regnault.dev
forked from
tangled.org/site
engineering blog at https://blog.tangled.sh
anirudh.fi
1---
2atroot: true
3template:
4slug: intro
5title: introducing tangled
6subtitle: a git collaboration platform, built on atproto
7date: 2025-03-02
8authors:
9 - name: Anirudh
10 email: anirudh@tangled.sh
11 handle: icyphox.sh
12---
13
14
15[Tangled](https://tangled.sh) is a new social-enabled Git collaboration
16platform, built on top of the [AT Protocol](https://atproto.com). We
17envision a place where developers have complete ownership of their code,
18open source communities can freely self-govern and most importantly,
19coding can be social and fun again.
20
21There are several models for decentralized code collaboration platforms,
22ranging from ActivityPub's (Forgejo) federated model, to Radicle's
23entirely P2P model. Our approach attempts to be the best of both worlds
24by adopting atproto -- a protocol for building decentralized social
25applications with a central identity.
26
27
28
29Our approach to this is the idea of "knots". Knots are lightweight,
30headless servers that enable users to host Git repositories with ease.
31Knots are designed for either single or multi-tenant use which is
32perfect for self-hosting on a Raspberry Pi at home, or larger
33"community" servers. By default, Tangled provides managed knots where
34you can host your repositories for free.
35
36The [App View][appview] at [tangled.sh](https://tangled.sh) acts as a
37consolidated "view" into the whole network, allowing users to access,
38clone and contribute to repositories hosted across different knots --
39completely seamlessly.
40
41Tangled is still in its infancy, and we're building out several of its
42core features as we [dogfood it ourselves][dogfood]. We developed these
43three tenets to guide our decisions:
44
451. Ownership of data
462. Low barrier to entry
473. No compromise on user-experience
48
49Collaborating on code isn't easy, and the tools and workflows we use
50should feel natural and stay out of the way. Tangled's architecture
51enables common workflows to work as you'd expect, all while remaining
52decentralized.
53
54We believe that atproto has greatly simplfied one of the hardest parts
55of social media: having your friends on it. Today, we're rolling out
56invite-only access to Tangled -- join us on IRC at `#tangled` on
57[libera.chat](https://libera.chat) and we'll get you set up.
58
59**Update**: Tangled is open to public, simply login at
60[tangled.sh/login](https://tangled.sh/login)! Have fun!
61
62[pds]: https://atproto.com/guides/glossary#pds-personal-data-server
63[appview]: https://docs.bsky.app/docs/advanced-guides/federation-architecture#app-views
64[dogfood]: https://tangled.sh/@tangled.sh/core