KOI-net Protocol

Federated Protocol

Federation protocol for inter-node knowledge exchange between independently-operated Knowledge Organization Infrastructure (KOI) nodes. Each KOI node is governed by its host community with its own knowledge graph, rules, and access policies; KOI-net defines how nodes federate to exchange typed knowledge events while each remains self-governed. Specification covers node model (full nodes vs partial nodes), network architecture, communication patterns, endpoints, proxy nodes for inter-organizational communication, and interface layering. Notably HTTP-based federation rather than ActivityPub-based — demonstrates that federation is a pattern not specifically tied to ActivityPub's vocabulary. Beta release October 2025; Python reference implementation at github.com/BlockScience/koi-net. Co-designed with RIDs as part of the broader KOI suite.

Community
Links
Visit Website See this tool in the graph Suggest an edit

Details

License Open source — MIT License (Python reference implementation at github.com/BlockScience/koi-net)
Dev Status 🟢 Active
Dev Status Detail Beta / Active development (KOI-net beta release October 2025; multiple production deployments including BlockScience's internal KOI, Metagov's KOI Pond, and RMIT-Telescope; specification continues to evolve through working group review and inter-organizational testing) Reclassified 2026-09-14: named production deployments (BlockScience's internal KOI, Metagov's KOI Pond, RMIT-Telescope) are concrete real-world usage, outweighing the 'beta' self-label.
Owner BlockScience (primary steward); developed in collaboration with Metagov (Metagovernance Project) and RMIT University via the Telescope project; reference implementation at github.com/BlockScience/koi-net; lead developer Luke Miller (BlockScience Research Engineer); Senior Research Engineer Orion Reed leads adjacent Project Interlay work
Owner - List
  • BlockScience
Governing Body None (BlockScience-led stewardship in collaboration with Metagov and RMIT University; no formal governing body)
Governing Body - List
  • BlockScience
  • Metagovernance Project
Country USA (BlockScience based in Albany, New York); collaborators in international Metagov network and Australia (RMIT)
Start Year 2025
Stack Python reference implementation (koi-net library); HTTP for inter-node communication; JSON for knowledge event payloads; RIDs (rid-lib) for object naming; specification language-agnostic and externally implementable
Funding BlockScience operational funding (private firm with internal R&D allocation); Metagov nonprofit funding for KOI Pond integration; Australian Research Council Future Fellowship for RMIT-side work; collaborative research without dedicated KOI-net-specific funding tranche
Funding - List
  • BlockScience
  • Metagovernance Project
Last Investigated Sep 14, 2026

Topology view

This tool in the centre and the things it is directly related to. Each line names the kind of relationship.

Topology view: KOI-net ProtocolThis tool in the centre and the things it is directly related to. Each line names the kind of relationship.KOI-netProtocolRIDs (Reference Identifiers) (Based on, Composes with, Conforms to, Protocol spoken by, Speaks protocol)RIDs(Reference I…BlockScience (Developed by, Funded by, Stewarded by)BlockScienceMetagovernance Project (Funded by, Stewarded by)Metagovernan…ProjectKOI (Member of suite)KOI
  • RIDs (Reference Identifiers) (Tool): Based on, Composes with, Conforms to, Protocol spoken by, Speaks protocol
  • BlockScience (Organization): Developed by, Funded by, Stewarded by
  • Metagovernance Project (Organization): Funded by, Stewarded by
  • KOI (Suite): Member of suite

