Public dossier section · @ben

people

This is @ben's profile revision 1. The original date and editorial confidence below are attributed to its publisher, not independent verification.

Original credited author: Hraness

AI-drafted at Ben Guo's direct request and credited to Hraness; every claim links to its cataloged source.

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ink & switch: people

the founders, the director, the bench, the residents, and the collaborators — who they are and what they wrote.

the people

adam wiggins (founder): co-founder of heroku, ink & switch, and muse — and co-founder of local-first conf per his public bios. 'the original members of the lab wanted to do a startup — that was adam, james and orion,' per van hardenberg; wiggins dates the reconvening to 'somewhere around — i think it was 2015.' co-authored the local-first essay (2019), spun muse out of the lab and ran it 2019–2023, and returned to the lab in 2026 for a research residency — firehose, a personal triage algorithm for the message stream. '10 years of support' as an individual patron. (sources: adam wiggins on the 2015 reconvening + industrial-lab inspirations, transcript of idea machines #50, individual + organizational supporters, muse history: $2m, seven-person team, fall-2023 departure, patchwork notes, bluesky profile aggregator incl, landmark essay)
james lindenbaum (founder): co-founder of heroku and heavybit, the developer-tools accelerator. '10 years of support' as an individual patron; the supporters page credits him as the guide for the programmable ink research track, and he is a named playbook collaborator. (sources: individual + organizational supporters, playbook collaborators incl, adam wiggins on the 2015 reconvening + industrial-lab inspirations)
orion henry (founder): co-founder of heroku; co-creator of automerge (2017) and a core maintainer. wrote automerge 3.0's in-memory columnar rewrite — 'memory savings of 100x in some cases.' patchwork collaborator; '10 years of support' as an individual patron. (sources: github, individual + organizational supporters, automerge 3, project 030, 2024–2026, automerge.org)
peter van hardenberg (director): lab director (ceo in the interview record) — joined when the lab was 'four or five people' and has '8 years of support' on the patrons list. previously founded heroku's data products and team; before that: arctic oceanography, game boy advance and nintendo ds children's games, shakespearean scholarship via xslt, and a stint 'competing with itunes using open source.' co-author of the local-first, cambria, patchwork, and malleable-software essays. described the lab's arc as 'professionalization' — from a pre-startup detour to an institution meant 'to sustain for 10 years, for 50 years.' the lofi community bills him as 'the father of local-first' — a community epithet, not a title. (sources: individual + organizational supporters, transcript of idea machines #50, pvh bio: heroku data products, i&s researcher, lab director/ceo from 2020-10 (self-reported), james arthurs lofi origin: localfirstweb, i&s 2025 essay)
martin kleppmann (collaborator): collaborator, not lab staff — the distinction matters and the record supports only the collaborator reading: cambridge professor, co-creator of automerge (2017) from his and beresford's json crdt research, co-author of the 2019 local-first essay, and a recurring face at lab events. automerge sponsorships note 'so many others who have contributed either directly to automerge or through supporting martin kleppmann on patreon' — a parallel, independent funding channel. no source documents employment by the lab. (sources: landmark essay, github, kleppmann & beresford json crdt paper (ieee tpds), first supported release… ground-up rewrite, hydra talk)
the research bench (team): the named researchers and engineers in the public corpus: mark mcgranaghan (principal investigator 2018–2019, local-first and muse co-author); geoffrey litt (senior researcher 2023-01→2025-09, led the malleable track, then notion); marcel goethals (programmable ink, 2021→); paul sonnentag (potluck through backstitch); paul shen (potluck, then openai); max schöning (potluck, patchwork; then magic, then notion); ivy reese (inkling, playbook, the tenfold playground); todd matthews (resident designer; tenfold story; malleable co-author); john mumm (keyhive, automerge; rejoined 2025); brooklyn zelenka (senior researcher, keyhive lead, bijou64; ex-fission cto); grjte, chee rabbits, maciek sakrejda, orion reed (the 2025 gaios wave); lilith duncan and nikita zatkovich (backstitch); leo stewen (coln); mimi reyburn (residency → staff, 2026); alex good (automerge lead, full-time since the 2.0 push); plus credit-level names — roshan choxi, julia roggatz, gökçen keskin, rae mckelvey, szymon kaliski, matt tognetti, jeff peterson, blaine cook — whose public records are thin. (sources: pi 2018-02→2019-06, senior researcher 2023-01→2025-09, litt: in september, i left my research position at ink & switch… now work at notion, researcher at ink & switch… programmable ink, dynamic documents as personal software, project 030, 2024–2026, project 035, first supported release… ground-up rewrite, gaios intro, new staff (reyburn/yen/stewen), notion announces schoening hire, paul shen → openai technical staff 2023-04)
the researchers-in-residence (team): the formal rir program: alexander obenauer (active 'since [2023]' — ollos and workbench, the itemized-os essays); mary rose cook (~2023-07→2024-02, lude; now an ai engineer at notion); lu wilson (joined ~2024-02, later alum; works at tldraw); elliott evans (droste's lair with josh horowitz; tentpole collective); june gardner (nova, live 2025); mimi reyburn (residency converted to staff); derek yen (2026, nyu cryptography, beekem formalization); and adam wiggins himself, back for the 2026 firehose residency. (sources: patchwork launch, about a dozen researchers, directors year-end letter, gaios intro, new staff (reyburn/yen/stewen), patchwork notes, ollos essay (itemized os), mary rose cook bio: notion ai engineer)
the outside collaborators (team): the hollywood model's contract bench: alex warth (inkling, playbook, ambsheets, the patchwork task framework, livelymerge); josh horowitz (malleable-software co-author, droste's lair); dan ingalls (livelymerge — the smalltalk/lively kernel lineage made literal); avi bryant, who is both an individual patron ('2 years of support') and a research collaborator (ambsheets); christopher shank (live 2025, with orion reed); and the muse-alumni orbit — adam wulf, who carried muse on alone after 2023 and continues it as allume. (sources: project 029, playbook collaborators incl, i&s 2025 essay, new staff (reyburn/yen/stewen), gaios intro, individual + organizational supporters, muse history: $2m, seven-person team, fall-2023 departure)
the supporters (team): the lab 'only exists through the generosity of our supporters': individual patrons wiggins, lindenbaum, and henry ('10 years' each), van hardenberg ('8 years'), and avi bryant ('2 years'); research partners notion (the peritext collaboration, attested by ivan zhao) and the endless os foundation (funding backstitch); governmental sponsor nlnet/ngi zero core (automerge); corporate members ellipsus and common tools (alex komoroske: 'the xerox parc of today'); the aria safeguarded ai programme from 2025-09; and automerge's own enterprise sponsors fly.io, prisma, and bowtie. cb insights also lists blueyard capital as an investor — unverified by any lab source. no dollar figures are disclosed anywhere. (sources: individual + organizational supporters, first supported release… ground-up rewrite, aria sgai joined, aria safeguarded ai programme page, endless access on the backstitch partnership, founded 2015)

writings

2017-04 — a conflict-free replicated json datatype (document, kleppmann, ieee tpds / martin.kleppmann.com): kleppmann and beresford's ieee tpds paper — 'a conflict-free replicated json datatype' — the cambridge research automerge implements. source
2018-02-01 — pixelpusher: real-time peer-to-peer collaboration with react (essay, pvh, inkandswitch.com): the lab's first published prototype essay — real-time peer-to-peer collaboration in react on an early automerge — establishing the essay-plus-prototype form. source
2018-11-01 — slow software (essay, wiggins, inkandswitch.com): mcgranaghan and wiggins on software latency and what it does to a user's train of thought — the founding-era manifesto behind the lab's speed ethos. source
2018-12-11 — capstone: a tablet for thinking (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com): the tablet-for-thinking essay — mixed-media cards, freeform inking, an infinite canvas — and the open-sourced prototype that followed. source
2019-03-01 — end-user programming (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com): the lab's oldest question stated as a survey: forty years of trying to let users shape their own software, and why it stays hard. source
2019-04-01 — local-first software: you own your data, in spite of the cloud (essay, kleppmann, inkandswitch.com / onward! '19): the essay that coined 'local-first' — kleppmann, wiggins, van hardenberg, mcgranaghan — seven ideals and the crdt bet, presented at onward! '19. the artifacts with the largest hn footprints in this dossier are essays, and this is the largest. source

"we call this type of software local-first software, since it prioritizes the use of local storage (the disk built into your computer) and local networks (such as your home wifi) over servers in remote datacenters."

