What Heartwood is
A reader of Pools, for the whole person
Heartwood shows one person at a time, top to bottom, from their own page and the Pool they joined. You say yes to a part of them, a picture, their own words, a prompt or an answer, with a note if you like. “Not for me” sits beside it, the same size and the same color.
Heartwood is a reader, the way a browser is: it opens any Pool it is allowed to open. Dating, Friends, Chosen family, Mentorship and Music are shortcuts, each a ready-made set of the Pools whose tags fit it. A Pool that fits none of them opens under its own name: a climbing gym’s belay list, a co-op’s letters, a Thursday game table.
Every card names the Pool someone joined, a line of its charter and its tags, who keeps it, and links to the same Pool on its host’s own site and as JSON. Each yes says what it is for, in the Pool’s own words where it has them, and goes the way the Pool says: where stewards, coordinators or a matchmaker introduce, it is a request to them.
Who runs it
A small team, and two Pools
Harriet Lund Signed in with OAuth
Community lead at Heartwood. Edited a letters page for fifteen years before this. Reads every report within a day and writes back in full sentences.
Community lead, Heartwood
Bashir Rahimi Signed in with OAuth
Keeps Heartwood’s Friends nearby Pool. Moved cities four times before thirty and learned how to make friends as an adult the hard way; now he makes it a little easier for other people.
Friends lead, Heartwood
Heartwood keeps two public Pools on its own domain, Heartwood: Nearby and Heartwood: Friends nearby. Every other Pool it opens is kept by someone else. The community team reads every report within a day. Write to us at hello@heartwood.example.
Two rules
The only rules we claim
- 1“Every card shows the Pool’s name, charter and tags.”
- 2“No one is shown as open to dating unless their own tags say so.”
The same two rules hold, word for word, in every app that reads this library. The second is why Dating shows only people whose own tags say dating: being in a dating Pool is not enough, and a page is not read for it. Today that leaves out Tamsin Reyes and Anouk Visser (Many Moons: Harbor Counties); Nadia Farouk (Late Supper Matchmakers). Anywhere else, a card may list a person’s own tags, dating among them, because that is them saying so.
And what the spec asks of every reader
Visibility §3.2. A public Pool opens for anyone. An unlisted one opens for a member, or for someone who has its address. An invite-only one opens in no app.
Messages and introductions §7. A yes goes the way the Pool’s charter or rules say, through a curator, steward or coordinator where they say so, and by each person’s own rules. Kindling v0.1 has no message for interest, so a yes itself stays in Heartwood.
A site’s own word. Foul Weather Friends asks apps not to read its Check-In Circle, so we don’t, the way a browser leaves alone a site that asks not to be read.
Five shortcuts, and any Pool
Rooms are shortcuts. Any Pool opens.
A room is every Pool whose tags fit it, with a few on when you open the app and the rest a tap away. Open a Pool from the list, load a product, or paste an address, and it opens in the room it fits, or under its own name. Most people outside Dating have no age, gender or answers anywhere, because the v0.1 parsed profile has no field for them and their page does not add one. Their cards run on what the parsed profile holds: name and pronouns, place and their own words, tags, verification, and how they take messages. What a page adds, we add; where it adds nothing, the card says so.
Dating
Dates, read whole: portraits, prompts and answers from each person’s own page. Only people whose own tags say dating are shown here.
8 layers, 4 on when you open the app.
- Everyone nearby, Wren’s List, The Singles Shelf, Many Moons: Harbor Counties, Queer Harbor (only with the address) and Late Supper Matchmakers: “Yes, a date”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- The Tuesday Table (only with the address) and Second Chapters (only with the address): “Yes, ask the matchmaker”. A request to Nadia.
Friends
A separate yes from Dating, in every Pool tagged friendship.
18 layers, 4 on when you open the app.
- Friends nearby, Ada Quillon’s Listeners, Slack Water 2026, Many Moons: Harbor Counties, Solo Poly Supper Club, Tuesday Morning Walkers, New in Town, Start a Band: Port Ellery, Tuesday Regulars, New to Climbing and Slack Water 2025 (resting): “Yes, as friends”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- Later-Life Housemates: “Yes, as friends”. Their own rules; through Omar where those rules shut everyone out.
