Setting Up a Governance Dashboard for Transparency

A governance dashboard is the primary interface for a DAO's members to participate and oversee operations. It aggregates on-chain data from sources like Snapshot for off-chain voting, Safe wallets for treasury holdings, and Tally or Boardroom for proposal lifecycle tracking. The core function is to translate complex blockchain transactions and proposal states into a clear, visual summary. This transparency is critical for building trust, as it allows any member to verify treasury balances, audit proposal outcomes, and monitor delegate performance without needing deep technical expertise to navigate block explorers directly.

Setting up a dashboard begins with defining your key performance indicators (KPIs). Essential metrics to display include: Treasury Balance (in USD and native tokens), Active Proposals, Voter Participation Rate, Top Delegates by Voting Power, and Recent Transactions. For a Compound or Uniswap-style DAO, you would also track Grant Distributions or Protocol Parameter Changes. Tools like Dune Analytics or Flipside Crypto are used to create these customized data queries and visualizations, which can then be embedded into a front-end interface.

The technical implementation typically involves a front-end framework like Next.js or Vue.js connected to several data sources. You will fetch off-chain proposal data from the Snapshot GraphQL API, on-chain treasury data from Etherscan's API or The Graph, and delegate stats from a governance platform's API. Here's a basic example fetching proposals:

javascriptCopy
// Fetching active proposals from Snapshot
const query = `
  query {
    proposals(
      first: 5,
      where: { space: "your-dao.eth", state: "active" }
    ) {
      id
      title
      state
      scores
    }
  }
`;

This data is then rendered in a table or list component on your dashboard.

For on-chain governance DAOs (like Compound or Maker), integrating with the governor contract is necessary. This requires using a library like ethers.js or viem to read contract state. Key calls include checking the proposalCount, proposalThreshold, quorumVotes, and the state of specific proposals (Pending, Active, Canceled, Defeated, Succeeded, Queued, Expired, Executed). Displaying this real-time state alongside the Snapshot sentiment provides a complete picture of the governance pipeline, from discussion to on-chain execution.

Finally, accessibility and security are paramount. The dashboard should be hosted on decentralized infrastructure like IPFS via Fleek or Spheron to ensure censorship resistance. Always use read-only RPC connections or APIs to interact with data; never embed private keys. Regular updates and clear documentation ensure all members, regardless of technical skill, can use the dashboard to hold the DAO's stewards accountable, making transparent governance a practical reality rather than just an ideal.

Before writing any code, you must understand the core components of on-chain governance. This includes the governance token that confers voting rights, the smart contract that executes proposals (like OpenZeppelin's Governor), and the voting mechanism (e.g., token-weighted, quadratic). You'll also need a blockchain with smart contract capabilities; Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Polygon are common choices. Familiarity with EIP-712 for signed messages and the structure of a standard proposal (description, targets, values, calldata) is crucial for interacting with the protocol correctly.

The frontend stack for a modern dashboard is typically React-based. Use Next.js or Vite for the framework, TypeScript for type safety, and Tailwind CSS for styling. The critical library is wagmi paired with viem for blockchain interactions, as they provide robust hooks for reading contract state, managing wallet connections, and sending transactions. For UI components, consider shadcn/ui or Radix UI for accessible, customizable elements. You will also need an Ethereum Provider like MetaMask or WalletConnect for user wallet integration.

For backend services and data indexing, you cannot rely solely on direct RPC calls for complex queries. You must set up an indexing layer using The Graph to create a subgraph that tracks proposal creation, votes, and execution states. Alternatively, use a hosted service like Covalent or Alchemy's Enhanced APIs for pre-indexed governance data. You will also need a way to fetch and cache proposal metadata (often stored on IPFS). Libraries like axios for HTTP requests and SWR or TanStack Query for client-side data fetching are essential for a responsive UI.

Development and deployment require a local blockchain environment. Use Hardhat or Foundry for compiling, testing, and deploying your smart contracts. For interacting with contracts in scripts or tests, the viem CLI or ethers.js are standard. You'll need access to a node provider (Alchemy, Infura) for testnet and mainnet deployments. Finally, consider infrastructure for the frontend: Vercel or Netlify for hosting, and Fleek or Spheron for decentralized hosting via IPFS to align with Web3 principles of transparency and resilience.

The foundation of a governance dashboard is a data ingestion layer that pulls raw on-chain events. This typically involves running an indexer or using a service like The Graph to listen for specific events from the governance smart contract, such as ProposalCreated, VoteCast, and ProposalExecuted. The ingested data is then transformed and stored in a structured database (e.g., PostgreSQL) for efficient querying. This decouples the frontend from the latency and complexity of direct blockchain RPC calls.

