How does someone get into an app that uses it?

An initial list of members is admitted automatically; everyone else must be vouched for by people already inside, and is let in once the app's required number of vouches is reached. An admitted newcomer can then vouch for others in turn.

Does it add features to an app, or only control membership?

It only defines how participants may enter the network, and is meant to be used alongside other components that provide the app's actual features. The documented way to use it is to copy its code into an application and set the two membership properties.

Project · developer-library

Social Triangulation Zome

Name: Social Triangulation Zome
Author: holochain-open-dev

a building block for friend-based app accessA social triangulation zome for hApps with small communities with ties between its participants

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How you run it: not recorded
Holochain version: 0.0.47-alpha1
Activity: archived
Checked: 27 October 2026

What is Social Triangulation Zome and what is it for?

Social Triangulation Zome is a small reusable component for Holochain apps whose networks are meant to stay intimate and trust-based, such as a group of neighbours or friends of friends. It supplies the membership rule that decides who may join, admitting a newcomer only once people already inside have vouched for them.

Social Triangulation Zome is a small, reusable component for Holochain apps — a "membrane", in the project's own wording, that decides who is allowed to join an application's network. Its stated purpose is apps meant for a small number of participants who loosely know one another or live nearby, where open sign-up is not wanted. The repository is archived and its documentation calls the work in progress rather than production ready, so it is best read as a historical reference.

The idea is straightforward: access is earned by vouching. An app using the component starts from a list of initial members, who are admitted automatically; everyone else must be vouched for by people already inside, and once enough members have vouched the newcomer is allowed in and can in turn vouch for others. How many vouches are required is set by the app maker, so the same component can express a loose or a strict door policy.

A natural fit is a small community app — for instance a tool shared among neighbours in one building, or a circle of friends-of-friends — where the group would rather grow by invitation than by open registration. The component only governs entry and supplies no application features of its own; an app still brings its own. The project's README documents the two settings, the vouching workflow and the copy-in usage, and is the place to learn more.

How to get it

As a library

Copy the component's code into your Holochain application — the route the README documents in place of a published package.
Set two DNA properties: initial_members, the initial list of people allowed in, and necessary_vouches, how many existing members must vouch for a newcomer.
Build the DNA with the project's documented nix-based commands: nix shell, then hc package.
Note: the repository is archived and the project's own README describes the work as in progress and not production ready, so these are the project's historical instructions rather than a currently supported install path.

Source: https://github.com/holochain-open-dev/social-triangulation

Questions people ask

Is Social Triangulation Zome still maintained?: The repository holding it is archived, and its README describes the component as a work in progress rather than production ready software. It is best treated as a historical reference rather than a maintained tool. source
How does someone get into an app that uses it?: An initial list of members is admitted automatically; everyone else must be vouched for by people already inside, and is let in once the app's required number of vouches is reached. An admitted newcomer can then vouch for others in turn. source
Does it add features to an app, or only control membership?: It only defines how participants may enter the network, and is meant to be used alongside other components that provide the app's actual features. The documented way to use it is to copy its code into an application and set the two membership properties. source

From 1 public source, checked 23 September 2026.

Try Social Triangulation Zome

Code on GitHubOpen on GitHub ↗Last change 11 May 2021.
ReleaseNo GitHub release recorded.
The project's own files do not say how it is run.

Details & sources

Source: holochain-open-dev/social-triangulation

Evidence

Last change: api.github.com/repos/holochain-open-dev/social-triangulationlisted by a third party · seen since 20 October 2026 · github.repository@1
Activity: api.github.com/repos/holochain-open-dev/social-triangulationlisted by a third party · seen since 20 October 2026 · liveness@1

Compatibility

hdk: 0.0.47-alpha1 · code/Cargo.toml @ cb7ee77
hdi: —
holochain-client: —
happ.yaml: absent
web-happ.yaml: absent

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