- Seed and Cutting Swap: “Yes, swap seeds”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- Conversation Partners: “Yes, practice together”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- Chess After Close (resting): “Yes, a game of chess”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- The Saturday Run: “Yes, run together”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- Thursday Night: Women and Nonbinary Climbers (only with the address): “Yes, climb together”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- Rain Check: Everyone: “Yes, a game night”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
Chosen family
Hearthhold’s Pools, on Hearthhold’s terms. Where its stewards introduce, your yes goes to them.
3 layers, 2 on when you open the app.
- Platonic Life Partners and Intentional Co-Parents (only with the address): “Yes, ask the stewards”. A request to the stewards.
- Later-Life Housemates: “Yes, share a home”. Their own rules; through Omar where those rules shut everyone out.
Mentorship
First-generation graduates who will talk to students. Midspan’s coordinators introduce, and the student is always asked first. Cape Tarrow’s alumni decide for themselves.
2 layers, 2 on when you open the app.
- Midspan Mentors: “Yes, ask a coordinator”. A request to the coordinators.
- Cape Tarrow alumni: “Yes, a mentor”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
Music
Bandmates, session players, fill-ins and fellow listeners, from the Pools musicians already keep.
10 layers, 4 on when you open the app.
- Start a Band: “Yes, start a band”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- Session Players: “Yes, play a session”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- Songwriters’ Demo Swap: “Yes, swap demos”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- Ada Quillon’s Listeners: “Yes, a show together”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- Friday Subs: “Ask to sub”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- Horns and Strings for Records: “Ask about a record”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- Door and Sound Crew: “Yes, say hello”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- Release Night: Kitchen Light and House Show in Tacoma: “Yes, see you at the show”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
- Portland, 23 October: “Yes, go together”. Stays in Heartwood; a note goes by their rules.
Under its own name
Any Pool that fits none of the five rooms opens as a room of its own, named for the Pool, or for the product when you load one. Today that is 27 Pools. Every card still names its Pool, and each yes says what it is for, in the Pool’s own words where its charter gives them.
- Español ↔ English, Français ↔ English, Português ↔ English and Tagalog ↔ English: “Write a letter”. A letter, held by the co-op until both say yes.
- Belay Partners: “Ask to climb”.
- Lend and Borrow: “Ask to borrow”.
- Meals When It’s Hard: “Ask Hester”. A request to Hester.
- Rides to Appointments: “Ask for a ride”.
- Client Builders: “Yes, trade notes”.
- Founding Curators, Spec Readers, Toward a Working Group, Writers and Researchers, Crew and Volunteers, Fix-It Friday Volunteers and Circular Correspondents: “Yes, say hello”.
- The Orchard Street Household (only with the address): read for context only, with nothing to say yes to.
- Big Game Day: “Yes, see you on game day”.
- Olympia Thursdays, Port Ellery Thursdays, Portland Thursdays and Tacoma Thursdays: “Yes, see you Thursday”.
- Scattered Light Stewards: “Write to a steward”.
- Seen Work Curators: “Ask about a job”.
- Seen Work: Harbor Trades (only with the address): “Ask a curator”. A request to the curators.
- Rides Home: “Ask for a seat home”.
- Carpool to the Coast: “Ask for a seat”.
Where the money comes from
Member-supported. The same app for everyone.
Members chip in what they like, once a year. There is no tier and no upgrade: every feature is the same for everyone, whether they chip in or not, and we never tell anyone who did.
Communities pay nothing to appear as layers. A bookshop, a festival, a songwriter’s listeners or a mentoring program show up because their Pool is there to be read, never because someone paid.
Nobody pays to be introduced, to be seen, to see who said yes, or to undo. An app paid while you are still looking has a reason to keep you looking; ours comes once a year, from people who found it worth keeping.
What your money never buys
- Seeing who said yes to youfree for everyone
- A place higher in anyone’s cardsnot for sale
- Undo, notes, weights, layers, roomsfree for everyone
- A community’s place as a layerfree for them too
- An introduction, or a request to a curatornever charged
Nothing is charged at the connection layer of Kindling §1.3. We publish no price here because there is none to pay.
