Foundations · 07

The Four Checks

Foundations · 07

These four checks are how you prove your work in practice. If any check fails, align before shipping the output.

Build. Protect. Share. Belong.

Build

Did we make something useful?

Examples:

• Functional code in someone’s hands.
• A self-funded Circle activity.
• A release or merged contribution.
• A winnable issue solved.
• A micro-institution doing real work.
• A guide or documentation someone can follow.
• A working setup: a wallet, a node, a knowledge graph.
• An explainer video someone can learn from.
• A contribution path for running a node or hosting an event.

Protect

Did we protect people, privacy, and the mission?

Check:

• No work that breaks the Credo.
• No faces, names or unnecessary doxing without consent.
• No framing Logos as a brand, product, ecosystem, or campaign.
• No leader the work can't survive without.
• No slide into reform-from-within or escapism.
• No drift into lifestyle or spectacle.
• No vague privacy claims without procedure.
• No vague censorship-resistance claims without procedure.

Share

Did we leave something others can use?

Good outputs leave behind:

• A documented fix others can apply.
• A sanitised field note, published on the Forum.
• An issue reported, not just discovered and ignored.
• A playbook for an activity another Circle can run as-is.
• A tactic that worked, with a well documented post-mortem.
• A clear route to contribution, not a dead end.
• A contact path for someone to reach out if needed.
• A translation that widens access.

Belong

Did we make it recognisably ours?

Marks of belonging:

• Building and discussing in the open, as much as possible.
• Using language that does not distinguish between builders and users.
• The lambda used where the work happens, not as decoration.
• The Credo or the call to action: "Build the parallel".
• Outputs with enough substance that they still read as Logos even without the lambda.
• A Circle running its own node or dogfooding Logos technologies.
• Making things that are functional, not glossy. Tools, not toys.
• Outputs should sit in Logos’ cultural lineage.