The Midwest Block-a-Thon HackerDoc / Guide to Autonomys
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📝 Welcome to the Autonomys Midwest Block-a-Thon Hackers’ Guide!
Here's where you'll find everything you need to get started including:
- The Challenge: Unstoppable Data for AI
- The WHY and HOW of Building with Autonomys
- Helpful links to our product suite, docs, & tutorials
- + Much More
🤓 About Autonomys
The Autonomys Network — the foundation layer for AI3.0 — is a hyper-scalable decentralized AI (deAI) infrastructure stack encompassing high-throughput permanent distributed storage, data availability and access, and modular execution. Our deAI ecosystem provides all the essential components to build and deploy secure super dApps (AI-powered dApps) and on-chain agents, equipping them with advanced AI capabilities for dynamic and autonomous functionality.
Expanded docs - https://develop.autonomys.xyz/
🏆 Autonomys Midwest Block-a-Thon Track Details
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The Challenge: Unstoppable Data for AI
The Autonomys DSN is the world’s first truly permanent, permissionless, and decentralized data storage network. We challenge you to build AI applications powered by truly unstoppable data—creating systems that leverage both decentralized storage and artificial intelligence to demonstrate what's possible when AI can rely on data that can't be censored, tampered with, or taken offline.
Unlike traditional storage solutions, the Autonomys DSN (decentralized storage network) ensures data is immutable, censorship-resistant, and accessible for generations to come — a foundation for building trustworthy AI systems.
Examples of Unstoppable Data:
- Preservation and sharing of historical records: Eg. Archiving the history of Kansas Basketball on-chain.
- NFT pinning: Permanent archiving of NFT’s
Challenge Criteria
Your submission will be evaluated on:
- Automation & Persistence
- How effectively does your project automate data creation and consistent writes to the DSN(decentralized storage network)? Utilize the Autonomys SDK, Autonomys Agents Framework, Eliza, or any other tools to streamline this process.
- Data Value & Impact
- Not all data is created equal. Projects will be assessed on the meaningfulness of the data and its potential to benefit future humans or Autonomys agents.
- Human-Centered Interaction
- How intuitive and engaging is your AI application for regular users? Successful entries will demonstrate an experience that aligns with natural human behavior, encouraging users to engage meaningfully, leading to valuable data being stored on the DSN.
- Document your experience
- Share your experience using the Autonomys SDK and Agents Framework! What worked well? Where did you encounter challenges? Provide specific feedback on documentation clarity, the onboarding process, and any technical hurdles you faced when deploying your AI agents. Your honest insights will help us improve our tools for the broader developer community.
Track Value
$1,000 USD
Join Us in Building the World's First H+AI Data Artifact
Contribute to a decentralized future where data serves as the foundation for intelligent systems — one that is open, transparent, and unstoppable.
Need support? We’re here for you!
The Autonomys Team is ready to provide support in real-time during the hackathon via the Discord Developer Channel: https://autonomys.xyz/discord
You need to join the Discord channel + connect your GitHub to be able to see and write in the Developer Channel. You can follow this guide in case you’re not sure how to do that.
📚 Guide to Autonomys
Autonomys’ Consensus (5 minutes to read)
TLDR: Autonomys Network is an L1 blockchain that uses a storage-based consensus protocol with proof-of-capacity ("one-disk-one-vote") instead of energy-intensive proof-of-work or permissioned proof-of-stake. This approach is eco-friendly, highly decentralized, and scales with user participation. The distributed storage network (DSN) ensures blockchain data is permanently stored across all farmers in a permissionless, retrievable, verifiable, durable, and uniform manner, allowing the network to grow beyond any individual farmer's capacity.
Autonomys Network reinvents blockchain consensus with Subspace—a breakthrough protocol that uses your unused disk space instead of energy-hungry computing power.
Why It Matters
Unlike traditional blockchains, Autonomys introduces "proof-of-archival-storage" consensus mechanism, with a simple principle: one-disk-one-vote. This approach:
- Runs on minimal electricity (goodbye, massive carbon footprints!)