2019-04-04 — muse: designing a studio for ideas (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com): mcgranaghan, keskin, wiggins, roggatz — 'a studio for ideas': an ipad workspace modeled on the physical studio, the prototype that became the muse spinout. source
2020-04-14 — pushpin (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com): 'towards production-quality peer-to-peer collaboration' — the most developed early prototype, with documented real internal use, later archived 'for posterity' as the dat/hypermerge stack died under it. source
2020-07-06 — crdts: the hard parts (talk, kleppmann, hydra conference): kleppmann's hydra talk — the canonical self-critical account of crdt pitfalls, from the research community the lab collaborates with. source

"crdts are easy to implement badly. many published algorithms have anomalies… simple implementations often have terrible performance"

2020-10-06 — cambria (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com): bidirectional lenses for schema change — data that translates between shapes so documents can outlive their schemas. a hard problem named in the 2019 paper, still open. source
2021-09-01 — backchannel (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com): relationship-based digital identity — trust introduced person-to-person rather than issued by platforms. the identity thread that resurfaces in keyhive. source
2021-11-23 — peritext (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com): a crdt for rich-text collaboration — later identified on the supporters page as the output of the notion research partnership. source
2021-12 — metamuse #46: industrial research (podcast, pvh, metamuse): 'industrial research' — van hardenberg on the metamuse podcast describing the lab 'inspired by bell labs and xerox parc,' funded on a spinout flywheel. source
2022-03-29 — crosscut (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com): drawing dynamic models — pen-and-paper directness with software dynamics underneath; the first programmable-ink essay. source
2022-10-31 — potluck (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com / splash 2022): 'dynamic documents as personal software' — litt, schoening, shen, sonnentag. notes become apps through live searches, computations, and annotations; presented at splash 2022. source
2022-11-11 — the changelog #514 (podcast, wiggins, the changelog): the changelog interview — the canonical founding account: the heroku trio reconvening, the deep dive on industrial research labs, and the muse spinout in hindsight. source

"somewhere around — i think it was 2015 is when we — let's say we reconvened" "xerox parc… bell labs… thomas edison… menlo park; it was like a private industrial research lab, you might say"

2022-11-20 — inkbase: programmable ink (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com): 'what would be possible if hand-drawn sketches were programmable like spreadsheets?' — the programmable ink manifesto and the lab's second-biggest hn artifact ever. source
2022 — the torch of progress: adam wiggins (podcast, wiggins, progress studies): torch of progress ep. 13 — wiggins on edison, bell labs, arpa, and parc as 'a big influence for our independent research lab.' source
2023-01 — introducing automerge 2.0 (post, henry, automerge.org): the automerge 2.0 announcement — rust core, alex good hired full-time, support options for production users; sponsorship from fly.io, prisma, bowtie, and kleppmann's patreon supporters. source

"it's our first supported release resulting from a ground-up rewrite"

2023-01 — untangle (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com): pen-based fuzzy-constraint problem solving — a sketch interface backed by an smt solver; the programmable ink track pushing into computation. source
2023-03-08 — upwelling (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com): real-time collaboration plus version control for writers — 'creative privacy' while every change is accounted for. the patchwork track's precursor. source
2023-03-25 — malleable software in the age of llms (essay, bench, geoffreylitt.com): litt's 'malleable software in the age of llms' — chat output should become tweakable personal software; the bridge essay between the malleable track and the agent era. source
2023 — metamuse #83: end and beginning (podcast, wiggins, metamuse): 'end and beginning' — the muse restructuring episode whose 'end of an era' line is routinely misattached to the lab itself. source

"we did not manage to make muse into a sustainable business. therefore i and most of the team are departing. my longtime colleague adam wulf will continue to develop muse as a solo entrepreneur"

2023-11-20 — embark (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com): dynamic documents for travel planning — maps, dates, and formulas living inside text — published alongside the first dispatch. source
2024-02-10 — idea machines #50: industrial research with peter van hardenberg (interview, pvh, idea machines): the idea machines #50 transcript — the lab's self-account: the startup that became a lab, the hollywood model, 'eight and 15 people,' and the fifty-year ambition. source

"we'd bring in some contractors and we called it the hollywood model… it was sort of structured like a movie production" "to sustain for 10 years, for 50 years"

2024 — localfirst.fm episode 1 (podcast, pvh, localfirst.fm): the localfirst.fm episode 1 interview — van hardenberg's local-first primer for the community podcast the ecosystem grew. source
2024 — the muse retrospective (essay, wiggins, adamwiggins.com): wiggins' muse retrospective — the spinout's numbers in his own words (self-reported), and the honest ledger of an unsustainable business. source

"between 2019 and 2023 i worked on muse… we raised $2m in funding, grew the team to seven, had tens of thousands of active users, and thousands of customers"

2025-06-05 — malleable software: restoring user agency in a world of locked-down apps (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com): the second flagship essay — litt, horowitz, van hardenberg, matthews. 'restoring user agency in a world of locked-down apps': gradual transitions from use to change, interoperable tools over shared data, communities exchanging improvements. source

"a software ecosystem where anyone can adapt their tools to their needs with minimal friction"

2025-07 — automerge 3.0 (post, henry, automerge.org): the automerge 3.0 release post — orion henry's columnar rewrite: 'pasting moby dick into an automerge 2 document consumes 700mb of memory, in automerge 3 it only consumes 1.3mb' (vendor-reported). source
2025 — generally intelligent: geoffrey litt (interview, bench, generally intelligent): litt on imbue's 'generally intelligent' — the malleable-software case in his own words, on the way out the door to notion. source
2026-04-08 — local first: how to build software which still works after the acquihire (talk, bench, qcon london / infoq): alex good at qcon london — 'local first: how to build software which still works after the acquihire,' the maintainer's case carried into practitioner media. source
2026-04-23 — tenfold: ten years of ink & switch (essay, bench, inkandswitch.com): todd matthews' tenth-anniversary origin story — tenfold built inside patchwork, letters-as-tools contributed by staff, alums, and friends, the playground engineered by ivy reese. source
2026-06-29 — moving beyond cloud-native to local-first (interview, wiggins, infoq): the infoq podcast — wiggins on moving beyond cloud-native to local-first, floating hybrid ai where local models handle core productivity tasks. source
2026 — nobody is here to do version control (interview, pvh, endless access): the endless access blog on the backstitch partnership — van hardenberg explaining why a version-control tool for students belongs in a research lab: 'nobody is here to do version control.' source

"people put in as much energy and passion as they have for a project… that's just friction lost along the way"

controversies

2015–2026 — the founding-year drift: the founding-year drift — linkedin and cb insights list 'founded 2015'; matt webb cites a 'march 2015 pitch deck'; wiggins says 'somewhere around… 2015 is when we reconvened'; but the lab's own announcement says 'ink & switch turns ten this year' in april 2026, i.e. ~2016. both dates are self-reported and both are in the record. reaction: the dossier preserves both: plausibly 2015 is the reconvening and 2016 the operating start — an inference, not a reconciliation. github's org creation (2015-08-19) is the earliest hard artifact. (sources: founded 2015, founded 2015, matt webb lab survey, wiggins interview, tenfold, lab github org (created 2015-08-19))
2017– — collaborator, not employee: the kleppmann attribution — martin kleppmann is routinely described as part of the lab because automerge and the local-first essay sit inside it. the record shows a collaborator and co-author: cambridge professor, patreon-supported in parallel, present at lab events — and no source documents employment. reaction: the lab itself is precise about this — automerge.org calls the project 'an independent open source project' built by 'production engineers who cofounded heroku, and computer scientists like renowned cambridge professor martin kleppmann.' (sources: landmark essay, github, project site, first supported release… ground-up rewrite)
2023– — the wrong 'end of an era': the misattached 'end of an era' — metamuse #83's phrase describes muse's 2023 restructuring (wiggins and most of the team departing, wulf continuing solo). it circulates as if the lab wound down; the record shows the opposite — new staff announced 2025-09, 2025-11, and 2026-06, and a tenth-anniversary celebration in 2026. reaction: treat any 'ink & switch wind-down' claim as unverified conflation with muse; the dispatch archive shows continuous operation november 2023 through june 2026. (sources: end of an era for muse, press coverage of muse team departure, dispatch index nov 2023–jun 2026, new staff (reyburn/yen/stewen), tenfold)

AI-drafted at Ben Guo's direct request and credited to Hraness; every claim links to its cataloged source.

