Hats Protocol primary-source snapshot
Fetched: 2026-04-25 UTC
1) Official website
Source: https://www.hatsprotocol.xyz/
Selected excerpts from the official site:
Create custom modules to automate granting and revocation of onchain roles and permissions
Easily build RBAC directly into your apps and smart contracts with roles that can be used throughout the internet
Integrate Hats into your applications using Hats SDKs and developer tools
Additional signals from the site:
- The homepage frames Hats as roles-and-permissions infrastructure rather than just a social coordination product
- Even sparse homepage copy makes automation, modularity, and developer integration central to the pitch
2) Official docs introduction
Source: https://docs.hatsprotocol.xyz/
Selected excerpts from the docs:
Hats turns organizations into a digital object, ready to be programmed.
Hats is a full-stack solution for organizing onchain.
Roles … are rich objects that conform to the ERC-1155 standard and that bundle responsibilities, permissions, and incentives.
Additional signals from the docs:
- The docs make the organizational-graph model much clearer than the homepage alone
- The materials explicitly say hats can be worn by individuals, groups, DAOs, smart accounts, or AI agents, which broadens the project beyond simple contributor badges
3) llms.txt docs index
Source: https://docs.hatsprotocol.xyz/llms.txt
Selected excerpts/signals from the docs index:
Welcome to Hats Protocol: Save time, automate onboarding, and manage permissions across the internet with programmable onchain roles
Safe Multisig Signing Authority
Hats Modules
Hats Security Audits
Additional signals from the docs index:
- The docs index is unusually valuable here because it enumerates the real integration surface: Safe, Snapshot, Discord, Telegram, Google Workspace, Fileverse, compensation, signer gates, subgraphs, modules, audits, and SDKs
- This makes Hats look like broad permissioning middleware rather than a niche DAO UI
4) Getting started docs
Source: https://docs.hatsprotocol.xyz/getting-started-with-hats
Selected excerpts from the docs:
Create individual Hats for specific roles & permissions
Create a Hats tree as the foundation of your organizational graph
watch this short video for a quick tutorial of the Hats App
Additional signals from the docs:
- Hats clearly supports both lightweight role issuance and much larger organizational-graph deployments
- The docs are usage-heavy and operational, which is often more informative than a formal whitepaper for understanding actual product scope
5) Permissions & authorities docs
Source: https://docs.hatsprotocol.xyz/hats-integrations/permissions-and-authorities
Selected excerpts from the docs:
Hats makes it easy for organizations to manage permissions and access for their human and AI agents across the open internet.
Accounts and resources: control of Ethereum accounts, multisig signing authority, and compensation
Workspaces: read, review & write permissions in workspaces, files & docs
Additional signals from the docs:
- This page is especially high-signal because it ties Hats to both crypto-native and offchain operating surfaces
- The permissions model spans treasury control, communications, governance, and workspaces, which is broader than many “DAO role” projects imply
6) Protocol spec docs
Source: https://docs.hatsprotocol.xyz/for-developers/v1-protocol-spec
Selected excerpts from the docs:
In this section, you’ll find Ethereum Natspec documentation for each of the contracts, events, errors, and interfaces that comprise Hats Protocol.
Additional signals from the docs:
- Hats publishes contract-level protocol docs rather than only app walkthroughs
- That is useful evidence that the protocol layer itself is meant to be built on directly
7) Modules docs
Source: https://docs.hatsprotocol.xyz/for-developers/hats-modules
Selected excerpts from the docs:
A Hats Module is any contract that serves as an Eligibility module, a Toggle module, and/or a Hatter contract.
Modules customize, automate, and extend the behavior of Hats Protocol
In a sense, modules are the lifeblood of Hats Protocol.
Additional signals from the docs:
- The module system appears to be the main extensibility surface and a core part of how Hats integrates with other systems
- This helps distinguish Hats from simpler token-gating projects that stop at role issuance
8) Hats Signer Gate v2 docs
Source: https://docs.hatsprotocol.xyz/for-developers/hats-signer-gate-v2
Selected excerpts from the docs:
HSG v2 is a contract that grants multisig signing rights to addresses wearing a given hats
Removes signers who are no long valid
Manages the multisig threshold within the owner-specified range as new signers are added or removed.
Additional signals from the docs:
- Hats documents a concrete Safe/Zodiac control surface rather than only abstract governance theory
- Dynamic signer and threshold management is a strong primary-source signal that Hats is real operational infra for treasury and account control
9) Official GitHub organization
Source: https://github.com/Hats-Protocol
Selected excerpts/signals from the public org page:
Core contracts for Hats Protocol v1
User guides and developer documentation for Hats Protocol
voting-services-mcp/aligned-agent/hats-mcp-server
Additional signals from the org page:
- The public org exposes core contracts, module tooling, APIs, and agent/MCP-adjacent repos, which suggests the ecosystem is expanding into machine-mediated organizational tooling
- These repos are also a useful clue that the protocol is being treated as operational infra, not just governance branding
10) Core contracts repository
Source: https://github.com/Hats-Protocol/hats-protocol
Selected excerpts from the repository page:
Hats Protocol is a protocol for DAO-native roles and credentials that supports revocable delegation of authority and responsibility.
Hats are represented on-chain by non-transferable tokens that conform to the ERC1155 interface.
This project has received two security audits
Additional signals from the repo:
- The repo README provides a concise protocol-level framing that matches the docs, while also surfacing public audit materials
- Public audits are especially helpful since there does not appear to be a classic whitepaper
Notes
- This pass did not locate a classic whitepaper or litepaper from official Hats Protocol sources.
- The most useful primary materials were the website, docs intro, permissions pages, protocol-spec and module docs, Signer Gate docs, GitHub org, and core contracts repository.
- Hats Protocol appears best categorized as onchain roles-and-permissions protocol / DAO coordination / programmable access-control infrastructure.