How it works
A plain-language tour of how Sciencera fits together. If you want a step-by-step on what you can do, see Features.
The big picture
Sciencera is two things working together:
- A web app where you log in with a Solana wallet, write proposals, take Academy courses, browse labs, and review work.
- Two small programs on the Solana blockchain that record cryptographic fingerprints of important actions — proposal submissions, status changes, credential issuances.
The app is where work gets done. The blockchain is where the evidence of that work gets locked in so nobody can quietly rewrite history later.
The trust line
You (your browser + your Solana wallet)
│
├──→ The Sciencera app
│ • Pages you see
│ • Forms you fill
│ • Wallet sign-in
│ • AI helpers
│
└──→ Two Solana programs (called "smart contracts" elsewhere)
• Research Registry (proposals)
• Reputation Credentials (credentials & reputation)
A few rules hold across this whole picture:
- The app never holds authority. Anything that gets recorded on the blockchain has to be signed by your wallet. Sciencera the company can't act as you.
- Drafts never touch the blockchain. Your work-in-progress lives in your browser. Only when you actively submit something does anything become public on chain.
- Sensitive content stays off chain. Full proposal bodies, lab reports, and credential metadata live in private storage. Only their cryptographic fingerprints — short, opaque numbers — go on chain.
What goes on the blockchain (and what doesn't)
| Stays private (off chain) | Goes public (on chain) |
|---|---|
| Your draft proposals | Proof hashes (fingerprints) |
| Full proposal bodies | Status: submitted, under review, approved, etc. |
| Lab reports & attachments | Reviewer assignments |
| Credential metadata | Credential issuance records |
| Personal information | Wallet address (already public by definition) |
A "proof hash" is a 32-character cryptographic fingerprint. Anyone can re-fingerprint the original content and check it against what's on chain. Match = original. Mismatch = something was changed.
What happens when you submit a proposal
This is the journey, end to end:
1. You open the proposal wizard.
2. You fill in 6 steps: who you are, your hypothesis, the science,
the validation plan, the milestones, and a final review.
3. The app fingerprints your proposal locally (in your browser).
4. You hit Submit.
5. Your wallet asks you to confirm — you sign the transaction.
6. The fingerprint, your wallet address, and a pointer to the
full content are recorded on Solana.
7. Reviewers — who carry their own credentials — can now assess
your proposal. Status changes are also recorded on chain.
8. If approved, your proposal can later connect to milestone
funding (when that comes online) and IP management.
The full proposal body lives in private, access-controlled storage. The blockchain record is a tamperproof receipt that says "this exact text existed at this time, signed by this wallet."
What's working today, what's still being wired up
| Surface | App | Blockchain | Live? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sign in with Solana wallet | Yes | n/a | Yes |
| Write & save drafts | Yes (in your browser) | Drafts are off chain by design | Yes |
| Submit a proposal | Yes (saved locally) | Code ready | Final wire-up coming |
| Track proposal status | Yes (saved locally) | Code ready | Final wire-up coming |
| Browse reviewers | Yes (sample data) | Code ready | Final wire-up coming |
| Earn Academy credentials | Yes (in your browser) | Code ready | Final wire-up coming |
| Browse labs | Yes (sample data) | — | Sample only for now |
| Milestone funding | — | — | Coming later |
| IP management | — | — | Coming later |
The app is fully usable today — it just doesn't yet push your work to Solana. That cutover is the next milestone. When it happens, your existing wallet identity moves with you.
Design rules that don't bend
These are non-negotiable. Breaking one of them is a bug, not a judgment call.
- No suppressing type errors. If our compiler complains, the code is wrong. Period.
- No app-side authority. The app can't act as a regulator, a reviewer, or an admin without your wallet signature.
- Drafts are off chain. The blockchain has no concept of a "draft" — only "submitted" and beyond.
- Fingerprints are SHA-256. A 32-byte standard. Computed identically in your browser and on chain.
- Every account has a version field. So we can evolve the data model without breaking what's already there.
- Admin keys are multisig in production. No single person controls the registry on mainnet.
- Credentials can't be transferred. Reputation is yours; it can't be sold or moved.
Where to go next
- Features — What you can do in the app today
- The blockchain layer — More on how the on-chain pieces work
- Compliance — How regulators see this
- Inside the app — A page-by-page tour