Canonical page: https://hraness.com/ink-and-switch/people

Original source occurrences

first supported release… ground-up rewrite · automerge.org · 2023-01 (month) · original ID: src-ci-automerge-2
"first supported release… ground-up rewrite"; alex good full-time; support options
automerge.org · automerge.org · 2025-07 (month) · original ID: src-ci-automerge-3
3.0 release; moby dick 700mb→1.3mb; 17h→9s load — vendor-reported
capstone credits list · github · 2018 (year) · original ID: src-ci-capstone-repo
capstone credits list; "no longer developing"
wiggins interview · changelog · 2022-11-11 (day) · original ID: src-ci-changelog-514
wiggins interview; "2015 is when we reconvened"; founding with lindenbaum & henry
automerge 3 · inkandswitch.com · 2025-07 (month) · original ID: src-ci-dispatch-012
automerge 3.0 official launch
dispatch index nov 2023–jun 2026 · inkandswitch.com · 2026-06 (month) · original ID: src-ci-dispatch-archive
dispatch index nov 2023–jun 2026; proves continuous operation
acm doi record · doi.org · 2019-10 (month) · original ID: src-ci-doi
acm doi record; proceedings citation
litt: in september, i left my research position at ink & switch… now work at notion · buttondown · 2025-09 (month) · original ID: src-ci-geoffrey-job
litt: "in september, i left my research position at ink & switch… now work at notion"
litt: malleable software in the age of llms — bridges to agent era · geoffreylitt.com · 2023-03-25 (day) · original ID: src-ci-geoffrey-malleable-llm
litt: "malleable software in the age of llms" — bridges to agent era
automerge 2 · hacker news · 2023-01-30 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-automerge-2
automerge 2.0: 717 pts, 89 comments
automerge 3 · hacker news · 2025-08-03 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-automerge-3
automerge 3.0: 353 pts
cambria lenses: 101 pts · hacker news · 2020-10-06 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-cambria
cambria lenses: 101 pts
end-user programming essay: 105 pts · hacker news · 2019-03-23 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-eup
end-user programming essay: 105 pts
crdts: the hard parts: 404 pts, 124 comments · hacker news · 2020-07-11 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-hard-parts
"crdts: the hard parts": 404 pts, 124 comments
inkbase/programmable ink: 675 pts, 83 comments · hacker news · 2022-11-30 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-inkbase
inkbase/programmable ink: 675 pts, 83 comments
essay launch thread: 566 pts, 190 comments · hacker news · 2019-05-02 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-localfirst-2019
essay launch thread: 566 pts, 190 comments
malleable software essay: 294 pts, 114 comments · hacker news · 2025-06-10 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-malleable
malleable software essay: 294 pts, 114 comments
muse essay: 137 pts · hacker news · 2019-05-03 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-muse
muse essay: 137 pts
peritext essay: 76 pts · hacker news · 2021-11-23 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-peritext
peritext essay: 76 pts
potluck: 201 pts · hacker news · 2022-11-01 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-potluck
potluck: 201 pts
slow software: 438 pts, 260 comments · hacker news · 2018-11-21 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-slow-software
slow software: 438 pts, 260 comments
upwelling: 37 pts · hacker news · 2023-03-09 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-upwelling
upwelling: 37 pts
alex good qcon london talk · infoq.com · 2026-04-08 (day) · original ID: src-ci-infoq-good-talk
alex good qcon london talk; "i work at ink & switch… maintaining a library"
wiggins: cloud-native→local-first · infoq.com · 2026-06-29 (day) · original ID: src-ci-infoq-wiggins-pod
wiggins: cloud-native→local-first; hybrid ai/local models remark
matt webb lab survey · interconnected.org · 2021-03-15 (day) · original ID: src-ci-interconnected-labs
matt webb lab survey; cites i&s "march 2015 pitch deck"
hydra talk · martin.kleppmann.com · 2020-07-06 (day) · original ID: src-ci-kleppmann-hard-parts
hydra talk; "easy to implement badly"
onward! 19 paper pdf · inkandswitch.com · 2019-10 (month) · original ID: src-ci-local-first-pdf
onward! '19 paper pdf; seven ideals; automerge+dat/hypermerge stack; open problems
james arthurs lofi origin: localfirstweb · lofi.so · 2023-05-29 (day) · original ID: src-ci-lofi-history
james arthur's lofi origin: localfirstweb.dev → discord by yonz; first meetup 2023-02-28; ~700 members
i&s 2025 essay · inkandswitch.com · 2025-06 (month) · original ID: src-ci-malleable-essay
i&s 2025 essay; litt/horowitz/van hardenberg/matthews framework
industrial research with peter van hardenberg · museapp.com · 2021 (year) · original ID: src-ci-metamuse-46
"industrial research with peter van hardenberg"; bell labs/parc inspiration; spinout flywheel
wiggins on industrial research history (edison, bell labs, arpa, parc) · progressstudies.school · 2022 (year) · original ID: src-ci-progress-studies
wiggins on industrial research history (edison, bell labs, arpa, parc)
archived for posterity · github · 2020 (year) · original ID: src-ci-pushpin-repo
archived "for posterity"; moved to automerge/pushpin community
pvh bio: heroku data products, i&s researcher · pvh.ca · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-ci-pvh
pvh bio: heroku data products, i&s researcher
semantic scholar record · semanticscholar.org · 2026-09-16 (day) · original ID: src-ci-semanticscholar
semantic scholar record; 137 citations at access date
muse history: $2m, seven-person team, fall-2023 departure · adamwiggins.com · 2024 (year) · original ID: src-hp-adamwiggins-muse-retro
muse history: $2m, seven-person team, fall-2023 departure
aria safeguarded ai programme page · aria.org.uk · 2025 (year) · original ID: src-hp-aria-sgai
aria safeguarded ai programme page
project site · automerge.org · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-automerge-site
project site; "independent open source project" framing; monthly update series
relationship-based digital identity · inkandswitch.com · 2021-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-backchannel-essay
relationship-based digital identity
bidirectional lenses for schema change · inkandswitch.com · 2020-10 (month) · original ID: src-hp-cambria-essay
bidirectional lenses for schema change
tablet-for-thinking project · inkandswitch.com · 2018-12 (month) · original ID: src-hp-capstone-essay
tablet-for-thinking project
founded 2015 · cb insights · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-cbinsights
founded 2015; london hq; blueyard capital listed investor (unverified)
adam wiggins on the 2015 reconvening + industrial-lab inspirations · github · 2022 (year) · original ID: src-hp-changelog-514
adam wiggins on the 2015 reconvening + industrial-lab inspirations
paul shen → openai technical staff 2023-04 · clay.earth · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-clay-paulshen
paul shen → openai technical staff 2023-04; cmu
bluesky profile aggregator incl · couchsky.app · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-couchsky-adamwiggins
bluesky profile aggregator incl. wiggins bio "cofounder of ink & switch, heroku, and local-first conf"
drawing dynamic models · inkandswitch.com · 2022-03 (month) · original ID: src-hp-crosscut-essay
drawing dynamic models
about a dozen researchers · inkandswitch.com · 2023-11 (month) · original ID: src-hp-dispatch-001
"about a dozen researchers"; three tracks; embark + lude
patchwork launch · inkandswitch.com · 2024-02 (month) · original ID: src-hp-dispatch-003
patchwork launch; obenauer ollos; lu wilson joins; local-first conf 2024
directors year-end letter · inkandswitch.com · 2024-12 (month) · original ID: src-hp-dispatch-008
director's year-end letter; la unconf; droste's lair; backstitch preview
automerge 3 · inkandswitch.com · 2025-05 (month) · original ID: src-hp-dispatch-011
automerge 3.0 beta; sketchy calendar; site rebuild + funding page
aria sgai joined · inkandswitch.com · 2025-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-dispatch-013
aria sgai joined; mumm rejoined; chee joined; community calls
gaios intro · inkandswitch.com · 2025-11 (month) · original ID: src-hp-dispatch-014
gaios intro; grjte/sakrejda/o.reed; keyhive+subduction; live 2025; rirs
tenfold · inkandswitch.com · 2026-04 (month) · original ID: src-hp-dispatch-016
tenfold; "turns ten this year"; lab day announce
patchwork notes · inkandswitch.com · 2026-05 (month) · original ID: src-hp-dispatch-017
patchwork notes; wiggins residency/firehose; lfc 2026 dates
new staff (reyburn/yen/stewen) · inkandswitch.com · 2026-06 (month) · original ID: src-hp-dispatch-018
new staff (reyburn/yen/stewen); backstitch=beckett; livelymerge; bijou64
dynamic documents for travel planning · inkandswitch.com · 2023-11 (month) · original ID: src-hp-embark-essay
dynamic documents for travel planning
end-user programming essay · inkandswitch.com · 2019-03 (month) · original ID: src-hp-end-user-programming
end-user programming essay
endless access on the backstitch partnership · access.endlessstudios.com · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-endless-backstitch
endless access on the backstitch partnership; pvh quotes
lab github org (created 2015-08-19) · github · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-github-org
lab github org (created 2015-08-19)
github · github · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-github-pboyer-automerge
early fork preserving "copyright 2017, ink & switch llc, and university of cambridge" + creator credits
transcript of idea machines #50 · podtail.se · 2024-02-10 (day) · original ID: src-hp-idea-machines-50
transcript of idea machines #50; founding trio; hollywood model; lab evolution
litt on patchwork + i&s after leaving · ideas.imbue.com · 2025 (year) · original ID: src-hp-imbue-litt
litt on patchwork + i&s after leaving
programmable ink essay · inkandswitch.com · 2022-11 (month) · original ID: src-hp-inkbase-essay
programmable ink essay
project 029 · inkandswitch.com · 2023 (year) · original ID: src-hp-inkling-project
project 029; collaborators; live 2024
project 035 · inkandswitch.com · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-keyhive-project
project 035; convergent capabilities; beekem; beelay
kleppmann & beresford json crdt paper (ieee tpds) · martin.kleppmann.com · 2017-04 (month) · original ID: src-hp-kleppmann-json-crdt
kleppmann & beresford json crdt paper (ieee tpds)
founded 2015 · linkedin · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-linkedin-company
founded 2015; ~13 employees; us hq/miami
senior researcher 2023-01→2025-09 · linkedin · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-linkedin-litt
senior researcher 2023-01→2025-09; led malleable track
pi 2018-02→2019-06 · linkedin · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-linkedin-mmcgrana
pi 2018-02→2019-06; stainless 2024→
lab director/ceo from 2020-10 (self-reported) · linkedin · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-linkedin-pvh
lab director/ceo from 2020-10 (self-reported)
landmark essay · inkandswitch.com · 2019-04 (month) · original ID: src-hp-local-first-essay
landmark essay; authors; seven ideals; onward! citation
pvh local-first interview (referenced by dispatch-003) · localfirst.fm · 2024 (year) · original ID: src-hp-localfirst-fm-1
pvh local-first interview (referenced by dispatch-003)
researcher at ink & switch… programmable ink · marcelgoethals.com · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-marcelgoethals-site
"researcher at ink & switch… programmable ink"
industrial research episode re lab model · museapp.com · 2021-12 (month) · original ID: src-hp-metamuse-46
"industrial research" episode re lab model
end of an era for muse · museapp.com · 2023 (year) · original ID: src-hp-metamuse-83
"end of an era for muse"; team departure transcript
mary rose cook bio: notion ai engineer · maryrosecook.com · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-mrc-site
mary rose cook bio: notion ai engineer; ex-airtable/ableton/rc
muse design essay + authors · inkandswitch.com · 2019-04 (month) · original ID: src-hp-muse-essay
muse design essay + authors
notion announces schoening hire · notion.com · 2025 (year) · original ID: src-hp-notion-max-blog
notion announces schoening hire; his bio (github, magic, potluck)
ollos essay (itemized os) · alexanderobenauer.com · 2024 (year) · original ID: src-hp-obenauer-ollos
ollos essay (itemized os)
project 030, 2024–2026 · inkandswitch.com · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-patchwork-project
project 030, 2024–2026; collaborator list
rich-text crdt · inkandswitch.com · 2021-11 (month) · original ID: src-hp-peritext-essay
rich-text crdt; notion partnership basis
earliest crdt-prototype essay (pvh) · inkandswitch.com · 2018-02 (month) · original ID: src-hp-pixelpusher-essay
earliest crdt-prototype essay (pvh)
playbook collaborators incl · inkandswitch.com · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-playbook-project
playbook collaborators incl. lindenbaum
dynamic documents as personal software · inkandswitch.com · 2022-10 (month) · original ID: src-hp-potluck-essay
dynamic documents as personal software; authors
production-grade p2p collaboration prototype · inkandswitch.com · 2020-04 (month) · original ID: src-hp-pushpin-essay
production-grade p2p collaboration prototype
latency opinion piece · inkandswitch.com · 2018-11 (month) · original ID: src-hp-slow-software
latency opinion piece
paul shen splash 2022 profile (potluck) · 2022.splashcon.org · 2022 (year) · original ID: src-hp-splash2022-paulshen
paul shen splash 2022 profile (potluck)
individual + organizational supporters · inkandswitch.com · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-supporters
individual + organizational supporters; funding model
10th-anniversary origin story by todd matthews · inkandswitch.com · 2026-04 (month) · original ID: src-hp-tenfold-story
10th-anniversary origin story by todd matthews
fuzzy constraints + smt solver essay · inkandswitch.com · 2023-01 (month) · original ID: src-hp-untangle-essay
fuzzy constraints + smt solver essay
real-time collab + version control for writers · inkandswitch.com · 2023-03 (month) · original ID: src-hp-upwelling-essay
real-time collab + version control for writers
mirror of an end, and a beginning muse letter · vuink.com · 2023 (year) · original ID: src-hp-vuink-muse-letter
mirror of "an end, and a beginning" muse letter
press coverage of muse team departure · webpronews.com · 2023 (year) · original ID: src-hp-webpronews-muse
press coverage of muse team departure

