Canton Network Developer Experience and Tooling Survey Analysis (2026)

Canton Network
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Hi everyone,

A huge thank you to all the developers who took the time to participate in the Developer Experience and Tooling Survey earlier this year. Your feedback was incredibly helpful.

We have compiled your responses into the report below.

Executive Summary

Between January 20 and February 4, 2026, we surveyed developers across the Canton Network ecosystem to understand their current workflows, friction points, and tooling needs. With 41 active developers participating, ranging from DeFi builders to enterprise hybrid projects, the goal was to identify the specific hurdles developers face in the ecosystem related to developer tooling.

This report outlines community feedback and identifies areas where community and ecosystem partners can contribute to improving the developer experience.

Key Takeaway:

  • 41% of the respondents cited Environment Setup & Node Operations as the task that took the longest to 'get right’ when they first started in the qualitative feedback. Developers are currently forced to be ‘Infrastructure Engineers’ before they can be ‘Product Builders’.

  • Specific mentions for the need for Local Development Frameworks like Hardhat, Foundry, Anchor. This was also evident in the quantitative feedback, which rated it the most critical. A unified CLI toolchain that helps developers with scaffolding new projects, orchestrating local node environments, and automating testing/deployment pipelines without complex manual configuration.

  • Specific mentions of Advanced Debugging tool Tenderly: A visual interface for real-time transaction tracing, failure simulation, and human-readable error decoding to replace the current workflow of parsing cryptic log files.

  • Observability & Monitoring had the highest “important” score in the prioritization matrix. Qualitative feedback also indicates a demand for infrastructure visibility, not just transaction data. Developers explicitly requested “one-click visual dashboards” to verify node handshakes (Sequencer/Mediator) without relying on complex terminal commands.

Developer Demographics & Profile

The survey results highlight different characteristics of the current developer base:

  • Experience Level: There has been a significant increase in new developers, with 80% of respondents having joined the ecosystem within the last 12 months.

  • Project Types: 83% of projects identify as Traditional Finance (TradFi) or Hybrid (TradFi + Crypto).

  • 71% of respondents come from an Ethereum (EVM) background.

  • 41% have built on 2+ ecosystems (e.g., Ethereum + Solana).

  • 24% have built on 3+ ecosystems (adding Cosmos/Polkadot).

Tooling Prioritization Analysis

We asked developers to rate categories of developer tools, ranging from ‘Not Needed’ to ‘Critical’, to assess the urgency of their development needs.

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Insights:

  • Local Development Frameworks are the most urgent gap, rated “Critical” (the highest rating in any category), indicating this is a significant pain point.

  • Observability (Explorers) has the broadest consensus. While less urgent than local frameworks, it is the most widely agreed upon as important across the board.

  • Data Indexing & APIs are viewed as a standard necessity rather than an emergency. While only 20% rated it “Critical”, 51% rated it “Important,” suggesting developers expect it to work but aren’t currently blocked by it.

  • Security & Auditing Tools are a major focus for developers, with a combined majority rating them as either “Important” (51%) or “Critical” (24%).

Qualitative Friction Mapping

What’s taking them the longest to get right?

We analyzed the open-ended question: “Which task took the longest to get right?”

  • Infrastructure Complexity: Setting up the environment is the single most common phrase. Developers are spending significant time configuring multi-node architectures (Docker, Kubernetes) rather than building applications.

  • Conceptual Paradigm Shift: There is a steep learning curve in moving from an EVM-centric mental model (global state) to Canton’s specific architecture (Need-to-Know privacy, Party-based identity).

  • Integration Friction: Beyond setup and theory, developers encounter friction when integrating frontends. Specific workflows, like Package ID discovery for the JSON API, are described as opaque, forcing teams to engineer custom “discovery mechanisms” and caching layers just to perform basic contract interactions.

  • Fragmented Documentation: Developers struggle to synthesize information across disparate resource hubs (Daml language vs. Canton protocol vs. Driver docs), making it difficult to grasp the system’s full architecture.

What are the missing tools in the ecosystem?

Based on qualitative feedback comparing Canton to other ecosystems, distinct patterns emerge, highlighting the DevEx Gap.

