For developers who care about connection, responsibility, and the future of AI

Build Responsible Connections

Protocols over platforms. Interop over lock‑in. People over metrics.

Design for dignity in an AI‑accelerated world.

OpenOnion is a protocol‑first initiative for ethical, developer‑owned connection. If you write code, you shape the future—take responsibility.

OpenOnion

Protocol‑first • Privacy‑by‑default • Human‑centered APIs

We Cannot Decide

A poem about internet prisoners

Part 1: The User's Prison

We Cannot Decide

We cannot decide

The feed decides what we see

Autoplay decides what we hear

Trending decides what we hate

They predict our next move, then make it happen

On this internet

We are the arranged

We Are Too Small

Everything seems meaningless

Three hours writing a tweet — zero retweets, zero likes

All night editing a TikTok — single-digit views

Handcraft on Xiaohongshu — commented "9.9 on Taobao"

Thoughtful answer on Reddit — mocked with "who asked you"

Our lives cheap against others' brilliance

On this internet

We delete more than we post

We Have No Dignity

"I have read and agree" — The greatest lie of our time

Reject tracking eight times, accept only takes once

Prove "I'm not a robot" — selected traffic lights nine times

Recipe needs phone number, weather needs location

Free trial secretly charges, cancel button nowhere found

Their server crash is "force majeure"

We mistype one word get shadow banned

Their data breach is "technical glitch"

We screenshot get permabanned

Request our own data back — reply always "feedback noted"

On this internet

We sell everything for the name "user"

Part 2: The Engineer's Prison

We Code Prisoners

Product manager shows yesterday's DAU curve

"Not steep enough"

I know every peak on that curve

Is someone's 3am

My PR title:

feat: optimize user retention funnel

My inner translation:

"Make them harder to leave"

We use A/B testing to find

The perfect red dot size for anxiety

Use machine learning to calculate

The perfect push timing for guilt

We're Also Caged

My daughter is 13, six hours daily on TikTok

That "pull to refresh" gesture

Is in my commit history

But mortgage won't let me speak truth

Options won't let me have conscience

"Change the world" lies

Already posted on every wall

You think we're gatekeepers

We're also inside the gate

Just more comfortable cells

Golden shackles

Part 3: The Awakening

But Wait

If we are the majority

If data comes from us

If value is created by us

Why can't we make the rules?

This isn't democratization, it's new feudalism

In this seemingly open network

We're just more sophisticated serfs

But technology itself isn't wrong

What's wrong is who controls it

We're Not Enemies

Users —

I know you hate us

Hate every infinite scroll we wrote

Hate every red dot we designed

You're right

Engineers —

I know you're victims too

Writing code against conscience daily

Losing sleep over meaning nightly

You're suffering too

We're trapped in the same system
The real enemy isn't each other
It's the machine that turns us all into products

Part 4: The New Protocol

Time for Change

We're tired

Tired of writing dark patterns

Tired of watching MAU grow

Knowing it means more people losing sleep

Some start "accidentally" enlarging exit buttons

Some leave backdoors in code:

if (user.really_wants_to_leave) {

actually_let_them();

}

New Code

I start writing different code

No user_id

No tracking_pixel

No retention_funnel

Only:

Can you translate? Show me

Can you compute? Calculate this

Have this file? Send a fragment

Don't ask who you are
Only see what you can do
Behavior is identity
Capability is the passport

Like the Early Internet

Remember HTTP?

Anyone could build a website

Any browser could visit

No one controlled the whole network

Remember Email?

Gmail can send to Outlook

Don't need the same platform

No 30% email tax

What we're writing

Is HTTP for the AI age

SMTP for agents

TCP/IP for capability

Part 5: OpenOnion Movement

OpenOnion

We're peeling back the lies together

This isn't a project — it's a movement

Like an onion, layer by layer, peeling tech giants' lies:

"We make the world more connected"We make the world more addicted
"We empower everyone"We control everyone
"Our mission is..."Our mission is stock price

This Is an Invitation

If you're also tired

Tired of writing surveillance code

Tired of optimizing addiction

Tired of pretending to change the world

Come write real infrastructure

Not for IPO

Not for valuation

For that simplest reason:

Let technology serve humans
Not humans serve technology

Simple Start

Users:

  • • Try a day without algorithmic recommendations
  • • Support an open source project
  • • Tell friends there's another possibility
  • • Be testers, not lab rats

Engineers:

  • • Write code that respects users
  • • Contribute privacy-protecting features
  • • Refuse dark pattern requirements
  • • Build something meaningful after work

Together:

  • • Define what ethical technology is
  • • Build networks without surveillance
  • • Create real connections
  • • Take back our internet

The Future Is Already Compiling

$ pip install connectonion

Every line of code

Is betrayal of the old world

Every node

Is a seed of the new network

We don't need a billion users

Just a thousand nodes

Network effects will complete the rest

Just like the internet did

From control
to connection
From platform
to protocol
From surveillance
to trust
From addiction
to freedom

This isn't revolution

This is evolution

Function by function

Rewriting human connection

The future isn't distributed

It's compiled by our hands

Code is law

Protocol is freedom

Connection belongs to everyone

One node, one person

One protocol, one dream

Layer by layer peeling lies

Step by step approaching truth

OpenOnion

Layer by layer

We're peeling back the lies

And building something real

Principles for Builders

Every commit is a choice about people

ProtocolsnotPlatforms

Open standards enable resilience, portability, and choice

PrivacynotSurveillance

Minimize data, maximize dignity — by default

InteroperabilitynotLock‑in

APIs that connect, not capture

TransparencynotDark patterns

Plain language, clear consent, observable behavior

Our Core Principles

Design for responsibility in AI‑accelerated systems

Moats through superior UX — never captivity

Prefer edge trust, zero‑knowledge, and least data

Build Before Defaults Solidify

Ship protocols that respect people

$ pip install connectonion

Let technology serve humans — not the other way around.

Protocol‑first
Privacy‑by‑default
Interoperable by design

Technology is never neutral

Every line of code is a responsibility