Structured research records

adam wiggins · ink-switch-people

Original location · source-0ff4d808d2919b86201c · source-91971f47aa1aba0b5996 · source-1486a309bcb60b05db31 · source-bf7abdfb07b8d72cbd67 · source-d1a3684157addd65d2c7 · source-65a71cae6f09bab7d6fe · source-7b6d0625ec406c82277d

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": null,
  "id": "wiggins",
  "name": "adam wiggins",
  "note": "co-founder of heroku, ink & switch, and muse — and co-founder of local-first conf per his public bios. 'the original members of the lab wanted to do a startup — that was adam, james and orion,' per van hardenberg; wiggins dates the reconvening to 'somewhere around — i think it was 2015.' co-authored the local-first essay (2019), spun muse out of the lab and ran it 2019–2023, and returned to the lab in 2026 for a research residency — firehose, a personal triage algorithm for the message stream. '10 years of support' as an individual patron.",
  "role": "founder",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-changelog-514",
    "src-hp-idea-machines-50",
    "src-hp-supporters",
    "src-hp-adamwiggins-muse-retro",
    "src-hp-dispatch-017",
    "src-hp-couchsky-adamwiggins",
    "src-hp-local-first-essay"
  ]
}

james lindenbaum · ink-switch-people

Original location · source-1486a309bcb60b05db31 · source-54421298143a056e0692 · source-0ff4d808d2919b86201c

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": null,
  "id": "lindenbaum",
  "name": "james lindenbaum",
  "note": "co-founder of heroku and heavybit, the developer-tools accelerator. '10 years of support' as an individual patron; the supporters page credits him as the guide for the programmable ink research track, and he is a named playbook collaborator.",
  "role": "founder",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-supporters",
    "src-hp-playbook-project",
    "src-hp-changelog-514"
  ]
}

orion henry · ink-switch-people

Original location · source-8c69f0c67a860b8bd6c1 · source-1486a309bcb60b05db31 · source-96899593b6229416d7c0 · source-4169c0f8020d8c00bfa2 · source-26084a16e7f267000fd6

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": null,
  "id": "henry",
  "name": "orion henry",
  "note": "co-founder of heroku; co-creator of automerge (2017) and a core maintainer. wrote automerge 3.0's in-memory columnar rewrite — 'memory savings of 100x in some cases.' patchwork collaborator; '10 years of support' as an individual patron.",
  "role": "founder",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-github-pboyer-automerge",
    "src-hp-supporters",
    "src-hp-dispatch-011",
    "src-hp-patchwork-project",
    "src-ci-automerge-3"
  ]
}

peter van hardenberg · ink-switch-people

Original location · source-1486a309bcb60b05db31 · source-91971f47aa1aba0b5996 · source-62649d2e35f7b8ce093b · source-fe1442e731fd8055275f · source-cd71892b3989a0fbcc62 · source-bb0d371f5918166c938e

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": null,
  "id": "pvh",
  "name": "peter van hardenberg",
  "note": "lab director (ceo in the interview record) — joined when the lab was 'four or five people' and has '8 years of support' on the patrons list. previously founded heroku's data products and team; before that: arctic oceanography, game boy advance and nintendo ds children's games, shakespearean scholarship via xslt, and a stint 'competing with itunes using open source.' co-author of the local-first, cambria, patchwork, and malleable-software essays. described the lab's arc as 'professionalization' — from a pre-startup detour to an institution meant 'to sustain for 10 years, for 50 years.' the lofi community bills him as 'the father of local-first' — a community epithet, not a title.",
  "role": "director",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-supporters",
    "src-hp-idea-machines-50",
    "src-ci-pvh",
    "src-hp-linkedin-pvh",
    "src-ci-lofi-history",
    "src-ci-malleable-essay"
  ]
}

martin kleppmann · ink-switch-people

Original location · source-7b6d0625ec406c82277d · source-8c69f0c67a860b8bd6c1 · source-0a965e5922064438e434 · source-50b1fd0945dd7aaedf07 · source-943131f84a2a5802433b

