Merge pull request #1150 from input-output-hk/october-report

October monthly report

docs/monthly/2023-09-monthly.md

@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ contribute back to one project:
 
 ## Conclusion
 
-The monthly review meeting for August 2023 was held on 2023-09-20 via Google
+The monthly review meeting for September 2023 was held on 2023-09-20 via Google
 Meet with these [slides][slides] and the [recording][recording].
 
 This concludes yet another fully-packed month, this time not only

docs/monthly/2023-10-monthly.md

@@ -0,0 +1,220 @@
+---
+title: October 2023
+slug: 2023-10
+authors: [abailly, ch1bo]
+tags: [monthly]
+---
+
+This report summarizes the work on Hydra since September 2023. It serves as
+preparation for the monthly review meeting (see [slides][slides] and
+[recording][recording]), where the team updates project stakeholders on recent
+developments to gather their feedback on proposed plans.
+
+## Roadmap
+
+This month, the team released version 0.13.0, and updated the project
+[roadmap](https://github.com/orgs/input-output-hk/projects/21/views/7) to include
+the next planned version 0.14.0:
+
+![The roadmap with features and ideas](./img/2023-10-roadmap.jpg) <small><center>The latest roadmap with features and ideas</center></small>
+
+#### Release 0.13.0
+
+- Implemented security fixes to Hydra on-chain scripts, all of which are only exploitable by other head participants (not any attacker)
+
+- Added support for (externally) committing inline datums
+
+- Improved stability by querying the `cardano-node` at the tip
+
+- Improved state persistence
+
+- See [full release notes](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/releases/tag/0.13.0) and a list of [delivered features](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/milestone/13?closed=1).
+
+#### Notable updates
+
+- Moved the [network resilience
+  #188](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/188) issue out of version 0.13.0 to
+  allow for a quick release of the security fixes. This feature has been split
+  in two parts, both of which are completed and will soon be included in the 0.14.0 release.
+
+- A new user submitted a feature idea about supporting extended keys [#1141](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/1141). Initially
+  urgent, it's no longer a priority and requires further clarification.
+
+- Although not part of Hydra version 0.14.0, the team completed the integration of [Hydra
+  support in Kupo #1078](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/1078),
+  which can already be used with Kupo version
+  [2.7.0](https://github.com/CardanoSolutions/kupo/releases/tag/v2.7)
+
+- Implemented a new [Hydra Poll DApp](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/1110)
+  feature, which is an example to be demonstrated at the Cardano Summit 2023.
+
+- Realized [stateless chain observation
+  #1096](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/1096) as a dedicated
+  feature, which will add a `hydra-chain-observer` tool and simplify upcoming
+  feature implementation related to layer 1 transactions.
+
+- Created a feature idea item to [migrate all validators to Aiken
+  #1092](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/1092). This was moved
+  to 1.0.0 though, as it would require a complete re-audit of the scripts and
+  and there is no urgent requirement for performance improvements at this stage.
+
+## Hydra development
+
+[Issues and pull requests closed since the last
+report](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues?q=is%3Aclosed+sort%3Aupdated-desc+closed%3A2023-09-30..2023-10-31)
+
+This month, the team worked on the following:
+
+#### Network resilience to node crash
+
+Last month, the team worked on making the Hydra network resilient to
+transient network connectivity failure (see
+[#188](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/188)). However, this
+was just one aspect of the larger effort to improve the overall stability and
+reliability of the network. By completing
+[#1079](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/1079), the team also
+made the network resilient to arbitrary node failures, which is a much
+more likely event to happen should the network run for a significant
+amount of time.
+
+Hydra nodes now persist the network messages they _send_ to peers and
+together with the already present acknowledgment mechanism, this means
+a node recovering from a crash can resend messages which were not
+received by their peers.
+
+#### Hydra Poll DApp
+
+As the Hydra team seeks to adhere more to the principles of
+[dogfooding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_your_own_dog_food),
+we wanted to upgrade our basic Hydraw application to something more
+interactive. We, therefore, built a [poll
+DApp](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/1110) with the
+goal of demonstrating how one can build an application living entirely
+in the frontend that can interact directly with a hydra-node, using
+its websockets-based API. This application was also showcased at the
+[Cardano Summit 2023](https://summit.cardano.org/), where the Hydra
+team delivered a masterclass.
+
+#### Upgrade to GHC 9.6 & Brick 1.10
+
+This month, we were able to update our compiler toolchain from GHC 9.2.8 to
+9.6.3. This also required us to upgrade the hydra-tui from Brick 0.73 to 1.10
+to stay compatible with the new version of the mtl.
+
+The update to Brick necessitated a complete rewrite of the hydra-tui which
+greatly simplifies the application logic, using Brick's new elm architecture
+style combined with microlens-mtl.
+
+## Community update
+
+This month, the monthly review meeting was almost completely covered by