Open in Graph Explorer

Use Case Domains

Communication

Affordances

Protocol federation Self-hostable Cross-instance federation

Federated Protocol Attributes

Owner - List
  • BlockScience
Origins Inter-organizational knowledge exchange (originated from BlockScience's recognition that organizational knowledge management systems should be able to federate across organizations without centralizing the knowledge or imposing a global ontology; emerged from collaborative research with Metagov on self-governance of knowledge infrastructures and from BlockScience's prior work on knowledge networks and protocols)
Database Per-node knowledge graphs (each KOI node maintains its own knowledge graph using whatever storage backend the node operator chooses — typically a graph database or hybrid graph-document store); KOI-net Protocol itself does not mandate any database technology
Query Language HTTP/REST endpoints defined by the protocol for inter-node knowledge exchange (event publication, subscription, retrieval, proxy operations); query semantics over the underlying knowledge graphs are node-implementation-specific
Data Formats Knowledge events as structured JSON payloads addressed via RIDs; HTTP request/response envelopes; specification at github.com/BlockScience/koi-net documents endpoint payload shapes
Collaborative Live Editing N/A — KOI-net handles asynchronous knowledge event exchange between nodes; collaborative editing of individual knowledge objects is application-layer concern within each node
Rich Text Editing N/A — federation protocol
Mobile Support Library-level (Python koi-net usable on any platform supporting Python; HTTP-based protocol implementable from any mobile platform); no dedicated mobile client
Web Support Yes — HTTP-based federation makes web integration straightforward; KOI nodes typically expose web interfaces (LLM-mediated chat being the most common pattern across BlockScience's KOI, Metagov's KOI Pond, and RMIT-Telescope deployments)
Native Apps No first-party native apps (KOI-net is a federation protocol consumed by KOI node software; downstream applications such as Project Interlay's adaptive interfaces and spatial canvas tooling integrate with KOI-net but are tracked separately)
Terms Open Source / Free — MIT License; nodes are self-hosted and self-governed
Funding - List
  • BlockScience
  • Metagovernance Project
Funds Unknown — combined funding across BlockScience, Metagov, and RMIT operational budgets; specific KOI-net development allocation not separately published
Based On RIDs / Reference Identifiers (used as the addressing scheme for knowledge objects, users, and groups across federated nodes); HTTP (transport binding for inter-node communication); concepts from prior knowledge-network research at BlockScience; co-designed as part of the KOI suite
Governing Body - List
  • BlockScience
  • Metagovernance Project
Content Addressing RID-based addressing of knowledge objects; references-vs-referents distinction enables multiple addresses for the same referent across nodes with different observations; not strictly content-addressing in the IPFS sense (RIDs are typed references rather than content hashes) but functionally similar for cross-node knowledge identification
E2EE Not currently a core protocol feature — knowledge exchange is between trusted federated nodes over HTTPS; organizational-level access control rather than end-to-end encryption between individual users is the architectural focus; future protocol versions may add E2EE patterns if use cases warrant
Signature TBD — specification in active development as of beta release; signature semantics for knowledge events expected to evolve through ongoing working group review; current implementation uses HTTPS transport-layer security as primary integrity mechanism
Permissions Per-node access control (each node defines its own permissions over its knowledge graph); inter-node permissions governed by the federation relationship between nodes (peer agreements rather than centralized policy); flexibility in community data curation enabled by RID-based dynamic organization
Semantic Web Compatibility Compatible at the data layer (RIDs embeddable as URIs, knowledge events expressible as RDF where useful) but KOI explicitly rejects the global-ontology move that traditional Semantic Web work assumes; KOI's architectural commitment is to organizations developing rich shared understanding without enforcing a universal world-model
Federation Model HTTP-based federation between independently-operated KOI nodes; each node governs its own knowledge graph, access policies, and federation choices; full nodes participate in the network as first-class peers, partial nodes participate with reduced capabilities for resource-constrained scenarios; proxy nodes mediate inter-organizational communication where direct peer connection is undesirable; explicitly distinct from ActivityPub-based federation patterns
Instance / Server Requirements Self-hosted KOI node software (Python implementation reference, but specification permits other implementations); each organization or community runs its own node with its own storage, governance rules, and access policies; HTTP-reachable endpoint for inter-node communication
Account Portability Knowledge object portability via RIDs (referents are referenced consistently across nodes through their RIDs); user identity and account portability across nodes not currently a primary protocol concern (KOI focuses on inter-organizational federation rather than user migration); Unknown for full account-portability semantics
Discovery / Relay Architecture Direct node-to-node federation with proxy nodes for indirect inter-organizational communication; no centralized relay or discovery service; node-level configuration determines federation peers and trust relationships; scalability discussed in February 2025 architecture overview
Server Authority Model Each node has full authority over its own knowledge graph; knowledge exchange across nodes is consensual and bidirectional; no central authority over the federation; "Beneficent Dictator" governance pattern for the KOI-net Protocol specification itself, with Luke Miller (BlockScience) as primary developer guiding contributions and working-group review
Protocol Maturity / Standardization Beta / Active research (beta release October 2025; v3 is current iteration with v1 and v2 as predecessors; specification evolving through BlockScience-led working group with Metagov and RMIT-Telescope collaboration; not yet submitted to formal standards bodies; governance follows "Beneficent Dictator" pattern; implementations currently concentrated among the three collaborating organizations)
Data Sovereignty High at organizational level (each node owns and governs its own knowledge graph; sharing decisions made per-relationship at the node level); user-level data sovereignty depends on the host node's policies; explicit architectural commitment to enabling "organizations to come to richer understandings of their common world without enforcing a universal world-model that all must share"

Relationships

How this tool connects to other tools and organizations, from relationships reviewed by the OpenHaven data steward. They describe how projects connect, not how good they are.

Based on
Conforms to
Developed by
  • BlockScience
Funded by
  • BlockScience
  • Metagovernance Project
Member of suite
  • KOI
Speaks protocol
Stewarded by
  • BlockScience
  • Metagovernance Project
Composes with
Protocol spoken by