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Essential Links in Cardano

Introduction​

Welcome to today's session on essential Cardano resources! Whether you're building your first dApp, contributing to core development, or supporting others in the ecosystem, knowing where to find reliable information is crucial.

Today we'll cover:

  • Where the actual code lives
  • Where to find answers when you're stuck
  • How to check what's happening on-chain
  • Where to connect with other developers

We'll talk about what each resource is actually useful for and when you'd reach for it.

Core Repositories​

These are the official GitHub repos where Cardano's core development happens. If you're contributing to Cardano itself or need to understand how things work under the hood, these are your starting points.

IntersectMBO Organization​

Primary Hub: https://github.com/IntersectMBO

This is where most active Cardano development happens now. Key repos include:

Cardano Node
https://github.com/IntersectMBO/cardano-node
What it is: The core node implementation that runs the Cardano blockchain
When you need it: Running your own node, understanding consensus, contributing to core protocol
Key sections: Releases, documentation folder, issues for known bugs

Cardano CLI
https://github.com/IntersectMBO/cardano-cli
What it is: Command-line interface for interacting with Cardano
When you need it: Building transactions, querying the chain, key management
Pro tip: Check the "doc" folder for command examples

Plutus
https://github.com/IntersectMBO/plutus
What it is: Smart contract platform for Cardano
When you need it: Writing on-chain validators, understanding Plutus Core
Note: Also includes Plutus Tx (Haskell DSL for writing contracts)

Developer Experience Repo
https://github.com/IntersectMBO/developer-experience
What it is: Community-driven documentation and onboarding resources (that's us!)
When you need it: Contributing to developer docs, finding getting-started guides
This is your repo! Issues and PRs welcome

Input Output Global (IOG) Repos​

Organization: https://github.com/input-output-hk

Still hosts important tooling and libraries:

Cardano Wallet
https://github.com/cardano-foundation/cardano-wallet
What it is: HTTP API for wallet management
When you need it: Building wallet functionality into applications

Marlowe
https://github.com/input-output-hk/marlowe-cardano
What it is: Domain-specific language for financial contracts
When you need it: Building financial dApps without general-purpose smart contracts

Lace Wallet
https://www.lace.io | https://github.com/input-output-hk/lace
What it is: IOG's flagship light wallet with built-in dApp connector
When you need it: Testing CIP-30 dApp connectors, seeing reference wallet implementation
Pro tip: Great for developers building dApps, install it to test your dApp's wallet integration

Cardano Foundation​

Organization: https://github.com/cardano-foundation

Focus areas include standards, governance tools, and ecosystem support.

Official Documentation​

Cardano Docs​

Main Site: https://docs.cardano.org

The official documentation hub. It's organized into several sections:

Getting Started
Good for: Newcomers, understanding basic concepts
Covers: Wallets, transactions, staking basics

Development
Good for: Builders, technical implementation
Covers: Smart contracts, tokens, integration guides

Operation
Good for: SPOs, node operators
Covers: Running nodes, stake pool setup

Governance
Good for: Understanding Cardano's governance model and participating in the Voltaire era
Covers: CIPs, on-chain voting, DReps, Constitutional Committee, parameter changes

Key governance resources:

  • GovTool: https://gov.tools - Platform for DRep registration and voting on governance actions
  • Cardano Forum - Governance Section: https://forum.cardano.org/c/governance - Active discussions on proposals and governance matters
  • CIP-1694: The governance specification (see CIPs section below)

Why this matters in 2025: With the Voltaire era active, understanding governance is now essential for anyone building on or contributing to Cardano. Whether you're proposing protocol changes, voting on funding decisions, or just staying informed about network direction, these resources are part of your ongoing work.

Cardano Developer Portal​

Site: https://developers.cardano.org

Developer-focused documentation with practical guides:

  • Builder tools overview
  • Integration guides for common use cases
  • Showcase of projects building on Cardano
  • Technical concepts explained

Pro tip: The "Get Started" section has curated learning paths based on what you want to build.

CIP (Cardano Improvement Proposals)​

Repository: https://github.com/cardano-foundation/CIPs
Portal: https://cips.cardano.org

Standards and specifications for Cardano. Think of these as RFCs for the ecosystem.

When to check CIPs:

  • Implementing token standards (CIP-25 for NFTs, CIP-68 for token metadata)
  • Understanding wallet interfaces (CIP-30 for dApp connector)
  • Following governance processes (CIP-1694)

How they work: Anyone can propose a CIP. They go through review stages before becoming standards.

