Matera Digital

CIRIS AI Backend Contributions

Project Write-up

CIRIS AI · Open-source backend contributions

Code contributions to the CIRIS Ethics Engine (CIRISNode) — a Python backend server for alignment and communications. My PRs added JWT authentication, benchmark and DID routes, a deferral system, and API route refactoring.
Problem

Project need

CIRISNode is the backend server for the CIRIS Ethics Engine — an open-source project exploring AI alignment and communications. When I joined, the API routes listed in the README were not yet implemented, JWT authentication was not set up, and the benchmark/DID/WA pipelines were stubs. The project needed someone to build out the actual backend functionality.

Solution

What I contributed

I submitted 10 pull requests to CIRISNode over May 2025. Seven were merged. The work was primarily Python backend code — not documentation. I implemented JWT authentication, built out API routes for benchmarks and DIDs (Decentralized Identifiers), created a deferral system, and refactored the API route structure.

Backend code

  • Implemented JWT authentication guarding protected routes
  • Built benchmark pipeline with mock signing (HE-300)
  • Built DID issuance and WA (Wisdom Agent) ticketing routes
  • Created deferral system — backend only accepts 'defer' type
  • Refactored API routes and models for benchmarks, DIDs, and WAs

Infrastructure

  • Added Docker support for local development and testing
  • Set up logging around token verification for debugging
  • Added Matrix integration stubs for message posting
  • Wrote test coverage for the new routes
CIRIS AI project visual
My Role

What I did

  • Open-source contributor — submitted PRs and coordinated with maintainers
  • Implemented JWT authentication for protected API routes
  • Built benchmark, DID, and WA API routes from README specifications
  • Created the deferral system for the ethics engine backend
  • Refactored API routes and models for cleaner structure
  • Added Docker configuration for local development
  • Wrote tests for the new routes and auth flows
What's in the Repo

Real artifacts you can verify

  • GitHub organization: github.com/CIRISAI
  • CIRISNode repo: github.com/CIRISAI/CIRISNode — Python (645KB) + TypeScript (160KB), 4 stars
  • My PRs: View all 10 PRs by BradleyMatera
  • PR #1 (merged): Phase 2 finalization — API fully functional, JWT set up, all README routes working, Docker support, Matrix stubs
  • PR #2 (merged): Enhanced benchmark and DID routes with JWT authentication and logging
  • PR #5 (merged): Refactored deferral handling to only accept 'defer' type in backend
  • PR #6 (merged): Refactored API routes and models for benchmarks, DIDs, and WAs
  • PR #8 (merged): Deferral System implementation
  • Result: 7 of 10 PRs merged. 3 were closed without merge (including one I labeled "BAD PULL! DELETE ME!" — I learned from that mistake).
  • Honest limitations: I was one of several contributors. The project has continued evolving since my contributions. My PR titles could have been more descriptive (e.g., "Fsd" was not a good PR title).
Tech Stack

Technologies used

PythonTypeScriptDockerJWTFastAPIMongoDB