Summary: Governance Hour #3 – Deep Dive Into Pebble + Gerolamo - HLabs Budget
In the third episode of the “Governance Hour”, Nicolas Cerny (Governance Lead at the Cardano Foundation) speaks with Michele Nuzzi, founder of Harmonic Laboratories, about the treasury withdrawal governance action for the HLabs budget. This proposal focuses on building and maintaining core open-source infrastructure to vastly improve the developer and user experience on Cardano.
Pragmatism in Governance
The proposal bundles three major components: the Gerolamo light node, the Pebble smart contract language, and ongoing tooling maintenance. Michele Nuzzi explains that submitting them as one unified proposal is a pragmatic choice. Because direct DRep and voter participation currently requires significant effort, splitting the proposal would risk critical but less “sexy” components (like maintenance) being ignored. Furthermore, all three pillars work together to create a seamless developer ecosystem.
Gerolamo and Gerolamino: A Node in the Browser
Gerolamo is a full node, and Gerolamino is its light node counterpart, written entirely in TypeScript.
- For Users: Because it is built in TypeScript, the light node can run directly in a user’s web browser as a simple extension. This provides users with trustless data validation, faster decentralized applications (DApps), and enhanced privacy.
- For Developers: If users run their own local nodes via an extension, developers no longer have to rely on or pay for expensive centralized data providers or complex backend infrastructure.
Pebble: Lowering the Barrier to Entry
Previously known as “Pluts”, Pebble is a smart contract programming language designed to look and feel familiar to developers coming from web2 (TypeScript) or other web3 ecosystems (Solidity).
- Unlike traditional functional programming languages on Cardano, Pebble introduces imperative programming features, such as mutable variables within the same scope and for-loops.
- It allows developers to easily transition to Cardano and build highly efficient smart contracts without facing a steep learning curve.
Tooling Maintenance
Around 15 percent of the budget is dedicated to the ongoing maintenance of critical TypeScript libraries. This work is essential to prevent supply chain attacks, fix bugs, and ensure that widely used developer tools do not break during hard forks. If open-source maintainers are not compensated, they often abandon their projects, leaving the whole ecosystem vulnerable.
Budget Structure and AI Usage
Addressing questions regarding the proposal’s asking amount, Michele Nuzzi clarifies that the budget does not just represent a developer’s salary. It covers necessary company overheads, including legal fees, accounting, taxes, and business development required to run Harmonic Laboratories sustainably.
Additionally, while the team actively uses AI to speed up development, Michele emphasizes that AI is not a silver bullet. AI might write 80 percent of the basic code, but highly experienced human developers are strictly necessary to manually review, test, and secure the remaining 20 percent to prevent catastrophic network bugs or vulnerabilities in smart contracts securing user funds.
Top Five Q&A (FAQ) about the HLabs Proposal
Question 1: Why is the proposal bundled into one large request instead of separate ones?
Answer: Michele Nuzzi explained it was a pragmatic decision based on current governance dynamics. Since active voting requires significant effort from DReps and the community, splitting the proposal could result in essential but less glamorous components, like tooling maintenance, being overlooked. Additionally, the node, the smart contract language, and the libraries all synergize to provide a complete developer experience.
Question 2: What are Gerolamo and Gerolamino, and why is a TypeScript node useful?
Answer: Gerolamo is a full node, and Gerolamino is a light node, both written in TypeScript. This specific language choice allows the node to run natively inside a user’s web browser as an extension. It provides the user with trustless data and privacy, while developers benefit by no longer having to manage or pay for expensive data infrastructure.
Question 3: What makes the Pebble smart contract language different from existing options?
Answer: Pebble is specifically designed to have a syntax familiar to mainstream developers, closely resembling TypeScript and Solidity. It supports imperative programming patterns, such as mutable variables and for-loops, making it much easier for developers outside the functional programming space to build and deploy efficient smart contracts on Cardano.
Question 4: Why does the proposal allocate funds for tooling maintenance?
Answer: Maintaining core libraries is an unsexy but critical task for ecosystem survival. If open-source maintainers leave because they are uncompensated, the applications relying on their code can break, especially during network upgrades or hard forks. The budget ensures these critical dependencies remain updated, safe, and functional.
Question 5: How does Harmonic Laboratories view the use of AI in building core infrastructure?
Answer: While the team actively uses AI to assist with coding and increase speed, Michele Nuzzi stresses that AI cannot be trusted blindly with critical infrastructure. AI can handle the straightforward 80 percent of a task, but human experts are absolutely necessary to review and test the remaining 20 percent to prevent severe network failures or security exploits.
Tuesday, April 14, 12:00 – 13:00 (UTC)