FAQ
This page is for fast answers. If a question needs institutional detail, it links to the relevant concept page. If it needs Holochain detail, it links to the Holochain Fit page or the official Holochain docs.
Basic Orientation
Section titled “Basic Orientation”Is this a blockchain or cryptocurrency?
Section titled “Is this a blockchain or cryptocurrency?”No. Holochain is a peer-to-peer application framework, not a blockchain, and Solidarity Commons Protocol does not need a token to work. Read What Holochain Is for the short technical orientation.
Do ordinary members need to understand Holochain?
Section titled “Do ordinary members need to understand Holochain?”No. A well-made app should feel like an ordinary community tool. Holochain matters under the hood because it changes who controls records and how peers check shared data.
Why not just use Facebook, Google Sheets, Airtable, or Discord?
Section titled “Why not just use Facebook, Google Sheets, Airtable, or Discord?”Sometimes those are enough. Holochain becomes relevant when a group needs member-controlled records, shared rules, provenance, and portability instead of tenancy inside one vendor.
Is this only for programmers?
Section titled “Is this only for programmers?”No. The software should be usable by organizers, residents, stewards, treasurers, and volunteers. Builders need to understand Holochain, but members should mostly see roles, agreements, decisions, evidence, and exports.
Is this Web3?
Section titled “Is this Web3?”It overlaps with some distributed-web concerns, but it is not a blockchain-first or token-first design. The practical question is whether a group needs peer-governed records and explicit bridges to outside systems.
Safety And Privacy
Section titled “Safety And Privacy”Is my data safe?
Section titled “Is my data safe?”Safer design is possible, not automatic. Holochain gives signatures, peer validation, private entries, and separate distributed network application (DNA) spaces, but the app must still avoid publishing sensitive data too broadly. Read Privacy and Data Placement.
Will everyone in the group see my personal information?
Section titled “Will everyone in the group see my personal information?”No, if the app is designed properly. Public distributed hash table (DHT) data is visible to peers in that network; sensitive evidence should be private, scoped, encrypted, redacted, or kept external.
Can data be truly deleted?
Section titled “Can data be truly deleted?”Do not rely on deletion for sensitive data. Holochain’s shared data model is append-oriented; delete actions mark entries or links as no longer current, but public history may still be discoverable through metadata. The design rule is simple: do not publish sensitive details to broad shared spaces in the first place. See Holochain’s Working With Data guide.
Could this expose people to harassment or retaliation?
Section titled “Could this expose people to harassment or retaliation?”Bad data placement could. Safety-sensitive workflows should minimize fields, split groups into appropriate DNAs, use scoped access, and keep vulnerable evidence private or external.
Should this handle children, care work, immigration, domestic violence, or medical records?
Section titled “Should this handle children, care work, immigration, domestic violence, or medical records?”Only with extra safeguards and likely specialist systems. Solidarity Commons Protocol should usually preserve references, consent records, hashes, and review trails rather than casually storing sensitive details in Holochain.
Who can join a group network?
Section titled “Who can join a group network?”A DNA can require a membership credential called a membrane proof, such as an invite code or signed authorization. Holochain’s Genesis Self-Check Callback explains the join-time check.
Who can access functions on my device?
Section titled “Who can access functions on my device?”Holochain uses capability-based security for zome calls. The safe default is least privilege: grant only the access a person, interface, or peer actually needs. Read Calls and Capabilities.
What happens if I lose my computer, key, or password?
Section titled “What happens if I lose my computer, key, or password?”This is not like a consumer account password reset. Holochain uses cryptographic keys and local source-chain data, so backup, recovery, key rotation, revocation, and member support must be explicit product requirements. Useful background: Source Chain, Lair keystore, and Deepkey.
Can the organization help me recover access?
Section titled “Can the organization help me recover access?”Only if the app and organization design a recovery process. The protocol should treat recovery as governance plus key management, not as an afterthought.
Conflict And Bad Behavior
Section titled “Conflict And Bad Behavior”Can a bad actor hijack a group’s application?
Section titled “Can a bad actor hijack a group’s application?”They can run modified software, but peers should reject invalid public data under the app’s validation rules. They can still cause social harm, steal credentials, or pressure people, so governance and access design still matter. Read Validation and Integrity.
What happens if someone writes invalid data?
Section titled “What happens if someone writes invalid data?”Validators can reject the data and produce warrants, which are signed evidence that an agent broke a rule. Holochain’s Getting an Agent’s Status guide explains how apps can check for warrants and chain problems.
What about harassment, abuse, or ordinary conflict?
