FiroTip | Private FIRO tipping on X and the Forum by panagot

Why?

Spark Names make private FIRO payments easy to read and share, and fironames.com / firostatus.com already help the community discover Names and check Spark sync health. What is still missing is a simple way to tip someone from a post on X or forum.firo.org — without pasting long sm1… addresses, and without requiring the recipient to already know Firo, own a wallet, or have a Spark Name.

That last point is the awareness problem. Directories and status tools help people who already look for Firo. Tipping on a social post reaches people who were not looking — anyone on X or the Forum who has never heard of Firo, let alone Spark. A tip they can claim later is a concrete first touch: they learn someone sent them private FIRO, then they are guided to create a wallet and receive it.

Today:

• Even with a Spark Name, tipping usually means leaving the post, opening a wallet, and looking the Name up by hand.
• Most people worth tipping are not on Firo yet — no wallet, no Spark Name, often no idea what Firo is — so there is no easy way to send them FIRO on a social post, and no gentle on-ramp when they notice the tip.
• This proposal focuses on spreading awareness of Firo worldwide — via desktop browsers (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Firefox) on X, plus the Forum.
• As a second on-ramp (same hold → claim pattern), FiroTip will also support tipping an email address: hold tagged to that email → recipient Sign in with Google on firotip.com → payout to their Spark wallet. Useful when someone is not on X/Forum yet, or when a tipper only has an email.

FiroTip will add a Tip button on the post (the extension will be called Kindling).

• If the author has linked their account to a Spark Name on purpose, FIRO goes privately to that Name.
• If they haven’t — including people who have never used Firo — the tip is held for them. When they claim, they can create a Spark wallet and receive the FIRO. That claim flow is how newcomers meet Firo for the first time. Claiming does not require Kindling they will be able to open firotip.com, and sign with Sign in with X.
• The tip amount is never shown on the public post. They can get a short @FiroTip via X API reply that names who tipped them, not how much — a public nudge that FIRO tipping exists, without putting a number on the feed.

This proposal funds the ability to turn ordinary posts into awareness and onboarding for people brand new to Firo.

Live demo: https://firo-tip.vercel.app/ (Pitch + interactive Demo). Intended public site: firotip.com

How much?

Total: 2,200 FIRO — everything included Paid in FIRO — 1,100 FIRO at kickoff, 1,100 FIRO when finished.

This single ask covers all operating costs needed to deliver and run FiroTip for this proposal: website hosting, running a full Firo node, and X (Twitter) API usage for author checks and @FiroTip notify.

• Effort: about 50 hours over ~3 weeks. The demo site and a local tip prototype already exist. This ask pays to finish the live service, ship the extensions, and wire notify.
• Pay: 2,200 FIRO (1,100 / 1,100).
• Covered in this proposal (no extra funding):
  • Hosting — domain, HTTPS, and the public tip website + tip service
  • Full Firo node — operated for Spark tips, temporary addresses, and claims (tippers do not need their own node)
  • X (Twitter) API — author verification and @FiroTip replies

What?

FiroTip — tip FIRO from posts on desktop X and the Firo Forum, including people who have never used Firo.

What users see

• A public site with Pitch + interactive Demo (shows how tipping will work; uses live Name / Spark status data where useful)
• The Kindling browser extension for Chrome, Edge, Brave, and similar, plus Firefox
• One Tip button for everyone. Default path for most posts is hold → claim later so newcomers are not blocked. A linked Spark Name (when the author has connected it on purpose) can receive a direct private tip.
• On firotip.com, tippers can also tip an email address. Recipients claim with Sign in with Google (no extension required).

When does a tip go straight to a Spark Name?

An X @handle or Forum username is not assumed to be a Spark Name just because the text matches. That protects recipients and tippers, and it keeps FiroTip honest about identity.

• Direct private tip only if the Name owner has linked that X or Forum account on purpose (for example via fironames profile data or during claim).
• If there is no link, the tip always uses hold → claim later — the path that also works for people unfamiliar with Firo.

Tip paths

Who holds the money?

Linked Name tips: FIRO goes straight to their Spark Name. FiroTip helps send it; it does not keep that tip as the user’s balance.

