Note: this proposal has been funded entirely using funds from a declined bounty

What

Monero's core software currently has very limited support for the I2P network, which is through the use of SOCKS proxies. This has a number of disadvantages in terms of both security and ease of use.

I propose to work on improving and modernizing I2P support in Monero through the following:

• Implementing I2P's SAMv3 protocol in monerod
• Adding functionality to the GUI for configuring I2P connections
• Contributing to and improving upon existing documentation for anonymity networks in Monero
• Attending community/development meetings
• Other tasks mentioned below

The scope of tasks/effort needed is very similar to that which has already been discussed here.

Milestones

Milestone 1: Research and prototype, core SAMv3 implementation (25 XMR)

• Study SAMv3 docs, evaluate existing protocol implementations
• Decide on ACCEPT vs FORWARD for incoming connections, permanent vs transient destinations
• Full SAMv3 integration in addition to the SOCKS proxy path
• Support for both Java I2P and i2pd routers
• Handle external router start/stop/restart gracefully
• Sane default tunnel configuration per I2P expert guidance
• Deliver a working PR with SAMv3, functional for CLI usage, with unit tests as per guidelines

Milestone 2: GUI integration and docs (10 XMR)

• Toggle to enable/configure I2P connections in the GUI; indicator for router status (up/down)
• Configuration options exposed in GUI
• Rewritten docs: new install (i2pd + Java I2P), migration from i2p-zero, migration of existing setups
• Verify and update seed node list

Milestone 3: Beta testing and review (15 XMR)

• Announce and recruit beta testers
• Address community feedback from testing
• Pass code review requirements
• Address all PR review comments
• PR has loose approval, and is ready to be merged into master branch

Who

I'm a self-taught programmer who has been interested in Monero and similar projects for quite some time now. I have been active in development discussion/happenings on IRC/Matrix for several months, and have also contributed a number of merged PRs (albeit mostly small ones) to core Monero repos as well as Monero-adjacent community projects. Here are some examples:

• Added I2P support to P2Pool
• Added IPv6 support to the ZMQ interface in monerod
• Contributed documentation fixes and improvements to P2Pool, Monfluo, and monero-lws (1, 2, 3, 4)

Funding

I am requesting a total of 50 XMR for all milestones combined, with the corresponding amount to be paid out upon the completion of each individual milestone.