What we read
Every Pool in the library, and where it opens
We read 67 of the library’s 70 Pools: every one an app may open. A public Pool is readable by any app §3.5 §8.3, and an unlisted one opens for anyone who has its address §3.2. We never read 3, and their rows say why. The table is computed from the same data the library’s sites use, so the numbers agree with theirs. The last column says what we do (Reads; Reads, only with the address; Reads, through its curator; Reads, for context only; or Never), then where it opens: in a room, or under its own name.
| Host | Pool | Visibility and consent | Tags | People | With a page | What Heartwood does |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heartwood | Heartwood: Nearby | public universal-opt-in | dating | 23 | 23 | Reads. In the Dating room. The four apps’ own public dating Pools. Any app may read a public Pool, so all four read all four. |
| Face Up | Face Up: Cascadia | public vouching-required | dating | 22 | 22 | Reads. In the Dating room. The four apps’ own public dating Pools. Any app may read a public Pool, so all four read all four. Its consent model is vouching-required, but its rules say the vouch is a face check that means nothing more, so a yes to someone read from it stays in Heartwood like any other. |
| Sundial | Sundial: Cascadia | public universal-opt-in | dating | 20 | 20 | Reads. In the Dating room. The four apps’ own public dating Pools. Any app may read a public Pool, so all four read all four. |
| Card Catalog | Card Catalog: Cascadia | public universal-opt-in | dating | 24 | 24 | Reads. In the Dating room. The four apps’ own public dating Pools. Any app may read a public Pool, so all four read all four. |
| Wren’s List | Date-Me Docs: Cascadia | public universal-opt-in | dating, date-me-doc | 4 | 4 | Reads. In the Dating room. Public and tagged dating: everyone on it wrote a date-me doc. |
| Second Tide Books | The Singles Shelf | public universal-opt-in | dating, books | 4 | 4 | Reads. In the Dating room. Public and tagged dating: a bookshop’s shelf of singles. |
| Many Moons | Many Moons: Harbor Counties | public universal-opt-in | non-monogamy, community, friendship, dating | 7 | 7 | Reads. In the Dating room, and a layer in Friends. Public and tagged dating and friendship, so it is a layer in both rooms. Only people whose own tags say dating are shown here. |
| Queer Harbor | Queer Harbor: Dating | unlisted universal-opt-in | dating, queer | 3 | 3 | Reads, only with the address. In the Dating room. Unlisted. Its address travels from the bar and from friends, so it opens only for someone who has it. |
| Late Supper | Late Supper Matchmakers | public curator-only-adds | matchmaking, dating | 1 | 1 | Reads. In the Dating room. Public and tagged dating. Its one member is its matchmaker, Nadia Farouk, whose own tags do not say dating, so Dating shows her to no one. Its charter says anyone may write to a matchmaker to ask for a first conversation. |
| Late Supper | The Tuesday Table | unlisted curator-only-adds | dating | 4 | 0 | Reads, only with the address, through its curator. In the Dating room. Unlisted, and its charter says Nadia, Late Supper’s matchmaker, proposes introductions one at a time. With the address, a yes here is a request to her. |
| Late Supper | Second Chapters | unlisted curator-only-adds | dating, second-chapters | 2 | 0 | Reads, only with the address, through its curator. In the Dating room. Unlisted, and its rules say only a matchmaker proposes. With the address, a yes here is a request to her. |
| Heartwood | Heartwood: Friends nearby | public universal-opt-in | friendship | 9 | 9 | Reads. In the Friends room. Heartwood’s own friendship Pool, separate from Nearby. |
| Ada Quillon | Ada Quillon’s Listeners | public universal-opt-in | music, listening, friendship, songwriting | 12 | 2 | Reads. In the Music room, and a layer in Friends. Tagged music: people who listen to the same songs and would go to a show together. |
| Slack Water | Slack Water 2026 | public universal-opt-in | festival, slack-water, folk, maritime-music, friendship | 18 | 11 | Reads. In the Friends room. The festival’s list, tagged friendship: finding the person from the fiddle workshop. |
| Many Moons | Solo Poly Supper Club | public universal-opt-in | non-monogamy, solo-poly, friendship | 2 | 2 | Reads. In the Friends room. A supper club on the second Sunday, tagged friendship. |
| The Board | Tuesday Morning Walkers | public universal-opt-in | walking, friendship | 4 | 0 | Reads. In the Friends room. The library’s harbor walk, tagged friendship. |
