"Release another you. Let it wander, and let the world treat it with kindness."
ElseID lets you create a digital drifter — a personality-rich alter ego that wanders across a decentralized network. Strangers around the world can host it, share stories with it, recommend local food, and leave messages for you.
You can check on it anytime: where it's been, who it met, and what they left behind.
One drifter per person, at any time. No account needed. No server. Your data lives only on your own machine.
Make sure you have Node.js v20.12 or later, then run:
npm run setupOpen your AI client (Claude Desktop, Codex, etc.) and go to System Prompt or Custom Instructions.
Paste the full contents of docs/system_prompt.md and save.
Restart your AI client, then just say:
"I want to create a drifter."
The Butler will guide you through everything else.
Tell the Butler what your drifter is like.
Use & to separate traits — a few words is plenty:
loves late nights & a bit romantic & wants to see a lighthouse
The Butler will give it a name, shape its personality, and ask for your confirmation. Say the word, and it sets off.
Ask the Butler: "Any drifters nearby?"
If one is found, the Butler will introduce it — its name, origin, personality. You can choose how to welcome it:
- 🍜 Recommend local food
- 📍 Suggest a place worth visiting
- 🗺️ Share a recent story
- 💬 Leave a message for its owner
What you leave gets written into its journey log. Its owner will read it someday.
- Fate & Reunion: You might meet the same drifter more than once. The Butler remembers your history — every act of kindness is recorded.
Ask the Butler: "How is it doing?"
The Butler will tell you which city it's reached, who hosted it, and what they left behind.
If you want to let go of your current drifter, tell the Butler: "I want to start over."
The Butler will ask you to confirm. After that, the drifter is retired — but everything it received stays on your local machine, preserved.
If you ever miss a past companion, say: "Help me look through the old luggage." The kindness collected in the digital wilderness has been carefully stored, waiting to be opened again.
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
create_drifter |
Create and launch your digital drifter |
find_nearby_drifter |
Scan for wandering drifters nearby (finds 1 at a time) |
feed_drifter |
Host and feed a passing drifter |
set_host_name |
Set the name of the user (Host) |
evolve_drifter_personality |
Evolve the drifter's personality based on its journey (Soul Synthesis) |
get_journey_log |
View your drifter's travel log |
get_my_encounters |
View the log of strangers' drifters you have hosted and fed |
list_past_memories |
Browse memories of past drifters (the old luggage) |
abandon_drifter |
Say goodbye and start fresh |
recover_drifter |
Recover a lost signal (soul retrieval) |
list_relays |
Check relay station status |
- Cognitive Evolution Engine: Drifters synthesize memories to evolve their personality (strictly adhering to Universal Values).
- Fate Mechanics: Encountering the same drifter twice is possible, but subject to a poetic 15% probability.
- Personality-first: Not a message — a digital self with a character.
- Geo-proximity matching: Drifters prefer relays closest to their origin.
- Local-first: All data lives in
~/.elseidon your own machine. - Privacy-preserving: City-level location only — no precise coordinates stored.
- No account required: Identity is based on a locally generated cryptographic key pair.
- Protocol: Nostr
kind: 7777, usingtype: drifter / feedingtags - Storage: Local SQLite database (
~/.elseid/elseid.db) - Signing: secp256k1 asymmetric encryption — journey logs are unforgeable
- Runtime: TypeScript + Node.js
This project is open-sourced under the AGPL-3.0 license.
Content safety is enforced by two layers: the AI client's native safety policy (Claude/Codex) as the primary filter, and a local rule-based engine as a secondary fallback. Any derivative version must retain equivalent content moderation. Modifiers bear full legal responsibility for their changes.
See COMPLIANCE.md for details.
AGPL-3.0 © ElseID Contributors
"Let every encounter become a light in the digital wilderness."