+demonstrations from the various teams working on and with Hydra. Don't miss out
+on the demonstrations of the various community contributions and make sure to
+also view the [recording][].
+
+### Hypix
+
+Hypix is a continuation of the 'Hydraw' demonstration the team used throughout
+development. The project is spear-headed by Trym Bruset and will integrate CIP-68
+NFTs with instant transaction processing in a Hydra head to realize
+collaboratively created art pieces. The project is progressing great with an
+open beta available soon.
+
+![Hypix user interface](./img/2023-10-hypix.png) <small><center>The Hypix user interface</center></small>
+
+### Kupo x Hydra
+
+Indexers of chain data, like [Kupo](https://github.com/CardanoSolutions/kupo),
+are useful to enable lightweight decentralized applications like Hypix. As the
+application state of Hypix, for example, is not only on the Cardano layer 1, but
+also in the Hydra head, Kupo was enhanced to run 'in front of' a `hydra-node` and
+provide the same API for UTXOs indexed from a Hydra head. This was a [joint
+effort](https://github.com/CardanoSolutions/kupo/pull/117) between
+[@KtorZ](https://github.com/KtorZ), [@v0d1ch](https://github.com/v0d1ch) and
+[@ch1bo](https://github.com/ch1bo) and has been [released in version 2.7 of
+Kupo](https://github.com/CardanoSolutions/kupo/releases/tag/v2.7).
+
+![Kupo indexing data](./img/2023-10-kupo.gif) <small><center>Kupo indexing a Hydra head</center></small>
+
+### Offline-mode Hydra node
+
+[Ledger-only
+mode](https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/10/f10-development-and-infrastructure/sundae-labs-hydra-ledger-only-mode)
+for Hydra was one of the Catalyst Fund10 projects that got funded and
+work is underway to make it an integral part of Hydra software
+components. A [new
+ADR](https://hydra.family/head-protocol/unstable/adr/28.%20Offline%20mode)
+has been proposed which details the rationale behind this new feature
+and an overview of what it brings and what impacts it will have on the
+hydra-node.
+
+Moreover, this implementation is
+[underway](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/pull/1118) and
+should be part of the next release. This will enable running a single
+hydra-node as a kind of 'ledger-as-a-service', priming it with some
+UTXOs and allowing clients to submit and validate transactions without
+any relationship to layer 1.
+
+### Voting on Hydra
+
+The
+[Hydra-for-voting](https://github.com/cardano-foundation/hydra-voting-poc)
+project has been started earlier this year as a proof-of-concept to
+explore how a Hydra Head could help improve the voting or rather
+tallying process for Catalyst and other large-scale on-chain
+decision-making process. It's been on pause for a few months due to
+other priorities but it's been revived recently and put to use to
+tally votes for the Cardano Summit's awards recipients.
+
+This development effort led to a couple of new features and fixes:
+* The ability to [submit
+  a transaction](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/1111)
+  for layer 1 using 'standard' CBOR-hex format
+* Upgrade to the checked-in [protocol
+  parameters](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/1117)
+  used by demo network which were out of sync with the internal ledger
+  version
+* Discussion on the usage of [extended payment
+  keys](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/1141) in
+  in relation to the Hydra Head protocol
+
+![Hydra voting UI](./img/hydra-voting.png) <small><center>Hydra Tallying UI</center></small>
+
+### ZK Snarks on Hydra
+
+The team has initiated discussions with another funded Catalyst Fund10
+project, exploring the implementation of a [zero-knowledge proof system](https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/10/f10-development-and-infrastructure/a-zero-knowledge-proof-framework-for-cardano-based-on-hydra-and-zk-snarks)
+for Cardano, utilizing Hydra and ZK Snarks. At this early stage, there
+is minimal progress to display, but the team is eager to start the
+development of this promising tool.
+
+## Conclusion
+
+The monthly review meeting for October 2023 was held on 2023-10-30 via Google
+Meet with these [slides][slides] and the [recording][recording].
+
+As mentioned above, the meeting was about 45 minutes of demonstrations - which
+clearly shows that we are in the wake of Catalyst Fund10 where several project
+proposals involving Hydra and Mithril got funded and at the same time everyone
+was preparing for the Cardano Summit 2023.
+
+With this many community contributions and projects moving forward, there was
+not much time to discuss the Hydra roadmap or go into details about Mithril
+project status. This is great!
+
+Besides, the project roadmaps seem to be well aligned where our next features
+in-line are most anticipated (incremental de-/commits) and the adoption of Mithril
+is showing a healthy level with clear next steps and features ahead.
+
+It is getting increasingly hard to keep track of all the new developments around
+Hydra. However, that is also often not needed and the Cardano builders just set
+off and [build
+things](https://twitter.com/AltiMario/status/1711738372320825827?s=20) using
+Hydra these days.
+
+November will start with the Cardano Summit, likely yielding even more feedback
+and feature ideas from users. Following this, there will be several productive weeks
+focused on feature development before the usual Christmas and New Year breaks across the teams.
+
+[slides]: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pJMRp0YsszJenUvDmknm3wq9yyUE1CDRSYijjILrkHo
+[recording]: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U4yZhliGykxF3BddAAXb4RD417UvsQWB