Section titled “What about harassment, abuse, or ordinary conflict?”Software validation is not human judgment. Code-of-conduct enforcement, restorative accountability, membership discipline, temporary blocks, and reinstatement need governance processes as well as software support.
Who is the admin?
Section titled “Who is the admin?”There is no default platform owner with total control. A group can define roles, permissions, and emergency powers, but those powers should be grounded in the group’s governance records.
Can a small faction capture the group?
Section titled “Can a small faction capture the group?”Software cannot prevent every social capture problem. It can make roles, decisions, delegations, conflicts, and rule changes visible enough for members to contest them.
Queries, Reporting, And Bridges
Section titled “Queries, Reporting, And Bridges”How do queries work without a central database?
Section titled “How do queries work without a central database?”They do not work like a central SQL database. Holochain apps query local source chains, DHT data, links, anchors, metadata, and agent activity. Start with Querying Source Chains and Working With Data.
How do dashboards, funder reports, and audits work?
Section titled “How do dashboards, funder reports, and audits work?”Design them as read models, export manifests, and bridge records. Holochain can preserve provenance and hashes; ordinary reporting, accounting, or warehouse tools can aggregate when needed. Read Boundaries and Bridges.
Can we still use QuickBooks, payroll, banking, spreadsheets, or a data warehouse?
Section titled “Can we still use QuickBooks, payroll, banking, spreadsheets, or a data warehouse?”Yes. Holochain should hold civic coordination records; regulated ledgers, payroll, banking, title, formal filings, and audits stay in external systems.
Can funders, auditors, or public agencies trust the data?
Section titled “Can funders, auditors, or public agencies trust the data?”They can use signed provenance and export packets as evidence, but formal legal or audit authority still belongs to the relevant external system.
Does Holochain replace APIs?
Section titled “Does Holochain replace APIs?”No. Bridges, websites, payment systems, reporting tools, and public records still need APIs, adapters, exports, and sometimes service infrastructure.
What if the internet is unreliable?
Section titled “What if the internet is unreliable?”Peer-to-peer networks can tolerate disruption, but availability still depends on enough peers storing and serving data. Important workflows need retry behavior, clear sync state, and redundancy. Read Holochain’s DHT overview.
Upgrades And Change
Section titled “Upgrades And Change”How do app updates work?
Section titled “How do app updates work?”Coordinator zomes can change more easily. Integrity zome changes alter the DNA hash and create a new network and data space, so real migrations need planning. Read Holochain’s Application Architecture and Application Structure.
What if different people are on different versions?
Section titled “What if different people are on different versions?”Expect it. The project needs compatibility policies, versioned exports, upgrade prompts, and testing across mixed versions.
Can the rules change later?
Section titled “Can the rules change later?”Yes, but rule changes are serious. Old records must remain understandable, and major integrity changes may require a new DNA plus migration or cross-network access.
How do we know which Holochain versions go together?
Section titled “How do we know which Holochain versions go together?”Use Holochain’s Upgrade Guides and Compatibility Tables rather than guessing.
Institutions And Community Use
Section titled “Institutions And Community Use”Does this make agreements legally binding?
Section titled “Does this make agreements legally binding?”No. It can preserve evidence, signatures, decisions, and authority trails. Legal enforceability remains with contracts, statutes, courts, public registries, and professional review.
Can a community land trust, cooperative, fiscal sponsor, or mutual aid network use this?
Section titled “Can a community land trust, cooperative, fiscal sponsor, or mutual aid network use this?”Potentially. The Mechanism Map explains those institutions; this FAQ only answers Holochain fit questions.
Is this for activists, local government, schools, churches, or neighborhood groups?
Section titled “Is this for activists, local government, schools, churches, or neighborhood groups?”Maybe. The better question is whether the group needs member-controlled records, shared rules, privacy boundaries, and bridges to formal systems.
Can younger builders use this for housing, climate, care, or local mutual aid work?
Section titled “Can younger builders use this for housing, climate, care, or local mutual aid work?”Yes, if they start from the institution and its responsibilities, not from the technology. Holochain helps most when a group needs durable coordination without surrendering its records to a platform.
Who pays for the infrastructure?
Section titled “Who pays for the infrastructure?”Holochain reduces the need for one central application server, but it does not make software free. Groups still need development, onboarding, support, backups, bridges, hosting for public pages, and reporting infrastructure.
What should we prototype first?
Section titled “What should we prototype first?”Not a whole institution. Start with one narrow workflow that tests membership, authority, evidence, privacy, export, and external-system boundaries.
Will this solve social problems by itself?
Section titled “Will this solve social problems by itself?”No. It can make trustworthy coordination less dependent on extractive platforms. People and institutions still do the work.