FAQ

Let’s start with some basic information

What’s OnlyDust?

We’re the go-to platform for developers to contribute to the most challenging blockchain open-source projects.

No more wasted hours searching for projects that accept contributors, no more paperwork to get grants. You have immediate access to +150 projects looking for contributors, and you can even be rewarded for some of them!

To top it all off, you are joining a strong community of thousands of contributors ready to share knowledge and support each other.

• Are you a freelancing platform?

Absolutely not! It’s a pure open-source contributions model, with no contract or guaranteed income. Developers are compensated based on their contributions (if the project has a budget for it).

• Why should I contribute to open-source?

Explore and acquire new skills or languages, unlock job opportunities, dive into web3, embrace exciting new challenges, become a part of a dynamic global community of developers, etc. The list goes on!

• Which ecosystems are you partnering with?

Ethereum, Starknet, Avail, Aptos, Optimism, Aztec, Cosmos… And more to come!

• What kind of project can I expect on OnlyDust?

We have more than 160 projects, very backend-oriented. In the future, our ambition is to offer all kinds of issues: frontend, DevOps, design, product, and more.

Our projects range from being suitable for beginners to advanced developers, although the majority of them are challenging. If you're new to the field, you can navigate through with the "beginner welcome" filter. This indicates that either the project lead or contributors are willing to invest time in helping you get started.

• Each project is assigned a project lead. What is their role?

The project lead is the go-to person for managing the project, checking out your work, giving feedback, and initiating payment. If you have questions, ideas, or run into any roadblocks, feel free to ping them. You can find their contact details on a project’s page.

Starting my contribution journey

• Is acceptance required before I can start contributing?

It’s the magic of open-source: nobody can really prevent you from contributing. If your efforts don't align with the project's expectations, the collaboration will naturally cease. Additionally, keep in mind that some projects may have prerequisites before you start contributing (e.g. prior experience with Cairo)

Reach out to projects that genuinely capture your interest; there's no necessity to contact 10 of them just to increase your chances of acceptance.

• How can I find a project?

On app.onlydust.com you can browse through the different projects that are on the platform and get yourself familiar with projects that you are interested in. You can filter according to:

• how trending the project is
• which project has an active community
• who regularly onboards newcomers
• projects that have rewarded big
• projects that reward contributions
• fast-paced environments
• projects that have open-issues ready to tackle

Once you find a project that interests you (we recommend that you look at three to four), go onto their project page to read more about them.

On each project page you will find ways to contact project leads and repositories. The repositories are where you will be contributing on. Many projects also add in information on how to join their Telegram or Discord group, so keep an eye out.

• What should I do before contributing?

We highly recommend you to read about the project before starting to contribute. Many projects have their own “contribution guidelines” on their GitHub that you can start exploring.

We also advice you to join their community groups to introduce yourself. This is where you can ask questions and get guided by the community!

• What happens if no projects answer me?

This is a very rare situation, but if the situation arises, reach out to the OnlyDust team and we will help you.

• How can I start contributing?

On each project page, you will have access to all relevant information to the project, such as what the project is about, what repositories the project has, resources and contacts.

To start contributing, we highly recommend you to join the project’s community. This can be done if they have added their Telegram or Discord group, or sometimes you will need to go onto their GitHub page and read their “how to contribute” page. You can also contact the project leads that will guide you.

Once you get yourself familiar with the project and what is expected, start contributing on GitHub. Everything is synchronised onto the OnlyDust platform. You receive your potential rewards via the OnlyDust platform.

For more information on how to get started, check out our blog post here.

• How can I find open issues?

The team is currently working on this to have it show up on each project’s page. In the meantime, we recommend you to visit the repository of a project where you will easily find a list of open issues.

Remember, it’s always good to introduce yourself to the project’s community as they can give you a few tips and pointers.

Another thing to note, if there are no open issues, and it is a project that you would really like to contribute to, you can suggest and open an issue.

• Why should I go on OnlyDust and not GitHub directly?

GitHub is where you make your contributions (i.e. this is where you get assigned tasks and where you can work on the issue at hand). OnlyDust gives you a strong overview of the most trending and active projects in the Web3 space. Rather than spend a great amount of time searching for projects that are open to contributions, you have that visibility directly on OnlyDust.

you to see your contributions made (which provides a good portfolio if you are in search for a job) and to get rewarded by the project, if eligible. All payments are made via OnlyDust.

