quest 01OnboardingBeginner–Intermediate
Learn P2P Networking Through Ethereum Consensus Clients
Explore how Ethereum consensus clients use libp2p for peer discovery, connections, GossipSub, and protocol communication. Trace the path from peer discovery to a received message, run a local multi-node experiment, and measure connection time, propagation delay, and peer churn.
deliverable · A working local network, an architecture diagram, and a documented peer-to-peer message flow — plus one actionable improvement proposal or upstream contribution.
quest 02ImplementationIntermediate–Advanced
Trinity Client Upgrade Quest
Modernize the Trinity Client networking stack using the latest compatible py-libp2p release — without silently breaking existing protocol behavior. Establish a repeatable development and interoperability baseline, add regression tests, and document what belongs in Trinity versus py-libp2p.
deliverable · A tested upgrade, a dependency and compatibility report, and upstream pull requests. Stretch: an interop test against another libp2p implementation.
quest 03Research + PrototypeIntermediate–Advanced
P2P Behind the Corporate Firewall
Investigate how Ethereum and libp2p nodes can communicate in restrictive enterprise environments where outbound HTTP/HTTPS is allowed but conventional P2P connections are blocked. Prototype a Kad-DHT discovery path over HTTP-compatible infrastructure — a gateway or transport-adapter design, not a naive HTTP wrapper.
deliverable · A Go-based Kad-DHT discovery prototype, an HTTP-compatible connectivity design, firewall test results, and a threat model. Stretch: a standards-based transport adapter proposal.
quest 04Protocol ResearchAdvanced
Post-Quantum Signatures and Ethereum Network Identity
Explore a post-quantum identity scheme for Ethereum Node Records (ENRs) that aligns with libp2p peer identity and the signature-free PQ RLPx handshake proposal. Investigate whether an ENR can advertise a commitment to a PQ public key, verified during the connection handshake.
deliverable · An EIP draft, a threat model, encoding examples and test vectors, and a prototype handshake verification flow. Milestone: technical feedback from the EF P2P team and a slot on an EF P2P call.
quest 05Research + PrototypeAdvanced
Quantum-Resistant Ethereum and IPFS Innovation
Investigate post-quantum light clients for Ethereum, Filecoin, or IPFS as a complete networking and verification problem — not just a signature swap. Four tracks: PQ light-client verification, discovery and transport, message dissemination, and observability and protocol evolution.
deliverable · A PQ light-client design, a prototype or simulation, a benchmark report, a threat model, and a networking migration proposal.
quest 06Open SourceIntermediate–Advanced
GossipSub Interoperability Quest
Test GossipSub compatibility across libp2p implementations using the DST GossipSub test node as a reference. Verify topic subscription, message propagation, duplicate suppression, and edge cases like reconnects, slow peers, malformed messages, and network partitions.
deliverable · Reproducible interop tests, a compatibility matrix, and fixes or test-plan contributions upstream. Stretch: automated CI so interoperability regressions are caught continuously.
quest 07InnovationIntermediate–Advanced
Cognitive Layer for Multi-Agent Coordination
Build a coordination layer that lets distributed AI agents discover peers, exchange tasks, share state, and coordinate without a single central coordinator — separating the agents' cognitive capabilities from the libp2p networking layer.
deliverable · A multi-agent demo with at least three independent agents, a documented coordination protocol, a failure-recovery and trust model, and benchmarks of a real distributed workflow.
quest 08Hands-onBeginner–Advanced
Permissionless Networks and Universal Connectivity
Deploy Universal Connectivity on a home-lab server or Raspberry Pi and explore connectivity across NATs, networks, and deployment environments. Measure peer reachability, connection establishment, stability, and recovery after interruption.
deliverable · A working deployment, connectivity measurements, and a reproducible setup guide — plus at least one improvement proposal, bug report, or upstream contribution.
