A typed idea graph for collaborative thinking and collective governance.
Likes, feeds, and view counts reward provocation over precision. A reaction outperforms a careful synthesis. Platforms aren't broken — they're working exactly as designed. Just not for governance.
A comment that sharpens an idea is structurally indistinguishable from one that misses the point entirely. At scale, the reasoning disappears into noise.
A forum thread from six months ago is unreadable as a document. The reasoning behind governance decisions becomes irrecoverable. Accountability requires legibility.
Inspired by Git's version control model, Groven organises all content around a single structural metaphor — a living graph of ideas, not a flat thread of reactions.
A contribution that introduces an idea, question, or position. Always text — optionally combined with images, drawings, video, or links. The root node of every thread.
A contribution that explicitly builds on an existing Seed or Branch. Has exactly one parent and inherits its lineage. Not a reply — a continuation.
The growing network of all Seeds and Branches in a Groven space. The living memory of the community — searchable, filterable, permanently archived.
Groven makes the semantic relationship between contributions structurally visible. The LLM proposes a type — the author confirms or overrides.
Sharpens a vague or ambiguous idea. Does not add new content — makes precise what is already there.
Carries the idea into territory the Seed did not anticipate. Adds something genuinely new while remaining faithful to the original direction.
Interprets the same idea from a fundamentally different angle. Does not contradict — but arrives somewhere else from the same starting point.
Identifies a conflict and proposes a divergent direction. The most structurally important type — where genuine disagreement becomes visible.
Connects two or more existing Branches that have developed separately. Attempts to reconcile or integrate divergent lines of thought.
When the LLM proposes a type and the author selects a different one, Groven generates a visible "Contested" signal on that node.
This marks places where classification is uncertain — where community norms are still forming. These are exactly the nodes most worth examining.
Engagement metrics fail for governance because they optimise for interaction volume, not argument quality. Groven uses an LLM to make the semantic structure of a discussion visible — not to steer it.
A separate voting tool breaks the chain of accountability. Groven integrates the vote into the same graph where the discussion took place — so the reasoning is permanently legible.
Discussion is active. Seeds are planted, Branches grow, each Branch is semantically classified. Anyone with access to the space can contribute.
A designated body declares the topic ready for decision. The LLM generates a structured summary: positions, attempted syntheses, open forks. Discussion closes for new Branches.
Vote complete. The result — including full vote breakdown and required written justification — is anchored as an immutable node directly in the Forest, linked to the Branches it resolved.
| Feature | Kialo / Pol.is | Loomio / Decidim | Groven |
|---|---|---|---|
| Idea lineage graph | Partial (tree only) | No | Full ancestry |
| Branch typology | Pro/Con only | No | 5 semantic types |
| LLM structuring assistant | No | No | Visible + overridable |
| Voting in same graph | No | Partial | State transition |
| Decision anchored in lineage | No | No | Immutable node |
| Minority position recording | No | Partial | Always required |
| Self-hostable open source | No | Yes / Partial | Core commitment |
Maximum reuse, including commercial use. Any organisation can self-host Groven without licensing obligations. Source code is always open.
No mandatory cloud dependency. Any community can run their own Groven instance on their own infrastructure.
Roadmap decisions made through public Groven discussions. The RFC process uses the Seed→Branch→Forest model natively. We're accountable to the same standard we advocate for others.
First and reference implementation. Validates the concept in a real governance context. Groven has zero dependency on CORPUS — fully general-purpose.
CORPUS is an open licensing and royalty infrastructure for music in the age of AI — developed by Sofilab GmbH, Munich, co-funded by the European Union (Creative Europe).
It requires a governance platform that makes the reasoning behind decisions permanently legible, connects community discussion to formal voting, and scales without losing deliberation quality.
Groven is domain-agnostic. CORPUS is its first proof of concept.
It is open source, self-hostable, and governed by the same tool it provides.