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7-part series · AT Protocol

Apps as views, not vaults.

Your data lives in a bookshelf you own; apps are just the views that read from it. A seven-part series on what the AT Protocol flips, what it doesn't, and why the “boring” architecture really does impact you a lot.

in progress
Part 1 of 7 published
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Who this is for

People who keep hearing about Bluesky and the AT Protocol and want to actually get it: web and tech folks, community builders, the platform-curious. It's an on-ramp, deliberately plain-spoken, not a deep technical dive. If you already run your own PDS and write lexicons for fun, you're not the target reader, though the honest-limits and falsifier parts (Episodes 6 and 7) might still earn your time.

The series

  1. Act 1 · The problem why the platforms you depend on keep costing you
    01
    Ownership

    You don't own your network

    If a platform vanished tomorrow, your network wouldn't survive the move. Someone chose that, and it can be unmade.

    Released Jun 24, 2026 Read
  2. 02
    Identity

    Your identity isn't your username

    Change your handle, keep every follower. Why atproto splits who you are from what you're called.

    Coming Jun 30, 2026
  3. 03
    Data

    Where your posts actually live

    When an app shuts down, what happens to five years of your stuff? Depends who's holding it.

    Coming Jul 7, 2026
  4. Act 2 · The shift how atproto rewires the relationship
    04
    Interop

    Apps that don't need permission

    A new app can already know your network: no partnership deals, no API keys, no “log in with X” tax.

    Coming Jul 14, 2026
  5. 05
    Control

    You don't have to like the algorithm

    When a feed decides your reach, you don't get a vote. There's an architecture where you do.

    Coming Jul 28, 2026
  6. Act 3 · The honest case the limits, and why it's still the bet
    06
    Tradeoffs

    What atproto can't do (yet)

    The gaps the hype skips. Plus: your whole identity can run on a Raspberry Pi, or hosted free.

    Coming Aug 4, 2026
  7. 07
    Vision

    Bigger than social media

    I ran Doom over the AT Protocol at five frames per second. Nobody needs that, but it proved what the protocol really is.

    Coming Aug 11, 2026
The apps-as-views model: one personal data cabinet with labelled compartments (posts, photos, films, a professional profile, a code repo, events, and a private one), read by many atproto apps as different views. Your cabinet, your data, one per person; swap the app, the cabinet stays.
Where I'm coming from

Two things you should know about me

First: I'm building two products on atproto, Sifa (a professional network) and Barazo (a forum platform). I have direct skin in the game.

Second: I've been working on the internet for 25+ years, across open source communities, SaaS platforms, and social tools. After watching that many open protocols get swallowed by platforms, I think this one has a real shot. So no, this isn't a neutral take (claiming I'm neutral while building two products on it would be a bit much).

Per Taleb: writers without skin in the game produce theory; writers with skin in the game produce signal. If you'd rather have a neutral overview, there are good ones out there. This one comes with a point of view, and now you know where it's pointing.

Part 7 (the final episode) lists the concrete conditions by 2028 that would prove me wrong.

Hi, I'm Guido

I've spent 25+ years building on the internet, across open source communities, SaaS platforms, and social tools. These days I'm building two products on the AT Protocol, Sifa and Barazo, and writing about why the architecture matters. I write the way I'd explain something to a friend over coffee.

More about me
  • “atproto” is short for the AT Protocol. The ecosystem of apps built on it is the Atmosphere; Bluesky is one app in it, not the protocol itself.
  • It's a young protocol and the facts move fast. I've dated the claims that might shift, and I'll keep the published parts current where I can.
  • Each episode stands on its own. Start anywhere, but they're written to be read in order.