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": null,
  "id": "kleppmann",
  "name": "martin kleppmann",
  "note": "collaborator, not lab staff — the distinction matters and the record supports only the collaborator reading: cambridge professor, co-creator of automerge (2017) from his and beresford's json crdt research, co-author of the 2019 local-first essay, and a recurring face at lab events. automerge sponsorships note 'so many others who have contributed either directly to automerge or through supporting martin kleppmann on patreon' — a parallel, independent funding channel. no source documents employment by the lab.",
  "role": "collaborator",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-local-first-essay",
    "src-hp-github-pboyer-automerge",
    "src-hp-kleppmann-json-crdt",
    "src-ci-automerge-2",
    "src-ci-kleppmann-hard-parts"
  ]
}

the research bench · ink-switch-people

Original location · source-28ca1c00a87db71767df · source-8d720077491187599d86 · source-d807a395f68fafc8d788 · source-f66239ef880bfe0c03f6 · source-032335f262cc3af79390 · source-4169c0f8020d8c00bfa2 · source-982e7e9cb32fa4e4f50e · source-50b1fd0945dd7aaedf07 · source-ebd09021d44e13efc2d2 · source-b8ecc9bbc4085980dc8c · source-3e6f9a3e7ce0ee9e51b4 · source-6039fa5d52e7a04a8684

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": null,
  "id": "bench",
  "name": "the research bench",
  "note": "the named researchers and engineers in the public corpus: mark mcgranaghan (principal investigator 2018–2019, local-first and muse co-author); geoffrey litt (senior researcher 2023-01→2025-09, led the malleable track, then notion); marcel goethals (programmable ink, 2021→); paul sonnentag (potluck through backstitch); paul shen (potluck, then openai); max schöning (potluck, patchwork; then magic, then notion); ivy reese (inkling, playbook, the tenfold playground); todd matthews (resident designer; tenfold story; malleable co-author); john mumm (keyhive, automerge; rejoined 2025); brooklyn zelenka (senior researcher, keyhive lead, bijou64; ex-fission cto); grjte, chee rabbits, maciek sakrejda, orion reed (the 2025 gaios wave); lilith duncan and nikita zatkovich (backstitch); leo stewen (coln); mimi reyburn (residency → staff, 2026); alex good (automerge lead, full-time since the 2.0 push); plus credit-level names — roshan choxi, julia roggatz, gökçen keskin, rae mckelvey, szymon kaliski, matt tognetti, jeff peterson, blaine cook — whose public records are thin.",
  "role": "team",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-linkedin-mmcgrana",
    "src-hp-linkedin-litt",
    "src-ci-geoffrey-job",
    "src-hp-marcelgoethals-site",
    "src-hp-potluck-essay",
    "src-hp-patchwork-project",
    "src-hp-keyhive-project",
    "src-ci-automerge-2",
    "src-hp-dispatch-014",
    "src-hp-dispatch-018",
    "src-hp-notion-max-blog",
    "src-hp-clay-paulshen"
  ]
}

the researchers-in-residence · ink-switch-people

Original location · source-aafd4d268abe5065539c · source-333eb6db38756b934d7e · source-8659875d7f1336e43791 · source-ebd09021d44e13efc2d2 · source-b8ecc9bbc4085980dc8c · source-d1a3684157addd65d2c7 · source-c924292bf611066d0d42 · source-35db5959896d22ab7006

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": null,
  "id": "residents",
  "name": "the researchers-in-residence",
  "note": "the formal rir program: alexander obenauer (active 'since [2023]' — ollos and workbench, the itemized-os essays); mary rose cook (~2023-07→2024-02, lude; now an ai engineer at notion); lu wilson (joined ~2024-02, later alum; works at tldraw); elliott evans (droste's lair with josh horowitz; tentpole collective); june gardner (nova, live 2025); mimi reyburn (residency converted to staff); derek yen (2026, nyu cryptography, beekem formalization); and adam wiggins himself, back for the 2026 firehose residency.",
  "role": "team",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-dispatch-003",
    "src-hp-dispatch-001",
    "src-hp-dispatch-008",
    "src-hp-dispatch-014",
    "src-hp-dispatch-018",
    "src-hp-dispatch-017",
    "src-hp-obenauer-ollos",
    "src-hp-mrc-site"
  ]
}

the outside collaborators · ink-switch-people

Original location · source-2d03c47e62aab203177b · source-54421298143a056e0692 · source-bb0d371f5918166c938e · source-b8ecc9bbc4085980dc8c · source-ebd09021d44e13efc2d2 · source-1486a309bcb60b05db31 · source-bf7abdfb07b8d72cbd67

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": null,
  "id": "collaborators",
  "name": "the outside collaborators",
  "note": "the hollywood model's contract bench: alex warth (inkling, playbook, ambsheets, the patchwork task framework, livelymerge); josh horowitz (malleable-software co-author, droste's lair); dan ingalls (livelymerge — the smalltalk/lively kernel lineage made literal); avi bryant, who is both an individual patron ('2 years of support') and a research collaborator (ambsheets); christopher shank (live 2025, with orion reed); and the muse-alumni orbit — adam wulf, who carried muse on alone after 2023 and continues it as allume.",
  "role": "team",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-inkling-project",
    "src-hp-playbook-project",
    "src-ci-malleable-essay",
    "src-hp-dispatch-018",
    "src-hp-dispatch-014",
    "src-hp-supporters",
    "src-hp-adamwiggins-muse-retro"
  ]
}

the supporters · ink-switch-people

Original location · source-1486a309bcb60b05db31 · source-50b1fd0945dd7aaedf07 · source-14cbcb9e7eda938c2ab1 · source-6d098e54b3183f42ab93 · source-8359a019b2a37325a031 · source-987b7b7ea3e352e11281

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": null,
  "id": "backers",
  "name": "the supporters",
  "note": "the lab 'only exists through the generosity of our supporters': individual patrons wiggins, lindenbaum, and henry ('10 years' each), van hardenberg ('8 years'), and avi bryant ('2 years'); research partners notion (the peritext collaboration, attested by ivan zhao) and the endless os foundation (funding backstitch); governmental sponsor nlnet/ngi zero core (automerge); corporate members ellipsus and common tools (alex komoroske: 'the xerox parc of today'); the aria safeguarded ai programme from 2025-09; and automerge's own enterprise sponsors fly.io, prisma, and bowtie. cb insights also lists blueyard capital as an investor — unverified by any lab source. no dollar figures are disclosed anywhere.",
  "role": "team",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-supporters",
    "src-ci-automerge-2",
    "src-hp-dispatch-013",
    "src-hp-aria-sgai",
    "src-hp-endless-backstitch",
    "src-hp-cbinsights"
  ]
}

tools for thought · ink-switch-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "tools for thought"
}
```
local-first software · ink-switch-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "local-first software"
}
```
ownership and agency · ink-switch-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "ownership and agency"
}
```
industrial research · ink-switch-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "industrial research"
}
```
the hollywood model · ink-switch-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "the hollywood model"
}
```
end-user programming · ink-switch-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "end-user programming"
}
```
malleable software · ink-switch-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "malleable software"
}
```
programmable ink · ink-switch-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "programmable ink"
}
```
version control for everything · ink-switch-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "version control for everything"
}
```
crdts and sync · ink-switch-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "crdts and sync"
}
```
patronage over venture · ink-switch-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "patronage over venture"
}
```
the essay as artifact · ink-switch-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "the essay as artifact"
}
```

a conflict-free replicated json datatype · ink-switch-writings · 2017-04 (month)

Original location · source-0a965e5922064438e434

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2017-04",
  "id": "wrt-json-crdt",
  "kind": "document",
  "person": "kleppmann",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-kleppmann-json-crdt"
  ],
  "summary": "kleppmann and beresford's ieee tpds paper — 'a conflict-free replicated json datatype' — the cambridge research automerge implements.",
  "themes": [
    "crdts and sync",
    "local-first software"
  ],
  "title": "a conflict-free replicated json datatype",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://martin.kleppmann.com/2017/04/24/json-crdt.html",
  "venue": "ieee tpds / martin.kleppmann.com"
}

pixelpusher: real-time peer-to-peer collaboration with react · ink-switch-writings · 2018-02-01 (day)

