Grant Application - Zcash RPC Request Builder

Community Grants Applications
1

Hi Zcash community,

This is Tolga

I propose building Zcash RPC Request Builder that is a open-source tool that provides a modern interface for interacting with the Zcash through RPC calls.

The tool will serve as the primary maintained RPC testing and development interface for the Zcash ecosystem, supporting all documented RPC methods with built-in type validation, request previews with cross-platform compatibility.

Here is a screenshot from MVP:

Screenshot 2025-02-17 at 16.55.28
Screenshot 2025-02-17 at 16.55.281920Ă—1698 180 KB

You can try that from here: https://zcash-rpc-request-builder.netlify.app

My proposal: https://github.com/ZcashCommunityGrants/zcashcommunitygrants/issues/19

Waiting for your feedbacks!

1 Like
2

Hi @tolgayayci - Thank you for submitting your grant proposal! We will review it in the upcoming weeks and reach out if we have any questions.

In the meantime, if you have any questions for us, you can post them to this thread or DM us at @ZcashGrants.

Zcash Community - We want to hear your feedback on this grant! You can post your comments to this thread or DM us at @ZcashGrants if you’d like to provide feedback in private.

Thanks!

3

Hi Tolga, nice presentation:

Who are your target users?
Have you contacted any of your target users to ask some basic potential implementation barriers?
Why will your target user select your solution over competing solutions?
How will you inform / get the attention of potential users who don’t know you are live, do you have a budget for this activity?
How long will you maintain an update your solution with the budget you have proposed?

Thanks

1 Like
4

This is kinda of already possible with OpenAPI specification - The Zebra Book

Honestly I personally would be more interested in updating the tool that generates the OpenAPI specification and improving the docs themselves.

4 Likes
5

I think a developer can create something like this in a day. I also don’t see the cost and benefit factor in any relation.

6

Hey @kworks, thank you for the feedback:

Who are your target users?

Target users are:

  • Zcash developers building applications and integrations
  • Node operators and technical users interfacing with Zcash nodes
  • Anyone needing to query the network

Have you contacted any of your target users to ask about potential implementation barriers?

While I haven’t formally surveyed users yet, I don’t anticipate any technical barriers since I have created an MVP.

Why will your target users select your solution over competing solutions?

This project offers:

  • Simple installation and usage (with a hosted version also available)
  • The only maintained, Zcash-specific RPC request builder in the ecosystem
  • Full type safety and validation for all Zcash RPC methods
  • Multiple runtime options (web, local, Docker)

How will you inform/get the attention of potential users who don’t know you are live? Do you have a budget for this activity?

I will:

  • Post regular updates and announcements on Zcash forums and Discord
  • Create tutorial content (how-to guides) and documentation
  • Engage with the Zcash developer community
  • Submit the project to Zcash ecosystem tools/resources directories

How long will you maintain and update your solution with the budget you have proposed?

I commit to maintaining the project for one year after launch, and this maintenance will not require a separate budget.

7

Hey @conradoplg, could you describe a bit about the improvement to the tool? I can make that improvement and add to this proposal scope with no additional budget request. Thank you

8

It seemed for me that this proposal is entirely centered around zcashd version 6.1.0, which will soon be deprecated.

After running the zebra node, I still haven’t figured out the RPC commands.
@dismad, for example, writes scripts with completely unfamiliar methods that I don’t understand yet.

My question is, how relevant is this proposed tool to us at all, given that we are transitioning to Zebra? Would it have been relevant before? What issues does it allow us to close?

It seems to me to be something in between a GUI-wallet and a command line. If there is documentation, I can always check API requests with popular solutions like Postman.

9

zebrad supports a subset of the zcashd RPC commands. This subset is currently increasing as we work towards zcashd deprecation. So I don’t think this in particular is a problem.

We do have to improve documentation. All of the existing documentation (Zcash 6.1.0 RPC Docs, zcashd internal help, and zebrad’s OpenAPI specs) is outdated in some manner. We should streamline and updated it (like I mentioned, my suggestion would be to update the Zebra docs and update the tool that generates the OpenAPI specs from these docs)

2 Likes