Instance spine: one passport, one shared engine, many domain front doors. This page explains the pattern and the path to instance #4.

Public instances

Instances

An instance is a domain-specific app running the shared Open Values engine. It can look and speak like its own world while still accepting the same values passport and lens grammar.

Compare the live proofs Build instance #4 Use the adoption kit Read the build guide

Live and illustrative

Three proofs of the same engine

Conscious Consuming is the real-data flagship. The other two show how the same engine can move into new domains with only a lens and skin.

Instance #1

Conscious Consuming

Everyday dollar decisions across sourced categories. This is the flagship and the separate makeover lane.

Instance #2

Kosplora

An illustrative atlas for learning decisions: courses, references, channels, and ways to grow.

Instance #3

Where to Message

An illustrative messenger decision lens for privacy, openness, reach, and practical adoption.

Instance #4

Your domain

A nonprofit guide, local civic lens, school resource map, buyer guide, or movement slate.

Instance anatomy

What stays shared, what gets remixed

Each instance should feel native to its domain without trapping people or forking the core. The portability test is simple: can a Values Passport travel in, and can a lens be inspected or patched?

Shared engine Scoring, bands, passports, federation, slate-building, and graph primitives stay common.

Shared shell Ranking, sliders, verdict details, import/export, and the local-first flow stay reusable.

Local lens The domain chooses its options, criteria, source notes, and honest scope.

Local skin The instance can look and sound like its own world while keeping the same ethics.

Passport bridge

Values travel where the domain can honestly express them

Each instance maps universal values into its local vocabulary through universalToLocal. A value that does not belong in the domain should be reported as not transferred, not smuggled into a fake score.

Universal vocabulary Planet, people, openness, access, wellbeing, autonomy, animals, community, quality, and joy.

Kosplora carries Openness, access, quality, joy, wellbeing, people, and community into learning-resource criteria.

Where to Message carries Autonomy, openness, access, community, and wellbeing into messaging criteria.

What stays home Unsupported values stay visible as not transferred, so the user can see the boundary instead of trusting a fiction.

Instance readiness

What a fourth instance needs before it is public

A new domain should feel independent, but it must still keep the commons promises: portable values, inspectable evidence, and no pay-to-rank.

Plain decision Name the real choice and who needs it.

Sourced lens Use provenance for strong claims, dates for facts, and honest labels for judgements.

Visible spine Link back to Values Commons, Passport, Workshop, and neighboring instances.

Passport bridge State which universal values transfer into the local vocabulary.

Trust boundary Keep the core no-account, no-tracking, no-ads, no-pay-to-rank, and static-capable.

Contribution path Make corrections, missing options, and forks easy to route.

Instance steward brief

Before code, fill this in

The fastest useful path to instance #4 is not a new interface first. It is a clear steward brief: the decision, the people it serves, the starter lens, and the values that can honestly transfer.

Decision What real choice should this instance help someone rank or decide?

Audience Who needs it first, and what language would make the domain feel native to them?

Starter lens What 8-20 options and 3-7 criteria are enough to prove the domain?

Passport bridge Which universal values transfer, and which should stay visibly not transferred?

Source floor What claims need citations before the instance is trustworthy enough to share?

Contribution route Where do corrections, missing options, forks, and disputes go after launch?

Use the steward packet Use the full brief Plan contributions

Create one

A lens, a skin, three script tags

The starter shape is intentionally plain: define the options and criteria in a lens, choose a skin for the domain, then mount the shared shell and engine. The instance can remain fully static.

lens.js + index.html skin + engine.js + shell.js

1. Name the decision. What choices should be ranked, and for whom?

2. Source the facts. Each assessed claim needs a reason, URL, and date.

3. Keep the passport. Accept portable values instead of trapping users.

4. Publish static. A folder on a static host is enough for the core.

Read the implementation guide Start with the adoption kit Open the Lens Workshop