The backend service layer exposes this processed data via a REST or GraphQL API. Key endpoints include fetching all proposals with their current state (pending, active, succeeded, defeated, executed), detailed vote breakdowns by address and voting power, and delegate information. This layer should also calculate derived metrics, such as quorum status, voter participation rates, and the historical timeline of a proposal. Security is critical; implement rate limiting and consider caching strategies for expensive queries.

The frontend application consumes the API to render interactive visualizations. Common components include a proposal list table with sortable columns, detailed proposal pages showing the description and vote tally, and charts displaying voting power distribution (e.g., for/against/abstain). Using a library like D3.js or a framework-specific charting tool (Recharts for React) is standard. The UI must clearly link to the on-chain transaction for every action to maintain verifiable transparency.

For a complete example, here's a simplified backend function using Ethers.js and Express to fetch proposal data:

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async function getProposal(req, res) {
  const { proposalId } = req.params;
  const proposal = await governanceContract.proposals(proposalId);
  const votes = await queryDatabaseForVotes(proposalId);
  res.json({
    id: proposalId,
    description: proposal.description,
    forVotes: proposal.forVotes.toString(),
    againstVotes: proposal.againstVotes.toString(),
    voterDetails: votes
  });
}

Finally, the architecture must account for multi-chain governance. Many DAOs use platforms like Snapshot for off-chain signaling and may execute on-chain transactions across multiple networks (e.g., Ethereum mainnet for treasury, Arbitrum for low-cost voting). The dashboard needs to aggregate data from these disparate sources, which may require separate indexers for each chain and a unified data model. Tools like Tally and Boardroom are examples of production systems that solve this complexity.

The core of a governance dashboard is connecting to blockchain data. Use a provider like Alchemy or Infura to access an RPC endpoint. For reading on-chain state, you'll interact with the governance contract's ABI. Libraries such as ethers.js or viem simplify this connection. Start by initializing a provider and contract instance: const contract = new ethers.Contract(contractAddress, governanceABI, provider);. This allows you to call view functions like getProposal, getVotes, and quorum without requiring a user wallet.

To display proposal data, you need to fetch and structure it. A typical flow involves calling proposalCount() to get the total, then looping through IDs to fetch each proposal's details: title, description, forVotes, againstVotes, startBlock, endBlock. Calculate key metrics like voter turnout ((forVotes + againstVotes) / totalSupply) and time remaining. Use a frontend framework like React or Next.js to create reusable components—a ProposalCard for listings and a ProposalDetail modal for in-depth views.

Visualizing voting power and delegation is critical for transparency. Fetch a user's voting weight by calling getVotes(address) at the relevant block number. For delegation data, query events like DelegateChanged and DelegateVotesChanged. Charts from libraries like Recharts or Chart.js can effectively show: - Historical voting power over time - Distribution of votes across proposals - Quorum status as a progress bar. This helps users understand influence and participation dynamics.

Real-time updates are essential for active governance. Implement listeners for on-chain events using the contract instance: contract.on("VoteCast", (voter, proposalId, support, weight) => { updateUI(); }). For broader state changes, use a polling mechanism with setInterval or subscribe to new blocks. Consider using The Graph for complex, indexed queries that are inefficient with direct RPC calls, such as aggregating all votes for a proposal or tracking delegation history across many users.

The final step is deploying a publicly accessible interface. Host the static site on Vercel, Fleek, or IPFS for decentralization. Ensure the dashboard clearly cites its data sources—the contract address and RPC endpoint. For multi-chain governance (e.g., across Ethereum and Arbitrum), use a chain-agnostic provider like Wagmi or configure network switches. A transparent dashboard not only informs voters but also strengthens the protocol's legitimacy by making governance data verifiable and open.

This guide walked through the core components of a governance dashboard: connecting to a blockchain node via providers like Alchemy or Infura, querying smart contract events for proposals and votes using libraries such as ethers.js or viem, and structuring the data for frontend consumption. You learned to handle key data points like proposal status, voter turnout, and quorum thresholds. The resulting dashboard transforms raw, on-chain logs into an accessible interface for community members, which is essential for informed participation and long-term protocol health.

To extend your dashboard, consider implementing real-time updates using WebSocket subscriptions to listen for new proposals and votes as they occur. Adding historical analysis charts—tracking voter participation over time or proposal approval rates—can reveal governance trends. For multi-chain DAOs, you can aggregate data from different networks (e.g., Ethereum mainnet and Arbitrum) by connecting to multiple RPC providers and normalizing the data schema. Always prioritize security by verifying contract ABIs from official sources like Etherscan and implementing rate limiting on public endpoints.

Next, explore integrating with snapshot.org for off-chain signaling or Tally for delegated voting power. To deepen the analysis, you could calculate voter sentiment by analyzing forum discussions linked to proposals or track delegate performance. The complete code for this tutorial is available in the Chainscore Labs GitHub repository. For further learning, review the documentation for OpenZeppelin Governor contracts and explore governance data on Dune Analytics for inspiration on advanced metrics.