Original location · source-08f6af2883e5fbcbc582

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2018-02-01",
  "id": "wrt-pixelpusher",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "pvh",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-pixelpusher-essay"
  ],
  "summary": "the lab's first published prototype essay — real-time peer-to-peer collaboration in react on an early automerge — establishing the essay-plus-prototype form.",
  "themes": [
    "crdts and sync",
    "the essay as artifact"
  ],
  "title": "pixelpusher: real-time peer-to-peer collaboration with react",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/pixelpusher/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

slow software · ink-switch-writings · 2018-11-01 (day)

Original location · source-2c5cf399d44cd754d63b · source-2041dbe636854ea86d1c

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2018-11-01",
  "id": "wrt-slow-software",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "wiggins",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-slow-software",
    "src-ci-hn-slow-software"
  ],
  "summary": "mcgranaghan and wiggins on software latency and what it does to a user's train of thought — the founding-era manifesto behind the lab's speed ethos.",
  "themes": [
    "tools for thought",
    "the essay as artifact"
  ],
  "title": "slow software",
  "traction": "438 points, 260 comments on hn",
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/slow-software/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

capstone: a tablet for thinking · ink-switch-writings · 2018-12-11 (day)

Original location · source-593fe74a11a287418571 · source-e71c9b4da006e219201d

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2018-12-11",
  "id": "wrt-capstone",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-capstone-essay",
    "src-ci-capstone-repo"
  ],
  "summary": "the tablet-for-thinking essay — mixed-media cards, freeform inking, an infinite canvas — and the open-sourced prototype that followed.",
  "themes": [
    "tools for thought",
    "programmable ink"
  ],
  "title": "capstone: a tablet for thinking",
  "traction": "254 points on hn",
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/capstone/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

end-user programming · ink-switch-writings · 2019-03-01 (day)

Original location · source-d71f6a87c3c637cca683 · source-5de55403258d96a23b73

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2019-03-01",
  "id": "wrt-eup",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-end-user-programming",
    "src-ci-hn-eup"
  ],
  "summary": "the lab's oldest question stated as a survey: forty years of trying to let users shape their own software, and why it stays hard.",
  "themes": [
    "end-user programming",
    "tools for thought"
  ],
  "title": "end-user programming",
  "traction": "105 points on hn",
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/end-user-programming/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

local-first software: you own your data, in spite of the cloud · ink-switch-writings · 2019-04-01 (day)

Original location · source-7b6d0625ec406c82277d · source-753c55edfb1a9dbc0e64 · source-726cab5b933861420d40 · source-f445c88155ed1f45503a · source-c9fb0f4f25aaf54d3626

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2019-04-01",
  "id": "wrt-local-first",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "kleppmann",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-local-first-essay",
      "text": "we call this type of software local-first software, since it prioritizes the use of local storage (the disk built into your computer) and local networks (such as your home wifi) over servers in remote datacenters."
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-local-first-essay",
    "src-ci-local-first-pdf",
    "src-ci-doi",
    "src-ci-hn-localfirst-2019",
    "src-ci-semanticscholar"
  ],
  "summary": "the essay that coined 'local-first' — kleppmann, wiggins, van hardenberg, mcgranaghan — seven ideals and the crdt bet, presented at onward! '19. the artifacts with the largest hn footprints in this dossier are essays, and this is the largest.",
  "themes": [
    "local-first software",
    "ownership and agency",
    "crdts and sync",
    "the essay as artifact"
  ],
  "title": "local-first software: you own your data, in spite of the cloud",
  "traction": "566 pts, 190 comments at launch; 748 pts via the morning paper; 883 pts on its 2025 re-post — its biggest thread six years on; 137 semantic scholar citations",
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/essay/local-first/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com / onward! '19"
}

muse: designing a studio for ideas · ink-switch-writings · 2019-04-04 (day)

Original location · source-84218f76ee779b6d5141 · source-adebc4e844aa023ca5b9

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2019-04-04",
  "id": "wrt-muse",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-muse-essay",
    "src-ci-hn-muse"
  ],
  "summary": "mcgranaghan, keskin, wiggins, roggatz — 'a studio for ideas': an ipad workspace modeled on the physical studio, the prototype that became the muse spinout.",
  "themes": [
    "tools for thought",
    "programmable ink"
  ],
  "title": "muse: designing a studio for ideas",
  "traction": "137 points on hn",
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/muse/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

pushpin · ink-switch-writings · 2020-04-14 (day)

Original location · source-c1ac357a1242cb8c2d12 · source-8349c2b4da7f559909f3

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2020-04-14",
  "id": "wrt-pushpin",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-pushpin-essay",
    "src-ci-pushpin-repo"
  ],
  "summary": "'towards production-quality peer-to-peer collaboration' — the most developed early prototype, with documented real internal use, later archived 'for posterity' as the dat/hypermerge stack died under it.",
  "themes": [
    "local-first software",
    "crdts and sync"
  ],
  "title": "pushpin",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/pushpin/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

crdts: the hard parts · ink-switch-writings · 2020-07-06 (day)

Original location · source-943131f84a2a5802433b · source-b890a1475bafad5b29ff

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2020-07-06",
  "id": "wrt-hard-parts",
  "kind": "talk",
  "person": "kleppmann",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-ci-kleppmann-hard-parts",
      "text": "crdts are easy to implement badly. many published algorithms have anomalies… simple implementations often have terrible performance"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-kleppmann-hard-parts",
    "src-ci-hn-hard-parts"
  ],
  "summary": "kleppmann's hydra talk — the canonical self-critical account of crdt pitfalls, from the research community the lab collaborates with.",
  "themes": [
    "crdts and sync"
  ],
  "title": "crdts: the hard parts",
  "traction": "404 points, 124 comments on hn",
  "url": "https://martin.kleppmann.com/2020/07/06/crdt-hard-parts-hydra.html",
  "venue": "hydra conference"
}

cambria · ink-switch-writings · 2020-10-06 (day)

Original location · source-613eb63c1fe0e353b5a4 · source-859b3ad350d93ef396ea

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2020-10-06",
  "id": "wrt-cambria",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-cambria-essay",
    "src-ci-hn-cambria"
  ],
  "summary": "bidirectional lenses for schema change — data that translates between shapes so documents can outlive their schemas. a hard problem named in the 2019 paper, still open.",
  "themes": [
    "local-first software",
    "version control for everything"
  ],
  "title": "cambria",
  "traction": "101 points on hn",
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/cambria/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

backchannel · ink-switch-writings · 2021-09-01 (day)

Original location · source-12165e40e6effd45a0b1

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2021-09-01",
  "id": "wrt-backchannel",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-backchannel-essay"
  ],
  "summary": "relationship-based digital identity — trust introduced person-to-person rather than issued by platforms. the identity thread that resurfaces in keyhive.",
  "themes": [
    "local-first software",
    "ownership and agency"
  ],
  "title": "backchannel",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/backchannel/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

peritext · ink-switch-writings · 2021-11-23 (day)

Original location · source-69723415186456402d46 · source-3070aa61366fd3963b73 · source-1486a309bcb60b05db31

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2021-11-23",
  "id": "wrt-peritext",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-peritext-essay",
    "src-ci-hn-peritext",
    "src-hp-supporters"
  ],
  "summary": "a crdt for rich-text collaboration — later identified on the supporters page as the output of the notion research partnership.",
  "themes": [
    "crdts and sync",
    "local-first software"
  ],
  "title": "peritext",
  "traction": "76 points on hn",
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/peritext/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

metamuse #46: industrial research · ink-switch-writings · 2021-12 (month)

Original location · source-ac46baf327a489d6e662 · source-aedc98fdfd1df64f90f2

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2021-12",
  "id": "wrt-metamuse-46",
  "kind": "podcast",
  "person": "pvh",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-metamuse-46",
    "src-ci-metamuse-46"
  ],
  "summary": "'industrial research' — van hardenberg on the metamuse podcast describing the lab 'inspired by bell labs and xerox parc,' funded on a spinout flywheel.",
  "themes": [
    "industrial research",
    "patronage over venture"
  ],
  "title": "metamuse #46: industrial research",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://museapp.com/podcast/46-industrial-research/",
  "venue": "metamuse"
}

crosscut · ink-switch-writings · 2022-03-29 (day)

Original location · source-bc752abaa8ca1790ff51

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2022-03-29",
  "id": "wrt-crosscut",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-crosscut-essay"
  ],
  "summary": "drawing dynamic models — pen-and-paper directness with software dynamics underneath; the first programmable-ink essay.",
  "themes": [
    "programmable ink",
    "tools for thought"
  ],
  "title": "crosscut",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/crosscut/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

potluck · ink-switch-writings · 2022-10-31 (day)

Original location · source-032335f262cc3af79390 · source-3b9f6c084fdb7b5f8258 · source-360166454521d1583e09

