Open Grant Proposal: Filecoin Civic Storage Module — Decentralised Governance Records on Filecoin

Open Grant Proposal: Filecoin Civic Storage Module
— Decentralised Governance Records on Filecoin
Name of Project
Filecoin Civic Storage Module (FCSM)
A reusable, open-source Filecoin storage layer for civic governance and collective
decision-making applications
Proposal Category
Integrations (primary) + Applications (secondary)
Proposer
Robert Rothe — Founder, LifeGround Community / VoteBoxApp
GitHub: https://github.com/Archaico
Email: lifegroundcommunity@gmail.com
Website: voteboxapp.com
Do you agree to open source all work you do on behalf of this
grant?
Yes. All deliverables produced under this grant will be released under dual MIT + Apache 2.0
licence and published to a public GitHub repository.
Project Description
What are you trying to do?
Civic governance applications — tools that allow communities to create proposals, discuss
them, and vote on collective decisions — generate a specific category of records that must be
tamper-proof, permanently accessible, and decentralised. A vote result that can be deleted
or modified by a server operator is not a democratic record; it is a claim.
The Filecoin Civic Storage Module (FCSM) is a standalone, open-source
JavaScript/TypeScript SDK that provides civic governance applications with a clean,
well-documented interface to store and retrieve governance records — proposals, discussion
threads, vote metadata, and outcome attestations — on the Filecoin network via Storacha
(Web3.Storage).
FCSM is built as a reusable module extracted from VoteBoxApp, a working direct democracy
platform built on Cardano (React Native / Expo). VoteBoxApp already uses Storacha for
decentralised content storage, which means Filecoin is already the persistence layer for real
democratic records today. This grant funds the work to extract that integration into a clean,
documented, standalone SDK — making it available to any governance application in the Web3
ecosystem, regardless of blockchain.
What problem does it solve?
Today, governance applications face a fragmented storage problem:
- Centralised storage (standard databases, AWS S3) is fast but creates a single point of
failure and censorship risk. A server operator can delete a vote.
- Pure IPFS without pinning guarantees is ephemeral — content disappears when no
node pins it.
- Filecoin provides cryptographic, verifiable, persistent storage with on-chain storage
deals — but integrating it into a governance app requires significant infrastructure
knowledge that most civic tech developers don't have.
FCSM closes this gap: a one-import solution that gives any governance application
Filecoin-backed storage for its most critical records, with automatic content addressing, retrieval
redundancy across multiple IPFS gateways, and structured schemas designed for democratic
records specifically.
Why Filecoin specifically?
Filecoin's storage proofs (PoRep + PoSt) provide something no other storage network offers:
cryptographic proof that data is being stored correctly over time. For a democratic record
— a community vote, a passed proposal, an outcome attestation — that property is not a
nice-to-have. It is the entire point. Storacha's hot storage layer provides the retrieval speed that
user-facing governance apps need, while Filecoin's cold storage provides the permanence.
FCSM uses both layers in combination.
Value to the Filecoin Ecosystem
Why would this be valuable?
1. New use case vertical: Civic governance and direct democracy tooling is almost
entirely absent from the Filecoin ecosystem. FCSM opens this vertical and creates a
reusable foundation that other teams can build on.
2. Meaningful real-world usage: VoteBoxApp already has a working user base and a
growing community (LifeGround Community, 15-language support, active Cardano
ecosystem presence). Every vote cast through VoteBoxApp creates a Filecoin storage
deal. FCSM accelerates this by making the integration robust and production-ready.
3. Reusable open infrastructure: FCSM is explicitly designed for adoption beyond
VoteBoxApp. Any DAO tooling platform, cooperative governance app, local government
digital participation tool, or NGO decision-making system can import and use it. This
multiplies Filecoin usage across many downstream projects.
4. Demonstrates Filecoin's mission: Filecoin's stated mission is "a decentralised,
efficient, and robust foundation for humanity's information." Democratic records — votes,
proposals, community decisions — are among the most consequential information
humanity produces. FCSM directly advances this mission.
What is the potential impact?
- VoteBoxApp targets 1,000+ active governance communities within 12 months of mainnet
launch
- Each active community runs multiple proposals per month → sustained, ongoing Filecoin
storage deal generation
- FCSM as a standalone module targets adoption by 5+ other governance/civic tech
projects within 18 months of release
- Opens a governance tooling vertical that Filecoin can point to as a showcase of
real-world democratic infrastructure
Deliverables
All deliverables will be published to a public GitHub repository under MIT + Apache 2.0 licence.
Milestone 1 — Core SDK (Month 1–2)
Deliverable: @fcsm/core — the Filecoin Civic Storage Module npm package
- ProposalRecord — structured schema and Filecoin storage interface for governance
proposals (title, description, author, timestamp, content CID)
- CommentRecord — threaded discussion storage with parent-child CID linking
- VoteMetadataRecord — vote outcome storage (options, tallies, timestamp, chain
attestation hash)
- OutcomeAttestation — final governance decision record with cryptographic linkage
to source records
- Storacha/Web3.Storage integration with automatic CAR file packaging
- Multi-gateway IPFS retrieval with configurable fallback order (Cloudflare, dweb.link,
w3s.link, local)
- TypeScript types and JSDoc documentation for all exported interfaces
Acceptance criteria: All record types store and retrieve correctly against Storacha testnet. Full
TypeScript types exported. 100% of public API documented.