| The Board | New in Town | public universal-opt-in | new-in-town, friendship | 2 | 2 | Reads. In the Friends room. The library’s newcomers’ coffee, tagged friendship. |
| Ferry Room Players | Start a Band: Port Ellery | public universal-opt-in | band, music, friendship | 4 | 3 | Reads. In the Music room, and a layer in Friends. Tagged band and music: people who want to start one or join one. |
| Hearthhold | Later-Life Housemates | public universal-opt-in | housemates, later-life, friendship | 3 | 0 | Reads. In the Chosen family room, and a layer in Friends. Universal opt-in, and each person’s own rules decide. Where someone takes messages from nobody here, a yes becomes a request to Omar, who keeps it. Hearthhold sets no rule for introductions here, so each person’s own rules decide (§7.2): someone who takes messages from nobody in the Pool is reached through Omar. |
| The Board | Seed and Cutting Swap | public universal-opt-in | gardening, friendship | 3 | 0 | Reads. In the Friends room. The library’s seed drawer, tagged gardening and friendship. |
| The Board | Conversation Partners, Any Language | public vouching-required | conversation, language-exchange, friendship | 3 | 1 | Reads. In the Friends room. Language practice at the library, tagged friendship. Staff meet each person at the desk and vouch before they are listed. |
| The Board | Chess After Close | public universal-opt-in | chess, friendship | 3 | 1 | Reads. In the Friends room. Thursday chess in the library’s reading room, tagged friendship. It is resting while its members choose a keeper (§9.1): it opens, says so, and nobody is hidden for it. |
| Drip Line | Tuesday Regulars | public universal-opt-in | bouldering, climbing, friendship, regulars | 6 | 6 | Reads. In the Friends room. Drip Line’s bouldering regulars, tagged friendship as well as climbing. |
| Drip Line | The Saturday Run | public universal-opt-in | running, friendship, regulars | 7 | 5 | Reads. In the Friends room. Saturday at eight from Drip Line’s front doors, tagged friendship as well as running. |
| Drip Line | New to Climbing | public universal-opt-in | climbing, new-to-climbing, friendship | 2 | 2 | Reads. In the Friends room. People in their first months at Drip Line, tagged friendship as well as climbing. |
| Drip Line | Thursday Night: Women and Nonbinary Climbers | unlisted universal-opt-in | climbing, bouldering, women-and-nonbinary, friendship | 5 | 5 | Reads, only with the address. In the Friends room. Unlisted, and Drip Line gives its address to no app: it asks a member who wants it in an app to add it there themselves. |
| Rain Check | Rain Check: Everyone | public universal-opt-in | board-games, game-night, tabletop, rain-check, friendship | 18 | 18 | Reads. In the Friends room. The board-game community, tagged friendship as well as game night. |
| Slack Water | Slack Water 2025 | public universal-opt-in | festival, slack-water, folk, maritime-music, friendship | 7 | 4 | Reads. In the Friends room. Last year’s festival list, tagged friendship. It is resting under §9.1: it opens, says so, and nobody is hidden for it. |
| Hearthhold | Platonic Life Partners | public vouching-required | platonic-partnership, chosen-family | 3 | 0 | Reads, through its curator. In the Chosen family room. Vouching-required: a steward meets each person before listing them, and Hearthhold’s stewards introduce. A yes here is a request to the stewards. |
| Hearthhold | Intentional Co-Parents | unlisted vouching-required | co-parenting, chosen-family | 3 | 0 | Reads, only with the address, through its curator. In the Chosen family room. Unlisted: a steward gives the address after meeting you twice. With it, a yes is a request to the stewards, who introduce. |
| Midspan | Midspan Mentors | public vouching-required | mentorship, first-generation | 5 | 0 | Reads, through its curator. In the Mentorship room. Vouching-required, and its rules say only a coordinator proposes, one student at a time, and the student is asked first. A yes here is a request to a coordinator. |
| Cape Tarrow Alumni | Cape Tarrow First-Gen Alumni | public universal-opt-in | mentorship, first-generation, alumni, careers | 5 | 0 | Reads. In the Mentorship room. Public on purpose, so any college or app can show students who is out there. Cape Tarrow proposes nobody; each person’s rules decide. |
| Slack Water | Session Players | public universal-opt-in | session, folk, fiddle, shanties, music | 8 | 4 | Reads. In the Music room. Tagged session and music: people who would like to be asked into a session. |