  • Visual Debugging & Transaction Simulation (Tenderly)
    Transaction Simulation & Visual Debugging were features developers mentioned as missing or lacking compared to other ecosystems. Multiple respondents specifically name-dropped “Tenderly” as the missing standard.

  • Unified CLI Toolchain (Hardhat/Anchor)
    Developers miss the “batteries-included” CLI experience that orchestrates the entire lifecycle. Respondents mentioned CLI, Hardhat, or Anchor more than 11 times. They want a single tool to handle scaffolding, testing, IDL generation, and deployment. Currently, they feel they are “cobbling together” scripts.

  • Visibility & Data Indexing (Etherscan)
    The current explorer options are viewed as insufficient for understanding on-ledger state. Developers struggle to read “on-ledger data” and want a more user-friendly, decoded view of transactions.

  • Browser based IDE (Remix)
    A smaller cohort wants to bypass the local setup entirely for quick prototyping. Requests for a browser-based IDE to lower the barrier to entry, that allows for instant smart contract deployment and testing.

  • Integrations (The Wallet/SDK Gap)
    Developers miss standard libraries (like Web3.js) and wallet connectors (like Metamask) to easily connect frontends.

The “Magic Wand” Wishlist: High-Impact Tooling Requests

A consolidated wishlist of the most requested tools and features from developers, reflecting their desire for parity with established ecosystems and streamlined workflows.

  • Visual Debugger (Tenderly)

  • Unified CLI Framework (Hardhat)

  • Typed SDKs & Language Bindings

  • Standardized Wallet Adapter

  • Consolidated Documentation

  • Package Manager & Operational Dashboards (Cargo)

Additional Developer Tooling Opportunities

  • Typed Client SDK & Code Generator: Developers currently spend days manually extracting hash strings from compiled files (.dar) and hardcoding them into their frontends. They also struggle significantly with implementing JWT authentication middleware, which is a repeated friction point for “Hybrid” and “TradFi” teams.

  • Pre-Flight Resource & Cost Profiler: Developers often deploy “blindly,” only discovering that their transactions are too large (hitting byte-size limits) or too expensive after they fail in a testnet or production environment.

  • Network Topology Visualizer: Developers find it difficult to confirm if their Participant node is correctly “handshaking” with the Mediator and Sequencer, often relying on complex terminal commands to diagnose connectivity issues.

  • Unified Developer Knowledge Hub: Documentation is currently fragmented across multiple distinct sites (Daml language, Canton protocol, Drivers, Open Source repos), making it difficult for new developers to form a mental model of the full stack.

  • Standardized Wallet Adapter & Reference Extension: The current requirement to build custom signing services or custodial implementations is a barrier to entry for dApp builders.

  • Daml Dependency & Package Manager: Managing dependencies is currently a manual, file-based process. Developers are manually downloading files, moving them between folders, and struggling to resolve version mismatches.

Next Steps:

  • Deepening the Conversation: In the coming weeks, we will reach out to survey respondents who opted-in for follow-ups to better understand their specific needs and understand the delta between the current tools in the ecosystem vs new tools look like.

  • Supporting Existing Tools: We recognize that some requested tools already exist but face challenges with discoverability or feature parity. The DevRel team (across DA & Canton Foundation) will reach out to current tool builders to explore how we can better support, market, and enhance their solutions. If you are building in this space, please do reach out to us.

  • Defining New Standards: For “net new” tooling gaps, we will collaborate with the Tech & Ops Committee to define requirements and launch an RFP process to solicit community proposals and issue specific RFPs that highlight differences between existing tools and the new features.

Why we are sharing this:

We are sharing this report to give every builder in our ecosystem a clear view of the landscape. By identifying the community’s biggest friction points, we hope to inspire you to build the solutions that will define the next generation of the Canton Network.

If this report sparks an idea for a tool that benefits the community and you would like funding support for it, we encourage you to review CIP 100 and prepare your proposal to the Canton Development Fund Grants when it’s goes live. If you’d like any support with this, please reach out to me or @Jatin_Pandya_cf

We want to thank everyone who participated in the survey. Your feedback is directly shaping the future of the Canton Network developer experience.

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