- Allows anyone with spare storage to participate (not just those with specialized hardware)
- Scales naturally as more users join
- Connects seamlessly with existing networks
How It Works
Your spare disk space becomes valuable as you "farm" rather than mine. The network distributes blockchain data across all participants through a sophisticated distributed storage network (DSN) that ensures:
- No central control (true decentralization)
- Easy data retrieval (balanced across all participants)
- Verifiable security (without requiring full history downloads)
- Exceptional durability (no risk of data loss)
- Fair distribution (all pieces stored equally across the network)
This smart design allows the blockchain to grow beyond what any single participant could store, democratizing participation while maintaining security and efficiency.
Curious to learn more?
- Network Introduction: https://academy.autonomys.xyz/autonomys-network/introduction
- Proof-of-Archival-Storage Consensus: https://academy.autonomys.xyz/autonomys-network/consensus
- Distributed Storage Network: https://academy.autonomys.xyz/autonomys-network/distributed-storage-network
đź’ The WHY of building on Autonomys Network (7 minutes to read)
TLDR: Autonomys Network defines AI evolution through three phases, with AI 3.0 being the age of a fully decentralized AI. As billions of personal AI agents begin acting on behalf of individuals, blockchain becomes essential to verify agent memories, enable trustless transactions in the emerging "agent economy," and preserve human autonomy.
Why blockchains need AI and why AI needs blockchains
Autonomys Network Track: Unstoppable Data for AI
You might ask: what do blockchains have to do with AI? And that’s a very valid question!
The Evolution of AI and the Need for Decentralization
Artificial intelligence is evolving rapidly, moving through distinct phases that Autonomys Network defines as:
- AI 1.0: Centralized machine learning dominated by big tech cloud platforms
- AI 2.0: Centralized generative AI like ChatGPT and Claude, still controlled by large corporations
- AI 3.0: Decentralized, human-centric AI where people can create, customize, and deploy personal AI agents
But why does this next evolution of AI need blockchain technology? The Autonomys Network offers a compelling vision.
Personal AI Agents Need Verifiable Identities
As we move toward a future where everyone has personal AI agents acting on their behalf, we'll need a way to verify these relationships. Imagine billions of AI agents:
- Booking your medical appointments
- Managing your finances
- Coordinating meetings
- Ordering groceries
- Representing you in online governance
How will you know which agents truly represent specific individuals or organizations? Blockchain provides the infrastructure for secure, verifiable digital identities that can't be forged or manipulated.
The Agent Economy Requires Trustless Transactions
The Autonomys Network envisions an "agent economy" where AI representatives exchange information, permissions, and value. This economy needs:
- Secure, transparent transactions
- Verifiable permissions and authorizations
- Permanent record-keeping of agent interactions
Blockchain technology solves these challenges through its inherent properties of immutability, transparency, and decentralization.
Preserving Human Autonomy in an AI World
Unlike dystopian visions where AI makes humans economically irrelevant, Autonomys proposes a system where blockchain enables:
- True ownership of personal data
- Incentivized participation in a self-sustaining ecosystem
- A framework for humans to remain economically relevant by collaborating with their AI agents
The Foundation Layer for AI3.0
Autonomys Network positions itself as the foundation layer for this new paradigm. Its blockchain infrastructure provides:
- Tools for individuals to train and deploy personal AI agents
- A permanent record of agent interactions and transactions
- A decentralized ecosystem free from centralized control
By combining blockchain with AI, Autonomys creates a path toward what we call "radical autonomy" or "absolute digital self-governance" — preserving human agency while embracing the transformative potential of advanced artificial intelligence.
Rather than being passive consumers of AI technologies built by tech giants, Autonomys enables people to become active participants in the AI revolution, maintaining control of their digital lives while benefiting from AI capabilities.
In essence, blockchain isn't just a nice-to-have for AI's future — it's essential infrastructure for an equitable, transparent, and human-centric AI ecosystem.
🔎 The HOW of building on Autonomys Network
Is building on Autonomys difficult?
