Repositories are in an "unclaimed" state on Drips by default, but that doesn't mean no one can send money to them. Funders can add any GitHub repository to a Drip List at any time, and funds will accumulate there waiting for you to claim. The essence of claiming is proving control over the repository to the Drips contract using a FUNDING.json file, then configuring split rules to distribute accumulated funds and future inflows to maintainers and dependencies according to the percentages you set. Money does not automatically go to your wallet—after claiming, you still need to manually execute Collect.
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Prerequisite for Claiming: An Ethereum Wallet That Can Sign Contracts
Drips runs on Ethereum, and each claimed project is controlled by an Ethereum address. You need a self-custodial wallet to initiate the claim and subsequent Collect operations.
Do not use an exchange deposit address. The official Drips documentation explicitly warns that addresses provided by exchanges typically cannot sign contract interactions, and funds sent to such addresses may be unrecoverable. Use a wallet where you control the private keys or signing authority, such as MetaMask, Rabby, or a Safe multisig. If your project is managed by a team, a Safe multisig is a more suitable choice, and Open Source Collective's process also supports operating through Safe wallets.
The claiming process requires submitting a FUNDING.json file to the repository's default branch, containing your Ethereum address. Drips generates an on-chain verifiable proof of this file's contents through Lit Protocol, and after the contract verifies it, project ownership is updated to that address. If you don't have commit access to the repository, you'll need someone with access to merge the PR first. The process can be paused midway and resumed after the PR is merged.
Split Configuration: Default 60/40, But the Dependency List Cannot Be Empty
The final step of the claiming process is configuring splits. Drips' default template is 60% maintainers and 40% dependencies, but this default is meaningless unless you actually fill in dependencies.
Maintainers are the Ethereum addresses you specify, representing people who directly receive income distributions. This can be yourself or a combination of addresses for multiple contributors. Dependencies are other open source repositories or Drip Lists that you actually use in your project. The percentage you configure here will be automatically forwarded from every payment your project receives.
The execution cycle for splits is the last Thursday of every month (Ethereum mainnet). After configuration is complete, previously accumulated pending funds will also be immediately distributed according to this ratio. If you occupy a portion of the maintainer share, you can click Collect directly after claiming to withdraw your portion to your wallet.
There is a practical trade-off here: if you don't fill in any dependencies, the 40% default dependency share needs to be manually reduced, otherwise those funds will sit idle in the empty dependency list you configured. Conversely, if you carefully list dependencies and assign percentages, the funds you send out become part of someone else's project income—this is how Drips' "dependency tree" mechanism works. Ethers.js once distributed 40% of its income to the projects it depends on, and some of those dependent projects continued to distribute upstream, forming a chain of funding.
Operating Costs: Gas Is Real, But Only at Certain Points
Claiming itself requires paying Ethereum gas, including the transaction to submit the ownership verification and the transaction to set up the splits configuration. Modifying split configurations and executing Collect also require gas.
Receiving funds does not require gas. When others stream or split funds to your repository, you don't need to pay for that. But when you're ready to withdraw the accumulated balance on Drips to your own wallet, you need a small amount of ETH in your wallet to cover the gas for the Collect transaction. Drips may sponsor gas for claiming or Collect in some cases, and the transaction interface will show "paid for by Drips," but this is not the norm.
If your project claims through Open Source Collective as fiscal sponsor, OSC will pay the gas on your behalf and deduct it from the project balance, while charging a 10% fiscal sponsorship fee. This path is suitable for teams that don't want to manage wallets and gas themselves, at the cost of funds going into OSC's Collective account rather than directly to an address you control.
If Someone Has Already Sent Money But You Haven't Claimed, the Money Won't Disappear
Drips' FAQ states clearly: funds streamed to a GitHub repository that has never been claimed will remain on Drips waiting for the repository owner to claim, with no expiration time. Future protocol governance may change this rule (such as donating unclaimed funds to a public goods fund), but currently there is no time limit.
This means you don't need to constantly monitor. But if you know someone plans to fund your project, claiming in advance and configuring splits is more reasonable than letting funds sit idle—at least you can see the accumulated amount and decide when to withdraw.
Completion Criteria
It's not "submitted FUNDING.json," but rather: the project shows as claimed in the Drips App, and the ownership address is a wallet you control; the maintainer addresses and dependencies in the splits configuration reflect the percentages you actually want; if there are accumulated pending funds, after claiming you can see them distributed according to your configuration in the interface, and you can use Collect to withdraw your share to your wallet. Claim a small project first to test the entire process, confirm gas consumption and split results meet expectations, then handle the main repository.
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References
- Drips Network·Claim your open-source project, no update date indicated; verified on: 2026-10-18.
- Drips Network·Introduction, no update date indicated; verified on: 2026-10-18.
- Open Source Collective·Drips, published or updated on: 2026-06-15; verified on: 2026-10-18.
- Drips Network·FAQ, no update date indicated; verified on: 2026-10-18.
- DeepWiki·Project Claiming Flow, published or updated on: 2026-03-06; verified on: 2026-10-18.
- Filecoin·Amplifying the Impact: FIL-RetroPGF-2 with Drips, published or updated on: 2025-01-27; verified on: 2026-10-18.
