Layers, checks, and bridges
- Community and application layers on Gov Hub
- Testable requirements (ML-REQ) wired into CI via ML-ADR records
- Verified links between pages and ideas (bridges and tags)
- Discussion and presence on real URLs through Canopi
Community-centric computing
Software that serves communities, not platforms that capture them.
The Overweb is the space above the webpage: independent layers, verified bridges, and governance that turns norms into code.
People set the rules on Gov Hub. Software proves it meets them before it scales. AI helps, under the same rules–not as the only door into community.
Vision
Many layers, one shared Web
Web pages, documents, and media stay underneath as common reference points. Above them, communities run their own computational environments with portable identity, interoperable context, and open protocols.
AI participates with humans in contextual space. It is not the mandatory gate to every interaction. That is the alternative to ubiquitous AI mediation: a richer architecture where people, communities, institutions, and agents maintain independent presence.
Sandbox before scale
Transparency
Portable identity
Verified bridges
Community tags
Gradual rollout
How it works
What it includes
Sandbox first
The governed layer above the Web
We call this layer the substrate: not one app or walled platform, but the place where community software must show it respects agreed rules–in running code and automated checks–not only in policy PDFs.
For builders: requirements are versioned artifacts (ML-REQ, Meta-Layer Requirements). How they are enforced is recorded too (ML-ADR, architecture decision records linked to repos and CI). For everyone else: communities decide; code and pipelines verify; new apps start in a sandbox before they reach the whole network.
Try small, then grow
New layers and apps incubate in a bounded sandbox, then a pilot with one community, then wider rollout–with votes and checks at each step. The goal is safe experimentation, not locking people out.
1
Desirable Properties
Communities articulate norms (safety, transparency, vicariance, portability).
2
Hermes and requirements
Communities turn shared values into draft ML-REQs: clear, testable rules for software.
3
Enforcement in code
ML-ADR records map each requirement to repos, tests, and pipelines that must pass.
4
Build and promote
Overweb Studio (in development) helps configure layers, test in sandbox, and promote when ready.
Governance
How the Overweb stays accountable
No single company owns the rules. Communities set them on Gov Hub. Implementation enforces them in software and sandboxes. AI assists inside the same requirements–not above them. Gov Hub is the index of record; communities may optionally preserve decisions on Bitcoin.
Communities
Define layers, vote on requirements and architecture records, set who can join, steward workgroups and guilds.
Implementation
Repos, sandboxes, and CI prove apps meet minimum affordances. Bridges and provenance are recorded.
AI
Hermes and other agents draft and advise under the same ML-REQ rules as human-built software.
Rights and requirements
Rights you can require in software
Hermes helps communities explore Desirable Properties and turn them into ML-REQ drafts: testable requirements for what every Overweb app must support (for example: export your data, show when AI is involved, stay in sandbox until approved).
ML-ADR records how each requirement is checked in code–so governance is not forgotten after the vote. Builders and automated tools can read ADRs to generate and verify software.
Build and immortalize
In development
Live
Live
Two studios, one substrate
Overweb Studio (coming) is for building on the governed layer: configure communities and apps, test in sandbox, pass requirement checks before launch. BRC333 Studio is separate: forever badges, books, and attestations on Bitcoin.
Overweb Studio
Configure community and application layers. Test in sandbox. Pass requirement checks before production. Agent-assisted setup when Overweb Studio launches.
BRC333 Studio
Forever badges, books, blogs, attestations, and inscriptions. Immortalize what your community chooses to preserve on chain.
Canopi
Smart tags, bridges, and presence on real URLs. The overlay where humans and agents meet in contextual space above the page.
Gov Hub
ML-Drafts, ML-REQs, ML-ADRs, votes, and workgroups. Where ideas become enforced decisions.
Metaweb book
Civic guide to bridges, layers, and the pattern of computing above the webpage.
Project relationships
A shared vision across distinct projects
The Meta-Layer Initiative was initiated by Daveed Benjamin as a project of Bridgit DAO to advance awareness, education, and collaboration around the layered Web. Desirable Properties is a program of the initiative.
Canopi is a separate, for-profit project initiated by Daveed Benjamin as a project of Bridgit DAO. Its technology supports selected Meta-Layer Initiative activities, including embedded discussion and collaboration.
The Overweb describes the vision and technical direction for community-centric computing above the Web, stewarded by Bridgit DAO and contributors. It connects related work across these projects; it does not define their organizational structure.
The planned Web4 Foundation is another forthcoming Bridgit DAO initiative. Its organizational structure and funding arrangements are being developed.
These projects share origins and collaborate, while their leadership, funding arrangements, and participation terms are defined separately.
Support
Support the Overweb vision
The Overweb vision is stewarded by Bridgit DAO and contributors. The planned Web4 Foundation is a forthcoming Bridgit DAO initiative intended to support public infrastructure. Its organizational structure and funding arrangements are being developed.