Milestone 2 — Developer Experience & Reference Implementation (Month
3–4)
Deliverable: Documentation site + VoteBoxApp reference integration
- Standalone documentation site (Docusaurus or similar) published at a public URL
- Step-by-step quickstart guide: "Store your first governance proposal on Filecoin in 10
minutes"
- Integration guide for React Native / Expo (the dominant mobile Web3 stack)
- Integration guide for React web applications
- VoteBoxApp open-source reference implementation updated to use FCSM v1.0
(demonstrating real production usage)
- Example project: minimal governance app using FCSM for storage (standalone repo, <
200 lines)
- Governance record schema published as a draft open standard with JSON-LD context
Acceptance criteria: Quickstart guide tested by 3 external developers with no prior FCSM
knowledge. Example project builds and runs correctly. VoteBoxApp integration merged to main
branch.
Milestone 3 — Hardening, Security & Ecosystem Outreach (Month 5–6)
Deliverable: Production-ready v1.0 release + ecosystem adoption
- Offline queue support: governance records queued locally when Filecoin/IPFS
unavailable, synced automatically on reconnection (critical for low-connectivity
communities)
- Storage deal verification: optional on-chain check that Filecoin storage deal for a record
is active
- Security audit of FCSM core (content addressing verification, no tampering between
upload and retrieval)
- Performance benchmarks published: storage latency, retrieval latency across gateways
- Published to npm registry as @fcsm/core v1.0.0
- Outreach to 5 civic tech / DAO governance projects proposing FCSM adoption
- Presentation or write-up submitted to Filecoin blog / ecosystem newsletter
Acceptance criteria: npm package published and installable. Offline queue tested under
simulated network failure. Security findings documented and resolved. At least 2 external
projects have opened integration issues or PRs.
Development Roadmap
Milestone Deliverable Duration Funding
M1 @fcsm/core npm
package — all record
types + Storacha
integration
Months 1–2 $10,000
Milestone Deliverable Duration Funding
M2 Documentation site +
reference integration
in VoteBoxApp
Months 3–4 $8,000
M3 Production
hardening, security
audit, ecosystem
outreach
Months 5–6 $7,000
Total 6 months $25,000
Estimated hours
Role Hours Rate
Lead developer (Robert
Rothe)
~300 hrs ~$65/hr
Technical documentation ~50 hrs ~$40/hr
Security review ~30 hrs External
Total Budget Requested
$25,000 USD
(Paid in milestones as deliverables are accepted. No work begins until grant agreement is
signed.)
Maintenance and Upgrade Plans
- FCSM will be maintained as a dependency of VoteBoxApp, ensuring it stays current with
Storacha API changes and Filecoin network upgrades
- Semantic versioning with a published changelog
- GitHub Issues open to the public for bug reports and feature requests from other
adopters
- LGC Foundation (in formation) will assume long-term stewardship of FCSM as part of its
open civic infrastructure portfolio
- Community contributors welcomed via the VoteBoxApp Bounty Wall system (SBT-based
contributor rewards)
Team
Robert Rothe — Lead Developer & Proposer
- Founder, LifeGround Community (LGC) — a post-capitalist direct democracy
organisation
- Author, The Seed — Blueprint for a Better Society (published) — the philosophical
framework underlying VoteBoxApp
- Lead developer of VoteBoxApp: a working React Native / Expo direct democracy app
with Cardano blockchain integration, IPFS/Storacha storage, i18next multilingual support
(~15 languages), and Soulbound Token contributor system
- Existing Storacha integration in VoteBoxApp demonstrates working knowledge of the
Filecoin storage stack
- Active Intersect MBO member (Cardano governance ecosystem)
- Based in Europe, Spain
Relevant Technical Stack Experience
- React Native / Expo (SDK 54, React 19)
- Storacha / Web3.Storage (existing IPFS integration in VoteBoxApp)
- Cardano blockchain (on-chain voting architecture)
- TypeScript / JavaScript
- AGPLv3 open-source licensing (FCSM will be separately dual-licensed MIT + Apache
2.0 as required)
Risks and Mitigations
Risk Likelihood Mitigation
Storacha API changes
mid-development
Medium Pin to a specific Storacha
SDK version; abstract behind
FCSM interface so updates
are isolated
Risk Likelihood Mitigation
Low IPFS retrieval speeds for
mobile users
Medium Multi-gateway fallback
already designed; offline
queue handles
low-connectivity scenarios
Limited external adoption in
first 6 months
Low–Medium VoteBoxApp itself guarantees
real production usage
regardless of external uptake
Licence clarity questions Low FCSM is a new, standalone
package; no copyleft
inheritance from
VoteBoxApp's AGPLv3
codebase applies to a fresh
repository
Additional Information
- VoteBoxApp website: voteboxapp.com
- LifeGround Community:
https://patreon.com/LifeGroundCommunity?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=
copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_fan&utm_content=join_link
- The Seed - Blueprint for a Better Society (published book):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW1JHN26
- Contact: lifegroundcommunity@gmail.com
- Grant type: Open Grant (first application — scoped to under $50,000 as recommended)
- Licence of deliverables: MIT + Apache 2.0 (dual licence, as required)
- This proposal is also aligned with ongoing NLnet NGI Zero Commons Fund application
covering the broader VoteBoxApp platform under AGPLv3 — the two grants are
complementary and non-overlapping in scope.
Submitted July 7th, 2026 by Robert Rothe, LifeGround Community

No repository files, tests, or entry points are named. Start by reviewing VoteBoxApp's existing Storacha integration and the three proposed milestones: the standalone SDK, documentation and reference integration, then hardening and outreach. Done is defined by the listed acceptance criteria, including working Storacha storage and retrieval, exported TypeScript types, tested documentation and examples, offline-queue testing, security findings, and package publication.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.