Open Source · Infrastructure for Voluntary Organization
Common ground for people who govern themselves.
Lapis is a family of two open-source projects — one federated, one fully peer-to-peer — built for communities that organize voluntarily, meritocratically, and without a central authority.
The name comes from the lapis philosophorum — the philosophers' stone. Not a magic shortcut, but the old idea that patient, disciplined work can transmute something base into something lasting. Lapis applies that idea to how people organize: replacing hierarchy and gatekeeping with structures that hold up on their own.
Lapis is not one product. It is one principle, implemented twice. Lapis Cloud brings self-governance to organizations that run servers — associations, parties, NGOs. Lapis Net removes servers from the equation entirely and builds a social network on nothing but peers.
Two architectures, because there is no single right trade-off between accountability and independence. What both share is non-negotiable: voluntary association, merit over rank, and the right to leave.
Lapis Cloud
Federated membership software for associations, parties, and NGOs — with a governance layer built on libertarian principles.
- Full membership administration, growing toward a complete alternative to conventional tools
- Meritocratic voting, systemic consensing, and statutory democratic elections
- An internal currency (Libertaler) that makes attacks on the system self-funding
Lapis Net
A fully decentralized P2P social network. No servers, no gatekeepers — anyone can run a node.
- Built on Bitcoin as the value layer and distributed storage (Nabu) for content
- Four scoring dimensions — Veritas, Virtus, Karma, Madli — instead of central moderation
- Sybil resistance through market mechanics, not coercion
Meritocracy
Influence follows demonstrated contribution, not position or seniority.
Self-organization
Structures emerge from participants' decisions, not from a central administration.
Voluntary association
Every membership, every federation, every connection exists only by consent.
Exit over coercion
The ultimate check on power is not a rulebook. It is the door.
One principle, two proofs
Lapis exists to show that voluntary, meritocratic organization is not a thought experiment — it can be shipped as working software. If you want to understand why we build it this way, start with the ideas behind it.
Read the philosophy