Newcomer / unlinked tips: A temporary address holds that tip until they claim. While it is waiting:

• Only the real author (after Forum or X login) can claim it.

What the grant builds

A live tip service on hosting paid from this proposal, talking to a full Firo node also covered by this proposal, so tippers do not need to run their own node. X API access and usage are covered by this proposal to check post authors and send @FiroTip replies. Forum tips use Forum login to check authors and claims.

Includes:

• Live tip API on a full Firo node
• Spark Name lookup + optional account linking
• Hold + claim for people without a Name (including first-time Firo users) — the path that grows awareness beyond the existing community
• @FiroTip notify via the X API (tipper named, amount omitted)
• Public site + install docs for Chrome-family browsers and Firefox
• Clear note that this is a community project, not Firo Core

Already built (prototype)

• Pitch + Demo site using live fironames.com and firostatus.com
• Kindling extension for Chromium browsers (Tip on X + Forum; Claim on Forum; escrow-by-default for unlinked authors)
• Local tip bridge to a Firo node for testing (PIN pair, author checks, tip limits, hold-for-claim)
• Demo feed uses real community posts so reviewers can see the intended UX — including claim-later for people who are not on Firo yet

Milestones?

Milestone 1 — Kickoff — 1,100 FIRO Paid at kickoff (engineering start + hosting, Firo node, and X API setup within the same tranche)

Start production: set up hosting, a full Firo node, and the tip service; reserve firotip.com; set up X API access for author checks and @FiroTip notify; finish the live path based on the existing prototype; keep the demo site current.

Milestone 2 — Delivery — within 3 weeks — 1,100 FIRO Paid on delivery

• Public site live (Pitch + Demo) with a community disclaimer
• Kindling for Chrome-family browsers
• Live tip service on a full Firo node: linked Name tips + hold-for-claim for newcomers (awareness path)
• Claim working (Forum login; X sign-in for tips locked to an X handle) — including first-time Firo users creating a wallet to receive
• @FiroTip notify on X via the X API (tipper named, amount omitted) — public awareness without tip amounts on the feed

Outcomes?

• A live way to tip FIRO on desktop X (Twitter) and the Forum — all under this one ask

• Awareness beyond Firo-native audiences: tips land on ordinary posts, so people who never searched for Spark still meet private FIRO when someone tips them

• Spark Names become useful in the feed, not only in a directory — with optional account linking for people who already know Firo

• People without a Name or any Firo wallet can still be tipped and guided in via claim — a practical onboarding path, not just a payment shortcut for insiders

• Email tips as a second on-ramp: tip an email → Sign in with Google → claim to Spark (same hold pattern as X/Forum)

• Recipients get a @FiroTip notify naming the tipper (never the amount) — public awareness without putting tip size on the thread

• A live tip service with clear public rules for how waiting tips are handled

• Product, site, and install docs are public; tip-service source stays private (custody / node / API keys)

Success metrics

• Public site live within 3 weeks of funding

• One linked Name tip on the live service (txid in handover)

• One newcomer tip → hold → successful claim into a Spark wallet (txid in handover) — proves the awareness / onboarding path One email tip → hold → Sign in with Google → successful claim to Spark (txid in handover)

• @FiroTip notify without showing the tip amount

• Chrome-family and Firefox builds documented for users

• Amount never required on the public post

• Clear disclaimer: independent community project, not Firo Core

• No private spend keys inside the browser extension

Why you?

I am an independent full-stack engineer focused on privacy-tech products for Firo. Through FCS I already shipped:

• Spark Names Identity Directory — live at fironames.com
• Firo Spark Sync Monitor — live at firostatus.com

Both followed the same pattern: working preview first, then production delivery, clear handoff, and attention to detail in UX and ops — not just a demo left unfinished.

Those tools help people who already care about Spark. FiroTip is the next step: put FIRO tipping where conversations already happen, so newcomers can discover Firo by receiving a tip — not only by finding a directory.

I care about delivery: the demo and local tip prototype already exist. This ask finishes the live tip and claim service, Chrome-family + Firefox extensions, @FiroTip notify via the X API, and the docs users need. Same bar as fironames and firostatus — ship it carefully, prove it with txids, and leave the community with something they can actually use.