Practical overview
When it fits
Use Hats when a DAO needs on-chain role tokens that connected applications can recognize, and when the team will separately configure the permissions or responsibilities associated with each role.
Who it is for
- DAO teams representing roles or membership credentials on-chain.
- Developers building governance or access-control applications that can interact with the ERC1155 interface.
Documented uses
- Create on-chain credentials for DAO roles or membership.
- Use role tokens as conditions for access in external applications.
- Coordinate delegation, revocation and role handoffs through connected tools.
Requirements & limits
The public repository is open source under the AGPL-3.0 license.
- The protocol represents roles, but most permissions and responsibilities must be attached through separate tools.
- Hats conform to the ERC1155 interface but are not fully ERC1155-compliant; mint and transfer operations do not invoke ERC1155 receiver logic.
- The repository contains v1 core contracts, and the documentation directs readers to Releases for version and deployment information.
Check current requirements in the official documentation. Source-based guidance does not mean OpenViST has run or independently tested this project.
Create an organizational structure with Hats Protocol
Set up on-chain roles as a tree of Hats so an organization can assign and revoke roles.
Before you start
- An organization or its designated agents or smart contracts to grant and revoke Hats.
- A Hats-compatible front end; the documentation identifies the Hats app as one front end for setup and use.
Steps
Use a Hats front end to create roles and connect them in a Hats tree.
Set up the admin and accountability relationships between roles.
Have the organization or its designated agents or smart contracts grant Hats to the intended addresses; wearers may later renounce their Hats.
Expected outcome
Roles are represented as on-chain tokens and connected in an organizational structure; an address holding a Hat is its wearer.
Guide limitations
- The core protocol does not itself attach external authorities or responsibilities to a Hat; those associations require separate tools or integrations.
- Wearers cannot transfer Hats, though they can renounce them.
- The core-contract README describes non-transferable ERC1155-similar tokens and notes that Hats are not fully ERC1155-compliant; mints and transfers do not call onERC1155Received.
Sources & review
Source record details
- Source availability
- Active
- Sources checked
- 15 October 2026
- Original website title
- Hats-Protocol/hats-protocol · Official homepage title · retained in its source language