StarkEd

StarkEd is a decentralized learning and credential verification platform powered by Stellar blockchain. It enables secure, tamper-proof issuance and verification of educational credentials, certificates, and achievements using Soroban smart contracts.

🎯 Features

📚 Decentralized Learning - Course creation and management on blockchain
🎓 Credential Verification - Tamper-proof certificates and achievements
🔗 Stellar Integration - Fast, low-cost transactions on Stellar
💼 Professional Profiles - On-chain learning history and skills
🏆 Achievement System - NFT-based badges and milestones
📊 Learning Analytics - Progress tracking and insights
🔐 Secure Storage - IPFS integration for content persistence
🌐 Cross-Platform - Web and mobile applications

🛠️ Technology Stack

Blockchain Layer

Stellar - Fast, scalable Layer 1 blockchain
Soroban - Smart contract platform for Stellar
Stellar SDK - JavaScript/TypeScript integration

Frontend

Next.js 14 - React framework with App Router
TypeScript - Type-safe development
TailwindCSS - Utility-first CSS framework
Stellar Wallets - Freighter, Albedo, and more
IPFS - Decentralized content storage

Backend

Node.js - Server-side JavaScript runtime
Express.js - Fast, minimalist web framework
PostgreSQL - Robust relational database
Redis - High-performance caching
Prisma - Modern database ORM
JWT - Secure authentication
IPFS HTTP Client - Decentralized storage integration

Smart Contracts

Rust - Memory-safe smart contract language
Soroban SDK - Stellar smart contract development
Cairo Compatibility - Cross-platform contract support

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

Node.js (v18+)
npm or yarn
PostgreSQL
Redis
Freighter or compatible Stellar wallet

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/jobbykings/starked-education.git
cd starked-education

# Install dependencies
npm run install:all

# Set up environment
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your configuration

# Start development
npm run dev

Development Setup

# Start Stellar network (local)
stellar standalone start

# Deploy contracts
cd contracts
npm run deploy:local

# Start backend
cd ../backend
npm run dev

# Start frontend
cd ../frontend
npm run dev

📁 Project Structure

starked-education/
├── contracts/              # Soroban smart contracts (Rust)
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── lib.rs       # Main contract logic
│   │   └── test.rs      # Contract tests
│   └── Cargo.toml        # Rust dependencies
├── frontend/               # Next.js React application
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── app/          # App Router pages
│   │   ├── components/    # Reusable UI components
│   │   └── lib/          # Utility functions
│   ├── public/             # Static assets
│   └── package.json        # Frontend dependencies
├── backend/                # Node.js API server
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── routes/       # API endpoints
│   │   ├── models/        # Database models
│   │   ├── middleware/    # Auth and validation
│   │   └── utils/         # Helper functions
│   └── package.json        # Backend dependencies
├── docs/                   # Project documentation
├── scripts/                # Deployment and utility scripts
└── .github/               # GitHub workflows and templates
    ├── workflows/           # CI/CD pipelines
    └── ISSUE_TEMPLATE/      # Issue templates

🔧 Smart Contracts

The core Soroban contracts handle:

CredentialRegistry - Stores and verifies educational credentials
CourseManager - Manages course creation and enrollment
AchievementIssuer - Handles NFT-based achievement badges
ProfileManager - Manages on-chain learning profiles

⚡ Storage Optimization

Our smart contracts implement advanced storage optimization techniques to reduce gas costs and improve deployment efficiency:

� Key Optimizations

Bit Packing - Multiple boolean flags and small integers packed into single bytes
Hash-Based Storage - Large strings and vectors stored as hashes to save space
Separate Storage Tiers - Frequently vs infrequently accessed data separated
Packed Timestamps - Creation and update timestamps combined in single U256
Optimized Ratings - Rating values and review counts packed together
Shared Utilities - Common storage patterns abstracted into reusable utilities

📊 Gas Savings Results

Contract	Storage Slots (Before)	Storage Slots (After)	Reduction	Gas Savings
UserProfile	10	6	40%	~2,500 gas
CourseMetadata	17	12	29%	~3,200 gas
Credential	9	7	22%	~1,800 gas
Achievement	7	5	28%	~1,500 gas
Overall	43	30	30%	~9,000 gas

🔬 Technical Implementation

// Before: Separate fields
pub struct UserProfile {
    pub created_at: u64,
    pub updated_at: u64,
    pub is_verified: bool,
    pub is_active: bool,
    pub privacy_level: PrivacyLevel,
}

// After: Packed storage
pub struct UserProfile {
    pub timestamps: PackedTimestamps,  // 2 timestamps in 1 U256
    pub flags: PackedUserFlags,       // 5 flags in 1 byte
}

🧪 Benchmarking

Run gas usage benchmarks:

cd contracts
cargo test --release -- --nocapture test_gas_benchmarks

Generate detailed gas report:

soroban contract invoke \
  --id <contract-id> \
  --fn generate_gas_report \
  --wasm target/wasm32-unknown-unknown/release/starked_education.wasm

