Socratic Seminar¶

Coding agents must ALWAYS read their instructions.

A self-hostable, project-based agentic document editor powered by Nostr authentication and Bitcoin eCash payments.

Socratic Seminar enables structured intellectual discourse through AI-assisted document editing. Users authenticate via Nostr (decentralized identity), pay per agent query with Bitcoin eCash tokens (Cashu protocol), and collaborate on versioned artifacts within project workspaces.

Key Features¶

Project-based organization - Group related threads, artifacts, and sources.
Agentic document editing - AI agents (Socratic Tutors) help create and refine arguments.
Nostr authentication - Decentralized identity using public/private key pairs.
Bitcoin eCash payments - Pay-as-you-go with Cashu tokens via the Backend.
Tabbed Editor - A unified workspace for chat, versioned documents, and research.
Local-first storage - IndexedDB for privacy and offline capability.

Core Philosophy¶

Freedom Software¶

This software is meant to empower users and increase their self-sovereignty. We avoid architectures that use central databases for file storage, user "credits," or metadata.

Data Sovereignty¶

"Dude, where's my files?" - They're in your browser. We use local storage primarily, with optional sync via the Nostr protocol. Your data never leaves your device unless you choose to share it.

Pay-per-use¶

We favor eCash (Cashu) over subscriptions. Any human can pay for AI features with Bitcoin, avoiding the over-charging and privacy invasions of traditional credit card-based models.

CopyFuck¶

The free sharing of knowledge is core to technological progress. Socratic Seminar is designed to help you synthesize information, develop strong arguments, and share them freely.

Documentation Map¶

Overview: System architecture and data flow.
Frontend: Svelte 5 architecture, state management, and UI.
Agents: LangGraph agent architecture, middleware, and interrupts.
Backend: The minimal eCash wallet service.
Debugging: Tools for tracing and analyzing agent behavior.
Nostr Integration: How decentralized identity works under the hood.
Templates: Scaffolding new documents.
Testing: Current status and plans for automated testing.