Merge pull request #798 from input-output-hk/monthly-2023-03

Monthly report 2023-03

docs/monthly/2023-03-monthly.md

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+---
+title: March 2023
+slug: 2023-03
+authors: [Franco, v0d1ch, ch1bo]
+tags: [monthly]
+---
+
+This report summarizes the work on Hydra since February 2023. It serves as
+preparation for the monthly review meeting
+([slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yZ4AqUQ8OBMG9ARMYvj3IOjaIAqglf7kZei4vsLMrbs/edit#slide=id.g1f87a7454a5_0_1392)/[recording](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA9lMV0tKN8))
+, where the team updates major project stakeholders on recent developments to
+gather their feedback on proposed plans.
+
+## Roadmap
+
+The project saw one release this month and several items on our
+[roadmap](https://github.com/orgs/input-output-hk/projects/21) were updated.
+
+#### Released version 0.9.0
+
+- This release brought in on-chain and off-chain changes that are now also fully
+  reflected in our specification.
+
+- We managed to decrease the costs of our plutus scripts by using a new error code
+  framework and made also the head script a reference script.
+
+- The mutation test suite is improved. Now, if tests fail they show the correct reason.
+
+- The contestation deadline is now pushed out by each contesting party, so the
+  contestation period parameter can be chosen irrespective of number of parties.
+
+- Added a tutorial contributed by [@perturbing](https://github.com/perturbing/).
+
+- [Full release notes](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/releases/tag/0.9.0) and list of [delivered features](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/milestone/9?closed=1)
+
+![](./img/2023-03-roadmap.png) <small><center>The latest roadmap, with many items marked as idea.</center></small>
+
+#### Notable roadmap updates
+
+- Now that 0.9.0 is released, the focus is on mainnet compatiblity. The
+  next planned version **0.10.0** will be the first `hydra-node` to be
+  mainnet compatible.
+
+- Also prioritized [API configurability
+  #380](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/380) higher and planned
+  it into 0.10.0 as more users were requesting this.
+
+- We aim for several more **0.x.0** versions to incorporate user-requested
+  features before reaching a 1.0.0, which will be a fully maintained release
+  where features can be considered stable and won't be removed without
+  appropriate deprecation cycles.
+
+- Marked multiple features as 💭 _idea_, meaning they are up for discussion.
+  Many have been on the roadmap for a long time without user demand or input,
+  while other ideas are incubating as [github idea
+  discussion](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/discussions/categories/ideas).
+  We are planning to convert these idea issues to GitHub discussions as these
+  provide better dicussion tools and allow to gauge interest in topics. In turn,
+  by cleaning up we provide more room for the most popular ideas to be planned
+  onto the roadmap in a more timely manner.
+
+- In short, if you want to see some feature added, **show your support** on the
+  corresponding [idea
+  discussion](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/discussions/categories/ideas).
+
+- The 💬 _feature_ items remaining are the currently identifed "must-haves" or
+  too vague to remove 🔴 _red_ items.
+
+![](./img/2023-03-roadmap-ex-ideas.png) <small><center>The roadmap without idea items.</center></small>
+
+## Development
+
+[Issues and pull requests closed since last
+report](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues?q=is%3Aclosed+sort%3Aupdated-desc+closed%3A2023-02-24..2023-03-29)
+
+This month, the team worked on the following:
+
+- **Making Hydra mainnet compatible.** Besides making it technically possible to
+  run on mainnet, this is about safeguarding our users and preventing them from
+  shooting themselves in the foot with a mainnet gun. That is why we
+  [limited](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/762) the amount of
+  ada you can commit to a head on mainnet. Our smoke tests should be running on
+  mainnet also so we made sure to
+  [return](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/pull/770) the leftover funds
+  back to our faucet. There was also
+  [work](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/pull/775) on our CI that
+  enables running the tests on mainnet using a dedicated github runner.
+
+- **Improving the Hydra UX.** We noticed a possible pitfall when restarting the
+  `hydra-node` using different parameters than in the persisted state. Now, the
+  node would [prevent](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/764) this
+  kind of misconfiguration.
+
+- **Optimize the on-chain scripts.** Reduced the cost of opening/closing a Head
+  by reducing size of scripts via error codes
+  [#748](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/pull/748) and also having the
+  head script as a reference only
+  [#701](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/pull/701)).
+
+  The mutation test also got improved by making all cases expect the
+  corresponding error codes
+  [#705](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/issues/705) and new [golden
+  test suite ](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/pull/772) ensures the
+  script hashes don't change accidentally.
+
+  Furthermore, we addressed a problem discovered in our property tests
+  [#724](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/pull/724) by preventing
+  committing outputs with reference scripts to a Head
+  [#766](https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/pull/766). This is still a
+  documented known issue, but a workaround is available.
+
+## Community
+
+- **Team workshop in Austria.** Meetup of core contributors in Feldkirch,
+  Austria for retrospective, grooming and discussions on future plans for
+  Hydra. Part of the agenda was also a presentation of Hydra to members of the
+  Cardano Foundation and a meeting with builders from the Cardano community.
+
+  The highlight, though was the common effort of going the last mile to open a
+  head on mainnet for the monthly review meeting! 🎉
+
+    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">JUST IN: We have a Hydra Head live on the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cardano?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cardano</a> Mainnet 🚀 <a href="https://t.co/6kDKq7T7no">pic.twitter.com/6kDKq7T7no</a></p>&mdash; Emmanuel 𓂀 🍕 𓅓🇬🇭🦄🟣⚡️ (@thepizzaknight_) <a href="https://twitter.com/thepizzaknight_/status/1638572527789252608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
+
+  We demonstrated our good old `hydraw` application on that Hydra head and we
+  saw thousands of pixels painted by hundreds of users (no detailed metrics).
+
+- **Next step in Hydra for Payments.** Also announced in the monthly meeting was
+  the next phase on the Hydra for Payments project. The scope of this will be to
+  extend hydra-pay and build a mobile payment channels app that makes direct use
+  of it - working title: HydraNow.
+
+## Conclusion
+
+The monthly review meeting for March was conducted on 2023-03-27 via Google
+Meet - [slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yZ4AqUQ8OBMG9ARMYvj3IOjaIAqglf7kZei4vsLMrbs/edit#slide=id.g1f87a7454a5_0_1392)/[recording](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA9lMV0tKN8).
+
+This month was very important for the project and culminated in the first
+demonstration of a Hydra Head on mainnet! The demo was well received and we
+received positive feedback in the meeting, on following twitter announcements
+and on the published recording on youtube. Inspired by this, we saw multiple
+people offer to help and collaborate on communicating, educating and ultimately
+spreading the love. The invitation via the new discord category worked well - we
+had about 40 community members in the call - and we will continue with this
+workflow. Make sure to follow the Hydra
+[#announcements](https://discord.gg/Bwdy2jNdm2) on the IOG Technical discord
+server.
+
+While being mainnet compatible is a major milestone for the project, there are
+still many known issues, shortcomings and requested features. The roadmap
+changes this month should make it clear that we are serious about the latter -
+Hydra will only reach 1.0.0 if it is used by an application on mainnet. Hence,
+we will focus on adding features required for payments, voting, auctions, ...
+and eventually, your use case.
+
+Hydra Head is ready to be used on mainnet. Are you ready to use it?