\  /      \  /
     .--\//-.  .-\\/--.
    ( o    o )( o    o )
   /|   /\   ||   /\   |\
  /_|  /  \  ||  /  \  |_\
     \_\__/\_//_\__/\_/

  ─────────────────────────────────────
         l i f e - i n - a - b o x
  ─────────────────────────────────────
       one journal. one life. yours.

life-in-a-box

The append-only life journal for the AI age — agent-native, human-auditable, maximally forkable.

The Problem

Your life generates a ledger. Every transaction, every message, every heartbeat, every milestone — it's all being recorded right now. The problem is it's trapped in 30 silos you don't own.

You can't query across it. You can't export it cleanly. You can't hand it to your kids. When the platform dies, it's gone.

The Solution

One append-only, hash-chained journal. On git. Owned by you.

life-in-a-box/
├── entity.yaml      # Who you are + your relationships
├── accounts.yaml    # Taxonomy of your life
├── labels.yaml      # Entry classification
├── journal.ndjson   # Every entry, forever — append only
├── validate.js      # Chain verifier
├── FEDERATION.md    # Linked family journals
└── HANDOFF.md       # Custody transfer to your kids

Every entry chains to the previous via SHA-256. Tamper-evident. Portable. Local-first. Yours.

Federation — Linked Sovereign Journals

Each person has their own private repo. Entries that involve others create cryptographically-linked cross-references — not copies — in the other person's journal.

You log: "Took Levi to his first baseball game. He hit a double."
A reference entry appears in Levi's journal: "Dad took me to my first baseball game."
Your private notes about him stay in your journal only.

Privacy layers

The Handoff Protocol

Parents write their children's journals as custodians. At handoff (first phone, 18th birthday — your call), the repo transfers. The chain is unbroken. The child ratifies the history and carries it forward.

You didn't write your own birth story. Your parents did. But it's yours. You sign the inside cover. You carry it forward.

See HANDOFF.md for the full ceremony spec.

Quick Start

# 1. Fork this repo
git clone https://github.com/taylorhou/life-in-a-box-protocol my-life

# 2. Edit entity.yaml with your name, timezone, relationships
# 3. Point your AI agent at journal.ndjson
# 4. Start logging

No database. No server. No vendor. Just git.

Accounts Taxonomy

The full human life taxonomy in accounts.yaml:

Inspired by

biz-in-a-box — the same idea for business entities.
Andrej Karpathy's vision for nano repos.
The right to own your own life's data.