| Ferry Room Players | Songwriters’ Demo Swap | public universal-opt-in | songwriting, demos, music | 2 | 1 | Reads. In the Music room. Tagged songwriting and music: one demo for one, with honest notes. |
| Ferry Room Players | Friday Subs | public universal-opt-in | sub, drums, bass, keys, guitar, music | 3 | 2 | Reads. In the Music room. Players who fill in on short notice at the Ferry Room, paid by the band or the door, never by the Pool. |
| Ferry Room Players | Horns and Strings for Records | public universal-opt-in | horns, strings, session, music | 2 | 0 | Reads. In the Music room. Horn and string players for records and shows. Rates are between the player and the band; the Pool only makes the introduction. |
| Ferry Room Players | Door and Sound Crew | public universal-opt-in | crew, sound, volunteering, music | 1 | 0 | Reads. In the Music room. Volunteers for the Ferry Room’s door, merch table and monitor mix, tagged music. |
| Ada Quillon | Release Night: Kitchen Light at the Ferry Room, Friday 16 October | public universal-opt-in | music, show, kitchen-light | 3 | 1 | Reads. In the Music room. Who is coming to Ada’s release show at the Ferry Room on 16 October. |
| Ada Quillon | House Show in Tacoma, Saturday 17 October | public universal-opt-in | music, show, house-show, kitchen-light | 3 | 0 | Reads. In the Music room. Who is coming to Ada’s house show in Tacoma on 17 October. The show’s address goes by email, never in the file. |
| Ada Quillon | Portland, Friday 23 October | public universal-opt-in | music, show, kitchen-light | 2 | 0 | Reads. In the Music room. Who is coming to Ada’s Portland show and would like someone to go with. |
| Correo Lento | Español ↔ English | public universal-opt-in | language-exchange, spanish, english, letters | 4 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged language-exchange and letters: slow letters between learners, by email, one a week at most. The co-op holds every first letter until both people have said they would like to write, so a yes here is a letter, not a chat. |
| Correo Lento | Français ↔ English | public universal-opt-in | language-exchange, french, english, letters | 2 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged language-exchange and letters: slow letters between learners, by email, one a week at most. The co-op holds every first letter until both people have said they would like to write, so a yes here is a letter, not a chat. |
| Correo Lento | Português ↔ English | public universal-opt-in | language-exchange, portuguese, english, letters | 4 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged language-exchange and letters: slow letters between learners, by email, one a week at most. The co-op holds every first letter until both people have said they would like to write, so a yes here is a letter, not a chat. |
| Correo Lento | Tagalog ↔ English | public universal-opt-in | language-exchange, tagalog, english, letters | 2 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged language-exchange and letters: slow letters between learners, by email, one a week at most. The co-op holds every first letter until both people have said they would like to write, so a yes here is a letter, not a chat. |
| Drip Line | Belay Partners | public vouching-required | climbing, belay, partners | 6 | 5 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged climbing, belay and partners: climbers who passed Drip Line’s belay check and would like to be asked to climb. |
| Foul Weather Friends | Lend and Borrow | public universal-opt-in | mutual-aid, lending, tools | 7 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged mutual-aid, lending and tools. Its charter says you write to the person, and they say yes or no each time. |
| Foul Weather Friends | Meals When It’s Hard | public universal-opt-in | mutual-aid, meals, cooking | 4 | 0 | Reads, through its curator. Opens under its own name. Tagged mutual-aid, meals and cooking. Its charter says a friend writes to Hester, who keeps it, and Hester asks the cooks, so a yes here is a request to her. |
| Foul Weather Friends | Rides to Appointments | public vouching-required | mutual-aid, rides, carpool | 3 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged mutual-aid, rides and carpool: drivers Cyrus rode along with before vouching. Write a day ahead when you can. |
| Kindling | Client Builders | public universal-opt-in | building, open-source | 3 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged building and open-source: developers building Kindling clients, trading notes and reviews. |
