FAQ

FAQ

Common questions about the reverberage hub.

General

What is reverberage?

reverberage is a hub-and-satellite ecosystem of composable, MCP-native Python packages. Each satellite does exactly one thing (audio transcription, claim verification, text transformation, etc.) and can be used alone or composed into pipelines.

What does "reverberage" mean?

It's a portmanteau of "reverberate" and "collage" — reflecting the composable, echoing nature of the satellite ecosystem.

Is this related to any other project?

No. reverberage is an independent project. It uses Qwen models from Alibaba Cloud for its free quota, but is not affiliated with Alibaba.

Satellites

Which satellites are available?

Satellite	Status	Description
rvrb-transcriber	alpha	Audio/video transcription
rvrb-verify	alpha	Claim verification
rvrb-transform	alpha	Text transformation
rvrb-hear	alpha	Audio comprehension
rvrb-see	alpha	Image understanding

Are the satellites stable?

All satellites are in alpha status. Breaking changes are permitted. Use at your own risk.

Can I use satellites without the hub?

Yes. Each satellite is independently pip install-able. The hub is only needed for development, scaffolding new satellites, and orchestration.

Can I compose satellites?

Yes. Satellites compose via Unix-style pipelines:

rvrb-transcriber meeting.mp3 | rvrb-verify

Models

What models does reverberage use?

Primarily Qwen models from Alibaba Cloud's free quota. See Model Catalog for the full list.

Do I need to pay for the models?

No. The Qwen free quota provides 103M tokens across 81 models, expiring September 28, 2026. No credit card required.

Can I use OpenAI or local models?

Yes. All satellites support multiple providers via the ModelProvider Protocol:

rvrb-verify "claim" --provider openai
rvrb-verify "claim" --provider local

What happens when the free quota expires?

The free quota expires September 28, 2026. After that, you'll need to use paid API keys or local models.

Development

How do I create a new satellite?

python scripts/scaffold-satellite.py <name>

This generates a complete satellite skeleton following satellite protocol v2.

How do I contribute?

See Contributing for the full guide. In short: fork, branch, develop, test, PR.

What is SDD?

Spec-Driven Development. An 8-phase pipeline for managing changes:

explore → propose → spec → design → tasks → apply → verify → archive

Run with /sdd-new "description" in opencode.

What is N3RVERBERAGE?

The orchestration agent in the hub. It coordinates SDD workflows, manages the project board, and handles memory persistence.

MCP

What is MCP?

Model Context Protocol. A standard for connecting AI models to external tools and data sources. All satellites expose MCP servers for integration with Claude Desktop, Continue.dev, and other MCP clients.

How do I use satellites with Claude Desktop?

Add to your Claude Desktop config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "transcriber": {
      "command": "rvrb-transcriber-mcp"
    },
    "verify": {
      "command": "rvrb-verify-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Can I use satellites without MCP?

Yes. Satellites work as CLI tools and Python libraries. MCP is optional.

Provider setup

How do I get a Qwen API key?

1. Go to Alibaba Cloud Model Studio
2. Sign up (Singapore region, no credit card)
3. Activate Model Studio
4. Generate API key
5. Set export DASHSCOPE_API_KEY="sk-..."

Can I use multiple providers?

Yes. Each satellite can use a different provider:

from rvrb_verify import get_provider

qwen = get_provider(provider="qwen")
openai = get_provider(provider="openai")

What if I don't set any API key?

The satellite will use the default provider (Qwen) and fail if DASHSCOPE_API_KEY is not set. Set the env var or use --provider local for offline operation.

Troubleshooting

Error: "DASHSCOPE_API_KEY is not set"

Set the environment variable:

export DASHSCOPE_API_KEY="sk-..."

Error: "All models exhausted"

The Qwen free quota for a specific model is exhausted. Rotate to the next model:

python scripts/qwen_fallback.py --rotate

Or use a different provider:

rvrb-verify "claim" --provider openai

Error: "Module not found"

Install the satellite:

pip install rvrb-<name>

Satellite tests fail

Run the quality gate:

ruff check .
ruff format --check .
mypy .
pytest

Fix any issues before submitting a PR.

License

What license does reverberage use?

Apache-2.0 for all satellites and the hub.

Can I use reverberage commercially?

Yes. Apache-2.0 permits commercial use, modification, and distribution.

Do I need to attribute reverberage?

Apache-2.0 requires preserving copyright notices. Include the license in distributions.