Episteme (StemeDB)

A probabilistic knowledge graph database that stores Claims, not Facts.

Append-only Merkle DAG with read-time resolution via Lenses. Think of it as "Git for Truth" - conflicting assertions coexist, resolved at query time through Consensus, Recency, Authority, or custom Lenses.

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Quick Start

# Get running in under 5 minutes
make validate

# Start the server
cargo run --package stemedb-api

# Open API docs
open http://localhost:18180/swagger-ui

→ Full Quick Start Guide

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Understanding Episteme

• What is Episteme? - Concept overview and real-world examples
• Vision - Product philosophy and "Git for Truth" principles
• Architecture - Technical design and data structures
• Use Cases - Consumer health, financial due diligence, AI agents

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Documentation

• 📚 Full Documentation Index - Complete documentation hub
• App Development Guide - Build applications on Episteme
• Go SDK - Client library and examples
• ADK-Go Integration - AI agent integration
• RFCs & Specs - Technical specifications

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For Developers

Getting Started

• Development Setup - Local environment setup
• Testing Guide - Running tests
• Coding Guidelines - Rust standards and patterns
• Quality Checks - Pre-commit hooks and CI

Project Management

• Roadmap - Current and planned work
• Roadmap Archive - Completed phases
• Contributing Guide - How to contribute

Architecture Deep Dives

• Data Structures - Core types and design
• Consistency Model - Conflict resolution
• Distributed Architecture - Clustering and sharding
• Storage Engine - WAL and recovery

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Applications

Episteme powers multiple applications:

• Aphoria - Code-level truth linter and continuous learning system
• Admin Dashboard - Web UI for cluster management
• Disputed - Claim disagreement visualization

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For AI Agents

• CLAUDE.md - Claude Code agent instructions
• GEMINI.md - Gemini CLI agent instructions

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Core Principles

ZERO TOLERANCE FOR MEDIOCRITY: We build enterprise-grade products that must survive in production. Panics are UNACCEPTABLE. Broken pipe errors are UNACCEPTABLE. Sloppy testing is UNACCEPTABLE. Every line of code ships to paying customers who depend on it. Test everything. Handle every error. No shortcuts. No excuses.

Technical Principles

• Append-Only: NEVER mutate existing Assertions. Create new ones.
• Content-Addressed: Assertion ID = BLAKE3 hash of content
• No Unwrap: NEVER use unwrap() or expect() in production code
• Defensive Writes: All writes go through WAL with fsync
• Structured Logging: Use tracing (info!, warn!, error!)

→ Full Coding Guidelines

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Port Scheme (181XX)

Service	Port	Env Var
HTTP API	18180	STEMEDB_BIND_ADDR
Cluster Gateway	18181	STEMEDB_NODE_API_ADDR
Cluster RPC	18182	STEMEDB_NODE_RPC_ADDR
SWIM Gossip	18183	via SwimConfig
StemeDB Dashboard	18188	-
Aphoria Dashboard	18189	-

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Quick Reference

# Build
cargo build --workspace

# Test
cargo test --workspace --lib      # Unit tests (~3min)
cargo nextest run                 # Parallel runner (~5min)

# Lint (must pass before commit)
cargo clippy --workspace -- -D warnings
cargo fmt --check

# Run server
cargo run --package stemedb-api

# Run cluster node
cargo run --package stemedb-cluster --bin stemedb-node

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Community & Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions
• License: See LICENSE file

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What Makes Episteme Different?

Traditional databases force you to pick "the right answer." Episteme holds all the answers, tracks who said them and why, and lets you decide how to resolve disagreements at query time.

Traditional DB	Episteme
One canonical truth	Multiple competing claims
Update overwrites	Append-only history
Consensus enforced at write	Resolution deferred to read
Time-travel via backups	Built-in temporal queries
Source tracking via app logic	First-class provenance

When a Reddit community reports gastroparesis months before the FDA adds a warning label, both claims coexist in Episteme. You can query by authority tier (FDA wins), by recency (Reddit was first), or by consensus (see the disagreement).

This is critical for domains where truth is contested, evolving, or depends on perspective: health, finance, research, intelligence.

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Getting Help

Question	Resource
How do I...	Documentation Index
Why did you...	Architecture + Vision
Can I use this for...	Use Cases
It's not working...	GitHub Issues
I want to contribute...	Contributing Guide

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Get Started →