| Kindling | Founding Curators | public curator-only-adds | curating, founding-cohort | 7 | 1 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged curating and founding-cohort: people the maintainers invited to keep the first Pools and write down what curation is. |
| Kindling | Spec Readers | public universal-opt-in | spec-review, indieweb | 4 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged spec-review and indieweb: people who read the spec closely and say where it falls short. |
| Kindling | Toward a Working Group | public vouching-required | governance | 3 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged governance: people willing to stand for the Working Group. Being listed is not a seat. |
| Kindling | Writers and Researchers | public universal-opt-in | research, writing, journalism | 3 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged research, writing and journalism: people writing about social technology who want to talk to the people doing the work. |
| Many Moons | The Orchard Street Household | unlisted curator-only-adds | household, non-monogamy | 3 | 3 | Reads, only with the address, for context only. Opens under its own name. Tagged household and non-monogamy. Its charter lists the household “so the people we date can see how we are connected”, so it is read for context only: a member who links it shows it as one line on their card, and under its own name it has nothing to say yes to. |
| Rain Check | Big Game Day | public universal-opt-in | board-games, game-day, rain-check, rides, lending | 8 | 8 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged board-games, game-day, rides and lending: seats, rides and games to lend on one Saturday a month. |
| Rain Check | Olympia Thursdays | public universal-opt-in | board-games, game-night, rain-check, olympia | 3 | 3 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged board-games and game-night: one Rain Check table, one night a week, and a way for the people at it to find each other on any day. |
| Rain Check | Port Ellery Thursdays | public universal-opt-in | board-games, game-night, rain-check, port-ellery | 5 | 5 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged board-games and game-night: one Rain Check table, one night a week, and a way for the people at it to find each other on any day. |
| Rain Check | Portland Thursdays | public universal-opt-in | board-games, game-night, rain-check, portland, role-playing | 3 | 3 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged board-games and game-night: one Rain Check table, one night a week, and a way for the people at it to find each other on any day. |
| Rain Check | Tacoma Thursdays | public universal-opt-in | board-games, game-night, rain-check, tacoma | 4 | 4 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged board-games and game-night: one Rain Check table, one night a week, and a way for the people at it to find each other on any day. |
| Scattered Light | Scattered Light Stewards | public curator-only-adds | peer-support, stewarding | 3 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged peer-support and stewarding. Its charter lists the stewards publicly so anyone can find one to write to. |
| Seen Work | Seen Work Curators | public curator-only-adds | trades, referrals, curating | 2 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged trades, referrals and curating: Seen Work’s two curators, listed so anyone can write to one with the job, the trade and the dates. |
| Seen Work | Seen Work: Harbor Trades | unlisted vouching-required | trades, referrals, work | 6 | 0 | Reads, only with the address, through its curator. Opens under its own name. Tagged trades, referrals and work. Its rules say contractors ask a curator, who asks members one at a time, so a yes here is a request to a curator. |
| Slack Water | Crew and Volunteers | public curator-only-adds | volunteering, crew, sound, festival-crew | 5 | 2 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged volunteering and crew: people who worked a shift at Slack Water. |
| Slack Water | Rides Home | public universal-opt-in | carpool, rides | 5 | 4 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged carpool and rides: seats home from the festival, split gas and never a fare. |
| The Board | Carpool to the Coast | public universal-opt-in | carpool | 2 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged carpool: shared rides to the coast towns, gas split and never a fare. Its charter says people with seats say yes. |
| The Board | Fix-It Friday Volunteers | public universal-opt-in | repair, volunteering | 3 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged repair and volunteering: the library basement’s repair night on the first Friday. |
