---
name: cardano-build
description: Use when someone needs Cardano developer resources (smart contract languages, SDKs, APIs, infrastructure, governance, identity/SSI, education, community), or wants to add to, fix or redesign the cardano.build index and site. Fetch the plain-text and JSON endpoints instead of scraping HTML.
---

# cardano.build

An open, community-curated index of Cardano developer resources, published under CC0 at https://www.cardano.build from the repo https://github.com/selfdriven-octo/cardano-build (GitHub Pages, `docs/` folder).

## Using the index (agents)

| Endpoint | What it is | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| https://www.cardano.build/llms.txt | Short markdown map: core sections in full, the rest as one line each | First fetch; fits a context window |
| https://www.cardano.build/llms-full.txt | Every resource with description, tags and sub-links | Answering "what exists for X" |
| https://www.cardano.build/data/index.json | Structured source of truth | Filtering by section, group or tag |
| https://www.cardano.build/data/index.schema.json | JSON Schema (draft 2020-12) | Validating edits |
| https://www.cardano.build/.well-known/agent.json | A2A AgentCard (protocolVersion 0.2.2) | Discovery |
| https://www.cardano.build/#<id> | Pre-rendered HTML section, e.g. `#tools`, `#network` | Linking a human to a section |

Data model: `sections[] → groups[] → items[]`. An item is `{ name, url, desc?, tags?, links?: [{label, url}], id? }`. Section ids are stable anchors (`start`, `quickstarts`, `tools`, `ai`, `network`, `infrastructure`, `identity`, `open-source`, `cheat-sheets`, `education`, `research`, `diagrams`, `services`, `project-resources`, `safety`, `infosec`, `utxo-family`, `depin`, `gaming`, `related`, `help`, `community`, `channels`, `alliances`, `events`, `inspiration`, `about`).

When answering from the index: cite the item URL, prefer official sources (developers.cardano.org, cips.cardano.org, a project's own docs or repo) for protocol details, and say when an entry might be dated (some videos and blog posts date from 2022–2024).

## Contributing

1. Edit `docs/data/index.json` only. Keep `name` short, put the explanation in `desc`, use `links` for a tool's extra docs/videos, add `tags` for languages (`python`, `typescript`, `haskell`, `aiken` …).
2. Bump `updated` (YYYY-MM-DD).
3. Run `node scripts/build.mjs` (Node 18+, no dependencies). It validates the JSON and regenerates `docs/index.html`, `docs/llms.txt`, `docs/llms-full.txt`, `docs/favicon.svg` and the `stats` block.
4. Commit the JSON and the generated files together. CI runs `node scripts/build.mjs --check` and fails if they are out of sync.

Scope: anything that directly relates to building on Cardano. Not investment, price or trading.

## Architecture

```
docs/                        GitHub Pages root (CNAME www.cardano.build, .nojekyll so .well-known is served)
  data/index.json            source of truth
  data/index.schema.json     schema
  index.html                 GENERATED from scripts/index.template.html — never edit by hand
  llms.txt, llms-full.txt    GENERATED
  favicon.svg                GENERATED from the mark geometry
  SKILL.md                   this file
  .well-known/agent.json     A2A AgentCard (hand-maintained)
  classic.html               the previous landkit page, kept for reference
  js/cb-mark.mjs             Cardano mark geometry + ASCII rasteriser (pure, shared by page and build)
  js/cb-format.mjs           markdown/llms formatting (pure, shared by page and build)
  js/cb-app.mjs              page behaviour: animated drawing, search, agent view, copy, chain clock
  fonts/                     self-hosted Martian Mono + Plus Jakarta Sans (OFL), latin subsets
scripts/
  build.mjs                  validate + generate (zero dependencies)
  index.template.html        page template with {{PLACEHOLDERS}}
  banners.mjs                FIGlet banners for the footer (larry3d, smslant)
```

The HTML is pre-rendered at build time so crawlers, no-JS readers and agents that read raw HTML get the full index. JavaScript only enhances: it fetches `/data/index.json` lazily for the agent view and "Copy as markdown".

## Design system: blueprint

One sheet of Cardano blue with white chalk ink and a yellow pencil for what you're pointing at. Structure is set in a wide monospace on the character grid; running text is set in a sans.

| Token | Hex | Use |
|---|---|---|
| `--paper` | `#0033AD` | page ground (Cardano blue) |
| `--deep` | `#00247C` | bars, panels, terminal |
| `--ink` | `#F3F6FF` | primary text |
| `--ink-2` | `#B3C4F6` | secondary text (5.4:1 on paper) |
| `--ink-3` | `#86A2EE` | metadata |
| `--faint` | `#4D74D8` | construction lines, tree branches |
| `--rule` / `--rule-soft` | `#3A62CC` / `#1A47BA` | borders / dashed row lines |
| `--grid` | `#0A3BB3` | 24px background grid |
| `--pencil` | `#FFD25E` | focus, search matches, live state, ring steps |

Type: Martian Mono (variable, `font-stretch` 75–112.5%) for headings, names, trees and ASCII; Plus Jakarta Sans for descriptions and prose. H1 is Martian Mono 700 at 112.5% stretch.

## The mark

Measured from the official icon SVG (viewBox 375 × 346.51): 30 dots in five rings of six, rings alternating 0°/30° offsets.

| Ring | Distance | Dot radius | Offset |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 59.5 | 25.25 | 0° |
| 2 | 101.9 | 14.84 | 30° |
| 3 | 132.3 | 12.62 | 0° |
| 4 | 162.85 | 10.39 | 30° |
| 5 | 179.3 | 8.16 | 0° |

`rasterize()` treats each dot as a sphere, rotates (yaw, pitch), projects orthographically, shades with the ramp `.:-=+*#%@` and splits characters into five colour layers (construction, low, mid, high, pencil). Modes: `shade`, `hex`, `wire`. A ring step turns each ring by ±60° in sequence, inner to outer, so the mark always comes back to its exact official arrangement. `asciiMark()` flattens a frame to plain text for the HTML comment, the footer and the console.

## Gotchas

- Martian Mono has no box-drawing, block or braille glyphs. Keep all ASCII art and trees to printable ASCII (plus `·`), or glyphs fall back to another font and columns drift.
- Character aspect (cell height ÷ width) for Martian Mono at 100% stretch is about 1.69 at line-height 1.18. Static frames in the build use that value; the page measures the real glyph box at the size it renders, and measures again when web fonts finish loading. Measuring once before the font arrives makes the lines grow past the frame and clips the right-hand rings.
- Hero layers keep their trailing spaces so all five stack to the same box; that box is centred in the frame, so any leftover space (or overflow) splits evenly.
- Never put `-->` in generated ASCII: the top-of-file art sits inside an HTML comment.
- Old anchors (`#ct`, `#yt`, `#ssi`, `#sanchonet`, `#hello-worlds` …) resolve through `aliases` on sections and groups. An alias must not equal a real element id (the build warns).
- The chain clock is computed locally from the mainnet Shelley start (epoch 208, slot 4,492,800, unix 1596059091, 432,000-second epochs). It makes no network calls.
- `prefers-reduced-motion`: no intro, no ambient motion; the drawing renders a still frame and only moves when clicked.