Absolutely not! One of the project’s primary objectives is to minimize the barriers to entry for all network participants, from farmers to developers. Building on Autonomys is thus very straightforward, with active support from our team and community available if you ever run into trouble.
An overview of Autonomys' product suite
The Auto Suite is our suite of products and tools for developing on and interacting with the Autonomys Network. It currently includes tooling for:
- Developing and deploying dApps (Auto SDK)
- Auto Drive - decentralized permanent Storage (Auto Drive)
- Developing on-chain AI-agents (Auto Agents Framework)
- EVM-domain Auto EVM (Auto EVM Documentation)
- Consensus Block Explorer and DSN file explorer (Astral)
- Auto EVM Block Explorer(Blockscout)
🤖 Building an AI agent with a permanent memory (via our DSN) using the Auto Agents Framework
This demo will show you how to use Autonomys Agents Framework to build your own AI-agent!
Alternative Youtube link: https://youtu.be/MPEeTNRZ-MM
🛠️ Using Auto Drive (Autonomys DSN) with Auto SDK
This demo will show you how to upload and download files using Autonomys Auto Drive SDK package
Alternative Youtube link: https://youtu.be/CJzFygtgtjU
🧑‍💻 Code Samples
Using Auto Drive to store information on the Autonomys’ DSN (Decentralized Storage Network)
Uploading the file
import { fs,createAutoDriveApi } from '@autonomys/auto-drive' import { NetworkId } from '@autonomys/auto-utils' const api = createAutoDriveApi({ apiKey: 'your-api-key', network: NetworkId.TAURUS }) // Initialize your API instance with API key const filePath = 'path/to/your/file.txt' // Specify the path to your file const options = { password: 'your-encryption-password', // Optional: specify a password for encryption compression: true, // an optional callback useful for large file uploads onProgress?: (progress: number) => { console.log(`The upload is completed is ${progress}% completed`) } } const cid = await fs.uploadFileFromFilepath(api, filePath, options) console.log(`The file is uploaded and its cid is ${cid}`)
Downloading the file
import { createAutoDriveApi } from '@autonomys/auto-drive' import { NetworkId } from '@autonomys/auto-utils' const api = createAutoDriveApi({ apiKey: 'your-api-key', network: NetworkId.TAURUS }) // Initialize your API instance with API key try { const cid = 'your_file_CID' const stream = await api.downloadFile(cid) let file = Buffer.alloc(0) for await (const chunk of stream) { file = Buffer.concat([file, chunk]) } console.log('File downloaded successfully:', stream) } catch (error) { console.error('Error downloading file:', error) }
Uploading a folder
import { createAutoDriveApi, fs } from '@autonomys/auto-drive' import { NetworkId } from '@autonomys/auto-utils' const api = createAutoDriveApi({ apiKey: 'your-api-key', network: NetworkId.TAURUS }) // Initialize your API instance with API key const folderPath = 'path/to/your/folder' // Specify the path to your folder const options = { uploadChunkSize: 1024 * 1024, // Optional: specify the chunk size for uploads password: 'your-encryption-password', // Optional: If folder is encrypted // an optional callback useful for large file uploads onProgress: (progress: number) => { console.log(`The upload is completed is ${progress}% completed`) }, } const folderCID = await fs.uploadFolderFromFolderPath(api, folderPath, options) console.log(`The folder is uploaded and its cid is ${folderCID}`)
Creating a shareable download link
import { createAutoDriveApi } from '@autonomys/auto-drive' import { NetworkId } from '@autonomys/auto-utils' const api = createAutoDriveApi({ apiKey: 'your-api-key', network: NetworkId.TAURUS }) // Initialize your API instance with API key try { const cid = 'your-file-cid' const publicUrl = await api.publishObject(cid) console.log('Public download URL:', publicUrl) } catch (error) { console.error('Error publishing object:', error) }
🤩Application Examples
Curious to learn more? Browse through the previous hackathon submissions to look for some inspiration
Autonomys Community GitHub organization.