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]
    end
    
    subgraph "Transports"
        Sync ---|UDP/Gossip| LocalPeers[Local Neighbors]
        Swarm ---|BitTorrent| GlobalPeers[Global Seeders]
    end

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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

1. Setup:

   uv sync

2. Leave a trace:

   uv run strata write "Hello from the square!" --lat -34.60 --lon -58.38

3. Start a node (Seed):

   uv run strata node --lat -34.60 --lon -58.38

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: Direct peer-to-peer key exchange.
• Social Relays: Listen to distant boards via trusted contacts.

Hito 3: Physical Presence

• Bluetooth PoP: Certify presence via BLE beacons.
• Mobile App: Native experience with the "Time Dial" UI.