4.5 KiB
Sovereignty Audit — Runtime Dependencies
Issue: #1508 Date: 2026-04-15 Status: Draft
Purpose
SOUL.md mandates: "If I ever require permission from a third party to function, I have failed."
This document audits all runtime dependencies, classifies each as essential vs replaceable, and defines a path to full sovereignty.
Dependency Inventory
1. LLM Inference
| Provider | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Nous Research (OpenRouter) | Primary inference (mimo-v2-pro) | Third-party |
| Anthropic | Claude models (BANNED per policy) | Third-party, disabled |
| OpenAI | Codex agent | Third-party |
| Gemini agent | Third-party |
Classification: REPLACEABLE Local path: Ollama + GGUF models (Gemma, Llama, Qwen) on local hardware Current blocker: Frontier model quality gap for complex reasoning Sovereignty score impact: -40% (inference is the heaviest dependency)
2. Bitcoin Network
| Provider | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin Core (local or remote node) | Chain heartbeat, inscription verification | Acceptable |
Classification: ACCEPTABLE — Bitcoin is permissionless infrastructure, not a third party Sovereignty score impact: 0% (running own node = sovereign)
3. Git Hosting (Gitea)
| Provider | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| forge.alexanderwhitestone.com | Issue tracking, PR workflow, agent coordination | Self-hosted |
Classification: ACCEPTABLE — self-hosted on own VPS Sovereignty score impact: 0% (self-hosted)
4. Telegram
| Provider | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Telegram Bot API | User-facing chat interface | Third-party |
Classification: REPLACEABLE Local path: Matrix (self-hosted homeserver) or direct CLI/SSH Current blocker: User adoption — Alexander uses Telegram Sovereignty score impact: -10%
5. DNS / Network
| Provider | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Domain registrar | DNS resolution | Third-party |
| Cloudflare (if used) | CDN/DDoS protection | Third-party |
Classification: REPLACEABLE Local path: Direct IP access, local DNS, Tor hidden service Current blocker: Usability — direct IP is fragile Sovereignty score impact: -5%
6. Operating System
| Provider | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| macOS (Apple) | Primary development host | Third-party |
| Linux (VPS) | Production agent hosts | Acceptable (open source) |
Classification: ESSENTIAL (no practical alternative for current workflow) Notes: macOS dependency is hardware-layer, not runtime-layer. Agents run on Linux VPS. Sovereignty score impact: -5% (development only, not runtime)
Sovereignty Score
Sovereignty Score = (Operations that work offline) / (Total operations)
Current estimate: ~50%
- Inference: can run locally (Ollama) but currently routes through Nous
- Communication: Telegram routes through third party
- Everything else: self-hosted or local
Target: 90%+
- Move inference to local Ollama for non-complex tasks (DONE partially)
- Add Matrix as primary comms channel (in progress)
- Maintain Bitcoin node for chain heartbeat
Classification Summary
| Dependency | Essential? | Replaceable? | Local Alternative | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LLM Inference (Nous) | No | Yes | Ollama + local models | P1 |
| Telegram | No | Yes | Matrix homeserver | P2 |
| DNS | No | Yes | Direct IP / Tor | P3 |
| macOS | Dev only | N/A | Linux | N/A |
| Bitcoin | Yes | N/A | Already sovereign | N/A |
| Gitea | Yes | N/A | Already self-hosted | N/A |
Local-Only Fallback Path
Tier 1 — Fully sovereign (no network):
- Local Ollama inference
- Local file storage
- Local git repositories
- Direct CLI interaction
Tier 2 — Sovereign with network:
-
- Bitcoin node (permissionless)
-
- Self-hosted Gitea (own VPS)
-
- Self-hosted Matrix (own VPS)
Tier 3 — Pragmatic (current state):
-
- Nous/OpenRouter inference (better quality)
-
- Telegram (user adoption)
-
- DNS resolution
Goal: Every Tier 3 dependency should have a Tier 1 or Tier 2 alternative tested and documented.
Acceptance Criteria Status
- Document all runtime third-party dependencies — DONE (this document)
- Classify each as essential vs replaceable — DONE (table above)
- Define local-only fallback path for each — DONE (tiered system)
- Create sovereignty score metric — DONE (formula + current estimate)
Sovereignty and service always.