Aragon

The core smart contract framework that powers Aragon DAOs. It is a modular, upgradeable protocol that separates governance logic from the DAO's core structure.

• Plugin Architecture: Governance features like voting, token distribution, and treasury management are added as plugins.
• Permission Management: Uses a granular, role-based system to control who can execute actions within the DAO.
• Upgradeability: Allows DAOs to evolve by swapping out plugins without needing to migrate assets or members.

The primary user interface for creating and interacting with Aragon DAOs. It provides a no-code dashboard for managing all aspects of an organization.

• DAO Creation Wizard: Guides users through selecting a template, configuring tokens, and setting up initial governance.
• Treasury Management: View assets, create transactions, and manage multi-signature wallets.
• Proposal Dashboard: Create, vote on, and execute proposals for treasury actions, plugin changes, and member management.

Pre-built, audited modules that add specific governance functionalities to a DAO. These are installed on top of the Aragon OSx core.

• Token Voting: Enables voting power based on token ownership, with configurable support thresholds and minimum participation.
• Multisig Plugin: Allows a defined set of addresses to control the DAO via a multi-signature wallet.
• Addresslist Voting: Grants voting power to a pre-approved list of addresses, useful for reputation-based or non-token governance.

The core use case is launching a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Users can deploy a DAO in minutes using customizable templates for companies, clubs, or grants. Key features include:

• Proposal creation for voting on treasury spends or protocol upgrades.
• Token-based voting with configurable quorums and support thresholds.
• Treasury management for holding and distributing native and ERC-20 tokens.
• Permission management to define roles for members (e.g., admin, proposer).

Aragon OSx is a modular, upgradeable DAO framework built for developers. It separates the DAO's core logic (the kernel) from its governance plugins, allowing for:

• Custom governance mechanisms like multisig, token voting, or optimistic governance.
• Permission management via a granular system that controls which addresses can execute actions.
• Upgradeability where plugins can be added or removed without migrating the DAO.
• Used by projects like Lido for its protocol governance.

DAOs use Aragon to securely manage collective treasuries, which can hold millions in crypto assets. Functionality includes:

• Multi-asset support for ETH, ERC-20s, and NFTs.
• Streaming payments for continuous funding of contributors or projects.
• DeFi integrations to execute swaps, provide liquidity, or stake assets directly from governance proposals.
• Transparent accounting where all transactions are recorded on-chain and visible to members.

Aragon Court provides a decentralized dispute resolution system for DAOs. When governance decisions are challenged, it uses:

• Subjective oracle where jurors stake tokens to review and rule on disputes.
• Fork mechanism as a last resort, allowing tokenholders to split the DAO if consensus fails.
• This creates a checks-and-balances system, ensuring malicious proposals can be overturned without relying on a central authority.

The core, upgradeable smart contract framework that powers Aragon DAOs. It introduces a plugin architecture, allowing DAOs to install and manage specific functionalities (like voting, treasury management) as modular components.

• Permission Management: A sophisticated system for defining who can execute which actions.
• Upgradeability: DAOs can upgrade their core contracts and plugins without migrating to a new address.

The primary user interface for interacting with the Aragon protocol. It allows users to:

• Launch a DAO in minutes by selecting a template (e.g., Company, Membership, Optimistic Governance).
• Manage Governance: Create proposals, vote using various mechanisms (e.g., token voting, multisig), and execute passed decisions.
• Administer the Treasury: Hold and manage native tokens and ERC-20 assets.

Modular smart contracts that define a DAO's decision-making rules. Key types include:

• Token Voting: Weighted voting based on token ownership.
• Multisig: Requires signatures from a predefined set of addresses.
• Optimistic Voting: Proposals pass unless challenged within a time window.
• Addresslist Voting: One-person-one-vote based on a whitelist. DAOs can mix and match plugins for complex governance.

A decentralized court system for resolving subjective disputes within DAOs, such as the interpretation of ambiguous proposal outcomes. It uses:

• Jurors: Stakers of the ANT token who are randomly selected to rule on cases.
• Subjective Oracle: Provides a cryptoeconomic mechanism for enforcing rulings on-chain, moving beyond purely code-based execution.

Aragon DAOs are built using a modular system of upgradeable smart contracts. This includes a core DAO contract, plugin contracts for functionality, and a permission manager. The architecture allows for security patches and feature upgrades without migrating the entire organization, but introduces proxy pattern risks and centralizes upgrade authority in the plugin repository manager.

The core security primitive is a granular permission system. Every action (e.g., minting tokens, executing a transaction) requires a specific permission granted to an address or another contract. This enables least-privilege access control and complex governance workflows. Security audits must verify that permission assignments are correct and cannot be escalated.

Aragon supports multiple governance models (token voting, multisig, optimistic). Key risks include:

• Proposal execution lag: A timelock delay is often used, preventing immediate execution of malicious proposals.
• Voter apathy: Low participation can lead to governance attacks.
• Contract interaction: Executed proposals often call external contracts, introducing external call risk. The Aragon App frontend provides a curated interface to mitigate interaction errors.

Users primarily interact with an Aragon DAO via the Aragon App or other clients. These are centralized services that fetch data from the blockchain and generate transaction calldata. Users must trust that the client:

• Correctly interprets DAO state and permissions.
• Generates accurate transaction data.
• Does not inject malicious logic. Using a wallet's transaction preview is critical to verify actions before signing.

The Aragon OSx is the latest smart contract framework, audited by multiple firms. Security relies on:

• Formal verification of core components.
• A bug bounty program on Immunefi.
• Decentralized freeze mechanism: A security council can pause certain protocol components in an emergency via a DAO proposal. This creates a trade-off between censorship-resistance and emergency response.

A DAO's treasury is held by its smart contract address. Security considerations include:

• Multisig plugins: Using a Safe multisig as the executor adds a transaction signing threshold.
• Asset diversification: Holding assets across multiple chains or using wrapped tokens introduces bridge/peg risks.
• Vesting schedules: Managed via plugins, requiring secure, time-locked logic. The Aragon Grants program is an example of a DAO using these tools for controlled fund distribution.