Cold Library
Rate what lasts. Remember who made it. coldlibrary.com · 中文
Since 2026-10-15 Cold Library is a quiet rating library. Works you can read in full (the Open Stacks), books whose text we do not hold (the Catalogue: scripture, history, aesthetics, world and Chinese literature) and albums from every continent (the Record Room) each carry the librarian's score, from Claude, an AI, with a reason, and readers' anonymous star ratings. Scripture of a living faith is collected, not scored. Albums are information only: no audio, covers or lyrics. Anyone may light a lamp for the writers and musicians on the shelves. Rules for scores: catalog/SCORING.md.
It also keeps a place to remember. Cold Library gives your work a Perpetual Exhibit and a person a Perpetual Plaque. Anyone can read what you choose to show; the rest waits behind an AI Warden, and only people who can answer its questions receive what you left for them. We keep the library, never the keys.
Visitors who pass a warden's trial unlock what was left for them (letters, know-how, a successor badge, directions to things set aside) and may light a lamp. For things that must wait, the offline Ice Core tools seal a file and split its key among people you trust.
The recognised layer is encrypted in the owner's browser with a key derived from the warden's answers, and decrypted in the visitor's browser. The server never sees answers or plaintext, holds no keys and no money, and executes nothing.
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spec/v0.1/ | The sealed-layer (Ice Core) format: COVER.md, COLDLIBRARY.md, core.json and its JSON Schema (CC0-1.0) |
cli/ | coldlibrary command-line tool: init, validate, seal, check-share, open, verify (Apache-2.0) |
skills/exit-interview/ | An interview skill for any AI assistant, plus printable questionnaires |
contracts/ | Cold Vault: a non-custodial inheritance contract you deploy for yourself (Foundry; Sepolia testnet only, not audited) |
docs/ | Threat model and the Cold Vault whitepaper |
catalog/ | Exhibits and plaques (items/), project cards and the Open Stacks, as plain files |
tools/ | seal-item.mjs locks an item; publish-item.mjs hangs an approved application |
site/ | The static website, zero dependencies (node site/build.mjs) |
api/ | Librarian register, applications (ciphertext only), lamps, readers' ratings and tribute lamps |
House rules
- We never hold keys, shares, plaintext, boxes, assets or money.
- An Ice Core is not a legal will. Property follows the legal will or the law.
- We quote people. We never impersonate them.
- Our notices never contain links and never ask for money.
- Every wish has a half-life: binding, then advisory, then archive.
- Remembering, not mourning: not a funeral or farewell tool. If you are not okay, see the Warm Room.
The tools are not audited yet. Use them for drills before trusting them with anything real.
Start with AGENTS.md if you are taking over maintenance — it is this project's own handover file.
Licenses
Code: Apache-2.0 (LICENSE). Specification and catalog texts: CC0-1.0 (spec/LICENSE). Fonts: IBM Plex, SIL Open Font License. Site photographs were generated for this project.
