# Welcome to Powers protocol 🚧 **The Powers protocol is under development. The protocol, app and documentation are a work in progress. They can (and do!) break at any time.** 🚧 ## What it is The Powers protocol offers a role-based governance system for on-chain organizations. It allows for the separation and distribution of decision-making power by codifying relationships between stakeholders. Using Powers, a single decision can be guided through multiple role-restricted modules, with each their own conditional checks and voting mechanisms. Together, the create completely modular, transparent and asynchronous governance paths. ## Components The protocol combines a governance engine, **Powers**, with role restricted and modular contracts, called **laws**, to govern **actions**. * **Powers** manages assigning roles to addresses and governance flows. * **Laws** define what actions can be taken by which roles under what conditions. When it passes, a law translates an action to executable targets, values and calldatas. * **Actions** consist of calldata and a unique nonce that is send to a target law. Crucially, Powers allows the **same action** to be send to **different laws**: the execution of law A can be conditional on the execution of the same action at law B. ## Quick links * [The Github repository](https://github.com/7Cedars/powers) * [The Powers app](https://powers-protocol.vercel.app/#usecases) ## Use cases Powers allows, among others, the following key governance patterns that solve common DAO challenges: **🔐 Grant Management**: Create accountable grant programs where council members can assign funds and grant allocators, but decisions are logged and can be challenged. All funds remain in community control, allocators can be replaced and grant programs revoked if they don't achieve intended impact. **⚖️ Separated Powers**: Distribute decision-making across multiple roles to prevent centralization. One role can propose actions, another can veto, and a third can execute - creating checks and balances similar to legislative, judicial, and executive branches. **🔄 DAO Upgrades**: Upgrade existing DAOs gradually without abandoning established governance. Start with minimal assets in Powers, add new roles and tasks, and transition completely when confidence grows - all while maintaining the existing DAO as a role holder. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://7cedars.gitbook.io/powers-protocol/readme.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.