An open protocol, still taking shape
Relay Protocol
Your digital presence should not belong to the applications you use.
Relay is exploring an open protocol architecture for identity, data, relationships and application permissions that exist independently of any single app or provider. It's early — the design is public, but the specification isn't stable yet.
What Relay is built on
Identity is independent of applications
An application can interact with a Relay identity without becoming the identity itself.
Records are portable
Digital information has protocol-level identity and structure, rather than existing only as an application's internal object.
Relationships outlast any one application
Connections between identities do not need to disappear because a particular application is abandoned.
Applications are participants, not owners
Applications interact with a person's digital presence according to defined permissions and capabilities, rather than inherently controlling it.
Infrastructure is replaceable
Changing repository or infrastructure providers shouldn't require a person's digital identity and presence to begin again.
A layer beneath the apps you use
Relay proposes a layer that sits underneath the applications people use day to day. A person's identity, records, relationships and permissions live at this layer, and applications interact with them according to authority the person grants — rather than owning that presence outright.
Why this matters
Someone builds a profile, creates records and forms relationships while using Application A. Later, they'd rather use Application B.
In today's application-centric model, that usually means a new account and rebuilding some or all of that digital presence from scratch. Relay explores a different model: Application B could interact with the same underlying Relay identity, records and relationships, subject to permissions the person grants — no rebuild required.
This is an architectural goal of the protocol, not a claim that this behavior is already implemented.
Relay is under active development
The conceptual architecture is documented, and a systematic requirements-engineering programme is currently converting the design models into a traceable protocol requirements baseline.
The v0.1 specification is not yet stable. Design decisions, terminology and protocol structures may change before the first specification release.
Development is taking place publicly on GitHub.
Built in the open, from the start
Relay's design history and ongoing protocol work live on GitHub, including the design notes behind the ideas on this page.
The following are forthcoming, not available yet:
- Protocol specification
- Architecture
- Schemas
- Examples
- Reference implementation
- Conformance material