[DIS] Fiber Desktop v1 ground-up rebuild and launch — fnn desktop app

DAOs & Funding CKB Community Fund DAO
29

Fiber Studio — DAO Grant Completion Report

1. Executive Summary

This grant funded the complete, ground-up rebuild of the earlier Fiber Desktop prototype into a consumer-grade, production-ready desktop application that allows everyday users to run the official Fiber Network Node (fnn) on macOS, Windows, and Linux without CLI expertise, VPS hosting, or manual configuration.

All milestones (M1, M2, and M3) have been fully delivered, signed, and published. In addition, several advanced protocol features originally marked as out-of-scope for future funding (such as UDT asset support, Cross-Chain Hub / Bitcoin Lightning swaps, pre-flight payment diagnostics, circular channel rebalancing, and channel safety controls) were proactively built and shipped across v1.1.0, v1.1.1, and v1.1.2 at no extra cost to the DAO.

2. Milestone Delivery Matrix

Milestone Scope Deliverables Status Evidence
Commencement (25%) Initial payout Grant kickoff & planning Paid Initial Tx
Milestone 1 (25%) Shell, Dashboard & Node Guided onboarding wizard, keychain security, start/stop lifecycle, live home dashboard, pre-release dev builds Complete (Paid) M1 Update Post
Milestone 2 (25%) Wallet, Peers & Channels CKB Send/Receive, QR invoices, local invoice tracking & cancellation, peer management, channel opening/monitoring/closing, gossip graph explorer Complete (Paid) M2 Update Post
Milestone 3 (25%) Launch & Operations Rebrand to Fiber Studio, custom domain website, Apple notarization + Windows Authenticode signing, in-app migration/backups, log export, auto-start, v1.0.0 public release Complete (Paid) M3 Update Post

3. Value-Add Deliverables (Beyond Original Grant Scope)

In the original proposal, Section 10 explicitly marked protocol extensions as out-of-scope:

“Integration with new CKB/Fiber protocol features (CCH, watchtower, UDT power tools) — Out-of-Scope / Future Funding”

Rather than deferring these to future funding rounds, the following major capabilities were built and shipped directly into Fiber Studio across v1.1.0, v1.1.1, and v1.1.2:

1. Pre-Flight Payment Diagnostics (v1.1.2)

  • Pre-Send Diagnostics Card: Fiber invoice and Keysend payments feature a real-time Ready / Risky / Blocked status card before sending.
  • Proactive Path & Liquidity Validation: Inspects route hops, estimated fees, and outbound headroom. Replaces raw node error codes (e.g. PathFind error) with actionable guidance directing users to connect peers or balance liquidity.
  • Inspired by “Fiber Preflight” by zuhdev (Gone in 60ms Hackathon).

2. Channel Liquidity Health & Circular Rebalance (v1.1.2)

  • Liquidity Health Scoring: Ready channels display a visual health indicator targeting an optimal 50/50 balance split, immediately surfacing one-sided channels that cannot receive or send.
  • Circular Channel Rebalancing: Executes a circular self-payment between two ready channels of the same asset via build_router + send_payment_with_router, complete with dry-run preview and maximum fee cap controls.
  • Inspired by “Even Keel” by Antismart & “FiberPilot” by OkeyAmy (Gone in 60ms Hackathon).

3. Channel Closing & Safety Safeguards (v1.1.2)

  • Differentiated Closing Workflows: Replaced unified buttons with dedicated workflows for Cooperative Close (online peers), Force Close (offline peers or stuck on-chain funded channels), and Abandon (only valid before funding is signed).
  • Fund Safety Protection: Prevents accidental channel abandonments when funding is already broadcast on-chain, protecting users from stranding CKB.

4. User Defined Tokens (UDT) Asset Support (v1.1.0)

  • Multi-Asset Balances: Full asset dashboard displaying on-chain and in-channel balances for CKB and testnet UDTs (e.g., RUSD, cWBTC).
  • UDT Channels & Invoices: Open channels and create/pay invoices denominated in specific UDT assets.

5. Cross-Chain Hub (CCH) & Bitcoin Lightning Swaps (v1.1.0)

  • Pay Lightning Invoices: Pay standard Bitcoin Lightning BOLT11 invoices using Fiber cWBTC balance via atomic Cross-Chain Hub swaps.
  • Receive BTC Swaps: Generate Lightning reverse-swap invoices to receive Bitcoin directly into Fiber cWBTC liquidity.

6. Core Upgrades & Hardening (v1.1.0 & v1.1.1)

  • Official Node Upgrade: Upgraded bundled binary to stable fnn v0.9.0.
  • Spendable Capacity Calculation: Improved wallet funding capacity calculation using exact script matching to ensure only plain, spendable cells are counted.

4. Adoption & Download Statistics

Across all releases (from early M1 alpha builds through v1.0.0, v1.1.0, v1.1.1, and v1.1.2), Fiber Studio has recorded steady adoption across all major operating systems.

Overview

  • Total Direct Installer Downloads: 67
  • Total Asset & Package Downloads: 122
  • Platform Distribution:
    • macOS (Apple Silicon & Intel): 30 downloads (45%)
    • Linux (AppImage, deb, rpm): 24 downloads (36%)
    • Windows (x64 Setup): 11 downloads (19%)

Release-by-Release Breakdown

Release Version Milestone / Phase Installer Downloads Total Asset Downloads
v1.1.2 Pre-flight, Rebalancing & Safe Close (Latest) 1 1
v1.1.1 fnn 0.9.0 & Spendable cell fixes 0 1
v1.1.0 CCH / Lightning & UDT assets 9 15
v1.0.0 Milestone 3 Launch 10 18
v0.1.10 M3 Signing & hardening 2 3
v0.1.9 M3 Visual revamp & fnn bump 10 26
v0.1.8 M2/M3 Error handling & UX 13 28
v0.1.5 M2 E2E payment verification 5 6
v0.1.4 M2 Channels & graph 4 4
v0.1.3 M1 Multi-platform builds 9 9
v0.1.0 – v0.1.2 M1 Initial development builds 4 11
Total 67 122

5. Public Artifacts & Verification

7. Post-Grant Stabilization & Maintenance Commitment

As committed in the grant proposal, a 3-month stabilization period begins immediately following this completion at no extra cost to the DAO:

  • Ongoing maintenance and bug fixes for features delivered in Milestones 1–3 and v1.1.x.
  • Upstream fnn node version updates and security patches.
  • Cross-platform hotfixes for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
  • Direct user support via GitHub Issues and the Nervos Talk forum.

8. Conclusion

Fiber Studio has successfully transformed running a Fiber node from a complex, CLI-driven task into a single-click desktop experience for the entire CKB ecosystem.

With full delivery of Milestones 1–3, signed multi-platform distribution, 67+ direct installer downloads across all platforms, and the unbudgeted delivery of UDT support, Bitcoin Lightning cross-chain swaps, pre-flight diagnostics, and circular channel rebalancing in v1.1.2, the project has substantially exceeded its original scope and targets.

Thank you to the CKB Community Fund DAO Committee, reviewers, and all community testers for their support.

Submitted by:
Chukwuma Ebube (@ebubedev)
Creator of Fiber Studio

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