�🌐 API Endpoints

Authentication

POST /api/auth/register - User registration
POST /api/auth/login - User authentication
POST /api/auth/refresh - Token refresh

Courses

GET /api/courses - List available courses
POST /api/courses - Create new course
GET /api/courses/:id - Course details
POST /api/courses/:id/enroll - Enroll in course

Credentials

POST /api/credentials/issue - Issue new credential
GET /api/credentials/:id - Verify credential
GET /api/credentials/user/:address - User credentials

Profiles

GET /api/profiles/:address - Learning profile

IPFS Content Management

POST /api/content/upload - Upload file to IPFS
POST /api/content/upload/batch - Upload multiple files
GET /api/content/:cid - Retrieve content from IPFS
GET /api/content/:cid/metadata - Get content metadata
POST /api/content/:cid/pin - Pin content to IPFS
DELETE /api/content/:cid/pin - Unpin content from IPFS
GET /api/content/health - Check IPFS service health

📁 IPFS Integration

StarkEd integrates with IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) for decentralized content storage, providing:

Features

File Upload & Storage - Upload educational content to IPFS with metadata
Content Retrieval - Retrieve content in multiple formats (buffer, base64, stream)
Progress Tracking - Real-time upload progress with WebSocket support
Authentication - JWT-based auth with role-based permissions
Caching - In-memory caching for improved performance
Error Handling - Comprehensive error handling with retry mechanisms

Usage

import ipfsClient from './lib/ipfs';

// Upload a file
const result = await ipfsClient.uploadFile(file, {
  metadata: { course: 'math101' },
  onProgress: (progress) => console.log(`${progress.progress}%`)
});

// Retrieve content
const content = await ipfsClient.getContent(result.cid, 'base64');

Configuration

See backend/.env.example for IPFS configuration options.

For detailed documentation, see IPFS_INTEGRATION_README.md.

Gas Optimization

GET /api/gas/benchmarks - View gas usage benchmarks
GET /api/gas/report - Generate optimization report
GET /api/gas/compare - Compare old vs new storage patterns

🎓 Use Cases

For Students

Earn Verifiable Certificates - Complete courses, earn blockchain-verified credentials
Build On-Chain Portfolio - Showcase learning history and achievements
Lifelong Learning Records - Persistent, portable academic records

For Educators

Create Blockchain Courses - Deploy courses with smart contract integration
Issue Digital Certificates - Automate credential issuance
Track Student Progress - Monitor engagement and completion

For Institutions

Verify Credentials Instantly - Eliminate fraud with on-chain verification
Reduce Administrative Overhead - Automate certificate management
Global Credential Recognition - Cross-border verification

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details.

👥 Contributors

Thanks to all our contributors! See the CONTRIBUTORS.md file for details.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🌟 Community

📊 Project Status

Version: 0.1.0 (Alpha)
Network: Stellar Testnet
Status: Under Development
Roadmap: View Project Board
Gas Optimization: ✅ 30% storage reduction achieved
Latest Update: Storage optimization implementation completed

🏆 Optimization Achievements

✅ 30% overall storage reduction across all contracts
✅ Bit packing implementation for boolean flags and small integers
✅ Hash-based storage for large data structures
✅ Separate storage tiers for access pattern optimization
✅ Comprehensive benchmarking suite implemented
✅ Shared storage utilities for code reuse and consistency

📈 Performance Metrics

Deployment Gas: Reduced by ~9,000 gas per contract deployment
Transaction Gas: 15-25% reduction in average transaction costs
Storage Efficiency: 30% fewer storage slots used
Code Maintainability: Improved with shared utilities and patterns

⭐ Star this repository to support decentralized education on Stellar!

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 72 Commits
backend		backend
contracts		contracts
frontend		frontend
.env.example		.env.example
.gitignore		.gitignore
IPFS_INTEGRATION_README.md		IPFS_INTEGRATION_README.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
PR_AI_SEARCH_DESCRIPTION.md		PR_AI_SEARCH_DESCRIPTION.md
PR_DESCRIPTION.md		PR_DESCRIPTION.md
PR_INSTRUCTIONS.md		PR_INSTRUCTIONS.md
PR_SUMMARY.md		PR_SUMMARY.md
PR_UNIT_TEST_COVERAGE.md		PR_UNIT_TEST_COVERAGE.md
README.md		README.md
VERSION_CONTROL_README.md		VERSION_CONTROL_README.md
analyticsService.ts		analyticsService.ts
dataAggregation.ts		dataAggregation.ts
package-lock.json		package-lock.json
package.json		package.json
pnpm-lock.yaml		pnpm-lock.yaml
reportService.ts		reportService.ts
trendAnalysis.ts		trendAnalysis.ts
verify-ipfs-integration.js		verify-ipfs-integration.js

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