APIs & Data Services​

These are the services you'll actually call when building applications.

Blockfrost​

Website: https://blockfrost.io
Docs: https://docs.blockfrost.io

What it is: Hosted API service for Cardano data
Why use it: Don't want to run your own infrastructure
What you can do:

  • Query blockchain data (blocks, transactions, addresses)
  • Submit transactions
  • Access IPFS for metadata
  • Websocket support for real-time updates

Pricing: Free tier available, paid plans for production use
Getting started: Sign up → Get API key → Start querying

Example use case: You're building a portfolio tracker. Use Blockfrost to query all transactions for a given address without running a node.

Koios​

Website: https://koios.rest
Docs: https://api.koios.rest

What it is: Decentralized API service (Cardano community infrastructure)
Why use it: Open-source, community-run alternative
Key difference from Blockfrost: No registration required for many endpoints

Pro tip: Great for prototyping since you can start querying immediately.

Maestro​

Website: https://www.gomaestro.org
Docs: https://docs.gomaestro.org

What it is: Web3 infrastructure platform with Cardano support
Why use it: Advanced features like transaction building helpers
Unique features:

  • Turbo TX submission
  • Built-in indexing tools
  • GraphQL support

Ogmios​

GitHub: https://github.com/CardanoSolutions/ogmios
Docs: https://ogmios.dev

What it is: WebSocket bridge to cardano-node
Why use it: Direct access to node's local state queries
When you need it: Building applications that need real-time chain data, custom indexing

Use case: You need to watch the chain for specific events in real time—Ogmios gives you a WebSocket connection to do that.

Cardano DB Sync​

GitHub: https://github.com/IntersectMBO/cardano-db-sync
*What it is: PostgreSQL database syncing chain data
Why use it: Complex queries across historical data
Trade-off: You run your own infrastructure but get maximum flexibility

When to consider: You're building an explorer, analytics platform, or need custom indexing that APIs don't support.

Pallas​

GitHub: https://github.com/txpipe/pallas
What it is: Modern Rust library for building Cardano applications
Why use it: Building ultra-performant, custom indexers or services in Rust
When you need it: You want self-hosted infrastructure without Haskell dependencies, or need to process chain data at scale

Key features: Collection of utilities for reading and processing blockchain data, parsing blocks, working with transactions, and building custom data pipelines.

Use case: You're building a high-performance indexing service that needs to process blocks faster than DB Sync allows, or you want to integrate Cardano data into Rust-based infrastructure.

Block Explorers​

Essential for checking what's actually happening on-chain.

CardanoScan​

URL: https://cardanoscan.io

Best for: Clean UI, easy address and transaction lookups
Features: Token info, pool data, epoch stats
Pro tip: Good for quick checks during development

Cardano Explorer​

URL: https://explorer.cardano.org

Best for: Official Foundation explorer
Features: Comprehensive epoch and block data
When to use: Verifying protocol parameters, checking epoch boundaries

AdaStat​

URL: https://adastat.net

Best for: Pool operators and delegators
Features: Detailed stake pool analytics, saturation tracking

Cexplorer​

URL: https://cexplorer.io

Best for: Advanced users, detailed transaction breakdowns
Features: Smart contract interactions, rich metadata display

Pool.pm​

URL: https://pool.pm

Best for: NFT collectors and traders
Features: NFT metadata, policy information, rarity tools

Pro tip for developers: When debugging transaction failures, paste your tx hash into multiple explorers, sometimes one will show error details the others miss.

Community Forums & Support​

Where to go when you need help or want to connect with other builders.

Cardano Stack Exchange​

URL: https://cardano.stackexchange.com

What it is: Q&A platform specifically for Cardano
Best for: Technical questions with long-term value
Why it's great: Searchable, voted answers, attracts experts
Etiquette: Search before asking, provide code examples, accept answers

Example questions that work well here:

  • "How do I construct a multi-signature transaction?"
  • "What's the difference between address types?"
  • "Why is my Plutus validator failing?"

Cardano Forum​

URL: https://forum.cardano.org

What it is: Official long-form discussion forum
Best for: Governance discussions, CIP feedback, ecosystem updates
Sections:

  • Developers (technical discussions)
  • Stake pool operators
  • Cardano Improvement Proposals
  • Governance and feedback

Discord Servers​

Cardano Developers - https://discord.gg/kfATXEENPD
Focus: General Cardano development
Channels: plutus-help, development, tools

IOG Technical Community - Check cardano.org for invite
Focus: Direct connection to IOG developers
Good for: Core protocol questions

Intersect MBO - https://discord.gg/intersectmbo
Focus: Contributing to Cardano's open-source development
Channels: developer-experience, technical-steering-committee, open-source-committee

Individual Project Discords - Most major projects (Lace, Eternl, Mesh, etc.) have their own servers

Pro tip: Don't cross-post the same question to every Discord. Pick the most relevant one and be patient.

