Barazo is a modern forum platform that gives users portable identity and data ownership:

• One account, all forums -- Use your AT Protocol identity (Bluesky, etc.) everywhere
• Your data, your control -- Content lives on your Personal Data Server, not locked in each forum
• Cross-forum reputation -- Your contributions follow you across every Barazo instance
• Open source -- AGPL backend, MIT frontend. Self-host or use managed hosting.
• Privacy-first -- EU-hosted, GDPR-compliant, no tracking, no ads

The Discourse/Flarum alternative for the decentralized web.

Traditional forums lock your identity and data into each platform. Barazo uses the AT Protocol to give you:

• Portable identity -- One login across all Barazo forums
• Data ownership -- Your posts live on your PDS, not the forum's database
• Cross-forum features -- Reputation, search, aggregation across instances
• No vendor lock-in -- Migrate forums without losing users or content
• Federated moderation -- AT Protocol labelers work across all forums

Repository	Description	License	CI	Activity
barazo-api	AppView backend (Fastify, PostgreSQL, AT Protocol)
barazo-web	Forum frontend (Next.js, TailwindCSS)
barazo-lexicons	AT Protocol schemas for forum data
barazo-deploy	Docker Compose templates for self-hosting
barazo-website	Marketing + documentation site		--

Core forum:

• Topics, replies (threaded), categories, reactions (configurable per forum)
• Markdown editor and rendering (sanitized)
• Full-text search (PostgreSQL tsvector + GIN)
• Content maturity filtering (SFW/Mature/Adult at forum + category level)
• Moderation tools (lock, pin, delete, ban, content reporting, word/link blocklists)
• Notifications (in-app + email)
• User profiles with PDS sync, user preferences (global + per-community)
• Self-labels on posts (AT Protocol selfLabels)
• Age gate (self-declaration), block/mute users (portable via PDS)
• Admin-configurable onboarding fields per community

AT Protocol integration:

• OAuth sign-in with any AT Protocol PDS (Bluesky, self-hosted, etc.)
• Firehose subscription via Tap (filtered for forum.barazo.*)
• Cross-posting to Bluesky (default ON, toggleable) and Frontpage (feature flag)
• Rich OpenGraph images for cross-posts with forum branding
• Global aggregator mode (cross-community feed with maturity filtering)
• Cross-community reputation (activity counts across forums)

Infrastructure:

• Docker Compose deployment (dev, production, global aggregator profiles)
• Caddy reverse proxy with automatic SSL
• CI/CD with GitHub Actions (lint, typecheck, tests, a11y audit, CodeQL)
• Dependabot security monitoring, backup/restore scripts

Quality:

• WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility compliance (vitest-axe + @axe-core/playwright)
• Strict TypeScript (no any, no @ts-ignore)
• Test-driven development across all repos

• Stripe billing / SaaS multi-tenant / custom domains (P3)
• Plugin system with admin UI (P3)
• AI features: semantic search, AI moderation, summarization, translation (P4)
• Private categories, AT Protocol labeler integration (P4)
• Legacy forum migration tools (Discourse, Flarum, phpBB) (P5)
• Marketing website, PWA (P5)

Phase 1: Core MVP -- Done

• Auth, topics, replies, categories, search, moderation, reactions
• Cross-posting (Bluesky + Frontpage), notifications, user profiles
• Frontend (20 pages, 28 components), Docker Compose deployment

Phase 2: User Experience + Global -- Done

• P2.1: Content maturity, self-labels, age gate, user preferences
• P2.2: Global aggregator, cross-community reputation, block/mute
• P2.3: Age declaration revision, community onboarding fields

Phase 3: SaaS Infrastructure

• Stripe billing, multi-tenant support, custom domain automation
• Plugin system (core plugins + admin UI)
• GlitchTip error monitoring

Phase 4: AI Features

• Semantic search (pgvector hybrid ranking)
• AI-assisted moderation, topic summarization, translation
• AT Protocol labeler integration, private categories

Phase 5: Migration and Launch

• Legacy forum migration tools, marketing site
• Security audit, WCAG 2.2 AA audit, PWA

Contributions are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Contributors sign a CLA to allow future commercial licensing flexibility.

See ARCHITECTURE.md for the full system architecture, including data flow diagrams, deployment layout, and operating modes.

Dual-licensed for openness and sustainability:

• Backend (barazo-api): AGPL-3.0 -- Protects the core, competitors must share changes
• Frontend (barazo-web): MIT -- Encourages customization and theming
• Lexicons (barazo-lexicons): MIT -- Open standard, maximum adoption
• Deploy (barazo-deploy): MIT -- Self-hosting should be freely usable
• Website (barazo-website): Proprietary -- All rights reserved

Contributors sign a CLA to allow future commercial licensing flexibility.

• Website: barazo.forum
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions
• Bluesky: @barazo.forum
• Contact: @gxjansen

Barazo -- Forums for the open web

(c) 2026 Barazo. AGPL-3.0 (backend) + MIT (frontend/lexicons/deploy).