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2022-10-31",
  "id": "wrt-potluck",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-potluck-essay",
    "src-ci-hn-potluck",
    "src-hp-splash2022-paulshen"
  ],
  "summary": "'dynamic documents as personal software' — litt, schoening, shen, sonnentag. notes become apps through live searches, computations, and annotations; presented at splash 2022.",
  "themes": [
    "malleable software",
    "end-user programming"
  ],
  "title": "potluck",
  "traction": "201 points on hn",
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/potluck/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com / splash 2022"
}

the changelog #514 · ink-switch-writings · 2022-11-11 (day)

Original location · source-0ff4d808d2919b86201c · source-21f99da49382b99f6e47

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2022-11-11",
  "id": "wrt-changelog-514",
  "kind": "podcast",
  "person": "wiggins",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-changelog-514",
      "text": "somewhere around — i think it was 2015 is when we — let's say we reconvened"
    },
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-changelog-514",
      "text": "xerox parc… bell labs… thomas edison… menlo park; it was like a private industrial research lab, you might say"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-changelog-514",
    "src-hp-changelog-514"
  ],
  "summary": "the changelog interview — the canonical founding account: the heroku trio reconvening, the deep dive on industrial research labs, and the muse spinout in hindsight.",
  "themes": [
    "industrial research",
    "patronage over venture",
    "the hollywood model"
  ],
  "title": "the changelog #514",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://changelog.com/podcast/514",
  "venue": "the changelog"
}

inkbase: programmable ink · ink-switch-writings · 2022-11-20 (day)

Original location · source-051d87e0fb23d763465a · source-4376f8e2d478aee500e1

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2022-11-20",
  "id": "wrt-inkbase",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-inkbase-essay",
    "src-ci-hn-inkbase"
  ],
  "summary": "'what would be possible if hand-drawn sketches were programmable like spreadsheets?' — the programmable ink manifesto and the lab's second-biggest hn artifact ever.",
  "themes": [
    "programmable ink",
    "end-user programming"
  ],
  "title": "inkbase: programmable ink",
  "traction": "675 points, 83 comments on hn",
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/inkbase/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

the torch of progress: adam wiggins · ink-switch-writings · 2022 (year)

Original location · source-ee19cc1bbd2c9aaf4b3a

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2022",
  "id": "wrt-progress-studies",
  "kind": "podcast",
  "person": "wiggins",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-progress-studies"
  ],
  "summary": "torch of progress ep. 13 — wiggins on edison, bell labs, arpa, and parc as 'a big influence for our independent research lab.'",
  "themes": [
    "industrial research",
    "patronage over venture"
  ],
  "title": "the torch of progress: adam wiggins",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://progressstudies.school/the-torch-of-progress-ep-13-with-adam-wiggins/",
  "venue": "progress studies"
}

introducing automerge 2.0 · ink-switch-writings · 2023-01 (month)

Original location · source-50b1fd0945dd7aaedf07 · source-32e6afe70d602828a19f

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023-01",
  "id": "wrt-automerge-2",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "henry",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-ci-automerge-2",
      "text": "it's our first supported release resulting from a ground-up rewrite"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-automerge-2",
    "src-ci-hn-automerge-2"
  ],
  "summary": "the automerge 2.0 announcement — rust core, alex good hired full-time, support options for production users; sponsorship from fly.io, prisma, bowtie, and kleppmann's patreon supporters.",
  "themes": [
    "crdts and sync",
    "patronage over venture"
  ],
  "title": "introducing automerge 2.0",
  "traction": "717 points, 89 comments on hn",
  "url": "https://automerge.org/blog/automerge-2/",
  "venue": "automerge.org"
}

untangle · ink-switch-writings · 2023-01 (month)

Original location · source-41ec232a09fa86d74955

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023-01",
  "id": "wrt-untangle",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-untangle-essay"
  ],
  "summary": "pen-based fuzzy-constraint problem solving — a sketch interface backed by an smt solver; the programmable ink track pushing into computation.",
  "themes": [
    "programmable ink"
  ],
  "title": "untangle",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/untangle/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

upwelling · ink-switch-writings · 2023-03-08 (day)

Original location · source-af090b860e118b5f710e · source-0dec21a581e3a03d3f2f

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023-03-08",
  "id": "wrt-upwelling",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-upwelling-essay",
    "src-ci-hn-upwelling"
  ],
  "summary": "real-time collaboration plus version control for writers — 'creative privacy' while every change is accounted for. the patchwork track's precursor.",
  "themes": [
    "version control for everything",
    "local-first software"
  ],
  "title": "upwelling",
  "traction": "37 points on hn",
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/upwelling/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

malleable software in the age of llms · ink-switch-writings · 2023-03-25 (day)

Original location · source-d95950c1300b82c4a581

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023-03-25",
  "id": "wrt-malleable-llm",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-geoffrey-malleable-llm"
  ],
  "summary": "litt's 'malleable software in the age of llms' — chat output should become tweakable personal software; the bridge essay between the malleable track and the agent era.",
  "themes": [
    "malleable software",
    "end-user programming"
  ],
  "title": "malleable software in the age of llms",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.geoffreylitt.com/2023/03/25/llm-end-user-programming.html",
  "venue": "geoffreylitt.com"
}

metamuse #83: end and beginning · ink-switch-writings · 2023 (year)

Original location · source-9178b92d978693f66498 · source-e69d0be15c09d85dbd5f · source-e32c1cef4a07126e2097

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023",
  "id": "wrt-metamuse-83",
  "kind": "podcast",
  "person": "wiggins",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-vuink-muse-letter",
      "text": "we did not manage to make muse into a sustainable business. therefore i and most of the team are departing. my longtime colleague adam wulf will continue to develop muse as a solo entrepreneur"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-metamuse-83",
    "src-hp-vuink-muse-letter",
    "src-hp-webpronews-muse"
  ],
  "summary": "'end and beginning' — the muse restructuring episode whose 'end of an era' line is routinely misattached to the lab itself.",
  "themes": [
    "the hollywood model",
    "industrial research"
  ],
  "title": "metamuse #83: end and beginning",
  "traction": "covered as 'muse software's entire team, save one, is departing'",
  "url": "https://museapp.com/podcast/transcripts/83-end-and-beginning/",
  "venue": "metamuse"
}

embark · ink-switch-writings · 2023-11-20 (day)

Original location · source-173858c8ee8eb567669d · source-333eb6db38756b934d7e

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023-11-20",
  "id": "wrt-embark",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-embark-essay",
    "src-hp-dispatch-001"
  ],
  "summary": "dynamic documents for travel planning — maps, dates, and formulas living inside text — published alongside the first dispatch.",
  "themes": [
    "malleable software",
    "tools for thought"
  ],
  "title": "embark",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/embark/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

idea machines #50: industrial research with peter van hardenberg · ink-switch-writings · 2024-02-10 (day)

Original location · source-91971f47aa1aba0b5996

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2024-02-10",
  "id": "wrt-idea-machines",
  "kind": "interview",
  "person": "pvh",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-idea-machines-50",
      "text": "we'd bring in some contractors and we called it the hollywood model… it was sort of structured like a movie production"
    },
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-idea-machines-50",
      "text": "to sustain for 10 years, for 50 years"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-idea-machines-50"
  ],
  "summary": "the idea machines #50 transcript — the lab's self-account: the startup that became a lab, the hollywood model, 'eight and 15 people,' and the fifty-year ambition.",
  "themes": [
    "the hollywood model",
    "industrial research",
    "patronage over venture"
  ],
  "title": "idea machines #50: industrial research with peter van hardenberg",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://podtail.se/podcast/idea-machines/industrial-research-with-peter-van-hardenberg-idea/",
  "venue": "idea machines"
}

localfirst.fm episode 1 · ink-switch-writings · 2024 (year)

Original location · source-7f2a6999481ab05c7f4b · source-aafd4d268abe5065539c

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2024",
  "id": "wrt-localfirst-fm",
  "kind": "podcast",
  "person": "pvh",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-localfirst-fm-1",
    "src-hp-dispatch-003"
  ],
  "summary": "the localfirst.fm episode 1 interview — van hardenberg's local-first primer for the community podcast the ecosystem grew.",
  "themes": [
    "local-first software"
  ],
  "title": "localfirst.fm episode 1",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.localfirst.fm/1/transcript",
  "venue": "localfirst.fm"
}

the muse retrospective · ink-switch-writings · 2024 (year)