• Whom should I reach out to before I start contributing?

Look in the description for the project lead's Telegram contact and the Discord/Telegram group link to hop into the project's community. Drop a quick intro about yourself, everyone wants to know who they’ll be working with!

If the information is missing, feel free to ping @ManonFurst on Telegram

• How many projects can I contribute to at the same time?

We advise you to narrow your focus to a maximum of 2 or 3 projects. This way, you’ll have plenty of time to get comfortable with the codebase, the community, the language, etc.

• Can I submit my own projects?

Sure, we love new projects! Simply navigate to the "submit" option directly within the app and follow the guided steps.

Submitting my project

• What is the process of submitting a project?

If you have a project that you are managing and would like to place on the platform, on the app.onlydust.com page, below left, click on the “add here” button and follow the three onboarding steps. You will be asked to synchronise the GitHub organisation(s) that you have. In the following steps, we will ask you which repository you would like to add. Make sure that your repository is visible and public in order for your project to appear!

• Can I edit my project?

Yes you can! Once your project is up and visible, you can go to your project page and click on the “edit project” tab on the right hand side of your screen.

Here you can edit your project’s overview, such as the name, the description, add in a visual and your “more info” section. We highly recommend you to add in ways to contact the project, such as a Telegram group or a Discord group, along with other resources.

You can also choose whether you want your project to say that you are looking for contributors or not and you can also select project leads that help you manage the project.

• How can I see my contributors and what they have done?

On your project page, on the left hand side, you will see the following tabs: “overview”, “contributors”, “contributions”, “rewards”. When you click on the “contributors” tab, you will have an overview of your contributors, number of contributions, rewards they have received and what they have earned. You will also see a tab of “to reward”. This gives you an overview of the types of contributions the contributor made and what you can reward them on.

On the “contributions” tab, you will see a dashboard that shows all the contributions that have been made - whether they are complete, in progress or canceled. This dashboard helps you to have a better overview of the work that has been done. As a reminder, this is synced from GitHub, so everything you see in the dashboard is in real-time.

• How can I reward contributors?

On your project page, you have two ways to reward your contributors. Either click on the top right corner of your page on “reward contributor” or look at the left hand side of your screen where you will see “overview”, “contributors”, “contributions”, “rewards”. Click on “rewards”.

If you go through the second process, you will be able to see a dashboard of your remaining budget, amount spent, reward sent and how many contributors you rewarded. That way you have a better overview of how you are spending and how much you can spend!

To reward a contributor, simply search for the contributor’s GitHub handle or go into the “contributors” tab to have an overview of contributors that have participated in your project and reward from there.

• Can I get sponsors?

Yes you can! On each project page, on the top right hand side, you have a button that says “sponsor project”. You can always share the project page to interested partners for them to sponsor you. You yourself, if you wish, can sponsor other projects. However, you cannot sponsor your own.

• How can I apply for grants?

On a regular basis, we provide the possibility for you to apply for grants. Currently we collaborate with Starknet and Optimism for the grants. Be on the lookout on social media and in the Telegram group when the next grant application is available. In the meantime, we have also provided a means to get grants to boost your project with OnlyDust! You can apply here.

Money money

• What is considered as a contribution?

This depends on the project you are contributing to. Each project has their own set of criteria on what a contribution is. It can be an issue you resolved, code reviews, other works such a documentation, and of course PRs.

• What is determined to get rewards?

Just like the question above (what is considered as a contribution), each project has their own set of criteria on how they reward contributions. Each project has their own budget. We recommend that you get familiar with the project, connect with project leads and the community, where you can ask them to share how contributions work. A word of caution, if you ask too quickly, it would seem like you are more eager to get rewards than to participate. So start by building trust first.

• How do I get paid?

When a contribution is deemed completed, and you are eligible for a reward depending on the project and its budget, you will get paid via OnlyDust. Make sure that you have verified your profile via KYC/KYB and that you have filled out the payout information. Each project has their own specific criteria on how they reward.

Payments are made twice each week.

• Do I receive crypto or fiat? Do I have a choice?

It’s totally up to the project lead and the ecosystem you will build on. Depending on their choice, you can receive USDC, STRK, OP, USD, etc.

• Invoice
• KYC/KYB