# Argument-0006: Retention at Rank II

|                  |                      |
| ---------------- | ---------------------|
| **Report Date**  | 2025/09/12           |
| **Submitted by** | Davide Galassi       |


## Member details

- Matrix username: @davxy:matrix.org
- Polkadot address: 16Q4qkRcWd4r8196dVGNLYVfy7H86MJYJBMockPaMigFXCyv
- Current rank: 2
- Date of initial induction: 2024/01/08
- Date of last report: 2025/05/26
- Area(s) of Expertise/Interest: JAM Protocol, Applied Cryptography, Consensus Protocols

## Reporting period

- Start date: 2025/06/01
- End date: 2025/09/10


## Argument

### JAM Implementation

Core contributor to *PolkaJam*, Parity's implementation of the JAM protocol.
My recent work mostly focused on ensuring strict compliance with the Gray Paper
specifications.

Parity colleagues can review my contributions in the [project repository](https://github.com/paritytech/polkajam/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Adavxy).

### JAM Test Vectors

Authored the official test vectors for JAM Gray Paper versions 0.6.7 and 0.7.0 in  
PR [#54](https://github.com/w3f/jamtestvectors/pull/54) and  
[#55](https://github.com/w3f/jamtestvectors/pull/55) respectively.

These vectors became the widely accepted reference for JAM, significantly  
accelerating interoperability across implementations. Multiple teams have  
already adopted them successfully, using them to detect and resolve  
implementation issues.

### JAM M1 Fuzzer

I'am leading the development of a JAM fuzzer, which is expected to become the
official tool for fuzzing third-party implementations during the M1 audit phase.

The tool is already in active use, continuously discovering bugs across  
multiple implementations. Findings are publicly reported and discussed  
(see next section).

My work on the fuzzer can be found in PolkaJam PR  
[#510](https://github.com/paritytech/polkajam/pull/510).

### JAM Conformance Repository

I'm maintaining the [JAM Conformance Testing Material](https://github.com/davxy/jam-conformance)
repository, a central resource for ensuring protocol compliance across implementations.  

The repository is used to track [implementor progress](https://github.com/davxy/jam-conformance/issues),
share [fuzzer reports](https://github.com/davxy/jam-conformance/tree/main/fuzz-reports),
and host [discussions](https://github.com/davxy/jam-conformance/discussions?discussions_q=+),  
helping teams quickly identify and resolve divergences.

This living resource is regularly updated, keeping the community aligned on  
discoveries. It is having a significant impact in accelerating JAM protocol
implementation and improving cross-implementation reliability.

I also designed and maintain the fuzzer protocol  
[specification](https://github.com/davxy/jam-conformance/tree/main/fuzz-proto),  
which defines the communication protocol between the fuzzer and its targets.

### JAM Conformance Performance Benchmarking

I established the foundations for performance benchmarking of JAM implementations.  
While still rough, the results already provides useful insights into execution
times, which are critical for estimating the duration of the M1 audit: achieving
consistent confidence across implementations requires running the same number
of fuzzer steps on both fast and slow implementations.

The raw data from this work powers the  
[JAM Conformance Dashboard](https://paritytech.github.io/jam-conformance-dashboard/),  
which presents performance metrics in a clear and accessible way for the  
broader community.

### Support and Collaboration

Offered occasional support to JAM implementers in public channels,  
primarily on topics within my areas of expertise.

Set up structured cross-team collaboration workflows through the dedicated  
[JAM Conformance channel](https://matrix.to/#/#jam-conformance:matrix.org)  
and the JAM Conformance repository.

## Voting record

*Provide your voting record in relation to required thresholds for your rank.* 

| Ranks | Activity thresholds | Agreement thresholds | Member's voting activities | Comments                      |
| ----- | ------------------- | -------------------- | -------------------------- | ----------------------------- |
|I  |90%   |N/A   | None | There was nothing to vote on |
|II |80%   |N/A   | None | There was nothing to vote on |
|III|70%   |100%  |   |  |
|IV |60%   |90%   |   |  |
|V  |50%   |80%   |   |  |
|VI |40%   |70%   |   |  |


## Misc

- [ ] Question(s): 

- [ ] Concern(s): 

- [ ] Comment(s):