Original location · source-bf7abdfb07b8d72cbd67

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2024",
  "id": "wrt-muse-retro",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "wiggins",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-adamwiggins-muse-retro",
      "text": "between 2019 and 2023 i worked on muse… we raised $2m in funding, grew the team to seven, had tens of thousands of active users, and thousands of customers"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-adamwiggins-muse-retro"
  ],
  "summary": "wiggins' muse retrospective — the spinout's numbers in his own words (self-reported), and the honest ledger of an unsustainable business.",
  "themes": [
    "the hollywood model",
    "patronage over venture"
  ],
  "title": "the muse retrospective",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://adamwiggins.com/muse-retrospective/",
  "venue": "adamwiggins.com"
}

malleable software: restoring user agency in a world of locked-down apps · ink-switch-writings · 2025-06-05 (day)

Original location · source-bb0d371f5918166c938e · source-ed3bee956f81d8490b35

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2025-06-05",
  "id": "wrt-malleable-software",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-ci-malleable-essay",
      "text": "a software ecosystem where anyone can adapt their tools to their needs with minimal friction"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-malleable-essay",
    "src-ci-hn-malleable"
  ],
  "summary": "the second flagship essay — litt, horowitz, van hardenberg, matthews. 'restoring user agency in a world of locked-down apps': gradual transitions from use to change, interoperable tools over shared data, communities exchanging improvements.",
  "themes": [
    "malleable software",
    "ownership and agency",
    "end-user programming"
  ],
  "title": "malleable software: restoring user agency in a world of locked-down apps",
  "traction": "294 points, 114 comments on hn",
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/essay/malleable-software",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

automerge 3.0 · ink-switch-writings · 2025-07 (month)

Original location · source-26084a16e7f267000fd6 · source-a420c36e75d412bf5471 · source-decd9deaff1dd61344cd

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2025-07",
  "id": "wrt-automerge-3",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "henry",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-automerge-3",
    "src-ci-hn-automerge-3",
    "src-ci-dispatch-012"
  ],
  "summary": "the automerge 3.0 release post — orion henry's columnar rewrite: 'pasting moby dick into an automerge 2 document consumes 700mb of memory, in automerge 3 it only consumes 1.3mb' (vendor-reported).",
  "themes": [
    "crdts and sync",
    "local-first software"
  ],
  "title": "automerge 3.0",
  "traction": "353 points on hn",
  "url": "https://automerge.org/blog/automerge-3/",
  "venue": "automerge.org"
}

generally intelligent: geoffrey litt · ink-switch-writings · 2025 (year)

Original location · source-2d2642bf0caaeaaf9cf7 · source-d807a395f68fafc8d788

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2025",
  "id": "wrt-imbue-litt",
  "kind": "interview",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-imbue-litt",
    "src-ci-geoffrey-job"
  ],
  "summary": "litt on imbue's 'generally intelligent' — the malleable-software case in his own words, on the way out the door to notion.",
  "themes": [
    "malleable software",
    "end-user programming"
  ],
  "title": "generally intelligent: geoffrey litt",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://ideas.imbue.com/p/geoffrey-litt",
  "venue": "generally intelligent"
}

local first: how to build software which still works after the acquihire · ink-switch-writings · 2026-04-08 (day)

Original location · source-76fd3c0ed0aa7795e5d4

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026-04-08",
  "id": "wrt-infoq-good",
  "kind": "talk",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-infoq-good-talk"
  ],
  "summary": "alex good at qcon london — 'local first: how to build software which still works after the acquihire,' the maintainer's case carried into practitioner media.",
  "themes": [
    "local-first software",
    "crdts and sync"
  ],
  "title": "local first: how to build software which still works after the acquihire",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.infoq.com/presentations/local-first-build-software/",
  "venue": "qcon london / infoq"
}

tenfold: ten years of ink & switch · ink-switch-writings · 2026-04-23 (day)

Original location · source-c08f54b9f279827201c0 · source-eea08587c7142b5b29f9

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026-04-23",
  "id": "wrt-tenfold",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "bench",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-tenfold-story",
    "src-hp-dispatch-016"
  ],
  "summary": "todd matthews' tenth-anniversary origin story — tenfold built inside patchwork, letters-as-tools contributed by staff, alums, and friends, the playground engineered by ivy reese.",
  "themes": [
    "the essay as artifact",
    "tools for thought",
    "industrial research"
  ],
  "title": "tenfold: ten years of ink & switch",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.inkandswitch.com/project/tenfold/story/",
  "venue": "inkandswitch.com"
}

moving beyond cloud-native to local-first · ink-switch-writings · 2026-06-29 (day)

Original location · source-104bec10f1961b6ea9aa

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026-06-29",
  "id": "wrt-infoq-wiggins",
  "kind": "interview",
  "person": "wiggins",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-infoq-wiggins-pod"
  ],
  "summary": "the infoq podcast — wiggins on moving beyond cloud-native to local-first, floating hybrid ai where local models handle core productivity tasks.",
  "themes": [
    "local-first software",
    "ownership and agency"
  ],
  "title": "moving beyond cloud-native to local-first",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/natural-evolution-cloud-native/",
  "venue": "infoq"
}

nobody is here to do version control · ink-switch-writings · 2026 (year)

Original location · source-8359a019b2a37325a031

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026",
  "id": "wrt-endless-backstitch",
  "kind": "interview",
  "person": "pvh",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-endless-backstitch",
      "text": "people put in as much energy and passion as they have for a project… that's just friction lost along the way"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-endless-backstitch"
  ],
  "summary": "the endless access blog on the backstitch partnership — van hardenberg explaining why a version-control tool for students belongs in a research lab: 'nobody is here to do version control.'",
  "themes": [
    "version control for everything",
    "tools for thought"
  ],
  "title": "nobody is here to do version control",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://access.endlessstudios.com/blog/nobody-is-here-to-do-version-control-how-real-time-collaboration-in-godot-is-changing-the-game-design-classroom",
  "venue": "endless access"
}

the founding-year drift · people-controversies · 2015–2026 (approximate)

Original location · source-28c45d743e369be1e145 · source-987b7b7ea3e352e11281 · source-c705dece9d5c89004360 · source-21f99da49382b99f6e47 · source-eea08587c7142b5b29f9 · source-9a979a26e0a30740c6ee

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2015–2026",
  "detail": "the founding-year drift — linkedin and cb insights list 'founded 2015'; matt webb cites a 'march 2015 pitch deck'; wiggins says 'somewhere around… 2015 is when we reconvened'; but the lab's own announcement says 'ink & switch turns ten this year' in april 2026, i.e. ~2016. both dates are self-reported and both are in the record.",
  "id": "cty-founding-year",
  "reaction": "the dossier preserves both: plausibly 2015 is the reconvening and 2016 the operating start — an inference, not a reconciliation. github's org creation (2015-08-19) is the earliest hard artifact.",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-linkedin-company",
    "src-hp-cbinsights",
    "src-ci-interconnected-labs",
    "src-ci-changelog-514",
    "src-hp-dispatch-016",
    "src-hp-github-org"
  ],
  "title": "the founding-year drift"
}

collaborator, not employee · people-controversies · 2017– (approximate)

Original location · source-7b6d0625ec406c82277d · source-8c69f0c67a860b8bd6c1 · source-12869cc7c2cd9b5ff17b · source-50b1fd0945dd7aaedf07

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2017–",
  "detail": "the kleppmann attribution — martin kleppmann is routinely described as part of the lab because automerge and the local-first essay sit inside it. the record shows a collaborator and co-author: cambridge professor, patreon-supported in parallel, present at lab events — and no source documents employment.",
  "id": "cty-kleppmann-status",
  "reaction": "the lab itself is precise about this — automerge.org calls the project 'an independent open source project' built by 'production engineers who cofounded heroku, and computer scientists like renowned cambridge professor martin kleppmann.'",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-local-first-essay",
    "src-hp-github-pboyer-automerge",
    "src-hp-automerge-site",
    "src-ci-automerge-2"
  ],
  "title": "collaborator, not employee"
}

the wrong 'end of an era' · people-controversies · 2023– (approximate)

Original location · source-e69d0be15c09d85dbd5f · source-e32c1cef4a07126e2097 · source-9c0c7042bffa82122473 · source-b8ecc9bbc4085980dc8c · source-eea08587c7142b5b29f9

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023–",
  "detail": "the misattached 'end of an era' — metamuse #83's phrase describes muse's 2023 restructuring (wiggins and most of the team departing, wulf continuing solo). it circulates as if the lab wound down; the record shows the opposite — new staff announced 2025-09, 2025-11, and 2026-06, and a tenth-anniversary celebration in 2026.",
  "id": "cty-end-of-era",
  "reaction": "treat any 'ink & switch wind-down' claim as unverified conflation with muse; the dispatch archive shows continuous operation november 2023 through june 2026.",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-metamuse-83",
    "src-hp-webpronews-muse",
    "src-ci-dispatch-archive",
    "src-hp-dispatch-018",
    "src-hp-dispatch-016"
  ],
  "title": "the wrong 'end of an era'"
}