Archive for Aug 2026

5 entries

Why Not SPIFFE for Pico Identity?

Mon Aug 31 09:16:00 2026

A pico is arguably just a workload, so why give it a DID instead of using SPIFFE, the standard workload identifier? The answer comes down to whether the identity is meant to last. SPIFFE derives a workload's identity from what it is and where it runs, so it's re-minted per environment; a pico's identity is long-lived and travels with it.
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Pico-to-Pico Identity Arrives

Wed Aug 12 10:15:00 2026

Version 1.6 of the Pico Engine ships the pico-to-pico identity layer I promised but hadn't built. Every pico now carries two DIDs: a portable did:webvh that says who it is, and a private did:peer for each relationship it forms. This is the piece that lets a pico move between engines and lets two meshes create a relationship without a federation agreement set up in advance.
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The Pressure Behind Identity's Diseconomies of Scale

Mon Aug 10 10:15:00 2026

Eve Maler argues that identity's apparent diseconomies of scale are really about gnarliness, not size. That gnarliness has a shape I drew for chapter 19 of my forthcoming book: the gap between a growing decision surface and the infrastructure meant to govern it. That gap is authorization pressure, and it explains why identity gets harder even when a team does everything right.
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A Map of the Manifold Environment

Wed Aug 5 08:35:00 2026

A reader asked for a map of the whole Manifold environment and the functional capabilities of each part. I have described this system across three posts, a piece at a time, but never in one picture.
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Using Home Assistant with Manifold

Mon Aug 3 07:50:00 2026

Manifold is evolving into a proper framework for building meshes of picos, and Home Assistant gives those meshes an interface. A new Home Assistant integration proves out three pieces at once: an OAuth workflow on the pico-engine that lets outside software into the mesh on the owner's terms, a mature interface rather than a custom one, and a pattern that lets specialized communities extend the platform.
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