| The Circular | Circular Correspondents | public universal-opt-in | writing, editing, volunteering | 4 | 0 | Reads. Opens under its own name. Tagged writing, editing and volunteering: people who write for the Circular. |
| Foul Weather Friends | The Check-In Circle | unlisted vouching-required | mutual-aid, check-ins, neighbors | 4 | 0 | Never. The site asks apps not to read it, and its address travels only by hand. Foul Weather Friends never copies or prints it, and Heartwood treats that the way a browser treats a site that asks not to be read. |
| Midspan | Midspan Students | invite-only curator-only-adds | mentorship, first-generation, students | 4 | 0 | Never. Invite-only. Its file is served only to Midspan’s two coordinators, so no app reads it, even with the address (§3.2). A student’s yes to a mentor goes to a coordinator, who knows who is in it. |
| Scattered Light | The Heron | invite-only vouching-required | peer-support | 7 | 0 | Never. Invite-only. Its address travels only from a steward to a newcomer and is in no discovery file, so no app reads it, even with the address (§3.2). |
“With a page” counts people whose own page, the same one they joined with, carries fields beyond the parsed profile: portraits, prompts, answers, languages or interests. Everyone else is read from the parsed profile alone.
The same people, other doors
We compete on care, not captivity
Heartwood: Nearby has 23 people in it. Face Up’s, Sundial’s and Card Catalog’s Pools have 22, 20 and 24. All four are public, so all four apps read all four, and the same person looks the same in each: their portraits come from their own page.
Face Up plays one card at a time, face up. Sundial brings one introduction a day. Card Catalog lets you search every field. Familiar Faces is for friends and groups, and Bellows for asks and offers. We read the whole person, Pool by Pool. Choose the door you like; the Pools are the same.
Why this couldn’t exist inside a closed app
A small room can exist at all. Three retirees who want to share a house, or a mentor for a first-generation student, are too few to earn an app of their own. Here they are a Pool someone already keeps, and it opens in any app that reads it.
A new app starts full. We opened with every Pool in the library we may open, each community still deciding who may write to its people. A closed app would open empty.
Communities stay theirs. Hearthhold’s stewards still introduce; Midspan’s coordinators still ask the student first; Correo Lento’s letters still go one a week. We open their Pools and never go around them.
Leaving costs nothing. Your card leaves our Pools in a minute; your page, words and people stay. So we can only keep you by being good.
What we will never do
No tricks, and what we do instead
- We will never paywall who said yes to you.Elsewhere that list is usually sold back to you. Here it is free, in full, unblurred, for everyone, in every room.
- We will never rank people by looks.There is no attractiveness score, and nothing is sorted by one. Cards come from your layers in turn, newest first.
- We will never hide the arithmetic.Compatibility here is printed: every line, the formula in plain words, and which lines are blank, and why.
- We will never sell a better place in line.No boosts, no spotlights, no priority for anyone who pays. Nobody pays to be seen, read or introduced.
- We will never keep you scrolling.No infinite feed, no streaks, no counts of who is online, no “last chance”. When you have read everyone in a room, we say so.
- We will never charge to undo.Undo is free and always there.
- We will never invent people.Every card is a real page someone keeps and a Pool they said yes to. We never fill a room with fakes.
- We will never make leaving hard.Leaving is one action. Your page, your words, your Pools and your people stay yours.
How to leave
One action, and you keep everything that was yours
Open You and choose Leave Heartwood. Your card leaves Heartwood: Nearby, and Friends nearby if you joined it, within a minute §5.3. Your yeses and weights, in every room, were ours alone, so they are deleted.
Your page stays where you keep it. Your words and answers are on it. Your other Pools do not change. Your conversations carry on by email, because every Kindling message is email underneath §6.1, and any request you sent a curator is theirs to answer.
To leave just one Pool
Each layer has an About this layer disclosure. If you are listed in one of its Pools, a Leave button sits there, one action, whoever keeps it. Heartwood sends the withdrawal to that Pool’s keeper for you.