Hello Stacker news community! We are please to announce we are taking our award winning TabConf Project Data Buffets and making major upgrades on our way to V2!

What are Data Buffets? Data Buffets are based on the NIP-105 based spec that makes it simple and straightforward to discover, consume and review L402 (paid lightning) API endpoints. We designed NIP-105 to be maximally scalable, modular, decentralized, transparent and efficient. Below is a simple graphic that demonstrates the elegance and simplicity of a typical Data Buffet workflow:

Benefits of Data Buffets Data Buffets unlock the potential and promises offered by an open, uncensorable, decentralized network like nostr & the power of instant, high resolution, private micropayments with lightning:

Scalability: horizontal scaling - anyone can build on or deploy on this standard and offer standard building blocks or new fangled, innovative APIs. Buyers can find reliable building blocks at the best possible price thanks to competition

Inclusivity: bring services to people that are not possible without a US credit card. Marketplace is totally open & resistant to rent seeking.

Privacy: significant upgrades for buyers laundering requests through a “VPN” + non-KYC sats for service providers

Opportunity:

For sellers to earn sats, publish custom & even proprietary models

For buyers to reap the vast benefits of machine learning APIs & mixing and matching them at scale on an open decentralized network that we optimized for efficiency

finalized the first version of NIP-105, built reusable service provider templates & an explorer client to boot Additionally, during Week 1 of the Hackathon, more work was done on a client app called Cascdr which allows users to visually build their own workflows & test out NIP-105 compliant services in realtime:

Legends of Lightning Roadmap: With the groundwork we’ve laid from the work at TabConf we are prepared to move the project forward in several ways: namely the spec/protocol layer, the supply (server) side implementations and the demand (client) side appliations.

Initiative #1: Protocol Layer Our goal is to build off the work at Tabconf and make Data Buffets even more useful and extensible as compared to before:

Add a Reputation Layer: Use NIP-57 Zap Receipts as an ingredient to a new Review type note that captures the quality, honesty and speed delivered by a service provider. The reputational score will add another criteria by which clients can search and hopefully encourage competition and high quality service from service providers.

Improve Composability Through Input/Output Hashes - use SHA256 hashes to compress the schema information down into a single string to make it easier for clients to search for, discover and chain together requests from disparate service providers into unique applications.

Initiative #2: Supply Side Improvements We want to improve the quality of templates and resources available for new developers on NIP-105. We’ve identified these a few key initiatives:

Refine the Template App: improve the server implementation and make high quality docs that make it simple for new devs to bring supply online.

Data Buffet Dev Kit (DBDK) - tooling to make the innards of the DB processes as black box and simple as possible for would be devs.

Educate: create tips, videos and tutorials on how to deploy a NIP-105 service including graphics on the steps involved to successfully bring your supply online.

Automate: create tools/dev ops pipelines that make it as simple as possible for users to input the appropriate variables such as pricing & LNAddress and immediately bring supply online with a click of a few buttons.

Initiative #3: Client Side Improvements We want to create captivating user experiences from the client side. I think these efforts will fall mainly under two categories:

Visual pipeline building/learning/discovery through an application like Cascdr

A client that is well suited for exploring NIP-105 services

Searching by category/offering

Showing by “rank”/reputation

Additionally there are some other goals we want to pursue, time permitting:

Optimizing Based on User Preferences: Allow the user to select the combination of pricing/speed/reputation they’d like to employ for their application.

Exporting/Deploying Macros: allow users to take basic building blocks, construct visually, then export in some deterministic way that can then be turned into a “macro” service that they could likewise serve up to prospective customers.

AI Builders: make it to the point where an AI could take a vague request from a user and make that into a pipeline with the building blocks available.

Add New Demos & Services: pioneer new ways to create value with L402 API modules and combine them in ways that shows the power of lightning, nostr and Data Buffets!

Closing Remarks Our project is ambitious. We like it that way. We think that L402s and tools like Nostr will change the world. And we want to be a part of it!

We intend to make our mark and put forth a superb final product to earn our place in the annals of Legends of Lightning history! Stay tuned while we build!