Handshake

This is an exploration: a way to think about keeping humans physically connected in a world where virtual interactions are becoming indistinguishable from reality. Instead of trying to prove who is human, the idea is simpler—create systems where being physically present still matters.

Users validate each other through real-world encounters (e.g., Bluetooth), establishing a minimal layer of trust. Once that validation happens, they can continue interacting online. The goal is not to guarantee identity, but to anchor digital relationships in physical presence.

This system favors local, small-scale connections over global reach. There are no feeds or algorithms deciding what you see. Geography and connections become the organizing principle. Messages live in networks of people who have met, and they propagate through those connections, similar to how data spreads in peer-to-peer systems.

You can send messages to people, to places, or to ideas. Where do ideas live? In the geographies where people talk.

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Strata: Geographic P2P Swarms

Strata is the persistence engine of Handshake, allowing humans to leave permanent digital traces in physical locations. It treats the history of a place as a digital palimpsest: layers of messages (strata) that accumulate over time and whose survival depends on collective interest (seeding).

Current Architecture (Hito 1 - Refined)

graph TD
    User((User)) --> CLI[Strata CLI]
    CLI --> Engine[Strata Engine]
    
    subgraph "Engine Orchestration"
        Engine --> Sync[Gossip Sync Local]
        Engine --> Swarm[Swarm Manager Global]
        Engine --> Storage[Storage Manager]
        Engine --> Identity[Identity & Contacts]
        Engine --> Relay[Relay Manager]
    end
    
    subgraph "Transports"
        Sync ---|UDP/Gossip| LocalPeers[Local Neighbors]
        Swarm ---|BitTorrent| GlobalPeers[Global Seeders]
    end
    
    Identity -.->|Trust Link| Sync
    Relay -->|Seeding| Swarm

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Key Concepts

• Agnostic Engine: The core logic is platform-independent. StrataEngine is a pure-logic component that can be embedded in CLI tools, mobile apps, or desktop clients.
• Unified Transport: It transparently manages both local Gossip and global BitTorrent swarms.
• Transparent Sync: The system automatically uses proximity for real-time interaction and swarms for historical persistence.
• Bridge Discovery: Peers found on BitTorrent are automatically bridged to the Gossip network.

How to use

Ensure you have uv installed, then run the commands directly with uv run strata <command>.

Commands

• node: Starts a P2P node for a specific location.

  • Usage: uv run strata node --lat 40.41 --lon -3.70
  • Purpose: Syncs messages for that location and acts as a relay for your distant boards.

• write: Leaves a message on the board at your current location.

  • Usage: uv run strata write "Hello world" --lat 40.41 --lon -3.70
  • Purpose: Signs and broadcasts your message to the local swarm.

• read: Reads messages from the swarm at your current location.

  • Usage: uv run strata read --lat 40.41 --lon -3.70
  • Purpose: Pulls history and displays messages, resolving author aliases if known.

• handshake: Initiates a cryptographic handshake with peers.

  • Usage: uv run strata handshake
  • Purpose: Broadcasts your signed identity so others can add you as a trusted contact.

• contact: Manage your trusted contacts.

  • add <pk> <alias>: Saves a peer's public key as a trusted contact.
  • list: Displays your current trust graph.

• relay: Manage your persistent Social Relays.

  • add <geohash>: Start persistently seeding a distant board.
  • list: View the boards you are currently relaying.
  • remove <info_hash>: Stop seeding a specific board.

Next Steps

Hito 1 (Completed)

• Physical Persistence: Automatically save .msg files to the torrent folder on write.
• Archaeological Scan: Implement read to scan and verify signatures of local messages.
• Metabolism: Simple TTL or storage limit for the local cache.
• Unified Engine: Gossip + BitTorrent transport abstraction.

Hito 2: Social Layer

• Identity Manager: Persistent Ed25519 keys and Contact Book.
• Handshake Protocol: Cryptographic peer-to-peer verification.
• Social Relays: Listen to distant boards via trusted contacts.

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Learnings & Architecture

Detailed documentation on the principles behind Strata:

1. uv & Modern Python
2. Sovereign Identity (Ed25519)
3. Geohashing & Swarms
4. Contacts & Trust Graphs
5. Digital Metabolism & Storage
6. P2P Sync Protocol (Gossip)

Hito 3: Physical Presence

• Design: Presence Protocol with BLE-HAL and RSSI proximity filtering.
• BLE Integration: Implement PresenceManager and BLE beacon broadcasting.
• Proximity UI: Mobile implementation for discovery and handshake confirmation.