🛡️ Merito: Private, Merit-Based Governance Framework (Compact DApp)

Status: Proof-of-Concept (PoC) | Proposed For: Project Catalyst - Midnight Compact DApps | License: Apache 2.0

💡 Project Overview

The Merito Compact DApp is a foundational open-source framework designed to solve the critical challenges of plutocracy and Sybil attacks in decentralized governance.

Merito enables merit-based (shāyesteh-sālārī) voting by leveraging Midnight's Private State and ZK-proofs to allow users to privately prove their expertise (via Verifiable Credentials) and unique identity, ensuring vote weight is determined by verifiable qualifications, not token holdings.

Core Value Proposition

• Privacy-Preserving Sybil Resistance: Implements a mechanism to link multiple DIDs to a single, verified identity, storing the linkage hash securely in the Private State.
• Selective Disclosure for Merit: Generates Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) to prove a user possesses the required VCs and calculate their weighted vote score ($W$), without revealing the sensitive credentials themselves.
• Reusable Tooling: Provides the definitive reference architecture for combining ZK logic, Compact Contracts, and the TypeScript ecosystem on Midnight.

⚙️ Architecture and Components

The DApp is composed of three interconnected, modular repositories:

Component	Technology	Role
MeritoWeightingEngine	Compact Language (Rust)	The auditable, on-chain contract that verifies the ZKP and updates the vote tally. Does not access private data.
TypeScript SDK	TypeScript/JavaScript	The local engine responsible for reading VCs, running the ZK circuit, and generating the proof of eligibility and weight.
PoC UI	TypeScript/React	The user interface demonstrating the private identity linking, VC upload, and transaction submission flow.

🚀 Getting Started

To run the full Proof-of-Concept locally, you must have the required Midnight SDK and tooling installed.

Prerequisites

• Node.js (LTS version)
• Yarn or npm
• Midnight SDK/Toolchain (refer to official documentation)

Local Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/YourRepo/merito-compact-dapp.git
cd merito-compact-dapp

# 1. Setup Compact Contract environment
cd compact
cargo build # Ensure the contract compiles

# 2. Setup TypeScript SDK and UI (Dependencies are shared)
cd ../sdk-ts 
npm install 

🧪 Usage and Verification

1. Running the PoC UI

This command starts the local web interface for demonstration purposes.

npm run start:poc

2. Verification and Testing

Validation of the Merito DApp is focused on the correctness of the ZK logic and contract verification.

Component	Purpose	Command
Compact Contract	Ensure the verify_and_cast_vote function correctly accepts valid ZK proofs and rejects invalid/tampered proofs.	cd compact && cargo test --package merito_contract
TypeScript SDK	Verify the SDK reliably generates the required ZKP and calculates the correct weighted score ($W$) given specific VC inputs.	cd sdk-ts && npm test --suite=proof_generation

🧩 Reusability and Extension Points

Developers are encouraged to reuse and extend the core components:

• Custom Governance Logic: Modify the Meritocratic Weighting Formula within the MeritoWeightingEngine.compact source code.
• Private Identity: Reuse the Private Identity Linking pattern demonstrated in the SDK for any DApp requiring Sybil-resistant user access.
• SDK Integration: Integrate the merito_sdk.proof.generateMeritProof() API into any external DAO front-end.

👥 Team

Name	Role	Profile Link
Omid Ajourlou	Software Architect & Project Lead
Sadegh Ghoroghi	Software Engineer

📜 License

This project is released under the Apache 2.0 License. See the LICENSE file for details.

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[Link to Project Proposal Documentation]