Philosophy
Five principles guide every tool we build.
1. Sovereignty
Your data, your machine. All data is stored locally. You own your keys, your posts, your history. No accounts, no cloud, no third-party dependencies.
2. Composability
Unix pipes, not plugins. Every tool reads from stdin and writes to stdout. Chain them together with pipes. Build complex workflows from simple primitives.
3. Locality
Offline-first, network optional. Tools work without internet. Network features are always opt-in. Your workflow shouldn't break because a server is down.
4. Portability
Run anywhere. Cross-platform (Linux, macOS, Windows). WASM-capable where feasible. No vendor lock-in, no platform dependencies.
5. Openness
Open protocols only. We support Nostr, ActivityPub, SSB, RSS/Atom - protocols anyone can implement. No corporate APIs, no walled gardens.
In Practice
These principles lead to concrete design decisions:
- SQLite for storage - Portable, self-contained, zero configuration
- JSON for I/O - Universal, human-readable, machine-parseable
- Meaningful exit codes - Scriptable, automatable, debuggable
- Feature flags - Minimal defaults, opt-in complexity
- MIT license - Maximum freedom, minimum restrictions
Influences
- Unix Philosophy - Doug McIlroy’s original vision
- Local-first Software - Ink & Switch research
- Small Web - Aral Balkan’s vision
- Protocol, Not Platform - Jack Dorsey / Mike Masnick