Moss
Extensible Decentralized App
Community
Details
License Open source (CAL-1.0 — Cryptographic Autonomy License); https://github.com/lightningrodlabs/moss — Rust (Holochain zomes), TypeScript (UI)
Dev Status 🔬 Beta
Dev Status Detail Beta (group-onboarding beta; downloadable releases available for macOS, Windows, Linux; Early Movers Collective program; active development; used for internal dogfooding)
Owner Lightningrod Labs (founded by Eric Harris-Braun, co-founder of Holochain and MetaCurrency Project); Harris-Braun Enterprises LLC (copyright holder); development with Guillem Cordoba and Viktor Zaunders at darksoil studio
Governing Body Company-controlled (Lightningrod Labs / Harris-Braun Enterprises LLC)
Country USA (Eric Harris-Braun; Lightningrod Labs)
Start Year 2022
Stack Holochain (Rust zomes for backend DNAs); TypeScript/JavaScript (UI framework); Syn library (real-time collaborative editing via CRDTs on Holochain); Tauri (desktop app packaging); Nix (dev environment via Holonix); Excalidraw (integrated in Slate drawing tool)
Funding Holochain Foundation ecosystem (Lightningrod Labs as development entity; Harris-Braun Enterprises; darksoil studio collaboration; Holochain Foundation support)
Last Investigated Jul 1, 2026
Extensible Decentralized App Attributes
Origins Collaborative groupware / Holochain ecosystem (Eric Harris-Braun's insight that when collaboration cost approaches zero, everything changes; designed as infrastructure for composable social spaces; evolved from earlier Lightningrod Labs experiments with Holochain hApps)
Database Holochain DHT (each group has its own DHT hosted on members' computers; each Tool creates additional private DHT; data distributed across group members with no central server)
Query Language N/A (interaction via Tool-specific UIs; Weave Asset Locators (WALs) for cross-tool linking and discovery; no general query language)
Data Formats Holochain entries and links (WASM-compiled zomes); Weave Asset Locators (WALs); msgpack (Holochain serialization); Tool-specific formats per applet
Collaborative Live Editing Yes (Syn library provides real-time collaborative editing; Notebooks tool enables simultaneous multi-user text editing; Slate enables collaborative drawing via Excalidraw + Syn)
Rich Text Editing Yes (Notebooks tool provides rich text collaborative editing built on Syn real-time collaboration library)
Mobile Support Not yet (desktop-first via Tauri; Holochain mobile support emerging but Moss not yet confirmed on mobile)
Web Support No (Holochain apps run as local processes; no web-hosted version; each user runs their own node)
Native Apps Yes (desktop app via Tauri for macOS M-series and Intel, Windows, Linux AppImage and .deb; v0.15.3)
Terms Open source (CAL-1.0 — Cryptographic Autonomy License; free to use; no paid tiers)
Funds Not separately disclosed (developed within Holochain ecosystem; no independent fundraising identified)
Based On Holochain (P2P agent-centric framework); Syn (real-time collaboration CRDT library for Holochain); Excalidraw (drawing canvas in Slate); Tauri (desktop app framework); MetaCurrency Project (philosophical underpinning); REA/ValueFlows (economic flows via Unyt)
Development Tools Holochain HDK (Rust-based Holochain Development Kit for writing zomes); hc CLI (Holochain developer CLI); Holonix (Nix-based dev environment); Weave Tool API (TypeScript interface for Tool integration); Syn library (real-time CRDT collaboration); WAL system (Weave Asset Locators for cross-tool linking); DevHub (Tool publishing infrastructure)
Deployment Options Desktop self-hosted (each user runs their own Holochain node via Tauri desktop app; no server deployment required; groups form P2P networks across members' machines)
Authentication & Identity Cryptographic keypair / Holochain agent identity (each user has a unique agent keypair generated locally; identity is self-sovereign and not tied to any server or registrar; no OAuth or custodial account)
Storage Model Local-first distributed (each user's data stored on their own device in their Holochain source chain; group data replicated across DHT hosted by group members; no cloud storage; data persists independently of any central server)
Interoperability Holochain ecosystem interoperability via Weave Interaction Pattern (open standard enabling any Holochain hApp to become a Weave Tool); WAL (Weave Asset Locators) for cross-tool content linking; REA/ValueFlows ontology via Unyt; open Tool Library for cross-group tool sharing
Social Graph Yes (each group has a social graph of members; cross-group connections via Vines cross-group chat; agent identity is persistent across groups)
Use Case Category Composable groupware / collaboration platform (teams assemble custom tool suites for their specific needs)
User Interface Type Desktop app (Slack/Discord-like layout: left sidebar for groups, secondary bar for Tools, main window for active Tool UI; bento-box composability metaphor)
Offline Capabilities Yes (Holochain local-first architecture; data stored on user's device; works without internet once peers have synced; DHT provides eventual consistency)
Collaboration Features Extensive (real-time collaborative editing via Syn; cross-group chat via Vines; AI-free video calls; project management via Acorn; value tracking via Unyt; alignment/convergence via Converge; spatial mapping via Where; all composable into unified spaces)
Data Portability Yes (Holochain agent-centric: users own their source chain data; Weave Interaction Pattern is an open standard; Tools can be mixed across groups; template sharing via public DHT library)
Integration Ecosystem Holochain hApp ecosystem (any Holochain hApp can be compiled as a Weave Tool; open Tool Library; growing community library; Weave Interaction Pattern as open standard for cross-tool composition; WAL system for linking across Tools)
Web2 Data Export No (Holochain-native ecosystem; no Web2 export mechanisms documented)
Prosocial Coherence High (core design: empowered agency where individuals opt-in to group tools; no engagement metrics or attention capture; groups self-organize without external authority; collaborative tool selection by consent; open standard for social fabric composition)
Economic Flows Yes (Unyt tool provides professional-grade value tracking for businesses, communities, and peer-production networks; REA/ValueFlows economic event recording)
Governance & Decision Making Group self-governance (each group creates its own private P2P network; members must opt-in to proposed Tools; no central authority; cheap group branching/forking; template sharing for replicable governance patterns)
Media / Publishing Yes (Notebooks for collaborative document editing; Slate for visual media; template libraries shared via public DHT)
Knowledge Management Yes (Notebooks for collaborative knowledge documents; Converge for criteria refinement; Where for spatial knowledge mapping; cross-tool WAL linking creates knowledge graphs across Tools)
Sensemaking Yes (Converge/alignment tool for discovering shared criteria and dynamic alignment rather than simple voting; Where for group self-location across conceptual spaces; cross-tool composition enables complex sensemaking workflows)
Project Management Yes (Acorn — Holochain-based project management; outcome hierarchies with collaborative breakdown; completion tracking)
Communication Model Multi-modal composable (Vines cross-group chat; Notebooks for long-form; Slate for visual; video calls; all within unified group context; Weave Interaction Pattern enables cross-tool references)
Network Resilience High (Holochain P2P: each group is its own network; no central servers; data replicated across group members; groups are independent — one group's failure doesn't affect others)
Discovery Mechanism Tool library (public DHT-hosted Tool library where developers publish and users browse; group invitations; DevHub for developer publishing; template sharing for pre-configured tool combinations)
Max Participants Group-sized (designed for small collaborative work groups; Holochain DHT scales with group size; multiple independent groups can exist; each group is its own network)
Data Sovereignty Full (Holochain agent-centric: each user's data on their own source chain; each group's DHT hosted on members' own computers; no cloud dependency; CAL-1.0 license ensures cryptographic autonomy; users control their own keys and data)
Relationships
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