of Atomic Assets.
5. Developer Docs
Warp has completely revamped its Warp Academy to make it easier for developers to onboard and access all the information they need to build with Arweave and Warp. They plan to keep all their documentation in the academy, making it a comprehensive source of knowledge for developers.
6. SonAR (Explorer)
Sonar is Warp’s explorer that provides users with on-chain insights into the Arweave blockchain. This quarter, Warp has made significant upgrades to the explorer to make it more user-friendly for those accustomed to Ethereum blockchain explorer Etherscan, while also providing unique features tied to Arweave. Upgrades include adding contract evaluation history, a dashboard with real-time blockchain state changes, fast request loading and data retrieval, and additional statistics. These enhancements will allow users to explore the Arweave blockchain more easily and efficiently.
That concludes Warp’s 2023 Roadmap. If you want to gain a little extra knowledge on Warp and its history, read on.
Warp History
Warp Contracts, formerly RedStone Contracts, were originally created to support the computational needs of RedStone Oracles on the Arweave network.
SmartWeave, Arweave’s smart contract protocol, faced bottlenecks such as decelerated performance, data indexing issues, and unclear base protocol definition, which required upgrading to bring RedStone Oracles to full functionality. Initially developed for internal use, the Warp stack was open-sourced and became widely adopted by the Arweave ecosystem. Today, it is a fully-functional smart contract platform that enables arbitrary amounts of computation without additional fees. Warp offers developers the ability to create feature-rich and scaleable smart contract dApps, providing a seamless and convenient development experience.
With over 25 teams and numerous individual developers utilising the Warp SDK, it is anticipated that it will continue to be adopted for the development of innovative and impactful protocols as the Arweave ecosystem grows.
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