March 16, 2026
Why federation — and what it actually means
A plain-language look at what federation is, why we chose it, and what its current limitations are.
Deep dive
A journal for
every voice
in the room.
PluralLog is a private, offline-first app built for plural systems — developed with input from the community it serves. Track fronts, keep journals, manage members, and optionally share with the people you trust, encrypted end-to-end.
What it does
Built around you,
not assumptions.
Every feature exists because plural systems deserve software that takes them seriously — designed with care at every step.
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Member profiles
Names, pronouns, roles, descriptions, custom fields, and profile images. All yours, all private.
↔
Front tracking
Log switches, co-fronts, and notes. A visual timeline shows who's been fronting and for how long.
≡
Journal
Entries with emotion tags, member authorship, and full markdown support. Hidden entries stay private even when sharing.
∿
Mood and analytics
Visualize trends over time. If you share, friends see only encrypted aggregates — never raw data.
◈
Polls
Hold system votes on anything that matters. Results stay local unless you choose to share them.
◻
Private by default
Everything lives on your device, encrypted. No account required. No cloud unless you want it.
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Offline-first
Works completely without internet. Federation is strictly opt-in and adds zero required overhead.
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Trauma-informed design
No forced flows. Easy revocation at every step. No diagnostic language. Clear consent throughout.
The apps
Two apps.
One ecosystem.
PluralLog · System AppThe main app,
for your system.
Track, journal, and organize your system's life. Fully private offline, or connect to a relay to share selectively with trusted people.
Everything encrypted. You choose what, if anything, leaves your device.
Google PlayiOS — coming soon
PluralLog Friend · Companion AppFor the people
you trust.
PluralLog Friend is a read-only companion app for friends, family, or therapists. They see only what you've chosen to share — and only what they're cryptographically permitted to decrypt.
The server never sees your data in plaintext. Revoke access instantly, anytime. Revocation re-generates the encryption keys.
Google PlayiOS — coming soon
Federation and the relay
What does
“federated” mean?
A federated service means there's no single company controlling your data. Instead of every user connecting to one central server, anyone can run their own relay — including you, your community, or a trusted provider.
PluralLog's federation is built around a core idea: the server should never need to trust you, and you should never need to trust the server. Everything meaningful is encrypted on your device before it's uploaded. The relay is just a secure mailbox.
We also chose this model because of trust. Asking users — especially in communities with every reason to be cautious — to extend trust to a developer they don't know is a hard ask. Federation means that trust can be extended to infrastructure you or someone you know controls. It's a more sustainable model for an independent app with a community that deserves better than a single point of failure.
The current model isn't perfect — we're still working through aspects of the protocol, which is part of why we're taking our time before publishing the relay server code. We'd rather delay than overstate what the system protects against.
Federation is entirely optional. PluralLog works fully offline, forever, with no relay needed. If you prefer to keep everything local, you never have to connect to anything.
Why run your own relay?
Total data sovereignty
Your encrypted volumes live on infrastructure you control — a VPS, a home server, or a trusted community instance.
No central authority
There is no PluralLog server that can be compelled, breached, or shut down. Each relay is independent.
Community-scale sharing
A community can run a shared relay for their members — connecting systems and their trusted circles without centralizing control.
Lightweight and self-contained
The relay server ships as a single Docker image. PostgreSQL or SQLite. S3 or local filesystem. Minimal config.
Encryption the server cannot break
Even the relay operator cannot read your data. Every volume is AES-256-GCM encrypted client-side. The server stores opaque blobs.
Open release coming soon
The relay server code and full API spec will be published. Audit it, fork it, or run it as-is — on your own terms.
Updates
From the team
Privacy
Your data is yours.
That is the point.
PluralLog is built around the assumption that you shouldn't have to trust us. The short version: the app stores everything locally, encrypted. Sharing is opt-in. The server we designed is intentionally blind to your content.
Read the full privacy policy →Questions? privacy@plurallog.com
- +Your app data never leaves your device unless you explicitly enable federation.
- +We do not collect personal data, analytics, or crash reports from the app.
- +The website collects only server-access logs (IP addresses, 30-day retention) and functional cookies.
- +We do not work with advertising networks, data brokers, or third-party analytics.
- +Federation relay servers are independent — we accept liability only for relays we explicitly confirm we operate.
- +No proprietary encryption is used or exported. All cryptography is based on open, published standards.
- +You can delete all data: local data via the app, relay data via federation settings, website data by request.
- +PluralLog™ is an unregistered trademark of Arcade Armor LLC, the responsible legal entity.