Reddit​

r/CardanoDevelopers - https://reddit.com/r/CardanoDevelopers
Best for: Less formal discussions, sharing projects, getting community feedback

Telegram​

Various Cardano developer groups exist. Ask in Discord or Forum for current active groups—these shift over time.

GitHub Discussions​

Most major repos have Discussions enabled—great for questions specific to that project:

Development Tools​

Beyond APIs—these are the tools you'll use to actually build.

Lucid (Lucid Evolution)​

GitHub: https://github.com/Anastasia-Labs/lucid-evolution
What it is: Off-chain transaction library for JavaScript/TypeScript
Why use it: Building dApps without Haskell knowledge

Evolution SDK​

GitHub: https://github.com/IntersectMBO/evolution-sdk
What it is: Off-chain transaction library for JavaScript/TypeScript
Why use it: Building strongly typed off-chain transactions.

Mesh​

Website: https://meshjs.dev
What it is: Complete web3 development framework for Cardano
Why use it: React components, hooks, and utilities for rapid development

PyCardano​

GitHub: https://github.com/Python-Cardano/pycardano
What it is: Python library for Cardano
Why use it: Backend services, automation scripts, data analysis

Aiken​

Website: https://aiken-lang.org
What it is: Modern smart contract language for Cardano
Why use it: Alternative to Plutus with friendlier syntax and better developer experience

Demeter.run​

Website: https://demeter.run
What it is: Cloud development platform for Cardano
Why use it: Pre-configured environments, no local setup needed

Transaction Building Tools​

Tx Pipe: https://github.com/txpipe
Rust-based tools for working with Cardano

Cardano Serialization Lib: https://github.com/Emurgo/cardano-serialization-lib
Low-level transaction building (used by many higher-level tools)

Additional Resources​

Essential Cardano​

GitHub: https://github.com/input-output-hk/essential-cardano
Curated list of resources, categorized by role and interest

Cardano Updates​

Site: https://cardanoupdates.com
Development activity tracker across multiple repos

Gimbalabs​

Website: https://gimbalabs.com
Educational platform with courses, playgrounds, and community learning

Project Catalyst​

Website: https://projectcatalyst.io
Funding mechanism for Cardano projects—check here if you're building something new

Intersect Knowledge Base​

Portal: https://docs.intersectmbo.org
Governance, committee information, working groups

Quick Reference: When to Use What​

I need to...

  • Check if a transaction succeeded → Use any Block Explorer (CardanoScan is fastest)
  • Query address balance in my app → Use Blockfrost or Koios API
  • Understand how something works → Check docs.cardano.org or developers.cardano.org
  • Get help with a coding problem → Cardano Stack Exchange or Discord
  • See what standard exists for X → Search CIPs repository
  • Find the source code for Y → Check IntersectMBO GitHub org
  • Build a dApp quickly → Use Mesh or Lucid + Blockfrost
  • Test my dApp's wallet connector → Install Lace Wallet and test CIP-30 integration
  • Participate in governance or vote on proposals → Use GovTool (gov.tools)
  • Build high-performance custom indexer → Use Pallas (Rust) or DB Sync (PostgreSQL)
  • Run local development environment → Try Demeter.run or set up locally with Ogmios
  • Contribute to Cardano core → Start in IntersectMBO/developer-experience, then branch to specific repos
  • Stay updated on development → Follow cardanoupdates.com and relevant Discord channels

Closing Thoughts​

The Cardano ecosystem has a lot of resources—which is both a blessing and can feel overwhelming. Here's my advice:

Start small: Bookmark 3-5 resources you'll use most often (probably docs.cardano.org, an API service, an explorer, and Stack Exchange).

Contribute back: When you figure something out that wasn't well-documented, open a PR to the developer-experience repo or answer a question on Stack Exchange.

Stay connected: Join at least one community space (Discord, Forum, or Stack Exchange) where you can ask questions and help others.

Keep this guide handy: This document itself is in the developer-experience repo and will be updated as the ecosystem evolves.

Navigation Quick Links:

This session is part of the Q1 2025 Developer Experience Working Group: "Laying the Foundations"

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