01
A request arrives
The colleague sends an encrypted request for 15:00. The edge can retain its sealed envelope, not read the private message.
RFC / in discussion
Presence without surrender.
Kraton Beacon is an open research direction for a person's digital presence when their local computer is offline or behind NAT. It is intentionally not presented as a shipped service.
See what is implementedOne ordinary request
Your laptop is asleep. A colleague asks for 15:00.
Beacon is meant to make that small moment useful without turning an edge service into a copy of your calendar or a holder of your signing power.
02
A bounded answer
A narrowly scoped rule may create a short-lived soft hold from a deliberately reduced availability projection. It does not receive your calendar database or master credentials.
03
Your device decides
When the laptop wakes, it decrypts the request and applies local policy: confirm the hold, move it, or reject it. The final state stays with its owner.
Important: this is an RFC scenario, not an available scheduling service. It explains the boundary the research is trying to preserve.
A reduced projection, not a replica
Four layers between the internet and private state.
Public projection
A coarse, privacy-preserving answer such as free/busy availability or an advertised capability manifest — never the private source dataset.
Sealed mailbox
Incoming work is encrypted to the owner’s public key. The edge can retain an envelope without learning its contents.
Bounded edge action
A narrowly scoped VMC may create a short-lived soft hold or reject spam, without inheriting master credentials.
Local pickup
When the owner’s device wakes, it drains and decrypts its own messages, then applies local policy and state transitions.
Identity
A zero-cost cryptographic identity can exist before a user configures DNS or rents a server.
Availability
Public and trusted callers can see different, intentionally constrained projections of what is available.
Autonomy
The edge can enforce a small deterministic rule, such as a short soft hold, but cannot become the owner.
Design source: docs/SOVEREIGN_PRESENCE_AND_BEACON.md · status remains RFC / in discussion.